Trictrac, also spelled tric trac or tric-trac, is a French or Austrian board game of skill and chance for two players, played with dice on a board similar to, but not identical with, that of backgammon. It belongs to the wider family of tables games, in which players race their pieces around a shared track according to dice rolls while trying to hinder the opponent's progress. Its earliest documented reference dates to 1634, when the French publisher Pierre Guillemot issued material connected to the game, though its exact national origin is disputed between France and Austria; it has also been recorded in Denmark, Spain, and Sweden. In France, trictrac held the same central place among tables games that backgammon later came to hold in English-speaking countries, and it developed an elaborate scoring system layered on top of the basic race mechanic, rewarding players for landing on particular points as well as for finishing the race. The game declined in popularity after the eighteenth century as simplified backgammon variants spread, but it is still played and studied by enthusiasts of historical tables games today.
Facts
Sport
Game Type (category) Classification
Player Count Connections
Sources
1. Trictrac (Wikipedia)
Lead, first sentence
Trictrac (also tric trac or tric-trac) is a French or Austrian board game of skill and chance for two players that is played with dice on a game board similar, but not identical, to that of backgammon.
Infobox, earliest reference
1634
Lead, player count
for two players
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