Play65 has been co-operating with WBA on the EBGT tournaments project - Play65 EBGT. The idea behind the joint work was to create a parallel backgammon race, which is held simultaneously in live race points and as backgammon online competitions.

 The live tournaments that are considered to be race points on the tour are held in Europe with an additional special race point at the US - The Golden Gate Open at San Francisco. The live backgammon tournaments are the most prestigious European tournaments, such as The Nordic Open, The Portuguese Open, and The Georgian Open etc. Winning these exclusive tourneys grants the player with a free entry to the Grand Finale Tournament, to be held in Cyprus on December this year.

The backgammon online tournaments, which are conducted at Play65 website, are qualifiers satellites backgammon tournaments that award their winners with free entrance to the corresponding live tournaments. The finalists of those satellite tournaments are credited with WBA masterpoints for the Grand Finale tourney; as well as with a free VIP membership for a month. For the first time, the finalists’ scores will appear along with live backgammon events finalists throughout the Play65/EBGT 2011 season.

So far 6 satellite tournaments were held for the 2011 season; 3 Grand Finale qualifiers tournaments and 3 race points’ qualifiers tournaments. The happy winners of the Grand Finale qualifiers are waiting to be a part of one of the Richest and most interesting backgammon events of the year:

Winner: Claus Elken (claus_e) of Denmark
Finalist: Volker Schneider (miramaria) of Germany

Winner: Georgios Avdis (elite777) of Greece
Finalist: Mads Peter Andersen (bastianpi) of Denmark

Winner: Robert Wachtel (wurst_player) of United States
Finalist: Nicolas Déhon (dahu_dextre) of Switzerland

The winners of the race points qualifiers have already participated in the following exclusive events:

Winner: Tamer Andaç (mihrib) of Turkey
Finalist: Konstantinos Mitrelis (tsifas) of Greece

Winner:  Jürgen Orlowski (orlowski) of Germany
Finalist:   Konrad Fröschl (konfro) of Sweden

Winner: Oleg Amiranov (amiran36) of Russia
Finalist:  Karsten Bredahl (matatoro) of Denmark

Now there is just one more Grand Finale qualifiers satellite tournament planed to the end of this month and 4 qualifiers satellites for the remaining race points. If you have never tasted the aroma of prestigious thrilling event tournament, you should be aiming yourself to participate at least in one, since it is a fun and enriching experience; and you still have a chance to win a free entrance to the tour’s Grand Finale!

Play65/EBGT Season 2011 is about to begin. Play65 will host exclusive online qualifiers for each of the perstigious backgammon tour’s stops, plus additional satellites for the €25,000 Grand Finale.

The first Play65/EBGT satellite is scheduled to 12 February at 18:30 GMT. The winner will get free entry to the WBA 10th Anniversary/ISTAVDER 3rd Anniversary Tournament, and the finalists – Play65 VIP Club membership for a month.
Next Play65/EBGT events include the European Pro & Doubles Backgammon Championships in April, Play65/EBGT/ABT Golden Gate Open in May, Portuguese Backgammon Open in June, Georgian Backgammon Open in August, Mallorca Backgammon Challenge in October, Paris Open in October and Cyprus Open in December. Another tournament is expected to take place in September in a yet undecided location. Entry fees and terms will be announced soon.

Play65/EBGT Grand Finale

The Play65/EBGT season will be closed on 5-7 December 2011 with the 24-players, €25,000 Grand Finale in Lefkosa, Cyprus, where the winner will take $15,000. The dates, entry fees and additional details regarding the Grand Finale satellites will be announced soon. What can already be announced is that, for the first time in online backgammon, online qualifiers will gain WBA Masterpoints and will be ranked amongst their offline colleagues at the WBA point race.

Play65 gives away two full prize packages to the 2nd Meribel Backgammon Tournament, to be held on 8-12 December in the French Alps’ ski resort. The prize packages include €500 entry to the Meribel Masters Flight Meribel (where 100% of the fees return to the players as prizes), 4 nights luxury hotel accommodations, and €70 entry to "The Highest Little Tournament In The World", which will be held on Friday, 10 December, 2739 meters height above sea level at the Pierres Plates Restaurant.

Play65 Meribel Backgammon Satellites will take place on Sunday, 14 November and the following Sunday, 21 November. Entry fees are €150. The winners will be granted the Meribel prize packages and the three finalists would each get VIP Club Gold status for one month, where every dollar worth 2.5 Shop Points on Play65 gift store.

Geneva Backgammon Tournaments Reminder

And if you are already packed for Meribel, you might want to pop to Geneva on your way, where the local backgammon association (GBA) and Play65 are throwing a backgammon tournament that will be held on 27 November at the Oli bar-restaurant. This live tournament is following an online backgammon tournament that will be held on Play65 platform on Saturday, 13 November, and the best player on both tournaments would also win a month Gold VIP status.

