As more and more women enter the competitive landscape of Backgammon, they are eager for information—not just on how to prepare and play, but on how to handle winning and losing. It's rare that we gain insight from one of the greatest players the game has ever seen on how to approach the finals of one of the most important tournaments in the world.
For six years, Masayuki "Mochy" Mochizuki has competed in the Ultimate Backgammon Championship, prevailing in four of those six years to become the Ultimate Backgammon Champion. This year, he lost to Zdeněk Zizka from Czechia, affectionately known as ZZ, the youngest backgammon player to achieve the rank of Grandmaster.
Mochy's statement after ZZ won the Ultimate Backgammon Champion title lays the groundwork for all of us to approach competition with grace and determination. There are many great takeaways in his message: never giving up, surrounding yourself with circles of collaboration who will support your game (knowing you will also support theirs), and going into it with the mindset to win.
We thank him for his openness and for sharing his insights, and we look forward to assisting him in whatever he needs from us to achieve his vision of Backgammon's growth.
– Karen Davis, Melanie Hughes & Irina Litzenberger
“I gave it my all at UBC 2024, but unfortunately, I lost to Zdenek. Although I was defeated, I feel it was a fantastic session, and I have no regrets. I wholeheartedly congratulate the new champion - he was well deserved. At some point in day 2, I thought to myself “maybe I can't beat this guy” because even when I give my very best he does better. That's the first time in my life to feel the fear against any human.
However as the match goes I realized that he is also human and he also struggles as we all do so I didn't give up and I hang on until the very last moment. But in the end one has to lose, and the one who won was the right one. Young, strong and very nice heart is a new UBC champion. Congratulations.
I want to express my gratitude to Takamiya, Meijo, Ichikawa, Ueda, and everyone else who helped me practice. I apologize for not being able to deliver results despite all the effort everyone put in during practice. I can't thank enough to Kazuki for being a coach of me for last 6 years.
As I mentioned at the end of the YouTube stream, I have decided to retire from the UBC after this year. I take pride in having reached the finals all six years, and I've grown tremendously through those matches and practice. It was the best 6 years in my career. However, moving forward, I want to focus on new opportunities and dedicate myself entirely to promoting backgammon, aiming for growth beyond personal achievements and titles. I would be grateful for your continued support.
See you everyone in the next backgammon tournament.”
Msayuki Mochy Mochizuki
Videos of the three days of 12 matches may be found on YouTube.com:
UBC 2024 Final (DAY 1)
UBC 2024 Final (DAY 2) - YouTube
WBIF Women's World Championships & WBIF Women's World Team Championships
The World Backgammon Internet Federation (WBIF) launched the 2nd Women's World Team Championship on September 1, 2024. WBIF expressed hope that the tournament would not only be enjoyable and competitive but also help raise the profile of women in backgammon worldwide.
Twenty-three countries entered the competition: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A total of 123 women registered to play on these 23 teams, marking a significant increase from the 87 players who participated in the inaugural Women's Team Championship in 2023. Norway won the 2023 competition, followed by Sweden and France.
Twelve countries are still alive in the event. The top seven countries with four or more points include Denmark, France, Norway, Germany, the U.S., Ireland, and Turkey. A team wins a round if 3 or more of their 5 team members win. In the case of a tie in Team Rounds Won, the tie is broken by the number of Individual Matches Won.
Undefeated individual players with five wins include Susanne Lahme (Germany); Irina Litzenberger (U.S.); Kathrine Langjord (Norway), Hanna Thorsen (Norway), and Anzhelika Tarzian (UAE).
The tournament is being played online on the Heroes.BackgammonStudio.comserver and will conclude in January 2025.
Update on the WBIF Women's World Championship 2024
In addition to the Women's Team Championship, WBIF is hosting the individual online WBIF Women's World Championship 2024. Thirty-eight women have made it to the Finals by virtue of being in the top third of entrants in their region: the Americas; Europe/Africa; Asia/Oceania.
The first three rounds of matches have just concluded. The top six women are from Denmark, Germany, U.S., U.K., and Italy, and include Mette Norgaard Poulsen and Majo Falsig Hansen from Norway; Samra Hadden and Karen Davis from the U.S.; Anna Price from the U.K.; and Marilena Montano from Italy, (as of 19 November).
