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Backgammon NewsMay 19, 20092009 Portuguese Open ResultsThe 4th True Money Games Portuguese Open backgammon tournament held last weekend, from May 14th to May 17th, at the Casino Estoril in Portugal and launched the third season of the European Backgammon Tour (EBGT), courtesy of the World Backgammon Association (WBA). Portuguese Open champion for 2009 is Austrian player Frans Bergi who beat Dane Freddie Noer at the 17-points final. Over 80 backgammon players from 21 different nations (yet, as expected, with majority to the Danish players as well as an impressive presence of British residents) attended the 4th Portuguese Open, sponsored this year by the online backgammon website True Money Games. The world's biggest backgammon giants attended the event, "Falafel" Natanzon, Bob Wachtel, Masayuki "Mochi" Mochizuki, Götz Hildsberg, Frederic Andrieu, Tassilo Rzymann and Carter Mattig, yet most of them were eliminated during the first rounds. Throughout the main event, the backgammon champs amused themselves with a special exhibition match, in which the leading Dane players formed the "Danish Team Champs", captained by Michael Weile, competed against the representatives of six different nations, who stood for the "rest of the world". Unfortunately for the rest of the world, the Dane backgammon players have proved their superiority by winning 5:0 in 4 out of 6 games. And as always in the Portuguese Open, the trophies ceremony includes special player award given to Raj Jansari of the UK for fair play and to the main semi-finalist Hugh McNeil of Canada, for his successful comeback. |
