News items from 2002 (second half)
31/12/02: 2003 rules on the web
The rules for the new season's competitions are now available for browsing on the web.
Click on any of the following links for your preferred choice: Premier One, Premier Two, the Conference, the OGP, and the IGP.
31/12/02: Website to move
Some time in January, this website will be moving house!
The purchase of a "proper" domain name, and Ian Tarr's projected move to broadband mean that -- hopefully in a couple of weeks' time -- you will see the site at the more sensibly named www.bristol-backgammon.org .
It is possible that the service will be slightly diminished until the move is completed, but every effort will be made to keep everyone fully informed of developments.
18/12/02: Premier entry closes at twenty-one
As anticipated, there is a record entry for the 2003 Bristol Premier League.
A final total of twenty-one players means a split into two divisions, with eleven in Premier One, and ten in Premier Two.
Fourteen of last year's eighteen contestants are in the thick of it again in 2003 -- only the departed David Horner, plus the otherwise heavily committed Ian Preston, John Napier and Jerry Limb missing out.
The seven newcomers include two who have had Premier Status for a while -- Tim Jefferies, who took a year out last this year, and Sarah Rosich, whose move back to Bristol from Cardiff opens up new backgammon opportunities for her.
The other newcomers are those players who have earned their elevation to the top flight through their efforts this year -- Neil Young, Steffen Nowak, Roland Herrera, Simonetta Barone and John Ould.
Those making the cut for Premier One are the top twelve finishers from this year's competition, minus the absent qualifier Ian Preston.
16/12/02: Charlie claims year's final honour
A quadruple gammon was instrumental in gaining Charlie Hetherington the final Bristol Backgammon honour of the year at The Leap, Downend, tonight.
With Stuart Mann leading 5-2 in the 11-point final of Lesters XXXXV, there was little indication that two games later the match would totally escape him.
Charlie's 11-5 victory gained him the lion's share of the available prize money, plus the tenure of the John Chidgey Cup for twelve months, and the runner-up spot in the OGP.
Charlie's 140-point haul from the event edged him just five points ahead of thrid placer Paul Watts, with Neil Young also being relegated to fourth place.
The tournament win was Charlie's fifth Lesters triumph, moving him to outright second in the list behind seven-time winner Dave Pym.
It was Stuart's first reverse in four Lesters finals.
16/12/02: Stuart and Charlie at The Leap tonight
The final match of the Bristol Backgammon season takes place at The Leap, Downend, tonight.
Charlie Hetherington and Stuart Mann contest the final of Lesters XXXXV -- an 11-point match -- with more than a little money riding on the outcome.
As well as the tournament prize money, there is the small matter of the "Winner Takes All" pool, plus the auction, where -- unusually -- both protagonists purchased themselves.
Also to be decided are some of the top placings in the OGP, where Paul Watts will be deprived of the runner-up spot in the event of a Charlie victory.
13/12/02: LESTERS XXXXV NEWS ......
Lesters XXXXV, alias Bristol Grand Prix 2003 tournament number 12, alias the John Chidgey Cup, almost brought the Bristol Backgammon year to a fitting conclusion at the BCSC last night.
In fact, it will be the final of the event, between Stuart Mann and Charlie Hetherington on Monday evening, which brings that curtain down.
13/12/02: Stuart and Charlie in Lesters final clash ......
Twenty-four starters toed the line at Lesters XXXXV at the BCSC on Thursday evening. Included in the line-up were Steve Ferrer, making his Bristol Backgammon debut, and Scott Wood, returning to action after a two-year interval.
Only the final -- between Charlie Hetherington and Stuart Mann, at The Leap, Downend on Monday evening (8.30pm) -- remains, before a line can be drawn under another successful Bristol Backgammon year.
Charlie had to fight his way through the more heavily populated side of the draw, beating Steve Ferrer, Simonetta Barone, Steffen Nowak and Blaine Buchanan along the way.
And with Blaine's demise went the last hope of a "Winner Takes All" pool rollover.
Stuart progressed through the other side of the draw at the expense of Neil Young, Jerry Limb and Martin Hemming.
13/12/02: Stuart's emphatic OGP triumph ......
After Stuart Mann won the first three monthly tournaments of the year, many thought that the race for the OGP title was all over. It is now.
Having amassed 320 points in those first three events, Stuart set a formidable target for the pursuing hordes, but despite a steady accumulation of further points, Paul Watts and Neil Young were doing enough to keep their flames of hope flickering.
But while Neil and Paul were failing to add to their tally last night, Stuart was confirming his second OGP triumph in three years by going all the way to the final, where he can raise the final margin of victory from 120 to 160 points.
Stuart has had another great year, and his OGP title will come as some compensation for narrowly missing out on the Premier League championship for the second successive year.
He can now justly claim to be the best player in the region.
His final opponent on Monday evening, Charlie Hetherington, would leap from fourth place to second with a victory, so Paul Watts will be an especially interested bystander.
The top ten finishers all get Premier Status if they don't already have it, but nine of them do, and Neil Young had already made sure of being added to the list by means of his runaway IGP triumph.
13/12/02: Steffen clinches IGP runner-up spot ......
While Neil Young had long since been assured of this year's IGP title, the race for second place, and the Premier Status it carries, was an intriguing one.
Going into the final tournament, several players had the opportunity to claim that particular prize, but the remote chances of Phillip Hill and Stephan Kerberg were nullified by no-shows, and Jason Champion was unable to add more than 10 points to his tally.
Simonetta Barone scored one victory, complete with bonus points, but this wasn't enough to raise her above sixth place overall.
John Renicks had a realistic chance to compete for the prize, but he too was elsewhere.
So it came down to the three players who had most looked like succeeding for a while.
Sadly, though, it was a bad night for intermediates, with only two of the ten present managing victories. John Lewis and new Conference champion Roland Herrera, were unable to break that mould, so it was left to Stefffen Nowak to consolidate his place by beating Jason Champion and his now customary victim, John Slattery.
Steffen has thus grabbed a Premier League place with both hands. It has also recently emerged that Steffen's BIBA ranking has reached 1533, so his Premier qualification turns out to be a dual one.
13/12/02: Ian's back door Masters qualification ......
The final place in February's Bristol Masters event has gone to Ian Tarr.
While he was unable to clinch this honour through his own efforts last night, going out in the second round to Dave Pym, he knew that should any one of fourteen players already qualified for the event win the tournament, he would get in as a Premier League high finisher.
And when four of those players made it through to the semis, Ian's Masters place was assured.
13/12/02: Premier entries reach twenty-one ......
Steffen Nowak and Charlie Hetherington are the latest players to commit themselves to the 2003 Bristol Premier League, bringing the total number of entrants so far to 21.
Other possibles are 2000 champion Simon Baker, Richard Moody, and Ian Preston, although the latter is likely to decline because of conflicting work commitments.
09/12/02: Premier split confirmed
Eighteen entries for the 2003 Bristol Premier League have already been received, so there will definitely be two divisions in the Premier next season.
With other entries still expected, not least after Thursday's tournament settles an issue or two, the exact composition of the two divisions remains slightly obscure, although the top ten finishers in the 2002 Premier League are all guaranteed a place in the top flight.
09/12/02: Appeal verdicts reached
The three player sub-committee adjudicating the appeals of four players against penalty points incurred for late- and/or non-completion of Premier League fixtures has reached a final verdict.
Four points apiece incurred by Rosey Bensley, Phil Charlton, Ian Preston and Elliot Smart -- each of whom suffered from the sudden departure of David Horner from the league -- were all reinstated.
But the verdict was slightly different regarding those points not clawed back from the September checkpoint. Elliot Smart had his single point reinstated, while one of Ian Preston's two points stands, it being his second transgression during the season.
08/12/02: Bristol players still performing well on travels
The past two weekends have seen local players travelling to two somewhat different events, and not without success.
Last Sunday (December 1st) a handful of players visited the Reading Quarterly Open, where John Slattery -- a Reading player as well as a Bristol one -- took the main prize, while Neil Young won the £5 pot.
But this weekend was the BIBA UK Finals at the Coventry Hilton, and three local players did particularly well.
Eight players at this event -- winners of various BIBA events throughout the year -- pre-qualify for the Sunday knock-out phase, while all others present play a Swiss Format phase on the Saturday to gain one of the other eight Sunday places, and three of these were filled by Bristol players.
Pride of place went to Roland Herrera, who won all five of his Saturday matches, while both Simonetta Barone and Ed Turner won four and did enough to get through.
Although all three lost their initial matches today, this still represents a praiseworthy achievement.
06/12/02: Jury still out
The three man jury appointed to adjudicate on the thorny issue of Bristol Premier League appeals is still pondering at the time of writing.
The appeals, together with supporting documentation, were forwarded to the three just after midnight last night, and they will be getting together to reach what we hope will be a fair and equitable decision.
The four players who have appealed against the penalty points imposed on them -- Rosey Bensley, Phil Charlton, Ian Preston and Elliot Smart -- will be informed of the outcome of the jury's deliberations, hopefully some time next week.
01/12/02: No tidy finish for Premier League
The Bristol Premier League season has ended, but a few issues remain to be resolved, namely qualification for the prize money places, Premier One, and the Bristol Masters.
This is the unsatisfactory situation brought about by the non-completion of five fixtures.
David Horner's well documented departure accounts for four of those, while neither Jerry Limb nor John Napier could summon up the necessary motivation to play the other.
Jerry has already decided to give next year's competition a miss, while John now appears likely to go the same way, since a win would have guaranteed him a place in the projected Premier One.
While neither Jerry nor John is likely to appeal against the consequent imposition of penalty points, the four left high and dry by David appear to have every reason to appeal.
