News items from 2004 (first half)

28/06/04: Four in a row as Bristol scrape home

The ninth Inter-Cities Challenge match ended with a typically tense climax at the Langley Arms, Emersons Green, yesterday, when the last match to be completed decided the destiny of the trophy.
Seven Birmingham visitors and eight home players lined up to play three rounds of nine point matches, with one member of the home side sitting out each round.
Richard Owsley was making his Inter-Cities debut for Bristol, while Kevin Folkes and Simon Morecroft made their bows for the Birmingham side.
In the pre-buffet first phase, Bristol gained the upper hand, winning five of the seven encounters, and a successful trophy defence looked to be on the cards.
The sustenance must have benefitted the visitors more than the home side, though, as the second phase ended with Birmingham having pulled level.
Then Dave Motley and Peter Watkins registered the first two results of the final phase to put Birmingham 9-7 ahead, and Bristol could only afford to lose one of the remaining five matches.
Steffen Nowak and Charlie Hetherington levelled the scores, then an Ian Tarr victory put Bristol ahead.
Nick Hamar then pipped Richard Owsley in a nail-biter, so it was all down to the final remaining match, between Stuart Mann and Pat Holly.
Stuart emerged the victor, and Bristol had retained the trophy, recording their fourth successive win.
Steffen Nowak was the star for Bristol, winning the home side's best player prize with his three straight wins, while Peter Watkins mirrored Steffen's achievement for the visitors.
The return match in Birmingham is expected to be some time in October.

28/06/04: Jason's bad break

Jason Champion couldn't make it to yesterday's Inter-Cities Challenge match, but he had the most unfortunate excuse -- a badly broken ankle, which hospitalised him for a few days.
Any well-wishers can contact him over the next few days on 0117-9831321.

28/06/04: Action in all three leagues

Richard Owsley and Tim Oldfield finished off an adjourned Conference encounter on Friday at the Portcullis in Clifton, Richard registering an 11-3 win to open up a nine points gap at the top of the league.
And four players took advantage of the opportunity afforded by yesterday's Inter-Cities match to make league progress.
Elliot Smart moved into second place in Premier One by defeating Charlie Hetherington 11-6, while in Premier Two Paul Watts moved three points clear of Jason Champion by beating Neil Young 11-7.

25/06/04: Holidaying Ed moves into top four

In form Ed Turner, currently holidaying in Brean, took time out to defeat visiting Neil Young in a Premier Two clash, adding the Lazy Days pub to the ever expanding list of Bristol Backgammon venues.
The result lifts Ed into the four-player promotion bracket at the expense of Ian Preston.

18/06/04: Ed takes first Lesters title

After Ed Turner (pictured left) won a BIBA title seventeen months ago, there was the suspicion that he was finding his new lofty status hard to live up to, as subsequent results proved disappointing.
Recently, however, Ed has recaptured that form, and he made it to the top of the OGP points table last night at the BCSC when he defeated Jason Champion to win his first Lesters title.
He thus becomes the seventh player to book a place in next February's Bristol Masters.

15/06/04: Poker helps Martin's campaign for BIBA honours

Martin Hemming's recent proliferation of BIBA appearances has afforded him the opportunity to push his way high up the BIBA grand prix table.
This competition, similar in general format to Bristol's own grand prix competitions, also features a discard system, so it will become more difficult for the regulars to increase their scores as the year goes on.
So Martin, an infrequent BIBA visitor until his poker sessions began to prove such a popular addition to BIBA weekends, is currently making the most of his monthly appearances, and racking up an impressive array of points scores.
After BIBA's June tournament, we have reigning BIBA grand prix champion John Slattery in second place, Martin in fourth, Tony Lee fifth, and Stuart Mann and Rosey Bensley joint eighth.
Paul Gilbertson is joint 16th, and Jason Champion 20th, in a list which includes 186 players.

12/06/04: A return to Langley Arms

The home Inter-Cities Challenge match against Birmingham on June 27th will be played once more at the Langley Arms, Emersons Green.
This will be the third successive year we will have used this particular venue for the match.
Selected players who have not yet confirmed their eligibility for the match are urged to do so soon, as time to find replacements will soon be tight.

12/06/04: Inter-League matches added to the calendar

In an effort to add more variety -- and more opportunities to play -- to the Bristol Backgammon calendar, three dates have been set aside for team matches between members of our three leagues.
The first scheduled match, between Premier Two and the Conference, is set for Thursday July 22nd.
This is followed on Thursday August 19th by Premier One versus the Conference, and on Thursday September 16th by Premier One versus Premier Two.
It is envisaged that groups of players from each league will play three 7-point matches in a format otherwise similar to that used in the Inter-Cities Challenge.
Players interested in representing their leagues in any of these matches are urged to contact Ian Tarr.

12/06/04: Second Handicap Knock-out scheduled for November

After the comparative success of the inaugural Handicap Knock-out last month, another such event has now been scheduled for Thursday November 18th.
Similar events -- probably three of them -- are also set to be integrated into next year's grand prix cycle, albeit with the availability of a much reduced points tariff, and a more comprehensive handicapping system.

11/06/04: NEWS FROM THE 51st LESTERS TROPHY ......

A mere sixteen players, the lowest turnout for a Lesters Trophy event since the fuel crisis of September 2000, contested the fifty-first of the series at the BCSC on Thursday evening.

11/06/04: Jason and Ed due for Thursday decider ......

Ed Turner and Jason Champion will contest the final of Lesters 51 next Thursday at the BCSC, some time after 9pm.
Both Jason, who lost the last Lesters final to Charlie Hetherington, and Ed, runner-up to Blaine Buchanan in September 2000, will be contesting their second Lesters finals.
Ed's victims were Martin Hemming, Simon Baker and Roland Herrera, while Jason fought his way past Steffen Nowak, Stuart Mann and Paul Watts.

11/06/04: Ten points cover OGP first five ......

Previous OGP leaderCharlie Hetherington was overhauled by no fewer than four pursuers after he suffered a first round elimination by Stuart Mann.
Nevertheless, Charlie currently stands only ten points behind new leader Jason Champion, although either Jason or Ed Turner will establish a clear lead by winning next week's final.
Stuart, Ed, and Simon Baker are all currently five points behind Jason.

11/06/04: Rollover hopes die with Paul ......

When Paul Watts succumbed in Thursday night's semi-finals, hopes of a "Winner Takes All" pool rollover also disappeared.
Eleven of the sixteen contestants elected to take the WTA plunge, a larger proportion than recently experienced without the aid of a rollover.
Meanwhile, in a relatively low-key auction, the entire pot of £75 will go to whichever finalist wins next Thursday, as each player managed a successful £5 bid for himself.
In a break with tradition, after a show of hands, it was decided that there would be no runner-up auction prize, the words "Winner Takes All" becoming ever more prominent.

11/06/04: As you were in IGP ......

Not one of the leading group in the IGP showed for Lesters 51, so the table has not changed significantly.
Only Richard Cartwright, with his bare minimum 10 points, and Elias Hamati, whose first round victory over Ian Preston saw him start his campaign with 40 points, were present.

11/06/04: Premier League action ......

Three Premier League matches were completed at the BCSC on Thursday.
In Premier One Dave Pym and Steffen Nowak scored invaluable victories in their battle to avoid relegation, while their victims Simonetta Barone and Ian Tarr are being sucked slowly into the mad scramble to avoid the bottom four places.
Ed Turner, meanwhile, enhanced an already satisfying evening with a victory over Simon Baker, moving right into the thick of the Premier Two promotion battle, while staving off 2000 Premier One champion Simon's anticipated recovery.

07/06/04: Martin wins BIBA consolation

Martin Hemming won the consolation tournament at BIBA's Hilton Trophy knock-out event at Daventry this weekend.
Others to make an impression were Rosey Bensley, who made it to the quarter-finals of the 38-player main flight, and Kevin White, who confirmed his reputation as a short match specialist by reaching both the last eight of the consolation and the last four of the suicide.
Among those also present were Peter Bennet, who split the £50 Jackpot prize, Tony Lee, Jason Champion and Paul Gilbertson.

02/06/04: June date for Inter-Cities Challenge

The home leg of the Inter-Cities Challenge will take place on Sunday June 27th at a venue yet to be decided.
This will be the ninth meeting of teams from Bristol and Birmingham, and the return leg is usually played around October in Birmingham.
A provisional Bristol squad is being placed on standby, based on leading league and OGP positions, and reads: Martin Hemming, Ian Tarr, Elliot Smart, Stuart Mann, Simonetta Barone, Paul Watts, Jason Champion, Mark Dixon, Richard Owsley, Cynthia Roberts, Charlie Hetherington and Simon Baker, although at this stage it is not known precisely how many players will be required.

01/06/04: Penalty points for Simon

Simon Baker, otherwise engaged towards the end of May, has incurred two penalty points for falling short of the Premier Two schedule.
Before the end of July, he will need to record at least four results to ensure that he claws those points back. And two results are necessary to avoid expungement.

