Float through any social event with M's fast facts. This week Rick Arthur offers a beginner's lesson on backgammon, a game that's been around for 5,000 years or so.
THE BASICS Backgammon is the oldest known board game in history. Artefacts from Shahr-e Sukhteh in Iran show that it existed around 3000 BC. It is a deceptively simple competition in which playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice. The winner is the first to remove all his pieces. "Backgammon" probably comes from "back" and the Middle English "gamen", meaning "game" or "play".
THE LAYOUT A backgammon set consists of a board, two sets of 15 checkers (or "men"), two pairs of dice, two dice cups and a doubling cube. Each side of the board has 12 long triangles, or points, forming a continuous open-ended oval. Each player's 15 men go on the board among four fixed points, and move in opposing directions.
THE MOVES Players move their men around the board and into their inner or home board, and then "bear them off". Any checker(s) may be moved so long as the total roll of the dice is played. If the roll were 5-4 ("five-four", not "nine", mind you), one man could be moved five points and then four more points, or four points and then five more points, or one man could be moved five points and another man four points.
SOME NOT-SO-SUBTLETIES Two or more men on a point control it, and one's opponent may not land there. Conversely, that poor little fellow all alone is a "blot", and he may be hit and sent out of the game. So some basic maths and rules of probability are in play - one must know the odds and how to quickly calculate them, how to minimise risk and when to chuck it all in - in the parlance of another game of both skill and chance, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
SOME EXTRA EXCITEMENT A roll of doubles on the dice is worth double the roll. Thus, if a player rolls 6-6, he gets to move four sixes, not just two. Doubles are almost always good - but you do realise, don't you, that the odds are 36-1 against rolling a specific set of doubles?
SOME MORE EXTRA EXCITEMENT A game is worth one point. But it is worth two points, or a "gammon", if the loser has removed none of his men. It is worth three points, or a "backgammon", if the loser has one or more men out of the game or in his opponent's home board. Now throw in the doubling cube, which is a marker that keeps track of offers to double the stakes. So it's possible to lose a backgammon in which the doubling cube has been advanced from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16, say, meaning a loss of 48 points - though such a scenario would indicate rash play. The Instant Expert has not been so foolhardy since his fearless youth, way back last century.
THE STRATEGY There are three main kinds of games: a running game, which should be self-explanatory and is facilitated by early rolls of doubles; a blocking game, also self-explanatory; and a back game, generally borne out of desperation. Many is the time the Instant Expert has been forced to lie in wait, hoping his opponent will leave a blot or two and that sure defeat can become improbable victory. Running games are boring, blocking games are fun, and back games are filled with existential dread.
LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS Royalty, celebrities and society swells across the decades have had a fascination with backgammon. And the gambling stakes can be high at private clubs and the prizes vast at tournaments around the world, furthering the game's image of being a pastime of the idle rich.
THE VARIATIONS There are many variants of backgammon, and you will see them in the shisha cafes of the UAE, the coffee shops of Turkey and throughout southeastern Europe. Notable are gul bara, in which each player's 15 men all start on the rightmost point on the far side of the board, and in which one man controls a point; and tapa, in which blots are not hit and sent out of the game but are pinned and immobilised.
THE ETIQUETTE It's easy. Be a good sport.
In film
HAVING WONDERFUL TIME (1938) Ginger Rogers spends the night at a summer resort playing backgammon by herself in a scene from this RKO romance-comedy.
BLOOD SUCKING FREAKS (1976) The sick villain plays backgammon with human fingers in this gore fest that some consider a cult classic.
OCTOPUSSY (1983) In the most famous backgammon scene in cinema, Roger More as James Bond cites "player's privilege" to use the loaded dice of his villainous opponent (played by Louis Jordan), then tosses double sixes on his last roll to win a fortune.
RUSHMORE (1998) Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is president of his prep school's backgammon club in this delightful coming-of-age comedy-drama starring Bill Murray and directed by Wes Anderson.
BACKGAMMON (2001) The game is, inexplicably, featured in little more than the title in this forgettable film about the end of Western civilisation.
EMOTIONAL BACKGAMMON (2003) This relationship comedy-drama uses backgammon as a metaphor for the war between the sexes. The tagline: "Love is like a game of backgammon... You take your chances."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now