State Championship
Ed Bennett and the Backgammon Club of Santa Fe are honored to sponsor the New Mexico State Backgammon Championship in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The tournament will be held over the weekend of January 29-31, 2010. This is the first time a sanctioned American Backgammon Tour (ABT) event will be held in New Mexico. It is also an opportunity for you to explore the wonderful world of Santa Fe in the “Land of Enchantment.” Bring your friends and family to share this very special vacation/tournament location.
For information about registering for the tournament please download our New Mexico State Backgammon Championship brochure. Our list of Who’s Coming? will be updated regularly. Here is some Visitor Information about Santa Fe with links to restaurants and activities. January 20th is the close of mail registration. For additional information, contact Ed Rosenblum.
Update: A Free Thursday Night (1/28) Tournament will be held at Cafe Paris in Santa Fe. Purchase a delicious dinner and stay around for the tournament. Phil Simborg will be the Master of Ceremonies. Seating is limited to 40 people so send an email to Ed Rosenblum if you would like to attend. For those who don’t want to stay for the tournament, there is a wonderful Mozart concert at the Lensic (a short walk away) or you can visit the nearby shops, the town square, or the railyard district. Dinner starts at 6:00. The tournament (or concert) starts at 7:30.
The tournament will be held at the beautiful La Posada de Santa Resort and Spa. They are offering a special $99 per day room rate and have waived resort and parking fees! Breakfast is not included. Reservations are based on availability so reserve early. Call the special number, 505.954.9664, and be sure to mention Backgammon Tournament when you make the reservation.
American Airlines has three non-stop flights a day (two from Dallas/Fort Worth and one from Los Angeles) directly into Santa Fe Airport (for approximately $180 one way). Santa Fe Airport is about 20 minutes from the La Posada hotel, thus saving nearly 1 hour of travel time from Albuquerque. Southwest Airlines has the absolute cheapest fares to Albuquerque. For January 27th, their “Wanna Get Away” one-way fares range from $49 (from Denver) to $100 (from Chicago) to $102 (from Detroit) to $114 (from Boston) to $115 (from LA), to $130 (from NY), etc. These flights disappear quickly so book early.
Ground Transportation from the Albuquerque airport: 1) Take the Sandia shuttle. It has hourly departures and will drop you and baggage off at La Posada for $45.00 round trip. This is a good option if you don’t plan to tour outside the city. The heart of the city is three blocks walking distance from the hotel so there is still a lot to do without having to rent a car. or 2) Rent a car. Depending on length of stay, this may be cheaper than shuttle especially if three or more people team up. There is no charge for parking at the hotel. Using Expedia, rates (as of Nov 11) for four days (Jan 28th 11AM to Feb 1st 11AM), a mid-size car can be rented from Enterprise or Thrifty for $127.20 including all taxes and fees.
An optional players dinner will be held at the popular restaurant ¡Al la Mesa!
Patrick Gibson will be the Tournament director and Phil Simborg will be our guest of honor giving special lessons and lectures. You can also download tournament rules and clock rules here.
See you in Santa Fe!