12th European Backgammon Championship
Mitteleuropa Backgammon Decennial

September 1 - 3, 2000
HIT Hotel Casino Park - NOVA GORICA (Slovenia)


Gewinner Harald Johanni
Finalist Werner Schmuck

The European Backgammon Championship in Nova Gorica confirmed the trend of backgammon´s growing popularity in Europe. 151 players from 21 countries stands for an over 20% increase in participation.

Several warm up tournaments with no entry fee, a gift for each participant (this year: polo shirts), plenty of cups, same weight same wine for the winner, pleasant and professional staff, a solemn prizegiving dinner and first class tournament boards make this WBF tournament a high equity event.


Präsident der WBF Alberto da Pra mit seiner Frau und Turnierdirektor Marco Fornasir beim Gala Dinner.
Werner Schmuck (nickname Schmucki) from Austria had to play Harald Johanni in the 19 point Masters finals and the German rolled like a machine. After 10 games Johanni got a solid 17-3 lead. Trailing by 5-17 in game #12 Werner Schmuck, reached the position shown in the diagram owning the black checkers. Owning 8 hitting numbers Schmucki doubled.

Although White has a big match lead Black should be at least favorite to win the game to make a double the correct cube action, because White needs 2 points to win the match. Black isn´t favorite to win this game, but the double is not a big mistake. Schmucki didn´t hit and Harald Johanni played his checkers in and off to win the European title.

The date for the next year´s tournament in Nova Gorica is 31st August to 2nd September. And I guarantee it is worth the trip. Ciao, see you there!


Pos1: 19-point match
Harald Johanni White (17) -Werner SchmuckBlack (5)
 Black on roll./ Schwarz am Wurf. Cube action?!
Results from Nova Gorica:

Master Flight (56)
Main: 1. Harald Johanni – Germany, 2. Werner Schmuck - Austria
3. Ino Zwaaf - The Netherland, 3. Matteo Di Napoli - Italy
Consolation: 1. P. Matos Fonseca – Portugal, 2. Heinz Edy - Austria
3. Gordan Markotic – Croatia, 3. Paul Lamford - U.K.
Last Chance: 1. Gordan Markotic – Croatia, 2. Carlo Facchetti - Italy
Ladies Prize: Martine Oules - France

Champion Flight (59)
Main: 1. Paolo Satriani – Italy, 2. Michele Muratori - Italy
3. Antonio Fini – Italy, 3. Marcel Molderings - Italy
Consolation: 1. Massimo Armeni – Italy, 2. Emanuele Isidori - Italy
3. Daniel Bruni – Switzerland, 3. Mirco Zurla - Italy
Last Chance: 1. Andrea Sgardi – Italy, 2. Martin Barkwill - U.K.
Ladies Prize: Bambi De Bruin - Germany

Intermediat Flight (36)
Main: 1. Stefano Catani – Italy, 2. Michele Molinari - Italy
3. Andrea Chen – Italy, 3. Maria Grigis - Italy
Consolation: 1. Roberto Biagiotti – Italy, 2. Jinelle Girard - Canada
3. Andreas Pohl – Germany, 3. Franca Boscari - Italy
Last Chance: 1. Bruno Marone – Finland, 2. Luis

Super Jackpot (8)
1. Nino Di Bella – Italy, 2. Dod Davies - United Kingdom

Warm-up Memorial Heiner Haussleiter (70):
1. Gordan Markotic – Croatia, 2. Carlo Faccio - Italy

One Point Tournament - Torneo del Presidente
1. Damian Plesec – Slovenia, 2. Stefanie Rohan - United Kingdom

Sperti Trophy
1. Hans-Heinrich Stahl – Germany, 2. Paul Turnbull - U.K.

Worldwide Backgammon Federation (WBF)
12th European Championship 2000
European Champion - Master: Harald Johanni (Germany)
European Champion - Champion: Paolo Satriani (Italy)
European Champion - Intermediate: Stefano Catani (Italy)

13th Italian Championship 2000
Italian Champion - Master: Matteo Di Napoli - Milano
Italian Champion - Champion: Paolo Satriani - Udine
Italian Champion - Intermediate: Stefano Catani - Jesi (An)

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