Backgammon

2004 edition with a new foreword by Renee Magriel Roberts. Backgammon is the most highly-regarded work on the subject, often referred to as The Bible of the game. Written between 1973 and 1976 by Paul Magriel and Renée Magriel, Backgammon was the first book to lucidly explain the inner workings and advanced positional play of the game. The most important aspects are broken down into their component parts and then explained with a unique, easy-to-understand, step-by-step building-block approach. The book is enhanced by 600 clear and precise diagrams, a glossary and tables, including the betting odds. For any player who means to take the game seriously and wants to play well, Backgammon is an indispensable guide. This new 2004 edition of also includes a lively behind-the-scenes foreword by Renée Magriel Roberts that illuminates the man behind the name X-22 and describes the creation of the book. Having stood the test of time for over a quarter-century, Backgammon is still the best and most widely recommended and quoted standard instructional manual and reference work on the game for novice and expert alike

Paul David Magriel, Jr. (known in gambling circles as X-22) was World Backgammon Champion in 1978. A former New York State Junior Chess Champion, Paul was a Courant Institute Fellow while still an undergraduate at N.Y.U. and went on to win a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study probability at Princeton University. He was a professor at the Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Technical Institute) before becoming a full-time backgammon and poker player. Paul was also the backgammon columnist for The New York Times and has won more major backgammon tournaments than any other player. He is widely considered the games foremost theorist and teacher and one of its premier players. Renee Magriel Roberts, Ph.D. is a former correspondent for the Boston Globe and owns Clock & Rose Press.