Backgammon, by Don Stern

Backgammon Books

Backgammon
The Quick Course To Winning Play

AUTHOR: Don Stern

YEAR: 1973

PUBLISHER: Galahad Books, by arrangement with Drake Publishers Inc.

CITY: New York City

ISBN: 0-88365-264-1

BINDING: Hardcover

PAGES: 224

SIZE: 23 cm high, 16 cm wide

OTHER
EDITIONS: Softcover, 1974

READERS
COMMENTS:

     "This is a typical basic beginner's book from the early 70's. Rules, objectives, opening moves, return openers, basic middle game, end game strategies, bearoffs, elementary cube theory, lots of probability tables, pip count methods, a 'revolutionary gammon count', learning quizzes, a sample annotated game, and some psychology of the game. The board notation is annoying, eg W3 and B4 etc. If you've read anything by Magriel, Robertie, Cooke, Woolsey, Kleinman etc, you won't learn anything new."—Mark Driver, May 2001


CONTENTS:

Introduction
I Equipment, Rules & Etiquette
II Basic Strategy
III The Early Moves
IV Winning Tactics and a Sample Game
V Timing
VI Bearing Off
VII Doubling the Stake
VIII Odds and Ends, Hits and Blots
Glossary

COVER: Backgammon may well be the most exciting game ever invented, a game in which the expert player needs the betting skill of a professional poker player, the gambling instinct of a craps shooter, the mental agility of a chess master.
Though backgammon is easy to learn, it becomes more and more fascinating the more it is played. It gives even beginners a rollercoaster ride full of gambling thrills and unexpected twists and turns of fortune. No two backgammon games are identical. Ties are impossible. Luck and skill alternate with breathtaking spee. With one roll of the dice, a player can tumble his opponent from the heights of a winning position to total defeat.
In this fascinating book, Don Stern provides a complete introduction to this game, known for 5000 years as the Game of Kings and the King of Games, and now the games sensation of the 1970s. He explains the theory, strategy and psychology of the game, offensive and defensive tactics, betting and tournaments.
There are numerous quizzes to reinforce the lessons and test the reader's progress, and dozens of illustrated diagrams to make the text easy to follow.
Written by a leading authority, this is perhaps the best guide to this fascinating game yet to appear. Its direct and uncomplicated approach will enable even a beginner to move quickly through the basics of play and onto the intriguing complexities of higher-level betting—and winning!

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR: A certified director of the American Contract Bridge League, Don Stern is a games lover who has edited and collaborated on a number of games books. His devotion to backgammon is enthusiastic. He not only plays the game, but teaches it and directs tournaments as well. A marketing executive at a New York publishing company, he lives in Larchmont with his wife and four children.

BY THE SAME
AUTHOR:

   Backgammon
A First Book
Don Stern
1977: Franklin Watts, Inc., New York