Cliff notes follow my blather:
----
Inspired by the backgammon thread on the "Other Games" forum for the last week or so I've been messing with GNU Backgammon after a long hiatus from this great game. GNU BG seems like a fine program and with the help of tutor mode my game might be a bit better than it was in the old days (which I suppose isn't saying much).
Meanwhile my girlfriend became a decent poker player with 2+2's and my help years back but the last few years she hasn't had time for casino play despite living in the poker capital of the world (that's LA of course).
Still over cocktails at my place we'll play some online SNGs and have lots of fun arguing the right play and what not. She also likes to play me heads up in $40 NL holdem freezouts or similar three way games when my best friend is around but it's really a drag - who the heck feels like dealing after a long day at the card barn (in my friends and my case) or a long day at the office (in her case). Still when we do play it's fun in part because we'd rather beat each others brains out than softplay. I can't understand why so many new breed poker players won't play their friends hard and still remain friends. In fact I think it makes the sex better when you play your girlfriend hard but it may be just a personal quirk that I can't prove.
Anyway, to make a short story long she's over the other night and for the first time in years my Stars account is below seven cents so we can't even play the ten cent "no juice" donkaments. So in mini despair she loads up Windows Solitaire while I made a quick meal. When I come back with the grub the Solitaire looks so pathetically uninteresting I fire up GNU Backgammon and ask her to bear with me and follow along.
She's completely enthralled by the action and the racing/blocking/hitting/defence/offence/priming and especially doubling! She also loves the fact that when I'm not sure of my next move I can go to the tutor for a hint (or the tutor scolds me if I don't ask and make a mistake; she loves to see me scolded). Within about five games I can see she's getting the hang of it.
Now this is the woman I hope to life my life out with and I'm starting to see a future where backgammon may fit into the fun. So as I'm battling GNU BG and iTunes is cranking great stuff and she's finished my delicious home cocked one dish "guy living alone" style meal as she finishes her third Cosmo with me on my second Tequila straight up (I'm on low carbs for a couple weeks) I have a revelation.
I say, "My Baby (like many couples we have cutesy names for each other), you know with only a little bit of effort you could be at least 90% as good as me with this program and maybe reading a couple books. And if you want to read a book or two you know I'll get you to the right ones."
She responds, "This is fun My Darling".
I blather on not taking any romantic hints. "No, I'm serious. It's a great game and different than let's say chess. In chess an excellent player is going to beat a very good player every time. That's no fun for the very good player. But in backgammon a very good player should beat the excellent player maybe 40 to 45% of the time in a short, social session. So the game can be fun for both players with the outcome still a mystery. And the best part it's a super interesting game with lot's of gambling! We could play for real money and I'll spot you doing the dishes if I lose to keep it fair."
She responds "Yes My Baby, I'm excited". Now I wonder if the Cosmo's are taking hold. Still I continue to ignore all romantic hints and imagine us a little older and grayer with a backgammon board on our quaint little patio. It's the dimming of the day but one of those oil based patio torches fills in the light and a nice string quartet selected from our 70 GBs of mp3s fills the air. We're intently playing 11 point matches and she's gotten so close to even with me in the hundreds of matches we've played she won't admit I'm still a bit better so I don't even have to spot her doing dishes.
In the final game of the night I get a few men sent back early but play a masterful holding game, hit the right pip when it counts, force her behind my prime, and roll her up for the win.
Later I try to duplicate my performance in the bedroom but she tells me I was just lucky.
~ Rick
----
Cliff Notes: Backgammon can be a lot of fun for couples (or friends) because it's pretty easy these days to get at least pretty good starting from scratch and if you're pretty good you can have fun competing with someone who is real good (unlike geeky games like chess).