Finding a Teacher

Eventually the USBGF will rate instructors using internally developed metrics so those seeking lessons can find a suitable instructor for their level of play. For now, we will be listing instructors in a less formal manner. (To be considered for listing, please contact info@USBGF.org via email)

Teacher Listing:

Nack Ballard

Kicked off by winning the World Professional Championship in 1982, Nack Ballard has countless titles and victories the world over, including his crushing defeat of the top computer in a famous 300-game match in 1999. Starting in 2001, Nack had a six-year reign as #1 Giant in the world (nobody else has achieved #1 more than once). He has averaged #3 in the world since the inception of the Giants list in 1993! (Giants: Statistics).

Nack is a renowned backgammon instructor and is authoring a book series. For more information, go to www.nackbg.com and click on “Lessons” or “Backgammon Openings.”

Mary Hickey has been teaching backgammon for several years, and her students have won numerous prizes in their divisions. She won the US Open in 2010, and came in ninth in the 2009 ABT. You can find her online at several sites as “mamabear”, and at Play65 as “mamabear64″.

Mary has written for most of the major backgammon publications, including GammonVillage where her 44-part series on chouette is archived. The latter is also available for sale there as a book on CD. She is currently co-authoring a book on the middle game with Marty Storer, to be published in 2011.
For more information, contact her at thehick64@hotmail.com

The Unflappable Bob Koca, or UBK, is a Ph.D. mathematician and professional backgammon player with a number of titles and awards under his belt, including the 1998 Riviera Cup and third place in the 2008 American Backgammon Tour. He is the two-time defending champion of the backgammon quiz from the Chicago Open, and recently won the 2011 Sante Fe ABT event. He coined the ubiquitous terms gammon go and gammon save, and is presently ranked number 29 on the Giants of Backgammon list.

Both his background and his current profession as a mathematics professor make Bob an effective teacher for players looking to improve their game. Contact Bob for advice on topics such as how to get extra value out of reference positions, what and when you should be counting or calculating, how to calculate quickly or estimate with reasonable accuracy, how to evaluate race and bear-off cubes, how the cube location influences checker play strategy, how strategy and reference positions in match play differs from money play, and how to use the data generated from backgammon software bots to improve your overall game.

For tutoring on those and other questions, contact Bob at bob_koca@hotmail.com.

Phil Simborg is the most active full-time backgammon teacher in the world, with over 40 students in private lessons at this time. He is the world’s first “Professor of Backgammon”, teaching backgammon in an accredited course he helped establish at Georgia Southern University (via Webex). Phil has been teaching over 20 years, has published over 200 articles, and lectures at many US tournaments and to groups all over the world via the internet. Phil has been ranked as high as No. 2 on the American Backgammon Tour. Phil’s lesson plans are developed and honed in partnership with Perry Gartner, Stick Rice, John O’Hagan and David Rockwell—check out their web site at www.thebackgammonlearningcenter.com.