Phil Charlton and Rosey Bensley, each having incurred four penalty points, and Elliot Smart (five points in total), have already lodged theirs, but Ian Preston (six) has yet to register his.
And if no appeal is received, there is no way to get the points back!
01/12/02: Promotion confirmed for Roland, Simonetta, Neil and John
The Conference season ended at midnight with no further results reported, so the expected elevation of Roland Herrera, Simonetta Barone and John Ould is now confirmed.
The three filled the first, second and fourth places in the Conference promotion bracket, while Neil Young -- the third place finisher -- merely emphasised his qualification for Premier Status, already achieved via his stunning IGP exploits.
Invitations to compete in the 2003 Premier League will now be winging their way to these three most recent qualifiers.
Roland follows in the footsteps of last year's Conference champion, Rosey Bensley.
28/11/02: Ian to meet Phil in final
Ian Tarr has beaten John Carter in the semi-final of the annual DPS Backgammon Shield, lunch-time's biggest knock-out event on the Patchway backgammon scene.
His opponent in the final is Phil Charlton, whose recent form has seen him return to the heights of a few years ago.
Phil's progression to the final has finally laid one of the more surprising bogies of DPS Backgammon folklore, being his first Shield final in eighteen attempts!
Ian, on the other hand, is creating a record, having contested all 23 of these events so far. It is his seventh final, and he will be looking for his third victory, to equal Charlie Hetherington's record.
28/11/02: Simonetta's name first on trophy
The final of last week's inaugural Intermediates Trophy event took place last night at the BCSC, and it was Simonetta Barone who earned the right to have her name engraved on it.
The outcome could have been very different, though, as a cubing error allowed John Lewis right back into the match, changing a one-sided match into a pulsating piece of see-saw entertainment.
Both finalists will receive engraved mementoes.
28/11/02: Jason does someone a favour
By finishing his eighth Conference match of the season, Jason Champion has triggered a fourth promotion slot.
The number of promotion places in any Conference season is governed by a formula involving the number of players to play a certain number of matches, a device which is aimed at providing an incentive to play in a competition where there is no compulsion to meet stringent deadlines.
Ironically the player most likely to benefit from Jason's philanthropic act is none other than his victim last night, John Ould.
John could have moved into the runner-up spot had he won, but in any case it looks as though the finishing order will now read: 1st Roland Herrera; 2nd Simonetta Barone; 3rd Neil Young; 4th John Ould.
Unless, of course, there is a sudden rush of activity......
28/11/02: It's up to John and Jerry
Only one match remains to complete the Premier League season. The word "complete" is used advisedly here as the four matches involving David Horner will not take place.
John Napier meets Jerry Limb -- hopefully some time before the Saturday midnight deadline, otherwise it will be too late!
26/11/02: Late flurry of Premier results
The final league night of the season arrives tomorrow (Wednesday) and speculation mounts as to which Premier League players will finish their fixtures by Saturday night's midnight deadline.
A recent flurry of feverish activity has seen various fixtures completed, and apart from the four matches involving the departed David Horner, there are just three left to be played -- Jerry Limb's meetings with Ian Preston and John Napier, and John Napier versus Drew Caudwell, which is scheduled for Thursday night.
Martin Hemming's final match victory tonight ensures that he takes up his expected Bristol Masters place, with the last two Premier qualifiers coming from Elliot Smart, Ian Tarr and Ian Preston.
In the race to make the expected cut between Premier One and Premier Two, things are less clear cut, with seven players already guaranteed a top flight place, while others sweat on final results, penalty points, appeals, and even the final number of Premier League 2003 entries.
In the more relaxed atmosphere of the Conference, meanwhile, there are still things remaining to be decided.
Roland Herrera -- barring miracles -- will be this year's Conference champion, but who will fill the other promotion places, and how many will there be?
If either Michael Castle or Jason Champion were to finish another match, a fourth promotion slot would be triggered, but the likes of Neil Young, Simonetta Barone, John Ould or Steffen Nowak would rather not have to rely on that.
21/11/02: Roland rolled over
Hopes of a bumper Christmas "Winner Takes All" pool were dashed last night when the November Grand Prix final was played out at the BCSC.
Kevin White led Roland Herrera throughout, and ran out an 11-5 winner, taking the £140 pool as well as the winner's prize money.
Many had hoped Roland would prevail -- no disrespect to Kevin -- as Roland had elected not to enter the pool, and a roll-over would have met with almost universal approval!
21/11/02: Simonetta and John to battle for new trophy
The Bristol Backgammon Intermediates Trophy event, which had looked alarmingly like a lame duck after two postponements, finally got off to a successful start at the BCSC last night.
The new annual event began with nine entrants, which increased to ten when Steffen Nowak arrived late. Sadly, Jeremy Axford arrived even later, and a re-draw would have been necessary to accommodate him.
Three players -- Kevin Carter, Gina Lewis and Nigel Hurneyman -- had travelled down from Reading for the evening, and their presence gave proceedings a welcome boost.
Nigel was the odd man out when the draw was made, initially awaiting the outcome of the first round encounter of Phillip Hill and Neil Young. When Steffen arrived, however, Nigel was sporting enough to waive his bye and meet Steffen in the first round.
The other half of the draw produced a finalist in rapid time, after Simonetta Barone vanquished visitors Gina and Kevin, and prepared to wait a long time for an opponent.
Sod's Law dictated that the three initially drawn quarter-finals were all completed before the two first round ties, as this part of the draw was to provide the tightest matches.
Neil and Nigel eventually emerged from the first round, and Nigel then won through to the semis to face John Lewis.
John had recovered from 0-5 to defeat Roland Herrera, and once again made light of a deficit, reaching the final with a 7-4 victory.
The result came too late to contemplate staging the final, so this was arranged for 9pm next Wednesday, during the scheduled league night session.
John and Simonetta will be vying to become the first name engraved on the new trophy.
21/11/02: Roland misses out on grand prix points
Roland Herrera yesterday missed out on a chance to move into the IGP runner-up spot, when his defeat at the hands of Kevin White robbed him of the chance to add 45 invaluable points to his tally.
Steffen Nowak, Roland, and John Lewis are all in close contention for that second spot, which carries with it automatic Premier Status.
21/11/02: Masters and Premier One issues still unresolved
Kevin White's victory in the November tournament ensures that he has reserved a place in February's Bristol Masters event.
Meanwhile, as the Premier League season draws to a close, the five qualification slots currently available via that route still have a little way to go towards being resolved.
John Slattery and Phil Charlton will take two of those slots (unless either player should qualify via the December tournament), but the other three places currently rest between seven players.
Martin Hemming and Elliot Smart look the likeliest to emerge from this throng, but the situation is shrouded in uncertainty because of potential penalty points and appeals, a factor which may well play its part in the outcome of the probable split into Premier One and Two.
21/11/02: Jason or Michael to give someone a boost?
Jason Champion's early elimination from the Intermediates Trophy gave him the opportunity to fit in a Conference match against latecomer Jeremy Axford.
Jason was defeated 7-11, but perhaps the major significance of the match was that there are now two players -- Michael Castle is the other -- within a single result of triggering a fourth Conference promotion slot for somebody.
With just nine playing days to go until the end of the season, the opportunity remains for Jason or Michael to make somebody happy!
18/11/02: BIBA honour for Tony
The bumper 80-page BIBAFAX (issue 61, out today) is full of items of interest to Bristol players.
The front page features a photo of none other than John Slattery, Mind Sports Olympiad gold medal around his neck, having just achieved Backgammon Grandmaster status.
Other photos from that August event feature Martin Hemming with his Olympiad silver medal, and Rosey Bensley with her gold from winning the English Open.
Slatts and Rosey are also pictured with prizes from the minor flights of BIBA's September tournament, the Roy Hollands Trophy. There was also a grotty shirt contest, with Slatts and Paul Gilbertson prominent.
The October Sandy Osborne Memorial Trophy event also has Slatts pictured as runner-up to Matthew Fisher in the Suicide flight.
And this month's Townharbour Trophy features pics of "finalist" Stuart Mann, and top intermediate Roland Herrera.
BIBA obviously don't have a photo of Tony Lee, however. A rudimentary artist's impression of Tony commememorates the fact that he has won this year's BIBA ranking championship -- a strange event, decided by an obscure computation based on players' running BIBA ranking score adjusted for wins and defeats.
This is a testament to Tony's consistency over a year in which he has reached three BIBA main flight semi-finals.
Also featuring prominently among the 52 qualifiers in that competition were Ian Tarr (9th), and John Slattery (10th).
The BIBA 2002 Grand Prix, where players gain points for their performances in various events through the year was won by Birmingham's Dave Startin, who topped the pile of 147 qualifiers. John Slattery was 5th in this, Tony Lee 8th, Stuart Mann 12th, Hubert de l'Epine 14th, Kevin White and Ed Turner equal 28th, Paul Gilbertson and Ian Tarr equal 33rd.
And of 116 players currently in the BIBA ranking list, Tony Lee is 6th, Stuart Mann 14th, Ian Tarr 21st, and John Slattery 29th.
18/11/02: Adrian is seventeenth Handicap Cup winner
The DPS Backgammon Handicap Cup finished today at the EDS offices at Rolls-Royce in Patchway.
This unique competition, where EDS employees are handicapped according to their recent playing records, has now completed seventeen enthralling but fun-packed years -- and the handicapping system has proved so successful that seventeen different winners have now won the title.
This year's victor was Adrian Miles, playing off a handicap of one point, beating Pete Cockram (handicap three points) in the 21-point final.
15/11/02: NOVEMBER GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
After the headlines at the October League night were hijacked by the held over final of the October Grand Prix event, the tables were turned at the November tournament.
15/11/02: Slatts retains Premier title ......
John Slattery has retained the Bristol Premier League title.
