Jakob Garal
Full Name: Jakob Garal
Date of birth: May 10, 1952.
Birth Place: Chuguev, Ukraine
Current City of Residence: Aachen, Germany
Marital Status: married
Children: three
Occupation: Dr.- Eng. Owner of Fair Backgammon
How I started playing Backgammon: I came to know this game for the first time in 1973 during one of my journeys in the Caucasus Mountains, where I saw locals playing and became fascinated with the game.
Backgammon Nickname: Jasha
Current Skill level: Expert
Number of years playing Backgammon live: 7
Favourite Tournament Venue: Nordic Open, European Championship, Cannes Riviera’s Nations Challenge
Other important finishes:
– 2001 Nordic Open, Winner, Advanced Last Chance
– 2004 Nordic Open, Winner, Net Dinner Consolation
– 2004 Open Championship of Germany, Altenkirchen Bronze
– 2005 Cannes, Riviera’s Nations Challenge 4th place with Leonid Riskin representing the Ukraine.
Favorite Backgammon books: Backgammon the Cruelest Game by Barclay Cooke & Jon Bradshaw
Backgammon book I have written: Fair Backgammon Tournaments Rules
Favorite Music: Jazz, Blues, Songs of Russian Bards
Favorite Films: Gone with the Wind, Once Upon A Time in America, Cabaret, and Chinese Tea Service
Favorite Food: Fish
Other Interests & Hobbies: Bridge, Tennis, Badminton, Ski, Swimming, Jogging, Yoga, Reading
Person I’d like most to meet: Bob Hamman
Favourite Celebrity: Robert de Niro
If I could change anything in the world, I would… introduce in all schools special lessons for two most intellectual games: Bridge and Backgammon.
If I could change anything in the Backgammon world, I would… change the tournament rules, introduce new scoring system for game and match, new forms and formats of tournaments, including team and comparative competitions. All this needs are some special additional tools which I have already made .
Additional comments: The Backgammon community is coming very close to a new era of Backgammon, thanks to my new innovations and proposals… see www.fairbg.com