“Opening Concepts” has been
translated to Chinese by Apollo Ip. This Chinese version is available
at the Macao Backgammon Association.
Q: Michy-san, hm, I have read several of your books…and I am most
impressed by your approach, your very theoretical approach to
backgammon. Clearly you think a lot about this game. What drives you?
What gave you this passion towards backgammon? A: So, first of all, the strategy of backgammon itself fascinated me,
yes, that is the biggest reason. At first, backgammon was a boring
game to me, it was just a game of dice. But then I found, that there
are so many deep strategies in backgammon…I was very much surprised.
It seems like such a simple game, we don’t have many rules, but wow,
so many complicated, fascinating strategies, which impressed me. I was
fascinated.
Q: When did you start playing backgammon? Tell us… A: For me, er, backgammon seriously started about 25 years ago.
Q: 25 years ago. In Japan? A: Yes, yes.
Q: Many people play back then? A: No. Actually we had some good players; it was not so popular. I
say, the majority of Japanese people, do not know what is backgammon.
Q: So tell us, how did you first know about this game? A: Basically, I like games. I like any games. I just accidentally
found backgammon one day at a department store, and I didn’t know what
it is. So I was curious, and so I bought it, it was very cheap, small,
like er, less than 10 dollars (USD)…
Q: Hahaha, ok, made in China I think… A: Hahaha, so I played it with my friend; we bought it but we didn’t
know what is backgammon. So we read a rulebook, and enjoyed…well,
actually we didn’t enjoy, because we didn’t know any rules, so it was
just boring. So we easily, er, quit…
Q: Aha. And then? A: And then, again accidentally, I found a backgammon book at a
bookstore.
Q: Which book? A: It was a Japanese book. The title is “The Backgammon Book”. Very
simple book…
Q: Who wrote it? A: Actually, it was a Japanese company, a Japanese magic and game
company. So the members of that company, all of them, they were also
fascinated by backgammon. And they wrote a book, based on the book by
Paul Magriel…
Q: Magriel’s “Backgammon”! A: I believe they read Paul Magriel’s book, and then, well they didn’t
translate it, but they wrote a new book. But the base was Paul
Magriel’s book.
Q: Yeah, we are making some videos from Paul Magriel’s book as well.
A: That book was very interesting.
Q: So did you read it? A: Er, yeah, so I bought that book immediately, and finished reading
it in 1 day.
Q: One day?! A: Yes.
Q: The Backgammon Bible, one day… A: No no no it was like 250 pages, and not like 500 pages…
Q: But Paul Magriel’s “Backgammon” Bible was like… A: Oh no no, it wasn’t Paul Magriel’s book, the Japanese book…
Q: Oh ok ok… A: You look so surprised hahaha…
Q: Hahaha…So. 25 years. And…did you study from some grandmaster…? Um,
Did you, how did you become better? A: Basically, I studied by myself, and of course, with the use of
software. Without software I couldn’t learn by myself. I’d say it
would be impossible.
Q: So you were the generation using Jellyfish, Snowy, GNU maybe…so
which one? A: So, first I used Expert Backgammon. It was before Jellyfish.
Q: Before Jellyfish?! A: Yeah. And then Jellyfish came, and Snowy came…
Q: Before Jellyfish wow! So that was before Windows 3.1 hahaha…
A: Hahaha yeah something like that. And that program was very strong.
But er, it is weaker than the best human player. And Expert Backgammon
was at such a level. Very good, but less than a human top player. But
now, Jellyfish overcame humans…
Q: Right, right…so you actually studied with computers. Now, in Japan
at the time, I would imagine that they were not many very strong
players… A: Right. We had some big tournaments, we had around 100 tournament
players. But er, they were not so strong, compared to recent
backgammon levels. And I got big benefit from learning with software.
So at some point, I remember the year, 2001, I dominated Japanese
backgammon. I won 3 major titles in 1 year.
