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23/02/11: Honours pretty much even at the Three Tuns
The Three Tuns in St Georges Road was the venue for a Premier Two Red Division double header this evening.
Mike Smith took the first match against Jamie Nevill 11-4, but Jamie later struck back to register an 11-5 win of his own.
21/02/11: Fourteen at Monday session
It was good to see a decent Monday turnout at the BCSC this evening, after some pretty quiet Mondays.
There were fourteen players present, including the ten who contested the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix, a DMP Tourno.
And while Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr took time out to give aspiring player Les Nicholls some tuition, Cecilia Sparke and Lewis Young were there for a Premier Two Blue match where something had to give, since both players had been unbeaten before this meeting.
The outcome, then, was a tad unexpected. Instead of a Clash of the Titans, five games all went the same way, and Cecilia marched on to second place with an 11-0 whitewash.
There was later action in the same division, when Cynthia Roberts and Simon Temme had time to complete an 11-4 win for Simon.
The central event yielded a shared pot between Cynthia and Jamie Nevill who each won seven of their nine games.
Jamie takes over at the head of the SGP table, moving 16 points ahead of previous leader Ian, while Cynthia is very close behind in third place.
21/02/11: Fifty-two days in, and Neil reaches half way
Neil Young has wasted no time at all in getting his league season well under way.
This afternoon at the V-Shed (formerly Lloyds No. 1 Bar) he scored a Premier Two Red double over Andrew Cobb, and has completed exactly half of his twenty league fixtures just fifty-two days into the eleven month season.
But quantity has been more than matched by quality as Neil endeavours to regain the the top flight place he lost back in November, and nine victories out of ten give him the ideal platform to achieve his goal.
20/02/11: Tim falls at penultimate hurdle
Tim Line's quest to be the first player to win the BIBA Scottish Open title twice ended in disappointment with a narrow semi-final defeat in Stirling today.
20/02/11: New Blackpool tournament unveiled
There's a new, hopefully annual, tournament on the UK calendar.
John Wright of Liverpool Backgammon Club announces the Blackpool Imperial Cup, to be held between May 20th and 22nd at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool.
The Liverpool club already stages the popular annual Liverpool Open, which has its 16th incarnation at the end of July, so this new departure is to be wholeheartedly welcomed.
Check out our UK Calendar for a rundown on 2011 backgammon activity around the nation.
19/02/11: Sterling show from Tim in Stirling
Stirling is a long way to go for a UK backgammon event, but Tim Line has a particular reason to contest the BIBA Scottish Open this weekend.
Back in 2006 Tim won that title, although in those days the event had moved south of the border after garnering insufficient support when held in its rightful country.
The event fell dormant for a couple of years, before once again being held in Scotland last year, and attracting a close-to-average BIBA crowd of 33 players.
So this year's field of just nineteen will have been a disappointment.
But the news emanating from the event at the Saturday evening break is that the field is now down to the semi-final stage, and Tim is still involved, apparently with three other players who are all named Neil.
More news tomorrow, and the hope is that Tim will become the first player to win this title twice.
18/02/11: FEBRUARY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Twenty league players were up and ready for action in three different locations for the February league night.
One, Colin Sara, got no more than a friendly match with Roland Herrera, as Conference opponents proved less than thin on the ground.
18/02/11: Stuart making a familiar move ......
Eight of the thirteen Premier One contestants were in action, with seven matches being completed.
Leader Tim Line, with nine matches already under his belt, was one of the absentees, but his twelve points lead was only cut to nine.
Making his now customary run towards major contention was Stuart Mann, who won both of his encounters last night to move into second place.
After pipping Ed Turner 11-9 at the Ship, Stuart turned his attention to the BCSC, where he defeated Simonetta Herrera -- already beaten 7-11 by Steffen Nowak -- 11-3.
Miles Farren and reigning champion Dave Pym fought out the tightest of double headers, each winning 11-9, while other victories were recorded by Ian Tarr and Richard Holness.