28/05/04: Premier Two could hardly be closer

A glance at the current Premier Two league table will reveal just how open the race for the four promotion slots is.
A look at the "Lost" column shows that two players have probably lost too many matches already to be in the final promotion shake-down, but all of the other twelve players have lost either three or four matches!
Second placed Jason Champion is perhaps best placed by virtue of having won three more matches than he has lost -- only the second player to open up such a gap this season.
But even he will probably still need to win at least two of his remaining four matches to stand a chance of finishing in the top four.
What this situation means is that virtually every remaining match can have some bearing on the final outcome, with many a twist almost certainly to be experienced before the final outcome is known.

27/05/04: MAY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......

Twenty-four players were present for an action packed May league night yesterday, completing twenty-three league matches and the final of last week's Handicap Knock-out.

27/05/04: What a difference a day makes ......

No apologies from this correspondent for giving Premier Two top billing for a change! Ten out of fourteen participants were in action on Wednesday night, completing eleven crucial matches in what is proving to be a totally absorbing competition.
Phillip Hill started the evening as leader after his victory the previous night. And what was to happen when he turned his back for just one night? In his absence, he was overtaken by no fewer than five other promotion hopefuls!
Jason Champion began the evening with a hard fought win over Paul Watts, but despite a further victory, this time against Ed Turner, Jason was to end the session just behind new leader Paul, on average points difference.
This was due to Paul's exemplary recovery from that initial setback, as he strode to victory against two other major contenders, Ian Preston and Mark Dixon.
Mark and Ian also recorded a win apiece, thus maintaining their top four presence, while the other player to leap-frog the previous leader was John Ould, whose excellent night saw him scoring emphatic wins over both Mark and John Lewis.
Others to register wins on the night were Neil Young, Blaine Buchanan and John Lewis.
On the penalty points front, both Ed and Blaine managed to claw back the points incurred in March, but the absent Simon Baker will incur two penalties at the end of the month -- assuming he remains inactive until then -- and will then need to play at least four matches by the end of July to recover the situation.
Everyone else has made it to the sanctuary of seven results recorded.

27/05/04: Martin rules the roost despite defeat ......

Martin Hemming remains on course for a famous Premier One title win, despite tasting defeat for the first time this season.
The defeat, his first in ten matches, was suffered at the hands of a resurgent Elliot Smart, last season's runner-up.
But seen in the wider context of a week when two victories have been secured, Martin will not be too displeased, especially since those wins -- over Phil Charlton on Tuesday night and Ian Tarr last night -- have gone some way towards quelling possible title challenges from those two players.
In Ian's case, his title odds lengthened dramatically as he had suffered an earlier defeat at the hands of Dave Pym.
With Martin still so well placed, the likeliest challengers now seem to be last season's top two.
Elliot, whose slow start to the season did not bode too well, has now won four in succession, while last year's runaway champion Stuart Mann is quietly putting together a strong enough sequence to suggest that Martin has some way to go before he can relax.
Stuart's only match last night saw him recover from 6-10 to defeat Tim Jefferies, who had earlier suffered another 10-11 reverse against Dave Pym.
This leaves Dave, Tim and Charlie Hetherington under the most immediate threat of relegation, but the four-up four-down regime is sure to mean that others will drop into, or close to, the desperation zone before the season is out.
Currently, only Martin can feel safe!

27/05/04: Richard and Andrew the main Conference movers ......

New Conference signing Richard Cartwright is losing no time in making an impact, adding two more victories last night to the one he scored last week. He is already up to fourth place in the league table.
The night's other star was Andrew Cobb, whose brace of wins sees him up to fifth.
Leader Richard Owsley, narrowly beaten by Andrew, at least maintained some impetus by beating Cynthia Roberts.
Cynthia, meanwhile, has already clocked up twelve results, her three last night including a solitary success over Michael Corbett.

27/05/04: Richard is first Handicap winner ......

Richard Cartwright beat Steffen Nowak 7-5, thus preserving his 2-point handicap advantage, to become the first winner of a Bristol Handicap Knock-out.
The event, generally regarded as a success, is likely to be repeated later in the year, and there is also a strong possibility that similar events next year will be linked to the two grand prix competitions.

25/05/04: Martin maintains the pace, while Phil goes top

Martin Hemming has this evening consolidated his hold on the top of Premier One, by raiding the Foresters at Downend, and leaving with an 11-2 victory over Phil Charlton.
Earlier in the evening, we had the first Premier Two player reaching 15 points. With six players stuck on 12, it had to happen eventually.
Phillip Hill was the man who took over at the top, when he resumed an earlier encounter with Ed Turner to record an 11-9 victory.
The venue was the Lock Keeper at Keynsham, which also hosted a Conference match between Phillip and Richard Owsley last November.

25/05/04: Three over BIBA 1800 mark

In the latest BIBA rankings, there are now three of our players with ranking scores of over 1800.
Tony Lee and John Slattery have both been above this level for some time, but now Stuart Mann -- following a good showing at the County Cups Trophy -- has joined them.
Others to make strong moves in an upward direction are Jason Champion and Rosey Bensley. Click here for the latest list.

24/05/04: Phillip denies "villainy"

Phillip Hill points out that he does not recall making any firm arrangement to play Ed Turner at the March league night (see story below).
He believes he may have said he would attend, but at the last minute he could not.

22/05/04: And now ...... the Bristol Premier League news from Austria ......

The Bristol Premier League has numbered a few faraway places among its past venues, including a match between John Slattery and Stuart Mann in Dublin once.
Even further away, though, is Velden in Austria, where the 2004 European Championships are currently taking place.
Of course John Slattery is one of those competing there -- it would have been rude not to defend his European title after all, even though he has only been allowed to hold that title for substantially less than a year. The reason for this is the transference of the European title from the popular Slovenian event at Nova Gorica to the Velden tournament.
Ultimately, John's defence has been unsuccessful, and there are apparently no great British triumphs to report, so John allowed his attention to turn to more mundane matters, playing a Premier One match against Simonetta Barone today.
John won 11-4, denting Simonetta's hopes of catching leader Martin Hemming.

22/05/04: Axe still threatens Ed

With nine days to go to the May checkpoint, one player -- Ed Turner -- is still not sure of even avoiding expungement from Premier Two.
Having incurred a penalty point at the March checkpoint, Ed has always known that he needed to register a total of at least seven results by the end of this month so that the point would not become permanent.
Although he has been let down twice by opponents' no-shows -- Phillip Hill and Jason Champion were the villains -- it is difficult to imagine what justification Ed might have for still having only four results under his belt at this stage.
Also under threat of permanent penalties -- but safe from expungement so far -- is Blaine Buchanan, who is still two results away from erasing his two March penalties.
And Simon Baker (twice), Mark Dixon, Roland Herrera, John Lewis, John Ould and Neil Young all need results to ensure that they do not incur initial penalty points on May 31st.
Despite repeated warnings that it is the Advisory Schedule that should be followed, not just the bare minimum to avoid penalties, many players still seem to think that they know better.
So far most have got away with their brinkmanship, but it is surely only a matter of time before somebody slips up. And it is difficult to imagine an appeals sub-committee ruling in anybody's favour in such circumstances.

21/05/04: Inaugural handicap night a qualified success

The first ever Bristol Backgammon Handicap Knock-out can be viewed as a qualified success.
The idea was to bring together, on something like an even playing field, players from all walks of backgammon life, from Premier League champions and national title winners right through to players who were new to competition.
It's always tough to gauge the likely response to a ground breaking idea, so Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr was relieved when twelve players turned up to contest the event. Add to that the fact that two players were making their tournament debuts, and you had an event that worked pretty well.
The new players were Ed Turner's partner Anne Ryder, and Todd Young, son of Neil and, at eight years old, the youngest player ever to play in Bristol Backgammon competition, thus removing 9-year-old Tom Limb from the record book.
The handicapping, based as it was on current league records for most players, with "virgins" -- those without a victory in Bristol Backgammon competition -- receiving as much as four points in a 7-point match, was always going to be approximate. Having said that, it was probably pitched at just about right level, with the two scratch players -- Ian Tarr and Stuart Mann -- winning half their matches, and one of the "virgins" taking the consolation flight by storm.
The final of the main flight has not yet been played, as the agreed midnight finish worked against Steffen Nowak and Richard Cartwright, who will now meet at Wednesday's league night to seal the first Bristol Handicap Knock-out title.
Richard, on only his second visit, confirmed suspicions that his handicap of 3 points may have been a tad lenient, beating Anne Ryder and Richard Owsley to gain his final place.
He had to wait a while for the long half of the draw to sort itself out, before Steffen managed to fight his way past Ed Turner, Mike Osborne and Neil Young.
Taking part in the longest of the initial encounters in the main flight, and losing it, gives an advantage in terms of the consolation flight, in that you are more likely to pick up the odd bye. So it proved for Tim Oldfield, whose 3-point start against Ed Turner gave him just the fillip he needed to claim a place in the final.
There he would meet Ian Tarr, who defeated Anne Ryder and Jason Champion to reach that stage.
With a 4-point advantage going into the final, Tim was never threatened, and took the consolation flight title.
There was enough encouragement in the event to think that another edition of the event would fit happily into the schedule, perhaps in another six months time. Watch this space.

