site.bta20-Year-Old Man Becomes Bulgaria's Third Ever Backgammon Master

Young Bulgarian player Kalin Stefanov became the third ever Bulgarian to reach the title of "master" in the sport of backgammon. His achievement is even more serious as he managed to achieve it on his first attempt.

The title is awarded by the International Backgammon Masters Awarding Body (BMAB) based on the results of live games played against the clock.

To earn the title of Master M3, the 20-year-old competitor, who goes by the nickname The Kalinator, had to score below 6.5 points over the course of a minimum of 100 games played. The Association assesses the level of play according to strict criteria, the fewer the points, the higher the level achieved.

Kalin Stefanov, who has been seriously involved in the sport of backgammon for less than a year and lives and trains in Germany, reached the title after a series of good achievements in several international tournaments, including a victory at the Geneva Open in mid-May, the latest being a tournament held at the end of July in Sofia with serious international participation.

The master titles awarded by the BMAB are divided into three main groups - "master", "grandmaster" and "super grandmaster".

There are 298 Masters worldwide, 97 of whom are Grandmasters and only two Super Grandmasters.

Only two Bulgarians were on the list before the inclusion of The Kalinator - Petko Kostadinov, Grandmaster G2, and Maya Peycheva, Master M3.

After reaching "Master M3" Kalin Stefanov has set his sights on quickly meeting the norms for climbing up the ladder, and his ambition is to reach the title of "Grandmaster G3" before he turns 22.

Earlier in the year, The Kalinator also became the world junior vice-champion in an online competition, losing out to Japan's Yuta Takimiya in the final.