The final match of the Bristol Backgammon year took place at the BCSC last night when Ed Turner, in fine mood after being assured of the OGP title the previous night, fought out the Lesters 53 final with Dave Pym.
The others who retain more than a passing interest in the promotion race are Jason Champion, Simon Baker and Roland.
15/11/04: Just like a league night in the Conference ......
It is not unheard of for the odd player to appear on a tournament night specifically to play a league match, while not intending to play in the tournament.On Thursday at the BCSC no fewer than four Conference players turned up just to rack up some more league matches.
Thomas and Susy Liedtke, Heike Faulhaber and Shane Roberts added to the busy atmosphere, while Richard Owsley, Tony Walters, Richard Cartwright and Juanita Ferrer all completed matches as well as playing full parts in the tournament.
Heike and Shane also reported the results of two domestic meetings -- honours even -- making a total of eight results to add to the table.
Leader Richard Owsley made up for a blank tournament by registering two victories, which must surely spell the end of the title race, as his nearest challenger -- the absent Cynthia Roberts -- will need to win four more times than Richard over the remaining fortnight of the season.
And, having played 22 matches, she is fast running out of potential opponents. She does look certain to be promoted, however.
Another player not present on Thursday -- third placed Michael Corbett -- is also still in a strong position, although a late surge by one of Richard Cartwright, Juanita or Thomas could yet push him out of the promotion frame.
There remains a slight chance, however, that a fourth promotion slot could be earned. Heike and Shane have reached the eight match threshold in double quick time, and if a further player could manage this before November 30th, the fourth placed player would be guaranteed Premier Status as well.
In the cases of Richard and Juanita the incentive is not great, as they are both well on course to rise into the elite bracket via the IGP. But Thomas might yet achieve the near impossible if he can persuade either Andrew Cobb or Tony Walters to get some matches in before the deadline.
15/11/04: Shop! ......
Having held a small stock of precision dice for the past few months, Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is branching out a little on the merchandise front.After adding some large doubling cubes recently, there is now a small array of Hatrick merchandise in stock -- cardboard and perspex scoreboards and large dice cups.
In addition, it will now be possible to order top quality Hatrick boards through Ian. And there will soon be a merchandise page on this website.
01/11/04: Cynthia closes on Conference lead
Cynthia Roberts is now just three points behind Conference leader Richard Owsley.An 11-3 victory yesterday over Simon Fahoury at Roland and Simonetta's home has made promotion a near certainty, as she enters the final month of the campaign with a twelve point cushion over fourth placed Richard Cartwright.
31/10/04: Slatts wins all-Bristol Irish Open final!
This weekend's Irish Open in Dublin provided further proof of the quality players who inhabit Bristol Backgammon!John Slattery has added yet another title to his ever growing list, after defeating Stuart Mann in the final!
Further details will appear here when known.
31/10/04: Ten volunteer for Inter-Cities date
Ten players have volunteered for the Bristol squad for the tenth Inter-Cities Challenge match in Birmingham on November 13th.Those set to make the trip are Ian Tarr; Blaine Buchanan; Jason Champion; Phillip Hill; John Lewis; Simonetta Barone; Roland Herrera; Cynthia Roberts; Juanita Ferrer; and Steve Ferrer.
Travel arrangements will be made closer to the date.
29/10/04: Slatts safe, while Dave must wait
John Slattery and Dave Pym ended their respective league campaigns with contrasting fortunes, when Dave was the visitor at John's High Wycombe home on Thursday evening.Victories of 11-2 and 11-6 saw Slatts to the safety of a fourth place finish in Premier One, while Dave must now wait and see whether a freak combination of results for others might yet consign him to a relegation slot.
29/10/04: OCTOBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
With championships, promotion slots, and relegation places still awaiting resolution, at least some issues were decided when sixteen players partook of some league action in the penultimate league night session of the year at the BCSC on Wednesday evening.29/10/04: Paul champion and Mark promoted ......
Paul Watts clinched the Premier Two title by defeating Roland Herrera at the BCSC on Wednesday evening.Paul was already sure of promotion, something which now looks likely to elude Roland.
Earlier in the evening Mark Dixon beat John Lewis to book his place in the top flight, while John's final vestige of hope disappeared in what was the final match of the season for both players.
The key remaining match in the promotion shake-down is the one between John Ould and Jason Champion.
Should John win, he will be confirmed as runner-up, however a defeat narrower than 7-11 would also see him safely into a top four finish.
An 11-7 or better victory for Jason would promote him and leave John at the mercy of a late Ed Turner surge.
Others retaining slim hopes of sneaking into the promotion bracket at the death -- all of whom are dependent on John beating Jason -- are Ian Preston, Steve Ferrer, Simon Baker and Roland.
29/10/04: Brinkmanship at the top, desperation at the bottom ......
The two horse race for the Premier One championship made no progress as neither reigning champion Stuart Mann nor sole challenger Elliot Smart was in evidence. So we will have to wait for the mouth watering conclusion.Three of those threatened by relegation were in action, however, and two of them will have been reasonably happy with the outcome.
The exception was Tim Jefferies who scored nineteen points in his battles with Dave Pym and Simonetta Barone, yet came away empty handed, and all but consigned to Premier Two.
The saving grace for Tim, who has won seven and lost twelve, is that he still retains a positive points difference, so if he should manage to defeat Elliot in his final match and certain other results go his way, he may yet be saved.
Dave's win left him almost safe on 27 points, with the next night's High Wycombe double header against John Slattery -- himself not mathematically sure of safety -- to look forward to as the finale to both their seasons.
Simonetta's success hauled her out of the bottom four at Ian Tarr's expense, and a further win from her final two encounters of the season -- against Phil Charlton and Stuart Mann -- will probably ensure her top flight status for another season.
29/10/04: Richard does his duty ......
Richard Cartwright may not make it to the promised land of Premier Status via his Conference exploits, but by becoming the eighth player to complete at least eight fixtures this season, he at least had the satisfaction of ensuring that a third player will enjoy that experience.In fact, Richard is almost certain to attain his entry into the elite of Bristol Backgammon via the alternative route of grand prix success, but the top three in the Conference will be grateful that they are no longer scrapping with each other for promotion, although the championship is, of course, a different matter.
Richard Owsley took two further steps towards winning the league when he defeated both Thomas and Susy Liedtke to open up a six point gap at the top.
Cynthia Roberts, now close to running out of opponents, extended her record for most Conference matches played in a season to 21, when she recorded a win in her only match of the evening against namesake Shane Roberts.
This success was enough to move her into second place in the table, as Michael Corbett, hitherto on a run of seven straight league victories, lost a double header to Heike Faulhaber, who thus celebrated her first victories in competitive backgammon.
Michael remains six points ahead of Richard Cartwright, though, and a further six ahead of fifth placed Juanita Ferrer, so still has an excellent chance of making his Premier breakthrough.
Elsewhere, it was a bad night for both Liedtke's, who between them suffered five defeats without a victory. This blow would have been softened for Susy at least, as an Avonmouth local derby result from the night before came to light, her 11-9 win over her husband raising her a place in the league.
And Tim Oldfield finally ended his quest for league success, when his season long run of defeats was brought to a halt by emphatic 11-2 and 11-0 wins.
25/10/04: Another title for Richard
Another week ...... another title. That's the story for Richard Cartwright (pictured left).
Just five months into his Bristol Backgammon career, Richard now has three titles to his name after winning the third annual Bristol Intermediates Trophy at the BCSC tonight.
And this just a week after scoring his first Bristol Grand Prix success.
He could hardly have had a more obdurate opponent, though. Thomas Liedtke -- trailing 2-7, and then 5-9 -- refused to buckle under the pressure, and clawed it back to 9-all.
Then, in a marathon game which could have gone sharply either way, a monster double two from Richard set up the winning gammon.
