I got a little into Scrabble, maybe good enough to enter competitions, but It's a smaller world than chess even, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend my time studying word lists. Besides, I thought I should have been a better anagrammer to bother.
What other board games do you enjoy playing, besides chess?
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I only play go besides chess and didn't play since a long time, having been taught by a friend who is now in another country. I do know scrabble, the basic idea, but not how to count points... that's about it.
Backgammon is a great game, but it is very difficult to find a good game lately. Back in the '80s when Cafe Wien in Johannesburg was still a place you could safely go to, there were dozens of players, 24/7. I always thought chess players picked up on it pretty well, and made good BG players.
Nowadays, I hang out in Greek restaurants, hoping some friends of the owner will pitch up with a board and allow me to join in. The added advantage is that Greek food is great, and they make the best coffee in the world :)
I love backgammon, almost as much as chess. Backgammon can often be a lot more exciting than chess. It's not as deep, of course, but there is more too it than most people realize. It's a game of skill, just like chess is. (Yes, luck can play a part, but not over the long run. In a long match, the better player will win.)
One of these days I'd like to enter a backgammon tournament, just for the experience. A few years ago there was one held here in Los Angeles, and I went to hang out there for awhile. I noticed it was a lot more laid out and relaxed than all of my chess tournaments.
I own more than 40 books on backgammon.
I enjoy playing a LOT of other board games, besides chess. Backgammon, Havannah, Twixt, Scrabble, Amazons, Hex, Connect 4 (8x8) are just a few.
What are some of your favorites?