Matchquiz

[JB4488]

Could someone tell me if the demo version of matchquiz looks and works the
same as the $20 ones. The demo version is very boring looking. It is
hard to concentrate with the black and white colors.

[Kit Woolsey]

JB4488 (jb4...@aol.com) wrote:
: Could someone tell me if the demo version of matchquiz looks and works the

: same as the $20 ones. The demo version is very boring looking. It is
: hard to concentrate with the black and white colors.

Since it is my product (jointly with Hal Heinrich) I can tell you -- the
demo version is basically just like the $20 ones. Sorry we don't have
pretty colors for you, but that wasn't the goal -- the emphasis is on a
strong teaching product.

Kit

[Gilles BAUDRILLARD]

jb4...@aol.com (JB4488) wrote:

>Could someone tell me if the demo version of matchquiz looks and works the
>same as the $20 ones. The demo version is very boring looking. It is
>hard to concentrate with the black and white colors.

I came back to backgammon one year ago after having stopped
the game at the beginning of the 80's.(I was a *very* poor player
at that time)

So I have purchased both JellyFish and Kit's annotated matches.
The conjunction of the two has made me make tremendous
improvements in the level of my play after some months of
learning.

Learning with JF focus mainly on the tactical aspects of the
game without giving any theoretical explanations,but this
allows you to get progressively a good feeling of what is good and
what is not good.

Matchqiz allows you to learn the foundations of the game and
to understand strategical and long term issues (like timing) as
well as technical plays (JF has some flaws in these two areas)
And - may be the most important - you will find in Matchqiz
all what you have to know about cube management in match playing.

The fact that the matchqiz has a very poor interface is not very
relevant.More important is that Kit's style is very nice and that
the annotations are understandable by low-level players.
(This is not the case of all authors !)

However,learning backgammon needs A LOT OF WORK
and concentration,regardless of the interface.If you really
want to make progress,you will quickly accomodate with
the interface.

All that is to say that the 20 USD per match is definitively a very
good investment.

I have recently reviewed all the series of the matchqiz.It
seems to me that Kit has slowly evolved these last years
and the annotations of the last matches are sometimes
contradictory with the first series.
For example,early splitting of the backmen is now much more
recommended that it was some years ago.
So in case you decide to purchase some of Matchqiz series,I
advice you to start with the most recent ones.They look more
"modern" (and more consistent with JF's style of play)

Gilles ( 'gillesb' on FIBS )

[Kit Woolsey]

Gilles BAUDRILLARD (gba...@imaginet.fr) wrote:

: I have recently reviewed all the series of the matchqiz.It

: seems to me that Kit has slowly evolved these last years
: and the annotations of the last matches are sometimes
: contradictory with the first series.
: For example,early splitting of the backmen is now much more
: recommended that it was some years ago.
: So in case you decide to purchase some of Matchqiz series,I
: advice you to start with the most recent ones.They look more
: "modern" (and more consistent with JF's style of play)

Your observations are quite correct. My backgammon knowledge has
evolved, and I now disagree with several of my opinions in earlier
matchqiz's. No doubt five years from now I will look back and disagree
with many things I say in the most recent matchqiz.

This does not mean that the earlier ones are not of value. It is the way
of thinking about a position which is important, not what the best move
actually is. Every position is different, so there is no value to
memorizing positions. The important thing is to recognize what the
relevant features of the position are, and what one should be thinking
about. All that has changed is the interpretation of the results of this
thinking, due to different weighting of the priorities.

Kit

[Donald Kahn]

>
>
>I have recently reviewed all the series of the matchqiz.It
>seems to me that Kit has slowly evolved these last years
>and the annotations of the last matches are sometimes
>contradictory with the first series.
>For example,early splitting of the backmen is now much more
>recommended that it was some years ago.
>So in case you decide to purchase some of Matchqiz series,I
>advice you to start with the most recent ones.They look more
>"modern" (and more consistent with JF's style of play)
>

>Gilles ( 'gillesb' on FIBS )
>
>

The earliest Matchquizzes have their uses even though Kit's opinions
have evolved. Particularly for less experienced players. Matters are
commented on in the early matches, which Kit does not bother with
later, because the points have been well covered previously.

DK