His 11-9 victory over Martin Hemming at the BCSC on Thursday night gave him two titles in two attempts in this particular competition, the highest honour Bristol Backgammon has to offer.
The result also condemned Stuart Mann to the runner-up spot for the second successive year.
Martin did his level best to deny John the prize, having defeated Stuart earlier in the season. His own ambition to finish as high as possible in his maiden Premier League season ensured that he would bring total commitment to the contest, and the high drama and quality of the encounter brought a fitting end to the title race.
It had been hoped that the match would have been completed prior to the November grand prix tournament, but the match had to be adjourned with John 7-6 ahead, with the resumption delayed until the elimination of John and Martin from the knock-out flights.
This meant the finale had to wait until well after midnight.
Martin had another reason to give of his best. He had commissioned Liz Barker to annotate the entire match for later scrutiny.
John and Stuart have dominated the Premier League over the past two seasons, winning 25 and 24 matches respectively out of 30, colossal records for each player to be proud of.
15/11/02: Roland and Kevin to contest November final ......
An encouraging turnout of 24 players started the eleventh of this year's Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the BCSC. Welcome debutants were Laura James and Dan McLeod.
The bottom half of the draw, with one match fewer to play, was unsurprisingly the first to produce a finalist in Kevin White, who got past Laura James, Jason Champion, and John Slattery to clinch his place in the final.
Kevin has not enjoyed his best year, so it was good to see him return to form.
In the other half of the draw Roland Herrera emerged from matches against Neil Young, Paul Gilbertson, Paul Watts and Ian Preston, and will meet Kevin at some future date, possibly after next Wednesday's Intermediate Trophy event.
15/11/02: Stuart wins consolation ......
OGP leader Stuart Mann, eliminated from the main flight after a two-hour encounter with Jason Champion, rattled through three consolation flight matches in double quick time to ensure that his tournament was not entirely wasted.
Defeating Neil Young, Drew Caudwell and finalist John Renicks gave Stuart another title, albeit a minor one!
15/11/02: Stuart's OGP lead almost intact ......
As points scoring becomes harder in the closing stages of the OGP, Stuart Mann's tally of 30 on the night gave him a net gain of just 5 points to raise his total for the season to an impressive 500.
None of his nearest rivals made much impression on his lead, although Paul Watts' 40 points, for a net gain of 15 after discard, narrowed the gap between first and second to 70 points.
Even allowing for the fact that there are more points available in a Lesters tournament than the other eight grand prix events, Stuart's lead means that only Paul and Neil Young have a chance to wrest the title away from him.
But Paul will need a semi-final place at the very least, while Neil will need to win the December tournament.
Meanwhile Stuart will be looking for a little insurance with a good run to ensure there are no last minute blips.
15/11/02: Roland and John complicate IGP runner-up race ......
If Steffen Nowak and John Lewis imagined they were slugging out a straight fight for the IGP runner-up spot, they will now have to rethink things as they approach the December Lesters event.
Roland Herrera's run to the final on Thursday night has moved him up 90 points so far to pip John for third place, with the prospect of a further 45 (including bonus points) if he manages to beat Kevin White.
But the list of contenders does not end there. John Renicks advanced his cause to the extent that he currently stands just 50 points away from second place.
While Simonetta Barone, Stephan Kerberg, Phillip Hill and Jason Champion also still have outside chances of making a late rush for honours.
Neil Young, of course, is home and dry as IGP champion. Roland could close to within 240 points of Neil if he wins the deferred final.
But a maximum tally for Roland from December's tournament, even with maximum bonus points, could only get him 180 points closer.
So Neil can uncork the champagne with some certainty now!
15/11/02: Uncommitted relying on Roland for rollover ......
The introduction of a BIBA-style optional "Winner Takes All" pool can be viewed as a success after fourteen players took up the option.
Interestingly, one participant in the pool, Kevin White, will take on a pool non-participant in the final, so if Roland Herrera wins, the princely sum of £140 will be carried forward to the December pool as a rollover.
Given a choice between these two popular players, most uncommitted souls will now be hoping Roland can score his first main flight success to add a little more spice to the popular December event!
15/11/02: Many permutations still possible for Masters ......
November's main flight finalists will have one further reward at the back of their minds when the final eventually takes place.
Neither Kevin nor Roland has yet qualified for February's Bristol Masters. The winner will clinch a place in that event.
Kevin may have most to lose here, though, as he is unlikely to gain access via a high Premier finish. So this tournament and December's remain his strongest chance.
Roland, on the other hand, could lose the final and be virtually sure to qualify as the top Conference finisher.
Should he win, though, he might well hand that Conference Masters place to none other Simonetta Barone, who currently looks likeliest to benefit from that scenario.
Back in the Premier League, only two players are certain to finish among those qualifying for the Masters via the Premier League, numbering five at present.
John Slattery and Phil Charlton can rest easy on this front, while several players must thrash it out for the other three places.
Should the December tournament winner already have qualified, though, this would release another qualifying slot from the league.
The permutations appear almost endless at this stage.
10/11/02: Stuart the latest nearly Mann
Just two weekends after reaching the semi-finals of the Irish Open in Dublin, Stuart Mann has come even closer to winning a major title.
BIBA's Townharbour Trophy Swiss format event, at the Coventry Hilton this weekend, saw Stuart contesting the final match -- against John Clark of London.
Having taken a 4-0 lead, Stuart saw most of the points in the middle of the match going the wrong way, and appeared deep in trouble at 5-10 in arrears, with the Crawford game to come.
A gammon in that game, followed by John taking advantage of a free drop, and Stuart had pegged back the score to 8-10.
Looking good for a gammon -- and victory -- in the next game, Stuart had to settle for a mere double game, and the match was at double match point.
At least twice in the final game Stuart appeared on the brink of gaining Bristol's first ever BIBA title, but sadly a 4-6 hit from the bar saw the match swing the other way again, and despite awkward bearing in, John ended the 11-10 winner for his second successive BIBA title.
Winning the first five matches in a BIBA Swiss event was a new experience for Stuart, but there have been seven previous instances by Bristol players over the years -- Charlie Hetherington and Ian Tarr twice apiece, Simon Osborne, Simon Baker and John Napier being the others to go close to ultimate success.
Sadly, with no unofficial prize money deals having been done, Stuart left with no BIBA pecuniary prizes -- just a bottle of red wine for his trouble!
Roland Herrera came home with the "Best Intermediate" prize, having won four times in his first five matches, while Stuart and Simonetta Barone -- under the name "Doppio gioco" -- took the Saturday night doubles title.
And Martin Hemming shared the £800 prize money in a Saturday night eight-player jackpot.
Stuart's other consolation was the receipt of the Bristol pool of £120 for best performance for a Bristol connected player.
The standard of Bristol's input at these events has now reached the point where not a single one of the twelve takers failed to win three matches.
Stuart's five obviously took pride of place, but Roland, Tony Lee, Liz Barker and Steffen Nowak netted creditable four-win hauls.
The "average" contenders were John Lewis, Simonetta Barone, Rosey Bensley, John Slattery, Martin Hemming, Kevin Carter and Ian Tarr.
10/11/02: League showdown set for Thursday
The match which will decide the destiny of this year's Premier League title is scheduled for 6pm at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
This promises to be be a fascinating prelude to the November grand prix tournament, which is scheduled to start as soon as possible after 7pm. Spectators will be very welcome to add to the highly charged atmosphere.
The central figures in this drama will be the players, reigning league champion John Slattery and Martin Hemming.
If John wins, he retains his title. Should Martin come out on top, Stuart Mann will gain his first Premier League crown. Stuart will almost certainly be a nervous spectator!
It is also hoped that Liz Barker of Gammonitis will be present to annotate the whole match for future scrutiny.
10/11/02: Optional extra for Thursday's tournament
This Thursday's tournament at the BCSC will be the first in Bristol to be subject to a new side pool.
Contestants will have the option of contributing £10 each to a "Winner Takes All" pool modelled on the one successfully implemented at recent BIBA tournaments.
It should be stressed that this is purely optional, and the pot will go entirely to the tournament main flight winner -- should he or she enter the new pool.
Should the winner not be in the pool, there will be a roll-over to the December tournament.
This is entirely separate from the normal tournament prize money pool which will be operated in the usual way.
For the record, though, this will be the last Bristol grand prix event where the entry fee is a mere £5.
Next year, all such events will carry an entry fee of at least £10.
31/10/02: Neil achieves the inevitable
The highlight of a disappointingly lacklustre league night at the BCSC on Wednesday evening was only remotely connected to the Bristol league scene!
The held over final of the October grand prix event saw Neil Young win his second Bristol tournament in four months, pipping Charlie Hetherington 11-9.
Winning two Bristol tournament main flights, as many will know, carries the reward of automatic Premier Status, something Neil would inevitably qualified for in at least two other ways anyway.
Neil's rise through the ranks is a prime example of what can be achieved by dedication to the game. It was less than two years ago, as a total novice, that Neil bravely decided to try his luck in the Conference.
Early beatings became fewer and further between, and we now see Neil on the brink of winning the IGP, while still harbouring some hope of overhauling Stuart Mann in the OGP, where only a top ten finish is required to qualify for the elite.
And of course Neil is also odds on to finish in the Conference promotion bracket come November 30th.
Meanwhile, no more than a pair of Premier League matches were played, plus four and a half in the Conference.
31/10/02: Stuart timed out in Dublin
Stuart Mann's campaign at the Irish Open in Dublin was cut short in what many consider to be the cruellest possible way.
He emerged from a field of sixty-five hopefuls to get as far as the semi-finals, where he met Irish Open supremo Brendan Burgess.
