redsales: I'll be happy enough with the ladders too but I can't agree with likening the cube to minor additions to the moves in chess.

There might be similarities in the rationale behind their origins but after that the comparison breaks down. The cube requires additional skills. Gaining true expertise with the cube is more of a challenge that attaining the same level in chequer play, I would suggest. The en passant and castling rules hardly stretch the chess mind in a new direction.

frolind, alanback: Saying that cubeless backgammon is a subset of cubeful backgammon is the same as saying that hurdles is a subset of sprinting. It may be true but nobody thinks of them as being comparable. The are treated as separate events.