(NOTE ADDED 2021: My copy of Robertie’s book
says “Copyright 2000, 2004”
and “SECOND PRINTING” on the flyleaf.
I have been told that Robertie has revised his book
since I produced this webpage in 2009,
so if you have a more recent edition, you may find some
discrepancies between what I say below
and what you see in your copy of the book.)
Robertie’s excellent book 501 Essential Backgammon Problems
was first published in 2000.
The book does not give any indication that the analyses were
checked using computer programs,
although I recently learned that Robertie
did
in fact consult bots when preparing the book.
Bot technology has evolved since 2000, however,
and the current generation of bots (as of 2009)
does not always agree with Robertie.
The rollouts below (performed by GNU Backgammon)
are the ones that in my opinion are the most interesting.
This list includes all positions where GNU Backgammon
significantly disagrees with Robertie;
these are highlighted using BOLDFACE ITALIC.
The other positions have been included for a variety of reasons.
For example, in some cases, GNU disagrees with Robertie,
but (in my opinion) only slightly;
in other cases, Robertie and GNU agree,
but GNU thinks there is another move that is almost as good
as Robertie’s recommendation;
in still other cases,
GNU thinks that the doubling cube is not in the most logical position.
Most of the rollouts here are my rollouts,
but some of them were done by Jacob “Stick” Rice.
Stick (along with some collaborators) ran all
the positions in the book through GNU Backgammon,
but I did not obtain a copy of Stick’s
rollouts until I had rolled out most of the positions myself.
The results here represent the best of both worlds
(though if Stick’s rollout and mine are essentially equivalent,
I have defaulted to my own).
I thank Stick for generously allowing me to post his rollouts here.
My choice of which rollouts to include and which ones
to HIGHLIGHT is somewhat subjective
is not based purely on numerical criteria.
For example, if GNU’s top two plays are close,
and Robertie considers them both but settles on GNU’s second choice,
then I regard that as much less of a disagreement than
if Robertie does not even consider GNU’s top choice.
If there is a particular position whose rollout you would
like me to add to the list, please contact me.
If you are wondering whether I am planning to create webpages similar
to this one for other backgammon books, the answer is that I may,
but I have not yet made up my mind.
Jeremy Bagai has already gone through many pre-bot-era books
and analyzed the most interesting positions in his wonderful book
Classic Backgammon Revisited,
so apart from 501 Essential Backgammon Problems
there is not a glaringly obvious candidate book
for this kind of treatment.
NOTE: I have included rollout information only
and have not included diagrams of the positions.
This is intentional. I do not want to violate copyright,
and I do not want this website to act as a partial substitute
for Robertie’s book. It is intended solely as a study tool
for those who have already purchased the book.
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