As interest in traditional board games rises across the country, a thriving backgammon club is recruiting new members and sparking romance.

Gerald and Rosemary Whitehouse are rolling the dice for new members at the sociable and competitive Tavistock Backgammon Club.

The club is so popular it meets three times a week at two different locations and features on the menu sheet at the Market Inn where members take over the venue on Wednesday evenings. Meanwhile, about 40 members play when they take over the larger Tavistock Golf Club on Wednesday mornings and evenings.

The couple first formed the Tavistock club first and were surprised at how popular the game was in a small town. They formed an evening session for more experienced players and a daytime one for beginners and the less experienced.

The pair are UK backgammon team players and play seriously and for fun.

Rosemary said: “It is a friendly game for friendly people. I was attracted to it because it is a game of strategy and exciting. I look at it as having your own battlefield on a table and making you think about how you deploy your soldiers to get the most of them.

“But you are still at the mercy of the dice, which adds to the jeopardy, no matter how good you are at the strategic thinking. One throw of the dice can seal your fate badly or it can make your fortune. Players have to make the best with what the dice throws up for you and what you have been dealt.”

Gerald said: “Backgammon brings people together and many friendships and even two romances have developed over the board with one pair in their 80s and another in their 50s, with at least one couple planning a wedding.”

Gerald or Rosemary Whitehouse can be contacted on 07767 756736.