Men play backgammon near colorful murals painted by artist Fares Shamou Bibani on the walls of houses, in Mosul, Iraq, November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily 

A man and a woman play backgammon at Somar Hazim's cafe in Damascus, Syria July 31, 2022. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar 

Men play backgammon at the old city during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Tripoli, Libya April 5, 2022. Picture taken April 5, 2022. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed 

Two estate agents play backgammon in front of their office in Istanbul, Turkey October 15, 2021. Picture taken October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya 

Men play backgammon in Salt, Jordan as UNESCO lists it as a World Heritage Site, July 31, 2021. Picture taken July 31, 2021. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni 

Egyptian transgender man Mohamed Fathallah plays backgammon with friends near his home in Cairo, Egypt October 19, 2020. Picture taken October 19, 2020. REUTERS/Rania Gomaa 

Shadi Abdullah Khalid, a Syrian refugee, plays backgammon with his neighbours, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Qushtapa camp, in Erbil, Iraq, June 17, 2020. Picture taken June 17, 2020. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari 

Israelis play backgammon by the shore of the Mediterranean sea in Tel Aviv as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease in Israel May 21, 2020 REUTERS/ Amir Cohen 

Demonstrators play backgammon during an anti-government protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho 

Palestinian refugees play a game of backgammon at a cafe in the Baladiyat neighbourhood of Baghdad, Iraq December 16, 2018. Picture taken December 16, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani 

Men play backgammon on a street in Tkibuli, Georgia, July 13, 2018. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili SEARCH "GEORGIA MINE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Elderly men compete in a backgammon at a park in the city centre of Salt city, Jordan October 13, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed 

Elderly men compete in a backgammon at a park in the city centre of Salt city, Jordan October 13, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed 

Elderly men compete in a backgammon at a park in the city centre of Salt city, Jordan October 13, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed 

Elderly men compete in a backgammon at a park in the city centre of Salt city, Jordan October 13, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed 

Israeli soldiers sit at their post as they play backgammon near the Israeli side of the Israel - Gaza border, Israel August 15, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen 

Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (L) plays against member of Knesset Amir Peretz (R) during a backgammon tournament organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to enhance ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Players participate in a backgammon tournament organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to enhance ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Israeli member of Knesset Yehuda Glick (L) plays against member of Knesset Aliza Lavie (R) during a backgammon tournament organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to enhance ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Israeli member of Knesset Oren Hazan kisses a trophy after winning a backgammon tournament organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to enhance ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Players participate in a backgammon tournament organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to enhance ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Men play backgammon in a coffee shop in the old city of Nicosia, Cyprus July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou 

Arab and Jewish players compete in a backgammon championship organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in Jerusalem February 27, 2017. Picture taken February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

A man and woman compete in a backgammon championship organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in Jerusalem February 27, 2017. Picture taken February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Palestinian men dance to Arabic Debke music during a backgammon championship organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in Jerusalem February 27, 2017. Picture taken February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

A woman dances as Arab and Jewish players compete in a backgammon championship organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in Jerusalem February 27, 2017. Picture taken February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Palestinians practice the Brazilian martial art of Capoeria during a backgammon championship organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in Jerusalem February 27, 2017. Picture taken February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Arab and Jewish players compete in a backgammon championship organised by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities, in Jerusalem February 27, 2017. Picture taken February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad 

Syrian swimmer Baean Jouma (R) plays backgammon with her mother inside her hotel room in Damascus, Syria July 24, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki SEARCH "SYRIANS OLYMPICS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES
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Syrian swimmer Baean Jouma (R) plays backgammon with her mother inside her hotel room in Damascus, Syria July 24, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki SEARCH "SYRIANS OLYMPICS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Palestinian people play a game of backgammon at a cafe in the Baladiyat neighbourhood of Baghdad January 30, 2016. Picture taken January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily 

Palestinian people play a game of backgammon at a cafe in the Baladiyat neighbourhood of Baghdad January 30, 2016. Picture taken January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily 

Shop vendors play backgammon in front of their shop in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, a popular destination for German tourists, in Turkey, January 14, 2016. REUTERS/Kaan Soyturk 

