Saturday & Sunday, May 30-31 2026, Ghent, Belgium
On Saturday 30 May and Sunday 31 May, the Belgian Individual Backgammon Championship (BIC 2026) was held at the Sandeman Club in Ghent.
The tournament consisted of nine 9-point matches: five rounds on Saturday and four on Sunday. It was a demanding weekend requiring complete focus, concentration, and endurance from every participant.
Read the full article here.
Saturday, March 7 2026, Ghent, Belgium
On Saturday, March 7 2026, the backgammon community gathered again for another
enjoyable edition of the Gent Open, welcoming 37 players for a full day of 7 point
backgammon matches played over 7 rounds.
Players from three categories participated together in one single Swiss tournament, but
separate rankings were made for the Masters, Advanced, and Beginners divisions.
Dear Backgammon friends,
We are very happy to invite you to BIC 2026!
A weekend full of excitement, joy and Backgammon-focus.
Oct 23 , Bierbeek, Belgium — If you hear a Gent player at the start of the third round in the 4 Cubes say, “If we go all out now and win all four matches, we’ll be allowed to play a play-off,” you can feel the sparks of ambition flying, but if it’s Johan H, then you also know he’s already calculated the odds of victory in exact percentages. At the home base of Sonja and Michel in Bierbeek, the Leuven team felt invincible, but what was that again about the bear’s skin?
Read the full article here.
Wrapping up the Vlissingen Blitz Masters International Backgammon Tournament that took place on January 10-12, 2025:
64 players of 11 different nationalities were present.
Championship Division (44):
– Winner: Tilman Söhnchen (Germany)
– Finalist: Geert Van der Stricht (Belgium)
– Semifinalists: Ray Joenoes (Netherlands), Arthur Braacx (Netherlands)
– Quarterfinalists: Jürgen Schettler (Germany), Csaba Daday (Romania), Daniel Rozenberg (Belgium), Michel Lamote (Belgium)
Advanced Division (20):
– Winner: Robert Vledderman (Netherlands)
– Finalist: Joseph Meyns (Belgium)
– Semifinalists: Miriam Wieck (Germany), Kris Claeys (Belgium)
Superjackpot (11):
– Winner: Steven Hoeylaerts (Belgium)
– Finalist: Bert Van Kerckhove (Belgium)
Speedgammon (7):
– Winner: Katalin Veszeli (Hungary)
Pro-Am Doubles (7 teams): Winners: Marc Friebe (Germany) & Rosie Flack (England)
Warm-up Doubles (8 teams):
– Winners: Team “Old School”: Jürgen Schettler & Rainer Jöller (Germany)
– Finalists: World Champions: Oliver Squire (England) & Anna Sofía Eysturstein (Faroe Islands)
Special thanks to:
Very special thanks to Oliver and Anna Sofía for being such ambassadors for the game we love so much.
— Paulus van Rooijen
Dear Backgammon friends,
It is with great pleasure that I can invite you to the 18th edition of the Gent Open backgammon tournament on Saturday, March 22, 2025, in the K.A. Club Union Sandeman, Kantienberg 5, 9000 Gent. For details see the flyer.
Included will be, as always, ‘koffiekoeken’ at your arrival and a hot meal after the second or third round.
Important: please register beforehand as the number of participants is limited to 44 and also in order to provide the correct amount of catering.
To register, just write to bert.vankerckhove@skynet.be.
Kind regards,
Bert Van Kerckhove
After three seasons and nine Leuven Monthly tournaments, four players had qualified for the knock-out stage of the Leuven Club Championship 2024, played on December 15 in Sport & Squash Club De Vaart in Wilsele. Two semi-finals and two finals would decide upon the final ranking, all matches to be played to nine points.
Sonja Custers first defeated Toon Van Herreweghen in the semi-final to meet Dan Pascu in the final, who had himself won the other semi-final from Guy Van Middelem. Sonja also won the second match, clinching the title, and thereby depriving Toon from winning the championship for the third time in a row. In the duel for the third place, Toon defeated Guy, securing the last of the traditional cups.
