News items from 2002 (first half)
30/06/02: John scoops another honour
John Slattery, Bristol Premier League champion and current league leader, added another honour to his growing list yesterday, when he won the annual Liverpool Open, emerging from a field of 58 hopefuls to beat Yorkshire's Rachel Rhodes in the final.
The Liverpool event is now well established in the British backgammon calendar, and is regarded as the top single day British event.
If our own Bristol "50", which takes place for the first time on Saturday July 27th can eventually be regarded in as favourable a light, we will have done well.
30/06/02: BELATED LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
After an enforced news blackout (I was in Portugal), normal service is now resumed.
30/06/02: Phil and Ed record wins on quiet night ......
On what was a very quiet league night, only two Premier League results were recorded, with a further match adjourned.
Victors were Phil Charlton -- an emphatic 11-2 winner against Kevin White -- and Ed Turner, who edged home by a single point against Ian Preston.
Phil also began his encounter with Stuart Mann, but was 5-6 down when stumps were drawn.
30/06/02: Seven in Conference action ......
The Bristol Conference welcomed a new player in Michael Castle at the BCSC on Wednesday night, and Michael lost no time in recording his first two results, having mixed fortunes with a win over John Lewis and a defeat by John Ould.
Seven players were in action altogether, although the only other result recorded was Steffen Nowak's 11-8 win over Jeremy Axford.
Two further matches were adjourned, Roland Herrera leading Jeremy 5-1, while Steffen and Simonetta Barone were nearing a tense conclusion at 9-all.
21/06/02: John helps out at league night
With Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr absent for a few days, John Lewis has very kindly agreed to help out at this Wednesday's league night at the BCSC, by collecting all the results and latest scores.
Plenty of Premier League and Conference action is anticipated as the season takes shape.
In both leagues everyone still has something significant to play for.
While some Premier players may feel the championship has become an impossible task, with the likes of John Slattery, Stuart Mann, Dave Pym and Ian Preston still justifiably fancying their chances, it doesn't end there.
Next season's Premier membership looks like being sufficient to ensure a split into two divisions, so the scramble to finish as high as possible in order to ensure a Premier One place is sure to generate many epic encounters between now and the end of the season.
Meanwhile the Conference remains wide open, with nobody yet having won more than five matches.
And of course, with the number of promotion slots being dependent on the number of active players in the Conference, it isn't too late to introduce new players, the deadline being the end of August. If you know of any likely candidates, try to encourage them to join!
League players should note that the website will not be updated until next weekend. Apologies in advance for the delay.
17/06/02: Twenty-two confirmed as ten procrastinate
The Bristol "50" now has twenty-two confirmed entrants, while ten others have the option of confirming their declared intentions by the end of the month.
"Confirmed" in this context means "have paid the £50 entry fee". Ten local players have until the end of this month to guarantee their entry, as a waiting list to mop up any vacancies has already been started, and more solid enquiries are inevitable in the six weeks leading up to the event.
16/06/02: LESTERS XXXXIII NEWS ......
All the news from Thursday night's session (and Friday night's) at the BCSC, with 23 players in action in the tournament and the leagues.
16/06/02: Simon makes the most of rare visit(s) ......
Lesters XXXIII produced 21 entrants at the BCSC on Thursday evening, with one debutant -- Stephan Kerberg -- raising the German presence to a healthy two!
And Stephan, clearly a player of some pedigree, was back the following night to meet Simon Baker in the final, where he finally succumbed.
Stephan -- not to be confused with his compatriot Steffen Nowak -- fought his way through the more heavily populated part of the draw with victories over John Lewis, Neil Young, Stuart Mann, and Rosey Bensley.
By that time Simon Baker, these days a rare visitor to Bristol tournaments, had become a rapid victor over John Sprague, John Slattery and Dave Pym, was well on his way home to Devon, as the prospect of finishing by 1am appeared remote.
Thanks are due to Dave Pym, the auctioneer, and John Ryan, a tournament non-combatant on the night, who collected the auction stakes.
Stephan had bought himself in the auction, while John Slattery invested well in Simon.
16/06/02: Stuart pulls clear again ......
Stuart Mann's attempt to secure a second OGP title in three years gathered a little pace on Thursday night, despite his quarter-final exit.
Victories over Ian Tarr and John Napier took his score to a magnificent 420 points, a full 110 clear of first match loser Paul Watts, who is nevertheless a further 80 points clear of Charlie Hetherington.
16/06/02: Neil 95 points clear in IGP ......
Neil Young's first round victory over David Horner, complete with bonus points, was enough to extend his IGP lead to 95 points, as his nearest rivals failed to add more than the basic 10 entry points to their tallies.
The major impact here was made by Stephan Kerberg, who shot straight into fourth place in the list with 120 points, including bonus points for victories over Stuart Mann and Rosey Bensley.
16/06/02: John's third league defeat encourages pursuers ......
John Slattery has now completed all bar four of his Premier League fixtures for the season after encounters with Phil Charlton and Ian Preston on Thursday night.
Having beaten Phil before the start of the tournament, John could have looked virtually impregnable at the top, had he also accounted for Ian.
But Ian, returning to action after a quiet spell, had other ideas, and registered his fourth win in six matches.
It is probably fair to say that John is still favourite to retain the title, but the defeat will have encouraged second placed Stuart Mann and the other well placed contenders.
Other wins on the night were scored by Paul Watts, Charlie Hetherington, Kevin White and Blaine Buchanan.
16/06/02: Roland is the latest Conference leader ......
Roland Herrera, who completed two Conference fixtures with mixed fortunes at the Coronation on Tuesday night, moved to the top of the table by winning a hard fought battle against John Ryan on Thursday.
John Lewis, fast running out of opponents, is now second after his emphatic defeat of Neil Young, but the race remains wide open.
John Sprague's season has also gathered momentum this week with victories over Roland and Steffen Nowak.
14/06/02: Lesters final tonight
The final of last night's 43rd Lesters Trophy knock-out will take place at the BCSC at around 5.30pm tonight.
Expect a report on the whole event, plus the flurry of league action, some time over the weekend.
11/06/02: Withdrawals let Birmingham Two in
Two withdrawals from the inaugural Bristol "50" have paved the way for the entry of Birmingham's Dave Fall and Fak Laight.
Neither Tony Lee nor Phillip Hill are now available for the July 27th event, so the start list is currently 31 strong, leaving a solitary vacancy.
11/06/02: Waiting list opens for Bristol "50"
Two of our Birmingham based friends, Dave Fall and Fak Laight, wish to enter the Bristol "50".
But as they would travel together, and there is currently only one vacancy, they have had to be placed on a waiting list.
So those players who have been accepted but have not paid their fees by the end of this month now run the very real risk of being replaced on the entry list.
10/06/02: Hilton Trophy exploits
Over twenty percent of the field at the weekend's BIBA Hilton Trophy event had strong Bristol connections.
Among a very low turnout -- only 48 players entered the competition -- were our regulars Tony Lee, Kevin White, John Slattery, Rosey Bensley, Ian Tarr, Roland Herrera, Simonetta Barone and John Renicks, while occasional visitors Paul Gilbertson and Hubert de l'Epine were also competing.
This was a first taste of BIBA weekends for Roland and Simonetta, and the signs are that they will be back for more.
At the time of writing, the final outcome of the main flight is unknown, but John, Paul and Hubert were all there when the quarter-finals started on Sunday morning, and Paul at least made it to the semis. A further update will follow when the details are known.
And although Tony Lee was one of those to miss out in the main event, he will not be too despondent after winning the Saturday night Super Jackpot.
31/05/02: Blaine and Phil avoid penalty
Two of the three players threatened with penalty points at today's Premier League checkpoint have avoided that fate.
Blaine Buchanan and Phil Charlton made an early evening rendezvous in the Coronation, Southville, and Phil scored an 11-4 victory.
This leaves Ian Preston as the only player to suffer the ignominy, incurring two penalty points as he is two matches behind the penalty avoidance schedule.
Ian can claw these points back, however, by registering five more results in the next two months, as the next checkpoint is on July 31st.
30/05/02: WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S LEAGUE ACTION ......
For once there were more Conference matches than Premier matches at the monthly league night.
30/05/02: Dave falters, but timely double keeps up Stuart's challenge ......
Dave Pym -- hitherto the greatest threat to John Slattery's Premier League title defence -- suffered a double blow to his chances last night, when he fell foul of two old adversaries.
Phil Charlton and Charlie Hetherington -- DPS Backgammon contemporaries of Dave's back in the late eighties -- each registered victories over their old rival, to revive their own flagging fortunes.
And Charlie, who conceded only three points in back to back wins over John Napier and Dave, hauled himself clear of his unaccustomed bottom place.
Meanwhile, in a gruelling encounter, Stuart Mann effectively ended Ian Tarr's hopes of a late championship challenge after needing a double with the last roll of the match. He rolled double-one.
More significantly, Stuart has moved to within a single win of leader John, as last season's title protagonists look set for a repeat performance on the run in.
30/05/02: Three threatened by penalties ......
The failure of three players to record their sixth results of the Premier League season at Wednesday night's session means they will incur penalty points, unless they can rectify the situation by tomorrow's deadline.
But although Ian Preston, who would collect two penalty points, Blaine Buchanan and Phil Charlton, who would collect one each, would suffer the penalties immediately, they can be reversed.
Under the rules, any player incurring penalty points can claw them back by meeting the requirement set at the next penalty deadline.
This would mean Ian completing five matches in the two months before July 31st, while Blaine and Phil will need to finish four apiece.
30/05/02: Another John takes pole position in the Conference ......
The signs are that the Bristol Conference is warming up nicely after a slow start.
A tally of only 25 matches completed before this week was a slight disappointment, calling to question the very viability of the competition.
But ten players in action over two days, completing eight matches, have given the league a much more robust appearance.
And with nobody yet taking the competition by the scruff of the neck, there would appear to be many absorbing and crucial battles to take place over the coming months.
Last night saw previous leader John Ryan usurped, when he suffered a whitewash at the hands of Phillip Hill. Although John recovered to score a narrow victory over Steffen Nowak, a new leader emerged in the shape of John Ould.
This latter John prevailed over Phillip, and even an emphatic defeat at the hands of Simonetta Barone on the stroke of midnight was not quite enough to dislodge him from the top.
