Infernai said:
You have been captured by a group of Terrorists/thieves/Space marines/whatever along with over fifty other people, including your family/loved ones. They say that in two hours they will begin to start shooting hostages by the hour every hour until there demands are met OR...until they are beaten by someone in a game.
You decide to take this bet: If you win, you and all the other hostages go free but if you lose you and half the hostages will be killed. As the Terrorists/thieves/Space marines/whatever's lair happens to be filled with a variety of different games (They even offer russian Roulette as an option...because they're crazy like that), they allow you to pick the game to play. But, there is a catch: It is incapable of being any video-game or game that requires a computer screen/television/anything like that.
So..what game would you choose?
Well... it really depends on which group. Terrorists would likely be led by a calculating leader and tactician, so chess, checkers, and backgammon would be leaning less in my favor (regardless of how good I happen to be at them.) Terrorists and thieves would both be apt to cheat horribly, so the card games and battleship are completely out. The only fair chance to beat the terrorists would be pure luck in Russian Roulette (the "last resort" option).
Space Marines, on the other hand, are less likely to be adept at high-strategy games (that doesn't mean they don't have a chess master or strategist among their ranks, but it is less likely). They are also less likely to cheat, but far more skilled at card games (specifically blackjack/poker/whatever). Just because they are unlikely to be highly strategic doesn't mean they wouldn't be, so I would probably take my chances with the "child's card game" or Backgammon over chess or checkers. That way I can combine luck and strategy instead of pure strategy.
Thieves, like the terrorists, would be highly prone to cheating, again leaving out the card games and Battleship. They would also know how (or have on-hand) weighted (cheater's) dice, which leaves Backgammon out. It is unlikely they would be highly tactical, however, as thieves don't tend to think through their actions (relying more on guile, skill, and strength to adapt quickly), so Chess or Checkers (probably chess), would be my choice.
The short version: Don't play the game, play the player.
PS: captcha: "oration couder"... that just sounds wrong.