Below is arguably the most comprehensive article to date on the Backgammon World Championships.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Prince Alexis Obolensky
1964–1970: International Tournament, Bahamas
1967–1975: Unofficial World Championships, Las Vegas
1976–1978: European Championships, Monte Carlo
1976–1978: Official World Championships, Bahamas
1979–2008: Official World Championships, Monte Carlo (Championship Flight)
Facts and Figures
Issues of Contention
Bibliography and Further Reading
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge to date the efforts of Chris Bray, Carol Joy Cole, Bill Davis and Hardy Hübener in assisting to make this research more complete than it otherwise would be. In time, I'm hoping that the number of gaps remaining will be minimal.
Prince Alexis Obolensky
Prince Alexis Alexeevich 'Oby' Obolensky (b. 1914, St. Petersburg, Russia; d. February 8, 1986, New York, USA) was an aristocratic socialite whose family fled from Russia to Istanbul after the Revolution of 1917. Obolensky, sometimes referred to as the "father of modern backgammon", was taught the game as a child by the family's gardener. Years later, Obolensky emigrated from Turkey to the United States and travelled the world promoting the game, co-founding the World Backgammon Club and becoming its president, while Joseph Pasternack became Chief Operating Officer.
1964–1970: International Tournament, Bahamas
Obolensky organised the first of a series of international backgammon tournaments in March 1964 when a friend of his opened the Lucayan Beach Hotel in Freeport, Bahamas (a city on the island of Grand Bahama, located approximately 160 km east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale), offering him $10,000 to gather a jet-set backgammon crowd and to fly them down for the hotel's opening. An invitational field of 32 (or 40?) players were in attendance and the Obolensky Cup was presented to Charles Wacker III of Chicago when he defeated Porter Ijams of New York in the final. In the following years, similar events were staged in the USA, Britain and other European countries.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Prince Alexis Obolensky
1964–1970: International Tournament, Bahamas
1967–1975: Unofficial World Championships, Las Vegas
1976–1978: European Championships, Monte Carlo
1976–1978: Official World Championships, Bahamas
1979–2008: Official World Championships, Monte Carlo (Championship Flight)
Facts and Figures
Issues of Contention
Bibliography and Further Reading
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge to date the efforts of Chris Bray, Carol Joy Cole, Bill Davis and Hardy Hübener in assisting to make this research more complete than it otherwise would be. In time, I'm hoping that the number of gaps remaining will be minimal.
Prince Alexis Obolensky
Prince Alexis Alexeevich 'Oby' Obolensky (b. 1914, St. Petersburg, Russia; d. February 8, 1986, New York, USA) was an aristocratic socialite whose family fled from Russia to Istanbul after the Revolution of 1917. Obolensky, sometimes referred to as the "father of modern backgammon", was taught the game as a child by the family's gardener. Years later, Obolensky emigrated from Turkey to the United States and travelled the world promoting the game, co-founding the World Backgammon Club and becoming its president, while Joseph Pasternack became Chief Operating Officer.
1964–1970: International Tournament, Bahamas
Obolensky organised the first of a series of international backgammon tournaments in March 1964 when a friend of his opened the Lucayan Beach Hotel in Freeport, Bahamas (a city on the island of Grand Bahama, located approximately 160 km east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale), offering him $10,000 to gather a jet-set backgammon crowd and to fly them down for the hotel's opening. An invitational field of 32 (or 40?) players were in attendance and the Obolensky Cup was presented to Charles Wacker III of Chicago when he defeated Porter Ijams of New York in the final. In the following years, similar events were staged in the USA, Britain and other European countries.
Year Ent Winner Runner-Up
1964 32 Charles Wacker III, USA Porter Ijams, USA
1965 John Crawford, USA
1966 Oswald Jacoby, USA
1967 Oswald Jacoby, USA
1968 Oswald Jacoby, USA
1969 Walter Cooke, USA
1970 Walter Cooke, USA
1967–1975: Unofficial World Championships, Las Vegas
The World Championships held in Las Vegas are considered to be unofficial, although the winners are generally accepted to be World Champion.
