Are there any Backgammon books that focus just on the Backgammon scene or certain players and their lives?

I not so long ago finished reading a book called 'One Jump Ahead: Computer Perfection at Checkers' by Jonathan Schaeffer. It was mainly about the computer challenge to the God of checkers Marion Tinsley. Amazing book.

I was wondering if Backgammon had any books covering topics on things other than improving ones skill?

As far as I know, there is no single book devoted to the topic. However, you can find a lot of what you're looking for in books which are partly instruction and partly tales of the backgammon scene. Here's a list of the ones I have:

The Backgammon Book (Jacoby & Crawford)
The Cruelest Game (Cooke)
The Playboy Book of Backgammon (Deyong)

These are three instructional books from the 70s. The Jacoby book has lots of stuff on the history and etiquette of the game. The Cooke and Deyong books are full of good stories from the backgammon scene of the 1970s. They're the best books I know for conveying the romance of big-time backgammon.

Gambling Wizards (Munchkin)
Fast Company (Bradshaw)

These are books of interviews with players across the gambling world. The Munchkin book has interviews with Mike Svobodny and Stan Tomchin. The Bradshaw book has an interview with Tim Holland.

Note: "One Jump Ahead" is one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time. I usually re-read it once every couple of years or so. (And I'm not a checkers player. I just love that story.)

There's a feature on The Onion's AV Club called "Expert Witness" that discusses the oral history of various pop culture phenomena; for example, "What was it like to be a Nintendo Game Play Counselor?"

Someone like Bill or Paul Magriel would make a fantastic interview for this segment to talk about Backgammon in its heyday.

This post at BgOnline has links to three different radio interviews given by three of the greats from today and yesterday, Bill Robertie, Jake Jacobs, and Kent Goulding.

Enjoy.

@ Edward Collins

Thanks for recommending the book, it was highly interesting and a great read, I had no idea there was this different world, I suppose it's the same for every sport/game once you dig enough though; I have always regarded checkers as a kids game, as the book says most people do. Really good read, highly recommended.

Bill, did the checkers crowd ever overlap the backgammon bunch, or were you all in separate circles?

Cheers.

Just to add that I'm away for a few days completely out of all signal, so won't be able to respond.

Thanks.

Backgammon and chess overlapped quite a bit, as did backgammon and bridge in the 1970s. Today I think a lot of poker players also enjoy backgammon.

I did have a pupil once who had been a checkers player in his youth (1940s and 1950s) but he was the only one I ever met. In my lifetime the checkers crowd has always been tiny compared to these other games.