The players sponsored by Play65 at the WSOB 2008 Nordic Open Backgammon Championship gained impressive achievements individually and as a team. The four Danish backgammon players - Henrik Løber, Karsten Bredahl, Jakob Holdt-Simonsen and Michael Kjærgaard Larsen - have all made Play65 very proud of its protégés at the Nordic Open held in March 20-24 at the Marienlyst Hotel and Casino in frozen Helsingør, Denmark.

Details right after the photographic proof:

 Play65 team at the Nordic Open says cheese

The 20^th Nordic Open Backgammon Championship was the second event in the series of prestigious World Series of Backgammon (WSOB). Took place in Helsingør, Denmark from March 20 until March 24, the backgammon tournament featured about 200 of the world’s top backgammon players including 4 players who were sponsored by Play65 backgammon site, that from now on and back will be known as "Play65 Team". 

The Play65 Team has revealed its championship potential in the various events that consisted the WSOB 2008 Nordic Open. Together, as Play65 Team, they have topped their contestants twice: first on the Nations’ Cup event that featured 12 teams and second at the Team Event in which they beat the Japanese Backgammon League. As individuals, the foursome didn’t embarrass their Play65 shirts but the other way around: Karsten Bredahl is the runner up at the Championship Consolation Division while Michael Larsen & Jakob Simonsen together semi finalized the Consultation Doubles event!

 One more smile to the camera and you’re free to go

Home Board and Outer Board

Setting Up Your Backgammon Board

Roll the Dice 

Play Backgammon

Finish the Game- Bearing Off

Doubling Cube

First, you discover the difference between the home board and the outer board

Then, you learn how to set up the backgammon board:

Afterwards, you can roll the dice and get acquaintance with the movement of the checkers:

Once you’re done, you can practice some hitting and entering:

All of your checkers are back home? Great, start bearing off:

Care to make it interesting? That’s where the doubling cube gets in:

Coming up - the face behind the mask will teach you how to play backgammon

The online backgammon magazine GammonLine has published a new article, the first in almost 8 years. Formed by Kit Woolsey one of the top 5 backgammon players in the world, and the author of the "Woosley’s doubling rule" (which says, that whenever you are not certain about accepting or passing a doubling offer - double), Gammonline features database of backgammon articles in variety of topics.

The new GammonLine article, titled "Conversations with Backgammon Software" was written by Mike Corbett, another American backgammon giant and the author of a new book called "Backgammon Problems", discusses the differences between the backgammon play of a computer and a human player including examples and illustrations.

Posh backgammon players might be happy to learn that another rare and extremly expensive backgammon board is up for sale. Designed by Tomasso Barbi the brass and burled wood backgammon table is available through Casa bella Showroom for those of you who are brave enough to ask for the price.
(thanks to Mike Boudet from Universe of Luxury for the info)

Starting from today, Play65 is hosting the first Israeli Backgammon Championship "Playoff65". The event will consist of daily tournaments and 4 weekly qualifiers and will end on March 31^st in a huge backgammon event. The winner of the final match will win a free entry to the World Backgammon Association Portugal Open event which will take place at the end of next April in Estoril, Portugal.

So, if you think you are the best backgammon player in Israel, click on Playoff65 site to read the terms of the online backgammon tournament. 

Israeli Backgammon – SheshBesh

Backgammon is called "sheshbesh" in Hebrew and it is one of the most popular games in Israel. The term "sheshbesh" is originated in Turkey, where the original meaning is a roll of 6-5. 

Traditionally, sheshbesh rules were closer to Turkish backgammon rules (known as "Tavla"), whereby the game is played without the doubling cube and without the triple game (also known as backgammon). However, it is not necessarily the situation these days.