Overview

What is the BMAB Players Cup?

BMAB Athens is a 5-round Swiss tournament played in a single day, open to any entrant regardless of BMAB rank, capped at 48 players. It's a qualifier for the European Players Cup — a run of BMAB Players Cup events across a few cities, with points carrying toward a season final in Budapest — and its results count towards the European Players Cup leaderboard.

Athens is played on the opening day of the 5th Greek Grand Prix (WBF Slam, 26 February – 2 March 2027) at the Hotel Royal Olympic in central Athens, opposite the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Play finishes before the 19:00 dinner break. Play follows World Backgammon Federation (WBGF) rules; the tournament is registered with BMAB, the international governing body. See Tournaments for the wider series. Pairings and match results are posted on the day; full results including PR are published on backgammondata.com within 24 hours.

Eligibility

Who can enter?

  • Open to all — no BMAB rank or PR average requirement
  • One open field — Masters and Intermediates play together
  • Capped at 48 participants — a hard cap, with a waiting list after that
  • Entry fee €100 per player, paid on site to the organiser — see Fees, below, for what it covers
  • Register by email to hello@backgammondata.com with your name, country and BMAB rank (if any). Places go to the first 48 registrations, confirmed by reply; waiting list after that. The €100 entry fee is paid on site to the organiser on the day. Registration deadline to be announced
  • Rules questions go to the tournament directors — email hello@backgammondata.com
Fees & Prizes

What it costs, what's included

One entry fee for the day: €100, paid on site to the organiser. It covers video recording, transcription, the BMAB fee and the organiser's fee. Register by email to hello@backgammondata.com with your name, country and BMAB rank (if any). Places go to the first 48 registrations, confirmed by reply; waiting list after that.

What the Entry Covers €100 Entry Fee
Video recording of every match, transcription, the BMAB fee and the organiser's fee. Pairings and match results are posted on the day; full results including PR are published on backgammondata.com within 24 hours.
Side Pools Optional · €200
An optional side pool of €200 per entrant, collected and paid out by the organiser and separate from the entry fee. The pool goes to the highest-ranked pool entrant in the final standings; the organiser keeps a 5% handling fee.
Format

How the tournament works

Five Rounds — Swiss, No Knockout 7-Point Matches
Athens is played as a single 5-round Swiss event in one day — there is no bracket and no knockout stage. Every round is a single 7-point match, with 14 minutes per player per match plus a 12-second delay.
Draw R1–3 Pre-Drawn · R4–5 Live
Rounds 1–3 are pre-drawn, so play flows without waiting between rounds; Rounds 4 and 5 are drawn on the day from results, by match-win points. No player meets the same opponent twice. See the rules page for details.
Athens Champion — Skill and Win Local Result
Every match awards 1 Cup point for the win and 1 Cup point for the lower PR. The Athens champion is the player with the most Cup points after Round 5, with the lower overall PR breaking a tie — the same skill-and-win placing used at Brighton. See the rules page.
European Players Cup Points Season Standings
The same Cup points carry straight through to each player's European Players Cup season total — results count towards the European Players Cup leaderboard — on the way to the Budapest final. See Cup points in the full rules.
Schedule

Round-by-round programme

Friday 26 February 2027 ~90 Min per Round
11:00 Round 1 Pre-drawn
~12:30 Round 2 Pre-drawn
~14:00 Round 3 Pre-drawn
~15:30 Round 4 Drawn on the day
~17:00 Round 5 Drawn on the day
~18:30 Last round ends (expected)
By 19:00 Play finished Before the dinner break

No lunch break. Individual start times may be adjusted at the tournament directors' discretion — see the tournament rules.