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Backgammon Books

A practical way to become a winner at backgammon is to glean instruction from the best players. Some of the backgammon world’s highest awards have written books to assist players both novice and advanced.

A good book by a backgammon expert can provide game-changing information at a reasonable price which players (and would-be players) can absorb at their own pace. The Gammon Press store stocks essential reads by Bill Robertie and Kit Woolsey, along with the works of Bob Wachtel, Peter Bell and others. If you want to improve your backgammon game, this is the place to start.

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In degenerate prime versus prime games …

Jun 15, 2026 |

White on roll. Cube action?

 

Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

This is a fairly simple problem, but it illustrates a common theme which occurs in some degenerate prime versus prime games. Let’s take a close look.

Here both Black and White got stuck in an ace-point game behind a prime. Although White had more men back, Black’s prime actually collapsed first as he couldn’t release his back men. Now Black has lost his 6-point, and White is thinking about doubling.

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Multiple options to bring the game home …

May 15, 2026 | ,

Cash game. White on roll. White to play 6-4.

 

Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

In this position, White launched a blitz after a few moves were made on both sides, and now Black is in serious trouble with two men up in the air facing a four-point board and more blots floating around. White’s 6-4 gives him several excellent options; his job now is not to get too excited, but to just find the most efficient way to bring the game home.

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When you have to pick & choose … either but not both

Apr 15, 2026 | ,

Cash game. White on roll. White to play 3-2.

Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

In this position, White has two choices: he can enter and hit on the 5-point, or he can enter and make an anchor on the 22-point. To hit or not to hit – what’s right?

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When you can’t do anything good …

Mar 15, 2026 | ,

Cash game. White on roll. White to play 6-2.


Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

This position shows a position in the early game. White’s game is temporarily a little awkward, and now he throws a 2-6 from the bar.

Sometimes a six from the bar will allow us to do something obvious and good, like hitting a blot or building a point. When we can’t do anything good, we’re usually faced with a choice among several unappetizing alternatives. That’s the case here. We have four legal sixes: 8/2, 13/7, 21/15, and 22/16. None look great, but we have to pick one. Let’s set up some guidelines and see if they can lead us to the least unappealing six.

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When something else is better than running …

Feb 15, 2026 | ,

Cash game. White on roll. White to play 6-3.


Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

Often in the opening you’ll escape one of your two back checkers, and then find yourself in a type of position we call “One Man Back”. These positions can be tricky. If you roll a big number, should you make a bid for escaping and run the last checker out, or leave him back and make some sort of building play on your side of the board?

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Slotting criteria when you have an anchor …

Jan 15, 2026 | ,

Cash game. White on roll. White to play 4-1.


Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

We sell a lot of books at the Gammon Press and the most popular books right now are a three-volume set called “How to Play the Opening in Backgammon”. The most common question I get asked about the set is “Why a 3-volume set just on the Opening? What about the other parts of the game?”

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