News items from 2006 (second half)
28/12/06: Miles, Neil and Tim cash at jackpot evening
A jackpot session as low key as you might expect between Christmas and the New Year was enjoyed by a small band of players at the BCSC tonight.
An eight player £10 affair set the ball rolling, with Miles Farren and Neil Young splitting the cash, while Tim Line took the honours in a four player event later on.
23/12/06: Compliments of the season to all readers
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr wishes all backgammon players everywhere a happy festive season and a healthy and prosperous 2007!
23/12/06: Another record Premier League entry
Entries for the 2007 incarnation of the Bristol Premier League have reached record levels for the eighth successive year.
Thirty-three players will toe the starting line on January 1st, with the split between divisions giving twelve players the opportunity to play in the top flight, while the other twenty-one entrants form the second tier.
This gives a fixture workload of 22 matches in Premier One and 20 in Premier Two, where players will still meet each other just once.
Six players who finished the 2006 season in the Premier League have opted out this time.
Jason Champion sees his medium to long term future outside of Bristol, so cannot guarantee to finish the season. And Roland Herrera, who was due to take his place among Bristol's elite for the very first time, is taking another year out of league action, a decision which will now leave his Premier One debut until 2009 at the earliest.
The absence of these two stalwarts from the top flight means a "back door" entry to that division for the fifth and sixth placed finishers in this year's Premier Two -- Simon Baker and Michael Corbett.
Steve Ferrer would have taken the second of these vacancies had he not elected to give the league a miss this year, along with his wife Juanita Ferrer, while Juanita recovers from her recent ill health.
Another "back door" Premier One entrant is Paul Watts, who owes his reprieve from relegation to the thirty-third entry triggering a twelfth Premier One slot, an increase of one on the previous four seasons.
Others opting out of Premier League backgammon for 2007 are Richard Cartwright, possibly in anticipation of the impending smoking restricions, and Andrew Cobb, whose Thursday night Russian lessons clash with backgammon nights.
Four players are returning to the Premier League after taking breaks. Both Ian Preston and Ann Pocknell were forced by unforeseen circumstances to abandon their campaigns this year, and will hopefully have better luck next time.
Double Premier League runner-up Elliot Smart took a year out this year in deference to his young family, but is now back in the fold, while Drew Caudwell -- the man responsible for finding us our current venue -- is also back after a three year break.
And there are five players tasting Premier League backgammon for the very first time in 2007.
Paul Gilbertson -- the only player ever to win back to back BIBA tournaments -- has been an occasional welcome visitor to our grand prix tournaments, but will be travelling down with John Slattery from High Wycombe on a regular basis in the coming year.
And we have four players rising from the intermediate ranks -- Steve Morris, Nick Barham, Miles Farren and Gaz Owen.
23/12/06: Nick was first for 26 months
In answer to a question raised at this week's Tric Trac Tourno evening, Nick Barham's Lesters LXI success made him the first intermediate to win a Bristol Grand Prix tournament since Richard Cartwright achieved a similar feat in October 2004.
22/12/06: Deadlines passing and approaching
Four players, notified recently that this Thursday was the deadline for completing matches outstanding from grand prix events, have failed to complete their commitments, so two finals have been declared null and void.
October's grand prix consolation flight final -- featuring Nick Barham and Adrian Fisk -- had to be adjourned on the night, and has not been completed since, while the consolation final of the October Handicap Trophy event, between Tony Walters and John Paton, hasn't come to fruition either.
The players will each be entitled to losers shares of the prize money, but the additional amounts allocated to the winners will be added to the annual prize funds of the various events.
The non-completion of the Barham-Fisk encounter has no significant effect on the finishing order in either the OGP or the IGP.
The same cannot be said of the other match, however, where Tony has effectively forfeited a chance of finishing in second place in the Handicap Trophy, leaving that honour to Steve Morris.
Meanwhile the deadline for entering the 2007 Premier League passes at midnight on Friday.
While players have every chance to change their minds before the deadline actually passes, the signs are that there will once again be a record entry, with thirty-three players signing up so far.
If that should be the final number, there will be good news for certain non-qualifiers for Premier One, who will effectively gain entry to this prestigious competition via the back door.
Watch for more details when the final entry is known.
21/12/06: Thirteen present for Tric Trac Tourno night
The last event before Christmas, a Tric Trac Tourno evening, was attended by thirteen players.
First of all, the assembled throng split into two groups, with a six strong £10 stake event being won by Cynthia Roberts, while the seven strong £5 event was won by Steffen Nowak.
And afterwards, when the twelve players remaining joined forces for a £5 event, Steffen carried his good form over to take this prize too.
20/12/06: Nick rounds off great debut season
Nick Barham rounded off a great Bristol backgammon debut year tonight at the BCSC by defeating Neil Young in the final of Lesters LXI.
His hard fought 11-8 victory saw him extend his lead at the head of the IGP table to a mammoth 212 points, while clinching the final place in the 2007 Bristol Masters, and the twelve month tenure of the John Chidgey Cup.
