Paradoxes and Probabilities: 168 Backgammon Problems Hardcover – January 1, 1978

I first read this book 35 years ago, it served me well, it was good to refresh.

One of the best (in my opinion) Backgammon books. Helpful in that the answers show several variations and explains each variation's pros and cons. This was recommended to me by my Backgammon instructor 30+ years ago when I was first learning the game.

We were all fascinated when this iconic backgammon tome came out 30 odd years ago. Cooke seemed like a wizard with his complex intuition for the game. Subjected to modern neural net computer analysis, some of the problems are now known to be wrong, but its still an interesting read.

I knew Barclay and his son. Fine people. Smart. Professional gamblers.

Old school backgammon, problems solved by applying gray matter.

I think it's well established that the book is full of errors but I still think it's a good book. It offers an interesting look into the thinking of the 70's. That style was bold and aggressive. I do suggest you take the advice with an extra big grain of salt when studying this book and think about the problems even harder. In that way this book can actually be very useful.

It may be an old book but the difficult and interesting problems in this book are still useful today. Some of his answer are wrong now that we have xg analysis but it doesn't take away from his brilliant strategic and tactical ideas and the concepts he explains. It will make you think outside the box and help you look deeper into your positions. A real workhorse of a book, great to put the positions on the board as you work through them. The book a real gem of a book I have over 40 backgammon books and this is my favourite

Brilliant...Our Backgammon Leader Jules uses it for "Training Sessions"....The examples get everyone throwing their oar in......Excellent for Training, Discussion and Team Building....The examples are really good at making you think about the options...Weighing the advantages and diadvabntages of the possible options...Clearly which you go for will depend on:- your confidence on the day;what might have happened before in the game; whether it is the first game of a series or the last; the perceived strength of your opponent; how you feel on the day; and 'what the stakes are', whether monetary or not ... etc, etc, etc ...Almost impossible to sit it out and not say anything...

"168 problems, most of which are very interesting. Current thinking is that solutions to about a third of them are wrong, but the analysis gives very good insight into how Cooke, a first-generation world class player, thought about backgammon." - Marty Storer