1967: Obolensky founded The World Backgammon Club as a vehicle to promote backgammon to a new generation of players, and staged the first tournament with the title 'World Championship' in Las Vegas. The event was held in February (?) at the Sands Hotel and Tim Holland of the United States became the first backgammon World Champion.
1969: Some reports that the event did not take place (reasons unknown), other reports that it was indeed held and Alice Topping won.
1970: Appears to be universally accepted that the event did not take place (reasons unknown).
1972: Obolensky founds the Backgammon Association of America which created a standardized set of rules and organized national tournaments.
1975: While there are some reports that the event was held in the Bahamas, the July issue of Backgammon News reports that the event was held in Las Vegas, was recognised as the 7th World Championship, with the winner receiving the Wacker Cup, which was donated by Chicago's Charles Wacker III (winner of the inaugural International Tournament in the Bahamas, 1964).
Year Ent Winner Runner-Up Score
1967 Tim Holland, USA 25–
1968 Tim Holland, USA 25–
1969 Alice Topping?, USA
1970 [not held]
1971 Tim Holland, USA 25–
1972 Oswald Jacoby, USA Edward Burns, USA 25–19
1973 270? Carol Crawford, USA Lewis Deyong, USA 25–
1974 Claude Beer, USA Philip Martyn, GBR 25–
1975 350? Billy Eisenberg, USA Arthur Dickman, USA 25–21
1976–1978: European Championships, Monte Carlo
1964 32 Charles Wacker III, USA Porter Ijams, USA
1965 John Crawford, USA
1966 Oswald Jacoby, USA
1967 Oswald Jacoby, USA
1968 Oswald Jacoby, USA
1969 Walter Cooke, USA
1970 Walter Cooke, USA
1967–1975: Unofficial World Championships, Las Vegas
The World Championships held in Las Vegas are considered to be unofficial, although the winners are generally accepted to be World Champion.
1967: Obolensky founded The World Backgammon Club as a vehicle to promote backgammon to a new generation of players, and staged the first tournament with the title 'World Championship' in Las Vegas. The event was held in February (?) at the Sands Hotel and Tim Holland of the United States became the first backgammon World Champion.
1969: Some reports that the event did not take place (reasons unknown), other reports that it was indeed held and Alice Topping won.
1970: Appears to be universally accepted that the event did not take place (reasons unknown).
1972: Obolensky founds the Backgammon Association of America which created a standardized set of rules and organized national tournaments.
1975: While there are some reports that the event was held in the Bahamas, the July issue of Backgammon News reports that the event was held in Las Vegas, was recognised as the 7th World Championship, with the winner receiving the Wacker Cup, which was donated by Chicago's Charles Wacker III (winner of the inaugural International Tournament in the Bahamas, 1964).
Year Ent Winner Runner-Up Score
1967 Tim Holland, USA 25–
1968 Tim Holland, USA 25–
1969 Alice Topping?, USA
1970 [not held]
1971 Tim Holland, USA 25–
1972 Oswald Jacoby, USA Edward Burns, USA 25–19
1973 270? Carol Crawford, USA Lewis Deyong, USA 25–
1974 Claude Beer, USA Philip Martyn, GBR 25–
1975 350? Billy Eisenberg, USA Arthur Dickman, USA 25–21
1976–1978: European Championships, Monte Carlo
Winners of the European Championships held in Monte Carlo are generally considered to be unofficial World Champions.
1976–78: The Monte Carlo event is actually called the "European Championships."
Year Ent Finalists Score Semifinalists
1976 Joe Dwek, USA (W)
Kiumars Motakhasses, IRN 25–
1977 Jean-Noël Grinda, FRA (W)
Bob Brinig, USA 25–24 Hermes Michelides, GBR
R. Maizel, ISR
1978 Richard de Surmont, FRA (W)
Kal Robinson, USA 25–
1976–1978: Official World Championships, Bahamas
1976: Lewis Deyong, a London businessman, schedules the first official World Championship to be held in the Bahamas in February at Paradise Island.
