sport
and planning skills coming in handy and perhaps being developed in those who struggle with turning procrastination into prognostication. That said, the element of chance still stands: a few good or bad rolls of the dice can quickly turn a Backgammon losing game around.
has been
Backgammon has been present on known with the Rock for years (“We used to various names organise tournaments at the old albeit little Cool Blues,” Michael reminisces), to those youngsters who, for permutation but the Backgammon Association various reasons, aren’t practising through the of Gibraltar was formalised with physical sport or other activities. millennia and It is hoped to introduce its constitution and a committee the empires. of six in June 2015, and soon backgammon into local schools after, it joined the European which is something that the Federation as a separate member nation local association would very much support. alongside 25 other countries. The Gibraltar national team It is hoped A board game steeped in history as attended the European to introduce much as its regal counterpart chess, Team Championships in backgammon backgammon has been known with various Copenhagen last October into local names albeit little permutation through with seven players: Michael schools... the millennia and the empires. Nowadays, (captain) and David, it is still as popular in the Middle East together with Stewart as it was in Byzantine times, when it Stone, Charlie Sanguinetti, Gilbert Licudi, was simply called ‘table’. Scandinavian Bryan Zammit and Nadine Chipolina, with countries also enjoy their big leagues - in delegate Natalie Passano. They fared well Denmark, where last autumn’s European against Hungary, Croatia, Cyprus, Austria Championships were held, the fanship size and United Kingdom, recording wins is comparable to football. and giving a few ‘bloody noses’ even in defeat. Considering they were debutants There, David noted that the Danish against countries with tracked experience players are quite young, meaning that of international competitions, the humble the game is promoted agonistically since beginnings were encouraging enough to childhood, and the local association start planning for next edition and even would like the model to be exported to toying with the idea of holding a future Gibraltar too, to offer a competitive edge European Championship in Gibraltar, the
European Backgammon Team Championships
ideal venue for competing and socialising in a jovial atmosphere. A truly international game, backgammon requires no verbal communication and the player’s gender is irrelevant with men and women competing together equally. Unlike for chess match attendance, the atmosphere surrounding backgammon competitions is considerably noisy with players often engaging in conversation and banter with one another. Spectators are allowed to closely observe progress, as long as they don’t bother the players, some of whom wear headphones to block out the background buzz. A live commentary will also be provided and streamed on the website www. gibraltarbackgammon.com where one can find information about registration, programme, trivia on cast and crew, and information about the local Association.
Friendly backgammon matches at Latino’s
Gibraltar team in Denmark and outside Casemates
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2017
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