Israeli naval officers play backgammon as they take a break during a drill aboard an Israeli corvette military vessel on international waters May 13, 2015. U.S., Greek and Israeli navies took part in "Noble Dina", a two-week long trilateral naval exercise focusing on maritime cooperation between the participating nations. Picture taken May 13, 2015. REUTERS/Amir Cohen 

Residents play backgammon in a coffee shop in Damascus September 23, 2014. Syria said on Tuesday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had told the Damascus government that the United States and its allies were about to attack Islamist fighters in Syria, hours before the air strikes took place. Damascus, which had said any air strikes on Syria must have its approval, did not condemn the attacks launched by the United States with the help of Gulf states and Jordan against Islamic State and al Qaeda-affiliated militants. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) 

An Israeli soldier checks his weapon as others play backgammon in a staging area outside the Gaza Strip July 21, 2014. Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinian militants who slipped across the border from Gaza through hidden tunnels on Monday, the military said, as the death toll from the two-week conflict passed 500 amid growing international calls for an end. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT) 

Israeli soldiers play backgammon in a staging area outside the Gaza Strip July 21, 2014. Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinian militants who slipped across the border from Gaza through hidden tunnels on Monday, the military said, as the death toll from the two-week conflict passed 500 amid growing international calls for an end. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT) 

Two men play backgammon next to a wall with graffiti in a parking lot in Athens June 21, 2014. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis (GREECE - Tags: SOCIETY) 

Men play backgammon in a Greek coffee shop in the village of Pyla in the Larnaca District of Cyprus March 11, 2014. It is one of the only four villages located within the United Nations (U.N.) buffer zone and has a mixed community with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots living side by side. This year marks 40 years since the Cyprus National Guard staged a coup in Cyprus and the subsequent Turkish military intervention, which escalated a civil war between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the island. After the ceasefire, a heavily restricted U.N.-controlled buffer zone between the north and south of the island was put into operation. It stretches 180 km (112 miles) across the whole island measuring 7.4 km (4.6 miles) at its widest and 3.3 m (11 feet) at its narrowest point. It is restricted to the general public and no Greek or Turkish Cypriots are allowed inside. Picture taken March 11, 2014. REUTERS/Neil Hall (CYPRUS - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY) 

Men play backgammon in Sochi's Adler district October 17, 2013. Picture taken October 17, 2013. REUTERS/Thomas Peter (RUSSIA - Tags: SPORT OLYMPICS) 

Free Syrian Army fighters play backgammon in the old city of Aleppo September 29, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) 

Men play backgammon after watching the telecast of Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's speech at a cafe in Cairo August 18, 2013. Sisi, said in a speech to military and police officers on Sunday that his message to the supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi is that "there is room for everyone in Egypt". But in his first public comments since last week's security crackdown on Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, he also warned that anyone who resorts to violence would not be tolerated. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) 

Oil worker Namik Aliyev (L) plays backgammon with his co-worker Mubariz Sadikhov after work on an oil platform in the Caspian Sea, about 100 km (62 miles) east of Baku, January 22, 2013. Aliyev, 32, like the country of Azerbaijan itself, has oil in his blood. His father and grandfather both worked in oil production, an industry which dates back to the 19th century in Azerbaijan and contributes more than half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Picture taken January 22, 2013. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili (AZERBAIJAN - Tags: ENERGY ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS SOCIETY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 14 OF 26 FOR PACKAGE 'OIL IN THE BLOOD'
SEARCH 'BAKU OIL' FOR ALL IMAGES 

An organizer moves a dice on a giant board as people play a game of backgammon on the beach in Tel Aviv July 2, 2012. The board is the largest in Israel and was set up as part of a beach festival taking place at Israeli beaches. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: SOCIETY) 

An inmate creates a wooden backgammon set at a workshop, located inside a maximum security penal male colony, near Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, June 4, 2012. Prisoners with special skills and knowledge create carved and wattled wooden gifts for sale in city souvenir shops. Each fully hand-made product is unique and will find a ready market, according to representatives of the prison. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY CRIME LAW) 

