Creating an Online Backgammon Village
Michael Strato is the editor of GammonVillage, one of the best backgammon sites on the Web. His gameplay began when he was in elementary school, as his father taught him a European variant of checkers.He discovered backgammon during the game's North American renaissance in the 1960s and 1970s, and he's been hooked ever since. Strato recently took the time to answer a few questions about himself, his site, and the game he loves.
Tell us a little about your board games background. When did you first play games, and what were some of your first favorites?
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As a child, I also played Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly and Scrabble with my brother and four sisters, and often with my many cousins. Monopoly was my favourite and I also liked Chinese Checkers.
When did you first play backgammon, and who introduced you to the game?
Backgammon enjoyed an extremely popular era in North America between the mid-60s and mid-70s. That's when I was introduced to the game by one of my best friends, Donald Haynes. Donald produced the Hoyle's Book of Rules, and I found a wooden board in my house. My father brought it over from Greece when he immigrated to Canada around 1946. In Greece, there are probably more backgammon boards than TV sets. Strangely, I always knew the board was stashed away in a closet but never knew what it was for. My father taught me checkers and never mentioned backgammon. I guess when we played games together when I was a younger boy, he must have thought backgammon would be too complicated, plus in Greece there are at least three variants of this game.
Donald and I played with about four or five other friends in our group. I remember how we would all crowd around a table in Donald's basement waiting for our turn. It was a lot of fun and very exciting. I recall that in a losing situation, way behind in a race, I calculated that I needed three double sixes to win. I told my watching friends that I would roll the three double sixes in a row and win, using my psychic powers! I was just joking, but ironically I called and rolled three double sixes and won the game. I was more amazed than they were!
Did you love the game right away, or did it have to grow on you?
I played on for many years, on weekends way past midnight even until dawn sometimes. Yes, a true addict. I loved the game.
In 1970, I was hired by a Montreal newspaper and started to play less, I was a reporter for several years and eventually became Entertainment editor. My work meant I needed to sleep but I did continue to play socially in my spare time. Sometimes, the women in my life took up most of my spare time, but it was always nice to have a girlfriend that enjoyed the game as well.
Then in 1996, I bought a computer, connected to the Internet and found a place called Netgammon. I spent many hours since then and have made many new friends from all around the world. I still play on Netgammon every day and on regularly on another five or six other backgammon servers.
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