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| New From The Gammon Press |
Books available on this page include:
Modern Backgammon/Robertie
Backgammon Encyclopedia/Woolsey
Master vs. Amateur/Woolsey
Understanding Backgammon/Woolsey& Jones |
FOUR EASY WAYS TO ORDER:
1. Call The Gammon Press at 781-641-2091
2. Fax to 781-641-2660
3. Email to orders@thegammonpress.com
4. Mail to: The Gammon Press, P.O. Box 750087, Arlington, MA 02475
PayPal & MasterCard/VISA accepted. |
MODERN BACKGAMMON
by Bill Robertie
For the past several years, the backgammon world has been undergoing a quiet revolution, led by the neural nets, Snowie and Jellyfish. Unfortunately for students of the game, the neural nets taught only by example. While they played extremely well, and could provide solutions to almost any individual problem, they offered no hints toward an overarching theory of the game. Modern Backgammon breaks through that barrier to provide a look at the general concepts that lie behind the neural nets’ sometimes baffling and mysterious plays: efficiency, connectivity, non-commitment, and robustness. These concepts are explained in clear and concise form, buttressed with hundreds of examples. Playing well in the modern era requires an understanding of how these different elements of the position affect strategy as a whole. Modern Backgammon shows how to apply these simple ideas in all types of situations. The last part of Modern Backgammon examines one of the most interesting matches of the post-neural net period, the 25-point struggle between Nack Ballard and Jerry Grandell in the great Istanbul Super-Jackpot of 1998. Besides explaining the reasons behind correct play and pointing out errors, Robertie explains how key plays could be reasoned out using the concepts from the first part of the book. Level: Advanced Info: 370 pages, softbound Price: $45
+ S/H: US First Class/$7 US Book/$5 Canada/$8
Air Europe/$18 Air Pacific/$22 |
THE BACKGAMMON ENCYCLOPEDIA --
Vol. 1 - Cube Reference Positions
by Kit Woolsey
Players have understood for some time that the best way to learn cube strategy was through the use of reference positions: key positions that recur (with small variations) over and over, whose equities can be memorized and understood. By comparing your actual position to a known reference position, you can make a very reasonable guess as to the correct cube action for the position in front of you. Having an adequate library of reference positions at your fingertips is one of the keys to backgammon mastery. In Volume 1 of the Backgammon Encyclopedia, Kit Woolsey has collected the key cube reference position for a variety of standard position types, including blitzes, races, primes, backgames, containment games, ace-point games, and holding games. By careful study of the more than 200 reference positions in this book, you’ll be able to time your doubles and takes much more accurately. All positions are accompanied by tables of Snowie 3 rollouts conducted at 3-ply for extra accuracy. The Backgammon Encyclopedia is a must for any serious player. Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Info: 124 pages, softbound
Price: $30
+S/H: US First Class/$6 US Book/$4 Canada/$8
Air Europe/$12 Air Pacific/$16 |
BACKGAMMON: MASTER VS. AMATEUR, Vol. 1
by Kit Woolsey
Kit Woolsey's new book analyzes an 11-point match between Kit and the readers of his new online magazine "GammOnLine". The readers voted on all interesting plays for their side, and the consensus choice was the play actually made. Kit explains the logic behind both sides' play in great detail, focusing especially on the proper handling of the cube in match play. Level: Intermediate/Advanced Info: 90 pages, softbound Price: $20
+S/H: US First Class/$5 US Book/$3 Canada/$3
Air Europe/$7 Air Pacific/$10 |
| UNDERSTANDING BACKGAMMON by Kit Woolsey & Tami Jones
According to co-author Tami Jones, “There are many great backgammon books currently on the market. But when I read them I felt as if something were missing. The concepts the authors were explaining made perfect sense but applying them over the board just continued to escape me. Then I figured out what was wrong. These were not the errors I commonly made. Mine were much worse! I would have been thrilled if I would have been struggling with such subtle nuances over the board. These books were written for people who understood things I didn’t even know I didn’t know yet. It was as if I were standing in the barren wilderness of confusion while the authors of these volumes of wisdom were across the river of knowledge in the promised land of backgammon brilliance. As an intermediate player, I barely knew what a bridge was, let alone where it was or how to cross it to gain this vast wealth of knowledge just over the river for the taking. The guards of match equity tables and game winning percentages were holding me at bay." Have you ever felt this way as you read a backgammon problem book? Have you wished that authors spent more time explaining the sort of common-sense problems that occurred in all your games, rather than the esoteric problems that top players find interesting, but which don’t have much to do with the way you play backgammon? If so, then Understanding Backgammon is a book you’ll like. Kit Woolsey and Tami Jones look at 101 problems that are typical of the situations that cause difficulties for advanced and intermediate players. Tami describes the positions through her eyes, and Kit, with his usual clarity, isolates the key features of the position and shows Tami the best way of visualizing the answer. Understanding Backgammon is a great problem collection and a great tool for taking your game to the next level. Level: Intermediate/Advanced Info: 308 pages, softbound Price: $35
+S/H: US First Class/$7 US Book/$4 Canada/$7
Air Europe/$16 Air Pacific/$20 |
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