BFI Committee and Volunteers

BFI Committee Chair

Danny Gallagher

Home: Co Donegal
Standard: recently broke into single figure PR - homework paying off!
Style: beergammon, aggressive… if in doubt hit!
Backgammon Hero: John Broomfield (known as Blofeld to his friends). Can be found at a lot of tourneys reading his paper between matches.
Backgammon History: I learned backgammon through some Greek friends. This culminated with a trip to Backgammon Live in London 2004. The tournament director, Mike Main, to help me set up a club in Croydon. I ran that until moving to Ireland in around 2013.

I am always interested in encouraging growth of the game, and enthusiastically joined the BFI at inception. I continue to remain involved with the scene in the UK and also currently serve as Vice Chair of the UKBGF.

Jamie Degabriele

Home: Co Dublin
Standard: XG says advanced/expert
Style: anything between reckless cubing and total chicken!
Backgammon Hero: Matvey Natanzon (Falafel)
Backgammon History: A friend introduced me to backgammon around 2008 and I got hooked. The highlight of my playing career to date was winning the Irish Open in 2015 - I still don't know how I did it!

I've made so many great friends through the game and thoroughly enjoy the banter and characters you meet at backgammon events!

Nom de Guerre: Maltagammon

Phil Newton

Home: Co Cork
Standard: Intermediate if I lay off the rum!
Style: Sean Connery meets Borat
Backgammon Hero: Two people I admire for their backgammon etiquette and sporting attitude during play are Richard Biddle and Sean Casey.
Backgammon History: Backgammon means a lot to me as I was taught to play by a girlfriend, Melanie Stuart, in Bangor, Co. Down in 1994. Melanie sadly died from diabetes a few years later - she was just 27.

I’ve taught quite a few people to play since and get a kick out of seeing them go on to do well in competitions.

Stephen Curtis

Backgammon History: I was introduced to the game by Liam Leech in the 2010s and subsequently established the North Dublin Backgammon Association - a loose affiliation of enthusiastic players in the region.

My game continues to improve, and I’m starting to win more than I lose. I look forward to attending lots of in-person tournaments in the years ahead.

Nicola Fitzgibbon

Home: Co Kildare
Standard: distracted to advanced, and everything in between!
Style: memorable
Backgammon Hero: my grandfather, who taught me as a child
Backgammon History: Previously I represented Ireland showjumping at Senior Championship level. Now I manage a showjumping stables, where I also coach riding students.
I played backgammon casually for many years, but more recently I have become more active. I especially enjoy taking part in the various leagues organised throughout the year.

Dearbhla Gowen

Backgammon History: I've been playing for almost 30 years but really only improving since finding the various Irish clubs and lots of covid-induced online tournaments.
It's great to be able to play against people who are much better than me because I try harder and also get a feel for how the really good players play, which informs my own game. For me, it's more about finding out what might work, so then, if I win, that's the icing on the cake. There's a great variety of warm and welcoming people with a jolly and competitive spirit.

Jonathan O'Grady

Home: Co Dublin
Standard: advanced (on a good day…)
Style: Omar Sharif meets Fight Club
Backgammon Hero: Tim Holland (World Backgammon Association champion 1967, 1968 and 1971)
Backgammon History: I first started playing at school and blame many a missed lecture to late-night backgammon sessions while at university.

I was very lucky to win the Irish Open in 2016 - proof as ever that this fascinating game can throw up very strange results on occasion. Still dining out on that victory…