Bill Robertie

Bill Robertie is one of the best-known names in modern backgammon. He is respected for two things that do not always go together: winning at the highest level and explaining the game clearly to other people. Many players who started studying seriously in the last few decades learned key ideas from his books before they ever met a strong opponent across the board.

World champion twice

The backgammon World Championship in Monte Carlo has been held since 1979 and is the most prestigious title in the game. Robertie won it in 1983 and again in 1987. Winning once requires a long run of matches against strong fields, plus the share of luck that every dice game demands. Winning twice shows that the first title was not a fluke and that his skill held up over years of top competition.

For a look at how the event works and who else has won it, see our page on backgammon champions.

The writer and teacher

Robertie's influence reaches far beyond his own results. He wrote books aimed at very different readers, and two of them are especially well known:

• Backgammon for Winners is an introduction for newer players. It starts from the basics and builds up to the plans and checker moves that separate a beginner from a solid club player.
• 501 Essential Backgammon Problems is a large collection of positions, each with a question and a worked answer. Problem books like this train the habit that matters most at the board: stopping to compare candidate moves instead of playing the first one that looks natural.

He was also a co-publisher of Inside Backgammon, a newsletter for serious players that published analysis of positions, matches and theory. Publications like it helped spread a more precise, numbers-based way of thinking about the game at a time when that kind of material was hard to find.

What players can learn from his approach

A thread runs through Robertie's teaching: backgammon decisions can be studied and checked. A move is not right because it feels comfortable. It is right because, over all the rolls that might follow, it leads to better results than the alternatives. That way of thinking fits well with the tools players use today, which can roll out a position thousands of times and measure the cost of an error.

Some practical habits follow from this approach:

• Know the numbers. Counting shots, pips and entering chances turns guesswork into a calculation. Our backgammon math page covers the basics.
• Study positions, not just games. Working through problems one at a time builds pattern recognition faster than playing quickly.
• Take the cube seriously. In match play, the doubling cube is often where the most points are won and lost. Knowing when to double, take or pass is as important as moving checkers well.
• Review your own play. Going back over a finished match shows the mistakes you did not notice at the time.

Where to start

If you are new to the game, learn the rules first, then pick up an introductory book and a set of problems. Players who follow that path, the way Robertie's books lay it out, tend to improve steadily. For a structured study plan, read becoming a better player.