Back Gammon?

[Kemics]

Anyone crush at the gammon?

I've just started playing, only played a few games but find it rather enjoyable. Though i'm getting ruined by my friends. Despite being entirely based around dice (no unknowns or bluffing) i'm getting utterly hammered, endlessly. Essentially, i suck.

So i was wondering does anyone have any good resources for a new player? Are there any solid introductory books such as an equivalent as harrington for poker? Or basic rules/concepts like backgammon equivalents to c-betting, positional play etc. Fundamentals. I know opening roles. But that's about it.

Cheers!

[miaowmiaowchowface]

switch to scrabble!
My dad used to be good at backgammon.

[HalfSugar]

Scrabble for rolls? PM me.

[golddog]

Strange, I do the NY Times crossword every day, but can't play scrabble at all. I guess I need the clues.

[snoogins47]

http://www.bkgm.com/books/suggestions.html

Good list of suggestions. There's plenty of internet forums to check out and look at... and I'm no expert, for sure (understatement) but if I had to recommend one fairly simple, easy to access book I'd say Backgammon for Winners by Robertie. It's not perfect, but it's an easy, surprisingly entertaining read to get some of the basic concepts down very quickly and give you a good foundation. A lot of older Gammon books are fascinating and interesting but make sure you focus on books from the past ~ten-fifteen years. Strategies came and went before the computer era, but now the whole thing has changed.

Beyond that, other than reading everything you can and playing a lot...

Check out http://www.gnubg.org/ and download GnuBG. It's a crazy good program, and there are a number of ways to use it, from getting your ass kicked regularly by it, to using it to analyze your play (I liked to generally play a match, then go back and analyze all of the moves, pick out my major blunders, figure out why they sucked, etc... or sometimes just play a game and analyze every move after I made it, as kind of a quiz)

Also you said no unknowns or bluffing, and you're right, but very early on, when I couldn't get the hang of the cube, somebody said "The cube is exactly like a raise in poker," and it all made sense.