Paul Magriel (2) (1946–2018)
Author of Backgammon
For other authors named Paul Magriel, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Paul David Magriel Jr. was born in Manhattan, New York on July 1, 1946. He received a bachelor's degree in math from New York University. He was later a National Science Foundation fellow at Princeton University, where he specialized in probability. From 1969 to 1973, he taught math at the Newark show more College of Engineering. He won the New York State Junior Chess Championship at the age of 19. He then turned his attention to backgammon and eventually played professionally. He won the world backgammon championship and wrote several books about backgammon with Renee Roberts including Backgammon and An Introduction to Backgammon: A Step-By-Step Guide. From 1977 to 1980, Magriel wrote a weekly column about the game for The New York Times. Later, he became a low-stakes poker player. He died on March 5, 2018 at the age of 71. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Paul Magriel at the 2005 World Series of Poker
Works by Paul Magriel
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Magriel, Paul David, Jr.
- Birthdate
- 1946-07-01
- Date of death
- 2018-03-05
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Princeton University (PhD)
New York University (BA - Mathematics)
Phillips Exeter Academy - Occupations
- chess player
backgammon player
poker player
columnist
teacher - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Manhattan, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Magriel's Backgammon is considered the bible of backgammon, a foundation work that every backgammon player who does not wish to remain a beginner forever should read.
This reputation is well deserved. I really appreciated Magriel's concise, to-the-point style and clear explanations. Explained in as many words as are needed to get the point across, but not any less. He is not trying to be entertaining, but rather informative without being dry. Writers of books that need to explain stuff to the show more reader should learn from Backgammon on how to do it, regardless of field.
I also appreciated the breakdown of the chapters, which is very logical. It builds from simpler topics to more complex ones and from the opening to the endgame. It is a complete work that covers all aspects of backgammon, but there is an area that falls a bit short - the doubling cube.
There is one short chapter dedicated to doubling cube strategy, which barely tackles the subject at all. As Magriel himself says, errors in handling the doubling cube cannot be compensated even with perfect checker play. Of course, as Magriel also says in Renee Magriel's entertaining introduction, the doubling cube is a subject of such complexity that it likely warrants its own book. Still, for a book dubbed the bible of backgammon, lackluster treatment of this subject makes it fall just short of such a high flying moniker for me.
There are some other topics that I felt could do with a bit more explanation and examples, such as the back game. Also, this book was written way before there was (good) backgammon software, in the seventies, and it is likely that some corrections would have to be made (for example, what are the best openings and responses to the opening rolls) from what we have since learned from the bots.
Still, this really is essential reading for any aspiring backgammon player. show less
This reputation is well deserved. I really appreciated Magriel's concise, to-the-point style and clear explanations. Explained in as many words as are needed to get the point across, but not any less. He is not trying to be entertaining, but rather informative without being dry. Writers of books that need to explain stuff to the show more reader should learn from Backgammon on how to do it, regardless of field.
I also appreciated the breakdown of the chapters, which is very logical. It builds from simpler topics to more complex ones and from the opening to the endgame. It is a complete work that covers all aspects of backgammon, but there is an area that falls a bit short - the doubling cube.
There is one short chapter dedicated to doubling cube strategy, which barely tackles the subject at all. As Magriel himself says, errors in handling the doubling cube cannot be compensated even with perfect checker play. Of course, as Magriel also says in Renee Magriel's entertaining introduction, the doubling cube is a subject of such complexity that it likely warrants its own book. Still, for a book dubbed the bible of backgammon, lackluster treatment of this subject makes it fall just short of such a high flying moniker for me.
There are some other topics that I felt could do with a bit more explanation and examples, such as the back game. Also, this book was written way before there was (good) backgammon software, in the seventies, and it is likely that some corrections would have to be made (for example, what are the best openings and responses to the opening rolls) from what we have since learned from the bots.
Still, this really is essential reading for any aspiring backgammon player. show less
Statistics
- Works
- 2
- Members
- 90
- Popularity
- #205,794
- Rating
- 4.6
- Reviews
- 1
- ISBNs
- 9