Learning and resources
“Backgammon is an easy game to learn and for this reason is deceptively simple. It is actually a game of great strategic richness and subtlety which must be studied to be fully appreciated.”
— Paul Magriel, Backgammon, 1976
BFI YouTube Lesson Series
Recordings of previous tutorials by renowned players
How to Avoid Common Mistakes in Backgammon
Cubing strategy: Not Missing the Bus
Progressing to Advanced Level
Books
While numerous backgammon books are available, maybe start with these:
Backgammon
Paul Magriel and Renée Magriel Roberts
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.
Opening Concepts
Michihito (Michy) Kageyama
A truly wonderful backgammon book written by the world renowned grandmaster of the game Michihito (Michy) Kageyama. He set out 21 "proverbs" to guide opening play and introduces some great new terminology along the way, such as "break the mountain" and "double tiger" play. It provides some extremely powerful concepts and has something for the beginner through to the expert player.
Endgame Technique
Michihito (Michy) Kageyama
The second backgammon book of Michihito (Michy) Kageyama's Backgammon Odyssey series. This time the grandmaster deals with a variety of endgame scenarios, both with and without contact. As with his previous book, Michy includes some fundamental rules and also introduces some new terminology such as Ameoba Play, the Trap Play and the Phantom Point. A must for any budding expert!
Popular Online Resources
There is a wealth of instructional backgammon material online, much of it free. Useful websites include:
Chris Bray Backgammon – www.chrisbraybackgammon.com
Chris now writes a weekly backgammon column for The Times every Friday (launched on 6th December, 2019). Prior to April 2016, Chris’s column appeared in the Independent newspaper every Saturday for 22 years, until that newspaper became ‘digital only’. Chris has also published a number of backgammon books for Beginners, Intermediates and Experts. His website includes a ‘Position of the Day’ and he also writes a regular analysis column for the US Backgammon Federation entitled ‘Bray’s Learning Curve.’
Backgammon Galore! – www.bkgm.com
A comprehensive and free compendium of all things relating to backgammon and its variants, Tom Keith’s site contains a large collection of articles and answers to FAQ’s. The “Studying to Get Better” section alone contains over 150 articles including quizzes and book reviews. The comprehensive “Backgammon Glossary” is the first port of call for many backgammon queries.
Chicago Point – www.chicagopoint.com
As the strapline says, this is “A Prime Source of Backgammon Information”. Chicago Point was formally a printed newsletter edited by American Backgammon Tour creator Bill Davis. Now solely online, “The Point” includes articles, tournament results and the definitive world tournament calendar, maintained by Carol Joy Cole. The Gammon Links page by Mel Leifer is an excellent starting point to search for anything backgammon-related in the USA and worldwide.
PrimeTime Backgammon – http://usbgf.org/category/magazine/
A high quality quarterly magazine, PrimeTime contains tournament reports, match analyses and other technical articles, and is published by the USBGF both online and in printed form. USBGF members can download a free pdf; printed copies can be purchased by mail order from the USBGF BG shop.
Other Online Video Lessons
Backgammon Coaching (Zdenek Zizka, aka ZZ)
Offers short videos analysing the Position of the Day, match commentaries and interesting queries/discussions from viewers
Backgammon is Beautiful (Daniel Rovira)
Offers a wide range of video lessons, aimed at all skill levels. Well explained and clearly communicated principles. There is also a blog with interesting articles here.
Backgammon is Beautiful YouTube Channel (Daniel Rovira)