Simonetta was the night's most successful player, conceding only five points in victories over Andrew Cobb and John Ould.
A small blanket could now be thrown over the top seven players in the league, as they are covered by only three points.
The race remains wide open.
30/05/02: First promotion slot assured ......
Andrew Cobb didn't have one of his best nights at the BCSC on Wednesday, but he did his fellow Conference members a service by ensuring that there will be at least one player promoted at the end of the season.
The formula which decides the number of promotion slots is designed to reward the top third of active Conference players with the accolade of Premier Status.
And by becoming the second player to register eight results -- John Lewis had already become the first -- Andrew confirmed that the first promotion slot has become active.
From now on, every third player to reach eight results will trigger an additional promotion slot. And judging by last night's action, there is every chance that last season's four slots will be equalled, at least.
Of course, if new players were to join the league -- and the end of August is the deadline for this season -- it is possible that things could get even better for the top Conference players.
24/05/02: Intermediates take the cake ...... not!
With a glistening new trophy waiting to be claimed, the total turnout of intermediates for their very own knock-out competition at the BCSC last night was ...... THREE!
Bristol Backgammon director Ian Tarr was left with little alternative but to postpone the event as at least seven players were necessary to cover the cost of the prize. The event will be rescheduled later in the year.
Meanwhile, those who did turn up at least made good use of the time, as well as benefitting from the presence of Ed Turner's birthday cake -- one of those too artistic to cut cakes in the shape of a backgammon board complete with counters, dice, and cube. It was cut, though, and very nice it was, too!
The trio of prospective tournament entrants -- Andrew Cobb, Neil Young and Steffen Nowak -- were later joined by Roland Herrera, and some Conference action took place.
And Ed and Ian completed a Premier League match.
22/05/02: Intermediates take centre stage
Tomorrow night sees the BCSC playing host to a new annual event, the Intermediates Trophy knock-out.
Bristol Backgammon director Ian Tarr has taken delivery of the new cup, and it will be on display at the event.
The burning question is: "Whose name will be the first to be engraved on it?"
Without the threat of the giants of the local game -- like John Slattery, Tony Lee and Stuart Mann -- the tournament provides a great chance for somebody new to hog the limelight.
Will it be one of those already progressing well in the IGP or the Conference? Or will it be the turn of somebody else to earn star billing?
A report will appear here before the weekend.
19/05/02: Only five places left
If all pledges made to date come to fruition, there are only five more slots available for July's Bristol"50" event.
With over two months yet to go, the success of the event seems assured.
17/05/02: Roland closes on John
Roland Herrera last night moved into second place in the Bristol Conference with an 11-10 victory over Neil Young at the Coronation, Southville.
He is now handily tucked in behind leader John Ryan on average points difference.
15/05/02: Phil claims record fourth win
Phil Charlton, having trailed for the majority of the match, today clinched a 22-20 victory over Paul Randell in the final of the DPS Backgammon Division One Cup.
This was Phil's fourth success in the twelve year history of this competition, a new record.
12/05/02: Blaine withstands Neil's fight-back
The main flight final of the May Bristol Grand Prix event took place at the Coronation in Southville tonight, and Blaine Buchanan won it 11-7.
After Blaine roared into a 9-0 lead, the few onlookers present might have been forgiven for thinking the outcome was a foregone conclusion, but they reckoned without Neil Young's fighting spirit.
He chipped away at the lead, reducing it to 9-7 before finally succumbing in a 2-cubed race.
So Blaine now moves above Neil into fourth place in the OGP table.
Neil, of course, still holds the lead in the IGP.
10/05/02: TOURNAMENT NIGHT AT THE B C S C ......
All the goings on at Thursday's grand prix event.
10/05/02: Blaine and Neil in Sunday Coronation showdown ......
Eighteen players -- ten "Premier Status" players and eight "Intermediates" -- the lowest turnout this year, contested the fifth Bristol Grand Prix event at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
The slight numerical disappointment was offset by a welcome debut for Neil Martin, who hails from the Midlands, and a tournament debut for Conference player John Ould, Neil getting off to a winning start at Roland Herrera's expense.
The side of the draw with all byes progressed well enough to produce a finalist by 10.46, Blaine Buchanan coming through with wins over John Renicks, Stuart Mann, and Rosey Bensley.
Less than an hour later, Neil Young emerged from the other side of the draw, and a decision was taken to adjourn the final until Sunday evening. 7pm in the Coronation, Southville, is the place to be.
Apart from the prize money, the OGP and IGP points, and the kudos of winning a Bristol grand prix tournament, it should not be forgotten that there is also a place in the Bristol Masters at stake.
10/05/02: OGP leaders do the decent thing ......
After speculation was rife that the OGP was out of the reach of mere mortals, as a result of Stuart Mann's -- and to a lesser extent Paul Watts' -- early season exploits, the leaders at least had the decency not to score too heavily on Thursday night.
Those present from the top six in the table -- Jerry Limb was not there early enough to compete -- managed only three match victories between them, as the status quo was largely maintained.
Seventh placed Neil Young, with 65 points -- and another 35 if he can win the final -- has moved into fourth after his second fine tournament of the year.
And Blaine Buchanan can snatch that fourth place by winning on Sunday.
Forty players have so far contested monthly knock-outs this year, and of course, any who finish in the top ten who do not already have Premier Status will attain that goal.
10/05/02: Neil's giant step ......
There are still seven tournaments to go this year, but Neil Young has undeniably put himself in a very strong position to take IGP honours at the end of the year after his splendid run in Thursday's event.
During the whole evening there were only four instances of intermediates beating Premier players, but three of these were down to Neil, who scooped 30 bonus points with successes against Kevin White, Martin Hemming and John Napier.
Neil now has a lead of 65 points over Steffen Nowak, and can increase this to 110 with a further bonus point performance on Sunday.
10/05/02: Top men dominate the consolation ......
While Neil Young was striking a blow for the intermediates in the main flight, not a single bonus point was won in the consolation.
The quarter-final line-up neatly pitted four Premier players against four intermediates, and the big boys came out on top in all instances.
Charlie Hetherington and John Slattery emerged to contest the final, the latter player coming through to close out that flight by 11.06pm -- commendable progress indeed.
10/05/02: Slatts keeps up the pressure ......
John Slattery -- as he so often does -- made the most of his visit by increasing his lead at the head of the Premier League. His 11-2 victory over Sunday's hero John Napier ensures that the chasing Dave Pym and Stuart Mann have a daunting target to aim for.
The evening's other Premier League winner was Kevin White, who arrested a recent slump with an 11-2 win over Rosey Bensley.
10/05/02: New leaders in the Conference ......
The kings are dead ...... long live the kings!
John Lewis and Roland Herrera led the Bristol Conference when they arrived at the BCSC in Thursday evening.
After tournament elimination, however, each settled down to contest a Conference match, only to suffer not only defeat, but also replacement at the top of the league by their conquerors!
John Ryan and John Ould now proudly occupy the top two berths.
10/05/02: Colour conundrum for Ian ......
Early in Thursday evening's play Bristol Backgammon director Ian Tarr was called upon to make an unusual ruling.
John Lewis and Rosey Bensley were contesting their main flight second round match, using Rosey's smart green and yellow board. (Is she a closet Norwich City fan, I hear you ask).
When you're colourblind, as John is, it's apparently difficult to tell the chequers on Rosey's board apart, as the green ones are light enough to be taken for yellow (if you're John).
Rosey had a blot on the eight point in front of John's four point block, but when John rolled a five, he mistook this man for one of his own, thinking he was increasing his block to five points. He picked up his dice.
So what was Rosey to do? By pointing the error out, she would certainly end up with a man on the bar. Yet by condoning the misplay (when is a misplay not a misplay?), considerable confusion would undoubtedly ensue if either player decided to break the eight point!
Rosey pointed it out, but neither player was sure how to proceed. After consulting Ian, it was agreed -- quite possibly wrongly -- that the fairest way to carry on was to replace the men to their previous positions, and for John to roll again.
Answers on a postcard to ......
10/05/02: Tony heads BIBA ranking championship
With the statistics now published after BIBA's County Cups Trophy event last weekend, it has emerged that Tony Lee currently heads BIBA's ranking championship.
There are two main prizes to be won annually at BIBA, and this is possibly the more obscure option! It is based on a computation involving a player's ranking score, and wins and defeats in 11-point BIBA matches throughout the year, and Tony's current score of 2049.44 puts him top of that particular pile. John Napier also figures strongly here, on 1939.83.
Tony is also prominent in BIBA's Grand Prix championship, where players are allotted points for high finishes in the various BIBA tournaments. Here he is headed only by Brian Busfield of Brighton on 29 points, and Birmingham's Dave Startin (26). Tony shares third spot on 20 points with Yorkshire's Rachel Rhodes.
Other Bristol connections' scores in this category are: Hubert de l'Epine 14 pts; John Slattery 11; Ed Turner and John Napier 10; Ian Tarr 8; Paul Gilbertson 7; Kevin White 5; Stuart Mann 4; Charlie Hetherington 3; John Renicks 2; Phil Caudwell and Paul Watts 1.
Meanwhile, Tony has slightly improved his current BIBA ranking score by 7 points to 1837, the highest ever attained by a Bristol-connected player. Ian Tarr slips to 1711, and John Slattery to 1683, while Stuart Mann is now breathing down their necks on 1674.
Other significant movements were John Napier (up 68 points to 1520), Paul Gilbertson (up 42 to 1377), and John Lewis (down 36 to 1300).
And poor Rosey Bensley, who has yet to prove her undoubted worth at BIBA, gets even less than she deserves, having been credited with only two wins at the weekend, when she actually won three times!
05/05/02: John adds his name to the list
John Napier was this month's star Bristol performer at BIBA's County Cups Trophy event this weekend.
Winning his first five matches put him into a final round head-to-head with Cheltenham's Julian Fetterlein to decide the destiny of the title.
Julian -- 328 ranking points ahead of John's score going into the tournament -- was never headed in the final, and ran out an 11-5 winner.
