Olive Wood Backgammon

This year, on PC, I have played online games such as Dota 2, Black Myth: Wukong, and rarely Red Alert 2.

When it comes to offline games, I played chess and backgammon. I learned backgammon from a neighbor near my grandparent’s home. Chess I learned from a neighbor near my mother’s home. Both of these games I learned when I was around 12 years old, and play them since, but rarely in the last few years. This month, I decided to order a new backgammon and chess made of olive wood, and I want to share the places where I ordered them due to their very good quality. I want to share two shops:

• Tamplaru cu Radio (Romania): I saw some videos on TikTok and Facebook about them selling the backgammon game in different wood types, and I liked the olive wood one, so I ordered it. It came from Romania, so it took 5 days to arrive in Germany. The price, including transport, was 500 €. The backgammon set was sealed in polystyrene and wrapped in a black plastic cover. It arrived safely, but the package didn’t look that great. Inside the backgammon is a blue plastic bag containing all the backgammon olive wood pieces and two sets of dice (small and big; I like to use the bigger dice while playing).
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  
• MadeOfOliveWood (Greece): I was searching on Etsy for some good quality olive wood backgammon, but then I saw that they have the chess and backgammon together as a set, so I ordered this one instead of just their olive wood backgammon. It also came from Greece in just 5 days. The price, including transport, was 289 €, almost half the price of the product from Romania. This product from Greece was packed much nicer and it contained not just one but two bags of a better material (not plastic), 2 holders for dice, one set of dice, a flyer telling you how to play chess and backgammon, and a small gift made of wood with a magnet that one can hang on the fridge.
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

As you can see in the pictures (the people from Greece forgot to put the olive chess pieces in the package; this is why they do not appear in the photographs; however, after contacting them, they apologized and told me they would send the olive chess pieces separately asap), both products look very similar. However, one big difference I felt is that the product from Greece is smoother to the touch, both outside and inside, when I move my fingers on it. On the other hand, I like the product from Romania more in terms of the nicer, darker contrast olive wood design.

Both are beautiful (Tamplaru cu Radio’s backgammon is my favorite, mainly for the interior design of the board; I prefer Tamplaru cu Radio’s black-white arrows more than MadeOfOliveWood’s black-red arrows).

If you are tight on budget and would like to buy just the backgammon, I would say go for this olive wood backgammon from Greece, as it would cost you only 240 €, including transport. However, if your budget is not limited, I would say go for the inside design of the olive wood backgammon from Tamplaru cu Radio. If you want a set for both backgammon and chess, choose the olive wood backgammon and chess set from Greece, as Tamplaru cu Radio doesn’t currently have such a set. Enjoy!

Later Edit: MadeOfOliveWood’s olive wood chess pieces also arrived after almost two weeks. Thanks to the olive wood, they are pleasant to the touch, and the bags include an extra Queen for each color, as you can see in the pictures below. Now, the backgammon and chess set is complete, with two bags of backgammon and two bags of chess pieces.