Online backgammon took a huge leap forward in the online gaming race this week with the announcement that the game is to break a new threshold, holding the first $1,000,000 championship.

This more than doubles the record set at the last world championships held in Monte Carlo last month.

Organized by Play65, (P65) the grand event is scheduled for summer 2006 at an as yet undisclosed location. Participants will win their seats in the event through a series of online satellite competitions held on the P65 site that will start later in the autumn and run into the New Year.

“With each passing month, backgammon is growing at a phenomenal rate,” observed Elad Natanson, president of TC.ADS co-provider of P65. “This competition is testament to the growth potential of the game itself that new tournaments are entering the circuit, while the prize pool mirrors the prize developments that we have seen in the poker industry. This competition is a landmark event for the industry, the players, and the supporters of the game, which we hope will start the ball rolling for further awareness and expansion of what is truly an incredible game.”

The online backgammon community as a whole has seen a tremendous surge in players in the last year, with servers recording registered player rates double and in some cases quadruple. Conservative figures put the total number of global online players at 500,000, but many estimate that the figures are actually closer to half the current number of online poker players, a staggering number when considering the game is a relative new comer to the online gaming industry.