Backgammon knowledge in the 1970's was still somewhat limited by today's standards. He leads the reader through the steps an expert takes to get at the heart of the problem and deduce the correct answer.īut beware. Then, in his clear-minded way, Magriel takes apart the position and focuses on its fundamental aspects. A position and roll are presented and the reader is invited to find the correct checker play. He reminds us that good backgammon players rely on skill and strategic sophistication rather than luck. Magriel applies the same approach to his New York Times columns. It's an excellent foundation for anyone who wants to take up the game. Aimed primarily at beginning and intermediate players, Backgammon has continued to be praised by students of the game decades after it was published. Nothing compared to it in terms of comprehensiveness and systematic style of presentation. His 400-page book, titled simply Backgammon, was a breakthrough. Though he was 1978 World champion, Paul Magriel was even more famous for the textbook he wrote about the game two years earlier. He had a unique ability to cut the important features of a position and write about it in terms that anyone could understand. At the time, Magriel was one of the top minds in the game - and a great writer. From June 1977 to July 1980, Paul Magriel wrote a weekly column on backgammon for the New York Times.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |