ESOB Committee
Meet the committee members of ESOB whose main goal is to develop and promote Backgammon in Europe.
JOHN CLARK
Chairman
Having played backgammon for over 30 years, John is one of the most respected players in the UK. His only complaint is that now no one will give him a game! He has become the go-to-guy for comment on the backgammon circuit, and in addition to regularly presenting and commentating on events has appeared on primetime BBC Two with Hardeep Singh-Kohli and on BBC Radio 2 with Simon Mayo.
John won his first national tournament in 1998 and has since won four other UK titles and one international trophy. At his peak between 2000 and 2005 he was frequently ranked as Britain’s best player, while in 1999 he was named the first International Grandmaster at the Mind Sports Olympiad.
On the other side of the board John has directed over 350 tournaments events including the annual Zakynthos Backgammon Festival which as been running since 2000.
ERIC GUEDJ
Committee Member
An internationally renowned backgammon player, Eric played semi-professionally for a time in the mid-nineties when he became one of France’s top players. His interest in gaming started while studying Mathematics at Université Paris Dauphine, where he played games such as chess, checkers, backgammon and poker to pay for his tuition.
Alongside full-time roles trading derivatives for various financial institutions in both London and Paris, Eric maintained his involvement with the international backgammon community and eventually became general secretary of the Federation of French Backgammon. After independently setting up his first tournament in Cannes in 2003, Eric went on to launch the WSOB (World Series of Backgammon) in 2007 with the world’s first televised high-stakes backgammon event. Between 2006 and 2008 he was tournament director for Partouche Casinos.
PER PETERSEN
Committee Member
As Managing Director of GameAccount, the world’s largest supplier of skill gaming software, Per oversees one of the most popular backgammon platforms online. Their backgammon product is supplied to most major bookmakers including William Hill, Paddy Power, Sportingbet and Lottomatica.
Per has spent ten years in the online gaming industry since graduating at the University of Greenwich. Per helps to coordinate and provide sponsorship for many of the offline ESOB events that are sponsored by ESOB online partners.
MIKE MAIN
Committee Member
Mike has long been one of the circuit’s most respected tournament directors. Having set up Backgammon in Camden in September 2005, he has since directed and assisted in other events of note including the 2005 British Open, the WSOB UK Masters 2007, the 2008 Riviera Cup in Cannes and the World Backgammon Championships from Monte Carlo in 2009.
It all began for Mike when he launched Backpacker Backgammon in 1999; set up to sell travel backgammon sets to gap year students on their tours around the world. He launched Backgammon in London the following year and still runs regular meetings and a number of tournaments across the UK’s capital each year.
