Armenian Ornaments Backgammon Set for Three Players, 40 cm

Armenian Ornaments Backgammon Set for Three Players, 40 cm by Hrachya Ohanyan

A game for three with an Armenian rosette on every side: a flower of leaves and scrolls drawn on a pale disc on each leaf, pale scrolls in the corners. This is the 40 cm / 15.7″ Armenian wooden backgammon set for three players made by Hrachya Ohanyan. Plywood and beech, 48 checkers in three colours, dice, carrying bag.

This is the board for the three-way household — two parents and the teenager who wants in — and the club night that ends up with a spare player. The mid-size board: each of the three leaves carries twelve points and a petal wheel, and hinged together they open into a star round a central bar where all three colours meet. The ornament is line work on bare discs — a many-petalled flower in a wreath of curling leaves — with acanthus scrolls drawn in the corners of every leaf.

It folds to a chevron the size of an atlas, with cast clasps and the maker's stamped hinge, and slips into a bag cut to its shape. Three-player backgammon is an Armenian invention — Nerses Nersesyan, 2007 — and this is the size that plays on a table without crowding the third player. For the summer house, the youth club, and the family that stopped taking turns to sit out.

Specifications

• Size open: three leaves of about 40 × 20 cm / 15.7″ × 7.9″ meeting at the centre in a three-pointed star
• Size folded: 40 × 40 × 3 cm / 15.7″ × 15.7″ × 1.2″ — a chevron, three leaves stacked
• Material: plywood and beech, stained walnut brown and varnished, the discs, scrolls and pale points left bare
• Decoration: an Armenian rosette — a many-petalled flower in a wreath of curling leaves — in line work on a bare disc on each of the three leaves; pale acanthus scrolls in line work in the corners; pale drop-tipped points and a petal wheel in line work on each of the three fields inside
• 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 backgammon board with Armenian ornament in line work on each leaf
• 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

• Three fields, one star: each player has a full field of twelve points, and the three meet at a central bar — a real three-way game, not two players and a referee.
• Mid-size, three seats: bigger than the pocket board, smaller than the full-size one — it seats three round a café table and still folds into a bag.
• 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 this the same as ordinary backgammon? Same dice, same points, same bearing off — but three players, each with fifteen checkers of one colour (natural, dark or red), racing round a three-sided field that meets at the centre. The rules are the Armenian ones, devised in 2007. The rosettes, scrolls, petal wheels and points are cut in line work into the pale-and-stained wood, and the board is varnished. 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.