Livestream of the Final in the 2023 WBIF Women’s World Championship

After a grueling 13 rounds of play, Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria) and Kara Schultz (USA) have reached the final of the World Backgammon Internet Federation (WBIF) Women’s World Championship! Leyla Zaloutskaya (USA) finished third. The final will be featured in a Zoom session sponsored by the Women’s World of Backgammon on Friday, December 22, at 10:30 am Eastern US (16:30 CET) with expert commentary by Kent Goulding and Roberto Litzenberger.

Ninety-four women started the journey, first playing in one of three Regional Qualifiers, and then qualifying for the World event by their win-loss record and/or Performance Rating (PR) in the Regional Qualifiers. In this exciting final match, Kara Schultz from the US and Maya Peychea from Bulgaria will conclude the battle for the title of WBIF World Women’s Champion. They both have significant live tournament achievements. Maya achieved Master Class 3 status in the Backgammon Awarding Body this year. Kara recently won the Paul Dingell Amateur Jackpot at the California State Championships in December. The Women’s World of Backgammon (WWB) is a sponsor of the WBIF Women’s World Championship donating 500 Euros to the prize pool.

Maya Peycheva is one of only four women to have achieved Master status in the Backgammon Masters Awarding Body with a Performance Rating of 5.9 currently. She won two Super Jackpots (64 and 32 entrants respectively) at the 2022 PashaBGT Cyprus Open in Nicosia, North Cyprus, and the women’s event at the 2023 FMBGT Cyprus Open in Nicosia. She started playing backgammon in May 1994 and within two months won the Bulgarian Backgammon Tournament for Women in a field of 108 players. She has earned trophy cups in more than 25 tournaments including Nova Goritsa in 2002, Super Jackpot in Merit Open in Cyprus, the Romanian tournament in Slănic-Moldova and numerous times has been the Bulgarian Backgammon Champion. She finished first in the 2013 6th EBGT Cyprus Open and first in the 2007 London Open Last Chance. A highlight of her backgammon competition was playing and winning a her first match in the Masters Division against Paul Magriel in the Masters division of the Nova Goritsa Backgammon Championship in 1995. She is on the Tournament Committee of the World Backgammon Internet Federation. Outside of backgammon, she was the Bulgarian Women’s Volleyball Champion in 1994. She has a post-graduate qualification in Sports Management Bachelor’s degrees for Physical Education Teacher and Volleyball Coach. She finished Part 1 of the Barsa (Barcelona) course for Football Tactical Analyst.

Kara Schultz has skyrocketed to the top levels of backgammon since winning the California State Novice division in 2018. Five years later, she won the Paul Dingwell Amateur Jackpot at the 2023 California State Championship. She tied for 3rd/4th in the same event in June 2023 at the Los Angeles Open, as well as winning the Wonder Woman Jackpot. In 2022 she won the NY Metro Open Lady Liberty Cup, garnering the Women in Backgammon cash prize and a backgammon travel board, as well as capturing the NY Metro Limited Jackpot. She also placed 3rd in the California State ABT Open; won the Consolation in Texas; and placed 2nd in the Limited Jackpot in Las Vegas in 2022. She tied for 8th-12th in the Inaugural WBIF Online World Women’s Championship in 2022. She and her coach Jonah Seewald won the Doubles event at the 2021 Wild West Shootout. She won the first U.S. Women’s Online National Championship in 2020 and a spot on the Women’s USA Team. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Backgammon Federation.

Kent Goulding was inducted into the American Backgammon Hall of Fame in the inaugural cohort in 2015. His citation sums it up best noting that he “is esteemed as a backgammon player, publisher, director/organizer, witty auctioneer, and raconteur extraordinaire. He introduced the first U.S. backgammon ratings system, and as director of the World Cup, he instituted the use of clocks and recorded matches. He was voted to the Giants of Backgammon six consecutive times from its inception. He published 12 issues of Backgammon with the Champions between 1981 and 1982, and the Inside Backgammon magazine with two-time World Champion Bill Robertie from 1991 to 1998. He was organizer/director with Bill Robertie of the World Cup (known as the U.S. Invitational in early years) from 1984 through 1998. Recently he won the Open division of the ABT St. Louis Gateway tournament. was third in the Masters Jackpot, fourth PR in the BMAB based on his 4.70 PR, and won the Doubles with Mike Senkiewicz. He was 4th PR in the Sunny Florida BMAB event with a 4.81 PR. He was 5th in the Masters Jackpot at the 2022 Los Angeles Open where he served as Auctioneer of the Calcutta Auction. He was 3rd/4th in the 2022 Cherry Blossom Classic Super Jackpot. He was 5th in the Masters Jackpot at the 2022 Los Angeles Open where he served as Auctioneer of the Calcutta Auction. He was 3rd/4th in the 2022 Cherry Blossom Classic Super Jackpot. With Karen Davis, he won the 2023 Cherry Blossom Doubles tournament, They finished second In the 2023 Backgammon.Winning.Women Mixed Doubles event.

Roberto Litzenberger is a Backgammon Masters Awarding Body (BMAB) Master Class 1. He ranks #50 on the Giants of Backgammon 2022 and #15 on the World Backgammon Federation Backgammon World Rating. He won the 2018 Cherry Blossom Championship. He has played for Team USA in numerous international backgammon competitions; most recently he played for Team USA which won second place in the World Team Championship in Skopje, North Macedonia. He directs numerous BMAB-USA events and was recently instrumental in the launch of the BMAB-USA Players Cup.