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Match Archive


Here you'll find a lot matches from various (top) tournaments for download. Analyzing those matches is very instructive! All matches are in the .txt-format (Jelly Fish ™), which can also be imported by GNU Backgammon, eXtremeGammon and Snowie ™. Some matches are also available in .sgf-format (GNU Backgammon) and do contain an analysis  1)  (without comments however). Those sgf-files are much bigger than the .txt-files (up to 1 MB).
The matches from the times before the availability of modern backgammon software (Jelly Fish ™ since 1994) do partially have a relatively high error rate from today's view. They represent the style played at that time. Don't try to play like that.
For abbreviations look here.
Enjoy studying the matches!


2011
Monte Carlo World Championship, 15 - 23 July 2011
Finale .txt
After one year break the title World Champion of Backgammon goes to Japan again. "Is Japan the new Denmark?" was asked in Stick's Forum.
Halbfinale .txt
 
Halbfinale .txt
 
2010
Monte Carlo World Championship, 11 - 18 July 2010
Finale .txt
 
2009
Monte Carlo World Championship, 12. - 19. Juli 2009
Finale .txt
Lars Trabolt, world champion 2008, reached the final again in 2009, but the Japanese Masayuki Mochizuki, aka Mochy, who is well known for his extremely low error rates, managed to become the first backgammon world champion from Japan!
2008
Monte Carlo World Championship, 07 - 13 July 2008
R16 .txt
Achim Müller, a strong player from Germany, playing at a very good error rate in this round against former world champion Royset from Norway. Achim Müller later reached the semi-final, where he lost against Mario Sequeira.
New York Metropolitan Open (ABT), 10 - 14 Jan 2008
Final .txt
.sgf
 
WSOB Nordic Open, Helsingör, 19 - 24 March 2008
R64 .txt Nearly 400 players, 152 of them in the champions flight, made the Nordic Open 2008 the probably biggest backgammon tournament in 2008 worldwide. "Kedde" Mathiesen made it into the finals, where he lost against Tassilo Rzymann (AUT). Have a look at some photos of the tournament.
CONS, Final .txt Mochy is playing this match probably with the lowest error rate of the whole tournament.
2007
19th European Championships, Velden
Final .txt
 
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final .txt
With kind permission of GammonLife.

In the last game of the match there was some confusion about one roll. Read the details in the header of the match file  2) .
Semifinal .txt
With kind permission of GammonLife.
Round 1 .txt
Both players played very strong! More about the match and some impressions of the World Championships on Achim Müller's Monte Carlo 2007 Blog.
Nordic Open
Final .txt (#1)
.txt (#2)
The Nordic Open were held in a different format this year, so the final consisted of two matches, a 25-pointer (#1) and a all-deciding 9-pointer (#2), both won by the Dane Thomas Jespersen.
UK Masters, London
Final .txt
Despite having played better, Christian Plenz lost his final match.
QF .txt
 
2006
4th Barriere Backgammon Open d´Enghien-les-Bains
Consultation Doubles, Round unknown .txt
.sgf
With kind permission of the WBA.
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final .txt
Luigi Villa, World Champion of 1979, makes it into the finals again 27 years later, but gets defeated by Philip Vischjager 23:25.
SF .txt
 
R32 .txt
Excellent play by "Falafel".
Nordic Open
Final .txt
.sgf
A FIBSter (Nick: Sakis) wins the Nordic Open 2006, after defeating a.o. Mochizuki Masayuki, Francois Tardieu and Claus Cato. Congrats Sakis!!!
Round 1 .txt  
Sapporo Open 2006
Final .txt
 
2005
Aix Les Baines
Round 1 .txt
 
SJ, Final .txt
A real quicky - cube to 8, gammon. Match over in one game. Very low error rates by both players.
Las Vegas Open
SJ, Final .txt
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final .txt
Round 2 .txt
.sgf
After trailing 9-16 Jonas got back into the match to finally win 17-16. Both players played at a high level with a Snowie error rate around -2,5.
Nordic Open
Final .txt  
QF .txt  
R32 .txt  
CONS, R32 .txt
.sgf
 