Year Ent Finalists Score Semifinalists
1976 Baron Vernon Ball, USA (W)
Arthur Dickman, USA 25–
1977 Ken Goodman, USA (W)
Jim Crosby, USA 25–24 Jason Lester, USA
Alan Lorenz, GBR
1978 256 Paul Magriel, USA (W)
Kal Robinson, USA 25– Kent Goulding, USA
Al Hodis, USA
1979–2008: Official World Championships, Monte Carlo (Championship Flight)
1979: Lewis Deyong combines the Monte Carlo 'European Championship' and the Bahamas 'World Championship', creating a single event in Monte Carlo.
1995: The last time the Backgammon World Championship (280) attracts more players than the World Series of Poker (273).
2003: Internet qualifier Chris Moneymaker wins the World Series of Poker, and the popularity of poker booms exponentially.
2005: The World Series of Poker moves from Binion's Casino in April/May to Harrah's Rio in June/July, thus conflicting with the World Championships of Backgammon.
2007: Over 100 of the world's best players converge upon Paradise Island, Bahamas in January for the inaugural $10,000 buy-in PartyGammon Million event, the brain-child of Michael Strato, Stephen Pearson, and Susana Major. In the final, Andreas Märtens of Germany defeated Lasse Madsen of Denmark at double match point, 23–22, to take home the winner's cheque of $600,400, Lasse collecting $144,096 as runner-up.
2008: The second PartyGammon Million event, planned as a Mediterranean cruise from Venice, Italy, is cancelled.
Year Ent Finalists Score Semifinalists
1979 305 Luigi Villa, ITA (W)
Jeff Westheimer, USA 25–22
1980 Walter Coratella, MEX (W)
Al Hodis, USA 25– Luigi Villa, ITA
Roger Low, USA
1981 250 Lee Genud, USA (W)
Joe Dwek, GBR 25–19 Phillip Swart, GBR
Michel Camhi, FRA
1982 Jacques Michel, CHE (W)
Mike Corbett, USA 25– Frank Gosenhauser, ZAF
Peter Blachian, DEU
1983 Bill Robertie, USA (W)
Simon Naim, CHN 25– Adrian Swart, ISR
Gabriel Horowitz, USA
1984 Mike Svobodny, USA (W)
Uli Koch, DEU 25–
1985 Charles-Henri Sabet, CHE (W)
Shimon Kagan, ISR 25–24?
1986 Clement Palacci, ITA (W)
Lorenzo Tizzani, ITA 25–
1987 Bill Robertie, USA (W)
Jerry Grandell, SWE 25–17 Gerard Duguet-Grasser, FRA
Sam Hanna , USA
1988 Phillip Marmorstein, DEU (W)
Ron Rubin, USA 25–
1989 248 Joseph Russell, USA (W)
Mika Lidov, USA 25– Jim Jacoby, USA
Evert Van Eyck, NLD
1990 217 Hal Heinrich, CAN (W)
Freddie Narboni, FRA 25– Ian McFarlane, BRA Josef Tissona, ISR
1991 234 Michael Meyburg, DEU (W)
Gerhard Mauerer, DEU 25– George Vadiakas, GRE
John Koonmen, USA
1992 234 Ion Ressu, ROU (W)
John Simon, GBR 25– Alvaro Savio, BRA Joel Silverman, USA
1993 196 Peter Jes Thomsen, DNK (W)
John Sjølin, DNK 25–23? Rageb Shadallah, USA
Irfan Mizirakci, TUR
1994 200 Frank Frigo, USA (W)
Peter Jes Thomsen, DNK 25–17 David Eshed, ISR
Bill Robertie, USA
1995 280 David Ben-Zion, ISR (W)
Josef Tissona, ISR 25–23 Frederik Reinholdsen, SWE
Ricardo Spinola, BRA
1996 185 David Nahmad, LBN (W)
Shlomo Vahab, ISR 25–24? Manfred Hollerderer, DEU
