The U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF) is pleased to announce the selection of Matvey “Falafel” Natanzon and Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki into the American Backgammon Hall of Fame.
John Pirner, President/Executive Director of the USBGF, noted, “Falafel and Mochy are regarded as two of the world’s best backgammon players; Mochy currently, and Falafel posthumously. As celebrities, educators, mentors, international ambassadors, and analysts, they uniquely influenced and changed our game. I am proud of the work that the Hall of Fame Committee did to choose these deserving inductees.”
Falafel and Mochy join 27 other honorees in the American Backgammon Hall of Fame: Art Benjamin and John O’Hagan (2022); Karen Davis (2021); Ed O’Laughlin (2020); Steve Sax (2019); Alexis Obolensky, Joe Sylvester (2018); Ray Fogerlund, Joseph Russell, Mike Svobodny (2017); Patrick Gibson, Tim Holland, Danny Kleinman, Howard Markowitz (2016); and Nack Ballard, Carol Joy Cole, Barclay Cooke, Bill Davis, Malcolm Davis, Kent Goulding, Oswald Jacoby, Neil Kazaross, Paul Magriel, Bill Robertie, Mike Senkiewicz, Walter Trice, Kit Woolsey (2015).
The Hall of Fame plaques will be presented at the USBGF Annual Awards Dinner, scheduled to take place July 2, 2023, at the 48th Michigan Summer Backgammon Championships, at the Sheraton Detroit Novi, Michigan. You may register for the tournament and the dinner on the Michigan tournament website.