24/10/04: Volunteers sought for Inter-Cities Challenge
The tenth Inter-Cities Challenge match, between teams representing Bristol and Birmingham, is scheduled for Saturday November 13th at the Moseley All Services Club, Birmingham.Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is looking for volunteers to fill the eight to ten player squad, which will be endeavouring to score a fifth successive victory in the series.
The ever enjoyable day trip features three series of matches to nine points for each player, with the side winning most matches holding the trophy until the next match, somewhere in Bristol next spring.
24/10/04: Thomas and Richard in Monday Intermediates showdown
The third annual Bristol Intermediates Trophy event, held at the BCSC on Thursday, was contested by eight players including a welcome debut appearance by Tarim, but is not yet finished.
7pm on Monday evening back at the BCSC is when it will be decided, the final protagonists being Thomas Liedtke and the man who has done little wrong since bursting onto the scene in May, Richard Cartwright.
Richard defeated Tim Oldfield and Tarim, while Thomas had to overcome Cynthia Roberts and Richard Owsley to reach the final.
That there was no time for the final on the night was due primarily to a marathon first round clash between Richard Owsley and Susy Liedtke, which lasted well over two hours.
24/10/04: Michael and Cynthia consolidate top three places
Cynthia Roberts and Michael Corbett gained some consolation from their early exits at the Bristol Intermediates Trophy event, by clinching valuable Conference wins.Cynthia defeated Tim Oldfield after a slow start, while Michael accounted for Susy Liedtke to record his seventh successive victory in the competition.
The victors are now on 27 points in second and third places, while their nearest pursuer Richard Cartwright is a full nine points behind.
Since it is likely that there will be three promotion places in the table when the season is completed -- two slots have been earned thus far -- it will take a strong late run on somebody's part to break into the top three.
20/10/04: Third Intermediates tournament ready to roll
Tomorrow (Thursday) sees the staging of the third annual Bristol Intermediates Trophy event, where players not yet qualified to play in the Bristol Premier League get to slug it out for their very own knock-out title.The trophy stands over twelve inches high, and would be a welcome addition to many a mantelpiece, as it has been for previous winners Simonetta Barone and Jason Champion.
At only £5 to enter, a fair turnout is anticipated.
20/10/04: Richard grabs first grand prix title win
Richard Cartwright tonight defeated Blaine Buchanan 11-6 at the BCSC's to claim his first grand prix title success.Richard, who has put together an impressive string of results since first appearing on the scene in May, qualifies for February's Bristol Masters, and increases his IGP lead to a more than useful 115 points.
And he has also firmed up a few friendships by ensuring that there is a £220 Winner Takes All rollover to carry forward to the November tournament.
20/10/04: Paul up, as long as he plays
Blaine Buchanan's 11-9 Premier Two victory over Ed Turner last night at the Coliseum, has done neither player any favours as the promotion race edges closer to the finish line.Blaine has finished on 21 points, which would have given him a ghost of a chance of sneaking into the top four had the margin of his win been greater. As it is, none of the top four can now slip below Blaine in the table.
Ed could have finished with as many as 27 points before last night, but can now only equal leaders Paul Watts and John Ould on 24, so although his points difference is still strong enough to give him a chance should he finish on 21, easily his best chance rests with winning both of his remaining fixtures.
One player who should be celebrating, though, is Paul. Before last night's result, it was possible for four players to finish ahead of him.
Although all four still can individually, Ed and Roland Herrera still have to meet, so the loser of that encounter cannot overtake Paul.
Before Paul gets the champagne out, however, it should be pointed out that he will have to play his final match -- also against Roland -- or the four penalty points he would incur would quite probably scupper his chances.
18/10/04: Decider set for Wednesday
The final of Thursday's Bristol Grand Prix main flight, between Blaine Buchanan and Richard Cartwright, is now scheduled for Wednesday evening at the BCSC."Kick-off" will be at 8pm, and spectators will be very welcome.
16/10/04: OCTOBER GRAND-PRIX NEWS ......
The Moody Blues provoked two false starts in the draw for the October grand prix event at the BCSC on Thursday. Their concert just down the road at the Colston Hall made parking a nightmare, with latecomers arriving in dribs and drabs, before the entry closed at eighteen hopefuls.16/10/04: Richard and Blaine to contest final ......
Bouncebackability is a word -- or not, depending on your point of view -- which a certain Saturday morning TV show is campaigning to get accepted. Whether you think it should be or not, it could have been coined specifically for Richard Cartwright's performance on Thursday night.He made light of an early deficit against Ian Tarr, before staging spectacular comebacks from 2-6 down to ease past both Chris Roberts and Ian Preston and clinch his second grand prix final appearance in four months.
In the other half of the draw Charlie Hetherington was made to suffer for his ability to finish matches more quickly than most mortals. Having received a bye in round one, he secured the evening's first result when he defeated Juanita Ferrer to earn himself a quarter-final place.
He was, however, adjacent to the "non-bye" section of the draw, and it was well over two hours before he sat down to play Ed Turner, who had managed to overcome both Cynthia Roberts and Stuart Mann.
Charlie won that encounter, but was eliminated in the semis by Blaine Buchanan, who had earlier despatched Steffen Nowak and Neil Young.
At the time of writing Richard and Blaine have yet to negotiate a time and place for the final.
16/10/04: Jason wins consolation flight ......
Jason Champion was the winner of the consolation flight on Thursday.He had to beat Gerry Carolan and Tony Walters before his final win against Cynthia Roberts.
16/10/04: Richard carries rollover hopes ......
With £220 now in the Winner Takes All kitty, there will be a little more interest than usual in the final of the October grand prix event.Blaine Buchanan stands to scoop the lot if he can take the title, so naturally everyone else will be rooting for Richard Cartwright, who opted out of the pool.
A further rollover would make victory in the November competition a very attractive proposition indeed.
16/10/04: Ed increases OGP lead despite quarter-final exit ......
Ed Turner's excellent knock-out form this year continued to a degree when he increased his 10-point OGP lead by 20 points, despite his quarter-final exit.With four of the top eight -- including the absent Simon Baker and Simonetta Barone -- failing to increase their overall scores, however, and Phillip Hill boasting a net gain of only 5 points, it was left to Charlie Hetherington to improve his situation by three places to third place with a net gain of 30 points.
Jason Champion also edged his way closer to the leaders, and the top seven are now covered by a mere 65 points.
16/10/04: Richard takes 70-point IGP lead ......
By reaching his second final in four months, Richard Cartwright has taken the IGP field by the scruff of the neck, and what was a closely fought competition could look ominously like a one-horse race if he were to beat Blaine Buchanan.Richard was one of three players within 15 points of the top going into Thursday's tournament, but his run to the final guarantees him a 70-point lead, and this would increase by a further 45 points with a final win.
Cynthia Roberts edged ahead of previous leader Richard Owsley into second place, but with the top two places guaranteeing Premier Status for 2005, Juanita Ferrer, Tony Walters and Chris Roberts are also within striking distance.
16/10/04: Still nothing certain in Premier Two ......
Only a total of ten matches remain in Premier Two, there are still only three of the fourteen starters for whom automatic promotion is an impossibility -- always assuming everyone manages to finish the season.Neil Young's last mathematical chance disappeared on Thursday, when he lost a previously adjourned encounter with Steve Ferrer. Steve had earlier defeated Blaine Buchanan.
Paul Watts is closest to securing a place in the top flight, as there are only four players who can possibly overtake him. The chances of all four doing this, though, are slim indeed.
The odds also favour John Ould and Mark Dixon, but Jason Champion, Ed Turner and Roland Herrera all have good opportunities to finish in the top four if they can win their remaining matches -- three in Ed's case, four in Roland's.