Dirk Schiemann, DEU
1997 213 Jerry Grandell, SWE (W)
Frederic Banjout, FRA 25–17 Neville Eber, ZAF
Philippe Marmorstein, DEU
1998 220 Michael Meyburg, DEU (W)
Elliot Winslow, USA 25–20 Rageb Shadallah, USA
Achim Müller, DEU
1999 231 Jørgen Granstedt, SWE (W)
Gadi Carmeli, ISR 25–10 Mario Sacchi, ITA
Mario Sequeira, PRT
2000 267 Katie Scalamandre, USA (W)
Thomas Holm, DNK 25–20 Christian Liebe-Harkort, DEU
George Vadiakas, GRC
2001 288 Jørgen Granstedt, SWE (W)
Thomas Holm, DNK 25–16 Morten Holm, DNK
Mario Kühl, DEU
2002 281 Mads Andersen, DNK (W)
Felix Ziva, ISR 25–23 Jan Bloxham, DNK
Veronika Dabul, ARG
2003 271 Jon Røyset, NOR (W)
Moshe Tissona, ISR 25–20 Dirk Schiemann, DEU
Katja Spillum, NOR
2004 276 Peter Hallberg, DNK (W)
Bob Wachtel, USA 25–22 Dag Ekmark, NOR
Serge Engelhardt, DEU
2005 238 Dennis Carlston, USA (W)
John O'Hagan, USA 25–24 Gil Davidovitz, ISR
Gerard Duruz, CHE
2006 212 Philip Vischjager, NLD (W)
Luigi Villa, ITA 25–23 Andreas Humke, DEU
Kazuhiro Shino, JPN
2007 218 Jorge Pan, ARG (W)
Alvaro Savio, BRA 25–23 Jan Jacobowitz, DEU
Richard Munitz, USA
Facts and Figures
As of 2007, the entry fee for the World Championships is €1,000, the registration fee is €235, while the prize money was €78,480, €26,160 and €13,080 respectively for the winner, runner-up and semi-finalists. Tournament entry is strictly by invitation only, and the minimum age requirement is 21.
Disregarding the Monte Carlo "European" Championships of 1976–78, below are some country, region, gender and event location statistics:
Winner Runner-Up Semifinalist
USA 19 14 14
DNK 3 4 2
DEU 3 2 12
SWE 3 1 1
ITA 2 2 2
CHE 2 0 1
ISR 1 6 4
ARG 1 0 1
NLD 1 0 1
CAN 1 0 0
LEB 1 0 0
MEX 1 0 0
ROU 1 0 0
NOR 1 0 2
GBR 0 3 2
FRA 0 2 2
BRA 0 1 3
CHN 0 1 0
GRC 0 0 2
ZAF 0 0 2
JPN 0 0 1
PRT 0 0 1
TUR 0 0 1
Winner Runner-Up Semifinalist
Male 34 35 51
Female 4 1 2
Winner Runner-Up Semifinalist
North America 21 14 14
Europe 16 14 29
Middle East 2 6 4
South America 1 1 4
Asia 0 1 1
Africa 0 0 2
Oceania 0 0 0
Location
Monte Carlo
(1979–2007) 29
Las Vegas
(1967–69, 1971–75) 8
Bahamas
(1976–78) 3
Issues of Contention
While there are many gaps in the results tables above, there are a few pieces of conflicting information. For example, was an event held in 1969, and was it won by the American Alice Topping? Some sources report this, yet other evidence indicates that no event was held at all. The July 1975 issue of Backgammon News reports that that year's event was recognised as the 7th World Championship, and working back, that would support the fact that no event was held in 1969 or 1970.
That same report lists the 1975 Championship as being held in Las Vegas (as does this photo taken by the late Michael "Max" Maxakuli), while other sources report the event being held in the Bahamas.
Bibliography and Further Reading
1976–78: The Monte Carlo event is actually called the "European Championships."
