Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A new player's view, July 23, 2004
I wanted to get into playing backgammon at some of the online sites, but I hadn't played in years. I figured I needed some help so went looking for a book on backgammon and more or less at random picked Backgammon for Winners by Bill Robertie. And it turned out to be a decent choice.
It's a fairly thin book, which I liked. I didn't want to spend 2 weeks reading about the history of the game (at least not right now). Robertie jumps right into the meat of the subject, first giving the rules and a bit of broad strategy as well as best opening moves for every possible first roll of the dice. But the bulk of the book is taken up with three different sample games, and Robertie analyzes each move of each game, giving lots of explanation for why something was a strong or poor move. While he suggests you set up a board and move the pieces yourself, there were enough illustrations that you don't have to do so (I didn't).
By the time you work through these three sample games you'll understand backgammon notation, the different phases/styles of a backgammon game, why control of certain points is more important than others, and you'll even see examples of when the 'rules of thumb' should be broken. He does a good job of urging you to go back and reread a section if its covering difficult material, keeping you from glossing over it with an "I'll figure this out later" shrug.
Overall, I'm thinking this is a good first backgammon book. Recommended.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good beginner book, April 12, 2000
By A Customer
This book is as good as any for the raw beginner. The great Robertie explains the rules of the game, basic objectives, and opening moves, and then takes you through three sample games. That's about it, and if you're an experienced player you won't learn anything from it you don't know already. On the plus side, Robertie's conversational style is more enjoyable than some of the older beginner books, and he tries to explain things that aren't obvious to the novice (for example, a 5-5 looks like a great roll here, here's why it's not). All in all, a short user-friendly guide for the novice.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good quick introduction to aggressive Backgammon, January 9, 2003
I've been playing chess since I was a little kid, but a group of friends at the local coffeehouse started to play a lot of backgammon. So this book was a first attempt at seeing how the pros approach this dice-based game.In short, the book is great if you want a quick read that outlines the best opening moves and gives you a feel for aggressive 'modern' backgammon. In addition to the rationale behind how to use opening dice rolls, the book gives you 3 sample games and lets you hear the pro's thoughts on possible moves. My favorite line is "He could play 14/20, moving the blot on the 14-point to safety, but this is a craven play, unworthy of a modern player." :) How could you not like such opinionated tutelage?? I could have used more exposition on why some seemingly valid plays (e.g. hitting an opponent's blot in your inner table even though its deep) are really less effective. Even better would be some statistical analysis showing why some moves make sense when looking at the odds, but I'm not sure there's such a book out there.
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