BackGammon Annotated Matches

Books of annotated matches show complete, real games from beginning to end with commentary on why certain moves were made or why a given move may have been an error. Unlike books of problems, these books give you a sense of the flow of the game.

By their nature, annotated matches include positions from all phases of the game and every level of difficulty. These books are fun to read as problem books: you cover up the actual play and commentary until you have decided yourself how you would play and why.

Backgammon for People Who Hate to Lose
Tim Holland
A great book for beginners. Holland's informal writing style leads you, move-by-move, through the thinking and psychology of seven actual games. In a few places the advice is outdated, but if you're new to backgammon you'll enjoy this book.

Backgammon: Master versus Amateur, Volume 1
Kit Woolsey
A transcript of the first online match between Kit Woolsey and the readers of GammOnLine. Woolsey's annotations are terrific--there is something here for everyone.

World Class Backgammon Move by Move
Roy Friedman
This book is hard to find, but the analysis is terrific. Friedman takes a very scientific approach; he put a lot of work into rolling out many of the diagrammed positions.

Matchqiz Series
Kit Woolsey
Three classic books by the game's best match annotator: Joe Sylvester vs. Nack Ballard, Mika Lidov vs. Hal Heinrich, and Philip Marmorstein vs. Michael Greiner. Woolsey is great at explaining the salient points of each position. You will learn something every time you pick up one of these books.