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| Before you ask the question, that is there any other kind of backgammon tournament, I will answer it. Yes, nowadays you can enter both an online and a land-based backgammon tournament. In the following article I will deal with the most important land-based backgammon tournaments. Backgammon is a very popular game, with a history of a few thousands of years, so you will be able to find many important tournaments. |
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You should know in advance that, just like in the case of any other tournaments, you should be an experienced player. If you are not (yet) an experienced player, then you should first learn and develop the necessary skills for backgammon. Experienced players already know that in order to enter a bigger tournament they have to start smaller, not very important ones and work their way to the top. As it is with every other tournament, you will have to pay a registration fee, this will depend on the kind of tournament. Usually the fee goes into the pot, and only a percentage is retained by those who organized the tournament. You should be aware that smaller tournaments ask for a smaller amount of money as fee, but if you would like to enter an important tournament, you will have to pay a larger amount of money. These were the general ideas about land-based backgammon tournaments; now let us discuss the four most important land-based tournaments!
The first and most important backgammon tournament is the World Cup Backgammon Tournament. It takes place in Dallas every summer, usually in August. In this tournament the games are very long and hard, so only professional players should enter this tournament. Most of the backgammon players only dream about winning this tournament, but the winner can proudly say that he is the best backgammon player in the world! As I said, the games are long and very hard, so only professional players have a chance to win the tournament.
Another important tournament is the World Championship. This is the second most important one and it is held in Monte Carlo, usually before the World Cup. So this land-based backgammon tournament is held in July, approximately one month before the World Cup. As you can guess, this tournament is not as difficult as the World Cup, but it is good, if you are a professional player, otherwise you have reduced chances to win. Although this tournament is held in America, it seems that backgammon is more popular in Europe, because most of the participants come from Europe.
There are only two more important backgammon tournaments, and these are the Pro-Am Doubles Backgammon Championship and the American Backgammon Tour. Let us discuss the Pr-Am Doubles Backgammon Championship first. This is a very interesting championship, because both amateur and professional players have a chance to win the tournament. Sixteen groups participate in the tournament; the groups are formed by both amateur and professional players. The games are not very long and hard, so this would be the perfect tournament if you are only an amateur player. This tournament has a long history, because it was held for the first time in 1964. Sadly, it had no continuity, but from 1999 it is held every year in Las Vegas. The other important tournament is the American Backgammon Tour. In this case, the participants are Americans.
This tournament is called a master-point competition, because the players win points. There are three groups: the Highest Division, the winner will get one point; the Second Division, in this case the winner will be awarded half a point and the Lower Division, where the winner will get 0.25 points. This last tournament tries to unify all the other smaller tournaments which are held in America, because there is no such thing as an international backgammon organization.
You could see that there are several important tournaments, and although many of them are held in Europe, the most important ones are held in America. This fact does not stop European players to travel to America hoping that they will win the tournament. I did not mention it, but besides the points awarded in the American Backgammon Tour, every tournament offers a pot to the winner. So if you are a good backgammon player you should be thinking about a tournament not only for the excitement but for the money too.
As a conclusion, here are a few things you should do before you enter a tournament. First of all, you should be a very good backgammon player, this way you will have a chance to win the pot. You should be aware of the smaller tournaments held in your country and county, because you will have to qualify somehow for the bigger tournaments. If you contact a backgammon organization, they will be able to answer all your questions related to qualifying for a certain tournament. So you can ask about the conditions, the amount of the fee, the specific dates and rules of the backgammon tournament. The main idea is that you should be well informed before you send the participation fee, just to make sure that you can qualify.
Now you know the four most important backgammon tournaments and you know what to do if you would like to enter one of them. Keep in mind the most important thing: be sure on yourself and be a good player if you want to enter one of the tournaments mentioned above. Good luck! |
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