Backgammon is having a moment. All across the globe, people are huddling around pointed boards and dice. Game sales spiked during the pandemic and have stayed high, and meetups for backgammon showdowns have multiplied in cities from Los Angeles to London. But no city has rolled with it more than New York City, where it’s easy to spot boards everywhere, from parks along the West Side Highway to the Instagram stories of Manhattan influencers.
A lifelong player and entrepreneur, Yazan Assad, decided to channel the backgammon craze into a private Manhattan club called 7 Spring in Nolita (named for the game’s most common roll of two dice). The concept is to bring together a community of devoted backgammon players into a place that celebrates the glamour and history of the game. “Our goal is to make backgammon great again,” he says.
Step into 7 Spring and you know you’re inhabiting rarefied territory. In the front is a café and retail store, open to the public, where visitors can order lattes and browse custom boards. It’s a bright space, done in green and cream with walnut trim, which Assad compares to a Rolex. But in the back is where the real magic happens. Members pass through a pair of double doors shaped like a backgammon board and enter a lounge with burgundy marble, glossy red paint, and dark oak. Tables are built with drawers for drinks and adjustable lights designed to match the size of the board. Servers open the chosen set like wine service, present hot towels, and set cocktails beside the checkers.
Early evenings are devoted to play. There are also lessons, doubles, and tournaments, all while the bar turns out specialty cocktails with nods to the game’s history. Later, the lights dim, a DJ starts spinning, and the space becomes part salon, part party. Assad’s mission is to build a vibrant and stylish community of like-minded backgammon enthusiasts. On one autumn night, during the United Nations General Assembly, he watched this dream come to life. “We had the Prime Minister of Qatar here,” he recalls. “There was an Israeli diplomat, a Persian, and an Arab guest all sitting together in the same room peacefully. That’s the beauty of backgammon—it brings people together.”
The game has been doing that for centuries. Backgammon is among the oldest known board games, with origins tracing back nearly 5,000 years to Mesopotamia. Archaeologists have uncovered versions of the board in ancient Persia and the Roman Empire, and by the Middle Ages, it was being played in coffeehouses and courts across the Middle East and Europe. Unlike chess, which demands genius-like concentration, backgammon has always lent itself to conversation. The roll of the dice introduces an element of luck, but strategy decides the outcome, which makes it as engaging to watch as it is to play. “It’s kind of like a social lubricant as a game,” Assad says. “It’s easy to break the ice by standing over a game, watching, and then introducing yourself.”
Membership at 7 Spring is selective. Locals pay $2,500 annually, international members $1,500, couples $3,222, and women $777. Each member is carefully selected. The idea is not to pack the club with thousands, but to create something intimate.
But once you’re accepted, the perks go well beyond entry to the lounge. Members can play in tournaments, join strategy salons, and sit down for prix fixe dinners catered by New York restaurants. Social nights range from “Play & Pour” evenings to chouettes, the raucous multiplayer format favored by seasoned players. “When members walk in, they scan their card and the host gets a profile that says their name, favorite drink, the table they like, even the board they prefer,” Assad said. “That’s the level of hospitality we want to bring.” And it’s a level the game itself seems to demand. In an age of endless screens and fractured attention, backgammon offers a face-to-face connection that feels rare now. “What’s more stimulating than building a community around the oldest game in the world?” Assad says.
This article originally appeared in Maxim’s Winter 2025 issue.