18/02/11: Lewis in pursuit of leader Cynthia ......
Prime mover in Premier Two Blue last night was Lewis Young, whose victories over Ian Preston and Richard Owsley were the second and third of a perfect start to the season.
Lewis ousts Richard from second place.
Leader Cynthia Roberts suffered her first defeat at the tail end of a double header with Paul Watts, while the evening's other winner -- finishing off an encounter with Paul adjourned from Monday -- was Malcolm Patterson.
18/02/11: Richard wins three out of four ......
Richard Biddle has not been seen at the BCSC yet this season, but his trips from Buckinghamshire have been well targetted.
His latest visit saw him play two Premier Two Red double headers at the Wellington, sharing the spoils with leader Neil Young -- thus inflicting Neil's first league defeat of the season -- and scoring a double success against Steve Morris.
Richard moves into third place, behind Neil and Simon Hughes, whose own double header with Alan Parfitt at the BCSC resulted in a win apiece.
18/02/11: Conference slow start not yet a record ......
The fact that no results have yet been recorded in this season's Conference has prompted a look at the record books.
More than half way through February, it is surely unprecedented that there has been such a slow start to the season?
Surprisingly not.
In 2009, which was the least active season on record for this competition, it was not until February 26th that the first result was on the board.
That record is, of course, now under threat, but nobody should blame Colin Sara, who turned up last night more in hope than expectation.
As the only Conference player present he was, however, living proof that league matches that take place these days are usually pre-arranged, and seldom impromptu.
14/02/11: Cynthia tops Premier Two Blue
There were almost three Premier Two Blue matches played at the BCSC tonight.
Paul Watts and Malcolm Patterson planned to play out a double header, with Paul winning the first encounter 11-6. The return match was adjourned, however, with Malcolm 10-7 ahead.
But in the meantime James Lintell-Smith and Cynthia Roberts, fresh from the Monday Club session, also had time to play an 11-10 match, which Cynthia won to go top of the league table.
The central event of the evening was a Nackgammon Tourno contested by just five players.
Ian Tarr took the honours in that one to oust Pearl Foster from the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix leadership.
14/02/11: Awards night photos now online
Photos of our recent Annual Awards Night are now to be found here.
11/02/11: ALL THE NEWS FROM THE FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT ......
Just sixteen players contested the second of our monthly grand prix series at the BCSC on Thursday.
Three new players -- Asad, Bahman and Hadi -- turned up later and enjoyed some friendly games.
11/02/11: Jamie is a rookie no more ......
Last week Jamie Nevill scooped a few prizes at the annual awards night, not least of which was the title of Rookie of the Year 2010.
He's now graduated from "rookiedom", though, and taken his rightful place in the Premier League.
And last night he took yet another step along the road, claiming his first monthly grand prix title, defeating Neil Young, Ian Preston and Roland Herrera before his 11-9 victory over Derek Clew in the final.
Derek had made the final via wins over Simon Hughes, Ian Tarr and Miles Farren.
11/02/11: Stuart adds to catalogue of consolation wins ......
Having fallen to Steve Morris at the first hurdle of the main flight, Stuart Mann extended his outstanding record in grand prix consolation flights.
The fact that he has only contested thirty consolation flights in 83 tournaments speaks volumes.
But in defeating Neil Young, Simon Hughes and Blaine Buchanan Stuart claimed his twelfth success in those thirty flights.
11/02/11: Jamie takes OGP lead ......
January winner Dave Ablett was overhauled at the top of the OGP table by Jamie Nevill who has a 25 points lead, with Blaine Buchanan a further 10 points back.
11/02/11: Anne could win IGP without winning a match! ......
Of course it won't happen, and intermediates will, in due course, contest the odd monthly grand prix tournament, but after two tournaments, there has only been one appearance.
Anne Buchanan came to the January event and claimed the minimum ten points for her trouble, but the fact is that she leads the IGP table, and will do, at least until somebody else turns up!
Thursday's tournament made history in a negative way, when for the first time in the twelve year history of the IGP, there was not a single intermediate present to contest the tournament.
11/02/11: Dave qualifies for Masters ......
Jamie Nevill's exploits in last night's event may well turn out to be enough to clinch his place in the 2012 Bristol Masters tournament.
But for the moment, because it is possible that one of the twelve monthly winners will not make it, Jamie must wait.
Not so Dave Ablett, though. There were seventeen entrants when Dave won the January event, so his success guarantees that he is this year's first qualifier.
Meanwhile the Winner Takes All pool at Thursday's event sparked the smallest rollover in history!
Only Stuart Mann and Ian Tarr took the proverbial plunge, and Stuart's first round exit was followed by Ian's in the quarters.
Will the usual suspects be tempted by a rollover of a mere £20 when the March event takes place? Time will tell.
11/02/11: Tim extends Premier One lead ......
There were just two league matches before Thursday's tournament -- both involving Premier One leader Tim Line.
Tim is making the most of his limited visits to Bristol this year, and has already completed nine of his twenty-four matches.
The eighth was an 11-6 win over Blaine Buchanan at the Cornubia, while the ninth saw him defeated 11-9 by Miles Farren at the BCSC.
Six wins out of nine is a fine start, and should he maintain that ratio and his break-neck start, it could be that he will set a tough target for the pursuing pack.
08/02/11: Cynthia at the double
Cynthia Roberts began her league campaign this afternoon at home, where she entertained Michael Corbett.
She was less than the perfect hostess, however, winning both matches, first 11-7, then 11-9.
Cynthia moves to second in Premier Two Blue.
07/02/11: Neil still hundred per cent
Having suffered relegation from the top flight last year, Neil Young seems in determined mood to make an immediate return.
Before tonight Neil had won all four of his Premier Two Red matches, and tonight's double header against Alan Parfitt at the BCSC saw him maintain the winning sequence.
After an 11-2 win things got a lot tougher for Neil, but he still edged home 11-10.
The evening's centrepiece, a Monday Club 3-point round robin session, attracted just five players, including a debut for Peter Snowman.
This featured a three way tie for the money, with Jamie Nevill, Cynthia Roberts and Lotte Ryan sharing.
Jamie moves to within 16 points of Spring Grand Prix leader Pearl Foster, whose position as top intermediate is also beginning to come under pressure from Lotte.
Director Ian Tarr put new player Les Nicholls through his paces, while Roland Herrera popped in after working late.
04/02/11: Cecilia's winning start
The latest player to begin her 2011 league campaign was Cecilia Sparke, who played a double header with James Lintell-Smith at the Windmill this evening.
And with 11-5 and 11-4 Premier Two Blue victories Cecilia got off to a fine start.
04/02/11: Twenty-seven celebrate the achievements of 2010
There were twenty-seven players present at the BCSC last night for what is as close as we get to an official Bristol Backgammon party.
The occasion was the eleventh annual awards evening, where there was a free buffet, Director Ian Tarr's Review of 2010, an absorbing backgammon quiz devised by Gaz Owen, the awarding of the vast majority of the seventy-nine prizes, lots of photo opportunities, several league matches, and a chouette.
In short, the BCSC was at its most vibrant, and there was a genuine sense of "The Year Starts Here" after what had been a slightly muted January.
The "surprise" awards were scooped by Jamie Nevill (Rookie of the Year, sponsored by Paul Gilbertson), Miles Farren (Most Improved Player, sponsored by Gaz and eXtreme Gammon), with the inaugural Sportsperson of the Year Award (sponsored by Blaine Buchanan with the help of John Sprague) going to a very deserving Stuart Mann.
Roland Herrera's photographs of the event are now visible here.
In the leagues, Tim Line -- a multi prize recipient -- made his long distance trip all the more worthwhile by managing to fit in no fewer than four Premier One matches, starting with a victory over Gaz and an adjournment with Blaine at the Cornubia, before eventually falling to defeat against Blaine and sharing the spoils of a double header with Dave Pym -- another who had journeyed from far afield to be present.
Stuart gained revenge over Richard Holness in a closely fought match.
Tim remains top, but then again, he has actually been involved in almost half the matches played so far!
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Richard Owsley -- who moves into the lead -- and Lewis Young over Ian Preston and Simon Temme respectively, while in Red Division Neil Young and Mike Smith maintained their early season momentum with wins over Chas Perry and Simon Hughes -- this latter one at Colston Yard.
Neil looks particularly well placed with four wins out of four.
01/02/11: Mike fights back again
The Mike Smith Road Show moved on to Redfield this evening, and once again he made light of a serious deficit, coming back from 3-9 to defeat Chas Perry 11-10.
Mike moves into second place in the Premier Two Red table, while Chas remains fourth after suffering his first defeat.
01/02/11: Mike wins in Redland
Another result from Premier Two Red has surfaced.
Mike Smith and Steve Morris locked horns at the Kensington Arms in Redland last night, and Mike managed to overcome a 1-7 deficit to win 11-8.
31/01/11: Nearly all quiet on the backgammon front
The eerily quiet start to the 2011 Bristol Backgammon year continued at the BCSC tonight when just four players arrived to contest the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
It was advertised as a Tric Trac Tourno, but because the rules demand at least six players for that, a switch was made to a 3-point round robin.
This resulted in a three way tie for the lead when Jamie Nevill, Lotte Ryan and Ian Tarr won two matches apiece.
Pearl Foster still heads the table, but will not be expecting her lead of just over 40 points to remain intact until she returns to action in around a month's time.
29/01/11: Double win puts James on top
The Hen and Chicken, Bedminster, was the venue for a Premier Two Blue double header this afternoon.
And James Lintell-Smith scored a brace of wins over Michael Corbett to go top of the league table.
29/01/11: Stuart and Lewis win opening doubles tournament
Fifteen players were in action on Thursday, including the twelve who contested the first of this year's four Consulting Doubles Grand Prix tournaments.
Stuart Mann and Lewis Young took the honours in the doubles, which was smoothly run by Stuart, Roland Herrera and Ian Preston in Director Ian Tarr's absence.
They defeated first Ian Preston and Steve Morris, and then Simon Hughes and Neil Young before despatching Roland and Shadow Hamilton in the final.
The consolation flight saw a victory for Simonetta Herrera and Pearl Foster.
There were four Premier Two Red matches completed -- Neil winning a double header against Mike Smith at the Lloyds No.1 Bar before the tournament, and Chas Perry scoring a similar double over Andrew Cobb in preference to entering the tournament.
26/01/11: Simon extends Premier Two Red lead
2009 Premier Two champion Simon Hughes appears determined to regain his top flight place without delay.
He has already completed five matches in Premier Two Red, winning the fourth of those tonight at the Alma Tavern.
Jamie Nevill ran him close, but eventually succumbed 9-11.
25/01/11: Gaz in sponsorship to encourage new players
Gaz Owen is behind a new sponsorship scheme, where Thursday debut players will have their £10 entry fee in whichever event they enter paid for!
This scheme is under way with immediate effect and will proceed until further notice.
Read more about the scheme here.
24/01/11: Five in a sharing mood
There were just five players present to contest the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix at the BCSC -- the smallest turnout since December 2009.
But the 3-point round robin was keenly contested, so much so that all five players finished level with two wins apiece.
This is the first instance where all contestants have tied, thus sharing all the prize money and all the grand prix points, although there was a clock blitz round robin back in August 2009 which saw a five way tie for the lead from a group of six players.
Pearl Foster thus kept her 48.5 points lead over second placed Roland Herrera.
21/01/11: Andrew and Richard break even in Bath
Richard Biddle made his first excursion of the season from Buckinghamshire yesterday evening and played out a Premier Two Red double header with Andrew Cobb at the Ram in Bath.
Not only did the pair win a match apiece, but they also won by identical scores -- Richard's 11-4 win being repaid in kind in the return.
20/01/11: JANUARY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
There were seventeen players progressing their league campaigns at the BCSC on the first dedicated league session of the year.
All three Premier League divisions were represented, but the Conference has not yet seen any action.
20/01/11: Simonetta and Miles in epic double header ......
The highlight of the evening's Premier One play was arguably the double header between Miles Farren and 2009 Premier League champion Simonetta Herrera.
The matches could hardly have been closer, but Miles received scant reward for his considerable efforts, losing both 10-11.
In another double header reigning champion Dave Pym shared the spoils with Steffen Nowak, although Steffen's average points difference fared better than Dave's with an 11-1 win and an 8-11 defeat.
And making his top flight debut was Richard Holness who chose four times league champion Stuart Mann as his opening test at the level.
Unfazed, Richard scored a memorable 11-7 victory for a more than satisfactory start to his season.
The evening's other top flight winners were Phil Charlton and Ian Tarr.
League leader Tim Line couldn't make it down, but his lead remains intact.
20/01/11: Simon surges to Premier Two Red summit ......
After opening the season with a defeat a couple of days ago, Simon Hughes looks determined to set a furious pace in Premier Two Red.
Resuming his adjourned match with Steve Morris 7-1 ahead, Simon finished the job with an 11-2 win, and then went even better in the return encounter.
And an 11-4 victory over Nick Barham made it three wins on the night with just seven points conceded.
Steve and Jamie Nevill were the evening's other victors.
20/01/11: Richard and Ian start with wins ......
There were only two Premier Two Blue matches played at Thursday's session -- Richard Owsley and Ian Preston securing their first wins of the season.
That makes just three results so far in the division, and Richard tops the pile by virtue of having paid his league fee!
20/01/11: Ian wins held over clock consolation ......
The held over final of the January 6th Clock Tournament Grand Prix event took place early in the evening, and it was Ian Tarr who emerged the winner over Richard Owsley by a 7-2 margin.
Thus Ian maintains a 0% main flight success rate and a 100% consolation flight success rate after the opening two knock-outs of the year.
Richard made history by becoming the first player to book a clock out and back in again from behind the bar -- no doubt the first of many!
19/01/11: Gaz and Mike off the mark
Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr played their opening Premier One game of the season at St George's Hall this afternoon, and it was Gaz who emerged the victor, by 11-5.
And the evening saw the first Bristol Backgammon match since 2007 at the Knights Templar, where the Premier Two Red season kicked off with a meeting of Simon Hughes and the returning Mike Smith.
Mike prevailed with an 11-4 win..
18/01/11: Simon starts with a win
The Hen and Chicken in Bedminster was the venue when Simon Temme and James Lintell-Smith began their Premier Two Blue campaigns.
And it was Simon who went to the top of the league table -- well, it was the first match completed so far in that division -- with an 11-8 victory.
17/01/11: Pearl makes it two in a row
Having won one of last week's Super Nackgammon Tournos, Pearl Foster cashed for the second week running, coming out on top of a nine player DMP Tourno, the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
Pearl won seven of her eight games, and has moved into an SGP lead of 48.5 points, with Roland Herrera leading the chasing pack.
14/01/11: JANUARY GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
Just seventeen players opened the Bristol Grand Prix year at the BCSC last night, the seventh consecutive such event to draw a field of fewer than 20.
14/01/11: Dave continues his BIBA form in Bristol ......
Having starred at the Bright n Breezy tournament at the weekend, Dave Ablett picked up where he left off on his return to Bristol competition.
Wins over Anne Buchanan, John Plummer and Gaz Owen got him to Thursday's final, which transferred to his Southville home.
And there he defeated Blaine Buchanan 11-9 to clinch the tournament, the Winner Takes All pool, the early OGP lead, and most probably a slot in the 2012 Bristol Masters.
Blaine had fought his way past Cynthia Roberts, Jamie Nevill and Tim Line.
14/01/11: Ian shouldn't have been there, but gained some consolation ......
Having put out a call for assistance when he knew he wouldn't be there to direct Thursday's tournament, Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr suddenly found himself available after all, when his seven hour visit to St Michaels Hospital proved to be a waste of time.
A long drawn out defeat at the hands of Jamie Nevill in the main flight's opening match then saw him contest the consolation, eventually taking the flight with wins over Steffen Nowak, Simonetta Herrera and fellow finalist Cynthia Roberts, who had defeated Richard Owsley and Nick Barham.
14/01/11: Anne turned up, so tops IGP ......
How many intermediates will be contesting the monthly grand prix tournaments this year?
On the evidence of last night, perhaps not too many.
Nevertheless there are still IGP prizes to be won, and if merely turning up to contest the event is enough to take the lead, sobeit.
That's what Anne Buchanan did, proving that winning isn't everything, as she sits on top, in the middle and at the bottom of the IGP table with eleven events to go.
14/01/11: Tim gets off to a Premier One flyer ......
Apart from making the main flight semi-finals Tim Line also made the most of his Bristol visit by getting in three Premier One matches -- and he won them all.
These were the season's first three league matches, Tim winning a double header against Ed Turner at the Cornubia before whitewashing Miles Farren at the BCSC just prior to the tournament.
12/01/11: Dave makes Brighton final
There was a sizeable Bristol contingent -- by recent standards, anyway -- at BIBA's season opener, the Bright 'n' Breezy, at the weekend.
And there were six players who reached the latter stages of the various flights, with pride of place going to Dave Ablett, who reached the final of the 67 player main flight, only to succumb to Southampton's Bob Young.
Ann Pocknell won the progressive consolation flight, Stuart Mann won the last chance, and Richard Biddle reached the semis in the suicide, a k a the tidal wave in deference to the south coast location.
And the Friday warm up tournament, contested by 36 players, featured two Bristol players in the final -- Tim Line defeating Jerry Limb.
10/01/11: Super Nackgammon makes its Bristol bow
The Monday Club session at the BCSC broke new ground for Bristol Backgammon, featuring the first ever Super Nackgammon round robins.
Nine players took part -- split into two groups -- and Pearl Foster won the five player group while Roland Herrera took the honours in the four player group.
Pearl thus takes the initial Monday Club Spring Grand Prix lead.
And there was an enjoyable chouette to round off the evening.
06/01/11: Fifteen end the fortnight drought
After the Christmas break fifteen players were present at the BCSC to contest the year's first domestic competition, the first of six events in the Clock Tournament Grand Prix.
And it was Simonetta Herrera who began her title defence in the best possible way by defeating Gaz Owen in the final of the main flight.
Simonetta was the recipient of the evening's only bye, and took full advantage, beating Richard Owsley and Cynthia Roberts on her way to the final.
Gaz's victims were Ian Tarr, Eamonn Reay and Jamie Nevill.
Richard and Ian will contest the consolation final some time soon.
There was also the first league action of the season, but no result, as Simon Hughes and Steve Morris had to adjourn their Premier Two Red match with Simon 7-1 ahead, to enable them to contest the tournament.
04/01/11: Revealed: a chance to represent Bristol
Phil Tutchings of the Coventry Backgammon Club is staging a new event with a lot of potential.
The UK Club Championships will take place at Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club on Sunday March 13th.
There is space for up to sixteen teams of five players each, hopefully representing the majority of UK clubs in an individual knock-out format where all players play four matches, the length of which will be dependent on each player's relative success.
A match won results in points equivalent to the match length being added to the player's team score.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has asked for volunteers to represent Bristol at the event, and already has more than enough interest to fill one team.
If there should be insufficient teams entering, there may be openings for second and even third teams from the same club, but obviously first teams take precedence.
News items from 2010 (second half)
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