Year Ent Finalists Score Semifinalists
1976 Joe Dwek, USA (W)
Kiumars Motakhasses, IRN 25–
1977 Jean-Noël Grinda, FRA (W)
Bob Brinig, USA 25–24 Hermes Michelides, GBR
R. Maizel, ISR
1978 Richard de Surmont, FRA (W)
Kal Robinson, USA 25–
1976–1978: Official World Championships, Bahamas
1976: Lewis Deyong, a London businessman, schedules the first official World Championship to be held in the Bahamas in February at Paradise Island.
Year Ent Finalists Score Semifinalists
1976 Baron Vernon Ball, USA (W)
Arthur Dickman, USA 25–
1977 Ken Goodman, USA (W)
Jim Crosby, USA 25–24 Jason Lester, USA
Alan Lorenz, GBR
1978 256 Paul Magriel, USA (W)
Kal Robinson, USA 25– Kent Goulding, USA
Al Hodis, USA
1979–2008: Official World Championships, Monte Carlo (Championship Flight)
1979: Lewis Deyong combines the Monte Carlo 'European Championship' and the Bahamas 'World Championship', creating a single event in Monte Carlo.
1995: The last time the Backgammon World Championship (280) attracts more players than the World Series of Poker (273).
2003: Internet qualifier Chris Moneymaker wins the World Series of Poker, and the popularity of poker booms exponentially.
2005: The World Series of Poker moves from Binion's Casino in April/May to Harrah's Rio in June/July, thus conflicting with the World Championships of Backgammon.
2007: Over 100 of the world's best players converge upon Paradise Island, Bahamas in January for the inaugural $10,000 buy-in PartyGammon Million event, the brain-child of Michael Strato, Stephen Pearson, and Susana Major. In the final, Andreas Märtens of Germany defeated Lasse Madsen of Denmark at double match point, 23–22, to take home the winner's cheque of $600,400, Lasse collecting $144,096 as runner-up.
2008: The second PartyGammon Million event, planned as a Mediterranean cruise from Venice, Italy, is cancelled.
Year Ent Finalists Score Semifinalists
1979 305 Luigi Villa, ITA (W)
Jeff Westheimer, USA 25–22
1980 Walter Coratella, MEX (W)
Al Hodis, USA 25– Luigi Villa, ITA
Roger Low, USA
1981 250 Lee Genud, USA (W)
Joe Dwek, GBR 25–19 Phillip Swart, GBR
Michel Camhi, FRA
1982 Jacques Michel, CHE (W)
Mike Corbett, USA 25– Frank Gosenhauser, ZAF
Peter Blachian, DEU
1983 Bill Robertie, USA (W)
Simon Naim, CHN 25– Adrian Swart, ISR
Gabriel Horowitz, USA
1984 Mike Svobodny, USA (W)
Uli Koch, DEU 25–
1985 Charles-Henri Sabet, CHE (W)
Shimon Kagan, ISR 25–24?
1986 Clement Palacci, ITA (W)
Lorenzo Tizzani, ITA 25–
1987 Bill Robertie, USA (W)
Jerry Grandell, SWE 25–17 Gerard Duguet-Grasser, FRA
Sam Hanna , USA
1988 Phillip Marmorstein, DEU (W)
Ron Rubin, USA 25–
1989 248 Joseph Russell, USA (W)
Mika Lidov, USA 25– Jim Jacoby, USA
Evert Van Eyck, NLD
1990 217 Hal Heinrich, CAN (W)
Freddie Narboni, FRA 25– Ian McFarlane, BRA Josef Tissona, ISR
1991 234 Michael Meyburg, DEU (W)
Gerhard Mauerer, DEU 25– George Vadiakas, GRE
John Koonmen, USA
1992 234 Ion Ressu, ROU (W)
John Simon, GBR 25– Alvaro Savio, BRA Joel Silverman, USA
1993 196 Peter Jes Thomsen, DNK (W)
John Sjølin, DNK 25–23? Rageb Shadallah, USA
Irfan Mizirakci, TUR
