| Honors |
There is a player in L.A. who refers to himself as a "backgammon dwarf" because of his lack of skill. Upon hearing that, our co-publisher Joel Rettew assumed if there are dwarfs there must be giants — and that's how the idea of the Giant 32 developed.
Initially, the plan was to have the top twenty-five players, but thirty-two seemed a more appropriate number. This leaves the door open for a "super-elimination" championship.
The players' names on this list were arrived at by consensus. Those asked to contribute to the list included: regional directors of backgammon clubs, authors, tournament promoters, and the top players who make it their business to know the competition. These experts were asked to judge players on four levels: tournament performance, academic knowledge, money play skills, and flair. The data was run through our computer and these are the results.
This list is not concrete — it is a living list that will change from issue to issue. Readers can suggest addtions or deletions. All input will be considered and changes will be based on the mail we receive. Everyone has an opportunity to rally to the support of the player he most admires. Mail suggestions and votes to: Giant 32, P.O. Box 19567, Las Vegas, NV 89119.
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Ball, Vernon Ballard, Nick Beattie, Marshal Carson, Mike Chellstorp, Craig Cooke, Barclay Dickman, Arthur Eisenberg, Billy |
Gilbert, Tom Goble, Tony Goulding, Kent Hodis, Al Horowitz, Gaby Jacoby, Oswald Larsen, Kyle Lowe, Roger |
Leibowitz, David Lester, Jason Maffeo, Nick Magriel, Paul Martin, Alan Munro, Joe Nivedano, Anand Papazian, Chuck |
Pasko, Jim Robertie, Bill Scalamandre, Gino Sconyers, Hugh Seidel, Erik Senkiewicz, Mike Tomchin, Stan Winslow, Elliot |
The following players missed Giant 32 status by one point:
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Dennis Carlston Wayne McClintock Mike Corbett Malcom Davis Greg DeFotis |
Dick Furlaud Lee Genud Tim Holland Buddy Khoury Aram Kouleyan |
Sandy Lubetkin Joey Mirzoeff Howard Perlman Chris Peterson |
Kal Robinson Tobias Stone Kit Woolsey Kattie Wright |
These players have been nominated for Giant 32 status.
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Billy Horan Lynn Goldsmith Mike Valentine Peter Weichsel |
Mel Drapkin Bob Wilensky Bob Bishop Claude Beer |
Fran Goldfarb Kathy Posner Norman Zadeh Joe Suzyn |
Dan Harrington Ralph Chafetz Todd Vander Pluym Lilly Gross |
We have sent a list of these names to our rating experts and asked them to vote them in or out of the Giant 32. Each "in" vote must be accompanied by an "out" vote for one of the names already on the championship list. Interested readers can also vote in the same manner. Send votes to the above address.