Backgammon Champions
Lists of world backgammon champions often look neat, one name per year. The real story is less tidy. For more than a decade several events claimed the title, and only in 1979 did the championship settle in the place where it has stayed ever since. This article looks at that early period and at what the game's champions tend to have in common.
The American years
Modern tournament backgammon grew up in the 1960s, when the game became a fashionable pastime in American and European social clubs. Events billed as world championships were held in Las Vegas from the late 1960s into the early 1970s. Tim Holland is listed as the winner of several of them, and Oswald Jacoby, better known as a bridge champion and writer, is listed as the winner in 1972. In the mid-1970s the event moved to the Bahamas. Paul Magriel, whose 1976 book Backgammon became a standard textbook for a generation of players, won there in 1978.
These early titles are best seen as the prestige events of their day rather than as championships in the modern sense. Most of the leading players were American, and no single body was accepted by everyone as the authority on the title.
The move to Monte Carlo
In 1979 the World Championship was held in Monte Carlo for the first time, and Luigi Villa of Italy won it. From then on the title had a permanent home, a regular place in the calendar and a truly international field. Our page on backgammon world champions covers the Monte Carlo event and its notable winners in more detail.
What champions have in common
Looking at the players who have won the biggest titles, a few traits keep appearing.
- Deep study. Champions such as Magriel and Bill Robertie were also writers and teachers. Explaining the game to others forced them to understand it precisely.
- Strong cube handling. In long matches, a single cube decision can swing several points at once. Top players know when the match score calls for an early double and when it calls for caution. See the doubling cube.
- Patience with luck. Even the best player loses many individual games. Champions keep making good decisions after bad rolls instead of trying to force the game back with wild plays.
- Physical and mental stamina. A championship week means many hours of concentrated play a day. Staying sharp in the last match matters as much as playing well in the first.
Champions in the computer age
Since the 1990s, neural-network programs have become the strongest players in the world, and they have changed how humans train. Today a serious competitor reviews his matches with programs such as GNU Backgammon or eXtreme Gammon, measures his error rate, and works through the positions where he went wrong. The gap between amateurs and champions is still large, but the path to closing it is clearer than ever. Our article on improving your game suggests where to start.