1994 200 Frank Frigo, USA (W)
Peter Jes Thomsen, DNK 25–17 David Eshed, ISR
Bill Robertie, USA
1995 280 David Ben-Zion, ISR (W)
Josef Tissona, ISR 25–23 Frederik Reinholdsen, SWE
Ricardo Spinola, BRA
1996 185 David Nahmad, LBN (W)
Shlomo Vahab, ISR 25–24? Manfred Hollerderer, DEU
Dirk Schiemann, DEU
1997 213 Jerry Grandell, SWE (W)
Frederic Banjout, FRA 25–17 Neville Eber, ZAF
Philippe Marmorstein, DEU
1998 220 Michael Meyburg, DEU (W)
Elliot Winslow, USA 25–20 Rageb Shadallah, USA
Achim Müller, DEU
1999 231 Jørgen Granstedt, SWE (W)
Gadi Carmeli, ISR 25–10 Mario Sacchi, ITA
Mario Sequeira, PRT
2000 267 Katie Scalamandre, USA (W)
Thomas Holm, DNK 25–20 Christian Liebe-Harkort, DEU
George Vadiakas, GRC
2001 288 Jørgen Granstedt, SWE (W)
Thomas Holm, DNK 25–16 Morten Holm, DNK
Mario Kühl, DEU
2002 281 Mads Andersen, DNK (W)
Felix Ziva, ISR 25–23 Jan Bloxham, DNK
Veronika Dabul, ARG
2003 271 Jon Røyset, NOR (W)
Moshe Tissona, ISR 25–20 Dirk Schiemann, DEU
Katja Spillum, NOR
2004 276 Peter Hallberg, DNK (W)
Bob Wachtel, USA 25–22 Dag Ekmark, NOR
Serge Engelhardt, DEU
2005 238 Dennis Carlston, USA (W)
John O'Hagan, USA 25–24 Gil Davidovitz, ISR
Gerard Duruz, CHE
2006 212 Philip Vischjager, NLD (W)
Luigi Villa, ITA 25–23 Andreas Humke, DEU
Kazuhiro Shino, JPN
2007 218 Jorge Pan, ARG (W)
Alvaro Savio, BRA 25–23 Jan Jacobowitz, DEU
Richard Munitz, USA
Facts and Figures
As of 2007, the entry fee for the World Championships is €1,000, the registration fee is €235, while the prize money was €78,480, €26,160 and €13,080 respectively for the winner, runner-up and semi-finalists. Tournament entry is strictly by invitation only, and the minimum age requirement is 21.
Disregarding the Monte Carlo "European" Championships of 1976–78, below are some country, region, gender and event location statistics:
Winner Runner-Up Semifinalist
USA 19 14 14
DNK 3 4 2
DEU 3 2 12
SWE 3 1 1
ITA 2 2 2
CHE 2 0 1
ISR 1 6 4
ARG 1 0 1
NLD 1 0 1
CAN 1 0 0
LEB 1 0 0
MEX 1 0 0
ROU 1 0 0
NOR 1 0 2
GBR 0 3 2
FRA 0 2 2
BRA 0 1 3
CHN 0 1 0
GRC 0 0 2
ZAF 0 0 2
JPN 0 0 1
PRT 0 0 1
TUR 0 0 1
Winner Runner-Up Semifinalist
Male 34 35 51
Female 4 1 2
Winner Runner-Up Semifinalist
North America 21 14 14
Europe 16 14 29
Middle East 2 6 4
South America 1 1 4
Asia 0 1 1
Africa 0 0 2
Oceania 0 0 0
Location
Monte Carlo
(1979–2007) 29
Las Vegas
(1967–69, 1971–75) 8
Bahamas
(1976–78) 3
Issues of Contention
While there are many gaps in the results tables above, there are a few pieces of conflicting information. For example, was an event held in 1969, and was it won by the American Alice Topping? Some sources report this, yet other evidence indicates that no event was held at all. The July 1975 issue of Backgammon News reports that that year's event was recognised as the 7th World Championship, and working back, that would support the fact that no event was held in 1969 or 1970.
That same report lists the 1975 Championship as being held in Las Vegas (as does this photo taken by the late Michael "Max" Maxakuli), while other sources report the event being held in the Bahamas.
Bibliography and Further Reading