12/10/04: 2005 Cotswold Fireside arranged
Martin Hemming has announced details of the 2005 Cotswold Fireside Tournament, to be held at the end of January, in Blockley, Gloucestershire.This unique event is gaining a faithful following on the national backgammon scene.
06/10/04: Mark goes third
Mark Dixon leap-frogged over Jason Champion into third place in Premier Two when he scored an 11-10 victory over Alan Parfitt at the Cornubia last night.Mark and Jason each have one match left to play, and are both on 21 points. Of the players outside the top four, only Blaine Buchanan, Ed Turner and Roland Herrera can do better than 21, although the majority of others can reach 21.
The twelve remaining matches clearly have a lot riding on them.
06/10/04: New stock of dice and cubes in
Another batch of precision dice and some 38mm doubling cubes are now available for purchase from Bristol Backgammon.The dice are £20 per set of four, the cubes are £25. See Ian next time you visit.
03/10/04: Bristol Gammonitis date unaffected by venue change
The decision by Gammonitis to change their regular venue has not jeopardised Bristol players' chances to play in a Gammonitis event on their own doorstep.Most Gammonitis tournaments in 2005 -- and the one this month -- are now scheduled for plush Hanover International conference centres in Kent and Oxfordshire, but two dates remain with Ramada Jarvis -- the December tournament in Solihull, and the February 19th and 20th event at the Grange, Winterbourne.
01/10/04: Four penalised as Blaine escapes with a defeat
Another outpost conquered for the great game! Finnegan's Wake, in Bishopston, was the latest new backgammon venue when Blaine Buchanan staged his great escape from the permanent application of the two Premier Two penalty points he incurred at the July checkpoint.That was the good news for Blaine, but the bad was that he suffered a 4-11 defeat at the hands of Jason Champion, who has now moved up to third in the league.
The midnight checkpoint came and went, however, with no further results reported, so no fewer than four players enter the final phase of the season with penalties to be clawed back.
Roland Herrera with two points, Ed Turner, Neil Young and Steve Ferrer with one apiece are the transgressors.
01/10/04: SEPTEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Nineteen players were in action at the September Bristol Backgammon league night on Wednesday evening, and a handful of others were interested bystanders. And there were Conference debuts for Heike Faulhaber and Shane Roberts. And the faux pas pictured left is one that Blaine Buchanan will not want to repeat!
01/10/04: Elliot makes his move as Martin crashes ......
The 2-9 deficit hanging for several months like the sword of Damocles over the head of Elliot Smart counted for nothing at the BCSC on Wednesday evening as the Premier One season moved a stage closer to its conclusion.All Dave Pym needed to do, if popular opinion was to be believed, was to turn up and cash in.
Only three things in this life are certain, however. Death, taxes, and the ability of backgammon to astonish all and sundry on a regular basis!
Dave failed to add a point, as Elliot vastly improved his title chances, much to the alarm of rivals Stuart Mann and Martin Hemming.
And if that session was completely one-sided, it was in keeping with the next two results to be recorded.
Dave recovered admirably to whitewash relegation rival Steffen Nowak, while -- more surprisingly -- Tim Jefferies did exactly the same to Martin, an apparently mortal blow to Martin's title hopes.
Then, in case there was any doubt that Martin's challenge had evaporated, Dave applied the coup de grace to Martin's season of two halves with an 11-7 win.
Elliot, meanwhile, had to face the potential banana-skin named Tim. At 7-6 to Elliot, some surprising cubing brought the match to a conclusion which only just went Elliot's way.
Stuart and Elliot now head the table with thirteen wins apiece. The difference is that Stuart has two matches to play, and Elliot just one.
That looks like an advantage for Stuart, but with points difference rearing its head, it looks likely -- although not an absolutely certainty -- that Stuart will need to win one more than Elliot.
So if Elliot can repeat his success against Tim, Stuart will probably need to defeat both Simonetta Barone and Steffen.
The situation surrounding the four relegation slots is still cloaked in uncertainty.
All seven contenders are now covered by just three points.
It appears as though 27 points is a minimum requirement to stay up, although even that cannot be counted on.
If 27 is the target, then Charlie Hetherington, who finished his season with the narrowest of wins over Simonetta, is doomed.
The other six -- Steffen, Simonetta, Tim, Dave, Ian Tarr, and Phil Charlton must do what they can in their few remaining matches.
01/10/04: Still nothing resolved in Premier Two ......
Only three matches were possible in Premier Two, so no issues were resolved, despite the fact that at the end of the evening there were only fourteen matches left to be played.John Ould had a chance to move into pole position, when he met Simon Baker, but his 4-11 defeat left him in second place, behind Paul Watts on average points difference.
John, however, still has a very strong chance of promotion to the top flight.
The night's victors all came from the bottom half of the league, although Blaine Buchanan and Simon Baker were both harbouring hopes of late promotion bids by winning their matches in hand.
Alan Parfitt's win over Blaine was a blow to that player's chances, while Simon's defeat at the hands of Blaine in turn seriously diminished his hopes.
Blaine was also left one match short of clawing back the two penalty points he incurred in July, a situation he was to remedy the following evening.
01/10/04: Richard consolidates at the top ......
A healthy turnout of Conference players made it the most active of the three leagues on Wednesday night.Eight players, each playing two matches, plus one more match adjourned at the end of the evening, gave everyone a full evening's backgammon.
Three players each managed to bag a brace of victories.
League leader Richard Owsley managed to extend the gap between himself and second place to six points, while Michael Corbett took over the runner-up spot with a pair of hard-earned wins in a double header with Thomas Liedtke.
Tony Walters is doing his best to make up for lost time, having only recently joined the league, and has now won three of his first four matches.
The night's other victors were Cynthia Roberts, who has slipped to third place, and Susy Liedtke.
With Thomas and Susy both crossing the eight match threshhold, it needs just one more player to do so to activate the third promotion slot. The absent Richard Cartwright looks the likeliest to trigger that event.
28/09/04: Steffen's vital win
With potentially serious consequences beckoning in the event of a defeat, Steffen Nowak grabbed a timely 11-6 Premier One success against Phil Charlton at the Cornubia on Monday evening.The victory keeps his chances of remaining in the top flight realistic, as a further win from his two remaining matches is likely to see him safe.
For Phil, though, the pressure is raised to the extent that he will probably need to win two of his last three fixtures to escape the drop.
All in all, the picture in the bottom half of the division remains unclear, although Wedenesday evening's league session may go some way towards resolving some of the issues.
22/09/04: Phillip's 1000 to 1 hopes dashed by Blaine
The first Bristol Backgammon fixture ever to be played at Blaine Buchanan's new Totterdown home was a cruel one for the visiting Phillip Hill.This afternoon's Premier Two action saw Phillip's hopes of becoming the first player not called Stuart Mann ever to win one of John Slattery's 1000 to 1 awards dashed, as Blaine arose from his sick-bed to administer an 11-2 beating.
Phillip's chances of promotion to the top flight were thus dealt a severe blow, while Blaine -- a little behind with his matches -- still has a very realistic chance of getting into the top four, especially if he can avoid two permanent penalty points by completing a further three matches by the end of the month.
22/09/04: Tim's hopes still alive
The Miners Arms, St Werburghs, was the venue last night for a Premier One encounter between two of the many players still embroiled in the relegation battle.Tim Jefferies hauled himself off the bottom of the table by defeating Phil Charlton 11-3, keeping his own survival hopes alive, while ensuring that Phil still has work to do if he wants to escape the drop.
The top three are safe, and John Slattery probably will be, even if he loses his two remaining matches, as his points difference is likely to be superior to that of anybody else finishing on 27 points.
So the other seven players remain in the dog-fight to avoid finishing in the bottom four.
