What an exciting time for backgammon players and the game’s aficionados!

GammonLife Editor Michael Strato will be reporting daily from the scene of the (WBF) Worldwide Backgammon Federation’s 1st Nice Le Ruhl Casino Backgammon Open, which will take place from July 5 to 8, then we'll head over to neighbouring Monaco for the Monte Carlo World Championships, from July 9 to 15, and then back to Cannes in France for the (PGT) Partouche Gammon Tour’s Nations Cup and 5th Riviera Challenge International Backgammon Festival from July 17 to 22.

GammonLife readers will live the life of the greatest game in the world for more than two and a half weeks as we present to you the stories and images of the daily happenings from these events.

In addition to daily news reports and megabytes of photos, we’ll have the draw sheets of all the main flights of each tournament and various side events such as the Super Jackpots and world team events including the Nations Cups in Cannes. We’ll also be doing our best to secure match files of the finals as well as any other matches players themselves record and wish to contribute for publication.

In addition to scene from the tournament room, and the players in action throughout the events, there will be pictorials from all the Welcome Cocktails, Awards Ceremonies and Gala Dinners of the three events.

Finally, we shall also be publishing the lists of money payouts as well as the official lists of the winners after each event.

GammonLife readers get access, as always, to all this great coverage FREE!

So what will you be doing from July 5 to 22? Well, you can stay home and be a fan and follow it all on GammonLife, the #1 site of the Worldwide Backgammon Community but how about considering actually coming to these great events, they're a lot of fun and you can meet and see the world’s top pros in real live action?

If you have access to vacation time and some money put away in a cookie jar (for a sunny day) the weather is always beautiful at this time of year in the south of France and Monaco. Why not head over to the land of the rich and famous and take a shot at becoming the 1st Champion of Nice or the 31st World Backgammon Champion or maybe even the 5th Riviera Challenge Champion? Hey, if you can roll dice like a Harry Houdini go for the hat trick!
Bring some buddies along too, and represent your country by entering your team to the Nations Cup.

The main hub in the area is Nice, with its airport right by the Mediterranean coast. A city of breath-taking panoramic views and a beautiful flower market, Nice has plenty of things to do when you’re not playing backgammon – i.e. visit the Old Town or one of more than 10 museums.

If you live in or around Europe, many airlines fly to Nice - if you’re in the States or Canada, a quick check shows that Delta flies direct from New York City (possibly from other cities as well) and we know that Air Transat flies direct from Montreal, Canada.

Unless you rent a car, you can get from Nice to Monte Carlo by bus or train – it’s only about a 30-minute bus ride to the east, or you can also go by helicopter if you had lots of cash stashed in that cookie jar.

After Monte Carlo you head back to Nice and then by bus, train or car to famous Cannes about 20-25 minutes further west.

Information on these tournament venues, dates, events, hotels, etc., and how to register or contact their organizers is all online. Here is where you can find information on how to attend any or all of these tournaments:

- Worldwide Backgammon Federation’s 1st Nice Le Ruhl Casino Barrière Backgammon Open in Nice – see the PDF document by clicking here.

- 31st World Championships in Monte Carlo – visit their website.

- Partouche Gammon Tour’s Nations Cup and 5th Riviera Challenge in Cannes – Nations Cup info is here and the 5th Riviera info is at this link where you can win a seat in the final event of the Partouche Gammon Tour taking in place at Grand Domaine de Divonne-Les-Bains this coming September, in which the top 24-ranked Partouche Gammon Tour players will compete in a no-entry fee tournament with €100,000 in added prize money.

If you have any questions or need help with anything contact editor@gammonlife.com

We sure hope to see you there!

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As you will read above we are planning to provide you with daily coverage from three live backgammon tournaments in July. This includes the World Championship in Monte Carlo - the trip will be quite costly, so now is the best time to help us to provide you with this great content.

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