Register and compete to join a strong squad of American Grandmasters in the annual Magriel Cup.
Register and pay online via PayPal. Hurry, register by September 23rd!
About the Magriel Cup
The Magriel Cup is an annual online backgammon championship that pits a team of top players from the United Kingdom against a team from the United States. The event is named in honor of Paul Magriel, an American backgammon legend widely considered one of the greatest players and theorists of all time.
Paul Magriel’s Legacy 
Paul Magriel (1946-2018) was a mathematician, author, and professional backgammon and poker player. He was nicknamed “X-22” and “The Human Computer” for his incredible talent. In 1976, he co-authored Backgammon, a book that became known as the “bible of the game” for its revolutionary, detailed analysis of backgammon strategy. Magriel won the World Backgammon Championship in 1978 and was also a weekly backgammon columnist for The New York Times from 1977 to 1980. His contributions to the game’s theory and popularization were immense.
The Cup’s Origins and Format
The Magriel Cup was created as a modern-day rematch of two historic UK vs. USA matches. The first was in 1973 at the Clermont Club in London, and the second took place online in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the Magriel Cup was established as an annual online event to continue the tradition of friendly but fierce rivalry between the two nations.
- 2024 – UK wins 90-85
- 2023 – USA wins 77-73
- 2020 – USA wins 233-133
- No event held in 2021 and 2022
The tournament’s format is a multi-round team event featuring a variety of backgammon formats, including individual matches, speedgammon, and doubles. Points are awarded not only for winning matches but also for performance ratings (PR), which is a measure of a player’s accuracy. This emphasis on PR reflects Magriel’s legacy as a theoretician, as it rewards players for a high standard of play, not just for luck.
Qualifiying Criteria
5 eleven-point matches will be played starting September 24th. This is a 3-loss Swiss format, 3 losses and you’re out. The matches will be played on Backgammon Studio Heroes.
The Magriel Cup’s qualifying criteria for the remaining seats will be based on Win/loss Record and PR. The Team Captains are Joe Russell and G3 Rory Pascar. The other team members include 9 players that qualified as Grandmaster level 2 or better…
- G0 Gerry Tansey
- G0 Matt Cohn-Geier
- G1 Marty Storer
- G2 Dmitriy Obukhov
- G2 Chris Trencher
- G2 Neil Kazaross
- G2 Bob Wachtel
- G2 Steve Sax
- G2 Kit Woolsey
This leaves 5 spots available for those playing in the qualifier. To join the team, win all 5 matches in the online qualifier. If more than 5 people go 5-0 then there will be a 1 round playoff. Any byes in the playoff will be awarded to the players with the best PR in the tournament. If less than 5 players have a 5-0 record, the remaining spots will be filled by the lowest PR players that had a 4-1 or 3-2 record.
Event Details
- Start Date: Wednesday, September 24th, 2025
- Registration Deadline: Tuesday, September 23, 2025
- Entry Fee: $20
- Event Director: Joe Russell and Rory Pascar
Round Deadlines
- Tuesday September 30
- Tuesday October 7
- Tuesday October 14
- Tuesday October 21
- Tuesday October 28
Register and pay online via PayPal. Hurry, register by September 23rd!
About This Tournament:
The qualifier tournament will select the US team for the 2025 Magriel Cup. Registration will close at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on September 23rd. Matches will be played on Backgammon Studio Heroes.
There is a $20 entry fee to cover entry fees, awards, etc. Based on the number of entrants, any surplus funds after expenses will be donated to the USBGF.
Please contact us via email with any questions.