Forum Archive : Books

Kershaw: Backgammon Funfair From:   Tom Keith Address:   tom@bkgm.com Date:   9 July 2012 Subject:   Raymond Kershaw's book, Backgammon Funfair Forum:   BGonline At Novi I had a chance to buy a copy of Raymond Kershaw's new book, Backgammon Funfair. (Peter Bennet announced the book on this forum a couple of months ago.) The book was a nice surprise. It's not a standard backgammon book. It's a book of puzzles and mathematical oddities about backgammon. If you are looking for a book to improve your backgammon play, this is not the book for you (although Chapter 47, "Effective Pip Count," does contain the warning: "This Chapter is in danger of being useful."). Many of the curiosities have been written about before, but some of the sources are so obscure that even though I think I'm pretty "aware" of backgammon literature, a lot of them were new to me. Kershaw dug up these unusual facts, organized them, illustrated them, explained them, improved them, and expanded upon them. Then he added a few of his own discoveries. Here are some of the amusing, if not useful, facts found in this book: 1. In bearing off, you would think it is always better to leave one checker rather than two for your final roll. It turns out that's not always the case. 2. Double sixes is not always your best roll when bearing off. 3. There are some positions that have exactly zero equity. The book has all sorts of little tidbits. For example, did you know that hitting four blots in four different quadrants with a single roll is called "picking a four-leaf clover"? And I was surprised to learn that only 0.389% of bearoff positions are gin (cubelessly) for one side or the other. Ray obviously put a lot of work into this project. On the back cover it says "for several decades he has been accumulating much of the material for this book." You can get a sense of the range of material covered by perusing the Table of Contents, which I have compiled here: http://www.bkgm.com/books/Kershaw-BackgammonFunfair.html. In a few cases, I wish there were more explanation about the motivation for a puzzle. For example, Chapter 45 talks about "Count Down" but doesn't explain what that is. Although the book is a little on the expensive side ($35), it is nicely bound, with good paper, and every page is in full color. It's a worthwhile read for anyone that enjoys looking at backgammon from a mathematical and logical perspective, and a unique offering in backgammon literature. Timothy Chow  writes: Tom wrote an excellent review here on BGOnline and I just wanted to add a few comments. I bought Ray's book and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a really splendid collection of backgammon paradoxes and oddities, very attractively printed and organized. There's nothing else like it. If you have enjoyed some of the offbeat backgammon puzzles that appear on BGO from time to time, such as finding the fewest number of rolls to return to the starting position, finding the position with the lowest nonzero winning chances, cataloging Jacoby paradox positions, and so forth, then this book is for you. Tom Keith wrote: > In a few cases, I wish there were more explanation about the motivation > for a puzzle. For example, Chapter 45 talks about "Count Down" but > doesn't explain what that is. This one took me a minute to understand, as well. The number appearing in big boldface type contains the digits from 1 to 9 in descending order. I don't think I would ever have noticed this kind of oddity on my own.   Did you find the information in this article useful?           Do you have any comments you'd like to add?

 

Books

Bagai: Classic Backgammon Revisited  (Gregg Cattanach, Feb 2002) 

Bagai: Classic Backgammon Revisited #100  (Raccoon, Nov 2004) 

Bagai: Classic Backgammon Revisited--Errata  (Jeremy Bagai+, Apr 2005) 

Ball: Alpha Backgammon  (James Takahashi+, May 1994) 

Ballard & Weaver: Backgammon Openings Book A  (Marty Storer, Jan 2008) 

Ballard & Weaver: Backgammon Openings Book A  (Mislav Radica, Nov 2007) 

Ballard & Weaver: Backgammon Openings Book A  (Rob Adams+, Oct 2007) 

Ballard & Weaver: Backgammon Openings Book A  (Gregg Cattanach, Oct 2007) 

Ballard & Weaver: Backgammon Openings Book A  (Neil Kazaross+, Jan 2005) 

Ballard & Weaver: Backgammon Openings--Volunteers needed  (Nack Ballard, June 2007) 

Barr: Barr on Backgammon  (Walter Swan+, Feb 1996) 

Becker: Backgammon for Blood  (Gus, Mar 2003) 

Becker: Backgammon for Blood  (PTaber+, June 1999) 

Becker: Backgammon for Blood  (Michael Fuhrmann, Aug 1997) 