17th European Backgammon Championships, Velden
Final .txt
Paris Open
Champions, Final .txt
2004
Abu Dhabi
Final Andreas Humke (GER) vs. Arild Ilsoe (NOR) .txt  
Rivieras Challenge 2 Backgammon Tournament, Cannes
Final Jan Andrew Bloxham (DEN) vs. Andreas Humke (GER) .txt  
SF Andreas Humke (GER) vs. Steve Sax (CAN) .txt  
Monte Carlo World Championship
R32 Hugh McNeil (CAN) vs. Peter Hallberg (DEN) .txt Hallberg, though playing less strong than McNeil in this match, finally became World Champion 2004.
Nordic Open
Final Jan Bloxham (GBR) vs. Thomas Lenz (GER) .txt  
Swedish Open
Final Atle von der Fehr (NOR) vs. Michael Löfblad (SWE) .txt  
2003
Lucien Barriére Open
Final Lars Bonding (DEN) vs. Francois Tardieu (FRA) .txt  
R08 Lars Bonding (DEN) vs. Andreas Humke (GER) .txt  
R16 Serge Rived (FRA) vs. Andreas Humke (GER) .txt  
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Mosche Tissona (ISR) vs. Jon Røyset (NOR) .txt  
SF Jon Røyset (NOR) vs. Katja Svendson (NOR) .txt  
2002
Austrian Open
Masters, Final .txt
.sgf
 
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Felix Ziva (ISR) vs. Mads Andersen (DEN) .txt  
SF Jan Bloxham (DEN) vs. Mads Andersen (DEN) .txt  
Round 2 Francois Tardieu (FRA) vs. Malcolm Davis (USA) .txt  
Nordic Open
SF .txt  
Round 2 .txt  
Paris Open
Masters, Round 1 .txt  
Oslo Open
SJ - SF .txt  
2001
49th Indiana Open
SF Neil Kazaross (USA) vs. Jeremy Bagai (USA) .txt Kazaross playing at an error rate below 2.0 here.
Czech Open, Prague
SF Volker Sonnabend (GER) vs. Johannes Levermann (GER) .txt (#1)
.txt (#2)
Played as "Best of 3".
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Jorgen Granstedt (SWE) vs. Thomas Holm (DEN) .txt  
SF Jorgen Granstedt (SWE) vs. Mario Kühl (GER) .txt  
Round 3 .txt  
Round 1 .txt  
Nordic Open
Final Lars Trabolt (DEN) vs. Lars Klammer (DEN) .txt
 
QF Johannes Levermann (GER) vs. Stefan Blancke (GER) .txt
 
Round 2 Øystein Johansen (NOR) vs. Kit Woolsey (USA) .txt
.sgf
 
Paris Open
Champions, SF Jorgen Granstedt (SWE) vs. George Vadiakas (GRE) .txt  
Venice
Final Jakov Nepomniatchy (RUS) vs. Carlo Melzi (ITA) .txt  
2000
Czech Open, Prague
Final Kent Goulding (USA) vs. Johannes Levermann (GER) .txt (#1)
.txt (#2)
Was played as "Best of 3".
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Katie Scalamandre (USA) vs. Thomas Holm (DEN) .txt  
Round 1 Rolf Vetsch (SUI) vs. Jörgen Granstedt (SWE) .txt
.sgf
 
