Arda Findikoglu, the Director of WBF-Turkey, informs us that the first step of the Worldwide Backgammon Federation’s 2012 Golden Circuit is the 2012 International Istanbul Open Backgammon Championship that will be held at the Armada Hotel, Sultanahmet Shoreway, in Istanbul from January 13 to 15, 2012.

Approximately 100 players from a variety of countries are expected to attend, including several well-known backgammon masters.

“In addition to the prize pool, the main event winner will also receive a free entry voucher for the “Masters” category of another upcoming WBF event in 2012. We guarantee that this event in Turkey will be one of your most unforgettable backgammon weekends and we are also offering a very special Istanbul city trip on Monday, January 16”, says Arda Findikoglu.

UCLA Backgammon Club members Justin Nunez and Joe Roth had great success in the recent Las Vegas Backgammon Championships. The LVBC is one of the largest backgammon tournaments held in the U.S. each year. Justin finished 2nd in the very tough Masters division and Joe brought home first place in the Novice! Congratulations to both!

We encourage students, faculty, and alumni to participate. UCLA will be forming teams for the National Backgammon Championships soon. Scholarships given to the winning team. We won it last year!

Please join us on Tuesdays from 5 to 7:30 PM on the first floor of Ackerman Union in the seating area near Panda Express and Rubio's.

Posted by Joseph Russell on the UCLA BACKGAMMON CLUB page of Facebook.

Takumitsu Suzuki of Japan became the 2011 World Backgammon Champion this week defeating Fabio Gullotta of Italy 25 to 6 in the final 25-point match of the 36th World Backgammon Championship held from July 15 to 23, 2011 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

A total of 138 players participated in the top Championship flight, while 31 played in the Intermediate category and another 25 in the Beginner flight for a total attendance of 191 players from around the world.

Suzuki won in the semi-finals against his fellow countryman and the current #1 Giant of Backgammon, Masayuki Mochizuki, who was aiming to become a two-time World Champion having won this prestigious title in 2009.

Paul Weaver of the USA, the current #25 Giant of Backgammon, was the other semi-finalist, and was eliminated by Gullotta. Just before the semi-finals most of the worldwide backgammon community was expecting that Mochizuki and Weaver would dispute the title.

Pictured above with Suzuki is Tsuyoshi Minakami, who with teammates Daisuke Katagami and Masahiko Nasu, won the World Championship 3-player Team Tournament for Japan. A total of 34 teams participated in the side event.

By the way, Daisuke Katagami is a famous professional Shogi (Japanese Chess) player and according to Masayuki Mochizuki, the news of the Japanese winning in Monte Carlo was published in Yomiuri, the biggest-selling newspaper in Japan with close to 9.5 million copies sold daily. Yes, that is not an error, potentially 9.5 million people in Japan have read about Japan’s success at the World Championships of Backgammon, which is likely to attract many new players to our game in that country.

For full results of the 36th World Backgammon Championships please visit ChicagoPoint.com.

NEW ARTICLE BY MARY HICKEY

Maintaining Respect

Ben Franklin said this about respect: “Reputations are like fine china. Both are easily broken and never well-mended.” In backgammon too, if you break up a vital asset, you may never have a chance to recover it:
Read the full article...

Ralf Jonas of Germany Wins
23rd Nordic Open

The 2011 Nordic Open, one of the biggest backgammon events in the world, was played during Easter from April 21 to 25 at the Scandic Copenhagen Hotel. Complete details at www.NordicOpen.dk.

GERMANY'S RALF JONAS - CHAMPION OF THE 2011 NORDIC OPEN

Ralf Jonas of Germany, ranked #25 in the 2007 list of Backgammon Giants who was also the Paris Masters Champion for two consecutive years in the early 2000s, won this 23rd Nordic Open over a field of 106 Championship-level players from around the globe.

Some 300 players participated in the Championship, Advanced, Intermediate and Beginner flights - the results of this backgammon tournament can be found at this link.