But John has added his name to the boringly long list of Bristol near misses at BIBA, and can look back on wins over Birmingham ace Ralph Eskinazi, 2001 British Open champion Rachel Rhodes, and highly rated Dutch visitor Vincent Versteeg on his way to the final match, which was filmed and is likely to be annotated in the next BIBAFAX.
Kevin White also made it to the Sunday morning auction, but fell away in the final three matches.
After four of the six rounds, Kevin was just one of five players chasing John for the £110 Bristol pool. But Kevin, Ian Tarr, John Slattery, and Stuart Mann all lost in round five to fall out of contention.
And Tony Lee's sixth round defeat ensured that John had won that prize before starting his final match.
With both John and Julian having entered the BIBA Winner-Takes-All pool, which had risen to £1,725 after last month's rollover, a deal was struck to ensure that both players would leave for home with a healthy profit, and John was also the winner of the £5 pool, taking home £75 for that.
Full Bristol members' and attachments' win records: 5- John Napier; 4- Tony Lee, Stuart Mann, Paul Gilbertson; 3- Kevin White, John Slattery, Ian Tarr, Hubert de l'Epine, Rosey Bensley, John Renicks; 1- Alison Lee; John Lewis.
28/04/02: Slow start proves insurmountable obstacle
The fifth Inter-Cities Challenge match saw Birmingham reclaim the trophy in a match true to the exciting tradition of the competition.
The fourteen-a-side match, at the Langley Arms, Emersons Green, ended in a 22-20 victory for the visitors, after Bristol just failed to claw back a heavy early deficit.
At one stage trailing 3-9, Bristol ended the first series 5-9 down. There was some improvement for the home side in the second phase, but the gap stayed the same at 12-16.
In the third series, Bristol at last began to make some inroads, surging to parity at 16-all, but Birmingham got their noses in front again and were never quite caught.
Four players on each side were making their debuts -- and Bristol's Simonetta Barone, Roland Herrera, Steffen Nowak and John Ryan all contributed to their team's score.
Jerry Limb and David Horner shared the prize for the best Bristol performance, being the only players to win all three matches.
28/04/02: David's red-letter day
Having distinguished himself first by travelling all the way from Bideford, and second by scoring three of Bristol's 20 points against Birmingham, David Horner then rounded off a special day by recording back-to-back Premier League victories over Jerry Limb and Paul Watts.
26/04/02: Pete's low-key title win
Pete Cockram was today crowned champion of the DPS Backgammon Second Division.
Such has been the nature of that competition during the past seven months, however, that he probably won't even know about it until he reads it here, or somebody happens to mention it to him.
The lower league for employees of EDS in Patchway was entered by ten players. But, in much the same manner as the Bristol Conference, players are allowed to play as many as they like, or as few, of the eighteen possible matches while the season runs its course.
Some of the contestants have been off site for long periods, which has decimated the action. Indeed only five players ended up playing more than two matches!
Those five, however, did at least get some value out of the competition by playing at least eight times. In all, though, a total of just 25 of the 90 possible matches had taken place by the time the season expired today, the last action having taken place a month ago.
This left Pete as the champion, with Alan Parfitt and Durjoy Ghosh filling the other two promotion slots. Whether or not they take up their places in next season's First Division, however, remains to be seen, as each declined a place at the last time of asking.
25/04/02: Sunday's line-up completed
The Bristol line-up for Sunday's Inter-Cities Challenge match against Birmingham is now complete.
Representing the local backgammon community at the Langley Arms, Emersons Green will be: Paul Watts; Jerry Limb; David Horner; John Napier; Blaine Buchanan; Roland Herrera; Martin Hemming; Ian Tarr; Kevin White; John Lewis; Steffen Nowak; and John Ryan.
Roland, Steffen and JR will be making their Inter-Cities debuts.
25/04/02: Dave moves relentlessly on
Dave Pym, a peripheral figure in his first two Premier League campaigns, is proving to be anything but this time around.
Two victories at last night's BCSC league night session -- John Napier and Drew Caudwell his victims -- have put him firmly into contention, tucked in handily just behind leader John Slattery.
Dave's re-emergence into the spotlight after a few years of rust-inspired obscurity has to be a good thing for Bristol backgammon in general, reviving memories of the days when "Lucky Pymie" ruled the roost in the early Lesters Trophy years.
Another contender who didn't waste his trip to town last night was Stuart Mann, whose hard fought win over Paul Watts keeps him firmly in the title race.
Others to make progress were Ed Turner, whose first victory of the campaign -- over Drew Caudwell -- hauled him clear of bottom place (now, astonishingly, the preserve of none other than Charlie Hetherington) and Elliot Smart, whose wins over Phil Charlton and Drew Caudwell have erased the memories of a shaky start in the top flight.
25/04/02: John in deficit, but top!
John Lewis cannot be faulted when it comes to enthusiasm, a quality which -- while not exactly in short supply -- is not so much in evidence this season in the Bristol Conference as it was last year.
He has now completed seven matches, when only two other league members have played more than three. And last night he became the first player to score a third victory, moving him to the top of the pile.
The night's other winners were scoring their first successes of the season, Andrew Cobb seeing off the new leader, while Phillip Hill's brace of wins pushed him from 10th to 4th in the table.
23/04/02: Bristol team nears finality
With several of those who could have represented Bristol in this Sunday's Inter-Cities Challenge being declared unavailable, the door has opened for others to partake of the honour of representing the Bristol backgammon community.
Among those scheduled to make their debuts in the match, which is being held for the first time at the Langley Arms in Emersons Green, are Roland Herrera, Steffen Nowak and John Ryan.
One final place remains to be filled, hopefully by tomorrow.
21/04/02: Swiss Format makes unscheduled Bristol debut
Thursday night's attempt to bring in new players, in the shape of the "Crazy Backgammon" evening, failed to achieve its main objective, as the eight players who turned up were all relatively seasoned campaigners.
A hasty revamp of the advertised competition at least held faithful to the notion that very short matches are likely to produce a fair amount of fun, but the decision was taken to transform the event into a Swiss format one, with three rounds of 3-point matches to be played against opponents with similar success rates as the evening progressed.
This, it is believed, is the first instance of that particular format being used in a Bristol competition.
And although the original plan was to take money totally out of the equation, the absence of beginners rendered this departure unnecessary, so Neil Young organised a £5 pool.
The competition was eventually won by Martin Hemming, who beat Steffen Nowak in what was effectively the final.
A chouette followed, and everyone had an enjoyable evening.
17/04/02: Paul closes further on Stuart
Paul Watts tonight became only the third player this year to qualify for next year's Bristol Masters, when he beat John Lewis 11-5 in the held over final of the April grand prix tournament.
And the thirty-five points Paul gained for the win have moved him to within just 60 points of OGP leader Stuart Mann.
John's disappointment at not completing what would have been a memorable first tournament victory should be tempered by a glance at the IGP points table, which shows him sitting proudly at the top.
17/04/02: 2001 ends in Patchway
The final match of the 2001 knock-out season at the EDS offices in Patchway was completed today! Although, in fairness, it should be stated that the delayed finish could not in any way be attributed to either of the protagonists -- they had been waiting months for a quarter-final match to be completed.
A close final, with plenty of interesting games, ended 21-17 in Ian Tarr's favour, after he had led narrowly for the last six of the seven lunch-time sessions.
The "B" Tournament, which is a consolation event for those eliminated before the latter stages of the premier DPS Backgammon knock-out, the Shield, has now been staged 22 times, and Ian's win is his fourth in the last 10 years of the competition, a record for the event.
And coupled with the 1980-81 Ladder, five DPS Backgammon League titles, two Shield wins, and two Division One Cup wins, it also gives Ian a record fourteen DPS Backgammon titles.
The win also gave him a 2001 knock-out double, as he had long since taken last year's Division One Cup.
Paul had himself scored such a double in 1998, when he carried off both the Division One Cup and the Handicap Cup.
The only other instance of a knock-out double came in 1990, when Charlie Hetherington claimed both the Shield and the Handicap Cup.
15/04/02: Tony scales new heights
Tony Lee has become the first Bristol player (OK, small point, he lives in Oxford now) to have a BIBA ranking score in excess of 1800 points.
Having made the semi-finals of the last two BIBA tournaments, Tony's score is at an all time high of 1830, placing him fifth in the country out of 173 current and pending ranking scores listed.
Ian Tarr also improved his score to a personal best of 1732, moving to 13th in the lists, while John Slattery slipped back a little to 22nd with 1699.
Stuart Mann's overall trend is also upwards. He is 30th with 1655 points.
Other points scores of those with Bristol connections, however slight: Charlie Hetherington 1647; James Hatt 1602; Phil Caudwell 1549; Hubert de l'Epine 1545; Ed Turner 1515; Martin Hemming 1482; Blaine Buchanan 1472; Elliot Smart 1448; Jerry Limb 1439; Neil Young 1418; Sarah Rosich 1417; Kevin Carter 1411; Kevin White 1406; Paul Watts 1387; John Renicks 1381; Don Hatt 1354; John Lewis 1336; Paul Gilbertson 1335; Rosey Bensley 1322.
The next BIBA tournament is the Swiss format event, the County Cups Trophy on May 4th and 5th at the Coventry Hilton.
This is traditionally a good event for the Bristol faithful, so the more we have there, the more chance we have of scoring that elusive first major success!
12/04/02: Inter-Cities team selected
The Bristol team to face Birmingham in the Inter-Cities Challenge on Sunday April 28th is certain to include one or two new faces.
Three major absentees from those who would have been selected are John Slattery, Charlie Hetherington and Dave Pym.
But with so many players to choose from, we are fortunate that we can still put out a strong team. The initial selection is: Stuart Mann; Paul Watts; David Horner; John Napier; Blaine Buchanan; Martin Hemming; Jerry Limb; Ian Tarr; Ian Preston; John Lewis; Neil Young; and Steffen Nowak.
These twelve players are being notified of their selection, but a reserve list has been drawn up to cater for further absentees.
12/04/02: Impressive local commitment to the "50"
No fewer than fourteen members of the Bristol backgammon community have already indicated their wholehearted support for the Bristol "50" by pledging to participate.
The wider publicity campaign will not begin until next month's BIBA County Cups event, but Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is confident of filling the 32 available berths.
12/04/02: TOURNAMENT ACTION AT THE B C S C ......
