Matvey Natanzon was born in 1969 in Russia. He is a well known Israeli backgammon player which in 2007 was voted as the number one Backgammon Giant. Initially he moved from Israel to United States to study. But later in life he discovered that he is extremely passionate about playing backgammon. He went so for with his passion that he began on the streets of New York to play this board game for real money.

Slowly in time, from the status of being an amateur player who occasionally plays for real cash, he evolved into one of the best backgammon players in the world. In his career he has obtained numerous impressive performances. In 2000 at the Monte Carlo Backgammon World Championship, Natanzon was the finalist in the $1,000 Super Jackpot. Three years later he took down the 20th Annual Fleet Underwood Memorial & Benefit Tournament. Other top results that he managed to obtain in 2003 were a second place in the $10,000 entry 2003 Pro Am and several money finishes in various international events. However the Israeli backgammon player did not stop here. He continued to score some other impressive performances. In 2006 at the Las Vegas Open he came in second place and in 2007 finished successful in the Championship flight of the exact same event. In 2008 Natanzon finished in first position in the Masters event of the Paris Master & Partouche Backgammon Open 9 and in the Masters event of the 3rd Portuguese Open. Astonishingly in 2009 he continued his amazing series of results with a second place finish in the World Series of Backgammon Cannes.