“Opening Concepts” has been
translated to Chinese by Apollo Ip. This Chinese version is available
at the Macao Backgammon Association.
Q: Michy-san, hm, I have read several of your books…and I am most
impressed by your approach, your very theoretical approach to
backgammon. Clearly you think a lot about this game. What drives you?
What gave you this passion towards backgammon? A: So, first of all, the strategy of backgammon itself fascinated me,
yes, that is the biggest reason. At first, backgammon was a boring
game to me, it was just a game of dice. But then I found, that there
are so many deep strategies in backgammon…I was very much surprised.
It seems like such a simple game, we don’t have many rules, but wow,
so many complicated, fascinating strategies, which impressed me. I was
fascinated.
Q: When did you start playing backgammon? Tell us… A: For me, er, backgammon seriously started about 25 years ago.
Q: 25 years ago. In Japan? A: Yes, yes.
Q: Many people play back then? A: No. Actually we had some good players; it was not so popular. I
say, the majority of Japanese people, do not know what is backgammon.
Q: So tell us, how did you first know about this game? A: Basically, I like games. I like any games. I just accidentally
found backgammon one day at a department store, and I didn’t know what
it is. So I was curious, and so I bought it, it was very cheap, small,
like er, less than 10 dollars (USD)…
Q: Hahaha, ok, made in China I think… A: Hahaha, so I played it with my friend; we bought it but we didn’t
know what is backgammon. So we read a rulebook, and enjoyed…well,
actually we didn’t enjoy, because we didn’t know any rules, so it was
just boring. So we easily, er, quit…
Q: Aha. And then? A: And then, again accidentally, I found a backgammon book at a
bookstore.
Q: Which book? A: It was a Japanese book. The title is “The Backgammon Book”. Very
simple book…
Q: Who wrote it? A: Actually, it was a Japanese company, a Japanese magic and game
company. So the members of that company, all of them, they were also
fascinated by backgammon. And they wrote a book, based on the book by
Paul Magriel…
Q: Magriel’s “Backgammon”! A: I believe they read Paul Magriel’s book, and then, well they didn’t
translate it, but they wrote a new book. But the base was Paul
Magriel’s book.
Q: Yeah, we are making some videos from Paul Magriel’s book as well.
A: That book was very interesting.
Q: So did you read it? A: Er, yeah, so I bought that book immediately, and finished reading
it in 1 day.
Q: One day?! A: Yes.
Q: The Backgammon Bible, one day… A: No no no it was like 250 pages, and not like 500 pages…
Q: But Paul Magriel’s “Backgammon” Bible was like… A: Oh no no, it wasn’t Paul Magriel’s book, the Japanese book…
Q: Oh ok ok… A: You look so surprised hahaha…
Q: Hahaha…So. 25 years. And…did you study from some grandmaster…? Um,
Did you, how did you become better? A: Basically, I studied by myself, and of course, with the use of
software. Without software I couldn’t learn by myself. I’d say it
would be impossible.
Q: So you were the generation using Jellyfish, Snowy, GNU maybe…so
which one? A: So, first I used Expert Backgammon. It was before Jellyfish.
Q: Before Jellyfish?! A: Yeah. And then Jellyfish came, and Snowy came…
Q: Before Jellyfish wow! So that was before Windows 3.1 hahaha…
A: Hahaha yeah something like that. And that program was very strong.
But er, it is weaker than the best human player. And Expert Backgammon
was at such a level. Very good, but less than a human top player. But
now, Jellyfish overcame humans…
Q: Right, right…so you actually studied with computers. Now, in Japan
at the time, I would imagine that they were not many very strong
players… A: Right. We had some big tournaments, we had around 100 tournament
players. But er, they were not so strong, compared to recent
backgammon levels. And I got big benefit from learning with software.
So at some point, I remember the year, 2001, I dominated Japanese
backgammon. I won 3 major titles in 1 year.
