Backgammon Tournaments

Backgammon tournament is an official competition in which one winner is chosen of a large number of participants. The most important backgammon tournament in the world is the World Board Game Championship that takes places every year in Monte Carlo since 1976, the World Series of Backgammon, International Backgammon Tour and more.

Backgammon tournaments are not necessarily designated for backgammon pros. Tournaments are usually divided into several divisions according to the players skill level and there is usually a novice division whereby backgammon beginners can compete against players of similar experience. The entry fee in the novice divisions is usually lower, (in rarer cases novice players are not required to pay any fees at all), and so are the prizes.

Backgammon tournaments come in variety of formats: single or double elimination, round robin or the Swiss format. Additionally, there are event tournaments (such as the World Championship for example), and monthly, weekly or even daily tourneys, usually organized by a local backgammon club and entertain the local backgammon enthusiasts community.

Elimination Tournaments

In the elimination tournaments, at the end of each round the losing players are eliminated until the last player declares victory. In double elimination tournaments, each player plays until he loses twice (as opposed to single elimination, whereby a player who loses immediately eliminated from the tournament).

Round Robin Tournaments

In this type of backgammon tournaments, all the participants play against one another in rotation. Therefore, in a round robin tourney, the number of rounds equals the number of entrants minus one.

Swiss Tournaments

A Swiss tournament consists of several consecutive rounds. At the end of each round, the players are not eliminated; instead they compete against players whom score was close to their score.

Online Backgammon Tournaments