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Who is Eli Roymi, Winner of Austria (April 2010) and Cyprus (May 2010)?

Posted By: Paul Weaver
Date: Sunday, 23 May 2010, at 2:10 a.m.

Eli Roymi won the 22nd European Championship in Austria in April 2010 and he also won the 2nd Cyprus Open in May 2010. Very few people have ever won back-to-back backgammon tournaments. Congratulations to Eli for his phenominal run over the last two months!

Falafel told me Eli is the second best player in Israel. Not sure who the best player there is.

I have never had the pleasure of meeting Eli in person, but we have played several matches on GridGammon. His nickname there is "gabka." Many bgonliners may be unfamiliar with Eli, so I asked if I could interview him and he kindly consented.

Q: How long have you been playing backgammon? Twelve years.

Q: Did you play any other games before backgammon? Soccer & snooker.

Q: Where do you live? Tel Aviv, Israel.

Q: Are there tournaments or money games where you live? Yes, we have a club here, where we play chouettes. There are also some small tournaments here.

Q: Have you had any good results in tournaments before Austria and Cyprus this year? Yes, I won the intermediate main event in Monte Carlo (2003).

Q: Any plans to play in tournaments in the USA? I would love to play tournaments in the USA.

Q: How did you become a strong player? I learned a lot from Falafel.