Twenty-one players contested the fourth of this year's Bristol Grand Prix events last night.
12/04/02: Paul closes the gap ......
Paul Watts hasn't won a monthly tournament this year -- nobody has apart from Stuart Mann -- but the purveyors of doom and gloom who were declaring the OGP title race as good as over should now be eating their words.
Paul's march to the final of the April Grand Prix tournament has narrowed Stuart's lead to 95 points. And this margin would close to 60 if Paul were to eclipse John Lewis in the final, which will now be played next Wednesday at the BCSC.
Martin Hemming, Neil Young, and John Slattery were Pauls' victims at the BCSC last night, while John Lewis, enjoying his best night since reaching the final of Lesters XX back in 1994, got past John Sprague, Jerry Limb, John Napier and Gilles Le Bris.
The consolation flight was done and dusted just after midnight, when Charlie Hetherington cruised to victory over David Horner.
12/04/02: John takes IGP lead ......
John Lewis enjoyed the best tournament performance by an intermediate this year, when he reached the final of the main flight.
And after feeling more than most the disappointment of failing to graduate to Premier Status last year, John is certainly well on track to avoid that fate in 2002, having taken over the IGP lead from Neil Young.
His twenty bonus points were enough to take him fifteen clear of Neil, and a further bonus performance on Wednesday night would give him a 60-point cushion.
12/04/02: Slatts opens six point gap ......
John Slattery, who returned to the top of the Premier League at the weekend, opened up a six point gap last night with a hard fought win over Ed Turner.
Stuart Mann, thanks to his win over Rosey Bensley, is now in second place, just ahead of Martin Hemming and Jerry Limb on points difference.
Martin had a bitter-sweet Premier night, becoming Drew Caudwell's first league victim of the season before closing out a victory over David Horner.
Jerry Limb suffered his third successive defeat, going down to Blaine Buchanan.
12/04/02: JR closes on Steffen ......
Progress in the Conference may have been fitful so far this year, but one result was registered at the BCSC last night, when John Ryan beat John Sprague.
The win moves JR into second place, just behind Steffen Nowak on points difference.
12/04/02: Third Masters qualifier ......
The relatively early elimination of both Stuart Mann and Charlie Hetherington last night at least had the beneficial effect of ensuring that somebody else will qualify for the 2003 Bristol Masters.
This will be the major bonus for the victor of Wednesday's John Lewis-- Paul Watts encounter.
10/04/02: Kevin's suicide
Don't panic. This is good news!
BIBA's British Open last weekend did feature a further local success, albeit of the curtailed variety.
Kevin White emerged from a field of 64 players (including buy-backs) to beat Ray Tannen in the final of the fourth and final flight of the weekend, the 3-point Suicide.
Meanwhile, readers will be interested to know that Hubert de l'Epine was defeated by Murat Imamoglu in the final of the main event (see report on April 7th).
08/04/02: High rollers have a summer date in Bristol
On Saturday July 27th there is a £50 entry tournament at the BCSC in Bristol!
The "Bristol 50" is a 32-player knock-out tournament with two flights, guaranteeing each player at least two matches.
With the main flight consisting of 11-point matches, and the consolation consisting of 7-point encounters, there should be a feast of backgammon, as well as a feast for the players, with a two phase buffet being laid on.
The start is scheduled for 12 noon, with a finish at approximately midnight.
Members of the Bristol backgammon community are being approached first, and any vacancies (there will surely be a few!) will be advertised on a national basis.
08/04/02: Fun night on Thursday week
Thursday April 18th sees the return of a format of event not seen in Bristol for three or four years.
Anyone who recalls the Glenside Short Match Knock-out evenings from those times will vouch for the amount of fun generated by playing a few quickfire matches where the result is always in the lap of the gods.
The more snappily but less precisely named Crazy Backgammon evening, scheduled for a 7.30pm start at the BCSC, may prove an ideal vehicle for attracting new or occasional players, especially since there is no entry fee (and therefore no prizes), and consequently nothing tangible at stake.
There will be three flights of knock-out, the main and consolation flights with 3-point matches, while the sudden death flight will be for just a single point. The format guarantees each player at least three matches.
If successful, there will be a repeat event in the autumn.
07/04/02: Routine near miss at British Open
This month's Bristol BIBA near miss was performed by Tony Lee.
Fourteen players with Bristol connections were among the 112 starters at BIBA's flagship tournament, the British Open, this weekend.
All fourteen were given the option to join in the £10 Bristol pool, but three declined.
The first round saw a few Bristol successes, as the five who dipped out included two who were beaten in "local derbies", Paul Gilbertson and Neil Young. Jerry Limb, Elliot Smart and Paul Watts also fell at that first hurdle.
Second round exits were made by Ed Turner, Kevin White, Rosey Bensley and John Slattery. Then Martin Hemming lost the only local derby in the third round.
This left four of our connections in the pre-fourth round auction on Sunday morning.
Stuart Mann and Ian Tarr each lost out to Irish opposition in Dave Coyne and Brendan Burgess respectively, while Tony Lee and London based Hubert de l'Epine, who played in the December Lesters, progressed to the quarter-finals.
Tony avenged Stuart's defeat, getting past Dave Coyne for a place in the last four, while Hubert scored a surprise win over Mike Grabsky.
The semis saw Hubert scoring another shock win, this time over Brendan Burgess. Tony was not so successful, going down to Murat, a Turkish visitor.
At the time of writing, the result of the final is unknown. Ironically the BIBA "Winner Takes All" Jackpot, amounting to £1,020, was not entered by either player, so this will mean a rollover to the County Cups Trophy in May, something which should boost the entry.
The two finalists shared the £10 pool, while the semi-finalists shared the £25 pool. Ian Tarr also got in on the action with a share of the £5 pool.
The Bristol Pool, amounting to £110, was won by Tony Lee, as Hubert -- given the chance to enter -- declined.
07/04/02: Slatts back on top
Four Premier League results were recorded at Coventry this weekend.
Saturday saw leader Jerry Limb losing his pole position on points difference to John Slattery when he became Elliot Smart's first league victim of the season.
Martin Hemming then took closer order with the leaders by beating Elliot.
And on Sunday John Slattery edged a little further ahead of the field when he beat Kevin White, while Paul Watts overcame Rosey Bensley.
04/04/02: Ian's win rounds off DPS Backgammon Division One season
The final match of the First Division season in the DPS Backgammon League, the lunch-time competition for EDS employees in Patchway, ended today in an 11-6 win for Ian Preston over Malcolm Young.
Ian thus finishes fourth in the final league table, while Malcolm is comfortably situated in mid-table.
The major issues had long since been settled -- Ian Tarr taking the title, just ahead of Phil Charlton, while the two relegation slots remaining after Rachael Moody's enforced mid-season resignation were filled by Jeremy Axford and Jeff Dando.
Whether or not those two gentlemen do actually suffer that fate may depend on how many takers there are for next season's First Division. Some of those occupying the top slots in Division Two are likely to decline the chance to move up should it arise.
Two weeks remain for any further results in Division Two to be reported.
02/04/02: Birmingham match set for April 28th
The home leg of the annual Bristol versus Birmingham extravaganza will be played at the Langley Arms, Emersons Green, on Sunday April 28th.
Bristol are the current holders of the Inter-Cities Challenge trophy, and will be aiming to extend that tenure at least until the away leg sometime in the autumn.
The fixture, to be contested as usual by two teams of around a dozen players, will feature Bristol players selected on their performances in the various local competitions.
The intention is to start with the top players -- after the April 11th tournament -- in the OGP (5), Premier League (4), the IGP (2), and the Conference (1), filling any vacancies with the next in line.
29/03/02: WEDNESDAY'S LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
There were just twelve participants at the BCSC for Thursday's league night.
29/03/02: Jerry goes top, but unbeaten records go ......
Jerry Limb has moved to the top of the Bristol Premier League for the first time.
But the achievement came at a cost, as his narrow win over Ian Tarr was followed by his first defeat of the season -- 4-11 to Dave Pym.
And Dave is fast becoming a contender, having failed to set the league alight in his previous campaigns, continuing his fine start with wins over Jerry and Kevin White.
Jerry's undefeated tag disappeared not long after the only other player with a 100% record -- Ian Preston -- was losing his unblemished record, going down 6-11 to Stuart Mann.
The top spots are now occupied by Jerry, the absent John Slattery, and Dave, with Stuart breathing down their necks.
29/03/02: Penalty threat averted ...... for now ......
The end of March checkpoint will pass with all players avoiding penalty points.
That's the good news, and there can be little doubt that the penalty system has had a beneficial effect on the progress of some players.
Phil Charlton was the last player to negotiate that small hurdle successfully, when he overcame John Napier on Thursday.
But those players who have sailed a little bit close to the wind will need to accelerate slightly if they are not to struggle to match the requirement for the next checkpoint, which needs players to have recorded at least six results by the end of May.
Four players will need to play three matches over the next two months, while four more are two matches from safety. Eight of the other ten participants can rest calmly in the knowledge that they have already met the end of May requirement.
29/03/02: Steffen and John take advantage of the lull ......
There could be nobody promoted from the Bristol Conference this year!
With the number of promotion slots dependent on the number of players having played at least eight matches by the end of November, recent progress does suggest that not many slots will open up.
The sixteen declared starters have so far managed thirteen results and three adjournments between them, and Thursday's league night turnout featured only four Conference players, who completed two and a half matches between them.
Steffen Nowak and John Ould will not be too dismayed at those statistics, however, as they each recorded a victory and now occupy the top two places in the table, heading the absent duo Jonathan Prager and John Lewis on average points difference.
25/03/02: 8000 and counting
Lunch-time backgammon at the Patchway offices of EDS reached a new milestone today, when the 8,000th result was recorded.
The mark was reached when Paul Randell won his DPS Backgammon Division One Cup quarter-final meeting with Mark Oldham, just minutes after Phil Charlton had reached the final of the same competition by defeating Ray Lowman.
It is nearly 22 years since DPS Backgammon competitions began!
25/03/02: Phil sets new record
Phil Charlton's projected seventh appearance in the final of the DPS Backgammon Division One Cup confirms him as the outstanding performer in the history of that competition.
