ESOB launches

The new European Series of Backgammon (ESOB) has announced the first of their regular big money cross-continent online Championships with the launch of website www.esob.com <http://www.esob.com> .

The ESOB anticipate a €15,000 prize pot and around 70 players to compete in their first online tournament, the final of which will take place on Sunday 28th March. The ESOB will run four online Championships a year, with hopes that they will quickly attract the world’s best players and total prize funds of closer to €100,000.

Alongside the quarterly online tournaments, the ESOB has brought together a number of the world’s biggest offline backgammon tournaments, including the Zakynthos Backgammon Festival, to establish an annual European tour. The website provides information on each of the tour’s tournaments, and will feature post-event reviews and galleries.

The not-for-profit organisation is overseen by a committee which includes backgammon commentator and ESOB Chairman John Clark, internationally renowned French player Eric Guedj and veteran tournament director Mike Main. With support from a number of gaming companies it aims to promote the game of backgammon throughout Europe and further afield.

“We feel that the launch of the ESOB will open a great number of opportunities for the European backgammon community,” comments, John Clark, ESOB Chairman. “With the vast majority of the continent’s 40,000 players able to compete in our online tournaments for a shot at sizeable prizes, we hope that these quickly rival the most established offline tournaments. They will also be able to host large numbers of competitors which can only help to increase the popularity of the game.

“However, we’re not here to destroy the social aspect, an integral part of backgammon’s enduring popularity and by inviting some of the best offline tournaments to join under the ESOB umbrella, we hope to be able to promote the tour as a whole and entice more people to enter each tournament. With the best interests for the game at the top of the agenda, we’re all very excited by the future development of the ESOB and backgammon in general.”
 
ESOB Online Championship, Spring 2010
Championship Finals – Sunday 28th March. Estimate prize fund of €15,000
€220 direct buy-in or entry to qualifiers from €2.20. Qualifiers open now
(Please see www.esob.com <http://www.esob.com>  for more details on the online Championship)
 
ESOB Offline Tour 2010
11th Annual Scope Backgammon and Bridge Tournament, 7th March 2010, London, UK
The 11th Scottish Open, 19th – 21st March 2010, Edinburgh, UK
ESOB London Open, 29th – 30th May 2010, London, UK
ESOB English Open, 4th – 6th June 2010, Hinckley, UK
The 8th Zakynthos Festival of Backgammon, 17th -24th June 2010, Zakynthos, Greece
7th Riviera and Nations Cup, 20th – 25th July, Cannes, France
ESOB Bristol Open, 28th – 29th August 2010, Bristol, UK
(Please see www.esob.com <http://www.esob.com>  for more details on any of the above tournaments)