Dal Rossi Italy Walnut Backgammon with Handle 15"

The board you leave out on the table, not the one you put away in a cupboard.

Dal Rossi Italy have been making traditional games since the 1980s and this is the range they're known for: a walnut case with the grain running visibly across it, an integrated handle on the outside, and the whole thing closing into something that looks more like a piece of luggage than a board game. Open it and the playing surface is the classic alternating points, with felt beneath the checkers.

15 inches is the travelling size — large enough that the checkers are properly weighted and the dice have room to run, small enough to carry to somebody else's house without it being an event. Backgammon itself takes about ten minutes to learn and considerably longer to get good at, which is why sets like this tend to get handed down rather than replaced. Storage compartments hold the checkers, dice and doubling cube.

Perfect for: Anyone who has played backgammon on a folding cardboard set and worked out that the board is half the pleasure.

2 players | 15" walnut case with handle | Checkers, dice and doubling cube included