Matvey Natanzon was a Russian-born backgammon player who lived from 1968 to 2020, known professionally by the pseudonym Falafel, who in 2007 was ranked the number one backgammon player in the world by the Giants of Backgammon peer ranking system. He learned backgammon and chess hustling while homeless in Washington Square Park in New York in the early 1990s, later represented Israel at the 2005 Nations Cup backgammon tournament, and became a well known figure connecting the backgammon and high-stakes poker worlds.
Facts
Career HighlightNamed the top-ranked backgammon player in the world in 2007 by the Giants of Backgammon peer review. 1 Classification
Competition Category FAQs
How often did Matvey Natanzon top the Giants of Backgammon list?
Twice at number one and once at number two across seven consecutive top 10 finishes.
The United States Backgammon Federation records that Natanzon, known as Falafel, was voted in the top 10 of the Giants of Backgammon list for seven consecutive years. He claimed the number one spot twice and the number two spot once.
Connections
Plays
Source Wikipedia, Matvey Natanzon
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikipedia, Matvey NatanzonLead sentence 1tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 1
Matvey Natanzon (better known by his pseudonym Falafel) (July 5, 1968 – February 14, 2020) was a Russian-born Israeli backgammon player.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Matvey Natanzon
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction
Matvey Natanzon (better known by his pseudonym Falafel) (July 5, 1968 - February 14, 2020) was a Russian-born Israeli backgammon player.
Career section
In 2007, Natanzon was named the number one backgammon player in the world by an unscientifically compiled peer-audited review known as Giants of Backgammon.
Plays: Backgammon, Lead sentence
was a Russian-born Israeli backgammon player.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.