Backgammon for Profit, by Joe Dwek

Backgammon Books

Backgammon for Profit

AUTHOR: Joe Dwek

YEAR: 1975

PUBLISHER: Stein and Day Publishers

CITY: New York

ISBN: 0-8128-2313-3

BINDING: Hardcover

PAGES: 191

SIZE: 23 cm high, 16 cm wide

NOTE: Introduced by Jim Slater

OTHER
EDITIONS: Softcover, 1976

READERS
COMMENTS:

     "If you can find it, I recommend Joe Dwek's Backgammon for Profit. It's laid out with one problem per page and explanatory material below each diagram. The problems are fairly easy to comprehend and the positions are useful. There are 120 problems, so you can get through it quickly and then go through it again a couple times to absorb the lessons."—Bob Stringer, September 2002


     "This book of backgammon problems is like other books in that it gives a problem and the solution. Unlike other books, the next problem will be almost identical to the first with a small difference in the situation and the solution. These subtle differences vividly display the variety of factors that need to be considered when making your move. Dwek explains the solutions well so there is no doubt afterwards that his solution is correct."—David McNeely, July 2001


     "A great book with the power to turn beginners into solid intermediates. Dwek covers much the same material as Magriel, albeit in a more conventional, problem-oriented rather than encyclopedic, manner. Many of the problems are far more complex than those found in the pristine, primary-color world of Magriel; and in fact, many of the solutions are in error. Still, Dwek's was certainly the most advanced and generally accurate book of its day.
Dwek and Magriel studied together shortly before they wrote their respective books, which may shed some light on why there is so much overlap between them."—Jeremy Bagai, in Classic Backgammon Revisited, March 2001


CONTENTS:

Forward by Jim Slater
Introduction
1. The Early Game
2. The Middle Game
3. The End Contact Game
4. Back Games
5. To Hit or Not to Hit
6. Duplicated Values
7. Prime v Prime
8. The Blitz
9. The Running Game
Tables

COVER: The paradox of backgammon is that it is easy to learn. it is easy to learn to play quite well but it is then very difficult to pass that point. This book is not just another amnual of the game: it is an original and challenging attempt to help backgammon players of all standards to sharpen and broaden their game. Written by Joe Dwek, internationally acknowledge as one of the best players in the world, it offers a series of problmes and answers which illustrate thematic points. In clear and simple language, generously accompanied with easy-to-understand diagrams, it teaches the correct way to play the sort of situation that seem to recur frequently and most often worry the average player.
All important aspects of backgammon are covered, from the early game to the end game; from when to double or accept a double to the inricacies and excitements of a back game. No player, however good, can fail to improve his play after studying the problems contained in this book.

QUOTES: "... the best book I have read on the game. Dwek knows a great deal about both backgammon and profit. He started out on Wall Street but from his first backgammon game in his early twenties he was hooked .... His particular style of play is calculated to gather a crowd wherever he goes: he invests the game with a tension that transforms it into a spectator sport .... I say there are few who will ever play like Dwek, although he's not so sure. 'I just may have given away too many trade secrets.'"—Atticus, The (London) Sunday Times

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR: Joe Dwek was born in Cairo in 1938 and was educated at Manchester University and Harvard Business School. He has played backgammon since 1961 when he learned the hard way: for money by trial and error. From 1965 to 1971 he worked in Wall Street, since when he has devoted most of his time to professional backgammon He has won tournaments in the USA as well as most of the major events in Europe. He has played for the UK in 1973 against the USA, and again in 1974. In fact in 1974 he was asked to play by both sides.
Married with two children, Alexandra and Jonathan, Joe Dwek lives in London.