Results of the Brussels Monthly tournament of December 5, 2024, at B.Sports, Berchem-Saint-Agathe:
In 2025, the World Team Championship will take place during the 3rd Greek Grand Prix in Kamena Vourla – Greece from April 7th to 9th, 2025, and will be followed by the individual tournament from April 9th to 13th.
The selection of a team can consist of up to 10 players, but only 5 players need to play a match each round.
All players interested in being part of the Belgium team can send their candidacy to Johan Huyck (Johan.Huyck@wiskin.be) before January 10th, 2025.
Belgium’s selection is based on PR strength and will be announced by January 15th at the latest.
This means that in order to join the national team, PR data must be available for your matches. Relevant PR data can come from the international BMAB rankings or from the national RBL rankings.
— Johan Huyck
Twenty ambitious players showed up in Aachen to compete in a BMAB tournament. In these kinds of tournaments, all matches are recorded and transcribed by the organization and the players’ performance ratings (PRs) are tabulated to designate a specific title, such as Grandmaster (GM), Master, Expert, etc.
Belgium’s most proficient player and top Red Beaver, Marc Van Damme, stunned the global backgammon community with a stellar overall performance rating (OPR) of 3,51 (nine 9-point matches). This won him the PR prize, leaving a couple of certified GM’s slightly bemused. Marc is now edging closer and closer to a GM title.
Geert Van der Stricht also started off very well with a handful of SGM (= Super GM) PR’s, but sadly he could not sustain this high level of play ending with an OPR of 4,32 (4th place). Still a very solid performance by our undisputed number two.
Johan Huyck also excelled. He strung together 7 victories winning this tournament for the second time in a row. A remarkable back-to-back triumph embellished by a confidence-boosting 4,96 OPR.
My personal performance pales in comparison. Although I shared second prize with Geert and two others (6/9) I could not be happy with a mediocre 5,56 OPR.
All-in all, this was a well-run tournament in a comfortable venue. Snacks and drinks were offered at player-friendly prices and the atmosphere was cordial and relaxed. The star of the show was Marc Van Damme, whose performance cannot have escaped the attention of the world’s established GM’s.
— Michel Lamote
At the classy venue of the bridge rooms in the Royal Orée in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, 41 backgammon players from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries gathered on a chilly but sunny Sunday morning for the Brussels Friendly 103 backgammon tournament. Energized by coffee, cake, and a cold or hot lunch served by the friendly staff at Orée, the players competed in a five-round Swiss tournament, with matches to 7 points. Main organiser Chantal Lensen and her team ensured that everybody felt welcome and that the tournament went smoothly and in good style.
Special guest was the German professional player Dirk Schiemann, author of “The Theory of Backgammon” and “To Hit or Not To Hit”. The latter book was also the prize for the winner of the tournament.
After four rounds, Kristoffer De Weert and Inge van den Dorpel were the only players left with four victories, and so they battled for the tournament victory in a direct confrontation. Kristoffer emerged as winner, confirming the high ranking he has been able to maintain in the Belgian rating list for many consecutive years. Congratulations also to Inge, who started playing tournaments less than a year ago and who’s seeing her study efforts pay off.
A big thanks to Chantal, Daniel, Guy, Hubert and Vincent for the wonderful event!
The 15h Leuven Open will take place on Sunday, November 10, 2024, in Squash Club De Vaart, Kolonel Begaultlaan 15, 3012 Leuven, the same venue as for the Leuven Monthly tournaments.
Please register in advance via the online registration form. The registration fee (including lunch) is €30 (for non-BGFed.be members it’s €40, the extra €10 including BGFed.be membership), to be paid not later than Monday November 4 by bank transfer to Backgammon Club Leuven, BE84 7360 4493 9659, mentioning “Leuven Open 2024”.
The billiards room of Squash Club De Vaart in Wilsele, venue of the 15th Leuven Backgammon Open on November 10, 2024 (picture taken at the 14th edition on November 12, 2023).