Then, leading the 11-point match 10-9, he fell foul of the clock and Brendan secured the two points he needed to reach the final, where he was defeated by one of England's finest, Jim Johnson.
Clocks are now regarded as the norm in many tournaments, especially overseas, and the time factor can often be decisive.
The event comes in two phases. On the Saturday, the Swiss Format is used, with each player getting six 7-point matches.
Those with the best records progress to the Sunday knock-out stages, while those on the borderline (with four wins) go through a play-off.
Four Bristol players went into the play-offs, and whereas Neil Young and John Slattery both fell at that stage, Martin Hemming and Stuart survived into Sunday.
Martin got as far as the quarter-final stage, where his elimination was softened by the receipt of 200 euros from the prize pool.
Stuart earned himself 750 euros for his pains.
Meanwhile Simonetta Barone and Roland Herrera both reached the quarter-finals in the consolation event.
24/10/02: Intermediates Trophy rescheduled
The apparently ill-fated Intermediates Trophy event, twice postponed, has been rescheduled for Wednesday November 20th at the BCSC.
It is hoped that at least eight players will take part, inorder to cover the cost of the trophy and winner's memento. But no matter what, the event will not be put off for a third time.
It is further hoped that the event will eventually be an indispensable part of the local backgammon calendar, offering as it does, a different opportunity to win a trophy.
24/10/02: 2003 dates published
Next year's dates for events at the BCSC have now been fixed.
This year's pattern of grand prix tournaments and league nights remains unaltered, while the annual awards night -- incorporating a free buffet -- and the Bristol Masters knock-out occupy their now customary January and February slots.
No date has yet been set for the Bristol 50, which was played on a Saturday in July this year. This is because it is likely to need a larger venue.
22/10/02: Could it be any closer?
An examination of the results of the six Inter-Cities Challenge matches to date reveals just how well matched the two sides are!
Bristol's third match success brought them level with their Birmingham adversaries, but that bald statement does scant justice to the overall figures.
The total number of individual nine-point matches in the six events totals 222. No prizes, then, for guessing that each side has won 111 of them.
And Bristol's widest winning margin of seven points, secured in the weekend's 23-16 victory, matches Birmingham's biggest margin from their 20-13 win in Bristol last year.
Individually, though, the patterns are somewhat different.
Bristol has been represented by a total of thirty-one different players, with only Ian Tarr appearing in each of the six matches, while Birmingham's twenty-four representatives include no fewer than five ever-presents -- Ralph Eskinazi, Dave Fall, Dave Motley, Matthew Fisher, and Fak Laight.
And whereas none of the regular Bristol stalwarts has yet won ten matches -- Blaine Buchanan's nine victories coming closest, the records of Dave Fall and Ralph Eskinazi are simply outstanding, each player having won 14 of 18 matches played.
20/10/02: Inter-Cities trophy back in Bristol!
The travelling Bristol team evened the score yesterday by beating Birmingham 23-16 on their own patch, bringing the Inter-Cities Challenge Trophy home at least until the next meeting, probably in Bristol in the spring.
The result was a major boost for Bristol Backgammon, coming as it did despite the absence of a clutch of first choice players.
Scheduled as a thirteen-a-side event, Bristol suffered a last minute hitch with one team member vanishing too late to find an eleventh hour replacement. Birmingham, however, turned up with an extra player, and kindly loaned one out for the day!
When Simonetta Barone pulled the name of Mike Hall from the hat, most on the Birmingham side were confident they had the better half of the deal, as Mike was one of their least experienced members. They couldn't have been more wrong, though, as Mike -- the honorary Bristolian for the day -- won all three of his matches!
Such was the overall margin of victory, though, that even without Mike's haul, Bristol would still have had enough points on the board to secure a victory.
Starring for Bristol -- apart from Mike -- were Blaine Buchanan, Charlie Hetherington and Elliot Smart, who each ended the day undefeated, something also managed by two of the Birmingham team, Ralph Eskinazi and Dave Fall.
The key to Bristol's success, though, was that there were sound contributions made throughout the team, to such an extent that only three of the home side won more than a single match.
The trophy has now been won three times by each side, with the last four successes all being completed on enemy territory.
12/10/02: Inter-Cities team finalised
The final Bristol line-up for next Saturday's trip to Birmingham is:
Neil Young; Roland Herrera; Paul Watts; Phil Charlton; John Lewis; Charlie Hetherington; Steffen Nowak; Simonetta Barone; Ian Tarr; Elliot Smart; Blaine Buchanan; Kevin White; and Jason Champion.
The thirteen player team will be playing for the Inter-Cities Challenge Trophy, which Birmingham currently holds.
12/10/02: Intermediates Trophy postponed again
Embarrassment reigns as the inaugural Intermediates Trophy event has had to be postponed for a second time.
The idea of providing intermediates with their own knock-out seemed a good one at the time it was spawned by Bristol Backgammon director Ian Tarr.
When its first attempted staging occurred in May only three players turned up!
The next date, October 24th, promised to yield a better turnout, until a group of intermediate stalwarts announced their intention to go the the Irish Open instead.
And with an entry of at least eight needed to cover the costs, the decision has been taken to find a new -- and hopefully final -- date for the event. This will be announced soon.
12/10/02: OCTOBER GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Eighteen players -- including a welcome debut appearance by Mike Martin -- contested the tenth of this year's grand prix tournaments at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
12/10/02: Charlie and Neil to contest main flight final ......
With OGP top two Stuart Mann and Paul Watts falling at the first hurdle, the way was clear for their nearest pursuers to close the gap a little. Third placed Neil Young and fifth placed Charlie Hetherington duly obliged by reaching the final, which was deferred until another time.
It was Neil who eliminated Stuart, and he capitalised with further victories over Rosey Bensley and Jason Champion to set up the final clash with Charlie, whose victims were Michael Castle, Kevin White, and Simonetta Barone.
12/10/02: Top two in consolation final ......
Stuart Mann and Paul Watts at least ensured that the consolation flight went to form when they made it through to the final of the nine player flight.
Winner Stuart's other victims were Ed Turner and John Lewis, while Paul had to get past John Slattery and Martin Hemming.
12/10/02: Stuart's cushion still intact ......
Going into the event with a 75-point OGP lead, Stuart Mann actually managed to increase his lead by five points, despite elimination at the first hurdle of the main flight.
The key to this was Stuart's consolation flight final win over Paul Watts, his nearest rival. But Neil Young, Rosey Bensley, and Charlie Hetherington all moved a little closer to second placed Paul by picking up useful points tallies.
And should Neil win the outstanding final, he would be only 15 points behind Paul.
Meanwhile, in the race for intermediates to finish in the top ten OGP positions, one of several ways to gain Premier Status, Neil is joined by John Lewis, who held on to his tenth placing despite collecting a net 5-point gain after discards. Steffen Nowak is breathing down his neck, though.
12/10/02: Neil -- 235 points ahead -- almost home, but who will come second? ......
After his latest exploits, the only way Neil Young could realistically fail to win this year's IGP would be for either John Lewis or Steffen Nowak to win both of the year's remaining tournaments while Neil added nothing to his points tally.
He has already stretched last month's 190 point lead by 45 points, and could add another 45 were he to defeat Charlie Hetherington when they come to play the final.
Second place, which also carries Premier Status as a reward, is a different matter, however.
Steffen Nowak has edged out John Lewis by 10 points, and these two would appear to have a lot to play for in the November and December tournaments, not least becuse their positions are reversed in the OGP, where they can also cross the divide.
There are, however, a few players within striking distance. A good tournament for any of John Renicks, Roland Herrera, Simonetta Barone or Stephan Kerberg could easily upset the applecart.
12/10/02: Stuart's win takes title chase to the wire ......
John Slattery must defeat Martin Hemming to retain his Premier League crown.
That much became clear when Stuart edged his way to a hard fought win over Kevin White, closing his campaign with a fourteenth win in seventeen matches.
Because he already holds a superior points difference, John knows that a final match victory by any margin would be enough.
Martin will be sure to provide stern opposition, though, having already beaten Stuart in a maiden Premier season he has greatly enjoyed.
12/10/02: Another Masters spot for a league achiever ......
With Neil and Charlie already assured of a Bristol Masters slot come February, another slot in that event will now be available for a Premier League high finisher.
Five players will now qualify via the Premier -- the first five who have not already gained entry via another route.
06/10/02: Doubles success at Coventry
Roland Herrera and Simonetta Barone report a successful weekend at BIBA's Sandy Osborne Memorial Trophy weekend at the Coventry Hilton.
The main event saw Tony Lee reach the semi-finals -- he seems to be jinxed when it comes to winning semis, though -- while Kevin White fell just one round earlier. Meanwhile our musical duo had a profitable Saturday evening when they won the doubles competition.
Michael Castle was also there to make his BIBA debut, which he is reported to have enjoyed greatly -- especially having scored a notable victory over Brian Lever, and Michael even found the time to play a Conference match, losing 2-11 to Simonetta.
Roland and Simonetta now occupy the top two positions in that competition.
04/10/02: Penalties hit five Premier players
The Bristol Premier League is in danger of falling into disarray as the season enters its penultimate month.
Director Ian Tarr returned from a course in Lancashire this evening to find that no fewer than five players had failed to report the requisite number of results at the September 30th deadline.
Ian Preston incurred a double penalty for being two matches adrift of the minimum requirement of thirteen results, while four others -- David Horner, Jerry Limb, John Napier, and Elliot Smart -- incurred a single point penalty.
All points can, of course be reclaimed should the players concerned finish their season on time, i.e. by November 30th.
But as each has at least five matches to complete over the next two months, and at least two have shown a worrying lack of concern at the situation, it is looking increasingly doubtful whether the season will be completed, as it has been in previous years.
