After the initial popularity of backgammon dipped during the forties and fifties, it took the sterling efforts of Prince Alexis Obolensky, who conceived the idea of an international background to raise the standards of the game. This first International Tournament was held in the Bahamas in 1964 where invitations to the world’s elite players were handed out. Among the RSVP’s were the doyens of the game John Crawford, Oswald Jacoby and Walter Cookie. The first tournament started off with a modest 40 players but over the years the number of players swelled as the popularity of the contest grew.
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One of the first players, who became the champion of this International Tournament, was Walter Cookie who completed a double success came in 1969 and 1970.
Walter Cookie was not one of a kind in fact he was the son of his father Barclay Cookie who like the old adage was ‘Like Son, like Father’. This was only too evident in the historic contest where they partnered each other against the renowned partnership of Jow Dwek and Phillip Martyn. The match has passed into legend but was featured in the Championship Backgammon book, written by Barclay Cookie. In it the unorthodox method of ‘Playing without handling a cup or tossing dice seemed strange at first, but all four players soon became accustomed to listening to the referee call the roll for both tables’.
Walter Cookie’s aggressive style and manner always seemed to put off, or upset his opponents a tactic which he used to great effect in his contests with Philip Martin.
Chris Bray, the famous backgammon columnist for various independent newspapers in the UK wrote in his book ‘Backgammon – An Independent View’ about a famous game between Walter Cookie and Jesse Sammis. The description noted the aggressive nature of Cookie. Describing how Cooke had started issuing doubles even at odd positions. When he missed the double shot Cooke put the pressure on by redoubling to 8′, According to the writer, ‘An incredible game; but what happened to Cookie’s initial double?’
History recollects that the concept of duplicate backgammon had enjoyed immense popularity in the seventies and was the dream child of the Cookie family. The Cookie partners, Barclay and his son had won the duplicate Backgammon Cup in London in 1973. The Book ‘Backgammon The Cruelest Game’ focuses on the fact that even a novice can defeat a champion with the help of a good dice. The essence of the book lies in the application of sound common sensible ideas that can lead to success in backgammon. Some other books like Paradoxes and Probabilities, Championship Backgammon, which were co-authored by Barclay Cookie have also received rave reviews from backgammon players whether they were professionals or beginners.
Walter Cookie will be remembered for his style of play his great double victory at the International Championships in Backgammon but probably more so than any one thing will be the idea that aggressive game play can be fun, if you know how to expose the weakness’ of your opponents, something that the cookie family could do with unnerving regularity, proving conclusively that these two ‘Cookies’ would never crumble.
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