Nordic Open
Final .txt  
CONS - Round unknown .txt  
German Open
Final Dimitrios Pappas (GER) vs. Johannes Levermann (GER) .txt (#1)
.txt (#2)
.txt (#3)
Was played as "Best of 3".
Las Vegas Fall Tournament
Final Mika Lidov (USA) vs. Armando Balbi (ITA) .txt  
Paris Open
Champions, Final Johannes Levermann (GER) vs. Mario Sequeira (POR) .txt  
Open Swiss Championships
Final Roland Ekström (SUI) vs. Rino Mathis (SUI) .txt  
1999
Istanbul
Super Jackpot Elliott Winslow (USA/DEN?) vs. Jerry Grandell (SWE) .txt  
Michigan Summer Tournament
QF Neil Kazaross (USA) vs. Malcolm Davis (USA) .txt Excellent commentary on that match can be found in A. Ortega / D. Kleinman, Backgammon with the Giants - Neil Kazaross
Nordic Open
SJ - Final Nack Ballard (USA) vs. Michael Meyburg (GER) .txt  
Venedig
Final .txt This match has been commented very detailed and precise by A. Ortega and D. Kleinman in "Backgammon with the Giants".
1998
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Michael Meyburg (GER) vs. Elliott Winslow (USA/DEN) .txt After 1991 Michael Meyburg becomes World Champion for the second time.
Istanbul
SJ, SF Nack Ballard (USA) vs. Jerry Grandell (SWE) .txt Superbly commented by Bill Robertie in his book Modern Backgammon.
1997
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Frederic Banjout (FRA) vs. Jerry Grandell (SWE) .txt
.sgf
Superbly commented by Ortega/Kleinman in their book Jerry Grandell - His Most Important Matches.
Pittsburgh Championships
LC, Final Malcolm Davis (USA) vs. Marty Storer (USA) .txt
Discussed and commented in Marty Storer's Backgammon Praxis - The Matches of Malcolm Davis Vol. 2.
St. Moritz Winter Championships
Final .txt  
1995
Nordic Open
QF .txt Cube up to 16 in game 4 - not seen very frequently in 19 point matches.
1994
FIBS
"Just for fun" .txt This match was played for the FIBS community. Both players offered a detailed analysis of their match, which is avaiable at Tom Keith's Backgammon Galore (HTML). For replay I offer the match as JellyFish-format here, but without any commentary.
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final .txt  
Tournament of the Americas
Masters, Final .txt
Superbly commented by Ortega, Madrigal and Kleinman in their book Costa Rica 1994
1993
Monte Carlo World Championship
QF .txt  
LC, SF .txt
.sgf
 
Tournament of the Americas
Masters, Final .txt
Great commentary on that match can be found in Costa Rica 1993.
Open Division, Final .txt
In game 1 and 12 Sconyers made an illegal move. Those errors are noted in the JellyFish-file (.txt), so you can re-construct those games over the board, but game 12 can't be imported properly to GNU Backgammon (or any other backgammon software).
1991
Championships of Great Britain
Final Philip Marmorstein (GER) vs. Michael Greiner (GER) .txt Commented by Kit Woolsey in his highly recommended book Match Qiz Series: Greiner vs. Marmorstein.
Monte Carlo World Championship
R08 Neil Kazaross (USA) vs. Michael Meyburg (GER) .txt  
1990
Monte Carlo World Championship
R16 Mika Lidov (USA) vs. Hal Heinrich (USA) .txt Commented by Kit Woolsey in his highly recommended book Match Qiz Series: Lidov vs. Heinrich.
R32 Matthias Pauen (GER) vs. Paul Magriel (USA) .txt  
R128 Grasser (?) vs. Paul Magriel (USA) .txt  
World Cup II
Final .txt (#1)
.txt (#2)
.txt (#3)
.txt (#4)
Played as "best of five".
1989
German Open
Final .txt  
US Open
Preliminary Match .txt Commented by Kit Woolsey in his highly recommended book Match Qiz Series: Ballard vs. Sylvester.
1988
Monte Carlo World Championship
Round 3 .txt Philip Marmorstein luckily wins against the better playing American Billy Horan, to finally become the first German Backgammon World Champion. In Bachgammon you can't win tournaments without some luck!
World Cup I
Final .txt This final was played as 41 (in words: forty one!) point match. The players didn't like such mega matches. Therefore the later World Cups (1990 until 1998) were played as "best of five" with shorter matches.
1987
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Bill Robertie (USA) vs. Jerry Grandell (SWE) .txt Here Robertie earns his second title as Backgammon World Champion.
R16 Bill Robertie (USA) vs. Evert van Eyck (NDL) .txt  
New England Backgamon Club Championships
Final .txt (#1)
.txt (#2)
.txt (#3)
Played as "best of seven". Only the first three matches of that series are available.

