Classic Walnut Backgammon Set for Three Players with Plain Lids, 50 cm

Classic Walnut Backgammon Set for Three Players with Plain Lids, 50 cm by Hrachya Ohanyan

Nothing on the lids but the walnut: three plain covers of figured wood, varnished clear, and the carving kept for the fields inside. This is the 50 cm / 19.6″ wooden backgammon set for three players made by Hrachya Ohanyan — the classic one, with plain lids. Handmade in walnut, 48 checkers in three colours, dice and a branded bag.

This is the board for the player who wants the walnut to do the talking, and the table of three that wants a full-size board without a picture on it. The three covers are figured walnut, the grain running in ripples under a clear varnish, with a moulded rim and nothing else; open, each leaf is a full field carved from the solid — twelve pale points under fleur-de-lys tips, a petal wheel in a scrolled ring, a scalloped rim — meeting the other two at a central bar.

The three leaves hinge in a chain, stack into a chevron on cast-bronze clasps with a stamped hinge at the bar, and slide into a felt bag cut to the outline. The game is the Armenian three-player one — devised in 2007, fifteen checkers each in natural, dark and red, first to bear off wins. For the boardroom, the walnut-panelled study, and the three who play seriously.

Specifications

• Size open: three leaves of about 50 × 25 cm / 19.6″ × 9.8″ meeting at the centre in a three-pointed star
• Size folded: 50 × 50 × 3 cm / 19.6″ × 19.6″ × 1.2″ — a chevron, three leaves stacked
• Material: walnut wood, natural colour, varnished
• Decoration: plain figured-walnut lids with a moulded rim; three fields carved from the solid with scalloped rims, pale fleur-de-lys-tipped points and a petal wheel in a scrolled ring on each
• Outline: Triad — three leaves hinged in a chain, opening to a three-pointed star and folding to a chevron
• Hardware: brass hinge stamped with the maker's mark, cast-bronze clasps
• Craftsmanship: entirely handmade by Hrachya Ohanyan

What's Included

• Three-sided walnut backgammon board with plain lids
• 48 beech and walnut checkers in three colours — natural, dark and red — with velvet bases
• Dice set cut from billiard balls
• Branded carrying bag cut to the board's shape

Why You'll Love It

• The grain is the ornament: each cover is a single piece of figured walnut under clear varnish — no carving to catch dust, nothing to date it, the figure of the wood doing the work.
• Carved where it counts: the fields are cut from the solid with scalloped rims and petal wheels, so the plain outside opens onto the same carved inside as the ornamented boards.
• Make it theirs: add a name or a date at checkout to mark a birthday, a retirement or years of games together.

Good to Know Before You Buy

Is the plain lid really walnut? Yes — solid walnut, the covers left as the tree made them and varnished clear, so every board's figure is its own. The three fields inside are carved from the solid with their points, petal wheels and scalloped rims. Three-player backgammon is the Armenian game devised in 2007: three colours of checkers, fifteen each, first to bear off wins. Nothing is printed or applied.

What about shipping and returns? Shipping is free to the US, Canada and Europe, always tracked; other countries pay a flat $100 (Brazil, Chile and New Zealand $200). Every set is covered by our 30-day returns policy.

How do I look after it? Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators. Wipe with a dry, soft cloth and store it closed in its carrying bag.

About the Artist - Hrachya Ohanyan

National Master Hrachya Ohanyan began his fine woodcraft in 1985 and founded his workshop in Yerevan in 2010. This board belongs to his collection of wooden backgammon sets, each one made by hand by the craftspeople of that workshop. Read Hrachya Ohanyan's story or explore the full backgammon collection.

Also known as nardi (нарды), nardy, tavla or shesh besh.