The knock-out was first staged in 1991 for First Division players finishing their league campaigns early, so Phil's seventh final appearance in just 12 years ranks as an outstanding achievement.
Phil is also joint holder of the record for winning this event most times -- his three successes equalling those of Charlie Hetherington. Pete Cockram and Ian Tarr have each won it twice, while Paul Randell was the other winner.
22/03/02: Stuart's record treble
Stuart Mann has become the first player to win three successive monthly Bristol tournaments.
A gruelling, high quality encounter at The Leap, Downend, last night ended in an 11-10 success for Stuart against Charlie Hetherington in the final of Lesters XXXXII.
The rest of the Bristol Backgammon community would probably have preferred a Charlie victory, if only to stop Stuart dominating the OGP in a similar manner to Ian Preston's 2001 campaign.
But Stuart's 100% record in this year's monthly events has given him a 135 point lead over second placed Paul Watts.
There are, however, nine tournaments still to go!
15/03/02: ALL THE NEWS FROM LESTERS XXXXII ......
Two of the favourites emerged from a field of twenty to reach the final of the forty-second Lesters Trophy event at the BCSC last night.
15/03/02: Stuart or Charlie to preserve 2002 title monopoly ......
Not many players are winning tournaments in Bristol this year!
Stuart Mann won both the January and February Bristol Grand Prix events, with Charlie Hetherington retaining his Bristol Masters title last month. Time for a change, you might think. Apparently not.
Charlie overcame John Sprague, John Renicks, Neil Young and Martin Hemming to claim his place in the final, while Stuart came through the "short" but arguably stronger part of the draw, beating Ed Turner, Jerry Limb and Paul Watts, this preserving his astonishing 100% Bristol Grand Prix 2002 record.
And Charlie created a record en route by reaching his fourteenth Lesters Trophy semi-final.
In the customary Lesters auction, once again ably conducted by Dave Pym, Charlie had the foresight to win the bidding for Stuart, and is therefore looking forward to a healthy pay-day whatever the outcome of the final. Phil Caudwell was the successful purchaser of Charlie.
Click here for the results of Lesters XXXXII.
15/03/02: Elite band chasing Stuart ......
A small band of players appears to be hijacking much more than their share of available points in the OGP.
When the final of this month's tournament has been completed, five of the thirty-eight players who have so far contested this year's events share a massive 47% of all available points!
Should Stuart Mann win the final, he will have opened up a 135 point lead over second placed Paul Watts. Should Charlie win, however, he would move into second place just 75 points behind Stuart.
Meanwhile Jerry Limb and Martin Hemming have both accumulated useful points totals. For the full OGP points table, click here
15/03/02: Neil capitalises as intermediates stay away ......
Only three intermediates took part in Lesters XXXXII last night.
Were they intimidated by the likely strength of the field, or did they have better things to do?
Whatever the reason, fortune largely favoured the brave threesome, as -- in two cases at least -- they took advantage of the opportunity to make progress in the IGP points table.
John Sprague was the odd man out, suffering a first round exit at the hands of eventual finalist Charlie Hetherington. But at least he got his 10 points for turning up.
John Renicks was making his first appearance of the season, and took his chance by picking up 40 IGP points, his score boosted by 10 bonus points for beating Premier League player Drew Caudwell.
But pride of place went to Neil Young. Victories over Dave Pym and John Napier both earned him bonuses, and the 70 points he collected have propelled him to the very summit of the IGP table, the first player to move into three figures.
Another Masters place goes begging ......
The dearth of different tournament winners means that a fourth place in next year's Bristol Masters will go to a Premier League high finisher.
Stuart and Charlie are still the only qualifiers for next February's event!
11/03/02: And this month's BIBA near miss is ......
Tony Lee, who made it to the semi-finals of BIBA's Slattery Scottish Open at the weekend.
The event, moved south of the border to Leeds in the hope of attracting a larger entry, saw a Bristol player in the final stages for the third successive BIBA tournament.
Ed Turner had reached the semis of the Brighton Breezy in January, while John Slattery and Ian Tarr were second and third respectively at the Jarvis Trophy in February.
This weekend it was Tony Lee's turn as he emerged from a field of over 70, only to fall one step short of the final.
There was some compensation, though, as the "Winner Takes All" pool of £2,020 was shared out amongst the last four contestants, with the lion's share admittedly going to the two finalists, Ray Tannen and Brian Busfield.
And Tony must be close to becoming the first of our players to breach the 1800 points mark in the BIBA ranking list.
08/03/02: Rosey travels well
Rosey Bensley, who performed excellently in the Thailand Open recently, has now added a consolation semi-final place in the Paris Open at the tail end of last month to her portfolio of results.
What she noe needs to do is to reproduce her form abroad -- and in Bristol competition for that matter -- in BIBA events, where she has yet to break the ice significantly.
This weekend in Leeds, perhaps?
28/02/02: LEAGUE NIGHT AT THE B C S C ......
There were eighteen league players in action at the BCSC last night, including two new recruits for the Bristol Conference.
28/02/02: Jerry pushes title claim, as Stuart and Ian falter ......
Jerry Limb, an 11-2 victor over Drew Caudwell last night, is making a strong bid for the Bristol Premier League title.
Now unbeaten in five matches, and with an impressive points difference, Jerry is now in a position to push on into the lead.
And with other candidates faltering last night -- Stuart Mann lost twice, and Ian Tarr once -- Jerry's position has never been better.
Ian Preston should not be overlooked, however. With only three matches completed, he has a 100% record, and is well placed to make his own bid for honours.
In all, 40 matches -- more than a quarter of the entire load -- have now been completed, and only two players -- Phil Charlton and David Horner -- still need to report one more result apiece to be safe from incurring a penalty point at the March 31st checkpoint.
28/02/02: Stuart's wonder run ended by John ......
It had to happen sooner or later.
And last night John Napier inflicted a defeat on Stuart Mann -- Stuart's first reverse in thirteen Bristol Backgammon matches. So Stuart's 1000 to 1 award will be inscribed "4000 to 1".
But worse was to come for Stuart, as he doubled up his Inter-League Cup semi-final with Dave Pym as a league match.
This was the first instance of "doubling up" in two different Bristol competitions, and it paid off handsomely for Dave, as his 11-10 win moved him into the Inter-League Cup final, as well as contributing towards his best Premier League start yet.
28/02/02: And two more make sixteen ......
The open ended nature of the Bristol Conference was further justified last night when two more players signed up for the season.
The welcome addition of Andrew Cobb and John Sprague to the ranks brings the total of participants to a healthy sixteen, and more will surely follow.
Andrew has already had a taste of league action, having played a flurry of matches late in last year's competition, while John made his competitive debut in this month's grand prix tournament.
Only two Conference matches were completed last night, with two others being adjourned thanks to a slightly curtailed session.
John Ryan celebrated his entry into the competition by inflicting a defeat on leader Jonathan Prager, while Neil Young scored his first win of the season at Andrew's expense. Both matches were gruelling encounters.
22/02/02: FINALS AT THE LEAP ......
Last night two of Bristol's finest players went into battle at The Leap, Downend, attempting to preserve 100% records.
22/02/02: Charlie is still the Master ......
The second annual Bristol Masters event last night went the same way as the first, with Charlie Hetherington retaining his title.
Things have not been going Charlie's way in other competitions, but he seems to have developed a liking for this one. Having beaten Jerry Limb in the 2001 final, it was Kevin White's turn to try and break Charlie's monopoly.
But an 11-4 victory gave Charlie an impressive career Masters record -- played 8, won 8!
Apart from securing another title, Charlie holds the Bristol Masters salver for another 12 months, and becomes the second player to qualify for next year's event.
22/02/02: 200 up for Stuart ......
Stuart Mann last night preserved his perfect record in this year's OGP, when he eclipsed the challenge of Paul Watts in the final of the February Grand Prix event.
Having waited a long time -- over three years -- for a main flight victory, Stuart made it two in a row at The Leap last night, and has already amassed a total of 200 points in this year's OGP competition, giving himself a 65 point lead over Paul, with a further 45 point cushion over third placed Jerry Limb.
One onlooker last night was heard to proclaim, "Guess who's going to win the OGP this year".
And while Stuart threatens to dominate the competition in much the same way Ian Preston did last year, it should be remembered that there are still ten events to go this year, and plenty of opportunity for other challengers to make their mark.
22/02/02: Stuart's success is good news for Premier high fliers ......
Stuart Mann's tournament double means that an extra place in the 2003 Bristol Masters will now be allotted to a Premier League high finisher.
Last year Ian Preston's tournament exploits allowed two extra Premier League players into the Masters, over and above the regulation pair.
So Stuart's win now means at least three players will qualify for the Masters via their Premier League finishing positions.
22/02/02: 4000 to 1 and rising ......
After his victory over Paul Watts yesterday, Stuart Mann is now on a run of twelve successive wins in Bristol Backgammon competition. The 1000 to 1 award he clinched at the weekend has since metamorphosed via a 2000 to 1 award into a 4000 to 1 one.
Where will it all end?
22/02/02: Charlie's Premier woes continue ......
Charlie Hetherington may have confirmed his status as one of Bristol's finest players by retaining his Masters crown, but this has not made him immune from continuing disappointment in the Bristol Premier League.
A Wednesday defeat at the hands of Martin Hemming was followed last night by a fortuitous 8-point flourish from Jerry Limb, whose 11-4 victory maintained his 100% record in this season's competition.
Charlie was league runner-up in 2000, but has since suffered a string of setbacks, having won only a third of his last eighteen matches in the competition.
This is a trend he must arrest soon if he is to figure in the top flight next season, when the league seems certain to be split into two divisions.
Martin, meanwhile, scored another win last night, an 11-3 triumph over Kevin White.
20/02/02: Final double header at The Leap tomorrow
The Leap at Downend plays host to two very important matches tomorrow evening.
Holder Charlie Hetherington meets Kevin White in the final of the second Bristol Masters, while the final of the February Bristol Grand Prix event features Stuart Mann and Paul Watts.
Spectators, and potential chouette players are very welcome to come along.
20/02/02: Ian clinches championship
Ian Tarr today made sure of becoming the 21st champion of the DPS Backgammon League, the lunch-time competition for EDS employees in Patchway.
