This article discuss Matvey “Falafel” Natanzon, at one point the highest ranked backgammon player in the world and a very interesting individual, as well as the game itself. The excerpt below is...
This article discuss Matvey “Falafel” Natanzon, at one point the highest ranked backgammon player in the world and a very interesting individual, as well as the game itself. The excerpt below is interesting but focuses only on the latter.
Unlike chess, backgammon is tactile, fast-moving, even loud, with checkers slammed down and tiny dice sounding like rattlesnakes as they traverse the board. Casual players who believe that they are good persist in the illusion because the element of chance obscures their deficits.
At its heart, backgammon’s cruelty resides in the dramatic volatility of the dice. Even a player who builds flawless structures on the board can lose to a novice. The good players simply win more often.
As a result, backgammon is often played in marathon sessions that reward physical stamina, patience, and emotional equilibrium. One notable match lasted five days, with both players getting up only for bathroom breaks. The loser fell to the floor.
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In the past half century, backgammon tournaments—like backgammon itself—have undergone a profound transformation. The game, which has been around in some form since the time of the Pharaohs, is most popular in the Near East, and in the nineteen-twenties it became a popular club game in the West.
In the sixties, the game acquired a certain glamour. Lucille Ball played, and so did Paul Newman. The world championships were black-tie—though many competitors were mediocre, a condition that soon attracted the attention of genuine gamblers, who set out to unlock the game’s money-making potential.
Backgammon is far more mathematical than chess, but, while chess has a literature that dates back centuries, backgammon had no real theory until the nineteen-seventies, when gamblers at New York’s Mayfair Club began to take the game apart systematically. Chess players can visualize what the board might look like twenty moves ahead, but in backgammon the dice offer twenty-one random possibilities at each turn. The game must be encountered frame by frame.
My dad taught me backgammon when I was young, and we'll always play a game or two during family get-togethers. He got me a backgammon set when I went off to college - he pointed out that one of...
My dad taught me backgammon when I was young, and we'll always play a game or two during family get-togethers. He got me a backgammon set when I went off to college - he pointed out that one of the great things about the game if you want to learn it is that you can play against yourself completely fairly and legitimately.
Not backgammon related, but back in college there was a pool table in my house that I had access to 24/7. When no one else was around I would play a game of 8-ball by myself. To make things...
Not backgammon related, but back in college there was a pool table in my house that I had access to 24/7. When no one else was around I would play a game of 8-ball by myself. To make things interesting, and to hone my skills, I would take turns playing left- or right-handed. This eventually gave me enough coordination to comfortably switch hands in normal play to avoid awkward behind-the-back shots. I also didn’t need to go easy against my non-dominant hand, as games had about 50/50 chance of going either way. Practicing against yourself is a great way to explore a game from all sides (pun intended).
Playing against yourself would be fun and fair. You could accuse yourself of controlled throws and demand you use dice cups. And best of all, when you lose to yourself you could blame it all on...
Playing against yourself would be fun and fair. You could accuse yourself of controlled throws and demand you use dice cups. And best of all, when you lose to yourself you could blame it all on yourself getting lucky rolls.
This article discuss Matvey “Falafel” Natanzon, at one point the highest ranked backgammon player in the world and a very interesting individual, as well as the game itself. The excerpt below is interesting but focuses only on the latter.
My dad taught me backgammon when I was young, and we'll always play a game or two during family get-togethers. He got me a backgammon set when I went off to college - he pointed out that one of the great things about the game if you want to learn it is that you can play against yourself completely fairly and legitimately.
Not backgammon related, but back in college there was a pool table in my house that I had access to 24/7. When no one else was around I would play a game of 8-ball by myself. To make things interesting, and to hone my skills, I would take turns playing left- or right-handed. This eventually gave me enough coordination to comfortably switch hands in normal play to avoid awkward behind-the-back shots. I also didn’t need to go easy against my non-dominant hand, as games had about 50/50 chance of going either way. Practicing against yourself is a great way to explore a game from all sides (pun intended).
Playing against yourself would be fun and fair. You could accuse yourself of controlled throws and demand you use dice cups. And best of all, when you lose to yourself you could blame it all on yourself getting lucky rolls.