Japanese player is backgammon world champion

Backgammon, an ancient board game that has been attracting growing numbers of players in its 21st century resurrection as an online skill game, has crowned its latest World Champion after a tough competition in Monte Carlo sponsored by online gambling site CasinoRip.com.

Japan’s Masayuki ‘Mochy’ Mochizuki defeated reigning champ Lars Trabolt of Denmark in the final over the weekend to become the first Japanese backgammon champ.

The week-long 34th Annual Monte Carlo World Championship was held at the five-star Fairmont Hotel and featured 173 of the world’s finest backgammon players competing for a share of a Euro 200 000 prize pool.

The thirty-year-old Japanese master beat Trabolt 25 to 20 in Sunday’s final to collect the winner’s cheque for Euro 62 280.