Becker: Backgammon for Blood  (Daniel Murphy, July 1997) 

Becker: Backgammon for Blood  (Durf Freund+, May 1994) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (&Atilda;˜ystein Johansen+, Apr 2006) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (André Nicoulin, Oct 2000) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (David Montgomery, May 1999) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (Peter Bell, Aug 1998) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (Jacques Torrione, Feb 1998) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (Robert Scibelli, Dec 1997) 

Bell: Winning with the Doubling Cube  (Kevin Bastian, Nov 1997) 

Bray: Backgammon for Blood  (Chris Bray, Sept 2007) 

Bray: Backgammon to Win  (Chris Bray, June 2007) 

Bray: Backgammon to Win, second edition  (Chris Bray, Aug 2012) 

Bray: Backgammon--An Independent View  (Chris Bray, May 1998) 

Bray: Backgammon--An Independent View Revisited  (Chris Bray+, Jan 2005) 

Bray: Second Wind  (Chris Bray, May 2007) 

Bray: What Colour is the Wind?  (Chris Bray+, June 2002) 

Bray: What Colour is the Wind?--Rerelease  (Chris Bray, Sept 2006) 

Brooks: Backgammon's Best Openings and Replies  (Chuck Bower+, Dec 2004) 

Clay: Backgammon Winning Strategies  (Michael Strato, Nov 1999) 

Clay: Backgammon Winning Strategies  (Gary Wong, Jan 1998) 

Cooke & Bradshaw: Backgammon--The Cruelest Game  (Chuck Bower+, Aug 1998) 

Cooke & Orléan: Championship Backgammon  (Timothy Chow+, Apr 2011) 

Cooke & Orléan: Championship Backgammon  (Marty Storer, Sept 2004) 

Cooke: Paradoxes and Probabilities  (Neil Kazaross+, Sept 2004) 

Cooke: Paradoxes and Probabilities  (Peter van Arkel+, Sept 2002) 

Cooke: Paradoxes and Probabilities  (Donald Kahn, Dec 1998) 

Cooke: Paradoxes and Probabilities  (Stephen Turner, Apr 1996) 

Corbett: Backgammon Problems  (Stick+, Jan 2008) 

Deyong: The Playboy Book of Backgammon  (Shuman Lloyd Lee, Aug 1991) 

Dwek: Backgammon for Profit  (Bob Stringer, Sept 2002) 

Euler: Everyday Errors in Checker Play  (BaronGossettEulerPhD+, June 2012) 

Garal: Fair Backgammon Tournament Rules  (Jakob Garal, June 2007) 

Heinrich & Woolsey: New Ideas in Backgammon  (Douglas Zare, Mar 2003) 

Heinrich & Woolsey: New Ideas in Backgammon  (Craig E. Groeschel+, Sept 1998) 

Heinrich & Woolsey: New Ideas in Backgammon  (David Montgomery, May 1997) 

Heyken & Fischer: The Backgammon Handbook  (Martin Fischer, Sept 1998) 

Heyken & Fischer: The Backgammon Handbook  (Marina Smith, Feb 1998) 

Hickey & Storer: What's Your Game Plan?  (Timothy Chow, May 2011) 

Jacoby & Crawford: The Backgammon Book  (Patrick Wilken, Aug 1991) 

Kansil: The Backgammon Quiz Book  (Daniel Murphy, July 1997) 

Kansil: The Backgammon Quiz Book--Five problems  (Chuck Bower, Oct 1997) 

Kennedy & Papazian: Backgammon Master Games  (Ben Fairbank+, Apr 1999) 

Kershaw: Backgammon Funfair  (Tom Keith+, July 2012) 

Kershaw: Backgammon Funfair  (Peter Bennet, May 2012) 

Lamford: 100 Backgammon Puzzles  (Harold Simon+, Oct 2001) 

Lamford: 100 Backgammon Puzzles  (Mark Driver, July 2001) 

Lamford: 100 Backgammon Puzzles--Snowie analysis  (Michael Schell, Oct 2001) 

Lamford: Improve Your Backgammon  (Alef Rosenbaum, May 2003) 

Leet: Winning Backgammon  (Ryan Long, Apr 2002) 

Leet: Winning Backgammon  (MW Book Review, July 1999) 

Lortz: Double ... now: An Authentic Cube Remedy  (Chuck Bower+, Jan 2004) 