29/09/02: Simonetta edges Steffen out of frame
Simonetta Barone yesterday moved into the Conference promotion frame, at the expense of Steffen Nowak.
Mark Dixon, making his league debut, succumbed 5-11 and Simonetta's victory moves her up from fifth to third in the league table, increasing the possibility of a double celebration in the Herrera-Barone household come November 30th.
28/09/02: Bristol team selected
The Bristol team to visit Birmingham in the Inter-Cities Challenge on October 19th has been selected.
The selection is based on performances in the four domestic competitions to date, and allows for the declared unavailability of Rosey Bensley and John Slattery.
The team, subject to individual players' confirmation is: Stuart Mann; Neil Young; Roland Herrera; Paul Watts; Phil Charlton; John Lewis; Charlie Hetherington; Martin Hemming; Steffen Nowak; John Napier; Ian Tarr; and Ed Turner.
27/09/02: SEPTEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Eighteen players were in action at the September league night session at the BCSC on Wednesday night.
27/09/02: John and Stuart go to the wire ......
Last year's top two this week ensured that they will repeat that feat when they scored two victories apiece to set up an enthralling Premier League climax.
Stuart Mann had briefly taken pole position on Monday night, when he defeated Blaine Buchanan at what is a new venue for Bristol Backgammon, 31 Corn Street. But the win he added on Wednesday night was not enough to retain the lead after John Slattery's double success saw him back to the top spot.
With just one match apiece remaining, each player has won an impressive thirteen matches out of sixteen, but John holds a vital edge, his points difference being a full eight points better than Stuart's.
If John should beat Martin Hemming by 11-7 or better, he will put himself out of Stuart's reach, whatever Stuart can manage against Kevin White.
As for the two minor prize money placings, Phil Charlton is still looking strong in third place, while others with more wins than defeats are Charlie Hetherington, Martin Hemming, Ian Tarr, Dave Pym, and Elliot Smart.
Further down, there is great intensity in the race to finish as high as possible to ensure making whatever cut is necessary to split next season's league into two divisions. Realistically, only David Horner and Drew Caudwell are too far adrift to stand a chance here.
The other factor which may well play its part is the penalty point system. There are still some 28 matches to be completed, and five players have still left themselves in danger of penalty at Monday night's penultimate checkpoint of the season.
But it is likely to be the end-of-season checkpoint, on November 30th, which has the most impact, with unfinished matches incurring no fewer than four penalty points apiece.
27/09/02: Roland almost there ......
Six Conference results have done little to sort out the extremely close race for the promotion slots.
Roland Herrera, however, is surely now safe in looking forward to Premier League backgammon next year after his ninth victory of the season -- over Michael Castle -- made his strong position an almost impregnable one. He may need to do a little more yet to clinch the championship, but it is difficult to see how he can now slip out of the promotion bracket.
Nothing else looks clear cut, though. Neil Young and Steffen Nowak both suffered defeats, while John Ould and Simonetta Barone are both well placed to edge them out.
And with newcomers like Henry Logan and Jason Champion winning matches as well as being in demand as opponents, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that a late run over the remaining nine weeks could bear fruit for somebody.
22/09/02: Penultimate league chackpoint approaches
Although the next -- and penultimate -- checkpoint in the Bristol Premier League season is not until Monday week, the best opportunity to steer clear of penalty points for those eight players still threatened comes along with the monthly league night this Wednesday evening at the BCSC.
Five players need just a single result to avoid penalty, while three others -- Drew Caudwell, Ian Preston, and Elliot Smart -- are two shy of the target of thirteen results.
Meanwhile, things should start hotting up in the Conference, where many players are in with a great chance of getting amongst the promotion places.
22/09/02: BIBA rankings latest
Tony Lee is back over the 1800 mark in the current BIBA rankings.
His score of 1820 is the highest ever recorded by a Bristol player, although whether or not Tony still qualifies for that classification remains to be seen, now that he is based in Oxford.
Of local regulars, the best scores are those of Ian Tarr (1711), John Slattery (1706), and Stuart Mann (1696).
While most other Bristol players slipped down the list after the September event, Ed Turner was a notable exception, rising to 1535, 71st of the 167 currently listed.
For a comprehensive (and unofficial) look at the latest BIBA ranking scores of all Bristol related players, click here.
21/09/02: Phil goes third
It will take a lot to stop one of the top two in the Premier League from winning the championship come November.
But if the unlikely should happen, and both John Slattery and Stuart Mann were to falter badly on the run in, one other player is positioning himself to take advantage.
After a moderate start to the season Phil Charlton has hit a fine seam of form, last night visiting Jerry Limb's home, and coming away with an 11-0 whitewash victory -- his fifth win in succession, which has hauled him into third place.
20/09/02: Stuart closes gap, and Jerry plays!
The excellent news from The Leap, Downend, last night was the reappearance in competitive action of Jerry Limb, who had not played a Premier League game since May.
Apart from the fact that Jerry has been sorely missed, the result also ensured that nobody will be expunged from the league this year. Only the prospect of penalty points looms over several players.
Jerry was unable to mark his return with a victory, however, as he went down to a 6-11 defeat against Stuart Mann.
The win brings Stuart level on points with leader John Slattery, although Slatts still holds pole position as a result of his superior points difference.
With each player having three matches to play, the title race is still far too close to call.
The other result last night was an 11-7 win for Charlie Hetherington over Paul Watts.
13/09/02: ALL THE NEWS FROM LESTERS XXXXIV ......
The forty-fourth Lesters Trophy event was done and dusted in one memorable night, and featured the latest conclusion in its fascinating history.
13/09/02: Backgammon reaches St George as Rosey triumphs ......
The twenty players who started Thursday's tournament included three making their competitive Bristol debuts -- local newcomers Mark Dixon and Jason Champion, and Brighton's Liz Barker, who came along to keep Rosey Bensley company as well as promoting her new venture, Gammonitis.
Mark was to score notable wins over Conference leader Roland Herrera, and Premier League third placer Martin Hemming, before bowing out to OGP leader Stuart Mann.
Liz registered a solitary success over Richard Moody, playing his first match for some considerable time.
Stuart met his match in the semis, succumbing to Rosey Bensley, while Paul Watts was making his way through to the final with wins over Blaine Buchanan, Ian Preston and Kevin White.
It was too late for the final to be accommodated at the BCSC, so the action moved to Paul's place in St George.
Home advantage proved insufficient, however, and Rosey completed a night of six victories (including two league matches) just after 3am to take her first Lesters title, thereby assuring herself a place in the 2003 Bristol Masters. Liz was doubly pleased with the result, having invested in Rosey in the auction.
13/09/02: Paul stays in touch, but may rue final defeat ......
Paul Watts' run of success in this year's OGP continued at Lesters XXXXIV with a run to the final and 80 points.
In another year, Paul's points tally of 415 might well have marked him out as a strong favourite for the title.
But this year he has had to play second fiddle to a player of even greater consistency in Stuart Mann, who picked up 70 points himself for his run to the semi-finals, having gained an extra victory in the first round, while Paul received a bye.
After taking discards into account, Stuart's previous lead of 80 points was reduced by only 5. How Paul could have done with the extra 40 points a final win would have given him.
But with three tournaments still to play, it is too early to take anything for granted.
Rosey Bensley's win moved her up six places to fourth in the overall table.
13/09/02: Neil extends IGP lead ......
Neil Young is still displaying the consistency which has marked him out all year as the prime contender for Premier Status.
Without setting the world alight in the forty-fourth Lesters, he still picked up 40 useful IGP points, including 10 bonus points for winning his "local derby" against Ed Turner.
Despite having to discard the 20 points he gained in August, Neil's overall lead over second placed John Lewis has now been extended to 190 points -- a margin which will take some pegging back in the three remaining tournaments.
13/09/02: John and Dave hold the fort ......
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr would like to place on record his thanks to those local stalwarts who held the fort in his absence.
While Ian was wending his way back from a course in Lancashire -- too late to take up his customary administrative role -- Dave Pym did his usual fine job with the traditional Lesters auction, while John Lewis took the starring role as tournament co-ordinator.
With selfless efforts like this (and Roland Herrera's once last year), Bristol Backgammon is in fine shape to continue its existence in rude health.
13/09/02: Only one still in danger of expungement ......
Although it was a knock-out night, four of the five players who were running the risk of expungement from the Premier League took advantage of the opportunity to remove that threat by registering the necessary results.
Rosey Bensley, Blaine Buchanan, Ian Preston and Elliot Smart were those heaving metaphorical sighs of relief, but the continued absence from competition of Jerry Limb is still a worry, as he now has just two and a half weeks to register the single result which would safeguard the numerical integrity of the league for the remainder of the season.
There is still the vexed issue of penalty points to deal with, though, for nine players in total.
Jerry needs three results by the end of the month to avoid this, while Elliot, Ian and Drew Caudwell are two results light.
Rosey, David Horner, John Napier, Paul Watts and Kevin White are a single match shy of the target.
13/09/02: Roland consolidates as two more join ......
Roland Herrera and Neil Young consolidated their promotion prospects with Bristol Conference victories, while recent recruit Henry Logan registered his maiden success in Bristol competition.
Meanwhile, two more players joined the throng on Thursday night, after the official deadline had passed.
Jason Champion -- from an eminent Bristol backgammon playing family -- and Mark Dixon, who runs the chess club at Clifton College, but ranks backgammon as his greater love, are the latest to join after the recent addition to the fold of Henry Logan.
The time-lag between the August 31st "deadline" and the season's end on November 30th was a precaution against late-season "ringers" being brought in at the death of the competition as sacrificial lambs for prospective promotion contenders.
Since these two players clearly did not fall into that category, and since there is still a fair way to go before the season's end, Bristol Backgammon Director saw no reason to deny them the opportunity to gain valuable experience, which can stand them in good stead for next season, even though it's probably too late for them to make a substantial mark on this year's competition.
