backgammon noob

[bustedchucks]

ive recently began playing backgammon, and..um.. well, i suck.
gnu is kicking my ass and even the yahoos on yahoo are pounding me.
gnu has been a big help with its tutorial mode. im making less "very bad" plays and more "doubtfull" plays, so thats encouraging.
im totally intrigued by this game and want to improve. so i'd appreciate any suggestions on books and mainly on sites with strategy or any articles that will help me. ive been googling, but most of what ive found has been soundly over my head.

help!

[beset7]

[ QUOTE ]
ive recently began playing backgammon, and..um.. well, i suck.
gnu is kicking my ass and even the yahoos on yahoo are pounding me.
gnu has been a big help with its tutorial mode. im making less "very bad" plays and more "doubtfull" plays, so thats encouraging.
im totally intrigued by this game and want to improve. so i'd appreciate any suggestions on books and mainly on sites with strategy or any articles that will help me. ive been googling, but most of what ive found has been soundly over my head.

help!

[/ QUOTE ]

Paul Magriel's book. Or you can start with one of Robertie's more newbie centered books ("...for winning/serious players? Something like that).

Then Bill Robertie's advanced backgammon books.

[Robertie]

The best program for study is Snowie, although it's a bit pricey. ($380) It allows you to record entire matches and money sessions, then run them through the program for analysis. This way you can find errors in plays that you thought were so obviously correct that you didn't even consider them as possible error candidates.

Magriel's "Backgammon" is a good starter book. It's available in a new paperback release for $45, or you can find copies of the original hardcover on Ebay for $10 or so. (Content is the same.) I wrote a book on the theory of checker movement called "Modern Backgammon", which some players find helpful.

Best online source for books and software is The Gammon Press (www.thegammonpress.com)