“Opening Concepts” has been
translated to Chinese by Apollo Ip. This Chinese version is available
at the Macao Backgammon Association.
Q: Michy-san, hm, I have read several of your books…and I am most
impressed by your approach, your very theoretical approach to
backgammon. Clearly you think a lot about this game. What drives you?
What gave you this passion towards backgammon? A: So, first of all, the strategy of backgammon itself fascinated me,
yes, that is the biggest reason. At first, backgammon was a boring
game to me, it was just a game of dice. But then I found, that there
are so many deep strategies in backgammon…I was very much surprised.
It seems like such a simple game, we don’t have many rules, but wow,
so many complicated, fascinating strategies, which impressed me. I was
fascinated.
Q: When did you start playing backgammon? Tell us… A: For me, er, backgammon seriously started about 25 years ago.
Q: 25 years ago. In Japan? A: Yes, yes.
Q: Many people play back then? A: No. Actually we had some good players; it was not so popular. I
say, the majority of Japanese people, do not know what is backgammon.
Q: So tell us, how did you first know about this game? A: Basically, I like games. I like any games. I just accidentally
found backgammon one day at a department store, and I didn’t know what
it is. So I was curious, and so I bought it, it was very cheap, small,
like er, less than 10 dollars (USD)…
Q: Hahaha, ok, made in China I think… A: Hahaha, so I played it with my friend; we bought it but we didn’t
know what is backgammon. So we read a rulebook, and enjoyed…well,
actually we didn’t enjoy, because we didn’t know any rules, so it was
just boring. So we easily, er, quit…
Q: Aha. And then? A: And then, again accidentally, I found a backgammon book at a
bookstore.
Q: Which book? A: It was a Japanese book. The title is “The Backgammon Book”. Very
simple book…
Q: Who wrote it? A: Actually, it was a Japanese company, a Japanese magic and game
company. So the members of that company, all of them, they were also
fascinated by backgammon. And they wrote a book, based on the book by
Paul Magriel…
Q: Magriel’s “Backgammon”! A: I believe they read Paul Magriel’s book, and then, well they didn’t
translate it, but they wrote a new book. But the base was Paul
Magriel’s book.
Q: Yeah, we are making some videos from Paul Magriel’s book as well.
A: That book was very interesting.
Q: So did you read it? A: Er, yeah, so I bought that book immediately, and finished reading
it in 1 day.
Q: One day?! A: Yes.
Q: The Backgammon Bible, one day… A: No no no it was like 250 pages, and not like 500 pages…
Q: But Paul Magriel’s “Backgammon” Bible was like… A: Oh no no, it wasn’t Paul Magriel’s book, the Japanese book…
Q: Oh ok ok… A: You look so surprised hahaha…
Q: Hahaha…So. 25 years. And…did you study from some grandmaster…? Um,
Did you, how did you become better? A: Basically, I studied by myself, and of course, with the use of
software. Without software I couldn’t learn by myself. I’d say it
would be impossible.
Q: So you were the generation using Jellyfish, Snowy, GNU maybe…so
which one? A: So, first I used Expert Backgammon. It was before Jellyfish.
Q: Before Jellyfish?! A: Yeah. And then Jellyfish came, and Snowy came…
Q: Before Jellyfish wow! So that was before Windows 3.1 hahaha…
A: Hahaha yeah something like that. And that program was very strong.
But er, it is weaker than the best human player. And Expert Backgammon
was at such a level. Very good, but less than a human top player. But
now, Jellyfish overcame humans…
Q: Right, right…so you actually studied with computers. Now, in Japan
at the time, I would imagine that they were not many very strong
players… A: Right. We had some big tournaments, we had around 100 tournament
players. But er, they were not so strong, compared to recent
backgammon levels. And I got big benefit from learning with software.
So at some point, I remember the year, 2001, I dominated Japanese
backgammon. I won 3 major titles in 1 year.
