World Class Backgammon Move by Move, by Roy Friedman

Backgammon Books

World Class Backgammon Move by Move
Thirty-one annotated games between two-time World Champion Bill Robertie and international star Rick Barabino

AUTHOR: Roy Friedman

YEAR: 1989

PUBLISHER: Roy Friedman

CITY: Lexington, MA

BINDING: Softcover, spiral-bound

PAGES: ix+225

SIZE: 28 cm high, 22 cm wide

READERS
COMMENTS:

"Annotated matches between Robertie and 'international star' Rick Barabino (Barabino is strong, but "international star"—I dunno). Three 9-point matches with some excellent games (check out the second game of the first match particularly). Annotations are very good; Friedman put a lot of work into rolling out many of the diagrammed positions. The annotation style is terse; Friedman takes a very scientific approach."—Marty Storer, May 1992

CONTENTS:

Foreword by Joe Sylvester
Introduction
Notation
Match 1
Match 2
Match 3
Epilogue
Notes on Methodology
Glossary
About the Author

QUOTES: "Concepts in checker play and cube handling that have rarely, if ever, been discussed pop up throughout the book. ... Thorough, trustworthy, revealing, and unique, World Class Backgammon, Move by Move is the best match analysis I've ever read!"—Joe Sylvester, Sterling Heights, MI, 1988 World Cup Champion
"With painstaking care, each important position is broken down, rolled out, dissected and explained. The result is a level of detail and accuracy never before attained in a backgammon match book. ... A must-read for anyone serious about the game."—Bill Robertie, Arlington, Ma, 1983 and 1987 World Champion
"Advanced? Definitely. ... Accurate? Painstakingly. ... Insightful? Yes. ... Welcome, Roy, to the elite of backgammon analysts."—Dany Kleinman, Los Angeles, CA, Backgammon author and theoretician
"This extremely well-prepared book could serve as a harbinger for rethinking match strategy. ... Friedman reveals information that has previously been known by only a handful of the world's elite players ..."—Malcolm Davis, Dallas, TX, Winner, 1986 Williams Island Pro-Am
"Very instructive. I wish I could have read Roy's book before playing those matches with Bill Robertie!"—Rick Barabino, Boston, MA, Winner, 1989 Super Jackpot, Isle of Man

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR: Roy Friedman is a computer software engineer from Lexington, Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master's degree in Engineering from Northwestern University. His professional career has included ten years of system software design as well as teaching computer science and writing for computer magazines.
Mr. Friedman has been a regular tournament backgammon player since 1985. He is considered one of the top players in New England and one of the game's leading analysts. Notable tournament achievements include second place in the 1988 New England Championship; first place in the Open Doubles at the 1987 Labor Day Tourney in Louisville, Kentucky; and first place in the Open Jackpot at the 1987 Children's Hospital Benefit in Cambridge, massachusetts. In addition, he received the New England Backgammon Club's 1989 "King of Monday Night" award for winning the most prizes at thirty-five weekly tournaments held throughout the year.
Mr. Friedman has conducted extensive computer analysis in the area of backgammon match equities. He developed the computer software that generates the match equities used in this book. This software produces match equities for any length match, allowing for adjustments in skill differences between the players. The software also analyzes rollout data for a given backgammon position from the perspective of any match score, showing how the effect of the match score alters the appropriate doubling-cube actions.
Mr. Friedman lives with his seven-year old son, Seth, who was named the top backgammon player in his school class.