How to Play Backgammon, by Arman Ratip

Backgammon Books

How to Play Backgammon

AUTHOR: Arman Ratip

ILLUSTRATOR
BY: Karel Feuerstein

YEAR: 1977

PUBLISHER: Spring Books, The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited

CITY: London

ISBN: 0-600-31428-6

BINDING: Hardcover

PAGES: 61

SIZE: 24 cm high, 17 cm wide

READERS
COMMENTS:

"Ratip comes from Turkey where the game has been played fanatically for centuries. After recreating a particularly spectacular match, he tells how to play. You can tell his heritage when he comments on doubling: 'The closing stages of a backgammon game are always the most exciting and to stop short of the end is, for me, no way to play at all.'
Ratip does a quick glossover of strategies and types of games, some weak opening moves and then a sample game. There is a great example game of a variant of backgammon called Press Backgammon followed by the rules of another variant called Rosespring Backgammon. A Greek friend in Germany taught me these two games while I was there and I enjoyed them both."—Martin Short, December 2001

CONTENTS:

Introduction
Part One: The Game of Backgammon
Chapter One: How to Play
Chapter Two: A Sample Game
Chapter Three: Games and Matches
Part Two: Other Games of Backgammon
Chapter Four: Press Backgammon
Chapter Five: Rosespring Backgammon
Bibliography
Index

COVER: Backgammon is a game which has achieved tremendous popularity in the last few years. Many new players have been attracted to the game, only to find that wihtout proper tuition on the strategy and finer points they do not achieve the maximum enjoyment.
Arman Ratip comes from a Turkish family which has produced champion backgammon players for hundreds of years. He himself started playing at the age of nine and has won many tournaments and league championships.
In this book, he explains the game of backgammon and offers some useful guidance on overall strategy and tactics. His comments on systems of game plans suggest several fruitful areas of experiment and his block-building combinations teachsome valuable lessons about effective, economical point-building. He also runs through a complete game, explaining the thinking behind the moves made by the two players.
For those who want an occcasional change from the "straight" game, the author describes two other exciting games playe by backgammon players in the Middle East which are less well-known in the West. One is called Press Backgammon and the other Rosespring Backgammon, and a complete game of the former is described with each player's moves analyzed.
Both sample games are based on actual contests between the author and another backgammon expert and the two-color illustrations enable the reader to follow each game easily even if there isn't a board to hand.
The author is a journalist and well-known pianist and composer, and his book will bring fresh zest and enthusiasm to established backgammon players and will help new players to think about the game along the right lines.