Monthly Backgammon Expertise Learning Series on Zoom with Kit Woolsey & Candace Mayeron

Noted bridge and backgammon author, Kit Woolsey is one of backgammon’s leading experts on the doubling cube and tournament play. Kit has been on the vanguard of the computer revolution – writing his own programs for analysis in the early 1980s, and running the First Internet Backgammon Server (FIBS), created by Andreas Schneider. He is editor of the first online backgammon magazine GammOnLine (53 issues) on the GammonU website.

He was inducted into the American Contract Bridge League Hall of Fame in 2005 and in the inaugural cohort of the American Backgammon Hall of Fame in 2015. He is a Grandmaster rated by the Backgammon Masters Awarding Body.

1. He is the author of numerous acclaimed books on backgammon and bridge, including New Ideas in Backgammon with Hal Heinrich (1996), How to Play Tournament Backgammon (2000), , Backgammon Encyclopedia, Vol 1 (2002) and (Vol 2), Backgammon: Master Versus Amateur (2000), Understanding Backgammon (2003) with Tami Jones, 52 Great Backgammon Tips (2007) with Patti Beadles, Matchqiz computer software with Hal Heinrich, among other works.
2. Kit has been on the Giants of Backgammon list since its inception in 1993, where he has been ranked as high as #5 and is currently ranked 19th. He is ranked 10th on the All-Time American Backgammon Tour points race. He finished first in the American Backgammon Tour in 2010.
3. His many tournament wins include the Michigan Masters Jackpot (2022); a Doubles event with Lee Genud at the Los Angeles Open (2022); and George Washington Masters Jackpot and 1st Consolation at the 2022 Cherry Blossom. He won the Open and placed second in the Masters Jackpot in the 35th Michigan Summer Backgammon Championships and 1st consolation in the 2010 Las Vegas Open. He is winner of World Pro Am Championship (2005) with Tami Jones.

Kit is a graduate of Oberlin College.

Candace Mayeron began playing backgammon in 1976 and quickly became a fixture at the iconic Pips Club in Beverly Hills and the Cavendish West.  She played doubles with Billy Eisenberg, Barclay Cooke, Paul Magriel  and Oswald Jacoby.  She left backgammon for 35 years, returning in 2015 as a player and in 2017 as the tournament organizer and producer of the LOS ANGELES OPEN and the CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP.  Recently her doubles partners have included John O’Hagan, Kit Woolsey, Stacy Turner & Herb Roman.  In 2018 she and Kit won the San Jose Doubles event. Candace is proud to be one of the original organizers of Women In Backgammon.  In 2021 she was awarded the USBGF Lifetime Achievement Award.