Superbly commented by Roy Friedman in his book World Class Backgammon - Move by Move.
2nd Reno Masters Invitational
R16 .txt
Another "oldie".
1986
1st Reno Masters Invitational
Final .txt
Match with a high error rate from todays view. Commented by Bill Robertie in his book Reno 86.
SF .txt
Though from the pre-bot era, match with a low error rate. Commented by Bill Robertie in his book Reno 86.
R16 .txt
A match from the pre-bot era.
9-Point Match for Money
- .txt
The Match was published and commented by Danny Kleinman in his book The Other Side of Midnight. Labins is the author of Competitive Backgammon.
1984
Monte Carlo World Championship
SF Mike Svobodny (USA) vs. J. Rosenberg (?) .txt After trailing 6-19 Svobodny fights back to DMP to finally win. He also wins the final to become Backgammon World Champion 1984.
1981
Las Vegas Holiday Tournament
Round 4 Kent Goulding (USA) vs. Michael Maxakuli (USA) .txt  
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Jow Dwek (USA) vs. Lee Genud (USA) .txt After Carol Crawford (1973) Lee Genud was the second woman who became Backgammon World Champion. Commented by Bill Robertie in his book Lee Genud vs. Joe Dwek.
R32 Stan Tomchin (?) vs. Chuck Papazian (USA) .txt  
1980
Las Vegas
SF Mike Senkiewicz (USA) vs. Bill Robertie (USA) .txt  
1979
American Open Backgammon Championship, Las Vegas
Round 4 Paul Magriel (USA) vs. Billy Eisenberg (USA) .txt Commented in Kent Goulding's Backgammon with the Champions, Vol. 1, Nr. 1.
Computer against World Champion
- BKG 9.8 vs. Luigi Villa (ITA) .txt Hans Berliner, US-american professor for artificial intelligence, asked the freshly-baked Backgammon World Champion Luigi Villa to play a 7-point match against his software BKG 9.8. Villa lost 1:7, though playing much better than the software 3) .
Monte Carlo World Championship
Final Jeff Westheimer (USA) vs. Luigi Villa (ITA) .txt  
1978
Chicago Cup
Final Vlado Dobrich (?) vs. Paul Magriel (USA) .txt The tournament was held as "double elimination". With Dobrich coming from the losers bracket, the match starts 5:0 for Magriel.
1973
1st British-American Cup Match, London
Table 1 Joe Dwek (GBR) vs. Barclay Coooke (USA) .txt Nation Cup USA vs. Great Britain. Tournament format: 40 games, change of pairing after 20 games. The winner was the team with the most accumulated points after 40 games. So it was a kind of money game. The dice for both tables were identical, the roll for USA on table 1 was used as roll for Great Britain on the other table.

Of the overall 40 games only 16 were made public.

Overall winner at the end was the USA with a score of 73:64.

Published and commented in Barclay Cooke/René Orléan, Championship Backgammon.
Table 2 Phillip Martyn (GBR) vs. Walter Coooke (USA) .txt
Abbreviations / Footnotes
Abbreviations:

CONS = Consolation
LC = Last Chance
R64 / R32 / R16 = Round of the last 64 / 32 / 16 players
SF = Semifinal
QF = Quarter Final
SJ = Super Jackpot

Country Codes:

ARG = Argentina
AUS = Australia
BRA = Brazil
CAN = Canada
DEN = Denmark
FIN = Finland
FRA = FRANCE
GBR = Great Brittain
GER = Germany
GRE = Greece
ISR = Israel
ITA = Italy
NDL = The Netherlands
NOR = Norway
POL = Poland
POR = Portugal
SUI = Switzerland
SWE = Sweden
USA = United States of America

Footnotes:

1) Analyzed by GNU Backgammon, 2-ply. Some positions aditionally rolled out.

2) If you open the mat-file with a normal editor you can see details and remarks in the begin of the file.

3) Berliner later stated in an interview: "Villa, who only a day earlier had reached the summit of his backgammon career in winning the world title, was disconsolate. I told him that I was sorry it had happened and that we both knew he was really the better player. Several weeks later I analyzed the games in some detail [...]. There was no doubt that BKG 9.8 played well, but down the line Villa played better. He made the technically correct plays almost all the time, whereas the program did not make the best play in eight out of 73 nonforced situations. Only one of the mistakes, however, gave the program any trouble. An expert would not have made most of the errors the program made, but they could be exploited only a small percent of the time." [Source: Magazine "Scientific American", June 1980, p.54ff]

Last update: 23rd July 2011