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