Backgammon Boot Camp: The book backgammon players swear by

Backgammon Boot Camp is book on backgammon written by Walter Trice and published by the Fortuitous Press, San Francisco, in 2004. Many of the chapters of Backgammon Boot Camp were initially published online. Trice wears many hats – author, analyst and player. The fact that he has been in the top ten players on the American Backgammon Tour for more than ten years is reason enough to read the book. In the Backgammon book Trice dissects every aspect of the game and therefore both novices and experts will benefit from the book.

The first ten chapters of Backgammon Boot Camp deal with basics. Primes, anchors, closeout and the opening roll are some of the topics covered. Then the advanced stuff begins. Game plans, strategies, play options and position analyses form the core of the advanced chapters. The end chapters of the Backgammon book are very interesting. In these chapters Trice discusses attacking play and match play. The book ends with a final exam so that readers can test whether they have imbibed the secrets of backgammon.

Backgammon Boot Camp is not a book that deals with abstracts. Readers are given actual game positions and asked to think out their play. They can then compare notes with the expert. Trice not only explains what would have been the correct move but also how the reader should logically arrive at it.

Backgammon Boot Camp focuses on aspects of the game not covered by earlier material, print or electronic. It discusses the impact computer programs have had on strategy. Backgammon tournaments are gaining popularity and tournament strategies are discussed. But above all Trice is a master of the doubling cube. How the doubling cube can be used in a variety of situations is something that all readers will cherish.