A total of 105 players from 25 states, England and Canada attended the 6th Carolina Invitational.  This represents a 17% increase over last year -- our 5th consecutive year of double-digit growth!  This growth was due largely to over a dozen players who were playing in their first-ever live tournament.  Most of these players are online players, many of whom heard about the event through an advertising campaign by GammonZone .  We also had quite a few players from the Washington, DC area who had not come down before.  Many of them mentioned the Charlotte – Pittsburgh free entry promotion as one of the reasons they decided to come.

Once again, one of the highlights of the weekend was Paul Weaver's lecture.  About seventy players turned out for the Saturday morning presentation.  Mr. Weaver talked about how to play 53 early in the game.  He then presented a quiz of 6 problems that he had gotten wrong initially, all involving an early 53.  Charlotte Backgammon Club memeber Petko Kostadinov was the only player in the audience to get all 6 right!

Ken Fischer of California took the early lead in the ABT standings by winning the Open division.  Perry Gartner won the Queen City Cup, ending Stuart Thomson's quest for a "three-peat" by defeating him in the semi-finals.  First-time tournament player Ken Larson of North Carolina won our new event, the Cardinal Classic.