Online Events and Tournaments
If you are looking for a way to compete with other players at your level and do this conveniently and inexpensively, online tournaments are a great way to go. Other advantages of online tournaments are that they are recorded, so you get feedback on your play, pinpoint your errors and blunders, and understand where to focus your learning for the future.
Unlike in-person backgammon tournaments, online events are typically free or low-cost, don't require travel, and are easy to fit into a busy schedule, in-person tournaments are also great for skills building, as well as for socializing and progressing your game in a fun and competitive environment. You may well want to be active in both!
There are three types of online tournament sponsors that offer high-quality, easy to use sites, and lots of potential for improving your game as well as enjoy the competition.
The World Backgammon Internet Federation offers a large number of tournaments where you can meet and enjoy playing players around the world. Most notably, it sponsors the Women's World BackgammonChampionships held annually and the Women's World Team BackgammonChampionships. There are many other events open to women and men. There is an annual 15 Euros membership fee. In addition events have modest entry fees that go into a prize pool for those who place. To learn more about it, you may want to watch this video.
Country Federation tournaments including the U.S. BackgammonFederation and the U.K. Backgammon Federation. The WBIF lists all of the member nations and links to their websites on its homepage, so your country may have a federation you can join with their own online tournaments. Often it is not necessary to be a resident of that country, you just need to be able to play at a time that is convenient for people that live there. Some of these events are at fixed times where everyone plays on a particular day, but for the others you can arrange a time to play that is convenient for you and your opponent. Many tournaments are free to enter after you have joined the group or organization that hosts them, or they may charge a small fee when there is a prize awarded to the winner. It is important to be aware that if you are paying an entry fee that you trust the tournament organization. We have listed a few below to whet your appetite. It also lists the major online tournaments in its newsletter. Please see below for the latest online events.
The USBGF holds monthly tournaments for all skill levels Intermediate, Advanced, Masters levels as well as some fun tournaments where you can win a board or a "lesson with a pro”. A Basic membership of $45 annually is required to play. Be sure to keep a lookout for the Monthly Women's Tournament! These Matches are usually played on the Backgammon Heroes website which you need to open an account on to play.
Additional online resources …
The UKBGF is another great website for online competition. They have their own web based backgammon server called Backgammon Hub where all matches are played. The links to both are below. They have an online league as well as regular in person and online tournaments.
Backgammon online servers also typically offer online tournaments. If you just want to play a tournament daily you should checkout the tournament page of Backgammon Studio Heroes where there are many tournaments throughout the day on all time zones. If you wish to play in these events be prepared to spend a few hours to complete the matches that day.
Giving Tuesday
December 3 has been officially designated as Giving Tuesday.
Please consider Women's World of Backgammon as you plan your end-of-the-year giving.
Donations to support the work of the Women's World of Backgammon (WWB) may be made to the PayPal account at donations@usbgf.org. Please add a Note that funds are earmarked for the WWB Fund of the U.S. Backgammon Foundation, a 501c3 organization. The donations will be used to help cover the cost of educational activities of WWB and to recognize skill achievement of womenplayers.
Any donation, large or small, is appreciated and will help support our work. We show our appreciation by listing donors as Inner Circle members on our website under the Support tab. Diamond Inner Circle members have contributed cumulative gifts of $1000+; Gold $500-$999; Silver $100-499; and Bronze (Under $100).
If you wish to discuss becoming an Inner Circle member, please email us at womensworldofbackgammon@gmail.com and we will contact you.
Our current Inner Circle members include:
Diamond
Jason Briggs, Maine and Palm Beach
Karen Davis, Founder, Fort Lauderdale
Mike Gibbons, Maine and Palm Beach
Roberto and Irina Litzenberger, WWB Board member, Charlottesville, VA
Christine Merser, Founder, Maine and Palm Beach
Joan van der Grift, Palm Beach
Gold
Carol Joy Cole, Flint, Michigan
Judith Cooley, Palm Beach
Mary Jean Gulden, Palm Beach
Melanie Hughes, WWB Board member, Caribbean
Silver
Candace Mayeron, Los Angeles
Lisa Speer, Palm Beach
Bronze
Sabine Brinkman, Berlin, Germany
Stephania Conrad, Palm Beach
Ann Hokanson, Palm Beach
Sophia Letts, Palm Beach
Jennifer Loving, Palm Beach
Carolyn Pressly-Ryan, Palm Beach
Jane Ylvisaker, Palm Beach
Winning Women Around the World
Women are increasingly placing in American Backgammon Tour and international events. In October/November they included:
WBF – 11th MERIT OPEN INTERNATIONAL BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIP November 5-10, 2024, Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus
MASTERS (200): Ladies Prize - Akiko Yazawa (Japan).
