Customer Reviews

501 Essential Backgammon Problems

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I start to read Bill Robertie's latest book, 501 Essential Backgammon Problems, I am informed in the preface that he is the world's best backgammon player. So far so good.

For those of you unaware, Robertie, former two time world champion, has already written many books on backgammon and together with Kent Goulding co-published the sadly now defunct, but at the time premier magazine "Inside Backgammon".

As the title suggests, it is a compilation of 501 problems, split 360 checker plays v 141 cube actions. (67 doubles 74 redoubles). After the introductory chapters covering notation/probability/basic doubling strategy etc, there are 26 chapters covering many of the important concepts in backgammon from the opening to the bearoff. These are:

The Opening, Flexibility, The Middle Game, The 5-point, One Man Back, Priming Games, Connectivity, Hit Or Not?, Crunch Positions, Action Doubles, Late Game Blitz, Post-Blitz Turnaround Games, Ace-Point Games Back Games, The Containment, Game Post-Ace-Point Games, Saving The Gammon, The Race, Various Endgames, Bearing Off Against Contact, The Blitz, Breaking Anchor, Too Good To Double?, Playing For A Gammon, The Bearoff, Holding Games,

The book manages to cram the 501 positions and analyses into 384 pages of a book measuring just 23x15cms. This is achieved by squashing the diagrams with the effect of making the checkers oval. The problems in each chapter are all bunched together first and the solutions at the end of the chapter hence cutting down on the need to avoid looking at the analysis.

It's target audience is everybody from beginner to expert level. The only group that maybe wouldn't find many parts of this book valuable would be world class players.

The problems are typical of positions that appear in everyday backgammon and not unusual or tricky positions that an expert may get wrong. The difficulty of the problems range from very easy to hard with the majority in the intermediate/advanced level. My guess is that the book would be suitable to players ranked up to elo 1900 on F.I.B.S. or Gamesgrid. Robertie has attempted to create a book of reference positions whose characteristics the reader can hopefully remember and apply and adapt over the board and for each problem, he typically gives a succinct 8-10 line analysis.

There are no references to any of the neural net backgammon programs in the book. I checked all the positions by rollout and did discover some disagreements between the bots' conclusions and Robertie's analysis. There were around 12 cube problems whose equity differed by more than 0.04 and also some checker play differences. Some of those positions would make good reading for the more expert players.

My only major criticism on the book is that in some of the checker play problems Robertie doesn't analyse all the potential choices or rejects one when in fact the equities are quite close.

The reasoning behind this maybe that that the merits of that checker play do not fit in with the theme of the chapter or are too complex. And on a personal note I prefer to see the pip count in diagrams.

Overall an excellent book suitable for either beginners who have learned the very basics or a good refresher book for more advanced players. Marks out of ten 8.5.

Backgammon is as good as it gets. The rules take minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. Each checker on the board plays an offensive and defensive role, as the two opposing forces march past each, one going clock-wise, one counter-clockwise. And then there are the dice. Like chess, there is a tremendous amount of strategy involved in how to play each roll, but the dice add another level of probabilistic strategizing. And sometimes the better strategy loses, just because the rolls don't come through.

Bill Robertie, "The world's best backgammon player" according to the back cover, breaks the strategy down into discrete 31 topics, examples being "the opening," "the middle game," "the blitz," "crunch positions," "action doubles," and "the bearoff." The topics are covered by a series of snapshot moments from a potential game. You're given a certain layout and a dice roll and asked what the best move is. Then you flip to the answer section of each chapter and see what Mr. Robertie thinks is the best move and why. As someone who was a student for over 25 years, I'm well acclimated to this format of testing, and quite comfortable with it. However, the snapshot approach doesn't address what many players do wrong, which is to lock-in to a strategy early in the game, or to have overall certain tendencies, instead of focusing on the flexibility to change strategies at any time to match the action of the game. This strategic flaw is analogous to a football coach who says you always have to establish the run before you can pass (think Mike Ditka, Dan Reaves), as opposed to a coach who approaches each team differently and can adjust to the opponent throughout the course of the game (think Mike Shanahan, Bill Belichek). It's also seen in brokers who chase after trends in the stock market, or poker players who try too hard to avenge their last hand and lose their perspective.

Like other reviewers, I did find flipping back and forth between problems and solutions to be annoying, but not a deal-breaker. You just need two bookmarks and a little patience.

I recommend this book. I think it has helped my overall decision making skills in Backgammon. But it won't solve the big problem of not being in the moment, of not reacting and adapting strategy to each roll of the dice. A book won't fix that. Meditation might help. Wading through a creek might help. Relaxation techniques, mindfulness exercises, and beta blockers wouldn't hurt.

