The Clermont Book of Backgammon, by David Dor-El

Backgammon Books

The Clermont Book of Backgammon

AUTHOR: David Dor-El

YEAR: 1975

PUBLISHER: Winchester Press

CITY: New York

ISBN: 0-87691-298-6

BINDING: Hardcover

PAGES: v+147

SIZE: 25 cm high, 18 cm wide

NOTE: First published in Great Britain by Queen Anne Press Limited.

CONTENTS:

Forward by Victor Lownes
Introduction
I. Mathematical Information: Combinations of the dice; The probability of hitting a blot; The probability of bearing off the last man in one roll; The probability of bearing off the last two men in one roll; The probability of entering one or two men from the bar in one roll; Different systems of evaluating your own and your opponent's positions; When to run with your last man; Working out your expectation of the game; Working out settlements
II. The Opening Move: Moves that enable you to make a point; Building moves; Running moves; Chance moves; Building-Chance moves
III. The Response
IV. Bearing Off Strategy
V. The Structure of the Game: Indentifying the parts of the game: opening, middle, and end; Mixed strategy: combination of running and blocking games, combination of blocking and backgames, combination of running and backgames; Pure strategy: the running game, the blocking game, the back game
VI. Defence: How to play against a running game; How to play against a blocking game; How to play against a back game
VII. General Strategy: At the beginning of the game; In the middle; At the end
VIII. The Doubling Process: What is the doubling process; The use of the cube in tournament play; The use of the cube when playing for money; Chouette; Psychology and backgammon
Appendix: Backgammon for Beginners: Number of players; Equipment; Preparation for play; Setting up the board; Playing the game

COVER: At last, here is the definitive guide to successful backgammon, written by one of the world's leading professional instructors.
Beginner or proficient player, you will have much to learn from this unique description of the intricacies of playing the game. Obviously you must make optimum use of every roll of dice—and that means looking ahead, anticipating your opponent's moves, and calculating the odds. Study this book carefully, and you will be in a position to do all three, giving yourself the best possible chance of success.
The author has found that the most effective way of teaching the game is predominantly visual, so he makes full use of diagrams and tables to illustrate each important point. Two colours are used throughout to enable clear identification of the two players and their respective moves.
Most of the examples used are taken from actual games between experts, so that you can learn from the mathematical and strategic analysis of their techniques. As Victor Lownes says in his forward: "To the really expert backgammon player, it isn't only a game. It's the very quintessence of life."