Tournament report 16th German Backgammon Championship 2024
This year, the Achat Hotel Offenbach Plaza served as the venue for the 16th International German Backgammon Championship. The stylishly renovated hotel received high praise from the participants. Play took place in the Lumina Event Hall, which not only offered ample space but also provided a spectacular atmosphere.
We set a new record for participation this year; with 107 players in the Championship flight, 83 in the Intermediate flight, and 29 in the Beginner flight, we had a total of 219 participants.
The results in both the Championship and Intermediate flights were nothing short of spectacular—but more on that later in this report.
The detailed results are as follows:
Championship Flight (107)
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Dagfinn Husum Snarheim from Norway is the new International German Backgammon Champion!
In an exciting final, he defeated Katalin Veszeli from Hungary, thereby securing this year's title.
For the German representatives, Juri Alper from Hanover and Serge Ragotzky from Frankfurt, the journey unfortunately came to an end in the semifinals—nonetheless, a tremendous success within this elite field of competitors.
Heartfelt congratulations, too, to the four quarterfinalists:
Ulrich Anhalt, Jens Handwerker, Tilman Söhnchen, and Thorsten Hoyer.
In the Last Chance event, Julian Becker from Berlin won the final against Mario Kühl.
Intermediate Flight (83)
In the Intermediate field—which was very well-attended with 83 participants—Denis Zmuda, Stefan Frigerio, Armin Berg, and Marc Friebe successfully qualified for the quarterfinals. However, the quarterfinals proved to be the final stop for these players.
Both semifinal matches were held on Monday morning; in one, Marianne Snarheim Husum from Norway prevailed against Oliver Schneider, while in the other, Davor Kozoman defeated Oleksii Naplokov from Ukraine.
In the final, Marianne achieved the almost impossible: she defeated Davor, thereby securing the best possible outcome alongside her husband, Dagfinn—who, as described above, won the Championship Flight. Congratulations!
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In the Last Chance round, Jörg Richter and Sebastian Heuß reached the final, where Jörg narrowly prevailed.
Beginners Flight (29)
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In the Beginners' Flight, following five rounds of Swiss System play, the following players qualified for the semifinals:
Andrea Dörnemann
Lothar Trumpp
Janni Katsigiannis, and
Josef Zenisek
Ricarda Hoffmann and Helge Peukert narrowly missed out during the qualifying round for the semifinals.
Lothar defeated Andrea, and Janni defeated Josef, thereby setting the stage for the Beginners' Flight final.
The—once again—International German Champion is Lothar Trumpp, who had already brought the title and winner's trophy home to Karben in 2023.
That leaves the Last Chance, which Toni Wiegand from Lampertheim won against Mandy Jarschel.
Super Jackpots
Christoph Wagener from Hamburg has won the 1st Super Jackpot, featuring a field of 32 starters. He defeated Ingo Mohr in the final.
Heinz Edy from Austria claimed victory in the 2nd Super Jackpot—which drew 21 participants—defeating Marcus Reinhard.
Limited Jackpots
In the 1st Limited Jackpot, featuring 32 participants from the Intermediate field, Gerhard Lingnau from Hanover defeated Nariman Rzaiev.
Marcus Krawietz from Bad Soden won the 2nd Limited Jackpot, which featured 16 players; he defeated Rene Poulsen in the final.
Consulting (42) & Limited (24) Doubles
In the Consulting Doubles, featuring 42 teams, the couple Regine and Kimon Papachristopoulos claimed the title.
Martin Hoffmann and Fred Brendler were the finalists.
In the Limited Doubles—which, with 24 teams, was also a very well-contested event—the final featured a German-French matchup. Philippe Vouhe and Jean Claude Bensaid emerged victorious in the final, relegating Sabine Hildebrandt and Ingrid Sonnabend to second place.
SpeedGammon (128)
As always, the SpeedGammon competition enjoyed great popularity. This year, 128 speed players once again gathered to determine the best among them.
Heribert Lindner and Mehrzad Jarrah-Layegh shared 3rd place. The runner-up was Karsten Bredahl, and the winner—the quickest thinker—is Najibullah Salamzy from Stuttgart.
Ladies Cup (29)
Last but not least, we come to the Ladies' Cup. This time, 29 players took the start. The final saw two ladies face off who are representing Germany on the women's national team in Stockholm this year.
Ingrid Sonnabend from Weilmünster prevailed in the final against Sabine Brinkmann from Berlin.