20/09/04: Phil's win is good news for Stuart
A Premier One match between Martin Hemming and Phil Charlton previously adjourned at 6-all, was completed before the start of Thursday's Inter-League match.It ended 11-9 to Phil, which was great news for his top flight survival hopes, and would have been just as well received by Martin's championship race rivals, current champion and league leader Stuart Mann and third placed Elliot Smart.
20/09/04: Premier Two team completes the circle
The last of the series of Inter-League representative matches, which took place at the BCSC on Thursday evening, proved the old cliche that nothing is certain in backgammon.A few late withdrawals -- some through illness -- reduced what might have been a seven-a-side encounter to one of just four players each from Premier One and Premier Two.
And just as the first of the matches had provided a success for the underdogs, so too did this one, as the second flight administered a 7-5 beating to the elite.
The first of three series of first-to-seven-points matches saw victories for Ed Turner and Ian Preston equalised by the successes of Martin Hemming and Phil Charlton.
It was during the second phase, though, that the Premier Two team got their noses properly in front, with Ed and Ian again on the scoresheet, this time aided by a Neil Young win. Only Stuart Mann was able to reply for the top flight outfit.
So with the score at 5-3, the Premier One team had it all to do. Simonetta Barone and Martin managed to bring the scores back to level pegging, before Ed claimed the honour of being the night's only unbeaten player, and ensured that a draw was the worst result his team could get.
It was now down to the final encounter, between Neil and Stuart, and with time running tight, a little sporting but dodgy doubling effected a quick result, which was in Neil's -- and Premier Two's -- favour.
With the Conference having beaten Premier Two, and Premier One having defeated the Conference, all parties had had something to cheer at the end of the series, which will now become an established feature on the Bristol Backgammon calendar.
Complete scores (Premier One names first): Simonetta Barone 1 Ian Preston 7; Stuart Mann 0 Ed Turner 7; Martin Hemming 7 Roland Herrera 5; Phil Charlton 7 Neil Young 6; Simonetta Barone 2 Ed Turner 7; Stuart Mann 7 Roland Herrera 2; Martin Hemming 5 Neil Young 7; Phil Charlton 1 Ian Preston 7; Simonetta Barone 7 Roland Herrera 2; Stuart Mann 4 Neil Young 7; Martin Hemming 7 Ian Preston 4; Phil Charlton 4 Ed Turner 7.
15/09/04: Rollover fans hail Phillip
Phillip Hill has maintained his recent run of impressive form by defeating Neil Young in the final of Lesters 52.The match, which featured an 11-9 victory for Philip at the Yeoman, Whitchurch, on Monday, was the ninth match victory in succession for Phillip, who won the last monthly grand-prix knock-out in July, leaving him just one tanatalising win away from becoming only the second player ever to win one of John Slattery's 1000 to 1 awards.
And just like in July, Phillip was generous enough not to invest in the Winner Takes All pool, which leaves a handy £100 rollover in the kitty for the October tournament.
The victory pushes Phillip up to third place in the OGP, firmly into contention.
And because he had already qualified for the 2005 Bristol Masters event, Phillip has earned his league -- Premier Two -- an extra slot in that competition.
As five players Premier Two players have already qualified, the two high-finisher slots will add that little bit more spice to the climax of what has been a superb competition.
10/09/04: ALL THE NEWS FROM LESTERS 52 ......
Twenty players turned out for Lesters 52, including Mike Rodwell and Keith Wiltshire, neither of whom had been seen in action for some time.There was also a brace of welcome newcomers who, although not participating in the tournament, enjoyed a few matches. And the good news is that Heike Faulhaber and Shane Roberts have signed up for the Conference.
10/09/04: Neil and Phillip reach final ......
The final of Lesters 52, between Neil Young and Phillip Hill, will be played at the Yeoman, Whitchurch, early next week.It may have been possible to get long odds on this as a final pairing, neither player having previously reached even a Lesters semi-final, but the players had enough confidence in themselves to invest in their auction alter egos, so both are assured of a handsome pay day.
Phillip got past Ian Tarr, Steve Ferrer and Blaine Buchanan, while Neil's victims were Juanita Ferrer, Ed Turner and Tony Walters.
10/09/04: Rollover hopes rest with Phillip ......
Exactly half of the twenty player field opted for the £10 Winner Takes All pool, so the neutrals will be rooting for non-investor Phillip Hill to clinch the title and ensure a £100 rollover to the October tournament.Obviously the kitty gives opponent Neil Young an extra incentive to get the right result.
10/09/04: Ed edges into OGP lead ......
With only 70 OGP points covering the first six players going into last night's tournament, there was a great chance for somebody to seize the opportunity to forge ahead of the field.But as discards begin to become a factor, four of those six ended up with no increase in points -- the absent Charlie Hetherington and the under achieving Stuart Mann, Ian Tarr and Jason Champion.
While Ed Turner only managed a net gain of 15 points, at least this was enough to gain him pole position.
But quarter-finalist Simon Baker's 50 points haul was enough to move him up three places to third.
Phillip Hill -- already a tournament winner this season -- moved up just one place from eighth to seventh after last night's exploits, but if he can defeat Neil Young in the final, he will go third.
Win or lose, Neil will have risen 11 places to ninth, but those 40 points available in the final would do a lot to bring him to within striking distance of the leaders.
Blaine Buchanan, moving back to Bristol today, scored a useful 70 points in what was only his third knock-out appearance of the year.
10/09/04: Tony the main IGP scorer ......
Cardiff-based Tony Walters is becoming a regular both here and at BIBA.And after a slow start, that dedication seems to be yielding dividends. His victories over Richard Owsley and Dave Pym (the latter complete with 20 bonus points) gained him a total of 70 IGP points, leaving him in fifth place just 65 points behind leader Richard.
Richard, along with Richard Cartwright and Juanita Ferrer, scored the bare minimum 10 points apiece to leave the IGP race as open as it has been for some time.
08/09/04: While the Slatts away ......
John Slattery's grasp on BIBA's annual Grand Prix Championship is looking slightly less secure after a weekend when Tony Lee won the consolation flight at Daventry.John, away in Slovenia, is the current holder of the title, and had a massive lead going into the weekend of the inaugural Backpackers Trophy event.
But Tony's 24.77 points haul saw him narrow the gap to less than 14 points, with Steve Pickard a similar distance away in third place.
Martin Hemming heads the chasing pack.
07/09/04: Several enjoy Slovenian event
Several Brits, including a few from the ranks of Bristol Backgammon players, enjoyed the 14th Mitteleuropa Championship at Nova Gorica, Slovenia, over the first few days of the month.The event, superbly staged by Director Marco Fornasir and his Worldwide Backgammon Federation support staff, consisted of three categories -- Master (entry 600 Euros), Champion (250 Euros), and Intermediate (50 Euros), each featuring main, consolation and last chance flights -- and was attended by around 150 players in total.
In the Master category, won last year -- when the event also carried the European Championship title -- by John Slattery, Manchester's Brian Lever progressed as far as the quarter-finals. Slatts was eliminated early, but bounced back to win the progressive consolation flight.
The majority of British players opted for the Champion category, and four -- including Simonetta Barone and Roland Herrera -- made it into the quarter-finals. Simonetta even made it into the semis to win her first overseas trophy. Roland also made a good cash deal with his quarter-final opponent.
Others to secure cash rewards were Ian Tarr, winner of a 50 Euros Jackpot, and Martin Hemming in the poker.
Rosey Bensley, undoubtedly distracted by the duties of producing a mammoth report for the BIBA website, played comparatively little.
31/08/04: Slatts wins English Open
John Slattery has won yet another title.This time it was the English Open, at the Mind Sports Olympiad, which was held over the past ten days in Manchester.
Coincidentally, John's partner Rosey Bensley is a previous winner of the title.
