The algorithm has many lovely features. It is very efficient -- it is used in basically every SAT solver with minimal modifications. It's not entirely trivial it works, particularly the backtracking part. It is a good example of how there are algorithms which are extremely hard to do functionally (the whole algorithm is about moving pointers around).
It's also a good example of practical Vs theoretical efficiency. In the worst case it is no more efficient than the algorithm it replaced, in practice it is hundreds of times more efficient. The "not moving back" feels like it should save at most half the time, it on fact speeds things up by often 10 times (this is because watches are often moved around until they reach some "boring" variables, where they lay undisturbed).