Backgammon was the “coolest” game of the 1970s – can’t you just tell by the cover of this book? This guy with the Kirk Douglas cleft chin looks like a really cool Hollywood actor? His styled wavy hair, black turtle-top (“in” at the time), elegant watch and even the way he holds his cigarette (in an era when smoking was not yet considered so “uncool”). And check out the nice brown suede board with the bottle-cap checkers and the huge cube... wow, very cool!
How about the substance of book itself? Well, maybe not so cool! Especially if you really want to win at Backgammon. Becker’s book has received mixed reviews over the years. The author’s method of winning was considered radical by experts then and now. It advocated an all-out attack, blitzing, "insidious openings" and "ruthless retaliations" – when, if mission failed, retreat to a backgame!
Becker’s suggested the “5-point builder” in an effort to secure the Golden Point which meant (considered wrong today) playing a 5-3 or 6-2 13/5! Then one would hope to build a prime behind the 5 point.
However, some of his opening moves were not all wrong - such as slotting in a money game, 13/11 6/5 with a 2-1 or playing 13/9 6/5 with 4-1.
Needless to say, at a time when good literature was not abundant (until Paul Magriel’s Backgammon came along in 1976) this book sold thousands of copies. Why? Well, everyone was crazy about Backgammon back then, just like Poker today, so the book became a novelty item. It had wide distribution and quite likely great display on book and magazine racks right next to the old Midnight, at every drugstore check-out counter. Add to that a really cool title. So, for $2.50 (price on the soft cover pictured here) a player probably figured it was well worth it for a shot at becoming a true Backgammon Vampire.
Although sales records are unavailable Backgammon for Blood is probably amongst the top five most-sold backgammon books; the book in the photo is a copy from the book’s Eleventh Printing!
Published 1974 in hard cover by Sunrise Book, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. ISBN #0-87690-123-2 and in soft cover in 1975 by Avon Books, ISBN # 0-380-48793-4
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