TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Some competitions have a clear cut winner. It's all in front of you in black and white but with backgammon there are levels to victory.
And it's all playing out with a new, not-so-secret society of game enthusiasts right here in Tucson.
The Catalina Mountains at sunset provide a perfect setting for an evening on the patio.
But if you look closely, this group isn't bringing a briefcase from the 9 to 5 looking for happy hour.
"Now the world knows," Kameron Norwood said.
"The veil has been lifted," added Elan Spreiser.
Kameron and Elan have been close for 20 years and they're actively looking for recruits for their crew.
But what would thirtysomethings have in common with a former college professor who's an expert in statistics?
Generational differences aside, these gamers are gathered to battle it out in backgammon.
It's a game that Kameron, the Director of Operations for this team, had never even played until about a year ago.
"I said, you know what? Let's learn. It's time to learn," Kameron said.
And now it's all boards, bars, builders and blots, pips, chips, pawns and pieces.
Foreign terminology Elan Spreiser is happy to preach.
"I taught some guys to play it. It was great. And then we were kind of like, maybe we should start a secret society," Elan said.
A secret society?
"It's not a club or a group, it's a society," David DiCosola, the "Society's" President told me.
Well the secret's out for this gaggle of gamers who now literally number themselves from the original three or four members to more than 60 strong, once a month, every third Monday.
Ralph Burns learned about the game in the same way, by chance, at a bar.
"He said, 'well, have you ever played backgammon?' I look and him and I said 'well, I thought it was kind of a trivial game. He looked at me shocked and said 'you have no idea what you're talking about!"
The rest of the members are that serious, too, about this ancient game, found in the tombs of the pharaohs of Egypt, equipped to play well into the afterlife.
For us?
"Could be 10 minutes, could be an hour," Kameron told me.
"It's about 4,000 years old," Jeff Nadeau said.
You can tell by the looks of the head to head match-ups, It's all about having fun.
"You want to get your checkers all in your inner board, and I want to get all of mine to my inner board. And then you start taking them off the board."
Jeff was nice enough to humor this backgammon novice. I'd never played a game in my life but I held my own.
"It couldn't have gone better. That could not have gone better," I told Jeff as I got lucky with the dice.
The victory didn't last long.
"It's a bloodbath. It's a backgammon bloodbath," I noted.
"Well that was fun. That was fun. You were very helpful," I told Jeff after he beat me.
"A gammon is a decisive win. A backgammon is a complete domination," David said, sharing the origins of the name.
He's told me this society brings back conversation.
"There's no phones. Genuine connection... One of the fun facts about backgammon is as you role the dice you get a chance to chit chat with the person across from you."
Keala Miltomore, one of a handful of women who are regulars with the backgammon bros, agrees
"It's a very social thing. We've gotten to meet so many different types of people which is awesome. It's a good time to just connect with people. And it's hard to find that these days I feel like."
All skill levels, all walks of life gear up with your board and your dice.
"The game is mostly, it's a combination of math, psychology and chaos," David said.
Could be a great night out if you play your pieces right and they let you in.
Check out more info and a schedule of events:
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Dan Spindle co-anchors Good Morning Tucson on KGUN 9 and is an award-winning storyteller whose work has earned him honors from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmys, the Associated Press and the Utah Society of Professional Journalists for both anchoring and reporting. Dan is passionate about history and loves to explore the Grand Canyon State. Share your story ideas with Dan by emailing dan.spindle@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or X.