21/05/04: Richard makes it seventeen for the Conference

Richard Cartwright is making an impact on the Bristol Backgammon scene already, having played his initial grand prix tournament last week.
He also contested the Handicap Knock-out last night (see report above), and for good measure has become a fully paid up member of the Bristol Conference.
Not only that, but he recorded his first result in that competition, whilst waiting for his tournament final opponent, and a very creditable one it was, too -- an 11-9 victory over leader Richard Owsley.
One other league match was completed on the night, Mike Osborne securing victory over Tim Oldfield.
The other momentous thing that occurred on the night was that Richard Owsley, in completing his eighth match, became the second player to do so, and thus triggered the implementation of the season's first Conference promotion slot.
According to the rules, from now on for every third player who crosses this threshhold a further slot will become reality.

17/05/04: Simonetta makes the breakthrough

It's been coming for a while, and now it's happened.
Simonetta Barone -- an 11-4 victor over Simon Baker at Kellaway Avenue yesterday -- has finally won the main flight of an open tournament.
Having won the 2002 Intermediate Trophy and achieved promotion in successive years from the Conference and Premier Two (as champion), Simonetta was beginning to feel like the perpetual bridesmaid in local knock-outs after three unsuccessful final appearances (including this year's Bristol Masters) over the past six months.
This May grand prix win lifts her into fourth place in the OGP, just 40 points behind leader Charlie Hetherington, and this despite missing two of this year's five tournaments, a factor which could work to her advantage later in the year when others are discarding points and she isn't.

14/05/04: MAY GRAND PRIX NIGHT NEWS ......

A splendid turnout of twenty-six players attended the fifth of the year's grand prix tournaments. This number included a welcome debut for Richard Cartwright, who acquitted himself pretty well.

14/05/04: Simonetta and Simon in Sunday decider ......

Simonetta Barone and Simon Baker are scheduled to settle the outcome of the main flight of last night's tournament by playing the 11-points final at Simonetta's Kellaway Avenue home on Sunday.
Simonetta had to fight her way through the more heavily populated side of the draw, defeating Ian Preston, Steve Ferrer, Tim Jefferies and Paul Watts en route.
Simon's victims were Juanita Ferrer, Richard Owsley and Jason Champion.

14/05/04: Ed wins consolation flight ......

Winner of the thirteen player consolation flight was Ed Turner, who defeated Ian Preston in the final.
Ed beat Alan Parfitt, Tony Walters and John Slattery before despatching Ian, who had overcome Steffen Nowak, Roland Herrera and Martin Hemming.

14/05/04: Look out, Martin! ......

The amazing symmetry of Martin Hemming's Bristol Backgammon year was shattered last night!
Martin's astonishing record of losing every single match in grand prix tournaments, while sweeping all before him in the rarified atmosphere of Premier One competition, was blemished when Martin scored consecutive consolation flight victories over Elliot Smart and Juanita Ferrer.
The inescapable conclusion to be drawn from this is that Martin's first league defeat is just around the corner, or so his pursuers would like to think!

14/05/04: Charlie's OGP lead threatened ......

OGP leader Charlie Hetherington failed to register a win in last night's tournament, but as yet has not been overtaken.
His closest pursuers, Stuart Mann and Simon Baker have succeeded in halving Charlie's previous 30-point lead, but Simon will assume the leader's mantle if he can win Sunday's final.
The other finalist, Simonetta Barone, now lies sixth, but will move up to fourth if she wins on Sunday.

14/05/04: Four horse race for IGP title? ......

Just thirty points now cover the top four in the IGP table, after all of the top four made respectable, if unspectacular, gains.
Leaders Richard Owsley and Juanita Ferrer netted 25-point tallies, while the Roberts family took closer order, with Chris Roberts' 35 and Cynthia Roberts' 45 moving them into joint third.
The other dozen players in the list have yet to seriously trouble the scorers, although debutant Richard Cartwright and Mike Osborne, making his first grand prix appearance of the season, did their causes no harm with 40 and 35 points respectively.

14/05/04: Bad news for rollover fans ......

With no rollover from the April tournament to tempt the faint-hearted, only nine of the 26 contestants bothered with the "Winner Takes All" pool.
The uncommitted would have fancied the chances of a rollover to next month's £20 tournament, but when three of the nine made it to the semi-finals, the odds had changed dramatically.
Then Simonetta Barone eliminated odd man out Paul Watts and the pool's fate was assured, even if not it's final destination.

14/05/04: Disaster night for Slatts ......

Rumour has it that John Slattery won't be coming to Bristol much longer, because the competition is just too fierce!
That's actually a lie, just perpetrated by this correspondent, although if Slatts were to suffer too many more night's like last night, you can be sure the rumours would actually start.
The current European champion, who will shortly be defending that title -- and we naturally wish him the very best of success in that venture, played seven matches in all during his visit, and ended up winning just two of them.
Leaving aside his tournament exploits, where John scored a solitary consolation flight win over Tim Oldfield, the most serious damage to his year's Bristol effort occurred in Premier One action.
Resuming 8-6 ahead from a previous session against Phil Charlton, the tone was set for John's evening by his failure to register another point in that match.
This was followed by a pair of defeats at the hands of Elliot Smart, whose recently flagging confidence should benefit greatly from the experience.
Only in Slatts' final league match of the night -- an 11-0 drubbing of Tim Jefferies -- did things start to go well for John, although with seven defeats from his eleven matches to date, John's hopes of regaining the title he has won twice have been rendered almost redundant.
As leader Martin Hemming bides his time for the moment, there was at least one pursuer who made inroads into the deficit. Reigning champion Stuart Mann got his season back on track with an 11-5 win over Steffen Nowak.

14/05/04: Paul, beaten, rises three places ......

Steve Ferrer was the night's mover in Premier Two, moving up seven places to sixth. Incredibly, he has exactly the same points total as the current leader, Mark Dixon, the top six only being separated by average points difference.
Steve registered the night's only victories -- hard fought successes against Paul Watts and Alan Parfitt -- giving his season fresh impetus after a disappointing start.
Ironically his defeat resulted in Paul moving from fifth to second, as his seventh result saw him claw back the penalty point he incurred in March.
Overall, the division still looks far too close to call.

14/05/04: Richard strengthens Conference title grip ......

Juanita Ferrer was the most active of the Conference players present, scoring a win over Tim Oldfield after losing to leader Richard Owsley.
Richard now has a six point cushion over Juanita, who has moved into second place.

14/05/04: Date change to accommodate "Teachers" ......

Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has happily agreed to a date change for the July grand prix tournament.
The event, originally scheduled for the 8th, has now been put back a week to the 15th, to allow the BCSC to capitalise on a rare opportunity for television exposure.
It appears that the main characters of the popular Channel Four comedy series "Teachers" -- based in Bristol -- will be drowning their after work sorrows at a new pub, which will look uncannily like our very own BCSC.

09/05/04: More Bristol honours at BIBA

At BIBA's County Cups Trophy, traditionally the national tournament most often blessed by Bristol related success stories, the two major trophies both went to our own representatives.
The event, held this weekend at the Hanover International Hotel, Hinckley, was attended by a field of sixty players, a quarter of whom qualify to enter the Bristol Pool, which is now de rigueur at such events.
BIBA debutante Cynthia Roberts, still feeling her way on the circuit, decided to opt out, but the other fourteen invested their £10 entry fees in the hope of boosting their earnings.
These days, BIBA Swiss format events split into two after the first two rounds, with those on two wins plus possibly the odd player drawn to make up the numbers carrying on in the main flight, while the remaining contestants go straight into a consolation flight, where success depends on their progress in the remining four matches only.
Roland Herrera, Simonetta Barone, Steffen Nowak, Simon Fahoury, Kevin White and Cynthia effectively bowed out of main flight contention in the first round, while Ian Tarr, Rosey Bensley and David Horner joined them after round two.
This left six players to carry on in the main flight, two of whom -- Jason Champion and Martin Hemming -- fell at Saturday's final hurdle.
So when Sunday's auction came around, exactly half the eight remaining contenders were ours -- Stuart Mann, John Slattery, Paul Gilbertson and Tony Lee.
At this stage of the weekend came the first of the major honours, BIBA's annual Sportsman of the Year trophy. This year's award, the fifth in the series sponsored by top national player Dod Davies and voted for by the players, went deservedly to Stuart (pictured, left, with his trophy, and, right, with two previous recipients of the award), whose support contained a good cross section of Bristol and non-Bristol players.
Following this honour, Stuart had his sights on other prizes. He and Tony survived the fourth round cull, only to meet in the fifth for a place in what was effectively, if not nominally, the final.
Tony scored an emphatic victory (see photo, top left), and followed this by taking the title -- won last year by Slatts -- after defeating Mick Butterfield.
While Tony scored a handsome profit, even after deals were taken into account, Stuart and Jason also wrote themselves lines in the Bristol Achievements Elsewhere hall of fame, by ending on five wins out of six.
Slatts, Rosey and Kevin registered creditable four-win performances, with Kevin's tally including the longest run in contention for the consolation flight, before he succumbed to Mike Heard. Meanwhile Ian, Steffen, Simonetta, Martin, Paul and David won three times apiece.
Other winners were Cynthia with two, and Roland with just one.
Much was discussed about Bristol league action, but the only such match to take place -- in the bar, late on Saturday night -- was Ian's 11-10 Premier One victory over Steffen, a result which moves Ian to within three points of leader Martin, although Martin does have the not inconsiderable cushion of three matches in hand!