Mabardi & Luce: Vanity Fair's Backgammon to Win  (Paul Tanenbaum, Feb 1998) 

Magriel: Backgammon  (Baldo+, Mar 2004) 

Magriel: Backgammon  (Neil Kazaross, July 2003) 

Magriel: Backgammon  (Chuck Bower, Nov 1999) 

Magriel: Backgammon  (Dean Gay, Sept 1999) 

Magriel: Backgammon  (David Montgomery+, Aug 1997) 

Magriel: Backgammon--2004 Edition  (Tom Keith+, Dec 2004) 

Magriel: Backgammon--GnuBG evaluations  (Randy, July 2008) 

Martyn: Phillip Martyn on Backgammon  (Steve Brorens+, Nov 1996) 

Munchkin: Gambling Wizards  (Chuck Bower, Aug 2003) 

Obolensky & James: Backgammon the Action Game  (Edward D. Collins+, Oct 1999) 

Reese & Brinig: Backgammon: The Modern Game  (Al Mirpuri+, Sept 2011) 

Robertie: 501 Essential Backgammon Problems  (Paul Epstein, July 2005) 

Robertie: 501 Essential Backgammon Problems  (Albert Silver, Nov 2002) 

Robertie: 501 Essential Backgammon Problems  (Tore Fredriksen, July 2002) 

Robertie: 501 Essential Backgammon Problems  (Erik M Sørensen, May 2000) 

Robertie: 501 Essential Backgammon Problems  (Daniel Hollis, May 2000) 

Robertie: 501 Essential Backgammon Problems #75  (Hardy Hübener+, Nov 2005) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon  (Doni+, Jan 2005) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon  (Scott Steiner+, Sept 2002) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon  (James Eibisch, Jan 1998) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon  (Allen R. Adams, Nov 1995) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon #165  (Peter Grotrian+, Mar 2005) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon--Errata  (Matt Senecal+, Nov 2004) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon--JF rollouts  (Øystein Johansen, June 2001) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon--JF rollouts  (Alexander Nitschke, Feb 1997) 

Robertie: Advanced Backgammon--JF rollouts  (Peter Fankhauser, Jan 1996) 

Robertie: Backgammon for Winners  (Carl Tait, Aug 1998) 

Robertie: Backgammon for Winners  (Gerry Tesauro, Oct 1993) 

Robertie: Modern Backgammon  (Mattias+, Apr 2003) 

Robertie: Modern Backgammon  (Gregg Cattanach, Oct 2002) 

Robertie: Modern Backgammon  (Frank Mazza+, May 2002) 

Robertie: Reno 1986  (AH+, Aug 2007) 

Shiina: Cube Action 1000  (Mochy, Feb 2013) 

Steed: Backgammon: The Meanest Game  (Albert Steg, Aug 1998) 

Stern: Backgammon: The Quick Course to Winning Play  (Mark Driver, May 2001) 

Storer: Backgammon Praxis  (Chase+, Apr 2007) 

Storer: Backgammon Praxis  (Marty Storer+, May 2004) 

Thorne's Backgammon Tactics (Reprint)  (Sam Sloan, July 2012) 

Tremaine: Amazing Book of Backgammon  (Jim Wallace, Feb 1998) 

Trice: Backgammon Boot Camp--2nd edition  (Jeremy Bagai+, June 2007) 

Tzannes brothers: Backgammon Games and Strategies  (Mark Driver, Apr 2001) 

Tzannes brothers: Backgammon Games and Strategies  (Albert Steg, May 1994) 

Tzannes brothers: How Good Are You at Backgammon?  (Mark Driver, July 2001) 

Wiggins: Boards, Blots, and Double Shots  (Ned Cross+, Mar 2004) 

Williams: Backgammon Live in London  (Sean Williams+, June 2008) 

Woolsey & Beadles: 52 Great Backgammon Tips  (Paul Epstein+, Dec 2007) 

Woolsey & Beadles: 52 Great Backgammon Tips  (Mislav Radica+, Oct 2007) 

Woolsey & Jones: Understanding Backgammon  (Jon Nall+, Feb 2004) 

Woolsey: How to Play Tournament Backgammon  (John Bazigos, Oct 1994) 

Woolsey: The Backgammon Encyclopedia Vol 1  (Dean Gay+, Feb 2004) 

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