GG Volkov

Sergei Volkov was born in Leningrad and took a mathematics doctorate at the university there, then taught combinatorics for thirty years. In the nineties he translated Magriel, Robertie's Modern Backgammon and the Snowie companion into Russian, and in doing so handed the Russian-speaking world a competitive scene it had not previously had. He captained the national team to European silver twice. Since leaving the university he tours, writes a monthly column and coaches by video call.

He plays slowly and without variation, and he is at his most dangerous past the fifteenth point of a long match, once the other man has begun wanting it to be over. He has never in his life been late to a round, expects the same of everybody else, and says so. He has read the Federation's rules more closely than anybody else in the club and has three objections, all of them about the casinos and none of them about the backgammon.