Backgammon according to the normal movement rules. The first player to bear off all fifteen of his/her own checkers wins the game. If the opponent has not yet borne off any checkers when the game ends, the winner scores a "gammon", which counts for double stakes. If the opponent has not yet borne off any checkers and has some on the bar or in the winner's home board, the winner scores a "backgammon", which counts for triple stakes. To speed up match play and to provide an added dimension for strategy, a doubling cube is usually used. The doubling cube is
World Series of Backgammon the largest backgammon event held in the UK for 30 years; the world's largest event, the Nordic Open joined the WSOB tour for the first time and saw the Championship field increase from 78 to 153 players and finally on the 08 tour, WSOB Cannes, which recorded 155 Championship players, second only to the World Championships. The television series expanded to 15 hours and saw superstar poker and backgammon player Gus Hansen join John Clark in the commentary box. New Yorker Jessie Cantrell hosted with further contributions from experts Sander Lylloff, Falafel Natanzon and Morten Holm. 2008 also saw the