Play65 hosts exclusive online qualifiers for the World Backgammon Tour Grand Finale, which is scheduled to 1-2 November 2010 in Enghien-les-Bains near Paris and guaranteeing a €32,000 prize pool. Only 16 players will compete at the Grand Finale: six of them are winners of the 2010 WBGT stops, another six are the top ranked in the WBGT Point Race standing; three more seats will be taken by winners of live satellites organized by various backgammon federations worldwide. The last qualifier can be you.

Play65 WBGT Grand Finale qualifier will take place on Saturday, 2 October 2010 at 18:00 GMT, where a €2000 seat will be awarded to the winner; entry fees: €250. Satellites to the Grand Finale qualifier take place everyday between 13 and 30 of September at 18:30 GMT. Entry fees are only €25.

World Backgammon Tour Stops & Point Race

The Grand Finale will close the first season of the World Backgammon Tour, an international tour that was opened early this year with the Nordic Open, continued with the US Open and the Swedish Open and will go on with the London Open on 24-26 September, the Japan Open in October and the French Open that precedes the Grand Finale.

Backgammon players who compete at the Championship Division of the WBGT stops gather points that are used to rank them in the Point Race. The top six ranked players (currently with Backgammon Giants Michihito "Michi" Kageyama of Japan and Matvey "Falafel" Natanzon of Israel) will play at the Grand Finale along with the WBGT stop winners.

Play65 Backgammon is happy to be one of the founding sponsors of the US Backgammon Federation, along with the top presenters of the backgammon game including several Giants of Backgammon, national and world backgammon champions, tournament directors and other supporters of the game. The USBGF and Play65 share the same devotion and enthusiasm about the backgammon game and they both intend to promote its positive aspects in clubs, tournaments and in online play.

USBGF Honorary Founding Sponsor

Another surprising supporter of the backgammon game is the Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic who has received an honorary lifetime membership (and a matching doubling cube) from the US Backgammon Federation. Ivanovic, who had recently played the US Open (not the US Backgammon Open obviously), often stated that backgammon - against the computer or her previous coach – used to be her number one locker room pastime.

Potential Honorary Sponsors…

Backgammon was also a favorite pastime of the Green Bay Packers’ locker room, as several members of the American football team were occupied by it in between matches. Backgammon was played at a private jet flight by two hockey team owners - Nelson Skalbania and Peter Pocklington – and played a crucial part in the history of hockey.

Denis Etienne of Geneva, Switzerland is the winner of the 2010 Swiss Open, held last weekend at the Casino Barriere in Montreux, Switzerland and was partially sponsored by Play65. Etienne had played the very tense final against the famous German backgammon player Tobias Hellwag; first he was led 10-0, then 12-2, and finally winning 15-14.  Play65 Swiss Open qualifiers champion, Gian-Reto Iseppi, has championed the second consolation tournament.

Denis Etienne, 54, deputy editor in chief at the Tribune de Genève, and a veteran GammonEmpire player, did not win Play65 Swiss qualifiers, but he has won several online qualifiers in the past: "thanks to Play65, I could go to the Portuguese Open in Estoril (2008) and the Nordic Open in Copenhagen (2010)." He said when switching the interviewer seat with Play65.

"I play backgammon for 30 years, but seriously for 5-6 years. In Estoril, my first big tournament, I was the Consolation finalist. Otherwise, I played mainly in Switzerland, where the best players traditionally came from the German-speaking part, but it is maybe changing (Geneva is in the French-speaking part ;-). Here, I was Swiss Clubs Champion (with Geneva in 2007), and last year I won the Geneva Open."

"The backgammon association in Geneva is young - founded in 2005 - but thanks to its president (Alexandre Ben Lassin, who is a good player too), it has grown very fast. Today, there are 60 regular members, some of them are excellent players and, as it is an international city, players come from all the parts of the world. "

"The Swiss Backgammon Championship & Open was organized by Marcel Liechti, president of the Swiss Backgammon Association and former champion of Switzerland. The championship took place perfectly: magnificent room, friendly atmosphere, cocktail receptions offered, schedule pretty well respected."

Playing Online Backgammon

"Backgammon online I began playing on Yahoo. For some years, I have been playing mostly on GammonEmpire and sometimes on TrueMoneyGames.

- How do you see the connection between online and live backgammon? Play65 sponsorship of the Swiss Open, for example.

"I find that they are excellent initiatives. It is surely well for the backgammon sites; it also helps the tournaments’ organizers, and it is excellent for the players too (who can qualify themselves at low cost)… So, it is win-win-win situation. Actually, it is an important component, now even necessary, of backgammon promotion."