The 2nd Belgian Backgammon Beach Day took place on Saturday, September 14, 2024, in Restaurant Villa Marie Joseph, Westende. Tournament director Johan Brisaert managed the event, hosting 14 players, who enjoyed a great day. The 1st prize was for Kristoffer De Weert, who won all his 7 matches. Christian Standaert and Rachid Assemiouni were 2nd and 3rd, respectively, each winning 5 matches. Congratulations!
After the success last year from the first Belgian Backgammon Beach Day, we are happy to invite you for part II, on September 14, 2024. The same nice venue, the same concept. Registration is open.
Schedule:
09:00 Welcome breakfast and coffee
10:00 Rounds 1 to 3
13:30 Sandwiches and soup
14:30 Rounds 4 to 7
19:00 Price ceremony
Restaurant Villa Marie Joseph
Henri Jasparlaan 150, Westende
300 meters from the beach
participation price: 30 € / person
account no. Johan Brisaert:
BE58 3101 2364 5279
(mention name & bg Westende)
max. 26 players
Swiss format, 7 rounds, 5-point matches
Clock: Bronstein, 10 minutes bank time
plus 12 seconds per move
Johan Brisaert
+32 (0)497 15 52 82
Podium of the 1st Lille Backgammon Tournament on Sunday, May 19, 2024 (23 participants):
Report by Inge Van den Dorpel:
On Sunday, May 19, 2024, a backgammon tournament took place in Lille, to which the Belgian players were kindly invited by their French friends. The Belgian players were present in large numbers: Guy, Johan B., Nick, Kristoffer and his dad Albert, Chantal and Vincent, Csaba, Daniel an myself, Inge.
The Belgians even won some prizes. Nick won all five matches and came in first. Kristoffer was third and Johan was fourth. They also won a nice prize.
Our French friends will be numerous at the Belgian Individual Championship which takes place on June 15-16 at Royal Orée in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe (Brussels).
Report by organizer Catherine Bogaert:
Chères amies et amis 🙂
Quelle belle journée nous avons passé ensemble ! Fred et moi vous remercions toutes et tous d’avoir fait le déplacement jusqu’à notre QG lillois pour la première édition de notre tournoi qui, nous l’espérons, deviendra un rendez-vous annuel.
Voici le lien vers le tableau des matchs et le classement final : https://challonge.com/fr/ffdrwbqf
Dear backgammon friends,
Please read the attachment with a special backgammon tournament in Lille (France), on Sunday the 19th of May 2024 at 10.00 hours.
Organizer : Catherine Bogaert, +33 6 82 53 18 58, nordbackgammon@gmail.com
Detailed info in the flyer:
Wish you success, keep on rolling, — Guy
A great atmosphere at the 102nd Brussels Friendly tournament organized by the Brussels Black Beard Backgammon Club on Sunday, March 3, 2024 at Orée, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. A record number of 36 players participated at the tournament.
The 3 winners (1. Markus Förster, 2. Firat Tekil, 3. Henri Pollet) benefited from the sponsorship offered by beCHARGE, namely gift cards for the products of their choice.
Thanks also to the people of Lille for their participation.
The next Brussels Friendly tournament is expected to take place in Autumn 2024.
After the success last year from the first Belgian Backgammon Beach Day, we are happy to invite you for part 2, on September 14, 2024. The same nice venue, the same concept. Registration is open.
Schedule:
09:00 Welcome breakfast and coffee
10:00 Rounds 1 to 3
13:30 Sandwiches and soup
14:30 Rounds 4 to 7
19:00 Price ceremony
Restaurant Villa Marie Joseph
Henri Jasparlaan 150, Westende
300 meters from the beach
participation price: 30 € / person
account no. Johan Brisaert:
BE58 3101 2364 5279
(mention name & bg Westende)
max. 26 players
Swiss format, 7 rounds, 5 point matches
Clock: Bronstein, 10 minutes bank time
plus 12 seconds per move
Johan Brisaert
+32 (0)497 15 52 82
Because it looked like we were going to have to move to another location for our backgammon exploits, we decided to have the Gent Open Backgammon tournament earlier in 2024 on February 11, announced as the last one in the current location. In the meantime however, we heard good news: we can stay for at least another three years!
