Falafel’s friend, Shay Beja, writes…
Dear friends and members of the international backgammon community family,
Recently we lost a giant. Not just a giant backgammon player and mentor, but a giant heart.
He had many names: Mike, Mikey, Matvey (his birthname), and Michel, but everybody knew him as Falafel.
Falafel was perhaps the best backgammon player in the world, crushing everybody and performing with inhuman error rates. Scoring amazing results in tough quizzes, betting on checker plays, cube actions and propositions. No one came close to him and, as he reached celebrity status and fame, few were willing to bet against him.
But all this took a lifetime. Falafel chose the long road, and had the weakest starting point possible. He was practically homeless in his twenties, scratching nickels and dimes, playing micro stakes chess and backgammon just to survive. He could only afford the cheapest sandwich – falafel – which stuck as his eternal nickname.
Falafel fell in love with backgammon although he wasn’t a steady winner, even at low levels. He devoted all his time and effort to the game in order to improve, getting advice and coaching from better players, and later using advanced computer programs such as Jellyfish, Snowie, and eXtremeGammon to raise his level of play. In the 1990s, and now in his thirties, he finally gained recognition as one of the best players in the world.
In 2007 Falafel was named the number one backgammon player in the world by a well-respected review known as Giants of Backgammon. Famous, critically acclaimed and a very popular competitor in a wide variety of tournaments, Falafel made friends anywhere and everywhere.
What made him so special? There are many great backgammon players, and most likely a few of them reached his level of play. But Falafel was one of a kind. He touched the hearts and souls of everyone around him. He was colourful, sweet, with a healthy sense of humour. He was kind, open, and innocent, as well as humble and modest. All these traits wrapped up together in one person are indeed very rare.
But there is more. In backgammon, poker, chess or any other sum zero game, what you win equals what the other loses. This causes friction in gaming communities. Falafel was a rare champion not just in backgammon but in his ability to bring people together, instead of separating the winners from the losers. With love, what you gain the other gains as well, sometimes even more. Only a real champ, a true giant, can live like that.
In 2009 Falafel even made the effort to use backgammon to bring Muslims and Jews closer together, visiting dangerous areas in East Jerusalem. Indeed, Falafel had no fear; not from the dice nor from any other human being or circumstances. “We are all the same” he said many times, “There are absolutely no differences.” Everybody respected his personality and simple approach to life.
Falafel experienced many ups and downs in his life, and not just with the dice. It turned out that life could be even more cruel than backgammon. In 2018, at the age of just forty-nine, he was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. His giant heart stopped on February 14, 2020.
Falafel is no longer with us, but his legacy remains. A legacy of companionship, joy of life and love live on, eternally.
Rest in peace Falafel, a true master, a true hero, and a true friend to all.
Worth a read:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/nyregion/matvey-natanzon-dead.html
I am curious about any family Felafel may have had. I know he had a sister (per Michael Lewis’s post above). But did he have any other family? Is his mother still alive?
So wonderful reading these heartfelt stories.
Rest In Peace
Matvey Natanzon, also known as Falafel, and backgammon go hand in hand. In fact, some years ago, when somebody asked him if he was thinking of getting married, Mike Svobodny answered for him: He is already married to backgammon. They ended up making some bets on Falafel getting married; I don’t recall the exact details, but the bets involved which of several backgammon players would get married first, who would have children first, and the like. Unfortunately Falafel lost those bets.
His love affair with backgammon began in 1994, when he left Buffalo without a dollar in his pocket and ended up in New York’s Washington Square Park, armed only with his expert skill at chess. I used to hustle chess there between college classes, and one day I met this chubby, happy-go-lucky guy, who spoke only a few words of Russian. We formed an instant bond that proved to be lifelong, but was cut far too short. It was there, in “Jurassic Park” as I liked to call that sometimes dangerous place, that he picked up the game of backgammon: playing for 25 cents a point, sleeping on the benches, losing whatever he would make at chess and what I would lend him, in order to pay for his backgammon education. He would eat a $2 falafel every day, and that’s how he got his nickname.
After a couple of years of playing backgammon, he proclaimed that one day he would become really, really good at this game. From Washington Square Park the action moved to Liberty Park, where he continued to hone his skills by playing countless hours, and also paying James Colen, one of the top players in the world at the time, $2 per question answered. [Indeed Falafel’s nickname among Buffalo chess players was “Question”—Ed.] But his real backgammon growth began when he got to the Ace Point Club and was able to use the club’s computer to run the neural network program JellyFish, and later Snowie. It is said to take about 10,000 hours to become an expert in any given field, a mark which Falafel easily passed. He probably spent 100,000 hours at the Ace Point working with Snowie, and later playing countless hours of online backgammon from his apartment in Tel Aviv. The result of all that play and study was his long-standing #1 world ranking, during a time when nobody came close to matching his performance.
During all those years he made a decent living, but struggled because of his “lock” sports bets. It wasn’t until 2012 that a lucky encounter led him to Hollywood, where some high rollers wanted lessons from the best — and as they say, the rest is history. After his newfound fame and riches he pretty much quit playing in tournaments, except for the Monte Carlo World Championship. He wanted to win that prestigious event, and in Monte Carlo he could reconnect with all his backgammon friends.
