The Backgammon Book

Oswald Jacoby and John R. Crawford      1970     224pp
Penguin Books      ISBN:0140462600

Referred to as the "Bible of the Game" when it first came out (a title now held by Magriel's "Backgammon" also reviewed here) it was the first book to take a deeper look at the intricacies of the gme. Two pioneers of the game from New York (yes the "Jacoby Rule" for money play and the "Crawford Rule" in match play are named after these two players who first came up with them). This is another book with an extensive history of backgammon section (much the same as the Obelensky & James Book) this time with several illustrations. Clear instruction on the rules of the game, adn then the same weaker opening moves are deteailed. More interesting is the chapter on replies to the opening moves which gives some insight on strategies of that time period. In the "General Principles of Play" secion many basic strategies are covered although the page on "splitting your back men" is a little off by today's standards. There is some excellent discussion on cube handling as well as the psychology of the double with some good guidelines for the beinner. In their game examples, their suggestions on how to play various doubles ar fiven, a practice that should be included in today's texts as doubles are often the hardest rolls to play correctly. They include some interesting stories of tournaments and matches in the late 60's and early 70's to illustrate some of their points and five a full set of official rules of the gfame, chouette, as well as several variations. certainly one of the best books of the 70's, this one led the way for the likes of Magriel, robertie, and Woolsey. Still very useful for the beginner and ralatively easy to find at used book shops, and online auctions.

There are many who will be quick to dismiss The Backgammon Book because it was written in 1970 and knowledge has come very far since then.

Yes, Jacoby & Crawford's book was probably made somewhat redundant by Magriel's book, insofar as Magriel covers all of the tactical and strategic points of the game in much more depth.

However, I recommend this book to players who are just beginning to study the game seriously because it offers an excellent overview of several central features of backgammon thinking and analysis. Although the analysis doen't go very far, a reader will get clear introductions to:

• Basic probability (how dice work)
• Pip counting (the basis for evaluating racing chances)
• Doubling cube theory (the "25%" concept, and basic "equity" idea)
• General strategic categories (backgames, etc).
• Chouette rules (these are largely outdated, given that these days most of us play with "separate cubes")
• Settlements (useful concept even if you never settle)
• Points of etiquette (for those who still think manners are a part the good life).

Not having read J/C for several years, I couldn't tell you how much of the book we would now regard as "wrong", but my guess is that on the whole what's there is probably pretty sound. The point about books like this one (and Cooke's much maligned Cruelest Game) is that they just don't get very far into complex choices: they talk about building primes, counting shots, bearing off well, etc. -- but not to the degree of subtlety that later books would attempt. It's books like Cooke's Paradoxes & Probabilities that can really wreck your game because they attemp to treat positions of nice judgement and get the answers wrong as often as not.

Of course, J/C may well be outdated in terms of the advice it gives for responses to opening rolls (remember, though, that even with all the sophisticated advice open to us today, we are still far from unanimous on how best to play many openers). But even if the contents are not 100% accurate, and are nowhere near 100% thorough, the reader develops a vocabulary for studying the game, and a good all-around sense of the aspects of the game. I think this book is a fine place to start, but if you hope to get anywhere you will need to follow up with some more sophisticated books. Magriel if you can find it, of course. Dwek's BG for Profit is a good next step, too. Avoid Barclay Cooke's Paradoxes & Probabilities and Championship BG, though, because those books are wrong in their evaluation of many common positions.

...also contains an unusually good history of the game as well as an appendix describing different forms of the game (e.g., acey-deucey, plakoto, moultezim);

Other book reviews welcome! Email them to DocMartin@Gammoned.com

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