Internet Backgammon – Early Days

In 1991, a Usenet discussion group on Backgammon called rec.games.backgammon was created - it is still active today and can be accessed at groups.google.com or through the News Reader of program such as Outlook or Windows Mail.

Then on July 19, 1992, Andreas Schneider launched the First Internet Backgammon Server, also called FIBS. Back then, one would have to connect with the Telnet protocol and use a command line interface and type to play but eventually some FIBS players introduced programs to play on through a web browser or a downloadable interface. FIBS has always been free to play and is supported in part by Kit Woolsey. Other famous backgammon players also play on FIBS, many from the international community that was forged by Prince Alexis Obolensky almost 30 years before.

By 1995 one can find up to three or four thousand players connected simultaneously to Backgammon games on free sites like MSN Games and Yahoo Games where you play through your web browser using java-based programs. However, these and other free sites have very little or no control over the antics of players that use bots to cheat or disconnect when losing a game, something that some modern backgammon servers have a better grasp on today. 

In the same year, a company named Goto Software of France, whose owner is a passionate player, launches a site with one of the first downloadable GUIs to play online with. Although NetGammon did not have money play it was probably the first backgammon server to charge a small fee to use “premium” features such as the ability to have a ranking, amongst others.

Shortly thereafter, Cyberarts Software launched another downloadable interface called GamesGrid, with the server originally based in Canada but then moved to California. Ken Arnold, then owner of GamesGrid, was involved in the live backgammon community and by the year 2000 dozens of players from the existing international community, including many World Champions, can be seen playing on GamesGrid. This server also charged a fee for premium features ($80) and eventually money play was implemented.

While literally dozens of other backgammon servers sprung up on the Web in the late 1990s, in the long run virtually none were able to sustain a constant flow of income to become profitable.
Next up Internet Backgammon in the 2000s