|
I am an intermediate player, so my opinions may not be as useful to
you as those you might get from more advanced players, but for what
they are worth:
Magriel's "Backgammon" is an excellent book for players of all levels.
It does a fine job of communicating the fundamentals of sound
Backgammon play. I have read it many times: first, to become familiar
with the concepts; later, to reinforce those concepts and to learn how
to put them into practice; and continually, to maintain the
fundamental ideas upon which the overwhelming majority of BG decisions
are built.
That being said, I would not look to "Backgammon" to bridge the gap
between intermediate and expert play. The difference between a "good
player" and a "great player" is very subtle: I would guess that close
to 90% of the time the "good player" and the "great player" will make
the same over-the-board decisions. I don't think Magriel's book
provides a great deal of incite into how to handle the remaining 10%
of the situations we encounter. (I do not consider this a failing;
this is a book about fundamentals and priorities, not an examination
of the most intricate aspects of the game). For example, a key
component to top-level play is the proper use of the cube, a subject
on which "Backgammon" is all but silent. There are other books, like
Robertie's "Advanced Backgammon," which explore cube decisions and
many of the more subtle aspects of checker play in much more depth.
If you are serious about becoming an "expert," I would suggest reading
some of these more "advanced" books (there are reviews of many BG
books on Stephen Turner's fine BG page:
http://www.gamesdomain.com/backgammon/). I would also recommend that
you purchase one of the fine BG study and analysis software programs,
such as Snowie and Jellyfish (links to information on these programs
can also be found on Stephen's page at the address above).
Finally, not to ignore your actual question, the sections of Magriel's
"Backgammon" which I found the most helpful are Chapter 16, "Safe Play
vs. Bold Play," and Chapter 20, "Golden Point."
Hope this helps,
__
dmg
|
![[GammOnLine forum]](pics/GammOnLine.gif)
![[Long message]](pics/Long.gif)
![[Recommended reading]](pics/Star2.gif)
Recommended reading
![[Recent addition]](pics/New.gif)
Recent addition