03/05/04: More Kellaway Avenue action

Roland Herrera and Simonetta Barone have once again thrown their home open to several players, with two mini-tournaments and the odd chouette.
Sunday's first tournament, scheduled to start at 3.30pm, saw eight entrants, but the final had to be adjourned, Cynthia Roberts having to leave early. She will have to make arrangements with her opponent, host Roland, to play the final at some stage, or maybe split the money.
Charlie Hetherington won the second tournament, defeating Steve Ferrer in the final.
Meanwhile, a few players took advantage of lulls in the proceedings to play league matches.
In the Conference, Juanita Ferrer beat Cynthia, while Juanita's husband Steve Ferrer suffered an agonisingly narrow Premier Two loss at the hands of Phillip Hill, having resumed from 0-10 down and fought his way back to parity. The win moves Phillip into the promotion bracket at the expense of Paul Watts.
And in Premier One, Charlie went down 10-11 to Ian Tarr, having also trailed a long way behind -- it was 1-10 at one stage.

29/04/04: APRIL LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......

Eighteen players were in action during the year's fourth league night yesterday.
This number included Andrew Cobb, who signed up for his third Conference campaign.

29/04/04: Simonetta takes up the chase ......

Runaway Premier One leader Martin Hemming was not present at the BCSC on Wednesday evening, but it is probably safe to say that, had he been an onlooker, he would not have been too displeased.
The one player widely tipped to challenge Martin's supremacy, reigning champion Stuart Mann, suffered his third defeat of the season -- 7-11 to Simonetta Barone -- and it is Simonetta who now looks best placed to take up the chase, even though she is still a distant second.
Ian Tarr moved into third place after defeating Charlie Hetherington, whose disappointing early season form -- he also shared the honours in two meetings with Tim Jefferies -- sees him lodged in the relegation zone.

29/04/04: Paul surges into the top four ......

Premier Two was the busiest of the three leagues on Wednesday night.
Nine of the fourteen competitors between them racked up eight results, although with penalty points to be reclaimed, some progress was certainly advisable.
Of the top four at the start of the evening, only third and fourth placed Neil Young and Roland Herrera saw action, each losing -- Neil earlier in the evening at the Merchants Arms, Hotwells, against Blaine Buchanan, and Roland to John Ould. The defeats were enough to see both players slip out of the promotion bracket.
Replacing them were Ian Preston, whose two results saw him breaking even, and Paul Watts, the evening's star performer with three straight victories -- two of them somewhat emphatic ones.
Ed Turner also scored a win, his third from four matches, but the penalty point incurred last month is threatening to become permanent unless he registers three results before the end of May.
So tight does the division now look, that a bookie would have nightmares about setting the odds.

29/04/04: Richard's brace sends him top ......

Conference leader Cynthia Roberts had an unhappy evening, losing to both Michael Corbett and Andrew Cobb, whose appearance made him the league's fifteenth paid up member.
2003 Rookie of the Year Richard Owsley managed to beat Andrew and Michael, and has moved into the lead, a position he also holds in the IGP.
Cynthia, meanwhile, became the first player in this year's competition to reach eight results, so she has done her bit towards ensuring that promotion from the Conference can be a reality for some this season.
It would be surprising if at least three promotion places were not to earned before the season is out. That would entail at least seven more players reaching that eight match threshhold.

29/04/04: Rosey among Salzburg hardware collectors

Five Brits got amongst the trophies at last week's 1st Casino Salzburg Open event in Austria.
Prominent among these was Rosey Bensley, who made a substantial profit when finishing as runner-up in the main flight of the Intermediate section.
John Slattery failed to pull up any trees in the Championship section, but will not have come home too unhappy after winning the 500Euro Super Jackpot.

22/04/04: BIBA's June venue switch

BIBA's June tournament has been switched from the Hanover International Hotel in Daventry to its sister hotel in Hinckley.
This probably reflects general dissatisfaction with service at the Daventry venue in both March and April.
See the Diary of Events for confirmation.

19/04/04: Martin pulls further ahead

The weekend's impromptu gatherings at the Kellaway Avenue home of Roland Herrera and Simonetta Barone provided fun and entertainment -- knock-outs, small money matches, and chouettes -- for all who participated (seven players each day) and the tournaments were won by host Roland on Saturday and Simon Fahoury on Sunday.
For Martin Hemming, though, it was business as usual as his visit matched the regular pattern of his achievements in 2004.
An inability to make any impression in a knock-out was matched only by an uncanny ability to notch a victory when embarking on Premier One activity.
His league victim this time was hostess Simonetta, and Martin scored a typical win -- his eighth in succession -- this time by 11-9.

16/04/04: Gammonitis August date change

The August Gammonitis tournament has been brought forward a week to the 14th and 15th.
This is now reflected in our Diary of Events.

15/04/04: Roland and Simonetta play host

Roland Herrera and Simonetta Barone are becoming more and more frequent hosts to all manner of backgammon gatherings.
And their Kellaway Avenue, Bishopston, home will be the venue this weekend for two knock-out events, scheduled to start at 3.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
Anyone wishing to participate in either -- or both -- should ring Roland and Simonetta without delay to find out more, or to book a place. Their numbers are (0117)9241145 and 07957 564479.
Reports should appear here after the weekend.

09/04/04: APRIL GRAND PRIX NEWS ......

Nineteen players contested the fourth of the year's grand prix tournaments.
There were Bristol Backgammon debut appearances for Cardiff-based Tony Walters and 10-year-old Lewis Young (son of Neil), while Rob Wills, now based in Bicester, returned to the fray nearly twelve years after his one and only Lesters Trophy appearance.

09/04/04: Stuart does it again ......

Stuart Mann won his eighth Bristol main flight title, beating John Slattery 11-1 in the final, which was completed virtually on the stroke of 1am.
Simon Baker, Ian Tarr and Neil Young were his victims en route to the final, while John had defeated Rob Wills, Richard Owsley and Ian Preston.

09/04/04: Tim wins consolation flight ......

Tim Jefferies took the ten-player consolation flight, defeating Juanita Ferrer in the final, after victories over Tim Oldfield and Paul Watts.
Juanita's victims were Tony Walters and her husband, Steve.

09/04/04: No rollover ......

Although only seven of the nineteen contestants elected to go for the Winner Takes All pool, there was to be no rollover.
When only three of those seven made it to the quarter-finals, the chances looked good, but Stuart Mann and John Slattery went all the way to ensure that the pool had a winner.

09/04/04: Charlie's lead cut to 30 ......

OGP leader Charlie Hetherington had his lead cut from 45 points to 30, as Stuart Mann announced his intention to challenge strongly for the title which has become almost exclusively his.
Simon Baker dropped to third place, a further 30 points behind, with Jason Champion and Ed Turner equal fourth.
A total of 39 different players have now contested the year's grand prix events.

09/04/04: Richard edges further ahead ......

Richard Owsley extended his tenuous IGP lead from 5 points to 15 by picking up his usual 35 points.
In each of the three tournaments Richard has contested this year he has scored a single main flight victory complete with a 10-points bonus for beating a Premier Status player -- Paul Watts on this occasion. Coincidentally, Paul was Richard's victim in February's event.
Juanita Ferrer moved into second place on her run to the consolation final. Beating her husband Steve Ferrer made her the night's only other bonus points winner.

09/04/04: Jason and Juanita score league wins ......

There was some league action on Thursday evening, with play in five matches in all, although three had to be adjourned.
Jason Champion beat Steve Ferrer to move into second place in a very open looking Premier Two, while Juanita Ferrer's win over Tim Oldfield moved her into third place in the Conference.

05/04/04: Open consolation for Martin and Slatts

BIBA's At-A-Glance British Open, this weekend at the Hanover International Hotel, Daventry, was a disappointing one from a Bristol viewpoint.
The 80-strong field included 13 entrants to the now customary Bristol £10 Pool, so expectations were high that one or more would figure in the closing stages of what is the biggest title available in the UK calendar, especially bearing in mind the increasing frequency of successes over the past year or so.
Surprisingly, however, the destiny of the Bristol Pool kitty was decided as early as Saturday evening, with only our Oxford exile Tony Lee making it into the last sixteen.
And then Tony's elimination at Sunday's first hurdle completed a miserable main flight for our representatives.
Veteran Roy Hollands and Cheltenham's Mike Greenleaf were the eventual finalists.
There was some joy, though, in the lesser flights, with Premier One pace setter Martin Hemming taking the Progressive Consolation, John Slattery finishing as runner-up in the Last Chance, and Simonetta Barone and Stuart Mann, playing under the name "Play Fast and Lose", coming second in the Saturday night doubles.
Hopefully next month's County Cups Trophy, a Swiss Format event which has traditionally seen prominent Bristol involvement, will see an upturn in our fortunes.