His 11-5 victory over Malcolm Young clinched a record fifth title, and his third in the past five seasons. Only John King, winner in 1998-99, and Charlie Hetherington, last season's champion, have finished above Ian during this spell.
Phil Charlton, who also has four league titles to his name, is confirmed as runner-up.
Meanwhile, at the foot of the division, Jeff Dando cannot escape either of the two remaining relegation slots, while Jeremy Axford, who has finished his campaign, can only wait and see whether or not Adam Clutterbuck is able to do enough to claw his way to safety, by winning at least two of his five remaining fixtures.
Others not yet sure of escaping the drop are Ian Preston and Malcolm Young, although just one more victory for each will ensure safety. In Ian's case, though, the incurring of more penalty points would complicate his situation.
18/02/02: Three over 1700 in BIBA rankings list
The latest BIBA rankings show three of our players now rated over 1700 points!
Tony Lee's recent exploits have consolidated his position as the number one Bristol player in the list, his score of 1754 placing him 8th in the current list, which includes well over 100 players.
Meanwhile John Slattery and Ian Tarr, second and third respectively in BIBA's Jarvis Trophy event last weekend, have both moved over the 1700 mark for the first time, John in 11th place with 1728 points, Ian 15th with 1714.
Others listed include: 26th Charlie Hetherington 1647; 32nd Stuart Mann 1635; ranking provisional James Hatt 1602; 56th Phil Caudwell 1549; 59th Ed Turner 1530; 70th Elliot Smart 1488; ranking provisional Blaine Buchanan 1472; 74th Martin Hemming 1468; 75th Hubert de l'Epine and Jerry Limb 1466; 78th John Napier 1452; 79th Neil Young 1444; 90th Sarah Rosich 1417; 92nd Kevin Carter 1411; 93rd Paul Watts 1410; 95th Kevin White 1404; 99th John Renicks 1391; 100th Paul Gilbertson 1388; 105th Don Hatt 1354; 106th John Lewis 1336; and 107th Rosey Bensley 1320.
17/02/02: A visitor from America
Blaine Buchanan's weekly session at the Spring Gardens will have a visitor from afar tomorrow (Monday) evening.
Donna is over in the UK for a week, and was looking for backgammon action to spice up her stay. Hopefully she will remember her visit to Bristol with some affection.
It goes without saying that all local players are welcome to attend this session, as is always the case.
17/02/02: Stop press: Slatts defeated again
Jerry Limb played the second match of his Premier League campaign in Maidenhead today, and so far his season is going well.
Champion and current league leader John Slattery was Jerry's victim today, going down 3-11, having suffered as many league defeats in one weekend as he did all last season!
Each player has now played at least two matches, and three of them still have unbeaten records -- Stuart Mann (4 wins), Ian Preston (2) and Jerry (2).
Slatts "black weekend" -- in purely backgammon terms, that is -- still leaves him with a healthy looking record, having won six times in eight matches.
17/02/02: UNUSUAL GOINGS ON IN MAIDENHEAD ......
Something extraordinary occurred in Berkshire on Saturday.
17/02/02: Surprise! ......
It was Saturday afternoon at Rosey Bensley's house in Maidenhead, and John Slattery was looking forward to a day trip to celebrate his birthday.
Then the strangest thing began to happen. A succession of familiar faces started appearing at the door, and suddenly the secret was out. "Slatts Birthday Tournament" was about to begin!
Sixteen players (including Slatts, Rosey, and Rosey's brother Paul Gilbertson, who had been kind enough to buy a trophy especially for the event) were there, and would pay handsomely for the privilege of competing.
Of the Bristol connections, Rosey, Jerry Limb, Elliot Smart, and Slatts himself would make first round exits, although Jerry was later to make the final of the consolation flight.
Elliot and Slatts were victims of Ian Tarr and Stuart Mann, this latter blackguard having the temerity to expel the centre of attention from his own tournament at the first hurdle!
Ian was next to go, hammered by Stuart, as Stuart, Paul, and Tony Lee all made it to the "money back" sanctuary of the semi-finals.
Stuart then fell to Tony, while Paul progressed at the expense of "Grand Master" John Clark.
And there was some justice as Paul took the final 11-8, and was able to take home the trophy he had bought without the need of a guilty conscience. And he won some money.
All in all, a splendid occasion, with everyone benefitting from the hospitality of Rosey, whose friend Sue worked like a trojan to make sure everyone had enough to eat and drink. A truly excellent day.
17/02/02: 2000 to 1 Stuart! ......
It's finally happened! Stuart Mann was getting himself geared up for the last leg of his attempt to land the first Bristol 1000 to 1 award next week in the final of the February tournament.
Unaware of the precise rules for the award, Stuart sat down before Saturday's event to engage Elliot Smart in Premier League battle, and it dawned on him that this would be the vital 1000 to 1 result.
There was a twist, though. With the score at 7-all, the match had to be adjourned to allow the tournament to start.
And there awaiting him in the first round was none other than the sponsor of the award himself, eager to give the match added significance by doubling it up as a Premier League encounter.
Stuart agreed to this, again failing to realise the implications for the award! To his credit, he carried on and won a tight match to become Bristol's first 1000 to 1 award recipient.
Later on, Stuart completed the match against Elliot, his victory making it 11 in a row.
At this point, it emerged that while the run keeps going, it becomes a 2000-1, or 4000-1, or 8000-1 award, with the trophy getting steadily bigger! This straight from the mouth of the sponsor!
So Stuart currently stands at 2000-1, with the prospect of making it 4000-1 against Paul later this week!
17/02/02: All the Premier League news from Maidenhead ......
The usual suspects are congregating at the head of the Bristol Premier League table.
Taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by yesterday's event in Maidenhead, five matches were completed.
Possibly the most significant -- although only time will tell, here -- was Stuart Mann's 11-8 victory over reigning champ John Slattery.
This was John's first defeat of the campaign, although he later added Elliot Smart to his list of victims.
Although the chasing pack will not be displeased to hear of the loss of John's 100% record, the result also meant that Stuart maintained his unblemished account.
Of other contenders, Jerry Limb got his league campaign off to a belated start with a victory, while his victim -- Rosey Bensley -- also lost a nail-biter to Ian Tarr, who is well in the picture with four wins out of five.
15/02/02: TOURNAMENT NEWS FROM THE B C S C ......
There were 25 entrants for the second Bristol Grand Prix event of 2002 at the B C S C on Thursday night, including two debutants -- John Sprague, the landlord of the Coronation in Southville, and Gilles Le Bris, flying the flag for France and Hewlett Packard.
15/02/02: Stuart aims for Grand Prix monopoly ......
Stuart Mann, who last month scored his first monthly tournament win for over three years, is apparently intent on making up for lost time.
He will face Paul Watts -- probably next week -- in the held over final of last night's tournament, looking to preserve a 100% record in the 2002 Bristol Grand Prix series.
Last night he fought his way past debutant John Sprague, and "heavyweights" Jerry Limb and Ian Preston to set up the encounter with Paul, who is currently enjoying the best spell of his two-and-a-half year career.
Paul came through the more heavily populated part of the draw by means of victories over Max Limb, Neil Young, Blaine Buchanan and Steffen Nowak.
15/02/02: David claims "first" flight win ......
David Horner proudly proclaimed his first ever flight win, when he beat John Sprague in last night's consolation final.
The only problem was: he was wrong!
Beating Roland Herrera in the IGP consolation final last May obviously made little impression on David, as it had completely slipped his mind.
In last night's consolation flight, David overcame John Slattery and Roland Herrera, before spoiling John Sprague's highly promising debut appearance.
15/02/02: Stuart and Paul vying for OGP lead ......
The outcome of the Stuart Mann versus Paul Watts encounter, probably to be held at The Leap, Downend, next week, will decide who leads the OGP points table after two of the twelve events.
A win for Stuart would move him on to 200 points, giving him a 65 point lead over Paul, with third placed Jerry Limb a further 45 behind.
Should Paul win, on the other hand, he would sneak into a narrow lead, with 170 points to Stuart's 165.
15/02/02: Bonus points boost Steffen in IGP ......
Steffen Nowak, who only made his tournament debut last October, is making steady progress.
In his best showing yet, Steffen reached last night's main flight semi-finals, before succumbing to Paul Watts.
En route, there were victories over Craig Adams, Rosey Bensley, and Martin Hemming, the latter two earning him enough bonus points to propel him into pole position in the IGP points table, ahead of second placed Roland Herrera.
There were seventeen opportunities for IGP players to earn bonus points last night, but only three were taken -- John Sprague being the other beneficiary.
15/02/02: 1000 to 1 in sight for Stuart ......
Stuart Mann's next match in Bristol Backgammon competition -- almost certainly his 11-point February Grand Prix final meeting with Paul Watts -- could see him become the first recipient of a Bristol Backgammon 1000 to 1 award.
Since John Slattery kindly offered to sponsor the award back in October, both Blaine Buchanan and Paul Watts have got close, and now it's Stuart's turn. Watch this space.
15/02/02: Slatts sets out his stall ......
John Slattery is intent on letting the world know that his defence of the Bristol Premier League title is in deadly earnest.
John completed the fifth of his seventeen matches last night, defeating David Horner, and has yet to suffer a reverse.
15/02/02: Debut win for Chris ......
Chris Hemming may not have set the world alight in the tournament last night, but when he came to making his Bristol Conference debut, he was certainly not found wanting.
He opened his campaign with an emphatic victory over John Lewis, who later made some amends by beating Simonetta Barone.
15/02/02: Not such a smooth ride for Ian
Ian Tarr, for so long apparently coasting to an easy DPS Backgammon League Division One championship, seems unable to finish the job.
As things stand, Ian will still take the title, even if he loses his three remaining matches, provided the defeats are not by massive margins.
Having glided to fifteen wins from his first seventeen matches, he was left with the task of getting just one win from his last four matches to be absolutely sure of the title.
The reality of the situation, though, was that even four heavy defeats would leave Ian in top spot, ahead of Phil Charlton on points difference.
Ironically, Rachael Moody's resignation from the league last month kept Phil's wafer thin chance of taking the title alive. The rules dictated that Rachael's 11-0 whitewash of Phil would no longer count, thus leaving the title door ajar, with Phil's closing sequence of eight wins rescuing a previously moderate season.
