Does the study and analysis of backgammon destroy the fun of playing the game? If you ask Nakamura Junko, 2008 Japan Open winner and the first female backgammon champion in the land of the rising sun, the answer is yes. "I’m sorry to say", she said in an exclusive interview with Play65 blog, "but as I study the game and become stronger, I have less "simple fun" feeling."

Nakamura Junko, who have been playing backgammon competitively for about 20 years, said that she never thought of backgammon as a masculine game, although in her homeland, exclusive backgammon tournaments for women (as common in chess) are "very well organized". Her experience in the international backgammon circuit (she played the Nevada State Backgammon Championship, the Nordic Open, and two Monte Carlo World Backgammon Championships) that women backgammon players "are usually assertive and blithe" and seeing how internet helps spreading backgammon to young men and women, she believes there is a good future ahead.

Women in Backgammon

 Nakamura Junko is one of the not too many women backgammon pros. Among her most famous female colleagues are the American Carol Joy Cole, the director of the Flint Area Backgammon Club in Michigan and the co-champion of the New York Doubles in the 2009 New York Metropolitan Backgammon Open; Dane Pia Jeppesen, the champion of the Backgammon & Poker on Board IX; Bulgarian Maria Krancheva, who has reached the final four at the 2007 WSOB UK Masters but disappeared from the backgammon map in the last couple of years, and probably many others. If I forgot to mention someone, please do not hesitate to add her name and short list of achievements in the comments.

Gil Galperin is the winner in Play65partners February promotion, taking home a brand new Wii console for bringing Play65 backgammon room the largest number of new members in February. In the following interview, Gil talks about his thriving affiliate businesses, the upsides and downsides of being an affiliate and provides some tips for beginners.  

Gil entered the affiliation business 9 years ago, and joined Play65 affiliate program about 2.5 years ago. Not knowing how to play backgammon, Gil has no special commitment to backgammon affiliation as he also promotes online casino and poker sites as well as adult sites (mostly dating).

- Did you make a special effort last month to win the Wii console award or is it your standard work?

- What do you think about Play65partners affiliate program? If you could change it, what would you do?

As for the program itself, I would add better marketing tools (banners, content). In general, I think the Play65 affiliate program is good. What can be improved is the Play65 product itself.

- Do you play on Play65?

I don’t play on Play65 as I don’t know how to play backgammon.  

- Which internet marketing tools do you use to promote?

I have some customized banners, but promote mostly through my forum. I do not use any default tools.      

- What are the things you enjoy the most about being an affiliate? What things you hate about it?

It is an easy question, which is common for most affiliates. The good thing about it is that you are the only boss of your time. The bad thing about it is that you might find yourself working alone at home, having dinner with yourself and talking to your cat/dog. 

- What tips can you give to a new affiliate in this business?

The best tip I can give is that you should simply understand what you promote and what your target segment is, is. If you promote backgammon, for example, try to concentrate on the areas where people actually heard about the game.

Everybody is talking about the 1970s as the heydays of backgammon. But if you missed those times, you can only imagine the luxurious yachts and exotic locations that accommodated the high stake backgammon tournaments, the lascivious groupies that surrounded backgammon stars and the stacks of cash piled at the end of the match.

In 1979, Sports Illustrated journalist Roger Dionne accompanied Paul Magriel, aka x-22, aka the human computer, in his "book-lined, television-less Manhattan apartment" to the palace of Prince Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz in Saudi Arabia (giving private backgammon lessons to the prince), and to a crowded Casino Las Vegas (losing to an anonymous player in a 25-points $10,000 match), managing to give a more focused look on what really happened there 30 years ago.

In an exclusive interview, backgammon player and author Robert Wachtel talks about playing backgammon for a living, confirms the rumors about his PhD in philosophy, looks back at his many wins and one unfortunate loss, recalls the prehistoric computerless era and reveals a secret plan to bring peace to the Middle East, with backgammon help, of course.

