2021 Texas Backgammon Championships

The 2021 Texas Backgammon Championships were held online February 3-7. The tournament marked the major debut of the new Ace Point Backgammon tournament system and incorporated several innovative ideas and formats.

In the signature event, the Malcolm Davis Longhorn Masters Classic, Roberto Litzenberger defeated Rudy Langenbach in the final to claim the renowned bronze Texas longhorn steer figurine trophy. Roberto joins a truly select group of stellar champions in claiming the ninth annual Longhorn trophy.

In the Alamo Classic Limited Jackpot, Gary Oleson claimed the crown for the second consecutive year defeating Ian Terry in the final. Gary joins Jonah Seewald as the only two-time Alamo Classic champions. Coincidentally, Jonah also won in consecutive years, 2015 and 2016.

The Championship Division incorporated several innovative ideas. Players were grouped into brackets of eight. Re-entries were free and side pools carried over. Each round comprised a best of three series of seven-point matches. The eight bracket winners then entered a playoff of the same format. Jonah Seewald met John O’Hagan in the final and won the championship in two exciting matches. Having won the event in 2019, Jonah became the first player to win the Texas Championship twice.

The Intermediate Division followed the same structure and format as the Championship Division. Ben Hugon defeated Michael Holliday for the title.

Our last event was Speedgammon! Everyone always enjoys playing fast. The final was an interesting pairing of Rudy Langenbach of Dallas, Texas and Arda Findikoglu of Istanbul, Turkey. Arda claimed the title and will be receiving a Texas momento trophy in Turkey.

We had a great time hosting the tournament and the players seemed to enjoy themselves and, without exception, celebrated the new Ace Point Backgammon system and website.

— Bill Riles and Tara Mendicino