And for a little while, it appeared that a third player had joined them ......
13/09/02: Ian's administrative blunder ......
Ian Tarr's memory is not quite what it used to be.
Perhaps shocked by the re-emergence from a two year exile of Richard Moody, Ian was happy to guide him towards a late season stint in the Bristol Conference.
Later in the evening it dawned upon Ian that Richard had in fact attained Premier Status back in 2000 by finishing as runner-up in the IGP.
Sadly, the error was not noticed before Richard had concluded a Conference debut, trailing 3-10 at the end of an adjourned session against Simonetta Barone.
Ian was reluctantly forced to break the bad news to Simonetta, who took the disappointment in her stride. The news has also been broken today to Richard.
09/09/02: Ed in Coventry quarter-final
BIBA's Roy Hollands Trophy weekend at Coventry saw Ed Turner the pick of the small Bristol contingent, as he progressed to the quarter-final stage.
08/09/02: Attention Intermediates!
The Bristol Backgammon Intermediates Trophy, an event which fell on somewhat stony ground earlier in the year, has been rescheduled for Thursday October 24th, replacing the "Crazy Backgammon" evening previously scheduled for that night.
When the event was previously attempted, only three brave souls -- Andrew Cobb, Steffen Nowak and Neil Young -- turned up to play.
Since the cost of a trophy -- already bought -- and an engraved memento for the winner needed to be covered, the event had to be postponed.
On October 24th, when it finally takes place (we hope!), those three players will be rewarded by getting preference should there be any byes in the draw.
This time there is the additional carrot for the winner of what amounts to 50 percent of Premier Status.
At present, there are five ways to gain Premier Status, one being victory in at least two Bristol Backgammon main flights. This event will now count towards that process.
The following players have won one tournament main flight, and would qualify for Premier Status by winning another: Ian Flynn, Louise Franklin, Simon Gonzales, Ron Henderson, Mark Oldham, Dave Rees, Mike Rodwell, Phillip Hill, and Neil Young.
07/09/02: Target Birmingham
Members of the Bristol Backgammon community still have the opportunity to force their way into the Bristol team for the sixth Inter-Cities Challenge match in Birmingham on October 19th.
Anyone in the top six of either the Premier League or the OGP, or the top three of either the Conference or the IGP as at the end of September will almost certainly be asked to represent Bristol, but thereafter vacancies will be filled by trawling further down the listings.
It is not anticipated that filling the team will be difficult, so enjoyable are these occasions. Watch this space.
06/09/02: Inter-Cities date set
The sixth Inter-Cities Challenge match between teams from Birmingham and Bristol will take place on Saturday October 19th at the Moseley All Services Club, Birmingham.
Criteria for selection of the Bristol team of around a dozen players will be decided very soon.
05/09/02: David's shock departure poses a problem
David Horner has sold his Devon home, and will be living for the immediately foreseeable future in his boat somewhere off the south coast.
His stated intention is to play no further part in Bristol Backgammon events, although he is at pains to emphasise the degree of his enjoyment through his visits to our events. He also hopes to see many of us at national events in the future.
The abruptness of his departure, though, poses something of a problem for the Premier League, in that he has unwittingly highlighted a possible shortcoming in the rules.
He has already completed enough matches to avoid expungement from the league, but the dilemma concerns the five opponents he has not yet faced in this year's competition.
Under the rules, were David to play no further part, he would suffer a single point penalty at the September 30th checkpoint, plus five separate four point penalties at the season's end for non-completion of matches.
While finishing with a final points tally of minus twelve would almost certainly not bother David, the fate of his five non-opponents is less clear.
They would each suffer a single four point penalty for not playing their matches, but these would be subject to appeal and, in the circumstances, without pre-empting anything, it would be hard to imagine the appointed sub-committee doing anything but uphold such appeals.
The problem -- if there is one -- is that those five players will have missed out on the opportunity of playing as many matches as those who have already played David.
An alternative to the current rules would be the expungement of the player in question and all his results, but those rules were deliberately framed in order to avoid the potential damage of performing mass expungements at the season's end, and all that might entail.
02/09/02: John to officiate at Lesters XXXXIV
In the absence of Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr, who will be away on a course, John Lewis has kindly stepped in to get Lesters XXXXIV under way on Thursday September 12th.
Players are asked to cooperate fully with John, and buy him the odd drink for his trouble!
29/08/02: AUGUST LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
The holiday season probably took its toll on the attendance at the eighth of our eleven league nights.
29/08/02: Stuart and Phil make Premier progress ......
Stuart Mann got one step closer to Premier League leader John Slattery last night, when he defeated David Horner.
But the night's star was arguably Phil Charlton, whose recent run of good form has moved him into the prize money bracket, with last night's wins over Drew Caudwell and fellow challenger Martin Hemming.
29/08/02: Conference welcomes Henry ......
The end of August entry deadline is nearly upon us, and one newcomer, Henry Logan from Horfield, has signed up for the rest of the Conference season.
He made his debut last night at the BCSC, losing narrowly to Steffen Nowak, whose victory moved him into second place in the league.
29/08/02: Charlie takes August consolation flight title ......
The August grand prix tournament was completed last night, with the conclusion of the consolation flight. Charlie Hetherington took the honours, moving to within a mere 170 points of OGP leader Stuart Mann.
The defeated Neil Young can take solace from his 180 point IGP lead, and his current OGP placing of third.
27/08/02: Conference deadline approaches
The deadline for joining this year's Bristol Conference is fast approaching.
Saturday August 31st is the last day to join, so for anyone wavering, this Wednesday's league night provides the most obvious chance to sign up.
The flexible format, which ensures that nobody need feel pressurised to complete matches, allows players to play as many or as few of the other contestants as they wish.
But such has been the nature of this season's competition -- with nobody totally stamping their authority on proceedings -- there remains the possibility that, even at this late stage (the season ends on November 30th) new players could still do enough to gain entry to next year's Bristol Premier League.
Anyone interested should either go along to the league night this Wednesday at the Bristol County Sports Club, or contact Ian Tarr, either by clicking on his name and emailing him, or by phoning him on 07940-284652.
25/08/02: Ed takes August title
The August grand prix main flight final -- between John Napier and Ed Turner -- was played on Thursday evening, and it was Ed who took the title with an 11-3 victory.
Apart from the greater share of the prize money and the 35 points which hauled him up two places in the Open Grand Prix, Ed has also booked his place in the 2003 Bristol Masters.
John later gained some small measure of revenge, resuming an unfinished Premier League match, and completing an 11-4 win.
25/08/02: Martin Hemming reports on Bristol successes at the MSO
A small band of Bristol-connected players made the trip to Loughborough University for the backgammon at the Mind Sports Olympiad last week.
The field for the first event, the 2-day Swiss format Olympiad Championship, was small in numbers but it did contain some big names including Grandmaster of backgammon John Clark and Bristol regular John Slattery, who was chasing a gold medal to secure his own Grandmaster status. The Bristol backgammon community was also represented by Martin Hemming and occasional visitor Paul Gilbertson.
The first session of three 11-point matches got under way at the un-backgammonly hour of 9.30am on Wednesday. Apparently the intention was to allow the players to finish for the day in time to play in the evening Poker championships -- an opportunity of which many took advantage. Slatts took the first day of the backgammon by storm, winning all 3 matches scheduled. At the end of round three only 2 players had 3 wins out of 3: Slatts and Italian entrant Dario de Toffoli, and they decided to play their fourth match on Wednesday evening.
Slatts emerged the victor, and looked set for gold as the only unbeaten player at the end of the first day.
Martin got off to a mixed start, beating Kevin Stebbing in his first match but going down at DMP to Wayne Felton in his second. He recovered to beat John Clark in round 3 to end the day in a group of players chasing Slatts on 2 wins out of 3.
On Thursday Martin won a third victory at the expense of Steve Rimmer and his reward was a draw against Slatts and the chance to stop his march to the title.
The match was over in 10 minutes. In game 1 Martin rolled a couple of late doubles to score a doubled backgammon: 6-0. Slatts offered an early cube in game 2, playing catch-up, but Martin took and the game turned, Martin winning a gammon and going to 10-0 Crawford.
Slatts seemed to have the third game under control, holding Martin's back runner behind a six-prime. However he was unluckily forced to break it and leave a blot at the back of the prime.
Martin had been saving double sixes for this moment and completed a whitewash, which left four players on 4 wins out of 5 and a chance of gold if they could win their last match. Slatts quickly whitewashed his opponent to finish on 5 wins out of 6.
Meanwhile, Martin was playing a tense match against Dario de Toffoli, in which he eventually prevailed 11-8.
That left just Martin and Slatts on 5 wins and countback was used to settle gold and silver, while Dario and John Clark shared the bronze position.
When the calculations were done, Martin had to settle for silver and Slatts got the gold (and Grandmaster status), by virtue of his opponents having scored one more win than Martin's.
However Martin did have the satisfaction of having beaten all three other medallists.
Saturday saw the start of the English Open championship. Simonetta Barone and Roland Herrera made the trip from Bristol, and Bristol Premier League player Rosey Bensley also joined a field of 26.
Four 11-point matches were scheduled for the first day, and Slatts and Martin couldn't carry over their earlier form, but Roland made an excellent start, winning his first three.
He couldn't maintain the run, though, and lost his last match of the day.
Meanwhile, Rosey swept all before her and won all four, leaving her an excellent chance of gold if she could beat the only other 4-time winner on Sunday morning.
She was up to that task, but lost her final match to Tony Fawcett. A tense wait ensued before other matches finished and the countback could be calculated.