If you are a backgammon lover, this book must be on your personal library. Robertie analises problems in each point of the game, since opening rolls until the bear off. The hints are clear and at first read you can discover many points you would play in a different(and awnkward) position. As you read the topics you will feel imediately a good development in your game, specially if you try to solve then before looking for the solutions. The secret of this book is figure out the different way of think in each situation and time of the game. A great book that can be easily consulted by anytime.The book is shared in the following chapters: *THE OPENING *FLEXIBILITY *THE MIDDLE GAME *THE 5-POINT *THE BLITZ *ONE MAN BACK *HOLDING GAMES *PRIMING GAMES *CONNECTIVITY *HIT OR NOT? *BREAKING ANCHOR *CRUNCH POSITIONS *ACTION DOUBLES *LATE GAME BLITZ *POST-BLITZ TURNAROUND GAMES *TOO GOOD TO DOUBLE? *ACE-POINT GAMES* BACK GAMES* THE CONTAINMENT GAME* POST-ACE-POINT GAMES*

PLAYING FOR A GAMMON*

SAVING THE GAMMON* BEARING OFF AGAINST CONTACT *VARIOUS ENDGAMES *THE RACE *THE BEAROFF *Plus an introduction with basic rules and backgammon notations and a final chapter with places to play backgammon.

The 501 positions examine your approach to the game from beginning to end.

Robertie's solutions so closely mirror my JellyFish Tutor recommendations that I have simply dropped the examples into JellyFish and only consult the book when I have a disagreement with the bot.

Therein is the second value in this book for me: Robertie's analysis is succinct and sticks to themes over theory. When I do perhaps 50 positions quickly, only noting where I differ from the bot, and then read Robertie's suggestions for these positions, I usually find a recurring theme pointing to a weakness in my game.

For me, this book is ultimately what I've made of it, Robertie has provided the necessary resources and I recommend this book as such.

i keep going back to this book to relearn what it has taught me! backgammon is easy when the dice go your way. this book puts you in tough positions and tight spots and helps you get out of them. makes me a much more robust player.

While studying this book I noticed that my game improved dramatically. I gained a much better understanding of duplicating, slotting, and use of the cube. I am no expert but I am now challenging the best players in our club!

If you are looking for examples this IS the book you should get!

Edit - 11/29/11

I can't say enough about this book, I have read A LOT of backgammon books, but this one had the most immediate impact on my game. I really like Robertie's books. Robertie teaches and explains, he doesn't pontificate.

I have heard the neural nets (and let us not anger them) have found some "errors" in Robertie's analysis, but I have used eXtreme Gammon on many problems, and have never found an error, and only a few cases where there were equal plays. Keep in mind Robertie's examples are chosen to illustrate the particular concept in question. In a few instances there may be other acceptable plays, but his purpose is to teach the various concepts in question and he succeeds impressively. Your game will improve dramatically by understanding these concepts and there are no backgammon programs that can teach that.

Robertie's method in 501 allows you to learn the concepts quicker and it is much more fun and interesting than slogging through page after page of some author's wearisome written "analysis". After you work through a few examples, you begin to see the concept in the following examples. This is very interesting, encouraging and fun.

I had the same experience when I studied chess years ago. Pages of theory and analysis put me to sleep, while plenty of good examples of the same concept were like turning the light on for me, and I began to see it in my own games.

Very few of us have the computer-like brains to perform complex calculations in our head, but we can analyze the position strategically for it's strengths and weaknesses, what we need to accomplish, what potential dangers may exist, etc. and 501 excels in that area.

I have a computer and eXtreme Gammon and can perform 3 and 7 ply analyses on book positions just like anyone else. Analyzing positions with your computer is fine, but Robertie teaches you how to play and how to think DURING the game, when it counts. With this information, you will outplay 95% of all backgammon players.

I'm only 3/4 of the way through this book, but that's far enough to gauge the benefits that this book provides for the Backgammon player who wants to get better.
With 501 sample problems, you will find that many (never all) situations that will come up in a game are illustrated here. The format is easy to follow, with each of the 31 chapters containing problems and solutions for facets of the game from openings to bearing off, and blitzing to holding games, and the author's comments in the solutions provide the tips that can be memorized. For example: faced with a choice, say between making a point, or hitting a blot, "do the hardest first." In Backgammon there are exceptions to almost every rule, and Robertie covers these also. I'd also like to point out that this is an extremely "fun" book, that you can pick up for 5 minutes or 55, at lunch, or in the car!

Other than the most basic rules of the game, like how to set up the board, everything is covered here, from beginner on up. Robertie has a real gift for clarity, and is able to speak to EVERYONE, from someone new, to an expert, in a clear, focused voice.

This book is of great tactical value. It let's you exersise and perform 501 plays that will change the way you play Backgammon. Not just a theoretical book, but actually a much more practical approach.

This is a great selection of problems with penetrating analysis. Any player at any level will benefit from this book.

What I don't like about it:

1. There are a few mistakes in analysis.
2. Robertie doesn't make reference to computer rollouts of alternative plays, though he must have performed many. The reader might infer that everything he's saying is a result of his own independent judgment, which I'm certain is not the case (though of course his judgment is quite advanced). I would prefer more transparency.
3. Sometimes the analysis is "dumbed down," sometimes ridiculously. In fairness, more exhaustive analysis would have made the book much longer and would have made more volumes necessary.
4. The format could have been better. It's annoying to have to flip around in the book, searching for solutions and so on.
5. Production quality is mediocre.

Still, the book gets five stars from me. I think it's Robertie's single most useful book.