Starting Out in Backgammon

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but not really for beginners
Review: The ideal reader for this book is someone who has already played a lot of backgammon and has a feel for basic checker play, and is now ready to become good. People who don't yet have a feel for the ebb and flow of the game will be better served by books like Robertie's Backgammon for Winners and Backgammon for Serious Players--those books are built around annotated games.

Lamford takes a different approach, packing an exceptional amount of useful information into a slim volume. Lamford tells you things that experts know but that you won't learn from any moderate amount of over-the-board experience. It is a beginner's book in the sense that he tries (reasonably successfully) to distill the information into maxims and rules of thumb that are fairly easy to remember. The books is exceptionally clear, but it says most of the important things exactly once. One often wishes for more examples or a more extended discussion. Whenever you feel this way, you should reread--the information was there, it was just so concise that you didn't get it the first time.

Get the book. If you don't understand it, put it aside and pick up Robertie (and play more games). But come back to it when you're ready for it because once you're no longer a raw beginner, it will help you get better faster than any other.

Rating:
Summary: Starting out in Backgammon
Review: This book is a must for any beginner at backgammon. Paul's writing style is clear and easy to read, making the most complicated concepts manageable. Each chapter is peppered with warnings and tips highlighting the most important points. The exercises at the end of each section help to make sure you understand and remember what you have learnt. My copy is well worn, but I keep going back to it.

Rating:
Summary: All beginners - buy this
Review: This is a must for beginners at backgammon. Paul's writing style is clear and easy to read, making the most complicated concepts manageable. Each chapter is peppered with warnings and tips, highlighting the most important points. The exercises at the end of each section ensure that you have understood and remembered what you have learnt. My copy is well worn, but my game has changed beyond recognition and I keep going back to it.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: This is a terrible book. It doesn't accomplish what it purports.
The back cover says, "Learn backgammon from scratch"; "An ideal
first backgammon book for all ages." A bunch of lies. The title
should be: To Double or not to Double; To Take or Pass. Because that's what this book is about: 95% of it bows to the contemporary player's god -- the doubling cube. Nothing is said
if it doesn't lead to a cube decision. In other words, you don't learn the game, you don't learn tactics or strategy(that should come first!); all you learn(maybe) is to double or not to double.
I said 95%. What about the other 5%? Also bad. The author contradicts himself. On page 20 he tells you that when you have to choose between hitting a blot and making a point, you should
hit. On page 21 there's an exercise where you have to do precisely that. But then you look up the solution and the author advises you to make a point and not hit!! When he's explaining the rules for beginners he tells you that if you have two checkers on one point, your opponent can't move onto it, but he forgets to tell you that this is called "making a point"; later
he uses this expression, which he hasn't explained. I know that, you know that, but does a rank beginner know that? And it's not
on the (poor) glossary at the end of the book either.
In essence, if you want to know more about the cube, maybe this book will help you; if you want to know more about the game itself(strategy, tactics), you'd better look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: This is a terrible book. It doesn't accomplish what it purports.
The back cover says, "Learn backgammon from scratch"; "An ideal
first backgammon book for all ages." A bunch of lies. The title
should be: To Double or not to Double; To Take or Pass. Because that's what this book is about: 95% of it bows to the contemporary player's god -- the doubling cube. Nothing is said
if it doesn't lead to a cube decision. In other words, you don't learn the game, you don't learn tactics or strategy(that should come first!); all you learn(maybe) is to double or not to double.
I said 95%. What about the other 5%? Also bad. The author contradicts himself. On page 20 he tells you that when you have to choose between hitting a blot and making a point, you should
hit. On page 21 there's an exercise where you have to do precisely that. But then you look up the solution and the author advises you to make a point and not hit!! When he's explaining the rules for beginners he tells you that if you have two checkers on one point, your opponent can't move onto it, but he forgets to tell you that this is called "making a point"; later
he uses this expression, which he hasn't explained. I know that, you know that, but does a rank beginner know that? And it's not
on the (poor) glossary at the end of the book either.
In essence, if you want to know more about the cube, maybe this book will help you; if you want to know more about the game itself(strategy, tactics), you'd better look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to the doubling cube
Review: This thin book is packed with useful information. Neural net software has significantly changed the way backgammon is played over the last 15 years, and this book incorporates those lessons in an excellent introduction to the game.

Furthermore, this book is the best introduction to the doubling cube that I have encountered. I grew up playing backgammon with my Armenian father. If you are also Armenian, Turkish, or Greek, you may have grown up playing backgammon in your family and already have a strong grasp of checker play but a weak grasp of the doubling cube. Other introductory backgammon books may be too simple for you. They may include one chapter on doubling which explains *how* to use it, but not how to evaluate a position to decide *when* to use it. And if you try to pick up an advanced book (like I did a few years ago before Lamford's book was available), the description of doubling decisions presumes so much prior knowledge as to be virtually unintelligible. This book adequately covers doubling theory at a beginner to intermediate level. Doubling decisions are kept in mind in every chapter of the book, and common reference positions are provided that show exactly when to double and when to take or drop.

Finally, the book has great reviews of both neural net backgammon software and of online gaming sites. This alone makes most previous introductory books obsolete.

Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to the doubling cube
Review: This thin book is packed with useful information. Neural net software has significantly changed the way backgammon is played over the last 15 years, and this book incorporates those lessons in an excellent introduction to the game.

Furthermore, this book is the best introduction to the doubling cube that I have encountered. I grew up playing backgammon with my Armenian father. If you are also Armenian, Turkish, or Greek, you may have grown up playing backgammon in your family and already have a strong grasp of checker play but a weak grasp of the doubling cube. Other introductory backgammon books may be too simple for you. They may include one chapter on doubling which explains *how* to use it, but not how to evaluate a position to decide *when* to use it. And if you try to pick up an advanced book (like I did a few years ago before Lamford's book was available), the description of doubling decisions presumes so much prior knowledge as to be virtually unintelligible. This book adequately covers doubling theory at a beginner to intermediate level. Doubling decisions are kept in mind in every chapter of the book, and common reference positions are provided that show exactly when to double and when to take or drop.

Finally, the book has great reviews of both neural net backgammon software and of online gaming sites. This alone makes most previous introductory books obsolete.