Last weekend the 1st Portuguese Backgammon Open was held in Estoril Portugal, The event attracted players from over 17 nations and also included 37 local players. Split into three divisions Amateur Intermediate and Champions the prize money totaled some Euros 50,000 with the Champion claiming Euros 15,000.

Europe was once again dominant in the competition, providing both the Doubles Winners and Single Champion.

In the Doubles Final the unlucky Portuguese team represented by Pedro Matos and Jose Costa Lima, conceded defeat after a family illness forced them out of the competition, by default the winning team represented by Ronald Reinhardt and Thorsten Haase from Germany then took the first prize.

In a hard fought contest the eventual Singles Champion Jean-Philippe Rohr of France triumphed over Dane Carsten Byrn to take first place and the top prize of Euros 15,000.

The Promoter The World Backgammon Association (WBA), and sponsors Grand Prix d´Estoril Europe's largest Casino could only have been delighted with the response from players and spectators who witnessed and participated in this three day event, emphasizing again the draw that backgammon is having for spectator and player alike.

The next few months' is likely to see much more of this frenetic energy around the backgammon tables and screens of the world as players gear themselves up to compete for bigger and better prize money, culminating in the $1 million Party Gammon jackpot in the Bahamas in January 2007.

The backgammon bandwagon is rolling and with every tournament and event played the momentum grows, it is just case of how easy or hard it will be to get on it, that's if you want to be in with a chance of the big money.

Jean-Philippe Rohr of France
1st Portuguese Open Champion (Singles)



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