The Language of Backgammon

Once a favorite pastime of thrill-seeking gamblers, backgammon has evolved over the last half century into a true statistical science, with its top players rigorously training with artificial-intelligence programs in their quest to master the game’s secrets.

The vocabulary of backgammon has evolved as well. While much of it remains that of a craps player out of a Damon Runyon story, it now also teems with expressions denoting mathematical parameters and techniques that would have left an old-school risk-taker utterly at sea.

The Language of Backgammon, a companion volume to the author’s two-volume series, The Backgammon Chronicles, captures the language in this transitional phase, preserving its colorful, traditional argot while providing clear explanations of the concepts that enable the modern player to analyze the game with unprecedented depth and accuracy.