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 leading 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. "

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 ;-)"

Team Play65 also known as "Mama Boyz" has been representing Play65 at the Danish Backgammon Federation tournaments since 2008. 2009 was the team’s championship year, as it ended with their overplaying the team “Nemo” and winning the Danish Team Tournament. For the opening of backgammon tournaments season in Denmark, it is about time you’ll meet the team members.

Karsten Bredahl is Team Play65 captain, backgammon player and teacher, two times Nordic Open champion and the highest rated players in Denmark.

Karsten has been playing at the Danish Backgammon Federation from 1993, and since then he had achieved 55 results, more than any other member, including two Nordic Open championships and four Danish team tournament wins (including the last one with Play65). In 2007, he achieved the highest rating in Denmark, a record that has not been broken yet. On top of playing backgammon, he also teaches the games to students in local backgammon clubs.

Casper Brandenborg aka Scraperband, has been playing backgammon since the mid 1990s, almost exclusively in live events. He had finished second at the 2007 Danish Singles Championship and was part of Team Play65 during the championship year.

Claes Norreen aka Kalibalak (which means "watch out" in Arabic)

Lasse Hjort Madsen

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.

Play65 US Open final qualifier held today on 20:00 Pacific Time after more than one week of sub qualifiers. And the winner, who earned $600 entry to the 2nd US Open Backgammon Championship and 4 nights accommodation in San Francisco, is no other than Mary Hickey.

Also known as Mamabear, Mary Hickey is one of the most outstanding women in backgammon in the US. She has been playing backgammon for over 20 years, writing series of backgammon columns and winning the ABT Ohio Masters Championship for at least four times during the last decade. To win Play65 US Open qualifier, Hickey had battled with the undefeatable Falafel, also known as Matvey Natanzon, but eventually beat him 7-6.

The 1st US Backgammon Open, held last year in Arlington, Virginia, was won by one of the top female players – Carol Joy Cole, who is also a backgammon club director, backgammon magazine editor and supplier of backgammon equipment. This year, the US Open is part of the American Backgammon Tour (ABT) and the World Backgammon Tour (WBGT), so the winner would accumulate ABT points as well as a free entry to the next stop in the 6-stops tour - the Swedish Open on September – where a final $50,000 prize pool is expected. .

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One promotion ends and another begins – load your Play65 real money account until 15/52010, use the coupon code: reload50, and get a 50% bonus.

By Karsten Bredahl , Team Play65 captain

Denmark is known as the greatest backgammon nation in the world. Why is that? What’s the secret behind such a great success coming from such a very small nation (+5 million people)?

Let us provide you with the secret! The answer is ”The Danish Backgammon Team Tournament” which is the outspring from organized backgammon over decades.

Every year, 100 teams is fighting a battle all winter long competing to be the best TEAM in Denmark. Backgammon is an individual sport, and making it into a team sport is brillant as it takes the game into a higher level. Now the players are not only meassured on their own results but on the result of the team. Discussion and exchanging theories and knowledge pays off. It is about getting better by helping your team members to get better.

THAT is the true nature of the Danish Team Tournament which occupies more than 600 players every year. 

Denmark Backgammon Divisions

The elite-division is the finest place to play backgammon. Nobody just ’lands’ here after entering the tournament. All theh teams must work their way up the hierarchy by winning lower divisions. Each division has 12 teams playing each other twice during a season (home and away).

A backgammon match includes 4 players on each team. More than 4 players can be connected with the team, but only 4 players can play each time. 22 team matches means 88 boards over a season. Each board is a 17 point match. As you can understand, that is a lot of backgammon before the Champions is crowned. In fact, 3.700 matches in 7-8 divisions are played to 17 points before the last die is thrown and the last checker has been taken off the board. Amazing!

Season 2009-10 is the 20th season of team backgammon in Denmark. Since the beginning in 1991, Denmark has produced four world backgammon champions and many more winning personalities over the years.

Season 2009-10 was the season Team Play65 accomplished the ultimate goal for a team in Denmark, which is winning the elite-division and ending up as Danish Backgammon Champions.

1.

Play65 closes February with a large backgammon tournament – Backgammon Arena €4000 on February 28th, 2010 20:00 GMT. Entry fees are €45, and there are satellites everyday 18:30 and 21:30*. Winner gets €1200!

* For free entry to the daily satellites, deposit $€₤100 and enter the coupon code: BGARENA

2.

