Quote:
Originally Posted by murdoch
I was reading some reviews of Magriels 'Backgammon' on amazon and one guy, who seemed pretty knowledgeable, said that two whole chapters of the book were wrong. I know some of the positions have been proved incorrect but does anyone know which chapters he's on about? Im a beginner thinking about getting the book but this has put me off a bit.
Nonsense.
Magriel's book contains a few errors, as do all books written in the pre-bot era. The authors of those books usually understood a lot about backgammon and could explain it very well, but perfection (as defined by agreement with bot rollouts) simply wasn't possible. Magriel's book is clearly written and full of valuable insights, and if you're a beginner, you'll become a much better player by reading it.
The 'reviewer' is probably referring to Magriel's "Action Play" chapter, where the general theory has changed since the 1970s and 80s. (We now know that minor splits are stronger than was previously thought, and major splits are sometimes an overplay.)