Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and lies in the northeast region of Macedonia. The tournament will take place at the Thessaloniki Backgammon Club at 63 Leoforos Nikis Street in the city’s centre.

Thessaloniki is a major transportation hub for the rest of south-eastern Europe and therefore players are expected to attend from other countries in the region and elsewhere.

Manos Mastorakis, Tournament Director of the Greek Backgammon Federation, told GammonLife this week: “Matvey ‘Falafel’ Natanzon, elected as the #1 Giant of Backgammon in 2007, will be our Special Guest and will offer a free one-hour seminar before the start of play on Saturday. Falafel will kindly bring his own experience as a successful backgammon player to share his knowledge with our players.”

The Greek National Rankings List is going to be reset, making this event the first of the GBgF’s second season. Mastorakis said this will give players, who may have lost interest, a new incentive to compete and attended all forthcoming tournaments.

The program for the Thessaloniki backgammon tournament is as follows:

Saturday

14:00 Registrations begins
14:30 Backgammon Seminar by Falafel
15:30 Public Draw
15:35 Play begins Main (13-point matches)

The Progressive Consolation (9-point matches) will be ongoing as players fall out of the Main.

Sunday

13:00 Consolation Final (11 points)
13:00 Main Semi-Finals (15 points)
13:30 Last Chance (5 points)
15:30 Main Final (17 points)

Entry fee is €150, registration fee: €20. Coffee is free for both days of the event.

“We are expecting many players so please be on time to make it easier for us to run a smooth event and not delay the progress of the tournament. Players who are late by more than 10 minutes after their match was scheduled to start, will be penalized by two points for every five minutes of absence,” said Mastorakis.

This is a Bring Your Own Board (BYOB) event.

Some hotels with availability at the moment of this writing:

HOTEL PHILIPPION - single 72,00€, double 90,00€ (breakfast included.)

ΗΟΤΕL PORTO PALACE - single 135,00€, double 155,00€ (breakfast inc.)

ΗΟΤΕL MINERVA - single 95,00€, double 106,00€ (breakfast inc.)

ΗΟΤΕL CITY - single 141,00€, double 160,00€ (breakfast inc.)

ΗΟΤΕL HOLIDAY INN - single 115,00€, double 135,00€ (breakfast inc.)

ΗOTEL TOBACCO - single 110,00€, double 135,00€ (breakfast inc.)

ΗΟΤΕL HYATT - single 166,77€, double 191,21€ (breakfast +25€ per person).