INTERMEDIATE (106): 6/9 Marina Pirvelli (Georgia 1LC-Gözde Diptas (Turkey); Ladies Prize - Marina Pirvelli (Georgia).
MERIT 1000€ SUPER JACKPOT #2: 2-Akiko Yazawa (Japan)
SUPER SPEEDGAMMON: 3/4 Akiko Yazawa
LADIES TOURNAMENT (29): 1- Sevinç Pashaeva (Ukraine); 2-Kazuko Numazawa (Japan); 3/4 – Pia Jeppesen (Denmark)/F. Zanet (Romania)
Ion Ressu Memorial Doubles Consultation (128 teams): 1-Masoud Ahmadpour (Iran) & Mais Mohammad (Iran/Dubai); 3/4 Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan) & Shintaro Mochizuki (Japan)
CNB - 19th MILAN BACKGAMMON OPEN
October 24-27, 2024; Varenna, Italy
CHAMPIONSHIP (39): 3/4-Paola Aiello
ADVANCED (29): 3C/4C-Marilena Montano
NORWEGIAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN BACKGAMMON 2024
October 17-20, 2024; Oslo, Norway
CHAMPIONSHIP (78): 3/4 Kaia Osbakk
SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP (43): 1-Kathrine Langjord
DOUBLES CONSULTATION (30): 2-Monica Unosen & Jon Kristian Røyset, 3/4-Håkan Åkerstrand & Kathrine Langjord / Asbjørn Arntzen & Martha Gjelseth
LAG TEAM TOURNAMENT (39): 1-Marianne Husum / Dagfinn Snarheim / Frank Stenersen, 2-Asbjørn Arntzen / Martha Gjelseth / Odin Svendsen.
VETERAN EVENT (19): 3/4-Sylvia Johnsen / Katrine Stegenborg Teigen.
ABT - WILD WEST SHOOTOUT: 6th ANNUAL DENVER OPEN BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT
October 16-20, 2024; Denver, Colorado
ABT DIVISION 1 - BISON (71): 4/5- Kara Schultz (CA)
ABT DIVISION 2 - GUNSLINGERS (30): 3-Abby Biss (New Zealand); 1C-Sue Will (IL)
ABT DIVISION 3 - WARRIORS (24): 1-Mary Wilson (CO), 2-Leah Nash (OR)
ABT DIVISION 4 - GREENHORNS (12): Gilet Mankin of Israel won the backgammon board drawing, and she gifted the board to Nedra Lyles (FL).
GUNSLINGER JACKPOT (32): 2-Sabine Brinkmann (Germany), 3/4-Marianne Bowen (VA)
BMAB PLAYERS CUP DENVER (28): 1/3 tie- Irina Litzenberger (VA)
DOUBLES SHOOTOUT (32 teams): 1-Sean Garber (IN) & Marjie Harbrecht (CO), 3/4-Saeed Karimi (TX) & Jennifer Kim (CA) / Gary Koscielny (FL) & Joan Koscielny (FL)
ANNIE OAKLEY SHOOTOUT (20): 1-Irina Litzenberger (VA), 2-Karen Davis (FL); 1C-Sabine Brinkmann (Germany), 2C-Melissa Shin (CA)
RUSTLER QUICKIE (32): 2-Laura Granger (CO)
GOLD RUSH SPEEDGAMMON (32): 1-Melissa Shin (CA)
CORNHOLE SOCIAL EVENT (8 teams): 1-LeAnn Roberts (CO) & Tommy Tallarico (CA)
CHOO CHOO Warm-up (4): 2-Laura Granger (CO)
Women dressed in their Western gear were the highlight of the rodeo at the Denver Wild West Shootout. Thirty-eight women participated in the four ABT divisional events—28% of the total. By contrast, women accounted for 23% of Denver entrants last year and 13% of all ABT tournament entrants in 2023.
Women at the Wild West filled the brackets in the lower divisions, and an increasing number moved up to the top-level divisions. Seven out of 71 Open Division entrants (10%) were women; 10 out of 30 Advanced Division entrants (33%); 16 out of 24 Intermediate Division entrants (67%); and 5 out of 12 Novice entrants (42%) were women. Denver leads the ABT as a women-friendly tournament!
