Trictrac

Trictrac is a French board game of skill and chance for two players that is played with dice on a game board similar, but not identical, to that of backgammon. It was "the classic tables game" of France in the way that backgammon is in the English-speaking world.
Trictrac's gaming interest lies in its multiple combinations, the importance of decision-making and its comprehensive rules which have been well documented and remained stable since the early 17th century. It requires constant attention from the players whether or not it is their turn. Its vocabulary, which is very rich, frequently occurs in French literature.
The object of the game is not to get out the men as quickly as possible as in jacquet or backgammon, but to score as many points as possible. The game usually ends before all the men have been borne off.

History

Trictrac was very popular in France at the royal court and in aristocratic circles in the 17th and 18th centuries. It experienced a renaissance during the Restoration before almost disappearing at the end of the 19th century. It was one of a family of games of skill and chance that included backgammon, then known in France as tous tables, and jacquet, which was much simpler and did not appear until around 1800.
H. J. R. Murray notes trictrac's resemblance to the Spanish laquet in that neither game features captures of opponent pieces.
The oldest treatise on trictrac was written in 1634 by Jollivet, a lawyer at the Parlement of Paris, in order to standardise its rules which had hitherto been handed on by oral tradition. Since then, the rules have remained very stable as evinced by the treatises in the [|bibliography], only minor changes having been made. One author noted this as early as 1818: "It is common knowledge that it has been played as it is now being played for 150 years, without its rules having undergone significant variations."
The last major treatise was published in 1852.

Origin

The main sources for determining the origin of trictrac are the treatises published since the 17th century:
Jollivet, in the earliest treatise on the history of the game knew nothing about its age or country of origin:
The anonymous author of the second book on trictrac, published by Charpentier cites two possible countries, France and Germany as its origin and comes down in favour of France:
Soumille and Fallavel do not tackle the subject nor do Guiton or Lelasseux-Lafosse who wrote the last major treatise in 1852.
Lepeintre, without providing a source, advances the proposition that trictrac was introduced into France at the beginning of the 16th century:
The treatises on the game do not go back before the early 17th century and searches of the literature are hampered by the fact that the word trictrac was also given to the board used for all tables games and modern versions of ancient texts have the word trictrac when it did not exist in the originals. Any search on the word trictrac in its different spellings must be accompanied by that of expressions specific to the game.
A poem entitled La Friquassée crotestyllonnée, des antiques modernes chansons, the preface of which is dated 1557, notably takes up, sometimes playing on words, a large number of expressions of children's games, practised at the time in Rouen, three of which are also typical of the game of trictrac:
However, these expressions were very common at that time, so the reference to trictrac is not certain. In addition, in 1907 a book was published bringing together in particular group games still played in the Normandy bocage, including the one entitled "Petit jean, Gros Jean, et Margot la fendue" which was played with three counters of wood, one small, one longer and another fork-shaped, and which could well correspond to the one quoted in La Friquassée crotestyllonnée of 1557.

Tic-tac

or tick-tack is a game very close to trictrac, using some of its characteristic situations and features. The movement rules for the men are less restrictive, and points are not scored. As soon as a player achieves a winning game situation that player wins the partie. It is thus a very fast game, a few minutes to a quarter of an hour of playing time, favouring bets and raising.
Jollivet gives it the name of petit Tricque-trac and in contrast that of grand Tricque-trac to trictrac. He also writes that the former was not played by the French. It appears to have been played mainly in England where two authors give rules for it in the middle of the 17th century. Despite the obvious family link between the two games, no source confirms that tic-tac is either the precursor of trictrac or its successor.