Should backgammon be in the Olympics? The instinctive answer would be no, but if curling is sports, and ESPN dared to suggest to include poker among the Olympic Games, we can contemplate the idea as well.

Most of the poker players who discussed this half-amused notion with the ESPN columnist, agreed that poker does not belong to the Olympics. Poker, like backgammon, is not really a physical activity, it involves some amount of luck, and its skill element finds expression only in the long run - after a week long tournaments marathon or its 27-points match backgammon equivalent.

Poker author Nolan Dalla thinks otherwise:

"I have just two words for anyone opposed to poker as an Olympic sport: synchronized swimming."

athletes in action

Backgammon is the subject of a new series of works by New Yorker photographer Douglas Ljungkvist. He is not interested in documenting the backgammon match itself, thus in his photos you will not see the current position of the game, not the two players facing each other and nor the group of spectators surrounding them.

Typical backgammon photo from 2009 Monte Carlo championship

What you will get is a close look at the formal elements that assemble the backgammon game, tangible sense of the board’s material; nuanced glance at the players’ hands, as they roll the dice, move the checkers or record the score, and the appearance of the playing surface at the end of the game. 

backgammon photo by Douglas Ljungkvist© (as all the photos below)

 How do backgammon players stack the checkers while bearing off?

"Photographing a backgammon match per se is visually not very interesting." Ljungkvist told Play65 blog. "Backgammon does, however, offer color combinations, texture and variety of surface materials. I am also interested in studying how a board looks after a match is over. How do people stack the checkers while bearing off? Sometimes chaotic patterns are created by hands at the end of a match by a player expressing his disgust at losing. The result is like the calm after the storm. Who is left standing, how and where?"

 Eric Steiner’s old beat up backgammon board

Although Ljungkvist’s endeavors in backgammon photography are still at the beginning, his backgammon connection goes back to his childhood, through the vivacious Stockholm scene of the 1980s, and includes winning the Swedish Team Championships and a special heritage backgammon board.

"I started playing backgammon around the age of nine thanks to Swedish poker/backgammon player and gambling legend, Eric Steiner", he recalls, "We visited Marbella, Spain from Sweden often and became friends with Eric, staying at Eric’s beach house on a vacation. At night, Eric would go out to play high stakes money games with rich but not so good players in the upscale Puerto Banus marina. I remember vividly that Eric’s favorite opening move was a 6-1." 

Swedish backgammon days

"In Stockholm my interest in backgammon grew and I attended tournaments regularly and played in a weekly league with ten teams each in two divisions. Though I would play the Swedish Open and some other tournaments around Scandinavia, I was never a star player. I was on the team that won the Swedish Team Championships that, the weakest among formidable players like Robert Lindbom, Johan Moazed, and Ulf Ring. My biggest contribution to the team was probably when I clinched the deciding semi-final and final matches to claim the championships in the late 80’s. The legendary two time World Champion Jorgen Granstedt was on the very first league team that I played on. 

Backgammon and Ping Pong

Ljungkvist interest in backgammon started fading upon his move to New York in 1990, and came alive again in recent times, while working on his ping pong project, "partly a formalist still life study of space, design, color, space, and form. I realized there were certain visual similarities between backgammon and ping pong that interested me, the limited boarded playing surfaces, colors, space, and shapes; the rectangular board, triangular pips, round checkers, and square dice." 

"The backgammon board does not have enough scale to make the venue or combination of the board and its environment interesting in the same way a ping pong table can do in the urban landscape or in an interesting inside venue. Backgammon offers more color combinations, texture, and variety of surface materials compared to ping pong."

Backgammon future plans and alternative rule

"Once I complete my ping pong project I hope to find more time to photograph backgammon, both on locations where people gather and play, as well as creating conceptual scenes in my studio. I might explore some tightly composed player portraits during matches representing various states of emotion; the poker face, disappointment, exhilaration, disgust, fear, intimidation, counting, analyzing, and more." 

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.

The three players sent by Play65 to the Cyprus Backgammon Open, which ended yesterday, had a great success at the reputable tournament. Jürgen Orlowski of Germany; finished second at the Masters and Sven Rümcker, also of Germany, won the Main Consolation, and even tournaments’ newbie Israeli David Bar made it to the semifinals of the Consolation, but losing to Rümcker dropped him off the competition.