Bob Wachtel - USA
Born in New York and currently living in California, Bob Wachtel is a seasoned tournament backgammon player and the author of the backgammon book In the Game until the End: Winning in Ace-Point End-Games (published in 1993), in which he analyzes a collection of positions of the type where one must decide to run off of the opponent's 1 point, and avoid losing the triple backgammon, or to hang in there waiting for a last chance shot to save the day.
Bob has travelled the world, from Japan to Monte Carlo, where in 2004 he was the Runner-Up of the World Championship, losing to Peter Hallberg of Denmark in a hard fought final that ended with a score of 25-22. He also played in a unique tournament in June of 2007 called the Crowns Cup. It was held at a secret location in Germany and featured 16 of the world's top players that were to be presented as heavyweight champions, with a pretty girl on each arm. The players faced off one-on-one vying for a total guaranteed prize pool of $250,000 with $150,000 going to the winner, $50,000 to the Runner-Up and $25,000 to each of the Semi-Finalists. The event was film for TV and broadcasted in Europe is sixteen 50-minute episodes. Leo Fernandez, current BG Giant#32, won the tournament.
In 2006, Bob Wachtel and his partner, Brigitte Dvorak of Austria, came close to capturing the WBA title of European Doubles Champions but they were defeated in the close and very exciting final match they fought against the remarkable French team of Francois Tardieu and Serge Rived.Amongst other victories over the years, Wachtel was the 2001 Nevada State Champion, won the 47th Gammon Associates Invitational, also in 2001, and the Pro Am Doubles in 1999 with his then partner, Joseph Russell, the 1989 World Champion.
