Uli Koch - King of Backgammon

Amidst a mild summer's day along London's Thames River, a major tournament was taking place. The CasinoRip.com event ran from May 30- 31 at Doggett's Coat and Badge at Blackfriars Bridge in Southwark. A field of some 100 contestants from the UK and Europe battled it out in a game of skill and wits in pursuit of the title of London Open Champion for 2009.

The proceedings
The tournament was the first ever backgammon tournament to take place. Some three separate competitions were being run: championship, casual standard and intermediate level. Naturally there were side-game jackpots, chouettes and blitzes to add variety to the event.

All eyes on Hans Uli Koch
It was the talented German player Uli Koch who scored a magnificent triumph over his competition as he recorded yet another stunning victory to add to his ever-growing list of wins. Koch outplayed Julian Fetterlein in what many considered an exceptionally tense final game. However the victory didn't come as much of a surprise to those following Koch's performances. Over the years the German has notched up an impressive series of high-level victories.

For almost 40 years Uli Koch has been fine-tuning his craft and on Sunday 31 May, he nailed the big prize to cap off a successful tournament for the organizers. In total some £12,000 in prizes were awarded. But it was the finale that many aficionados of the game were most excited about. Koch and Fetterlein went head to head with the former emerging victorious to thunderous applause.

Truly global
Players from Asia to Eastern Europe and the United States were participating in the event. There was a 56 person strong Championship flight and at least thirty players engaged in the other two forms of the competition.