Robert Wachtel, 61, doctor of philosophy of science from the University of Toronto, was born in New York City and now resides in Playa Del Rey, California. He was introduced to backgammon about 30 years ago, and since then he won the national backgammon championships of the UK, Sweden, and Italy, championed the 2001 Las Vegas Open (Championship and Doubles) and finished second at the 2004 Monte Carlo World Backgammon Championship. Robert  Wachtel is also the author of the backgammon book In the Game until the End: Winning in Ace-Point Endgames, and he is currently looking for a publisher for his second book, a deeply researched non-fiction book that does not involve backgammon.

"I learned to play backgammon at age 29, in a chess club in Toronto, Canada, where I had just finished my postgraduate studies. I was self-taught; when I first learned the game, I spent most of my waking time playing and studying." Wachtel strolls down memory lane to Play65 blog’s request.

When did you decide to become a professional backgammon player?

"I never decided to become a professional backgammon player. It was more like I discovered that I could make money and have fun playing at the same time. But of course, to the extent that this discovery discouraged me from pursuing other career paths, one could, I guess, count it as a ‘decision’."

What are the characteristics one needs to become a world-class backgammon player?

"Patience and above all - a love of the game. If you truly enjoy playing and thinking about backgammon, you will not need to "discipline" yourself or get yourself "motivated" to study. You will wake up and go to sleep with puzzles that you simply enjoy solving."

On Backgammon Prehistory

"We had Magriel’s book, which is still a classic, but we did not have strong computer programs. This meant that you had to learn by trial and error, mathematical analysis, and playing positions out hundreds of times. By the time that Jellyfish and Snowie came out, I had a collection of some hundreds of puzzles: positions that I had never been able to solve definitively. I cannot describe what a thrill it was to finally be able to get the "answers" to them. Nowadays, I routinely analyze as much of my play as possible."

Backgammon & Gambling

Despite, or maybe in spite of losing $100,000 on a single roll of the dice in the 2007 Crowns Cup, Wachtel is not flinched by the association of backgammon and gambling.
"In my latest writing project I set myself the task of proposing a healthier approach for society to take towards gambling than it does at present. Specifically, I argue that the moral and political attitude of viewing gambling as a "vice" is socially dysfunctional."

Can you play backgammon without money involved?

"Yes, you can absolutely play backgammon without playing for money or being a gambler, ‘though if you really hate to invest any money in your play you can hardly become well-known. Even tournament play involves the financial commitment of entry fees, travel and expenses."

Future of Backgammon

"I am confident that some young producer will find a way to televise backgammon so as to make it as exciting as poker." Robert Wachtel looks forward for the next exciting evolution of the much loved game. "And, of course the project of cultivating the millions of natural players in the Middle East, which Play65 is involved in, would be a great way to advertise the peace in that area that we all wish for."

Inspired and morally supported by Chicago Point, last week we introduced you to the bald truth and asked you to recognize the bright backgammon minds behind the shiny scalps. And now – the answers:

1.   

Our number 1 in the best baldest backgammon players parade is Bob Wachtel, number 9 in the 2007 Giants of Backgammon list, former World Backgammon Championship finalist and the author of the bestselling backgammon book In The Game Until The End, which presents a fresh and original approach to backgammon endgames.

2.

Howard Markowitz, the director of the Nevada Backgammon Association, which organizes the prestigious Las Vegas Open backgammon tournament and the director of the Monte Carlo World Backgammon Championship, also closed the last Giants of Backgammon list on number 64.

3.

Kenny Nissen, the director of the Dansk Backgammon Forbund, the Danish Backgammon Federation, that organizes the very prestigious Nordic Open and raises generations of hairy and hairless backgammon champs, such as the upcoming number 4 and number 5 in our list.

4.

Dane Lars Trabolt is the current World Backgammon Champion. The close up of his hairless head was taken in Monte Carlo last year during the trophies ceremony.

5.

Lucky for Michael Larsen, his backgammon career advances faster pace than his balding. The Great Dane was one of the winning Play65 team in 2008 Nordic Open, championing the Nations Cup and Team Event and finishing on number four at the Consultation Doubles.

6.

Bald and balding: right to left: Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon of Israel with nothing to hide and Tassilo Rzymann of Austria with some cover up, getting ready for a soccer marathon aimed to determine the best kicker among backgammon players.

And who is the mysterious bald from our bonus question?

Maybe a little bit of context can clarify the mystery: