He spent his boyhood in Tours, France, where his father was studying surgery, before returning to Libya when he was 12. He taught himself how to use a computer and began frequenting cybercafés. In time he became adept at games including Half-Life, Counterstrike, Soldier of Fortune, Wolfenstein, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Quake, Doom, and World of Warcraft.

"Each café had a team, and they played one another at weekends," he says. "There were skilled players. But what they didn't realize was that, in Europe and America, gaming had been taken to the professional level."

In 2007, a Libyan expat in Greece -- whose name Layas and Drebika say they don't know -- arranged for Libyan gamers to compete in the ESWC. Invite-only qualifier matches were held in Tripoli, and Drebika was among those selected. Then the Libyans went to France and got clobbered. Their opponents were seasoned competitors, and many had sponsors, Drebika says. "They had much better internet connections in their countries, and much more experience. After what happened in France, I thought, 'We need to be a part of this'."

Around that time, Drebika met Layas and they started thinking about new ways to organize gaming in Libya. The government mouthed interest, but nothing came of it. Restrictions on associations suffocated hope for a national league. Only after Qaddafi was toppled in August 2011 could they start working.

There are a half-dozen or so big international gaming tournaments held regularly around the world. The ESWC, founded in 2003, is one of the biggest. Last fall, Layas and Drebika got approval from ESWC for Libyan players to compete in two games at the November 2012 competition: FIFA 13, a soccer game, and Starcraft II, a futuristic strategy game set in outer space. To choose contestants, they organized last October's qualifier matches in Tripoli.

Layas took the microphone, and the theater quieted. The angled glare of stage lights caught his slender form as he thanked everyone and explained the rules. Then play commenced. Before long, some new gamers appeared in the parking lot. They were looking for Counterstrike. Counterstrike is a popular first-person shooter game -- or FPS, in gamer lingo -- a genre of game that consists of charging around and blasting your opponents. It features in most tournaments, including the ESWC.

When one of the new guys discovered that Counterstrike was unavailable, he threw a tantrum. "It says right here, 'ESWC'," he yelled, waving a flyer for the qualifier tournament under Layas' nose. He had very short hair and muscly gorilla arms. "It says 'tournament' and there's no Counterstrike?"

Layas also snapped. "I've worked a year on this," he cried. "I've spent my own money!"

In reply, the Counterstriker leaned forward in a half-squat, held the flyer up, and slowly, deliberately tore it in half.