His commentary on the Monte Carlo finals is legendary. Here are two links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ruFmMER0UE&list=PLyLgBOJrk48fNbdXZGPTREVdjeAE7nMna&index=5&t=0s (2016, Granstedt vs. Russell) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEniIKtxX8&list=PLyLgBOJrk48cxqQk9uGFur33dciu7L3-5&index=29&t=0s (2017, Assaraf vs. Kostadinov).
He always loved the game deeply and was hoping to put together, with the help of his Hollywood friends, an unprecedented tournament featuring a million-dollar prize pool. He thought that would help put backgammon back on the map, as it had taken a back seat after the poker boom of the early 2000s. But he never got the chance to do so; his life was cut short by his cruel disease, which robbed the backgammon world of one of its best ambassadors, and me of one of my closest friends: one of the kindest, most big-hearted, and compassionate people I was lucky to know.
I only met him the once unfortunately when my Son married his Sister. We had a great evening prior to the wedding and what a character, a man with presence! At the wedding the next day he was friendly, charming and we exchanged some personal stories! Unfortunately living the other side of the pond I didn’t get a chance to rekindle the friendship he created! RIP Mike
There are countless memories linked to dear Falafel, this wonderful man, this gentle Giant. Roland and I can remember countless anecdotes about him, all of them reminding us of his wicked sense of humour, kindness and cleverness. However, I need to share a special moment in my life which will be for ever linked to Mike. In 2010 I went to Israel to the Dead Sea to treat an aggressive form of skin complaint I suffer from. Lovely Libby Cohen Mossery and Falafel welcomed me to Tel Aviv with open arms, made me experience the bustling city night life and after a few days, they accompanied me to the Dead Sea and the hotel which would become my home for a whole month. We did a spot of sight-seeing, floated in the sea and after that, while relaxing on the beach, Falafel saw some people playing Backgammon. In no time, he got involved in a game with them and I sat down next to him to watch. His opponent asked me briskly : “Is this guy a good player?” to which I answered : “I think he is ok at the game …” Falafel chuckled . His opponent didn’t have the faintest idea he was playing a legend of Backgammon. Then he asked me : ” Is he your husband?” Falafel and I started laughing and Falafel said smiling ” It could be … it could have been” …. When it was time for Mike and Libby to leave, Mike went to the desk lobby and in a booming voice said to the receptionist : ” This girl is a very good friend of mine, make sure you look after her to the very best of your abilities”. The receptionist looked at him a little perplexed, but quickly nodded in the affirmative. It really warmed my heart to know he truly cared for my well being. Kind, dear man. Here are some pictures of my trip to Israel https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonettabarone/albums/72157713174090893
In 2002 in Monte Carlo, I was standing by the tournament desk talking to Falafel, when Jerry Grandell arrived late. The draw was already done and the organiser was explaining that Jerry couldn’t enter. Falafel intervened. “He can’t come all this way and not play. I’ve got a first round bye, I’ll play him. Put him in!”
A large man, in every sense of the word.
Falafel was a good friend and I still find it so sad and hard to believe that it’s been such a short time since he got unwell and has now left us.
I first met him some twenty years in Monte Carlo at the World Championships when he was already known as one of the best and I was there for the first time with my friend George Stephanopoulos (who, unknown to most people, was also one of the best players in the world and to whom I owe a great deal). Falafel got to know us both as he came to London and played in a chouette at the Double Five Club with George and myself. It was a fascinating game because it quickly turned into betgammon between George and Falafel and they broke about even. Falafel knew immediately that George was very strong and dubbed him the ‘Unknown’. George remained unknown but Falafel went on to become the most ‘Known’!
Surprisingly, he wasn’t much into counting pips or the technical details of theory but he knew so many practical pieces of information from well known positions to obscure ones with different numbers of checkers borne off for example that it was mind blowing.
He didn’t just love playing backgammon. He was very happy to stop by a chouette and just watch unable to help himself from commenting on our inferior plays with an “I see, that’s a Danish play” or an “Oh, you play that?! I’d give five to one that being right”. And we all loved him being there. We loved him even more when he’d just doze off watching us play – that lovely vulnerable human side of him.
He took a personal interest in me and my family and if it wasn’t for him becoming unwell he’d wanted me to go and spend a little bit of time with him in Israel. I’m so upset I never got to do that.
I used to meet him all over the world at various events and we played in tournament matches just twice. A London Open Super Jackpot first round where he won easily and a New York Metropolitan Open money round where I won. Let me tell you, friend or not, he didn’t like losing!
I’m sure most of the backgammon community that met him will have their own personal favourite stories they’ll keep with them forever.
My own most memorable one is when a bunch of us were at one of Mike Svobodny’s annual events in Cancun some time back. It was Falafel, Peter Jes ‘Take the Money’ Thompson, Bob Wachtel and a few others sitting around one night just having a drink and talking about anything and everything. The topic got around to sexual proclivities and the width of general preferences. Falafel simply could not comprehend that there were guys out there that were turned on by hirsute women. His face was an absolute picture as he just shook his head and had another sip. We were all just falling about laughing hysterically.
That’s the way I will remember my old friend Falafel. Brilliant yet innocent in many ways.
Very nice Raj!!