Book Suggestions

Forum Archive : Book Suggestions

 
Annotated matches

From:   Walter Trice
Address:   wgt@world.std.com
Date:   6 January 2000
Subject:   Re: Which book next?
Forum:   rec.games.backgammon
Google:   FnwK4x.EJy@world.std.com

Alan Webb wrote:
> I'm the proud owner of several bg books. Magriel's "backgammon"; Roberties
> "..for beginners",".. for serious players" and "Advanced Backgammon Vol.1"
> and Kit woolseys "New ideas in backgammon."
>
> I'm now at a stage where I need to go deeper into a top players thought
> processes and was wondering if there are any good annotated matches in
> book form rather than isolated position books. Ideal would be a book full
> of reasons why a move is made. I believe there is a book with a Joe Dwek
> match or something like that. Can anyone recommend a book of this kind
> for a strongish intermediate?

In addition to the Woolsey/Heinrich MatchQiz (some available in book form)
there are:

Robertie's "Reno '86" -- probably the best match book ever, and Robertie's
best book. Bill's first book was also a match annotation: "Lee Genud vs.
Joe Dwek: The 1981 World Championship of Backgammon." The play and the
analysis is a bit old at this point, but still worth some study.

The "Costa Rica '93/'94" books -- very thorough/accurate analysis &
reasonably well written. A brand new book by the same authors (Ortega &
Kleinman) has just come out: "Jerry Grandell: His Most Important Matches".
I haven't seen it, but I don't doubt that it sustains the quality of the
Costa Rica books.

Roy Friedman's "World Class Backgammon" -- Roy has some ideas you won't
find anywhere else, especially in regards to tailoring checker play to
match score.

Kent Goulding's "Backgammon with the Champions" series -- long out of
print, hard to find, and a bit outdated, but Kent gives you great insight
into how the experts think.

Danny Kleinman's books -- most contain an annotated match or 2. In spite of
the fact that Kleinman never was a great player and there are a fair number
of errors in his analyses, his explanations of the tactical nuances of
checker play are outstanding.

Someone mentioned Barclay Cooke's "Championship Backgammon" -- don't
bother. Cooke was a hopeless player and his books are riddled with major
misconceptions about backgammon strategy. Historical interest only.

For an ambitious intermediate, I'd recommend Goulding first, then Robertie,
then Woolsey/Heinrich, then the Ortega (Costa Rica) books, with the others
as 'extra credit' supplements.

-- Walter Trice
 
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Book Suggestions

After Magriel  (Robert-Jan Veldhuizen+, Aug 2000) 
Annotated matches  (Walter Trice, Jan 2000) 
Best books from the bot era  (Chuck Bower+, Nov 2007) 
Best next step  (Gregg Cattanach+, July 2002) 
Bibliography  (Carl Tait, Apr 2000)  [Long message]
Books for advanced players  (Edward D. Collins, June 2003) 
Books for serious players  (Douglas Zare, Feb 2003) 
Books on match play  (Keene Marin+, Sept 2005)  [GammOnLine forum]
Buyer's guide  (Chuck Bower, Feb 1998) 
How to read backgammon books  (Gary Wong, Jan 1998) 
Ideal book on backgammon  (Laury Chizlett, Apr 2000) 
Informal book survey  (Chuck Bower+, Dec 2005)  [GammOnLine forum]
John Bazigos's suggestions  (Mika Johnsson, July 1993) 
Magriel, Robertie, and Kleinman  (Gregg Cattanach, May 2000) 
Marty Storer's reading list  (Larry Hunter, May 1992) 
Recommended Backgammon Books  (Butch Meese, Jan 1984) 
Survey of some available books  (William Hill, Jan 1998) 
Three underrated books  (Mary Hickey, July 2003)  [GammOnLine forum]
What's a good second book?  (Tommy+, Dec 2000) 
Which book by Chris Bray should I buy?  (Timothy Chow+, July 2012) 

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