Last week Ian suffered a narrow defeat to Adam Clutterbuck, and now he stands 4-10 down to Paul Randell.
If defeat ensues, he only has encounters with Ian Preston and Malcolm Young in which to close things out satisfactorily.
11/02/02: Masters final date set
The Bristol Masters final between Charlie Hetherington and Kevin White will now take place at The Leap, Downend, on Wednesday February 20th.
All spectators will be welcome.
11/02/02: Dual purpose match sets a precedent
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr was required to make a ruling at the BIBA tournament at the weekend, which will now have repercussions for the rest of the Bristol season at least.
He was asked whether or not a BIBA 11-point match could also count as a Bristol competition match, provided both parties were in agreement prior to the start of the match in question. And although his decision has set a precedent, he decided that there was no valid reason for not allowing this.
Whether or not this ruling will prove to be a mistake remains to be seen. But the ruling stands until the end of the year, when the situation will be reviewed.
10/02/02: Yet another near miss at BIBA
After Ed Turner's heroic exploits in Brighton last month, there seemed to be every chance of Bristol-related involvement in the closing stages of BIBA's Jarvis Trophy Swiss format event at the Coventry Hilton this weekend.
The reason for such optimism centred around the participation of no fewer than seventeen players either from the Bristol scene, or who have been welcome visitors.
Consider a field of 80 entrants, which included the following (in alphabetical order): Rosey Bensley, Phil Caudwell, Hubert de l'Epine, Paul Gilbertson, Charlie Hetherington, Tony Lee, John Lewis, Stuart Mann, John Renicks, Sarah Rosich, John Slattery, Elliot Smart, Ian Tarr, Ed Turner, Paul Watts, Kevin White, and Neil Young.
At a recent BIBA event someone came up with the idea of a "Bristol Pool", where the most successful Bristol player would have a prize to take home. So this time there was one, and thirteen of the aforementioned parted with £10 each for the privilege of participation.
A trifle defeatist this, maybe. But perhaps not. The hope was that it would prove to be a lucky charm to inspire the Bristol effort to the ultimate success which has thus far been so elusive.
The Friday night warm-up tournament had provided some encouragement. Elliot Smart and Neil Young had made it to a semi-final meeting, which had to be adjourned because of the late hour.
And so to the main event. The principal objective on a Saturday is to win three 11-point matches, ensuring a sound night's sleep and entry into the Sunday morning auction of those players still in with a chance of winning the tournament.
Although there were a good few of our players with two victories come Saturday evening, our contenders had been whittled down to just two.
John Slattery, of course, is one of our own, although in truth he belongs to the backgammon world at large. He does, however, cite Bristol as the favourite of those clubs he visits regularly. As a winner of BIBA tournaments before his Bristol involvement, though, it is never a surprise when he moves into contention.
For Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr, though -- just like the rest of the home-reared talent -- the Holy Grail of BIBA success still represents an irresistible goal, and his three hard fought wins earned him a place in the final 10.
Meanwhile Elliot had beaten Neil in the adjourned semi from Friday, earning himself a final meeting with Brian Busfield. This, of course, would take place on Sunday!
Further Bristol reasons to be cheerful came on Saturday evening when Phil Caudwell and Charlie Hetherington, operating under their customary alias "Thelma and Louise", fought their way through to the final of the doubles. Here the participants agreed to share the £300 pot.
The Sunday morning auction came and went. Five crucial fourth round matches began -- three of them on adjacent boards. Birmingham's Dave Startin, still ranked as a BIBA "Beginner", took on a player with an impressive recent record of success -- Peter Bennet. Ian Tarr met old adversary Uldis Lapikens. And John Slattery faced Liverpool's Peter Chan.
Dave achieved the first result -- a shock whitewash victory over Peter Bennet! Ian and John were having tougher battles, but both eventually came through to the last five in the frame. Next opponents for them respectively were Julian Minwalla and Rodney Lighton, while Dave Startin was pitted against one of the three-match winners.
He, Ian and John all won through to move into the sixth round unbeaten.
It was here that things began to go wrong from a Bristol point of view. Dave beat John with surprising ease, and now had to find out whether a seventh round decider would be necessary.
Ian had drawn the defeated Rodney Lighton, and an epic match unfolded. If Ian won, he would play Dave in the seventh round. If Rodney won, Dave would be the winner.
A tight match ensued, with the score edging up to 9-all. Ian doubled and apparently had the game sewn up, as a large crowd gathered.
What occurred next was described by Peter Bennet as the worst sequence of bad luck he had ever seen! Slightly over the top, but you get the picture. Rodney won in a canter, confirming Dave as the Jarvis Trophy winner -- as well as taking the "Top Beginner" prize.
Slatts was placed second on countback, and therefore took the "Bristol Pool". Ian had the £35 second prize in the £5 pool.
Ed Turner was declared "Top Intermediate" after winning four times, building solidly on his January success.
And, almost unnoticed alongside the Tarr-Lighton match, Elliot Smart won the Friday tournament on a Sunday, after a 3-point shoot-out against Brian Busfield.
All in all, a weekend where the Bristol contingent consolidated a trend where their collective profile grows ever higher.
Onward and upward!
08/02/02: Coventry invasion imminent
A mass invasion of the Coventry Hilton by many of our playing representatives is taking place this weekend.
Among those expected to be taking part in BIBA's Jarvis Trophy event are: John Slattery, Rosey Bensley, Kevin White, Tony Lee, Elliot and Cary Smart, Ian Tarr, John Lewis, Charlie Hetherington, Stuart Mann, Ed Turner, Paul Watts and Neil Young.
A report may appear here on Sunday evening.
08/02/02: ALL THE NEWS FROM MASTERS NIGHT ......
The second Bristol Masters, held at the BCSC last night, was a somewhat low-key affair.
08/02/02: Charlie aims for Masters monopoly ......
The Bristol Masters, where the previous year's successful players get the chance to pit their wits against each other, was attended by only fourteen players.
With sixteen qualifiers and replacements scheduled to take part, a late call had gone out in the hope of attracting possible "wild card" entrants, but in the event, nobody responded.
If any two other players had arrived on the scene, they would definitely have played!
Stuart Mann was laid low by a bug, while Ian Preston was always going to struggle to get back from a day in Derby in time to participate, and the man at the top of the "substitutes list" on account of his OGP record last year, Jonathan Prager, also failed to materialise.
The result of this shortfall of players was the handing of byes to Ed Turner and Roland Herrera.
The night's star performers were Charlie Hetherington and Kevin White, who will contest the final at some future time and place.
Charlie won last year's inaugural Masters, so a victory would give him a monopoly on this event. His victims last night were Paul Watts, Rosey Bensley and David Horner.
Kevin reached the final by beating Blaine Buchanan, John Slattery and Ed Turner.
08/02/02: Slatts' title defence still going smoothly ......
Premier League champion John Slattery leap-frogged Ian Tarr at the top of this season's league table at the BCSC last night, when he secured a comfortable victory over Ian, who suffered his first defeat in four matches. John now has three wins under his belt without reply.
Meanwhile Martin Hemming was notching his first win in the top flight, beating Blaine Buchanan by an identical 11-3 scoreline.
08/02/02: Roland completes ILC semi-final line-up ......
The last of the four Inter-League Cup groups was decided last night when Roland Herrera completed a clean sweep of Group C, beating Rosey Bensley 11-5.
Roland's semi-final opponent is Jerry Limb. The other semi is between Dave Pym and Stuart Mann.
06/02/02: Sneak into the Bristol Masters?
Tomorrow (Thursday) night's Bristol Masters -- at the BCSC, starting at 7pm -- is an event for sixteen qualifiers, some of the cream of local talent.
However, should any of those sixteen not turn up for any reason, then that would leave a vacancy in the starting line-up.
If possible, such a vacancy would be filled from any other players present, with the highest placed available players from last year's OGP and IGP taking precedence.
Anyone who fancies coming along on the off chance of getting a surprise outing in this excellent tournament, is more than welcome to do so. It should be a good night anyway.
03/02/02: Award Night photos on display
Click here for a selection of photos from last week's Bristol Backgammon Awards Night.
The photos are provided by Richard Dunton.
02/02/02: Masters entry list complete
David Horner, having returned from a long trip, has happily accepted his place in the Bristol Masters to complete the sixteen player line-up.
Should any of the sixteen cry off during the week for any reason, however, replacements would need to be found. There is a pecking order for filling vacancies, currently headed by Jonathan Prager, but theoretically anyone turning up on the night could get a "wild card" entry.
31/01/02: David offered Masters place
With no response from 2000 Premier League champion Simon Baker, his place in next week's Bristol Masters tournament is being offered to David Horner.
2001 IGP runner-up David thus becomes the second "substitute" to be offered a place in the sixteen-strong line-up. Roland Herrera -- the highest placed non-qualifier in the 2001 OGP points list -- was pleased to accept his place in the event, which is being held at the BCSC next Thursday evening.
31/01/02: NINETEEN AT FIRST LEAGUE NIGHT ......
Ten Premier league players and nine from the Conference were present to do battle at the BCSC last night for the first of this year's monthly league nights ......
31/01/02: Ian back on top
January comes to a close with all but two members of the Bristol Premier League having completed at least one of their seventeen matches.
And pride of place so far -- both in the progress and the success stakes -- goes to Ian Tarr, whose three matches have each brought hard fought wins. Last night's victory came at the expense of Martin Hemming, last season's Conference runner-up, who was experiencing his first taste of Premier League action.
Martin had already suffered his first defeat at the hands of Dave Pym. Meanwhile Ian Preston, the reigning OGP champion, was celebrating his entry into the Premier with victories over Drew Caudwell and Dave Pym.
Another Premier newcomer, Paul Watts, scored his first win in the top flight when he defeated John Napier.
31/01/02: Jonathan strides on
League newcomer Jonathan Prager became the first player this season to register two Conference victories, when he defeated Neil Young 11-7.
And two other new arrivals on the Conference scene celebrated their league debut night with victories.
Steffen Nowak and John Ould met each other in their first match, Steffen coming out on top, 11-6. But John shrugged off that disappointment by beating John Lewis 11-8.