Kara Schultz (CA) was the standout woman in the Bison Open (Division 1), making it to the Final of the Undefeated Bracket and finishing in 4th/5th place overall. In the Gunslinger Advanced (Division 2), Abby Biss (NZ) finished third, and Sue Will (IL) won the Consolation. Mary Wilson (CO) won the Warriors Intermediate (Division 3), with Leah Nash (OR) finishing second. In the Greenhorn (Division 4), Gilet Mankin of Israel won the backgammon board drawing but generously donated the board to fellow Novice Nedra Lyles (FL).
The Wild West Shootout also included a Backgammon Masters Awarding Body (BMAB) event, with seven women competing out of a total of 28 entrants—one-fourth of the total. Two years ago, it was rare to find more than one or two womencompeting in BMAB events! The BMAB event is a step toward earning qualification as a Grandmaster/Master and, more importantly, serves as a yardstick to assess progress in improving play performance. WWB Board member Irina Litzenberger (VA) tied for first based on Win-Loss records with a 4-0 record. Karen Davis finished 9th based on Performance Rating with a 5.83 Overall PR.
The highlight for many women players was the Annie Oakley Shootout, won by Irina Litzenberger (VA), with Karen Davis (FL) in second place. Sabine Brinkman (Germany), who is spending her sabbatical from teaching attending American Backgammon Tour tournaments, won the Consolation and was the lucky random draw recipient of a beautiful Women's World of Backgammon (WWB) board donated by sponsor WWB. Melissa Shin (CA) won second place in the Consolation. WWB sponsored live streaming of many Annie Oakley matches, including the finals between Irina and Karen, and Lynda Clay donated additional money to the prize pool. Melissa Shin also won the Gold Rush Speedgammon event, which featured 32 players.
Irina Litzenberger and Karen Davis reviewed the highlights of their final Annie Oakley match in a WWB Learning Session on November 12. You can watch this session below.
Sabine Brinkman also did well in the Gunslinger Jackpot, finishing second, with Marianne Bowen taking 3rd/4th. Laura Granger (CO) took second in the Rustler Quickie event as well as in the Choo Choo Warm-Up tournament.
LeAnn Roberts (CO) teamed up with Backgammon World Championship Intermediate winner Tommy Tallarico (CA) to win the Cornhole Social Event. It was no small feat tossing beanbags into holes in tournament posters 27 feet away. Those cheering from the sidelines made it a tournament highlight!
Many thanks to Dan Minardi, tournament organizer, and Ben Friesen, tournament co-director, for providing a great experience for all!
November 19-25 – Miami Open and Players Cup BMAB, Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort, Sunny Isles Beach, FL, Avi Cohen Tournament producer,
786-999-2623; MiamiOpenBG@gmail.com; Arda Fındıkoğlu, President, WBGfcaliF – Turkey, Head director; David Presser (Israel), Boot Camp director; Roberto Litzenberger, Players Cup BMAB director. Click here for details.
December 12-15 – California State Championships and Players Cup BMAB, Hilton LAX, CA Candace Mayeron producer 310-422-1646. Click here for details.
January 8-12, 2025 – 18th New York Metropolitan Open and Players Cup BMAB, Hyatt, Jersey City, NJ, Lyn Ehrlich, organizer and director, 408-529-6769. Click here for details.
January 23-26 – Charlotte Invitational and Players Cup BMAB 2025, Hilton, Charlotte NC, Paul Horton, director 704-651-2949. Click here for details.
February 5-9 – 12th Texas Championships and Players Cup BMAB, Gunter Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, Bill Riles, Jesper Carlsson, and Tara Mendicino, directors; USBGF Awards/Hall of Fame. Click here for details.
February 27-March 2 – 15th Atlanta Classic and Players Cup BMAB, Sonesta Hotel, Atlanta, GA, Jeff Proctor director, 706-372-2495
March 20-23, 30th Ohio State and BMAB, Crown Plaza, Middleburg Hts, OH, Jonathan Hardigree and Joe Miller directors, 330-268-4610
Click here for details.
April 7-13, World Backgammon Federation World Teams Championships/3rd Greek Grand Prix, Kamena Vouria, Greece.
Click here for details.
April 9-13, Cherry Blossom and BMAB, Hyatt Regency Dulles, Herndon, VA, 810-348-1695
Click here for details.
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