27/08/04: AUGUST LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
At the August league night at the BCSC on Wednesday evening, there was action in both Premier One and the Conference -- with two debut Conference players in David Radford and Tony Walters. But poor Roland Herrera turned up in the hope of finding a Premier Two opponent, all to no avail.27/08/04: Martin keeps up the pressure ......
With current champion and Premier One leader Stuart Mann away on holiday, the pressure was on his pursuers to peg him back.And Martin Hemming certainly did his bit to press Stuart for the leadership, when he defeated Steffen Nowak 11-4. If he were to win his match in hand 11-5, he would return to the top.
The other contender, Elliot Smart, had a mixed evening, however. He recovered from a defeat by Charlie Hetherington to beat Simonetta Barone, but the fact that he has now lost one match more than the top two means that his fate is no longer in his own hands.
The saving grace for Elliot, though, is that his average points difference -- although it is now marginally inferior to both Stuart's and Martin's -- would quite probably be better than both, were he to catch them up on victories.
A later defeat for Charlie -- inflicted by Steffen -- means it is now extremely unlikely that Charlie will avoid the drop, since he can only reach 24 points.
If Steffen can win at least two of his remaining matches, he still has a good chance to stay up.
Simonetta's defeat did her cause no good, and she, too, has work to do to stay in the top flight.
If Charlie and Tim Jefferies are favourites for the drop, five other players -- Ian Tarr, Dave Pym, Phil Charlton, Simonetta and Steffen -- are also right in the thick of the battle.
27/08/04: Richard loses 100% record ......
Richard Cartwright suffered his first Conference defeat, at the hands of newcomer David Radford, but few would bet against him making it up to the Premier League at the first attempt.The fantastic enthusiasm of Cynthia Roberts keeps her above Richard in second place, though. She has played no fewer than 17 matches -- equalling Martin Hemming's all-time Conference record, albeit from the days when opportunities were more limited -- and has won seven of them.
Michael Corbett and Thomas Liedtke scored wins which keep them on the fringe of the race, and Tony Walters emulated David by registering his first victory in his initial league session.
20/08/04: Conference team runs elite close
Having defeated the Premier Two selection last month, the Conference team had no reason to fear a thrashing from their illustrious Premier One opposition at the BCSC last night, and in the end the contest was a very close one.No less than eight Conference players were present, while six of the eleven current top flight players were there to do battle with them. Under the circumstances, the decision was taken to "loan" a random Conference player -- who turned out to be Mike Osborne -- to the opposition to even up the sides at seven apiece.
So with each player being called upon to play three first-to-seven-points matches against members of the opposition, there would be 21 matches in all, ensuring a positive result, one way or the other.
In the opening series of matches, it appeared as though a rout might be in the offing. Richard Cartwright was the only Conference player to "draw blood", while honorary Premier One player Mike Osborne was joined on the scoresheet by Phil Charlton, Steffen Nowak, Martin Hemming, Ian Tarr and Simonetta Barone.
The 6-1 lead was reduced to 9-5 in the second series, though, as Jonathan Pearson, Tony Walters and Andy Neath were eventually joined by Matthew Billington in adding some respectability to the Conference scoreline.
Matthew and Mike finished their match so late that there was no time for them to play their third phase matches in their entirety, so they and their opponents were asked to play matches curtailed to best of two points!
Going into the last phase, Premier One needed just two victories to secure the overall match victory, and these were supplied by Phil and Simonetta.
Jonathan, Andy, Dave Jones, Richard and Cynthia Roberts struck back for the Conference, and the score finished 11-10! As a further indication of the closeness of the match, every player on either side won at least one match, and nobody remained unbeaten!
Complete scores (Premier One names first): Tim Jefferies 4 Richard Cartwright 7; Mike Osborne 7 Andy Neath 2; Phil Charlton 7 Dave Jones 4; Steffen Nowak 7 Matthew Billington 4; Martin Hemming 7 Jonathan Pearson 6; Ian Tarr 7 Cynthia Roberts 6; Simonetta Barone 7 Tony Walters 2; Tim Jefferies 7 Dave Jones 1; Mike Osborne 6 Matthew Billington 7; Phil Charlton 5 Jonathan Pearson 7; Steffen Nowak 7 Cynthia Roberts 4; Martin Hemming 5 Tony Walters 7; Ian Tarr 7 Richard Cartwright 4; Simonetta Barone 5 Andy Neath 7; Tim Jefferies 2 Jonathan Pearson 7; Mike Osborne 0 Cynthia Roberts 2*; Phil Charlton 7 Tony Walters 5; Steffen Nowak 2 Richard Cartwright 7; Martin Hemming 5 Andy Neath 7; Ian Tarr 5 Dave Jones 7; Simonetta Barone 2 Matthew Billington 0*.
* = Truncated match
Last in the three match series will be next month, when Premier One and Premier Two lock horns on September 16th.
20/08/04: Ed reenters top four
An 11-9 victory over Mark Dixon has propelled Ed Turner into the fourth of the Premier Two promotion places.With just eighteen matches in total remaining, many of these will have a bearing on the all important promotion issue, with thirteen of the fourteen contestants still having various levels of interest in the race.
20/08/04: Two more for the Conference
This week saw two more players signing up for the remainder of the Conference season.Tony Walters, based in Cardiff, but now becoming a regular at Bristol events, and newcomer David Radford are set to make their league debuts at next Wednesday's session.
16/08/04: Ian ends eleven year drought
One of the longest unsuccessful sequences in Bristol Backgammon ended today when Ian Tarr claimed first prize in the August grand prix tournament with an 11-4 victory over Cynthia Roberts at her Staple Hill home.It was on the 20th September 1993 that Ian beat Phil Caudwell in a held over final of Lesters XVIII at the King Charles, just off Stokes Croft.
Now, some dozens -- who can tell the exact number? -- of evening tournaments later, Ian has ended the drought.
Perhaps just as importantly, he has qualified for the 2005 Bristol Masters, and moved into third place in the current OGP table.
And his win also thwarted hopes of a Winner Takes All rollover for the September Lesters event.
13/08/04: AUGUST GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
Despite the ongoing holiday season, and international tournament absences, twenty-two players still took part in the August grand prix event, including debut appearances by Martin Keenan and young Callum Campbell.13/08/04: Cynthia makes first grand prix final ......
Cynthia Roberts had her best night as a Bristol player at the BCSC last night, when she reached the final of the main flight by defeating Tony Walters, Callum Campbell and Gerry Carolan.She left the club while quarter-finals were still in progress in the other half of the draw, as there was obviously no opportunity for the final to take place.
Had she stayed, she would have known that her final opponent will be Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr, who came through the long half of the draw with wins over Mike Osborne, Steve Ferrer, Richard Cartwright and Stuart Mann.
The final will now take place at Cynthia's home on Monday afternoon.
13/08/04: Ian wins consolation flight ......
Ian Preston beat Roland Herrera in the final of the consolation flight, after getting past Juanita Ferrer, Chris Roberts and Tony Walters.Roland got there via victories over Mike Osborne and Jason Champion.
13/08/04: Semi-finalist Stuart takes OGP lead ......
The 45-points net gain achieved by Stuart Mann on his run to the semi-finals of yesterday's tournament was enough to move him into his accustomed position at the head of the OGP table, putting him on course for a sensational second successive League and OGP double triumph, and a hat-trick OGP title win.With discards beginning to bite the regular grand prix players, previous leader Ed Turner failed to add to his overall score, so now finds himself just five points adrift of Stuart.
Main movers were finalists Ian Tarr and Cynthia Roberts.
Ian's 70 points gain carried him up to fifth overall, while a further 35 points in the final would put him ahead of third placed Charlie Hetherington.
Cynthia started the evening in 25th place, ended it in 14th, and would go 10th with a win over Ian.
The top six players are covered by just 70 points.
