2nd Porto Carras Open
Greek Backgammon Federation in collaboration with the organizing committee of Games Festival 2012 will run a three-day open backgammon tournament at Porto Carras Hotel (5 stars) in Halkidiki (Northern Greece, mountain Athos, near Thessaloniki). The dates are April 20th till April 22nd 2012 and we are expecting many players from the Balkan countries and hopefylly participants from other European -- not European as well -- countries. During the Games Festival bigger event, which will last one week, there will be parallel tournaments in chess, bridge, poker, scrabble and biriba. Therefore one can choose to stay more days, combining two or more sports of mind.
Games_Festival_2012_eng.doc (336.5 KB)
Next monthly tournament
The next tournament of Greek Backgammon Federation will be held on Saturday, February 11, 2012 on the fifth floor of the Piraeus Bridge Club, Omiridou Skilitsi 26, [telephone number +30 210 4178274] with registration time at 3:30 pm. The public draw will be held at 3:45 pm and the competition will start at 4:00 pm. Players arriving between 3.45 pm and 4:00 pm will enter the late arrival list. Players arriving after 4.00 pm will have their clocks put in motion at 4:00 pm.
The Greek Cup -- a new institution
A new institution, the Greek Cup, is going to be established wlth low entry fees. The first tournament of the series will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at the Piraeus Bridge Club with similar time schedule and rules as in our monthly tournaments.
Greek Flying Colors
The international success of greek players continued in the fourth Cyprus Backgammon Open, seventh and last EBGT 2011, with Dimitris Maganas reaching the semifinal after an impressive performance. In this tournament Kostas Mitrelis took the fair play award. In the Grand Finale of the 24 qualified palyers which followed, the greek colors were represented for the first time by three players : In alphabetical order Giorgos Avdis (online qualifier), Charis Christidis (greek satellite qualifier) and Kostas Mitrelis (points racer). Charis, beating Giant No 25, Paul Weaver, made it to the top twelve, while Kostas in his second consecutive participation made it to the triad (bronze medal and a substantial money sum). Greek Backgammon Federation congatulates all the greek players and wishes more and even bigger distinctions for the greek colors in the upcoming year.
Velden 2011
This year in Velden, where the Greek delegation has been traditionally successful, three of our players took medals: Lina Charakoglou won for the third consecutive year the 1st Ladies Trophy in the Masters Division, where Costas Chiotinis won the consolation. Another strong greek player, Alekos Deliakis, made it to the semifinals of the Champion Division. In another international tournament in Cyprus at the same period, Nektarios Sarafidis made it to the final of Advanced Consolation.
The National Team wins Bronze Medal
The Greek National Team consisted of Charis Christidis (who did not manage to play due to obligations having to do with his job), Christos Groutsos, Manos Mastorakis, Giorgos Kleitsas and Kostas Chiotinis, having performed at a high level, won the bronze medal between 28 countries in the Nations Cup [Fall 2010], played exclusively online. All the matches sent to us by the players of the Greek Team are analysed and available to anyone interested in the "Matches" section of www.bgfed.gr. Analytic results of the Nations Cup can be found at http://dubrovnik.apbg.net/index.php
International success of Kostas Mitrelis
On early December, our ever progressing and in good shape in this event athlete Kostas Mitrelis won the last chance in the third Cyprus tournament and made it also to the round of eight in the Grand Finale [16 players] of WBA. In the summer of 2011, he made it to the round of eight in the Georgian Open, where he won the last chance.
The National Team in Mallorca
In the Mallorca tournament, on early October, a numerous and strong Greek delegation (between them the Greek National as it participates in the online Nations Cup --currently after 4/7 rounds in the first place between 28 teams on a tie with Bulgaria-- consisted of Charis Christidis, Christos Groutsos, Manos Mastorakis, Giorgos Kleitsas and Kostas Chiotinis has had some important distinctions for the Greek colors. Christos Groutsos made it to the final of the main, Kostas Chiotinis to the semifinal, Kostas Mitrelis won the consolation and Giorgos Kleitsas made it to the final of the last chance. In the photo below, a snapshot from the closing ceremony.
The WBF Baden Tournament
In the WBF Baden Tournament (near Vienna, Austria) on early September, Giannis Valianos was finalist in the last chance having split and won also another tournament (the prize was a nice bg board) -- in total he got two cups. Giorgos Kleitsas won the one pointer tournament.
A new Greek success
In the World Championship of July 2010 in Monte Carlo the Greek pair of Takis Chatzelis and Charis Christidis were finalists in the Doubles Consultation, a notable success and an important distinction for the Greek colors.
Greek victories
The Greek delegation has had a successful presence in Velden (Austria) at the XXII International Tournament of WBF. Manos Mastorakis and Giorgos Kleitsas won together the Doubles Consultation to become the European Champions for the Year 2010, Giorgos Kleitsas made it also to the semifinals of the Masters Division and won one of the two 1-pointer tournaments, Lina Charakoglou for the second consecutive year won the 1st Ladies Trophy in the Masters Division, Christos Groutsos (2009 European Champion in Velden) won the other 1-pointer tournament and Takis Chatzelis was finalist in the Sperti Trophy. Giorgos Kleitsas took also a special trophy as Champion F1 - Master of the WBF GOLDEN CIRCUIT 2009. Manos Mastorakis won also the Last Chance tournament in the Nordic Open, where the rest of the Greek delegation was not as successful.
