Anyone who thought backgammon was merely a fun game to play on a Saturday afternoon will get a surprise on walking into the 10th Anniversary Backgammon Championships in Oak Brook this weekend.
More than 200 backgammon beginners as well as gurus of all ages and backgrounds will break out their boards and dust off their checkers to play all weekend in tournament rounds. Players can register to play 3-checker gammon and doubles matches and fun events like beaver hockey, hong kong dice and pig rolling, a game played with little rubber pigs as the pieces, championship director Bill Davis said.
“It’s a competition that forces the players to have fun,” Davis said. “Sometimes people get a little too serious-they need to be reminded that it’s a game and that luck plays a big role in backgammon. On the whole, it’s not as serious as other games, like chess.”
Every participant in a main tournament will receive one piece of a jigsaw puzzle at registration. Entrants who find their match will enter the Jigsaw Doubles Challenge and compete for $500. Players can win door prizes and enter a drawing to win a portable compact disc player and test their backgammon expertise in the 20-minute Backgammon Exam IV.
Proceeds from the championship will benefit the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago.
1993 Midwest Backgammon Championships, 3:30 to 10 p.m. Fri.; 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sat.; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun. Chicago Marriott Oak Brook Hotel, 1401 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook. Entry fees range from $30 for limited play to $200 to play for the championship. 708-573-8555 or 312-338-6380
