The Backgammon Association of Gibraltar’s national selection took part in the WBGF 2024 World National Teams Championship earlier this month in Stockholm, Sweden. The event saw teams from 23 nations from across the world taking part.

A spokesperson for the team said that it was “once again a fabulous learning experience for all of them and a reminder that, with every opportunity like this one, their performance improves which, in turn, builds on their confidence and allows them to aspire to more wins.

“In similar fashion to other world sports team events, the preliminary round of the competition is drawn into groups. Gibraltar was drawn in group A together with Germany, France, Italy, Greece and Switzerland. A particularly tough group to be drawn in. The team comprising of Nadine Chipolina (Captain), Gilbert Licudi, Michael Pitaluga, Natalie Passano, Marcelle Licudi, William Danino and Stewart Stone brought home a total of 6 individual wins: Gilbert 2, Nadine 2, Marcelle 1, Michael 1.

“By far the highlight of the competition for the team was bringing home a team victory against France - the 2023 world champions, beating them 3-2 with points scored by Gilbert, Nadine and Marcelle. A truly exhilarating experience that generated great cheer in the playing room and congratulations from many of what the team now consider friends as well as peers from the world-wide backgammon community.

“The Backgammon Association of Gibraltar is a well-established, active and respected member of the World Backgammon Federation. The Gibraltar Backgammon Team continues to learn and develop and although far from being leaders in the field, compared to other teams from larger nations like Japan, USA, France, Denmark, Germany to name a few, who dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to playing and developing their game, team Gib are making a name for themselves by confidently persevering, participating amongst leading nations and slowly rising from being bottom of the board or being considered “a guaranteed win” by other teams. The WBGF 2024 World Championship results saw Gibraltar rank 19^th out of 23. With realistic expectations, coming 5th from the bottom is a marked improvement which the team are proud of. They will continue to work hard and look forward to next year's world championship in Greece.

“The Backgammon Association of Gibraltar (BAG) is a registered leisure association, recognised by the GSLA. BAG currently meets on Wednesday evenings between September and June at Latinos Restaurant where they hold league sessions. They also organise ad-hoc events like the National Day and New Year tournaments. BAG wishes to thank the GSLA for all their support, especially when taking part in the World Championships and look forward to working with them to promote backgammon on the rock further. Plans are underway to include backgammon in the GSLA summer activities programme for children in 2025. Any person interested in joining the BAG league, or anyone requiring more information should send an email to [email protected]"