A fantastic Backgammon Tournament took place during all weekend in Pine Tree Resort. Renee H. Rosenbloom, tournament co-director and organizer said that Pine Tree Resort was the chosen place for this backgammon event to take place and a reservation has been made for next year in the same place. It seems the Resort’s beautiful view is enough for backgammon fans to prefer this place and not other to play this antique game.

Mrs. Rosenbloom said 27 players from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Canada were in this event. Competition consists on two double games and she is a member of theAmerican Backgammon Tour (ABT), which awards players with points which are added to a total score in the championship in each tournament they win.

Antoniette Marie Williams has had enough time to observe how complicated backgammon is because she plays this game since 1973 and she has been attending this tournament for about 20 years. “This is a great stage, I can see the river and I meet friends I just see once a year, so it is a real pleasure coming here and renew relationships at the same time you defeat new players”, said Marie. Mrs. Williams has won this tournament from Montecarlo to Nevada and is known as Three Doubles Queen because of a gold necklace with two dices showing number threes.

Backgammon has suffered some changes with the years and many players suggest that the fact that there are many sites in which backgammon can be played in a free way helps new players to learn strategies and to improve the way they play.

“However, there is no feeling like the one you have when you face your opponents in a live tournament”, said Richard Munitz, who has been participating in this tournament for four years and has won this tournament twice in the past three years.

Munitz, who won the American Backgammon Tour in 2006 is placed as number thirty in the world ranking and enjoys the complexity and how unpredictable backgammon is. “I like backgammon because is a skill game but it has the excitement of the dice”, says Munitz. “Strategy is very difficult, you have to pay attention to a lot of things”.

Finally, Williams gives a piece of advice to backgammon players, “I think they have to become more involved. They can be scared of taking risks, but they need to be able to read other players to play and that is the way all of us have learned how to improve our game, getting involved”.