01/04/04: NEWS FROM A RECORD BREAKING LEAGUE NIGHT ......

No fewer than twenty-six league players were present at the year's third league night session at the BCSC, including an amazing six new entrants to the Conference.

01/04/04: Simonetta and Stuart give chase ......

Prime movers on a busy Premier One night were Simonetta Barone and Stuart Mann, who each won their two encounters to begin the chase after absent runaway leader Martin Hemming.
Nine matches were completed, and all those threatened with penalty points did enough to avoid that ignominy.
Of the remaining players present, only Dave Pym went home without adding a victory -- Steffen Nowak, Ian Tarr, Elliot Smart, Charlie Hetherington and Tim Jefferies all suffering mixed fortunes.
At this comparatively early stage of the season, every one of the league's eleven contestants has won at least two matches.

01/04/04: Vultures closing in on Mark ......

Another league leader not present to enjoy the fun was Premier Two's Mark Dixon.
Nine of his adversaries were doing battle at the BCSC last night, though, and while Mark still retains his lead, there are now no fewer than nine players within six points of him.
Neil Young and Roland Herrera are now his nearest pursuers, ahead of three others on average points difference, while others to record victories were John Ould, with two, Simon Baker, John Lewis and Alan Parfitt.
Three players have incurred penalties, however. Ed Turner was let down by a no-show, while Paul Watts and Blaine Buchanan are the others who now need to catch up with the schedule by May 31st to avoid their points deductions becoming permanent.

01/04/04: What a difference a week makes ......

Recent nagging doubts about the viability of this season's Bristol Conference League, have been summarily dispelled over the past week or so.
With the number of declared entrants at just nine, and with the availability of only one meeting per opponent, the decision to allow second meetings appeared not to have been taken a moment too soon.
And if that had the effect of opening up a wealth of playing opportunities, last night's events have given the league a tremendous shot in the arm.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr had been pinning some of his hopes for this year's competition on the enrolment of the group of players from The Leap, Downend, who emerged late last year into tournament action.
Jonathan Pearson had indicated that these hopes were not without foundation, and this proved to be the case when he, along with Matthew Billington, Dave Jones, Andy Neath and Mike Osborne, all made their league debuts.
Also present, and every bit as welcome, was Claire Hickory, who made her Bristol Backgammon debut.
Four results were recorded, with three further matches adjourned, and the night's winners were Matthew Billington -- who shocked league leader Cynthia Roberts -- Michael Corbett, Mike Osborne and Jonathan Pearson.

25/03/04: Emigration rules John out

John Sutcliffe is moving to California.
His Conference membership is thus rendered null and void -- he hadn't played any matches anyway -- so he will be deleted from the league table.
We wish him well in his new direction, and will happily welcome him should any of his visits home coincide with our tournaments.

23/03/04: Conference rules adjusted

Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has informed Conference players that the scenario described in the second paragraph of this season's rules has now come into effect.
The rules state: "Should there be an entry of fewer than twelve players, players will be allowed to play return matches at a time to be specified later in the season".
With fewer new members than anticipated, that time is now, and return meetings can be played at any time between now and the November 30th end date.

22/03/04: Charlie takes sixth Lesters title

Charlie Hetherington won the 50th Lesters Trophy event, when he defeated Jason Champion 11-7 in the held over final at the Cornubia.
The victory gave Charlie his sixth Lesters title, just one away from Dave Pym's record, and assures his 2005 Bristol Masters place, as well as increasing his lead at the top of the OGP to 45 points.

21/03/04: Charlie and Jason for Cornubia showdown

The final of Lesters 50 will take place this Monday evening (the 22nd) at the Cornubia in Temple Street.
"Kick-off" will be some time after 7pm.

17/03/04: Rosey and Paul on the up

The latest BIBA rankings show a marked improvement in the status of Scottish Open runner-up Rosey Bensley, while her brother Paul Gilbertson also edged his way towards the 1500 mark.
Recent Bristol debutant Alan Sammonds made his entry well over the 1500 mark.

15/03/04: Final pencilled in for the 22nd

The final of last week's fiftieth Lesters Trophy event, between Jason Champion and Charlie Hetherington, is likely to be played next Monday, the 22nd.
No decision has yet been made on which venue will be used.

15/03/04: BIBA switch paying off?

BIBA's decision to switch hotel chains appears to be paying off.
While attendances are still not back to the heights of a few years ago, the number who supported the Slattery Scottish Open was an encouraging 53.
The February and March tournaments have been the first to be held at Hanover International hotels, one in Hinckley, the other in Daventry.
It will be interesting to see the size of turnout next month for BIBA's big prestige event, the British Open, in Daventry.

14/03/04: Girls on top as Rosey just misses out

BIBA's Slattery Scottish Open featured an all female final, the first such occurrence in BIBA history.
The sponsor's partner, Rosey Bensley made it to this stage for the second successive year, only to lose out to Yorkshire's former British Open champion, Rachel Rhodes.

14/03/04: Martin extends lead in Daventry

Taking time out from their BIBA Scottish Open campaigns at the Hanover International Hotel, Daventry, this morning (way before breakfast time) were Martin Hemming and John Slattery.
Martin won their Premier One encounter 11-8, and thus extended his impressive opening sequence to seven victories out of seven.
The defeat means twice champion Slatts has now lost four times, and if previous campaigns are anything to go by, he cannot afford to lose many more if he is to stand a chance of regaining his title.

12/03/04: NEWS FROM THE 50th LESTERS TROPHY ......

Maybe it was the weather. But the 50th instalment of the Lesters Trophy attracted a disappointing entry of just 21, although that disappointment was offset by the appearance of Alan Sammonds, from Cwmbran, making his Bristol backgammon debut.

12/03/04: Charlie and Jason reach the final ......

Charlie Hetherington and Jason Champion will contest the final of Lesters 50 at a date and time yet to be arranged.
After receiving a bye in round one, Jason fought his way past Simon Baker, Stuart Mann and Rosey Bensley to claim his place in the final. Charlie defeated John Slattery, Phillip Hill, Blaine Buchanan and Ed Turner.

Rosey Bensley (see photo)
limbers up for her semi-final
meeting with Jason Champion!

12/03/04: No rollover this time! ......

With only one of the twenty-one participants -- Juanita Ferrer -- electing not to bother with the Winner Takes All pool, the odds against another rollover were long indeed.
And when Juanita was one of the first casualties, we knew that the £530 kitty would find a happy recipient.
The effect this pool has on the overall rewards for the finalists is to make things very lop-sided.
The tournament prize pool of £400 (the £420 stake money minus £20 to the OGP and IGP prize pools) is split conveniently into £300 and £100 portions, leaving the "official" prize money at £830 for the winner and a mere £100 for the runner-up.
In reality, of course, the players will usually do a pre-match deal to narrow the gap, but this is entirely down to the individuals.
The other pecuniary element at a Lesters event is the auction, where the pool last night realised a total of £170, which will be split £130 : £40.
For Charlie, who bought himself, the total theoretical return goes up to £960 for victory.
Jason was bought by Alan Sammonds, who thus ensured that there would be some consolation for his first round tournament exit.

12/03/04: Thanks to the helpers ......

Thanks are once again due to those unsung heroes who help out on a tournament night.
Dave Pym, assisted by Charlie Hetherington, performed the auction, and Dave also collected the auction stake money.
And Callum Campbell did the tournament draw.

12/03/04: Charlie edges into OGP lead ......

OGP leader Simon Baker was an early departure from last night's tournament, thus allowing Charlie Hetherington to move into a 5-point lead, which will increase to 45 if he can win the final.
The alternative result would lift Jason from 4th place to 3rd, with a total of 10 points covering the top three.
In the IGP things hardly altered at all.
Juanita Ferrer and Alan Sammonds got no more than their 10 points apiece for entering.

12/03/04: Can Jason continue Premier Two monopoly? ......

After Simon Baker and Alan Parfittwon the year's first two grand prix events, and Jason Champion claimed the Bristol Masters title, Jason now has the opportunity to consolidate the Premier Two success story which has been a feature of the year to date.
If he can win the final, he will earn an extra 2005 Masters place for a Premier Two high finisher.
This trend is in total contrast to 2003, when Premier One players asserted their expected dominance.

12/03/04: Martin marches on, Phil goes second ......

Martin Hemming's assault on the Premier One title looked to have stalled slightly when he fell 6-10 behind against second placed Steffen Nowak.
Steffen, though, failed to add to his score, and Martin now has a perfect six match record.
Meanwhile Phil Charlton appeared for some league action, and went away with six points in the bag, and second place in the table, after defeating John Slattery and Dave Pym.
Slatts later gained some recompense when he defeated Ian Tarr.

12/03/04: Mark suffers setback ......

Premier Two leader Mark Dixon suffered defeat at the hands of Simon Baker, but remains top.
Simon was later beaten by Neil Young, who thus eased into fourth place.

03/03/04: Mark increases lead

Premier Two leader Mark Dixon pulled three points clear at the top of the league with an 11-4 victory over Blaine Buchanan at Clevedon last night.
And in a Premier One encounter at the Langley Arms on Monday night, Phil Charlton scored a narrow victory over Charlie Hetherington to pull out of the bottom four.

