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Barclay Cooke and Jon Bradshaw 1974 209pp
Random House
ISBN:0394488121
One of the old standards, the first thing I noticed was the clear and simple
diagrams. The next was that his suggested opening moves were a little off by
todays benchmarks (for example, he considered splitting the back men taboo at
the beginning of the game) as are some of the other suggested strategies, as the
race tends to be undervalued. He includes some good points about duplication and
mixes in clever quotes from war theorists throughout the chapters. There are a
few useful chapters on bearing off (one of the first authors to pay appropriate
attention to this aspect of the game), the crawford rule, free drops, the pip
count, chouettes, and settlements. There are also 3 examples of games played by
experts of the era which gives an interesting glimpse on strategies of the day.
This is a decent book for people who already have a good beginners manual as it
is a good read with some useful information.
| Level: Beginner |
Ease of read: 8.5 |
Quality of material: 4.5 |
Overall: 5.5 |
Price: Around $5 |
Martin Short, 10/25/01
It's not a bad book at all.
When I learned BG in 1975, Cooke/Bradshaw was
not only considered the best beginning book, but simply the BEST BOOK on the
game. (Of course there weren't any advanced books back then...). About a year or
two later Magriel came out. Then in the early 80's Kleinman and Robertie started
to make a college course out of the game.
Cooke played a style of BG which
worked for him (and a lot of others) in the 70's, when many of his opponents
hadn't a clue about concepts we now consider fundamental. (Here I also refer to
his other two books-- "Paradoxes and Probabilities" and "Championship BG", the
latter co-authored by Rene Orlean.) He was very heavy on defensive tactics, was
almost obcessed with building the 20-point, but had a serious distaste for
splitting the back checkers (on the 24-point). His cube recommendations ("when
in doubt, don't double; when in doubt, take") also tended to be on the
conservative side by today's standards. He much preferred to double his opponent
out rather than to see a take (and risk the potential frustration if the game
turned around).
Having said all that, Cooke was definitely (IMO) a proponent
of using one's head while playing backgammon. That advice will never go out of
style! Every backgammon book should be read with a skeptical eye. Listen to what
the author says, but don't take it as gospel. Try to understand the "why" of
his/her thinking rather than memorizing plays or "rules". Every BG book I've
read (except maybe "Underhanded BG"!) has some sound advice. You could do a lot
worse than reading Barclay Cooke.
Chuck bower@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu
c_ray on FIBS, 8-19-98
The authors of this book were Barclay Cooke and Jon Bradshaw. A very good 70s
book for beginners and intermediates and surpasses many of the authors whose
only claim to understanding the game is that they wrote theirs in the
90s.
A reader from Paris, February 13, 2000
Other book reviews welcome! Email them to DocMartin@Gammoned.com
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