13/08/04: Cynthia threatens Richard's IGP supremacy ......
Richard Owsley still has his IGP lead, but only just!Having first taken over pole position in February, Richard has maintained his hold on the top spot by accumulating points steadily, rather than spectacularly. Yesterday, though, Richard had a new experience, when he failed to win a match.
Richard Cartwright moved to within fifteen points, but Cynthia Roberts is five points closer after her run to the final, and with a possible 55 points (including bonuses) at stake on Monday, she can take a clear lead into September's tournament.
Cynthia scored 10 bonus points when she beat Gerry Carolan, but the only two other instances of bonus points on a bad night generally for "intermediates" were those of debut match winner Callum Campbell and Tony Walters.
13/08/04: Rollover fans rooting for Cynthia ......
With a £100 rollover from the July tournament swelling the kitty, thirteen of the 22 contestants opted into the Winner Takes All pool at the BCSC last night, making available an appetising £230.So any rare neutrals thinking of rooting for Ian Tarr in the final, would now think twice, and would be willing Cynthia to victory on Monday.
If she can do it, there will be big money players coming out of the woodwork again for next month's Lesters Trophy event.
13/08/04: Useful league wins for Stuart and Mark ......
Stuart Mann took another step towards holding on to his Premier League crown, when he whitewashed Dave Pym before last night's tournament.Martin Hemming and Elliot Smart -- the only challengers for the title -- are now six and nine points behind, with two and three matches respectively in hand.
And the improvement the win made to Stuart's points difference may yet be significant, come the final shakedown.
Meanwhile, early season Premier Two leader Mark Dixon took advantage of his second round tournament elimination by scoring an 11-8 victory over Steve Ferrer, a result which moves him up to third in the league table.
10/08/04: Tony, Stuart and Simonetta in rankings rise
While Simonetta Barone and Tony Lee had some hardware to take home from the weekend's tournament in Hinckley, they and Stuart Mann can also point to hefty ranking points increases.
In the new BIBA list -- click here for the cut down Bristol related list or visit the BIBA website -- Tony has reached a personal best 1930 points, and is headed in the all-time list only by John Clark, Julian Fetterlein and Paul Lamford.
Stuart has also reached a personal best of 1846, having won ten matches at his last two Swiss format events, while Simonetta has breached the 1500 barrier for the first time on 1512.
Meanwhile John Slattery's mixed weekend was reflected in a rise of just 4 points to 1822, and Paul Gilbertson also improved a little, to 1528.
Ian Tarr, Martin Hemming, Rosey Bensley and Kevin White, however, all lost ground.
09/08/04: Bristol's finest prominent again at BIBA
Some of Bristol's finest players once again played a major part in the proceedings at BIBA's SAC Trophy Swiss format event at the Hanover International Hotel, Hinckley, at the weekend.
Pictured left (courtesy of Simonetta Barone) is the final match of the event, with Stuart Mann and Tony Lee slugging it out at 9-all, surrounded by interested spectators.
Stuart was the winner, but ironically came away with nothing but satisfaction, thanks to the format which -- though happily accepted by some -- continues to baffle many.
This generally puzzled air was added to when the consolation flight results were announced.
The new BIBA Swiss format, designed to keep more players interested for longer than in the traditional BIBA Swiss, splits everyone into two flights after two of the six rounds.
This time, ten of the thirty-eight participants -- including our own Stuart, Tony and Ian Tarr -- had won both of their opening encounters, to ensure making the cut.
The remainder -- including Simonetta Barone, Rosey Bensley, John Slattery, Martin Hemming, Kevin White and Paul Gilbertson -- were able to start afresh in the quest for consolation flight honours.
When Friday evening came, after completion of the third round of matches, Ian -- beaten by Tony -- and Stuart had suffered their opening defeats, and appeared to be out of contention, although with the small field it was still possible to win the event with five victories out of six.
Meanwhile Simonetta, John, Martin and Paul had all won their opening consolation matches.
On Sunday, Tony reached round six as the only player on the maximum five wins, and was drawn to play Stuart in the final round. A win for Tony would see him take the title outright, but a win for Stuart would see the crown going to the 5-time winner whose six opponents boasted the best combined record over the weekend.
As it transpired, Tony's defeat was not enough to knock him off the top of the pile, and was also insufficient to raise Stuart into the prizes -- second place going to Ron Havenhand.
In the consolation, taking place over rounds three to six, there were only two players who won all four matches -- Simonetta Barone and John Slattery.
So they must be the prize winners, right? Wrong.
Countback was the deciding factor here, but using all six matches rather than the four played in the consolation phase.
Simonetta, with five wins overall, was declared the consolation winner and claimed her first BIBA trophy, while the player she pipped in their final match -- Steve Rimmer -- got the runner-up prize, having apparently beaten John on countback.
So in all, no fewer than three Bristol players ended on five wins out of six, with John Slattery on four and Paul Gilbertson on three.
09/08/04: Stuart topples Martin in late night double
Saturday night at the Hanover International in Hinckley may well have been a turning point in this year's Premier One title race.League leader Martin Hemming -- six full months in pole position -- and reigning champion Stuart Mann sat down for their long awaited first encounter of the season after Martin's elimination from the Saturday night jackpot.
Stuart established an early lead, then Martin all but clawed it back before Stuart pulled away again to record an 11-7 victory, which brought him level on points with Martin, albeit having played one match more.
Much to the surprise of some observers -- and possibly even the players themselves -- the pair then settled immediately into the return match, and it was well into the early hours before a result materialised.
Once again Stuart established a lead, but Martin pulled back four points to trail just 8-9. Stuart again provided the coup de grace, however.
He now leads the table by three points from Martin, who has a match in hand, while third placed Elliot Smart is a further three points behind with a further match in hand.
Should points difference be called upon to decide, Elliot is currently best placed to take advantage of that.
04/08/04: Younger Martin prevails
Saturday's impromptu nine player tournament at Kellaway Avenue featured a win for Martin Potter -- son of Simon Fahoury -- who defeated Martin Hemming in the final.Eight hours of chouette followed, and apparently a great time was had by all.
01/08/04: Blaine docked two points
The Saturday midnight Premier League checkpoint has passed, and just one player -- Premier Two's Blaine Buchanan -- has suffered a penalty.Having fallen two matches short of the requisite nine results, Blaine therefore loses two points, although he has the opportunity to claim these back by catching up with the schedule at the September 30th checkpoint.
In fact Blaine would be eligible for expungement from the league were he not to complete two more matches by that checkpoint, while he needs four to achieve the twin objectives of reclaiming those points just deducted and avoiding further penalties on September 30th.
29/07/04: JULY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Twenty league players were present at the July league night, and nineteen of them played!29/07/04: Stuart steps up the pressure on Martin ......
Martin Hemming maintained his recent watching brief at yesterday's league session, but he may not have liked what he saw!Looking on in the hope that rivals might burn themselves out in their title pursuit is a perfectly legitimate course of action, and there have been times this year when Martin's runaway Premier One lead has looked all the more impregnable after his own inactivity.
Last night was not such an occasion, however, as reigning champ Stuart Mann ground out a gruelling victory over Ian Tarr before resuming an adjourned encounter with John Slattery.
Picking up at 5-9 down, Stuart recovered to an 11-9 win to keep the pressure well and truly on Martin.
Stuart and Elliot Smart are Martin's only realistic rivals for the crown, but the fact that Stuart and Martin still have to play each other twice is now looking more and more like a crucial factor.
John Slattery, with two victories last night, has now done just about enough to stay out of Premier Two, but Ian Tarr and Simonetta Barone have both slipped further into the mire.
29/07/04: John's giant stride towards the top flight ......