03/03/04: Gammonitis returning to Bristol

Gammonitis Director Liz Barker has announced a return to Bristol for Gammonitis!
After a record turnout for any Gammonitis event at the Grange Hotel, Winterbourne, back in December, it seemed likely that Bristol might become a regular venue on the Gammonitis calendar.
But with the 2004 dates already pencilled in, a little re-jigging would have been necessary, and anyway no suitable date in December was available.
The good news, though, is that the first Gammonitis event of 2005 will herald a return to The Grange. The dates for your 2005 diary (if you already have one) are Friday February 18th to Sunday 20th.

26/02/04: LEAGUE NIGHT AT THE B C S C ......

Twenty league players were present at the year's second league night, and nineteen of them actually managed to record a result or three.

26/02/04: Martin pulling away ......

Everyone in Premier One has now played at least three matches; everybody has now won at least one match after Tim Jefferies and Phil Charlton registered their first successes; and nearly everyone has lost at least one, with Steffen Nowak suffering his first defeat.
The exception is Martin Hemming, whose record now reads: played five, won five.
Martin has maintained his six point lead at the top, and after last season's strong opening, he will be looking to sustain it this time.
Bizarrely, in a league of eleven players, Steffen is the only other player to have recorded more victories than defeats, although three others have broken even.
And Steffen had a late night victory over Simonetta Barone at the Cornubia to thank for keeping the gap down to six points.
The night's other victors were Phil Charlton and Ian Tarr.

26/02/04: Mark is third leader this week ......

Bristol Masters champion Jason Champion began the week at the top of Premier Two, but we've had two more leaders since then.
When Mark Dixon beat Jason at the Cornubia on Sunday, Jason slipped behind Ian Preston on points difference.
And when Jason and Ian sat down to play last night, it was for the outright leadership, however temporary. Ian won that one by the narrowest of margins.
Before the night was out, though, Mark had scored victories over Ian -- finishing off an adjourned match -- and Phillip Hill, thus moving ahead on points difference himself.
Jason defeated Alan Parfitt to join the top two on nine points, and the night's other successes were scored by Neil Young, Ed Turner, Phillip Hill and Roland Herrera.
This division has all the makings of an enthralling competition.
Apart from the three pace-setters, there are Gammonitis Rollout Trophy champion Roland Herrera, Bristol "50" holder Steve Ferrer, and 2000 Bristol Premier League champion Simon Baker all ready to make their mark, not to mention Premier One old hands like Blaine Buchanan, Ed Turner and Paul Watts.
Even with four promotion slots available, some strong players will miss out.

26/02/04: Cynthia and Richard maintain the pace ......

Five Conference players were present, and two matches were completed.
Apart from Jeremy Axford's fleeting non-playing visit, it was the two early leaders who consolidated their places at the top.
Cynthia Roberts edged home against Tim Oldfield, while Richard Owsley won an even tighter affair against Michael Corbett.

20/02/04: NEWS FROM THE BRISTOL MASTERS ......

The fourth Bristol Masters was done and dusted in a single evening, despite the move to 11-point matches, and there was Premier League action aplenty.

20/02/04: Jason is the new Master ......

Jason Champion (left, picture by Jeremy Axford) will be the new name on the Bristol Masters salver when it is engraved, after the first major issue of 2004 was decided.
The fourth incarnation of the knock-out you have to qualify for took a step up from previous years with the introduction of 11-point matches all the way through. Any qualms about time constraints were easily dispelled despite a delay which saw two first round matches begin nearly an hour after the remainder.
Simonetta Barone, returning especially for the tournament from a skiing trip to Italy (or was it Austria?), had experienced lengthy delays. Partner Roland Herrera was there to meet her at the bus station to help with the luggage, and the pair eventually arrived just after 8pm to engage their opponents, Phillip Hill and Phil Charlton, in combat.
Both Roland and Simonetta were to progress to round two (a k a the quarter-finals).
Of the other competitors, John Slattery and Paul Gilbertson had made the longest journey, travelling down together from the Home Counties and, as luck would have it, they were to meet in round one, Slatts eventually coming through to meet Charlie Hetherington.
Despite holding a useful early lead, Charlie was despatched, then Simonetta whitewashed Martin Hemming to set up an intriguing semi-final.
In the other half of the draw, Jason Champion was progressing nicely, at the expense of first Elliot Smart and then Ian Tarr. His semi-final opponent was to be Roland, who had followed his opening win over Phil Charlton by eliminating the holder, Ian Preston.
The romantics among the watching throng were beginning to speculate about a Roland versus Simonetta final, with Simonetta moving into an 8-2 lead over Slatts, as Roland led Jason 7-4. However, while Simonetta held firm, Roland was overhauled at the wire by Jason.
It being after 12.30am, with BCSC time running out, the party moved on to the Cornubia where, after a tense tussle, Jason prevailed with an 11-8 victory to clinch his biggest title to date, thus consolidating an impressive first eighteen months of Bristol Backgammon competition.
The new format had proved popular and successful, clearly indicating that it is here to stay.

20/02/04: Doubling up rife in Premier One ......

The rule which allows players to use a single match to count in more than one competition was used more than ever before at the Bristol Masters.
No fewer than three Masters ties were doubled up as Premier One matches, while there were also three other results from that competition.
Dave Pym and John Slattery were the most prolific performers, each registering three league results, with John winning twice and Dave once.
Other winners were Martin Hemming, Steffen Nowak and Simonetta Barone, Martin opening up a six point gap at the top.

20/02/04: John, Ian, Paul score Premier Two wins ......

There were Premier Two victories last night for John Lewis, Ian Preston and Paul Watts.
Ian's win takes him to the top, just ahead of Jason Champion on average points difference.

18/02/04: Masters at work

Tomorrow night sees the staging of the fourth Bristol Masters event at the BCSC.
This, the only knock-out event in the Bristol calendar where pre-qualification is required, will feature sixteen of the finest players to compete in last year's various Bristol competitions.
Players qualify either by winning a monthly grand prix tournament, by finishing high in one of the leagues, or by being the holder of the Masters title.
Ian Preston will be there to defend his title, and the only original qualifiers not scheduled to take part are Stuart Mann -- sadly so in view of his extraordinarily successful 2003 -- and Mark Dixon.
Replacements have been found, though, and any late withdrawals are likely to be covered by any spectators present, based on finishing positions in last year's OGP.
John Lewis, 10th in the 2003 OGP, is the current first reserve.

15/02/04: Slatts in Cannes semi

Renowned globe-trotter John Slattery has had another good tournament, this time in Cannes, where he reached the semi-finals of the Trophee du Partouche.
Slatts will be back in action closer to home on Thursday evening, when he competes in the Bristol Masters.

13/02/04: FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......

There were no debutants at February's Bristol Grand Prix tournament on Thursday at the BCSC, but two players were returning to action after lengthy absences -- Richard Moody, who became a Premier Status player two years ago, but has never been around for long enough to take up his rightful Premier League place, and Simon Gonzales, whose last appearance was as long ago as Lesters 29, back in 1997.

13/02/04: Alan the hero of rollover fans ......

Having had a double rollover, it was too much to expect a triple one. Wasn't it?
With £190 already in the Winner Takes All kitty -- thanks entirely to the benevolence of Simon Baker -- fourteen of the 23 starters decided it was worth the investment -- including Simon on this occasion.
One of those who didn't bother was Alan Parfitt (left, picture by Jeremy Axford), a player whose involvement in the game on the local scene has recently been rekindled to the extent that he is now the proud possessor of a new board!
Alan made his DPS Backgammon debut back in 1982. For those whose grasp of local backgammon history is no more than tenuous, DPS Backgammon was the organisation -- and still is, it is rumoured!! -- which has overseen the game in lunch-time competitions at the computing department (now EDS) of Rolls-Royce in Patchway.
Alan scored three knock-out successes at RR in the eighties, and spent several seasons in the First Division of the DPS Backgammon League.
He also became an occasional visitor to Lesters tournaments, contesting five of these between 1994 and 1998, reaching a final and a semi.
Last year Alan was a surprise but welcome addition to the Conference, and also played a couple of grand prix tournaments, while this year Alan has progressed to Premier Two, and has played both knock-outs.
So, given this background, his decision not invest in the WTA pool was perhaps understandable.
Playing through the "long" half of the draw, though, Alan overcame Jason Champion, Simon Gonzales and Steffen Nowak to earn a semi-final meeting with Mark Dixon.
Meanwhile, waiting in the final was Simonetta Barone, still hungry for a grand prix win after recent title winning performances in the Intermediate Trophy and Premier Two.
Simonetta's victims had been Cynthia Roberts, Elliot Smart and Tim Jefferies.
With Simonetta and Mark both eyeing the contents of the pool, mercenary "neutrals" were willing Alan to success, and a 7-4 victory over Mark saw him to the final.
This started well for Alan, but although he led 7-2, the situation was changing rapidly before play was adjourned at 1am, with Simonetta 8-7 ahead.
The party moved on to Kellaway Avenue, where home advantage did Simonetta no good at all, as she failed to add to her score.
The Winner Takes All pool now stands at £330!