23 players showed up to compete in 3 categories. 6 masters, 10 intermediates, 6 beginners and 1 ‘hors catégorie’.
During the registration, players could enjoy ‘koffiekoeken’ to ensure enough energy for the first three rounds.
Tournament director Bert Van Kerckhove had the lucky bye in the first round, so he had time to help out Robin Bilderbeek to fix the YouTube live streaming.
After 3 rounds, 3 players without a loss were Johan Brisaert, Lorenzo Pacini and Firat Tekil, followed by a pack of players with 2 points. Winner of the last 2 editions, Michel Lamote scored only 1 victory. Johan Segers, winner of the beginners last year and Alf Martin were the unlucky ones with 0 points.
Before round 4 took off, we had lunch break. A very tasty Asian stew was provided by Alf and fresh soup by Liva.
After round 5 the ranking looked as follows:
Firat Tekil with 5 points, Csaba Daday, Lorenzo, Vincent Hubert and Bert with 4.
At this moment, both Johan Segers and Hubert Vertsraeten decided to leave the tournament early with a score of 1 point.
With still two more rounds to play, nothing is certain…
In round 6, Firat scored another victory, strengthening his lead. Vincent Hubert also won a clash between intermediates and is now on 5 points. Bert scored a win over Toon Van Herreweghen for a total of 5 points. In the beginners category, Johan Brisaert won from Pascal Vanneste, arriving at 4 points, while his closest competitor, Riza Yalçin, remained at 3 points after losing from Ronny Conaert.
The final round then:
As is often the case, the final round decides everything.
Firat’s dice were too strong for Bert as he scored his 7th victory of the day, ensuring a comfortable win of the intermediates category and leaving Bert stuck with 5 points. In the masters, Guy Van Middelem could still tie with 5 points if he could win from Johan Brisaert. In that case he would win the trophy as Bert did not collect enough resistance points because of his ‘lucky’ bye in the first round. Johan, who incidentally also beat Bert in round 2, took the point and secured winning the beginners category and kept Guy from winning the masters.
Bert, the highest ranked player in the masters category with 5 points, took the masters trophy. Guy, Otto and Michel shared 2nd place with 4 points.
Firat, undefeated with 7 points took home the intermediates trophy. Csaba, Vincent and Lorenzo shared 2nd place with 5 points.
Johan Brisaert won the beginners category, trophy and backgammon book with 5 points.
A big thank you to all the players who participated. A very big thank you to Robin Bilderbeek for the transcriptions and professional live streaming on YouTube, to Alf Martijn for the excellent catering, to Nick De Ruyck for general assistance, to Toon Van Herreweghen for the excellent ludite tournament software and to BGFed.be for the financial support.
Also a special thank you to Roos, Bob and Liva for tending the bar.
See you all next time!
Bert
Final ranking here: https://www.ludite.be/?andtourney_key=Nzo4MDBjMjU5Yi0zNGEwLTQ1NjktYTJjZi0wMGRiZTE2Mjk5ZWM%3D
YouTube live stream here:
The Ghent Backgammon Open XVII on Sunday, February 11, 2024, was streamed live by Rain. The videos can be watched on Rain’s YouTube Channel:
Dear friends, Backgammon Players,
The Brussels BBBB Backgammon Club is delighted to invite you to its 102nd Brussels Friendly Tournament, which will take place at l’Orée, Drève des Brûlés 59, 1150 Brussels on Sunday 3 March 2024.
New format, new tournament, 5 matches in 7 points! Winners will be rewarded.
Programme: Sunday, March 3, 2024, 10:00-20:00
Participation: 8,- € per person (game room rental fees). Please bring your board, dice, clock and score board & be on time.
Registration absolutely required by sending an e-mail to chantal.lensen@skynet.be or guy.van.middelem@gmail.com
Dear Backgammon friend,
I’d like to invite you to participate in the 17th edition of the Gent Open Backgammon tournament which will take place on Sunday February 11, 2024, from 10h to 23h.
