Blog - Page 3 of 8 - KATGAMMON | Backgammon Equipment

24NovNovember 24, 2020

Tobias Hellwag International Backgammon Ambassador

I met Tobias last year when he came to Chicago strictly to play in our local Chicago backgammon events and daily chouettes. (He had recently spent time with Matt Cohn-Geier in Japan, and Matt probably told him how much he had learned about backgammon from the superior players in our chouette.) Very quickly he gained my respect both as a backgammon player and as an exceptional person. We became good friends, but before long I realized he was one of the...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

How to Run a Backgammon Tournament – Crawford 1970

Backgammon, like most games and sports, is easily adapted to tournament play. As a matter of fact, backgammon is so versatile a game that it is adaptable to a number of different kinds of tournaments. The first step in running a tournament is to get together a group who want to play in one; the next step is to establish tournament rules and conditions of play. Of course you will follow the regular laws of backgammon whenever possible but you’ll...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

The ultimate international challenge, The Magriel Cup 2020

It’s been a significant ambition to hold a UK / US team match. However, for a real-world event you need an awful lot of backgammon to make the travelling – and the jet-lag – worthwhile. In a way it was therefore helpful that the virus intervened and got various people into organising online events. We still have a big time difference to contend with, but that’s a small issue for those of us who are familiar with long sessions...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

The British Backgammon Awards 2020 – get your nominations in!

Nominations are now open for the British Backgammon Awards 2020 Sadly if there was an award for it, COVID-19 would certainly win the Had Biggest Impact On Backgammon. However, we want to look on the positives of the last 12 months and tell us who in the backgammon world has made a real difference to the game. The 2020 Awards cover the period since the start of August 2019 – so it includes the World Championships, the Clubs Championship, and...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

ADJUSTING TO TOURNAMENT PLAY

Tournament backgammon requires an extra set of skills beyond those required by money players. Often decisions have to be made which cannot arise in a money game. Here’s a good example. Black on roll, center cube, score 0-0 in 7-point match. This position arose in a Monte Carlo match some years ago between two top players. Black had been playing for a gammon with four of White’s men on the bar. In the nick of time, White entered all four men...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

The Best Way to Learn and Improve Your Backgammon Game

by Phil Simborg I am writing this article to share with you what I believe to be the best way to learn or improve your backgammon skills. I have been giving lessons to beginners and intermediate players for about 20 years. I have found that the best way for my students to learn is to break the game down into single, specific areas of play, discuss then independently, and then practice just that area until they get it. Trying to learn the...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

A great loss to the world backgammon community on February 14

Falafel’s friend, Shay Beja, writes… Dear friends and members of the international backgammon community family, Recently we lost a giant. Not just a giant backgammon player and mentor, but a giant heart. He had many names: Mike, Mikey, Matvey (his birthname), and Michel, but everybody knew him as Falafel. Falafel was perhaps the best backgammon player in the world, crushing everybody and performing with inhuman error rates. Scoring amazing results in tough quizzes, betting on checker plays, cube actions and propositions. No one...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

2020 UK Open-Online

August 29-31 (Bank Holiday Weekend) Register NOW – priority for UKBGF Members The UKBGF, in association with Arda Findikoglu, is proud to present a feast of online events during August: the 2020 UK Open online and the UK Legends Invitational. For full details and tournament flyers for each event, click on the above links. Although this year’s live UK Open at Woodland Grange has been cancelled, we are very happy to be able to offer members some exciting online backgammon action in the shape of the...

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24NovNovember 24, 2020

YOSHIYUKI NAKAMURA (GRANDMASTER CLASS 2)

Yoshiyuki Nakamura, born in 1988, is a semi-professional backgammon player who lives in Tokyo. Besides playing he also teaches and tutors many students, and regularly promotes, organizes and directs backgammon tournaments and events. He is the most successful player from the highly prestigious U25 Group, a project to find, train, and fast-track, the best young players in Japan, directed by Mochy and supported by the Japanese Backgammon League (JBL). He is consistently in the top 10 on the JBL rating...

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