Interviews

Winner Andreas Märtens after winning the $600,000 first prize

“When I came here I hoped I had a chance but never ever really thought that I could win as there were so many strong players in the field. I’m not sure what I am going to do with the money, I’m certainly going to play more high stakes backgammon but I am also going to buy my girlfriend Monica a car.”

Asked what he thought of becoming a backgammon superstar from its biggest ever tournament he said “It doesn’t get much better than this. How am I going to top this? I certainly didn’t count myself as the best player here – I think I would be in the top 100 though.”

Runner up Lasse Hjorth Madsen

On reaching the Quarter finals and a guaranteed share of the $1.2m prize pool “I have exceeded my own expectation. I never thought I would get so far in this tournament as there are so many good players here”

Madsen was pragmatic about his failure to clear the final hurdle after coming back to just one point away from victory. “In backgammon you can be almost there, then all of a sudden far away from the winning post again, it makes the game so thrilling. I am disappointed but I will be back to fight another day.”