Rosey was eventually confirmed in the gold medal position, and thus scored her best-ever result in major competition.
At the time of writing Roland, who finished with 4 wins, was just out of the medals in fourth place. -- Martin Hemming
09/08/02: AUGUST GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Just sixteen players contested the eighth Bristol Grand Prix event at the BCSC last night, but still both finals have yet to be played.
09/08/02: John and Ed reach main flight final ......
John Napier and Ed Turner will contest the final of the August grand prix main flight some time within the next couple of weeks.
Victories over Stuart Mann, Paul Watts and Rosey Bensley saw John to the last two, while Ed had successes against Roland Herrera, Simonetta Barone and John Lewis to thank for his progress.
Apart from the small prizes on offer, there are still a further 35 OGP points for the pair to play for, not to mention a place in the 2003 Bristol Masters.
09/08/02: Charlie and Neil to fight out consolation final ......
One or two marathon matches meant that the consolation flight final had to be held over until another day.
Charlie Hetherington made it through one half of the draw in fairly rapid time by eliminating John Slattery and John Renicks, and then waited patiently for an opponent. He waited ...... and waited.
But the other half of the draw was progressing so slowly that Charlie was able to go home for some much needed sleep when it became apparent that there was very little chance of his being called upon.
Neil Young eventually emerged as the other finalist via victories over Roland Herrera and Michael Castle.
09/08/02: Stuart still eighty points ahead ......
Stuart Mann's bid to win a second OGP title suffered the most minor of setbacks, despite his failure to win a match in either flight of Thursday's tournament.
Nearest challenger Paul Watts managed just 25 points, but having to discard the 10 he gained back in June meant he only closed the gap by 5 points to 80.
Of some concern for Stuart, though, could be the fact that Neil Young, Charlie Hetherington and John Napier have all moved into closer contention, although they still have a lot of work to do to pose a serious threat to Stuart's supremacy.
09/08/02: Neil's lead cut to a mere 180! ......
Neil Young's 215 point IGP lead was cut to 180 in Thursday's tournament as John Lewis scored 50 useful points to move into second place in the table.
Neil can widen that gap to 200, though, by beating Charlie Hetherington in the outstanding consolation flight final.
While Neil apparently reigns supreme in the IGP, the race is on for second place, which also carries the important side benefit of Premier Status.
Steffen Nowak is breathing down John's neck, with John Renicks, Roland Herrera, and Stephan Kerberg all within one good tournament of making that particular race even more interesting.
Bonus point winners (for wins over Premier players) were John Lewis, Steffen Nowak, John Renicks and Michael Castle.
04/08/02: Simonetta stars, Ian picks up award
BIBA's SAC Trophy weekend at the Coventry Hilton was again well attended by the Bristol contingent, including a welcome debutant in Steffen Nowak.
Of fourteen Bristol-connected players, just five managed a win in their opening round matches, the first of six throughout the weekend. Tony Lee, Ian Tarr and John Napier, who have all gone close to ultimate success at BIBA this year, were joined in victory by new BIBA regulars Roland Herrera and Simonetta Barone.
Of those five, only Simonetta and Ian carried the winning habit into the second round, but both maintained their good progress with victories in round three to remain in contention at the Sunday morning auction stage. Simonetta's third victory had featured a startling comeback from 3-10 in arrears against Paul Barwick.
Meanwhile, Tony, John (Napier), Kevin White and Roland had scored second victories, while solitary Saturday wins were recorded by everyone else in the Bristol throng: Stuart Mann, John Lewis, John Slattery, Rosey Bensley, Steffen, Paul Gilbertson, John Renicks, and Hubert de l'Epine.
Sunday's proceedings began with the auction, plus an award to the player voted BIBA's Sportsman of the Year. This -- surprisingly -- went to our own Ian Tarr, who will at least be spared the embarrassment of being nominated next year, as nobody is allowed to win this particular award on more thas one occasion. The list of winners -- now three long -- contains familiar names, none other than Jerry Limb and Rosey Bensley.
Play resumed with just seven players, including Simonetta and Ian, in with a chance of winning the event. This number was reduced to four by the first round of matches, but sadly one of the Bristol duo had to drop out of contention, as they were drawn together.
Simonetta stormed into a 6-1 lead, but failed to gain another point, so Ian was into a virtual semi-final situation. At his point the three "semi-finalists" who had entered the "Winner Takes All" pool negotiated a deal where -- provided one of them won -- they would share the proceeds, amounting to £870, with the winner taking the lion's share.
Ian's semi, against Birmingham's Dave Startin -- one of the most successful players at BIBA this year -- was the first to finish. A rollercoaster of a match, saw Ian lose narrowly to drop out of contention.
The fun was far from over for Simonetta, though, as she bounced back from her defeat by Ian to record two further victories, giving her an impressive five out of six, which was enough to win the "Top Beginner" prize, plus the £5 pool, where Ian was runner-up.
Had Simonetta invested £10 in the Bristol pool, though, she would have walked away with that £130 prize as well! The actual fund of £120 was shared by five players -- Ian, Tony, Stuart, Kevin, and John Renicks, each with four wins.
01/08/02: JULY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Sixteen players completed a total of thirteen league matches on the July 31st league night at the BCSC.
01/08/02: Challengers falter, while the lowly profit ......
No sooner had a realistic threat to the dominance of last season's Premier League top two materialised, than it evaporated on Wednesday night at the BCSC.
Ed Turner was a thorn in the sides of both Martin Hemming and Dave Pym when he notched a notable brace of victories to move himself clear of the bottom of the league.
And Elliot Smart, also a double winner, counted Dave as a victim. Both Martin and Dave have now been defeated five times, and can afford no more slips if they wish to chase the top prize.
Elliot's satisfaction was compounded by the avoidance of the penalty point that had threatened him come midnight. David Horner, too, avoided penalty, but not without cost, as he suffered a pair of defeats.
Alas for David, he alone of the four lowly placed players in action suffered defeat. Apart from the doubles by Elliot and Ed, John Napier also gained a vital victory as the battle to get closer to the top half hots up.
01/08/02: Roland begins to look like the man ......
It was hello and goodbye for Conference players at the BCSC on Wednesday night. John Ryan, moving to Donegal within the next few days, put in an appearance that was welcome for two reasons.
We were afforded the opportunity to say a proper farewell to that most affable of players, and John's two league matches took him past the threshold for contributing to Conference promotion slots, which are now guaranteed to be three, and look likely to end up as four.
And if it was goodbye to John, it was hello again to Jonathan Prager, who had been missed for a few months as other commitments took their toll.
The Conference has been notable this season for the lack of a strong pace-setting presence like Rosey Bensley and Martin Hemming had provided in 2001.
Close to the end of July, with just four months to the end of the season, Roland Herrera led the table with just five wins as Wednesday's session began.
Pole position was wrested from him by Neil Young, whose year goes from strength to strength. A surprising whitewash of Bristol "50" hero Michael Castle took Neil to the top. But not for long.
Roland and Simonetta, just back from Italy, turned up to play, and each completed a pair of matches.
Roland's 11-7 win over Jonathan Prager moved him back to the top of the league, and a continuation of his adjourned match against Steffen Nowak also yielded a win, which sees Roland striking out on his own at the top.
This was the only blip of the evening for Steffen, who had earlier claimed vital wins over Phillip Hill and Simonetta, against whom he had resumed at 9-all.
To Simonetta fell the honour of being the last player to meet John Ryan in Bristol Backgammon competition, for now at least. She scored an 11-6 win.
28/07/02: Inaugural "50" dominated by visitors
Thirty-two players paid in advance to enter the inaugural Bristol "50" at the BCSC yesterday. And all thirty-two -- many of whom had travelled from far afield -- toed the start line, despite the best efforts of the motorway holiday traffic to thwart at least four contestants.
With the appointed gathering time advertised as 12 noon, things got under way about an hour later.
Not long afterwards the Birmingham three arrived -- Dave Fall, Fak Laight and Dave Motley -- to take their places, but John Clark -- who had stayed overnight in Gloucester -- allowed too little leeway and consequently sat down to play Uldis Lapikens at 2pm with a 2-point penalty imposed by (mean) organiser Ian Tarr.
With time constraints a possible factor -- a midnight deadline was in place -- there was a concern that five rounds of 11-point matches might be cutting things a bit fine. But both flights were done and dusted with nearly three hours to spare!
Two thirds of the field comprised players with Bristol backgammon connections. This was whittled down to 50 percent after the first round, 37.5 percent in the quarter-finals, and 25 percent in the semis.
Amazingly, there were only two instances in the entire main flight of a visitor succumbing to a "Bristol" player -- the only exceptions being Martin Hemming's second round defeat of Jeff Barber, and the quarter-final win by Paul Gilbertson (only loosely a Bristolian!) over Julian Minwalla.
At the semi-final stage Paul went down to Uldis Lapikens (from St Albans), while Tim Mooring (one of three Lincoln representatives) was eliminating Birmingham's Dave Fall.
And Tim went on to take the main prize.
The consolation flight of sixteen players contained only three visitors, Fak Laight (Birmingham) suffering first round defeat at the hands of John Lewis, while the other two -- John Clark (London) and Jeff Ellis (Lincoln) -- were drawn together, John progressing. This at least meant that at least one Bristol player would get his or her hands on some prize money!
John Clark, though, was bent on limiting this ambition. Despite facing a 0-6 deficit in the semi against Stephan Kerberg, he emerged to face John Napier in the 11-point final, and the Bristol John had to settle for the runner-up spot.
All in all, the event appears to have been perceived as a success, with Tony's buffets going down well, and various other activities springing up when players found themselves eliminated. John Slattery kindly organised an 8-player jackpot event, which ended with Rosey Bensley beating Ian Tarr in the final. The "Old Firm" were taking bets on nearly everything. And there were other chouette groups, money games, and even the odd Premier League match played.