13/02/04: Charlie wins consolation flight ......

Charlie Hetherington emerged from the twelve consolation flight participants to beat Chris Roberts in the final.
His vanquished foes en route were Stuart Mann and Ed Turner, while Chris overcame Ian Preston, Jason Champion and Phillip Hill.

13/02/04: Alan narrows Simon's lead ......

Alan Parfitt's grand prix success moved him into second place in the OGP table, 40 points behind leader Simon Baker.
Simonetta Barone, Steffen Nowak, Ian Tarr, Stuart Mann, Mark Dixon and Charlie Hetherington lead the pursuers.

13/02/04: Richard is new IGP leader ......

Few trees have yet been uprooted in the IGP, but Juanita Ferrer's absence allowed new leader Richard Owsley, Chris Roberts and Cynthia Roberts to move ahead of her.
Chris picked up 30 bonus points for his consolation flight victories over Premier Two opposition.

13/02/04: Masters qualifiers reversing a trend ......

This year's first Bristol Masters qualifiers are both from Premier Two.
Simon Baker and Alan Parfitt are thus reversing the trend of last year, when Premier One players monopolised Masters qualification.

13/02/04: Cynthia and Simon score league successes ......

Two Conference matches were completed at the BCSC last night.
The adjourned match between Cynthia Roberts and Richard Owsley was swiftly settled, with Cynthia scoring the single point she needed for a third straight win.
Her run came to an end later, however, when she went down 7-11 to Simon Fahoury.
Two Premier Two matches got well under way, but both were adjourned.

10/02/04: Stuart's celebration

Stuart Mann with his trophy
at the Hanover International
Hotel, Hinckley, on Sunday

09/02/04: Stuart closes the gap

BIBA's latest rankings table saw the top Bristol players encountering variable experiences.
Before the weekend, Stuart Mann stood 188 points behind Tony Lee, the most prominent of our representatives.
But with Tony and John Slattery losing ground after moderate performances and Stuart decidedly on the up, that gap is reduced to a mere 23.
Others to show improvements were Ian Tarr, Steffen Nowak, Peter Bennet, Jason Champion, Paul Gilbertson, Simonetta Barone and Simon Fahoury.
For the latest Bristol players' standings, click here, but for the full list, visit the BIBA website.

09/02/04: Stuart makes national breakthrough

BIBA's Jarvis Trophy event at the Hanover International Hotel, Hinckley, Leicestershire, over the weekend proved a momentous one for Stuart Mann.
Stuart's last three years on the domestic Bristol scene have seen him arguably outperforming even European champion John Slattery, when both Premier League and monthly grand prix tournaments are taken into account.
So considering the breakthroughs achieved further afield during 2003, he might have been expected to have been at the forefront of these. Near misses, though, at the 2001 BIBA British Open and the BIBA Townharbour Trophy the following year remained the best he had to show for his travails on the road.
The weekend's event, featuring a modified Swiss format, changed all that, as Stuart emerged from a field of 56 to take the title.
Most of his matches were close ones, but he managed to prevail in all six.
His title clinching sixth match seemed to be slipping away when a 7-4 lead over Danny Cohen deteriorated into a 7-10 deficit.
But a gammon in the Crawford game, followed by a free drop, paved the way for an exciting final game, in which Stuart held his nerve to seal the victory.
With a double rollover in the Winner Takes All pool, plus first prize in the £10 pool, not to mention scooping the eleven player Bristol pool, the weekend provided Stuart with a handsome profit, but the title will give him even more satisfaction, hopefully leading to even greater national recognition.
For the others in Bristol's travelling band, there were mixed fortunes.
The new format adopted for BIBA's Swiss tournaments caused a little confusion amongst those who hadn't read their BIBAFAXes -- and for many who had! The gist of the change is to provide a second competition for those out of title contention, while maintaining the ideal of six eleven-point matches.
Apart from Stuart, four others eligible for the Bristol pool were well on track after winning their first two matches, thus remaining in the main flight.
But Jason Champion and Paul Gilbertson lost their final match on Saturday, then Peter Bennet and Steffen Nowak -- against Stuart -- lost out in Sunday morning's fourth round.
Stuart was actually the sole player with a 100% record after round five, but had to beat Danny to confirm his success.
The remainder of the field went into the consolation flight after round two, with their first two matches discounted for the purposes of that flight.
By Saturday evening Simonetta Barone, Rosey Bensley, Roland Herrera, Martin Hemming and Simon Fahoury had disappeared from contention.
Tony Lee followed in round four, and John Slattery in round five, leaving Ian Tarr the task of defeating Tony Fawcett in the last of the six rounds to reach a play-off with Paul Christmas. This proved to be beyond Ian, who failed to capitalise on an 8-5 lead.
Total wins from six matches: 6- Stuart Mann; 4- Peter Bennet, Steffen Nowak and Ian Tarr; 3- Paul Gilbertson, Jason Champion (who missed two matches for a Sunday morning lie-in), Simon Fahoury, John Slattery and Simonetta Barone; 2- Roland Herrera; 1- Martin Hemming (who also missed a Sunday morning match), Tony Lee and Rosey Bensley.

09/02/04: Martin still setting the pace

Martin Hemming consolidated his early season Premier One lead by defeating John Slattery at Hinckley on Saturday night, thus opening up a six point gap at the top.
Earlier in the day, Ian Tarr had been offered the opportunity to double up a BIBA match as a league match, but declined. Whether or not this was a wise decision remains to be seen, as Martin's 100% record would have gone.

06/02/04: The secret is out ...... Jason is top

A previously unreported Premier Two result which has come to light, means that Jason Champion is top of the league.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr was notified by a third party that Jason had defeated Phillip Hill at the Cornubia on January 27th, the day before the year's first league night.
The occurrence highlights the danger -- especially for winners!! -- of failing to report the result at the time.
The more time elapses, the more likely the truth is to get distorted, or even forgotten.

06/02/04: Diary changes

The diary of events has been updated.
The Irish Open is confirmed as October 30th to 31st, while the Gammonitis online events have been changed to cover a single day as opposed to the whole weekend, and the March one has been brought forward a week, thus clashing with BIBA's monthly tournament.

02/02/04: Cotswold Fireside goes from strength to strength

Martin Hemming's Cotswold Fireside Tournament can now safely be said to have its own special niche in the U.K backgammon calendar.
Coming as it does closer to the luxury end of the market than most British events, it may be a while before we see attendances up to, for example, BIBA sizes (or Gammonitis at Winterbourne!), but a field of 23 in the most pleasant of settings can only be considered a success, so much so that next year's dates have already been booked. Mark January 28th to 30th, 2005, in your diaries.
The prize fund received a novel boost in the auctioning of the nine first round byes, a ploy which raised £410 on top of the basic £100 entry fees.
Bristol players were there to make their presence felt, John Slattery, Rosey Bensley, Elliot Smart, holder Tony Lee, Kevin White and the host himself taking part in the main flight, with its excellent format of best of three seven-point matches.
While Tony and Elliot were buying their way into the last sixteen, the other four were encountering mixed fortunes.
Rosey and Martin lost out to Steve Pickard and John Clark respectively, but Kevin beat Francine Brandler and Slatts was having a slice of luck when a condoned misplay in his match with Myke Wignall effectively saved him from first round elimination.
Steve Pickard then accounted for Kevin, while Elliot met his demise at the hands of Andrew Sarjeant.
Slatts and Tony, however, marched on to a semi-final meeting -- Slatts beating Julian Fetterlein and Andrew Sarjeant, while Tony was getting past Dave Fall and John Clark.
It was Slatts who won the semi, and then moved on to defeat Steve Pickard in the final, picking up a cut glass trophy and a mere £1220 in prize money, having been taken to a final set by each of his five opponents.
The progressive consolation finished with a three way round robin final, after the Bristol connection had failed to progress.
This was won by Julian Fetterlein, with Danny Cohen second and Martin Barkwill third.
View the full results here.

02/02/04: Martin goes top

It had to happen eventually. Martin Hemming was the player to buck the trend in Premier One by winning a second match, when he took on Elliot Smart at the Crown Inn Hotel at the weekend.
Leadership arguably has little significance at this early stage of the season, but just for the record Martin is the third player to get his nose in front so far.

01/02/04: Slatts wins Cotswold event

John Slattery, recently returned from his stay in Thailand, has won the second Cotswold Fireside Tournament.
As further information comes in from the Crown Inn Hotel, in Blockley, Gloucestershire, it will be relayed here.

30/01/04: Gathering in the Cotswolds

This evening sees the gathering of several players from around the country in Blockley, Gloucestershire, for the start of the second Cotswold Fireside Tournament, hosted by Bristol Premier League stalwart, Martin Hemming.
As soon as news is to hand, it will be reported here.

30/01/04: Roland at the 11-10's again!

Last season, Roland Herrera's Premier Two season was regularly punctuated with 11-10 scorelines, either for or against.
And now, sure enough, he is at it again.
Two results reported, and two 11-10 scorelines -- the first a reverse at Steve Ferrer's hands, the second (yesterday evening) a victory over Mark Dixon.
Whatever else you can say about Roland, he cannot be accused of failing to get value for money!

