The Doubling Cube
No one can lay claim to inventing the doubling cube, all that's known is that it started in the USA around the 20's, this would be round about the same time that Mr. Vanderbilt was changing the way we play Auction Bridge, another innovation in the field of home entertainment.
The doubling cube entered the world of backgammon probably around 1928 or so.
Whilst Mr. Vanderbilt's scoring system was said to be simple, it will still take a page or two to describe all its connotations.
The backgammon doubling cube can be described in a couple of sentences like this.
When the the dice is turned, either that is game over .Or the stakes are doubled.
Simple really, and so easy to understand, but its implications for the game of backgammon where as profound as steam engines to jet engines were.
It changed backgammon overnight; making the game into a serious proposition for would be gamblers, rather than a parlour game pastime.
And as anyone who has played backgammon before will tell you, when the doubling cube has been turned more than three times, the game ends, but the score is multiplied by 16, 32, or even 64 times, that's the time when player's hearts beat faster, as their palms sweat, their body shakes and their head throbs, in harmony with the rolling dice in the cup, that?s what the doubling cube does. Exciting isn't it?
You can find out more about the doubling on www.play65.com or from one of the many online tutorial sites.
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