Unluckiest player of the night had to be Phillip Hill who got to double figures in both his matches, but left with nothing to show for his efforts but 10-11 defeats by John Lewis and Roland Herrera.
With only one match completed prior to last night, it was encouraging to see more than half the declared Conference entrants recording results.
25/01/02: AWARDS NIGHT AT THE B C S C ......
A review of the Bristol Backgammon year of 2001, presentation of prizes, a free buffet, and the settling of some important unfinished business. These were the main ingredients of Thursday's Bristol Backgammon Awards at the BCSC. And with a few league matches thrown in for good measure......
25/01/02: Ian relates record year
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr enthralled/bored an assembled throng of around 30 last night as he summarised the details of the local backgammon scene during the record breaking year of 2001.
With 77 players (including 34 new ones) playing a total of 580 matches, 2001 will be a difficult year to beat. But we'll try ......
25/01/02: Five trophies head east along the M4
The raiders from along the M4, Rosey Bensley and John Slattery, took five trophies away with them last night, plus four buff envelopes containing sundry amounts of cash.
The Premier League and Conference trophies we shall -- of course -- see again. But John had two mementoes to keep, and Rosey one.
Other happy prize winners included Ian Preston, Stuart Mann, Ian Tarr, Martin Hemming, Paul Watts, and -- later on -- Blaine Buchanan.
Many of these will have been captured on film by Richard Dunton, who once again did the photographic honours.
Only Bideford-based David Horner was absent, but his moment will doubtless come on his next visit ......
25/01/02: Blaine takes his second Lesters title
Blaine Buchanan, having taken the Lesters XXXVII honours in Autumn 2000, added the altogether more lucrative forty-first edition of the event to his CV at the BCSC last night.
This was the longest delayed Lesters final on record, but Blaine was well rewarded for his wait.
The outstanding semi-final was completed earlier in the evening when Charlie Hetherington was summarily brushed aside by Rosey Bensley.
After the award ceremony came the final, and Rosey moved into a 4-0 lead. Blaine scored the next eight points, but lost the lead again as Rosey moved 9-8 up.
With the cube on two, and some to-ing and fro-ing, the final outcome was a gammon to Blaine, and an 11-9 victory.
Apart from his handsome winners' prize and the magnificent John Chidgey Cup (awarded to the winner of the December tournament), Blaine had the satisfaction of finishing 3rd in the OGP -- a feat which carried with it another cash prize, albeit a small one.
Blaine had finished runner-up in the 2000 OGP.
Charlie ended the OGP season in 4th place, with Rosey 6th.
The other good thing from Blaine's point of view was the securing of a Bristol Masters place ......
25/01/02: John top already!
John Slattery managed to fit his first two Premier League matches in at the BCSC last night.
And a pair of 11-8 victories edged him just ahead of Ian Tarr at the top of the league.
Stuart Mann and Kevin White also grabbed wins, and more than half the Premier League membership has completed at least one match ......
25/01/02: First blood to Jonathan
Jonathan Prager marked his Bristol Conference debut by registering the first success in this year's competition.
His 11-5 win over John Lewis demonstrated why some are already tipping Jonathan for Conference honours ......
24/01/02: Come on down!
It's celebration time tonight at the BCSC.
The second annual Bristol Backgammon Awards Night, featuring a review of 2001, awarding of prizes, and a free buffet, is an occasion not to be missed.
There is also the prospect of the long overdue conclusion of the December Lesters Trophy event, with Rosey Bensley and Charlie Hetherington due to slug out the 7-point semi-final early in the evening, with the winner going into a final against Blaine Buchanan later on.
It's also possible that there will be action from the closing stages of 2001's Inter-League Cup, and there may be the odd league game played for good measure.
Whether a current or future player, all will be made welcome.
17/01/02: Stuart takes the honours
Stuart Mann is the first leader of the 2002 OGP.
He beat Jerry Limb 11-4 at The Leap in Downend tonight, which earned him a differential (between the winner and runner-up prizes) of £49, a 35 point lead in the OGP, and a place in the 2003 Bristol Masters -- the first player to qualify for that.
The four victories which secured the tournament for Stuart are also a handy start as he joins those vying to build that elusive 10-match winning sequence to earn the first 1000 to 1 prize.
16/01/02: Jerry in final
The unplayed semi-final of Thursday's main flight at the BCSC was concluded tonight in Henbury.
Jerry Limb played a less than perfect host to Paul Watts, beating him 7-5 to secure a final clash with Stuart Mann. This will take place tomorrow evening at The Leap, Downend.
16/01/02: Team backgammon to hit the Bristol area?
Blaine Buchanan, who has a bunch of players at the Coronation in Southville champing at the bit for team backgammon, is looking for other groups in a similar situation.
If there are any other groups of around five players, hopefully not too top-heavy in terms of overall experience, Blaine would like to hear from you.
And there is always the possibility that team backgammon could take on in a big way. Blaine's mobile number is 07712-032977, and his email address is blainer@totalise.co.uk. And Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is also happy to endorse this particular initiative.
13/01/02: Ed's finest hour
BIBA's Bright 'n' Breezey tournament -- the opening national event of the year -- was attended by around 120 players, some of whom travelled from these parts to the Brighton Hilton.
There was not a lot to report for most, but Ed Turner more than made up for that!
Having progressed as far as the semi-finals of the main flight, Ed was to lose out agonisingly 10-11 to Brian Busfield. A great effort on Ed's part, and one which deserves to be featured -- as it now is -- on the "Bristol's near misses" page.
13/01/02: Back to square one in the 1000 to 1 stakes
Blaine Buchanan's fine recent run came to a halt at Thursday's tournament with his first round exit at the hands of John Ryan.
Having conjured a run of eight victories -- just as Paul Watts had a month or two earlier -- Blaine had the inaugural 1000 to 1 award well within his sights.
Charlie Hetherington then took over at the head of the queue, and things were going well until he attempted to add a seventh victory to his fine run in the main flight semi-finals. Stuart Mann returned Charlie to square one, though, and the absent Rosey Bensley is now the player closest to the finish line -- if a run of five wins can be regarded as close!
Stuart can add to his run of three wins if he wins the final, while semi-finalists Paul Watts (on 3) and Jerry Limb (on 2) will doubtless have something to say about that.
Meanwhile Elliot Smart's successful consolation flight run gave him a three match winning sequence.
12/01/02: THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE B C S C ......
The Bristol Backgammon year kicked off at the BCSC on Thursday evening with a slightly early start. Whether or not this was a factor in a disappointing turnout for the first of the new combined Bristol Grand Prix tournaments remains to be seen ......
12/01/02: Twenty-one in combined grand prix event ......
A delayed start -- the message about the change of start time had not quite got through to everybody -- and an earlier than usual finish were features of the opening tournament of the year on Thursday evening at the BCSC.
With both OGP and IGP points at stake, the field was almost evenly split between those eligible for both competitions (10) and those eligible only for the OGP (11).
Missing from the field were the two players who headed the OGP standings in 2001, Ian Preston and John Slattery. But while they missed a chance to establish an early advantage, others didn't.
12/01/02: Stuart aiming for repeat of 2000 OGP ......
The main flight action in Thursday's tournament was done and dusted by 11.45pm as Jerry Limb and Paul Watts agreed to contest their semi-final at a later date.
The winner of that match will meet Stuart Mann in the final. Stuart has 65 OGP points so far, and heads the table, at least until the completion of the semi-final.
He will be hoping that this early taste of success is a precursor to a repeat of his 2000 OGP championship triumph.
Stuart's run to the final took him past Kevin White, Ed Turner and Charlie Hetherington.
12/01/02: Roland and Jonathan are early IGP leaders ......
Roland Herrera and Jonathan Prager were the only intermediates to make it through to the last eight of Thursday's tournament, so it is not too surprising that they are the early leaders of the IGP.
Both players are among the hot favourites to progress to Premier Status during 2002, and they were among four players to benefit from the new bonus points rule in the IGP.
Ten bonus points are awarded to each intermediate who manages to defeat a Premier player in these tournaments, and the honour of becoming the first recipient fell to John Ryan for his first round victory over Blaine Buchanan. Apart from John, Roland and Jonathan, John Lewis joined this band with a consolation flight win over, coincidentally, Blaine Buchanan.
12/01/02: Elliot takes consolation ......
The consolation flight of Thursday's tournament was won by Elliot Smart.
Having been eliminated from the main flight by Jonathan Prager, Elliot beat Kevin White, John Napier and John Lewis to take the first, albeit small, title of the new year.
12/01/02: Masters anomaly rectified ......
The rule which has allowed players to claim Premier Status by winning two Bristol main flights has been clarified to include the Bristol Masters in its scope. Although, by definition, most players in the Masters -- which will take place on February 7th this year -- will already have Premier Status, the comparative strength of this event demands that the winner, were it to be an intermediate, would benefit in this way.
12/01/02: Ian takes early Premier lead ......
Four matches have now been completed in the 2002 Bristol Premier League, and Ian Tarr -- with victories over Phil Charlton and David Horner -- is the early leader.
Charlie Hetherington and Blaine Buchanan are the others to register wins so far.
12/01/02: Three more for the Conference ......
Three more names have been added to the list of participants in this year's Bristol Conference.
Phillip Hill already has a season's experience under his belt, but Chris Hemming and Ashley Hurley are welcome newcomers to the fold.
The three bring the total of declared starters to fourteen, and more are expected soon.
07/01/02: All the latest from Thailand ......
John Slattery and Rosey Bensley have been having a great time at the Thailand Open.
John made it to the semi-finals of the Boxing Day tournament, and later won a satellite tournament, as well as investing shrewdly in the auction for the main event.
But Rosey signalled her intent for the new year by winning seven out of ten matches in the main, consolation, and last chance, beating some highly ranked players along the way.
BIBA veterans may be interested to hear that it was Londoner Geoff Oliver who put paid to Rosey's main flight chances.
Meanwhile, John hopes to be fit enough to play in the Bristol Open event on Thursday.
05/01/02: First Premier result in!
Charlie Hetherington has struck the first blow in this year's Premier League race, beating Phil Charlton 11-3 over two lunch breaks at the EDS offices in Patchway.
One result in...... 152 to go!
Recent news items
News items from 2002 (second half)
News items from 2001 (second half)
Back to Home Page