Here are the results of the October 2009 backgammon tournament in Athens, Greece:

MAIN

Winner : Michalis Manolios
Finalist : Nikos Dikaros
Semifinalist : Costas Chiotinis
Semifinalist : Pavlos Thanopoulos

CONSOLATION

Winner : Christos Groutsos
Finalist : Charis Christidis

Here follows the Elo rating for players above 1550 [in brackets is the experience of each player] :

Simos Akrivos 1550 [92]
Balkandinsky 1567 [54]
Stephanos Bonanos 1589 [459]
Captain 1586 [602]
Takis Chatzelis 1569 [648]
Costas Chiotinis 1646 [819]
Charis Christidis 1647 [593]
Costas Christou 1557 [217]
Nikos Dikaros 1584 [208]
Giannis Doukakis 1605 [61]
Giaitzopoulos 1653 [86]
Christos Groutsos 1693 [828]
Iancho Hristov 1591 [71]
Filomila Karantzali 1581 [418]
Manolis Kaselakis 1552 [46]
Thanasis Katsios 1591 [68]
Krull 1655 [796]
Manos Mastorakis 1576 [641]
Fanis Matsoukas 1558 [438]
Costas Mitrelis 1605 [177]
Andreas Panagakis 1551 [248]
Giannis Pasialis 1583 [647]
Michalis Proukakis 1558 [266]
Takis Sakalis 1583 [321]
Nikos Sapountzakis 1561 [355]
Theodoros Triantafyllidis 1568 [201]
Antonis Vamvakaris 1560 [577]
Antonis Ydreos 1561 [85]

The following is the Master Points Ranking List of the current top ten backgammon players in Greece:

1. Charis Christidis 172
2. Michalis Manolios 151
3. Christos Groutsos 150
4. Krull 148
5. Pavlos Thanopoulos 143
6. Costas Chiotinis 133
7. Nikos Dikaros 126
8. Thanasis Katsios 117
9. Takis Chatzelis 114
10.Fanis Matsoukas 110

Our next tournament will be held on the 7th and 8th of November (weekend) at Lake Plastira under the name "Antonis Maltezopoulos Cup", in order to honour the founder and for many years President of GBgF, author of backgammon books in Greek - which helped many Intermediate players who did not speak English - organizer of many local and an International tourney in Greece, inventor of many original concepts, like "pass and continue" and "2/3 dice" - our beloved Antonis died two years ago.

Actually we are returning after more than a decade in the beautiful resort where Antonis organized GBgF's first tournament out of Athens. On Saturday, first day of the tourney, the games will start at 15:00. There will be a break for dinner at the local taverns and the play will resume until late at night.

On Sunday morning the play will start at 11:00 (Finals of the Main and Consolation and we’ll also play out the Last Chance) in order to facilitate people that would like to return to their homes the same day. The hotel where the games will take place is Titagio, it’s a new one, close to the lake and situated in the village of Lampero, a 20 km. distance from Karditsa, a major city, approximately three hours by car from Athens in Central Greece.
Expecting that many players will choose to stay at the hotel where the games will take place, we managed to secure with the owner a special price of €70 for the double room (normal price €80) and €60 for a single room (normal price €65) - great local breakfast included.

It is suggested that you make your bookings early (no deposit needed, just call the reception desk of the hotel telephone is 0030 693 7289914), and make sure you do not forget to mention the name Giorgos Klitsas or 'tavli' (backgammon) in order to get the discount.

Be well and don't hesitate to contact me with any questions. My email address is llurk@hol.gr and my phone numbers are 0030 210 7706142 or Mobile 0030 694 5298985.

The Tournament Director,

Giorgos Klitsas