John Ould's season of high promise moved a long way towards fruition when he scored victories over Alan Parfitt, Ian Preston and Steve Ferrer.The results rocketed him up to second place in Premier Two with eight wins from his eleven matches, and it is now unlikely that he will miss out on promotion to the top flight.
Long time promotion favourite Jason Champion still has some work to do if he is to achieve promotion.
Defeated last night by Simon Baker, he may well need to win both his remaining matches.
Simon's completion of three matches ensured he avoided expungement from the league -- much to Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr's relief -- and was also able to reclaim the two penalty points he picked up in May, as well as avoiding more at the Saturday midnight checkpoint.
His two victories also kept alive his outside chance of making it into the top four.
Ian Preston and Roland Herrera were the night's other winners.
29/07/04: Second promotion slot earned ......
When Juanita Ferrer passed through the eight match barrier yesterday evening, this ensured that at least two players will gain promotion from this season's Conference. Hopefully there will be more promotion slots earned before the season is out.Although he remains in third place overall, Richard Cartwright is quietly staking his claim for a place in the Premier League next season.
Yesterday he defeated Juanita 11-10, and has the impressive record of played 5, won 5.
Second placed Cynthia Roberts added three more results to her campaign, which has now entailed six victories in fifteen matches!
Juanita is fourth after scoring a single victory in her three matches, while Michael Corbett won his solitary match to take closer order in fifth place.
The night's other winners were Thomas Liedtke, with his third success in four matches, and Jeremy Axford, whose long awaited first league appearance of the season saw him win one and lose one.
27/07/04: Charlie revival continues
Charlie Hetherington's recent slight improvement in Premier One results continued with an 11-6 victory over Phil Charlton at the Foresters in Downend.The result gives Charlie some hope of avoiding the drop, but increases the pressure on Phil.
25/07/04: Slatts wins Liverpool again
John Slattery has won the 9th Liverpool Open, held at the Liverpool Bridge Club this weekend.This is the third time he has carried off this title in five years, his dominance interspersed with 2001 and 2003 wins by Darryl Artt, a former Bristol player, now based in Nottingham.
23/07/04: Conference team springs Inter-League shock
Last night at the BCSC we had the first match in the inaugural Inter-League series, featuring teams from Premier Two and the Conference.Five Premier Two players took on four Conference players royally augmented by a guest player, Gerry Carolan. Just a week after his Bristol debut, Gerry took up the invitation when it looked as though the Conference team would be one short, In reality, Gerry's pedigree -- with a BIBA ranking in excess of 1600 -- is such that he will be invited to play in next year's Premier League, but this was a great opportunity to get him integrated into the Bristol scene.
Each player was called upon to play three first-to-seven-points matches, making an overall total of 15.
In the opening series of matches, Gerry got his name on the scoresheet first, before John Lewis got the equaliser. Then Richard Cartwright, Juanita Ferrer and Cynthia Roberts put the Conference 4-1 ahead of their supposed superiors.
Gerry and John were again the first to score as the second series took shape. Jason Champion pegged one back for Premier Two, but anyone who thought this was to be the cue for their anticipated recovery was to be sadly mistaken.
Cynthia made it 6-3, then Gerry beat John in a third series match, before the completion of the final second series encounter.
When Richard Owsley won that match, the Conference were past the winning post with four results still to come!
Steve Ferrer, Jason and Neil Young then gave the scoreline some respectability, but Richard Cartwright was to have the last word, giving the Conference a 9-6 victory.
Complete scores (Premier Two names first): Jason Champion 2 Gerry Carolan 7; John Lewis 7 Richard Owsley 0; Steve Ferrer 5 Richard Cartwright 7; Neil Young 5 Juanita Ferrer 7; Ed Turner 6 Cynthia Roberts 7; John Lewis 7 Richard Cartwright 1; Steve Ferrer 4 Gerry Carolan 7; Jason Champion 7 Juanita Ferrer 0; Neil Young 2 Cynthia Roberts 7; John Lewis 0 Gerry Carolan 7; Ed Turner 4 Richard Owsley 7; Steve Ferrer 7 Juanita Ferrer 5; Jason Champion 7 Cynthia Roberts 4; Neil Young 7 Richard Owsley 3; Ed Turner 5 Richard Cartwright 7.
Next challenge for the Conference: taking on the "stars" of Premier One on August 19th.
23/07/04: Honours shared at The Leap
Stuart Mann's Premier One championship defence suffered mixed fortunes last night at The Leap, Downend, when he shared the honours in a double header against Charlie Hetherington.An 11-8 victory was followed by a 5-11 reverse, and that fifth defeat was a blow to Stuart's chances of retaining the title.
His two meetings with leader Martin Hemming may well prove decisive.
23/07/04: John goes third after defeating Jason
John Lewis scored an 11-4 victory over Jason Champion last night to preserve his chance of claiming one of the four Premier Two promotion slots.John has only one match remaining, but a hefty victory over Mark Dixon would give him just a chance of clinching a promotion which looked out of the question earlier in the season.
22/07/04: Mixed Monte Carlo for Peter
Among those who enjoyed the Monte Carlo event, just finished, was Peter Bennet, who can be seen (far left in this Rosey Bensley photo) collecting his prize, along with his similarly attired friends Paul Gilbertson and John Slattery -- where have I seen those clothes before??!! They had reached the final of the team competition.
The upside of Peter's trip was tarnished, though, by the theft of his digital camera from alongside him in the playing area, complete with irreplaceable photos.
Happily there was a twist to the tale, when fellow players Khachik Melykyan and Jakik Bakhalbahcyan were later taken into police custody on suspicion of shoplifting.
Found in their possession was Peter's camera, complete with photos, which thankfully had not been deleted.
21/07/04: Elliot closes on Martin
Elliot Smart is currently bent on proving that last year's Premier One second place finish was no flash in the pan.He emerged from a double header at the Foresters, Downend, yesterday evening with his title challenge still very much on, after clinching 11-7 and 11-4 victories over Phil Charlton.
Although Martin now has one match in hand over Elliot, the reduction of the deficit to just three points gives the league table a new slant, and increases the pressure on the season long leader.
The results also had the effect of virtually removing Phil from the title equation. Had they gone the other way, Phil's title prospects would still have been very much alive. Now, though, he must focus -- like most other players in the division -- on mere survival.
20/07/04: Phillip takes July title
Phillip Hill (pictured) is the latest Bristol Grand Prix winner, having defeated Richard Cartwright 11-2 at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham, this afternoon.
The victory moves him up to 8th in the OGP table, and books him a place in the 2005 Bristol Masters.
Perhaps it was because of the anticipation of having an exciting league match to play, but Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr neglected to bring along the prize envelopes, so Phillip and Richard will now be paid at a later date!
20/07/04: Martin beaten
Ian Tarr took time out from witnessing the grand prix final at Keynsham this afternoon to complete a Premier One match with league leader Martin Hemming.Martin was close to victory, 7-3 ahead and bearing off for a likely gammon with the cube on two. He was hit, and failed to win that game or any other, the 7-11 defeat being only his third reverse of the season.
The win was a welcome one for Ian, whose recent form had seen him sliding towards the relegation zone.
His record is now back on an even keel, although there is still work to be done to ensure another season in the top flight.
Meanwhile, news of another Premier One encounter, that of Phil Charlton and Elliot Smart this evening, is still awaited.
17/07/04: Final set for Tuesday afternoon
The July grand prix main flight final between Phillip Hill and Richard Cartwright is now set for Tuesday at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham.The scheduled start time is 3pm.
16/07/04: JULY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Considering the counter-attractions of holidays and the European backgammon tour (latest stop: Monte Carlo) the turnout of sixteen players for the July grand prix event was a respectable one, especially as there were two players making their Bristol debuts -- Abergavenny-based former BIBA player Gerry Carolan and local tournament newcomer Dominic Neate.16/07/04: Phillip and Richard set for Keynsham final ......