Also present was Mark Dixon, "first reserve" for the competition, who arrived at the start hoping for a no-show on somebody's part. Sadly for him, this didn't happen, but he appeared to enjoy the day, found plenty to keep him occupied, and we hope to welcome him to future tournaments.
Organiser Ian Tarr's thoughts now turn to next year's event, and whether or not any fine tuning will be advisable.
28/07/02: Martin and Dave still in the frame
Talk of a two-horse race for the Premier League title should be thought of as premature, especially after yesterday's League action.
Only two matches took place, but both had a bearing on the title race.
Dave Pym and Blaine Buchanan agreed that their Bristol "50" match should double up as a league match, and Dave was the double beneficiary with an 11-9 win which maintains his chase of the leaders.
And later Martin Hemming leapfrogged Stuart Mann into second place when their clash ended -- also 11-9 -- in Martin's favour.
All in all, that was a good result for leader John Slattery, whose superior points difference now virtually guarantees him the title if he can win all his remaining matches.
Martin, Stuart and Dave, though, will also be looking for a string of victories on the run in to ensure that John doesn't get it all his own way.
24/07/02: Was this John's swan-song?
John Ryan's 8-11 Conference defeat at the hands of Neil Young last night may have been his last match in Bristol Backgammon circles!
John will be moving to Ireland to work early next month and, while he will probably be visiting the Bristol "50" this Saturday as a spectator, it is a possibility that we will have seen the last of him as a player on the Bristol scene.
Aside from the fact that we will all be sorry to see him go (while wishing him all the very best), there is another (perhaps less) significant aspect to his departure.
John has played seven Conference matches this season, one short of the number that would allow him to contribute to the bolstering of the number of promotion places available in that league.
If there are any players of some initiative who are aware of this fact, it may well be that John can be prevailed upon to play at least one last match before he goes!
The loss of John from our playing ranks follows closely on the heels of the departure of another valued Conference player, John Sprague, who recently moved to Weymouth.
24/07/02: Anyone for a warm-up?
Anyone wishing to limber up for the weekend's big event, the Bristol "50", could do a lot worse than go along to the Coronation pub in Dean Lane, Southville, on Friday evening, where Blaine Buchanan will be hosting the now regular chouette session.
Also, Stephan Kerberg has revealed his intention to be at the BCSC early on Friday evening, if anyone wants a game.
24/07/02: Fifth Shield semi for Phil
One of the enduring mysteries of the Patchway lunch-time backgammon scene over the years has been the failure of Phil Charlton to make a significant impression on the blue riband DPS Backgammon knock-out event, the Shield.
This year Phil entered the annual competition for the eighteenth successive occasion, but he has yet to progress beyond the semi-finals -- a stage he had reached on four occasions until now.
Today, however, he brought that tally to five with a 24-9 victory over none other than holder Charlie Hetherington, the record three-time winner of the event.
In the semis, Phil will meet Jeremy Axford, and -- despite his apparent Shield jinx -- he will start the match as a clear favourite to make the final for the first time.
The eventual winner of the semi may well have a long time to wait for the final, however, as Jeff Dando and Malcolm Young have only recently begun their first round match, and are locked at 10-all in their quest for a place in the last sixteen!
21/07/02: Slatts goes six points clear
John Slattery won a local derby with Rosey Bensley 11-3 today to pull six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
And while Rosey could have done with the three points, at least she can rest assured that she will incur no penalty points on July 31st. That now remains only a possibility for David Horner, Elliot Smart and Ed Turner.
14/07/02: JULY 11TH GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
The various counter attractions of summer left the seventh 2002 Bristol Grand Prix field with a somewhat threadbare look.
14/07/02: First tournament win is a tonic for Neil ......
Neil Young, taken ill last week and missing BIBA as a consequence, got the best possible tonic at the BCSC on Thursday when he secured his first ever tournament main flight success, which also guaranteed him entry into the 2003 Bristol Masters.
With a line-up of just fourteen entrants, including a knock-out debut for new Conference player Michael Castle, there was always a good chance that -- unilke at most recent Bristol GP tournaments -- events would reach a conclusion. And this proved to be the case.
John Renicks made the most of his bye to the quarter-finals by eliminating Simon Baker and David Horner on the way to his first main flight final.
Meanwhile Neil Young was progressing through the other half of the draw at the expense of Stephan Kerberg, Martin Hemming and Ed Turner, to reach his second main flight final in three attempts.
The second game of the final made Neil's task considerably easier. Already leading 2-0, he picked up a quadruple gammon to leave John a massive underdog. He managed to pull three points back, before Neil finished the job.
14/07/02: Absent Stuart still has 85 point cushion ......
With two of the top three players in the OGP absent, Thursday night afforded some the opportunity to eat into holiday-making Stuart Mann's 110-point lead.
Second placed Paul Watts could do no more than reduce that margin to 85, as Neil Young was the only player to make significant inroads.
Neil's 100-point boost raised him above cricket-watching Charlie Hetherington into third place, while 25-point hauls did little to change the situation for the chasing Blaine Buchanan, Martin Hemming and John Napier.
14/07/02: Neil's massive IGP lead ......
Neil Young, already topping the IGP points table by 95 points, increased his lead to a massive 215 when he won Thursday night's event.
His nearest challengers -- Steffen Nowak and John Lewis -- were absent while Neil was amassing 120 points (10 for entering, 90 for his victories, and 20 bonus points for accounting for Premier League men Martin Hemming and Ed Turner).
Only 35 points covers the five players in positions two to six, as Steffen and John are chased by Stephan Kerberg, John Renicks, and Roland Herrera.
It seems that only a major effort on somebody's part can wrest the IGP crown from Neil's grasp.
14/07/02: League wins for Blaine and Ian ......
Two and a half Premier League matches took place at the BCSC on Thursday night, as Blaine Buchanan and Ian Tarr boosted their Premier One qualification hopes with victories.
As the July 31st checkpoint approaches, all bar four players have made sure of avoiding penalties, and those four are just a single result short of avoiding trouble.
14/07/02: One out, six in, as "50" vacancies are filled
Roland Herrera has been compelled by a busy summer schedule to pull out of the Bristol "50" on July 27th.
But if that's the bad news, the good is that six others have stepped in, and the 32-strong line-up is complete.
Newly confirmed starters are John Renicks, Paul Watts, Blaine Buchanan, Stephan Kerberg, Simon Baker and Martin Hemming. For the complete start list, click here.
10/07/02: "Old firm" back in action
It will be just like old times at the Bristol "50" later this month, when a well established local firm of bookies will be back in action.
Until a couple of years ago, their operation was a regular feature at Lesters Trophy evenings, but the uncertainty surrounding the ante-post field made their job next to impossible.
At July 27th's event, though, the starting line-up should be pretty firm, and only subject to slight last minute adjustments, so the old firm will be back in business.
09/07/02: While the cats are away......
This Thursday's Bristol Grand Prix tournament, the seventh of this year's series, will have some high profile absentees.
The absences of John Slattery and Rosey Bensley (at the World Championships in Monte Carlo), runaway OGP leader Stuart Mann (on holiday), and Charlie Hetherington (watching the cricket) leave the event more wide open than most.
Who will take advantage? Come along to the BCSC and find out, or see the report here at the weekend.
09/07/02: Good news and bad for Ian
Ian Preston's ninth Premier League result of the season was a mixed blessing as far as he was concerned.
The 6-11 defeat he suffered at Charlie Hetherington's hands over two lunch-time sessions at the EDS offices in Patchway was not the result he needed, if he wanted to stay in touch with the championship race, although Charlie will be happy to have maintained his improvement in form after a disastrous early season spell.
The good news for Ian, though, was the reclaiming of the two penalty points he incurred for being behind schedule at the May 31st checkpoint.
He is now clear of trouble at the July 31st checkpoint, although six others have yet to register that penalty-saving ninth result.
09/07/02: Happy landing for Neil
Backgammon reached a new outpost last night, when Neil Young recovered from a 2-9 deficit to defeat John Ould 11-10 in their Bristol Conference meeting at the Happy Landings, Hengrove.
The result had the effect of further compressing virtually all the active Conference players into one hungry, promotion chasing pack.
The match also served the very useful purpose of confirming that at least two players will qualify for next season's Premier League, a number which depends entirely on a formula based around the number of active players in the competition.
04/07/02: Another three points for Stuart
Stuart Mann and Phil Charlton yesterday completed their Premier League match adjourned from last week, and it was Stuart who got the much needed victory.
Anyone who regards backgammon as a game of luck and very little else need only look at the top of the Premier League tables for last season and this.
The same two players -- John Slattery and Stuart -- who turned the title into a two-horse race last season, are threatening to do exactly the same this year.
Obviously pursuers who have lost fewer than five matches -- like Dave Pym, Martin Hemming, Jerry Limb and Ian Preston -- will be hoping to make an impression over the closing months of the season, but the exceptional consistency of the top two is there for all to see.
04/07/02: Six spaces and dwindling......
The Bristol "50" is getting closer to being fully subscribed.
Twenty-six players have now paid the asking price, and with promises of bundles of notes, and cheques in the post, it will surely not be long before the last six slots are taken.
Aspiring entrants will delay at their peril!
01/07/02: Bristol "50" places now up for grabs
The end of June deadline for local players having passed, there are now no reserved places for this month's Bristol "50", apart from those already paid for.
As 24 players have actually paid, and there is a maximum of 32 slots available, it follows that the next eight players -- whoever they may be -- to pay the entry fee will take the remaining slots.
If any reader is concerned about ensuring his or her entry, there is a complete and up-to-date list of entrants, which can be viewed by clicking here.
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