Future Plans

"In December, for the first time, I will be taking part in the Meribel Backgammon International Tournament in the French Alps, everybody says it is the nicest (not including Geneva Open and Swiss Open, of course ;-)"

The 35th World Backgammon Championship took place this July in Monte Carlo. The champion is Lars "Buster" Bentzon of Denmark, member of the Danish Backgammon Federation who is best known as Gus Hansen’s close friend and former manager. Bentzon becomes the fifth Dane who wins the world championship, but unlike most of his fellow countrymen he says he does not plan to pursuit a career in poker. The semi finalist and the only famous player who had reached the top four, Pia Jeppesen, was also from Denmark.

This year, the World Backgammon Championship was attended by only 158 players, less than the 178 who played last year and even less than the 238 who played in 2005, for example. Several players claim that it is the timing (alongside the WSOP no-limit Hold’em championship) and the location (far, expensive and isolated from any other backgammon activities) are to blame in the low attendance rates. If this video is representative, it seems like there is more backgammon action in the World Series of Poker:

Mary Hickey, the winner of Play65 US Open satellites, is the second US Backgammon Open Champion. After beating backgammon giant Falafel 7-6 at the Play65 satellites final, Hickey, also known as Mamabear64, fought Dorn Bishop at the 17-point US Open championship final, not minding even a 9-point lagging – and won.

US Open Championship is Mary Hickey’s highest backgammon achievement so far, and it awards her with about $9,000 first prize, free entry to the next World Backgammon Tour event (the Swedish Open, in Stockholm, Sweden on September 2010) and a chance to win over $50000 at the tour grand finale. And it all begun with a $60 Play65 tournament…

The fact the US Open is won for the second time by a woman backgammon player is also worth mentioning. Last year, the US Open backgammon tournament was launched with the winning of Carol Joy Cole, who beat former World Backgammon Champion Joe Russell at the final, and this year - Mary Hickey, who overcame a field of 44 players including some past and present giants (not including the giants she beat on Play65 to free enter the event). My guess is that next year the field will be filled with backgammon giantesses.

Backgammon world champion and Play65 bot buster Masayuki Mochizuki (aka Mochy) had replaced Matvey Natanzon (Falafel), another one of Play65 backgammon programs detectors, at the top of the Giants of Backgammon list for 2009.

Mochy represents the young, analytic, computer-oriented generation in backgammon. At only 31, he has managed to attend dozens of international backgammon tournaments (and win some of them, including the last Monte Carlo world championship), read all recommended backgammon books, and practice backgammon daily, mostly on online backgammon servers, such as Play65 for example. In between backgammon tournaments, Mochy teaches schoolchildren in Japan about the wonders of math using backgammon, obviously.

Falafel, then, had dropped one place to number 2, as his giants of backgammon runner-up predecessor, Nack Ballard, dropped lower to number 6. The third place, formerly taken by Francois Tardieu, is now taken by Neil Kazaross, formerly number 5. Sander Lylloff remains at number 5, and on number 7 Stick Rice makes a fresh new entry straight from #63. Lars Trabolt, World Backgammon Champion for 2008, progresses to #8, and Michihito Kageyama (aka Michi) progresses to #9 from the 35 position. Play65 third bot buster, Robert (Bob) Wachtel goes down from #9 to #10, and closes the top ten backgammon giants list for 2009.

Falafel, Backgammon Giant #2

Play65 Team is currently topping the elite division of the Danish Backgammon League, one of the strongest backgammon leagues in the world and the habitat of many world champions. The Play65 Team have outplayed the very strong Nemo team, consists of backgammon champions such as Mads Andersen, Morten Lassen, Katja Spillum and random guests like Bob Wachtel and Gustav Hansen.

The Play65 Team, also known as the Mama Boyz, were gathered about two years ago, consists of Steen Grønbech, Karsten Bredahl, Michael K. Larsen and others, and it has been representing our online backgammon room in several local and international tournaments including the two recent Nordic Open events, and in one of them even won two team events.

Backgammon Kingdom of Denmark 

The Danish Backgammon Federation is one of the most well-organized and devoted backgammon associations worldwide. Its established leagues system is probably the main reasons for the plenitude of Dane players in backgammon tournaments. The DBgF, started out in 1987 as a small backgammon club in Copenhagen, now has more than 100 branches in the small Nordic country, many of them holding weekly tournaments on top of special annual events.

The Danish Backgammon Federation leagues system includes three hierarchical regional divisions and one elite division, with 12 teams of 8-16 players each. Every team gets to play against all other teams in its division twice a year. The winning teams climb up the ladder and the less successful ones drop to a lower division.