Gibraltar backgammon team achieves best result to date at world championship

The Gibraltar Backgammon Association’s national team took part in the 2025 World National Teams Championship, held last month in Kamena Vourla, Greece. The competition was organised by the World Backgammon Federation and featured teams from 25 countries.

This marked the first time Gibraltar competed in both the main team event and the women’s team event. It was also the team’s most successful performance to date.

Gibraltar was drawn into challenging groups in both categories. The main team faced opponents from Japan, the UK, Norway, Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The women’s team competed against the USA, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Georgia and Hungary.

The Gibraltar team included Michael Pitaluga (captain), Nadine Chipolina (women’s captain), Anastasia Antoniadi, William Danino, David Frier, Gilbert Licudi, Marcelle Licudi, Mike Nicholls and Natalie Passano.

As a team, Gibraltar achieved two overall match victories against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary. Individually, players secured a total of 17 wins: three each by Mr Pitaluga, Ms Chipolina and Mr Frier, two each by Mr Licudi and Mr Danino, and one each by Ms Antoniadi, Ms Licudi, Mr Nicholls and Ms Passano.

A notable highlight was Mr Licudi’s 11-0 victory over Masayuki Mochizuki of Japan, a Backgammon Super Grand Master and one of the world’s top-ranked players.

The 2025 results saw Gibraltar place 20th out of 25. The association noted that while Gibraltar remains in development compared to more established teams, its steady progress and competitive presence are helping to build a stronger reputation.

“The Backgammon Association of Gibraltar is a well-established, active and respected member of the World Backgammon Federation,” the association said in a statement.

“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 2025 World Championship results saw Gibraltar rank 20th out of 25.”

“They will continue to work hard and look forward to next year's world championship, due to be held in London.”

The Backgammon Association of Gibraltar is a recognised leisure association registered with the GSLA. It meets weekly from September to June at Latinos Restaurant and also organises events such as the National Day and New Year tournaments. Plans are in place to include backgammon in the GSLA’s summer activities programme for children.

The association thanked the GSLA for its continued support and encouraged anyone interested in joining or learning more to email gibraltarbackgammon@gmail.com.