Overview

What is the BMAB Players Cup?

BMAB Budva 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.

Budva is played on the opening day of the 7th Merit Grand Prix (WBF Slam, 14–18 April 2027) at the Royal Splendid Hotel & Casino. Play finishes before the 19:00 evening programme. 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
Budva 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.
Budva Champion — Skill and Win Local Result
Every match awards 1 Cup point for the win and 1 Cup point for the lower PR. The Budva 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

Wednesday 14 April 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 evening programme

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