Backgammon Book Suggestions

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 Kent Goulding's "Backgammon with the Champions" series -- long out of print, hard to find, and a bit outdated, but Kent gives you great insight into how the experts think.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