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The Nordic Open backgammon tournament started out in 1989 as a local event, courtesy of the Danish Backgammon Federation (DBgF), one of the biggest backgammon associations in Europe with probably the strongest basis backgammon players on earth, and quickly grew up to become an international event where the world's leading masters of backgammon meet every year during the Easter weekend in Holsingor, Denmark to participate in the main event and the various side events and battle for the grand prize.

Organized by the Danish Backgammon Federation

The Nordic Open story is not complete without its governing body, the Danish Backgammon Federation, the current habitat of world backgammon champs and other backgammon giants – from Peter Jes Thomsen and Lars Trabolt to Gus Hansen, Sander Lylloff, and many others. The Danish Backgammon Federation also started as a small non-profit backgammon organization and gradually found itself governing over a hundred clubs, thousands of players and dozens of tournaments, most of them targeted at local audiences, but some, the Nordic Open for example, became one of the most influential backgammon tournaments worldwide.

Nordic Open Then and Now

The Nordic Open grew respectively. The first event in the series, on the Easer of 1989, hosted a total number of 133 players, mostly coming from the Kingdom of Denmark and the area. The number of entrants doubled itself in a few years, and the 5th Nordic Open 1993 already saw a number of 270 players playing the warm-up competition, and at the same time, the presence of backgammon players who travelled to Holsingor especially for the occasion became more and more present.

274 backgammon players took part in the 21st Play65.com Nordic Open, held in 2009 and sponsored by the popular online backgammon website, among them some of today's grandest backgammon giants including the Dane Lars Trabolt, Karsten Bredahl and Morten Lassen and special guests American Carter Mattig, Israeli "Falafel" Natanzon and many more.