29/01/04: 2004'S OPENING LEAGUE NIGHT REPORT ......

Fourteen players braved the icy elements and a less than ideal parking situation, to compete at the first league night of the year.
Tim Oldfield, Susy Liedtke and Thomas Liedtke made their first competitive appearances in Bristol Backgammon competition, while Cynthia Roberts made a fine league debut.

29/01/04: Eight matches ...... eight different winners ......

Premier One already gives every appearance of being the absorbing contest we all expect it to be.
Three more matches were completed last night, making a total of eight for the season so far. And despite the fact that five players have played more than once, nobody has yet managed to register a second victory.
Simonetta Barone had led the way at the start of the evening, but after a single match -- a 7-11 defeat by Steffen Nowak -- she ended the evening in seventh place, yet still level on points with new leader Steffen.
Charlie Hetherington began his campaign with a narrow victory over Dave Pym, while Ian Tarr shrugged off his two defeats from last week by edging home against champion Stuart Mann.
Just two of the eleven players have yet to open their season.

29/01/04: Phillip starts with a win ......

On a quiet night for Premier Two the only result came from a meeting of two Premier League debutants, Phillip Hill and Alan Parfitt.
Phillip recorded an 11-5 victory, and is also 9-8 up in an adjourned match against Roland Herrera.

29/01/04: Cynthia's quick start ......

With a fine turnout of new players in Wednesday's Conference action, the total number of contestants has now risen to ten, with more likely to follow.
The night's star performer was undoubtedly Cynthia Roberts, whose emphatic victories over debutants Thomas and Susy Liedtke moved her straight into pole position.
Richard Owsley introduced Tim Oldfield to the competition, then proceeded to beat him 11-7, moving him onto two wins out of two along with Cynthia.
Richard and Cynthia then sat down to contest the outright leadership, but had to adjourn with Cynthia in the driving seat, 10-4 up.
Meanwhile Thomas Liedtke registered his first victory, 11-8 over Tim.

29/01/04: Library open for business ......

An assortment of books recently acquired by Ian Tarr appeared at the BCSC last night in a cardboard box, and the Bristol Backgammon Library was open for business!
Quite an array of titles is available -- some well known, some less so -- and students of the game will have plenty to stimulate their appetites, all for £1 per book per month.
The proceeds are to be used towards expenses incurred in staging teach-ins and/or discussion groups throughout the year, about which an announcement will be made shortly.

23/01/04: Fourth Bristol Backgammon Awards Night

A couple of dozen of Bristol's backgammon fraternity gathered at the BCSC on Thursday night to cast a retrospective eye over a successful 2003 for the local game.
This was the fourth annual Bristol Backgammon Awards Night, and featured the usual ingredients of a buffet, Ian Tarr's Review of 2003, multiple prize presentations, and the presence of a photographer.
And later on, eight league results were registered.
Apart from the various league and grand prix prizes, where Steve Ferrer, Jason Champion and the year's outstanding player, Stuart Mann, were prominent with more than one success apiece, there were awards for Roland Herrera, as "Most Improved Player", Richard Owsley, who won the inaugural Gammonitis Bristol Backgammon Rookie of the Year award, and a special one for Ed Turner, commemorating Bristol Backgammon's "Breakthrough Moment", when Ed became the first "locally reared" player to win a national tournament at Brighton last January.
Ian's review covered national and international successes, which were numerous in 2003, and all the triumphs and near misses of domestic competition, during which more matches were completed than in any other calendar year since things got off the ground in 2000.
He was interrupted only for sponsor Martin Hemming's presentation of the "Most Improved Player" award, at the end of which there was a surprise for the host, when it was announced that a whip-round, organised by Neil Young, had been arranged to facilitate the purchase of one of John Slattery's boards on Ian's behalf!
This is the second successive year that Ian has been thus pleasantly surprised. It is rumoured that he will be too scared to host an awards night next year, for fear of further embarrassment. But there is unlikely to be any foundation to the rumour!
Jeremy Axford was present to record the evening for posterity, and the results can be viewed here.
The league season swung into action, with eight results being registered.
In Premier One, the first five results featured victories for five different players, with Simonetta Barone leading the field on average points difference.
Having already secured his first ever win in a Bristol league a fortnight ago, Premier Two "new boy" Steve Ferrer signalled his intent with another victory, this time depriving Simon Baker of a 1000 to 1 award. Ian Preston was the division's other victor.
Steve's wife, Juanita, had already won the first Conference match of the year last weekend, but she met her match last night in Richard Owsley, who becomes the early leader.

20/01/04: Saturday night at Bishopston

On Saturday night in Bishopston, there was an impromptu eight-player jackpot, when Steve and Juanita Ferrer, Simon Fahoury, Martin Potter, Neil Young and Mark Dixon visited the home of Simonetta Barone and Roland Herrera.
The event was apparently won by Roland. Some host!

17/01/04: Elliot, Rosey and Peter fare best at Brighton ......

The first national tournament of the year, BIBA's Bright 'n' Breezy, at the Brighton Hilton Metropole last weekend, saw some Bristol representation, but nothing to match Ed Turner's ground breaking triumph of last year.
No Bristol player got close to winning the main flight, contested by 110 players and won by Mark Heidenfeld, but Elliot Smart did well in the consolation, reaching the last four, Rosey Bensley made it to the quarter-finals of the Friday night knock-out, and Peter Bennet, runner-up in the "Suicide", specially renamed the "Tidal Wave" for this occasion, also shared the Super Jackpot.
Ed was not present to defend his title, but among others to turn up were Martin Hemming, Paul Gilbertson, David Horner, Tony Lee, Hubert de l'Epine and Jason Champion.

09/01/04: 2004'S OPENING BRISTOL GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT ......

Twenty-four players contested the year's first grand prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday.
Liz Cefalas returned to action after an 11-month absence, while for Nick Patt the gap was a little longer -- just over 12 years!!

09/01/04: Simon and Stuart in repeat performance ......

It was business as usual at the BCSC for Simon Baker and Stuart Mann, or so it seemed.
The duo who fought out last month's Lesters final once again found themselves as the last pair in the competition, and once again it was 2000 Premier League champion Simon who came out on top.
His victims en route to the final were Chris Roberts, Roland Herrera, Charlie Hetherington and Ian Tarr, while Stuart accounted for Steve Ferrer, Cynthia Roberts and Steffen Nowak.

09/01/04: Ian takes consolation ......

Ian Preston recovered from a first round main flight exit to win the consolation flight, beating Ed Turner in the final.
Ian defeated Phillip Hill, Dave Pym and Liz Cefalas on his way to the final, while Ed's victims were Alan Parfitt and Nick Patt.

09/01/04: Simon misses out on pool again ......

After winning Lesters last month without entering the Winner Takes All pool, Simon Baker fell into an identical trap on Thursday night.
The pool now stands at £190, a reflection of slightly dwindling interest in this side issue, given that only eight of 26 entrants took the plunge last month and --despite the rollover -- fewer than half the January field felt inclined to chase the money.
Surely the double rollover will tempt more players next month?

09/01/04: Early 50-point advantage for Simon ......

Having had to fight his way through the extra round, Simon Baker's reward was 115 OGP points -- a lead of 50 over beaten finalist Stuart Mann.
Ian Tarr collected 55 points, with Juanita Ferrer, Charlie Hetherington and Steffen Nowak next on 40.

09/01/04: Five intermediates collect bonus points ......

Seven of the contestants at Thursday's event are classified -- just for general playing purposes -- as intermediates, and no fewer than five of them collected bonus points for their efforts in defeating Premier Status players.
There is no sign yet of a runaway IGP leader to emulate Neil Young in 2002 or Steve Ferrer last year, but at least Steve's wife Juanita Ferrer has declared an interest in keeping the title in the family by taking the early lead.
Breathing down her neck, though, are Cynthia Roberts, Richard Owsley, Nick Patt and Liz Cefalas.

09/01/04: Simon books Masters place ......

For some people, qualifying for the subsequent year's Bristol Masters can be a battle lasting for almost the entire year.
No such worries for Simon Baker, whose place in the 2005 edition was assured with 358 days to spare!
The question remains: which fifteen other players will be joining him? Watch this space.

07/01/04: Let battle commence!

A whole new year of Bristol Backgammon starts at the BCSC tomorrow (Thursday) night.
As the first of the year's twelve grand prix tournaments is ready to roll, everyone is equal on zero points, with a whole year of exciting competition to look forward to.
How many new players will make their bows? How many of the old hands will turn up?
Will there be another rollover in the Winner Takes All pool, to augment the £80 already on offer after the December tournament?
A full report of proceedings will appear here over the weekend.

06/01/04: Slatts reaches Thailand semi

In the main flight of the Thailand Open in Pattaya, John Slattery emerged from 44 contestants to reach the semi-finals.
In the semis he succumbed 17-19 to eventual winner Ernest Ho of Hong Kong.
Rosey Bensley was defeated in the final of the Desperado Cup, which Slatts had won last year.
A full report can be seen at the Gammonitis website.

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