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Peter Bell 1998 48pp
Gammon Press ISBN:1880604108
Having just read Gammon Press' latest release "Backgammon: Winning with the
Doubling Cube" I am reminded that for such an important part of the game, cube
strategy is rarely the subject of a dedicated book.
The first part of this
tome is a rehashing of essential information, information that you will already
possess if you have been playing for a while and been doing some research. My
problem with past treatises on the cube is that they will say "X is 72% in this
position...." without explaining how the hell they got to this figure. (When I
started I was happy to estimate whether I was a favorite or not) This book does
cover methods for evaluating a position, which is the essence of cube strategy.
There are some, (many very basic) benchmark positions given. I would have liked
to have seen more benchmark positions analyzed first with application of the
evaluation techniques presented and then compared with in depth roll outs of the
positions. But hey, there are never enough positions in any one book, that’s why
I have ten ;).
I enjoyed the book, I thought it was very useful, but I
hesitate to recommend it because I do not know what else is out there. I have
not read Jeff Ward's book "The Doubling Cube in
Backgammon", but you can read a review at this site.
The other method to
learning cube strategy is to read many of the fine general backgammon books
available (Magriel, Advanced Backgammon, etc.) most of which address cube
handling, at least peripherally. Good luck.
Robert Scibelli
xavier@pipeline.com 12/9/97
Other book reviews welcome! Email them to DocMartin@Gammoned.com
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