Only five Premier One players were among the main flight starting line-up, which may in part have contributed to the continuation of this year's trend, where top flight dominance of the knock-outs has been sadly lacking.The night's stars were Phillip Hill of Premier Two and Richard Cartwright of the Conference, and these two will slug out the 11-point final -- possibly at the Lock Keeper in Keynsham on Tuesday afternoon.
Phillip's progress came at the expense of Mark Dixon, Ed Turner and Charlie Hetherington, while it took Richard a while longer to get past Richard Owsley, Gerry Carolan and Ian Tarr.
16/07/04: Richard beats Elias in consolation final ......
Mark Dixon's decision to resign from the tournament before 9pm was a mixed blessing for Richard Owsley.Mark had defeated Tony Walters to progress to the consolation flight semi-finals, where Richard then progressed to the final via a bye.
Having beaten Dave Pym in the first round, Richard's next match was his final encounter with Elias Hamati, which he won.
We will never know whether or not Richard's bye was beneficial overall since, although it propelled him towards the modest prize money, he was also denied the opportunity of gaining five OGP and fifteen IGP points in the semi.
Runner-up Elias had defeated Paul Watts and Dominic Neate en route.
16/07/04: It's a rollover! ......
Ten of the sixteen contestants decided to opt for the Winner Takes All pool, despite the lack of an encouraging rollover.The draw bizarrely concentrated eight of the ten into two quarters of the draw, so when the singletons -- Ed Turner and Gerry Carolan -- failed to progress as far as the semi-finals, it was left to Charlie Hetherington and Ian Tarr to continue the fight beyond that stage.
Both lost, so the £100 pot will be an attractive addition to the pool at the August tournament.
16/07/04: Ed still leads; Charlie goes second ......
Not much has changed at the top of the OGP after last night's session, barring a slight reshuffle at the top.Simon Baker was absent, but none of the others in the top five scored heavily, Charlie Hetherington's 40 points -- which raised him into second place overall -- being the best of a modest bunch of returns.
Ed Turner still leads, but his 35 point lead has been reduced by a mere five.
Phillip Hill has hauled himself up to 9th place, and a final win would raise him one further position, while the other result would raise Richard Cartwright from 13th to 10th.
16/07/04: IGP becoming a tale of two Richards? ......
While Richard Owsley continues to lead this year's IGP, a new challenger is threatening to change all that.Richard Cartwright has only been around a couple of months, but he can overtake the other Richard by beating Phillip Hill in the July main flight final.
His 65 points for winning through to the final were supplemented by 30 bonus points gained via victories over Gerry Carolan and Ian Tarr.
Phillip's scalp would also attract bonus points, so the 45 point haul obtainable from winning the final would put him 15 points clear at the top.
The current leader has been consistent in his accumulation of points this year. The 45 he gained yesterday represented his highest return in five tournaments, but he has never failed to grab at least 25.
Elias Hamati, paying a rare visit to a £10 tournament, and debutant Dominic Neate were the others to gain bonus points for defeating Premier opposition.
16/07/04: Dave's revival continues ......
Not long ago Dave Pym was looking odds on for relegation from Premier One.After a steady start to the season a run of five defeats put his top flight status in severe jeopardy.
But although he is not yet out of the woods, Dave is recovering nicely, having won four in a row, including last night's 11-3 success against Charlie Hetherington.
09/07/04: Breaking even OK for Martin
Should Martin Hemming break even in his remaining Premier One matches, he may well set a target too tough for his pursuers, so consistent has he been thus far.So although such progress would represent a loss of form, Martin will not be too downhearted at last night's session at The Leap, Downend.
Martin fought out a double header against Charlie Hetherington, losing the opening encounter 2-11. In winning the return by an identical score, Martin thus remains on course for the title.
06/07/04: Martin prominent again in Hinckley
The latest comparatively low-key BIBA tournament, the Keren di Bona Memorial Trophy knock-out, at the Hanover International Hotel, Hinckley, at the weekend, saw five of our number compete amongst a field of 32 players.Premier One championship favourite Martin Hemming had a supremely successful weekend despite getting no further than the quarter-final of the main flight, and the semi-final of the progressive consolation.
These achievements, respectable in themselves, paled in comparison to Martin's victories in both the Friday night warm-up and the £50 Jackpot.
And Martin's BIBA ranking score has climbed to an all-time high of 1642.
Others present were Peter Bennet, runner-up in the main flight, John Slattery and Paul Gilbertson, semi-finalists respectively in the Friday warm-up and the £50 Jackpot, and Rosey Bensley, who reached the last eight of the Suicide.
In the latest BIBA Grand-Prix table, we have several players prominently placed behind leader Steve Pickard (74.32 points), namely John Slattery (2nd on 65.54), Martin Hemming (3rd, 62.44), and Tony Lee (5th, 56.25), while joint eighth on 45.93 are Stuart Mann and Rosey Bensley.
01/07/04: JUNE LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Despite the onset of the holiday season, there were still seventeen players present for the June league night.01/07/04: Martin smiling in Zakynthos ......
Martin Hemming has more than one reason to be pleased as he suns himself in Zakynthos.Apart from the fact that he is enjoying himself in an exotic location, a visit to an internet cafe, and a quick look at the latest Premier One table, would tell him that his chances of taking the Premier League title have taken more than a step in the right direction, after last night's session.
Having lost only once so far this season, Martin can now look at the "Lost" column in the league, and see that reigning champion Stuart Mann -- the player best placed to challenge Martin -- has now lost four times, and is 5-9 down in an adjourned match against John Slattery.
And while Elliot Smart, another major rival, will have been pleased with his win over Stuart, his subsequent whitewash defeat by Steffen Nowak means that he has now lost five times.
So Martin's only realistic challengers -- albeit collectively more distant than they were -- appear to be Stuart, Elliot, and Phil Charlton, who has also lost five. The other seven players have each suffered at least seven defeats, and must concentrate on avoiding relegation -- not an easy task, as four go down this year.
In this respect John Slattery and Simonetta Barone each eased their worries, while Steffen and Ian Tarr are now more firmly rooted in the relegation dog-fight after their respective sessions.
01/07/04: Paul sets up immediate return ......
The obvious depth in talent in Bristol Backgammon is perhaps best reflected by a glance down the list of players contesting this year's Premier Two.There is an apparent contradiction, though, in the fact that the three players relegated last season have all won more matches this season than they have lost, although that may just underline the excellence of Premier One.
While the progress of Ed Turner and Blaine Buchanan -- neither of whom was in action last night -- will give them some satisfaction, it is Paul Watts who is currently closest to bouncing back to the top flight at the first attempt.
Paul extended his lead by defeating Phillip Hill, and his 24 points -- complete with a comparatively strong points difference -- may already be enough to ensure that he will be back with the elite in 2005. If he can win his sole remaining match, against Roland Herrera, he will also give himself an excellent chance of taking the Premier Two title.
Roland, Phillip and Ian Preston all emerged from the evening worse off than when they had begun it, while the only other player to make satisfactory progress was John Lewis, whose pair of victories kept his slender promotion hopes just about alive.
01/07/04: Richard still unbeaten ......
Six Conference players were at the BCSC to do battle on Wednesday evening.Most gratifying progress was made by Michael Corbett, whose brace of emphatic wins restored some balance to his season after a wobbly start.
Leader Richard Owsley lost a marathon match to Thomas Liedtke, but still holds a nine point lead.
His most likely challenger would appear to be Richard Cartwright, who chalked up his fourth straight win since becoming a comparatively recent addition to the fold.
Most prolific player was Susy Liedtke, who managed to fit in three matches while husband Thomas was playing just one. Like Thomas, though, she ended the evening with one victory to show for her endeavours.
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