This is a special edition in the sense that it will take place for the last time in the cellars of St. Peter’s Abbey on the Kantienberg 5, 9000 Gent. So for those who want to experience this again at our current playground, this is a unique opportunity.
Total number of participants is limited to 40. Only players that registered beforehand are certain of a seat.
Kind regards, — Bert Van Kerckhove
The first edition of the Belgian Backgammon Beach Day took place on Sunday, September 10, 2023, in Hotel-Restaurant Villa Marie-Joseph, Westende, a few blocks away from the beach. Sixteen players were treated on delicious breakfast and lunch while playing seven 5-point backgammon matches in the beautiful retro setting of the hotel. During breaks, ice cream and cocktails could be enjoyed on the sunny terrace.
Tournament organiser Johan Brisaert took amicable care of his guests while efficiently administering the tournament with the free ludite tournament software. This did not stop him from actually winning the tournament with six victories out of seven matches. Thanks and congratulations! Second and third place were for Johan Segers and Michel Lamote, each winning five matches. The elegant mermaid trophies were generously sponsored by BGFed.be.
Paulus van Rooijen invites you to participate in three exciting tournaments in two days:
On Saturday January 13, 2024: Vlissingen Masters, 5 rounds Swiss system, 9-point matches, 18 min. + 12 sec., to qualify for a play-off (last 8). We expect 60 participants of 10 nationalities who will play in two separate groups: Champions and Advanced, each with a play-off.
On Sunday January 14, 2024: Play-off last 8 of each group (direct elimination). Superjackpot (direct elimination) 9-point matches, 18 min. + 12 sec. Speedgammon, (Swiss) 5-point matches, 2 min. + 10 sec.
Venue: Fletcher Hotel-Restaurant Arion, Boulevard Bankert 266, 4382AC Vlissingen, The Netherlands
Detailed info in the flyer.
On April 22nd the Gent Open XVI attracted 25 players over 3 categories: 8 masters, 8 intermediates and 9 beginners battled it out for 7 rounds of 7 point matches at the premises of K.A. Union Sandeman. In the masters, last man standing after 7 rounds was Michel Lamote, who wins back-to-back editions of this tournament!
Paulus Van Rooijen and Bert Van Kerckhove share 2nd prize. Jasper Watertor, organizer of the Rotterdam tournaments, wins the intermediates on resistance points and shares prize money with Robin Bilderbeek and Eric De Bouter. Johan Segers wins the beginners division and receives a backgammon book to up his level of play even more! Maybe next time he can compete in a higher category…
Everything went fluently and according to the schedule. A big thank you to Nick De Ruyck for the catering, and to Magda, Roos & Bob for tending the bar. A special thank you to bgfed.be for the financial support and to Toon Van Herreweghen for the tournament software.
— Bert Van Kerckhove
Sunday, September 10, 2023
09:00 Welcome, breakfast & coffee/tea
10:00 Rounds 1 to 3
13:30 Sandwiches and soup
14:30 Rounds 4 to 7
19:00 Prize ceremony
Registration fee: 30 euro. To be paid by bank transfer to
Johan Brisaert
BE58 3101 2364 5279
Please mention your name + BG september Westende
Max. 26 participants
Restaurant Villa Marie Joseph, Henri Jasparlaan 150, 8434 Westende
Free wifi. Tram stop at 50m from the hotel. Easy parking in the neighborhood. Beach at 300m
Swiss format, 7 rounds, 5-point matches.
Clock: Bronstein, 10 minutes bank time plus 12 seconds per move.
🎲🎲
The day before, Saturday, September 9, in the afternoon or the evening: possibility to come together for the weekend.
Dear Backgammon friend,
I’d like to invite you to participate in the 16th edition of the Gent Open Backgammon tournament which will take place on Saturday April 22, 2023, from 10:00 to 23:00, in the K.A. Club Union Sandeman, Kantienberg 5, 9000 Gent, Belgium. Swiss tournament format, 7 rounds, 7 point matches with clock (Bronstein, 14 minutes per match + 12 seconds per move). Please register in advance. Registration and catering: 25 euro. All information is to be found in the flyer.
Kind regards,
— Bert Van Kerckhove