An inmate (R) creates a wooden backgammon set at a workshop, located inside a maximum security penal male colony, near Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, June 4, 2012. Prisoners with special skills and knowledge create carved and wattled wooden gifts for sale in city souvenir shops. Each fully hand-made product is unique and will find a ready market, according to representatives of the prison. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY CRIME LAW) 

Men play backgammon outside a second hand hardware shop in Potsdamer Street in Berlin, May 24, 2012. A shabby area of Berlin notorious for its curb-crawling prostitutes and drug dealers is recovering some of the Bohemian allure of its glory days in the 1920s as low rents and its central location lure art galleries. To go with story GERMANY-BERLIN/ART REUTERS/Thomas Peter (GERMANY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY) 

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iranian traders play backgammon as they sit outside a shop in Isfahan's handmade carpet market, 450 km (280 miles) south of Tehran November 14, 2011. Persian carpet weaving is a historical part of Iranian culture, dating back to as far as approximately 2,000 years ago. Persian carpets can be mostly divided into three size groups: large (3x4 metres), medium (2x3 metres) and small (1x1.5 metres), which is called Ghaliche. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS TEXTILE) 

A regular customer of Beirut's iconic cafe Gemmayzeh, also known as "ahwet al-Ezez", plays backgammon during a farewell to the cafe organized by the "Save Beirut Heritage" group, in Beirut January 5, 2011. The cafe shuts its door after 90 years after losing a legal battle with the owner of its building. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam (LEBANON - Tags: SOCIETY) 

Regular customers of Beirut's iconic cafe Gemmayzeh, also known as "ahwet al-Ezez", prepare to play a backgammon game during a farewell to the cafe organized by the "Save Beirut Heritage" group, in Beirut January 5, 2011. The cafe shuts its door after 90 years after losing a legal battle with the owner of its building. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam (LEBANON - Tags: SOCIETY) 

Palestinians play backgammon in an alley in Jerusalem's Old City September 14, 2010. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: SOCIETY) 

Men play backgammon on the streets in a public coffee shop decorated for Ramadan in Cairo September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih(EGYPT - Tags: SOCIETY) 

Men play backgammon as they rest at a cafe in Taksim street in Istanbul September 22, 2009. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (TURKEY SOCIETY) 

Men play backgammon in a park in Tehran June 9, 2009. Iranians vote on Friday in the 10th presidential election since the 1979 Islamic revolution which toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Three decades after the revolution, Reuters invited some older Iranians who witnessed the Shah's overthrow to look back at the changes they have lived through. To match feature IRAN-ELECTION/REVOLUTION REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN POLITICS ELECTIONS) 

Syrian men play backgammon in the old city of Damascus May 11,2009. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (SYRIA SOCIETY) 

Residents play a game of backgammon at a cafe as Iraqi soldiers patrol around in Baghdad's al-Fadhil district April 2, 2009. A wave of arrests of Sunni Arab guards in a Baghdad district has spooked other units who helped rid the capital of al Qaeda, and who fear the Shi'ite-led government is out to get them for their Sunni insurgent past. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS SOCIETY) 

U.S. entrepreneur Charles Simonyi plays backgammon at Baikonur cosmodrome March 21, 2009. Simonyi, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt are scheduled to fly to the International Space Station on March 26, 2009. REUTERS/Sergei Remezov (KAZAKHSTAN SCI TECH TRAVEL POLITICS BUSINESS) 

Israeli soldiers play backgammon in Kibbutz Nir Am January 19, 2009. Israeli forces were pulling out of the Gaza Strip on Monday following a tentative truce with Hamas that allowed Palestinians to take stock of the devastating three-week war. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL) 

EDITORIAL USE ONLY - NO COMMERCIAL OR BOOK SALES. Israeli army tank crew members play backgammon near the Sufa border crossing just outside the Gaza Strip
June 19, 2008. Israel and Hamas halted fighting in the Gaza Strip on Thursday but, with peace prospects dim, both sides voiced doubt over how long the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire might hold. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (ISRAEL) 

Palestinians play backgammon inside Shatila refugee camp in Beirut May 14, 2008. Lebanon's cabinet was expected on Wednesday to cancel measures it took against Hezbollah that triggered fighting during which the Iranian-backed movement briefly took over parts of Beirut, political sources said. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj (LEBANON)