Spelling and etymology

The French word trictrac has been variously spelt: tricque-trac, trique-trac, triquetrac, trictrac and, more rarely, tric trac or tric-trac. Nowadays, only the last three spellings are used, the others having long since fallen into disuse.
As for etymology, today it is widely believed that the word trictrac is an onomatopoeia, but this is not universally accepted. Jollivet considers that the word trictrac is an onomatopoeia before asking the reader to be satisfied with this linguistic origin since "the subject is a game and not a science":
The anonymous author of the second treatise, published by Charpentier, prefers a Greek origin, more noble and learned:
Soumille, quoting the leading lexicographers, affirms that the word "trictrac" is an onomatopoeia:
Fallavel is the most direct: "the game draws its name from the noise we make while playing it."
Guiton does not address the subject, while Lepeintre initially distances himself from the name being an onomatopoeia before adopting it:
Lelasseux-Lafosse, polytechnique lecturer and author of the last important treatise of the 19th century, quotes the two hypotheses previously put forward without taking sides:
In conclusion, there is nothing to support either thesis. While the one on Greek origin appears complex, that of onomatopoeia, although attractive, appears equally uncertain. However, another old meaning of the word trictrac tends to reinforce the onomatopoeia hypothesis, it being also a 17th century name for a driven hunt:

Gaming material

The equipment needed to play comprises:

A board, similar to that of backgammon, but with twenty-four holes drilled in the rails forming the longer edges of the board at the base of each of the twenty-four points and three more holes in each end rail of the board. The players' side rails each have twelve holes, the end rails only three. The centre bar of the board between the left and right halves is known as the 'bridge' ;
Fifteen black counters and fifteen white counters called "men" in English sources;
Two dice and two dice cups ;
Three identical counters, called jetons of which one is called the bredouille ;
Two pegs which progress along the twelve holes of the side rails; and either
A small flag called the pavilion or
A counter identical to the jetons but pierced with a hole large enough to accommodate the fichet, called a necktie.

The board also bears the name of trictrac. The French word table was originally used to designate a man in the game. The name dame became commonplace during the 17th century but that of table remained in several expressions in the game.
It is to be noted that for certain alternative betting systems for trictrac, the use of both pavilion and necktie is mandated; for standard twelve-hole trictrac, one or the other will do. It is also suggested in a number of the treatises that money is acceptable for the jetons and necktie.

Rules

Preparation

The allocation of the men and seating may be by mutual agreement or drawing lots. Once those are decided, the players place their men in three or four piles on their talon on their own side of the board. The player whose talon is to the right moves the men clockwise; the other player moves them anticlockwise. Each player places a peg in the hole in the end rail nearest the talon. The flag goes in the hole in the middle, between the two pegs. The three holes in the opposite end rail are not used. The three jetons are lined up against the end rail between the two talons.

Vocabulary

Numbering of points
The twelve points in front of each player are conventionally numbered: T, and then 1 to 11. Other schemes have been devised to try and make it easier to describe game situations.
Names of points
Certain points have been given names:

point T: talon;
point 5: bourgeois corner;
point 6: sometimes also called bourgeois corner;
point 7: devil's point;
point 10: schoolboy's point;
point 11: rest corner.

Ordinary and return runs
The men travel a circuit, first along the player's side of the board from the talon to the rest corner, then along the opponent's, or adverse, side from the adverse rest corner to the adverse talon, before being borne off the board. Each half of the route has a name:

Ordinary run : the movement of men along the home side of the board from the talon to the rest corner;
Return run : the movement of men along the adverse side of the board from the adverse rest corner to the adverse talon. As soon as a player moves a man onto the opponent's half of the board, that man is on the return run and is said to be 'heading for home'.

To make a point, a half-point, a builder

To make a point: to have a minimum of two men on the same point. A 'full point' occupied in this way is invulnerable;
To make a half-point: to have a single man on a point. A half-point is vulnerable;
Builder : any additional man added to a full point. A point can hold up to thirteen builders.

Divisions of the board
Each side of a trictrac board has two quadrants or quarters. Each player thus has two home quarters called the:

Petit Jan: the side with points from T to 5;
Grand Jan: the side with points from 6 to 11.