Winning Backgammon, by Michael S. Lawrence

Backgammon Books

Winning Backgammon

AUTHOR: Michael S. Lawrence

YEAR: 1973

PUBLISHER: Pinnacle Books

CITY: New York

ISBN: 0-523-00860-0

BINDING: Softcover

PAGES: viii+239

SIZE: 17.5 cm high, 11 cm wide

CONTENTS:

Introduction
1. IN THE BEGINNING: Starting the Game; Moving the Men; Points and Blots; Completing a Roll; Bearing Off; Scoring
2. OBJECTIVES AND PRIORITIES: Opening Roll; Early Use of Doubles
3. THE EARLY GAME: Escaping with the Back Men; Splitting the Back Men; Containing; Some General Guidelines—Errors to avoid
4. MIDDLE OF THE GAME STRATEGY: Generalities
5. LATER DECISIONS: The Back Game; Prerequisites for a Back Game
6. BEARING IN
7. MATHEMATICS OF BACKGAMMON
8. PLAY SECTION: How to Use the Play Section
9. RANDOM POSITIONS
10. THE CUBE--WHEN TO DOUBLE--WHEN TO TAKE: Mechanics; Basics; Possession of the Cube—its Value; late in the Game; Doubles in the Bear-Off Position; Doubles When a Player Has Been Hit After Having Removed Some Men; The Jacoby Rule; One-roll Situation; When to Double in a Running Game
11. CUBE POSITIONS

COVER: Ready for some backgammon? All you need is this book and a board! You don't even have to have an aopponent to replay the many live games and solve the specialized situation discussed here in detail. After all, you don't want to just read about backgammon but to play it—and play it well. Winning Backgammon was written to bridge the gap between reading and actual experience, to get you started playing the game. And you will!
Michael Lawrence, who is a member of the U.S. Aces, a world-championship-winning bridge team, teaches both bridge and backgammon. This book is a skillful synthesis of his experience in playing backgammon and teaching it to others. For those entirely new to it, there is a general discussion of the game. Then there is a play section, a number of games between two players, who range in ability from fair to excellent. You will have a chance to play against both of them, to understand why each move was made! You'll learn by doing, then you can dazzle your live opponents with plays that might take others years to learn.
Here it is—the mechanics of the game, the opening plays, early objectives, doubling and redoubling, and a thorough analysis of the middle and end games. For the first time ever, the strategies of the winning game are accessible to both the beginner and the frustrated loser.