World Backgammon Masters
Backgammon masters of the world competed in two major tournaments in 2007.
From May 11 to 13, 107 backgammon masters from around the world gathered at the 19th European Backgammon Championship and 6th Velden Backgammon Open held at Casino Velden in Austria. It was part of the WBF Golden Circuit 2007 presented by the Worldwide Backgammon Federation.
Backgammon masters Werner Schmuck of Austria and Zbigniew Szczerek of Poland competed for the Masters Finals. Schmuck, known in the backgammon circuit at Schmucki, won as 2007 Backgammon Champion of Europe.
Other backgammon masters who competed were Tassilo Rzymann of Austria who was defeated by Schmuck, and Ricardo Malas of Spain who was defeated by Szczerek.
On July 9 to 15, backgammon masters met at the World Backgammon Championship held at the Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco, previously known as Grand Hotel.
Backgammon masters Jorge Pan of Argentina and Alvaro Savio of Brazil fought for almost four hours in the finals, with Pan winning as 2007 Backgammon World Champion.
The semi-finals featured backgammon masters Jan Jacobowitz of Germany who was defeated by Pan, and Richard Munitz of the USA who was defeated by Savio.
Sixty other backgammon masters joined the World Backgammon Championship.
Backgammon masters from Germany were Ekrem Basdas, Arthur Richelman, Mario Kuhl, Mattias Strumpf, Toufic Ayoub, Andreas Humke, Peter Heitmuller, Hans Uli Koch, Christoph Wagener, Volker Sonnabend, Peer Rower and Sven Rumcker.
Backgammon masters from the USA were John Rockwell, Steve Hammond, Marie Antoinette Williams, Matvey Natanzon, Ed Olaughlin, Howard Markowitz, Nasser Sedaghatpour, Tom Zarrinnam and Richard Munitz.
Backgammon masters from Sweden were Johan Moazed, Tage Mellgren, Oscar Carlsson, Sven Olav Noren, Thomas Ronn and Robert Lindblom.
Backgammon masters from Denmark were Pia Jeppesen, Karsten Nielsen, M. Larsen, Martin Foldager, Carsten Simonsen, Kasper Nagel Nielsen and Henrik Lober.
Backgammon masters from France were Claude Lepintre, Didier Assaraf, Olivier Croisille and Maxime Berebi.
Backgammon masters from the United Kingdom were Andrew Plater, John Clark and Simonetta Herrera.
Backgammon masters from Italy were Giogio Castellano and Mario Sacchi; from Finland were Erkki Aimonen and Timo Vaatainen; from the Netherlands were Marcel Nabarro and Jeroem Sikkema, and from Japan were Yusuke Itagasi and Kenji Shimodaira.
Other backgammon masters were Maya Peycheva of Bangor, Carlos Pinto of Brazil, Shahab Ghodsi of Norway, Steve Nelson of Hongkong, Faik Huseinov Russia, Joel Schiff of Israel, Suciu Golopenta Mihai of Romania, Cem Duran of Turkey, Mario Sequeira of Portugal, Asghar Nagaizadeh of Switzerland and Paul Rooij.
Backgammon masters provide inspiration to all other backgammon players. Honing one's skills in the game not only provides enjoyment but could also bring rewards of recognition and a sense of pride.
