Yosuke Takahashi has won the Highest Ranking Japanese Player Award in backgammon two years in a row yet Junko Nakamura won the 37th Japan Backgammon Championship this year to repeat as champion.

It was an exiting seventeen point match but this year will be the one remembered that Takahashi could have won. It was 4 away 10 away when during the bear off, Takahashi rolled the worst roll back to back and ended up losing the game.

A little later in the match, at 1 away 2 away Crawford, Takahashi was bearing off with over a 90% winning chance when Nakamura rolled the improbable double sixes to bring him into DMP. Then Nakamura staged a strong comeback to win and defend her title.

This was only the fourth back to back champion and the first since 2005. After the match, Kenji Shimodaira, the president of the Japanese Backgammon League said, “This must be one of the most exciting finals in my 23 years of watching tournaments."

37th Japan Backgammon Championship Final Results

Japan Championship
Winner: Junko Nakamura

Japan Open
Winner: Tatsuya Tanaka
Consolation A Winner: Hironobu Yazawa
Consolation B Winner: Yukio Nakamura
Intermediate Division
Winner: Takki Naka

Beginner Division
Winner: Nobuhiro Kodama


- 2007-10-25