Nick didn't enter the optional Winner Takes All pool, so £120 rolls over to the January event, giving a nice boost to the new grand prix year.
The outcome of the final was also good news for Mark Dixon, who bought Nick in the pre-tournament auction, while Steffen Nowak, purchaser of Neil, makes do with the second prize.
19/12/06: Twenty attend Christmas meal
Twenty players, friends and loved ones attended a Christmas meal at the BCSC tonight, which was followed by a fascinating presentation by top UK player Julian Fetterlein and an impromptu Tric Trac Tourno for eight players.
Tomorrow, from around 7pm, there is more action at the club, with the curtain coming down on the grand prix season, as Neil Young and Nick Barham contest the 11-points final of last week's tournament.
15/12/06: LESTERS LXI ROUND-UP ......
With twelve players still in contention for the OGP and five for the IGP, the final grand prix tournament of the year threatened to provide an exhilarating climax to the season.
Four of those seventeen players didn't show for various reasons, but Charlie Hetherington and Ann Pocknell returned to action after long breaks to take their places among a slightly disappointing turnout of twenty-two players.
15/12/06: Neil and Nick to bring down the season's curtain ......
Nick Barham and Neil Young were the stars of Lesters LXI at the BCSC on Thursday evening, for the last of big competition of the year.
Nick fought his way past Ed Turner, Steffen Nowak and Tim Line to earn a crack at a monthly grand prix title, which would cap an extraordinary debut year.
But he will have to beat Neil in their first-to-11 points final, and Neil also excelled in defeating Charlie Hetherington, Simonetta Herrera and Tony Walters.
The match may take place at next Thursday's Tric Trac evening.
15/12/06: Charlie returns with a consolation win ......
Charlie Hetherington shrugged off the disappointment of a defeat at the first hurdle of the main flight to take the consolation flight at Lesters LXI.
Last time Charlie contested a Lesters event, consolation flights were unheard of, so he had reason to be thankful for that particular experimental change, which is due for review before next year's competitions kick off.
His victims en route to the final were Paul Watts and Roland Herrera, while his final foe, Ian Preston managed to get past Martin Hemming, Peter Edwards and Ed Turner.
15/12/06: Tony holds on for his finest honour ......
How can the player who finished thirtieth of thirty Bristol Premier League players this year win the other main annual title available in Bristol?
This was the question on the lips of many after Tony Walters did more than enough to hold on to the OGP lead he took into last night's tournament.
Had he not won two matches in the main flight he would have been pipped at the post, although only two of the eleven players who had a chance to overhaul Tony's overnight total managed to do this.
With Jason Champion and Juanita Ferrer absent, and Stuart Mann, Ed Turner, Roland Herrera and Ian Preston failing to progress at all in the main flight, Tony's challengers were quickly reduced in number, and when Tony himself scored a win over Peter Edwards that also took Tim Line and Simonetta Herrera out of the equation.
Mark Dixon lost his second match, so it was left to Steffen Nowak and Ian Tarr to mount the challenge.
When Tony defeated Ann Pocknell and Steffen lost to Nick Barham, only Ian could change the outcome.
Neil Young put an end to Tony's points gathering, so Ian needed to add third and fourth wins to his opening two.
But Ian's quarter-final defeat at the hands of Tim sealed Tony's triumph.
Steffen finishes second and Ian third.
15/12/06: Nick's runaway IGP title win ......
Nick Barham had only entered six grand prix tournaments before yesterday's Lesters LXI, but he had scored useful IGP points at every one of them to take a handy 42 points lead into the event.
And while his challengers were either absent or unsuccessful, Nick scored his best points tally yet in reaching the main flight final.
And even before the final, he has come out of last night's events with a massive winning lead of 162 points!
Conference champion Steve Morris finishes second with Miles Farren in third.
12/12/06: Mouth watering finale on Thursday
The final grand prix tournament of the year, this Thursday at the BCSC, is exactly what all grand finales should be.
No fewer than seventeen players still have a chance to take a title, twelve being in contention in the OGP and a further five in the IGP.
Add in the spice of the tournament itself -- awash with money from the £20 entry, plus the option of £10 in the Winner Takes All pool, and whatever you bid in the pre-tournament auction of players -- mix in the vital ingredients of a place for the tournament winner in the 2007 Bristol Masters and the twelve month tenure of the John Chidgey Cup, and what you end up with is a major event by any standards.
The major prize, of course, is the OGP shield, and with just this one event to go, the man to beat is Tony Walters.
Tony -- just recovered from a bout of pneumonia -- leads the table by a mere nine points, but has the advantage that his amount to discard is only 10 points. So every match he wins on Thursday will make it tougher for his pursuers, most of whom have larger amounts to discard.
Of course, those pursuers would like Tony to have a blank evening. If that were to happen, no fewer than eleven players have the chance to overtake him.
In those circumstances his closest pursuer, Steffen Nowak, would need only to win his first match to overhaul Tony. So would Juanita Ferrer, if she is present after her illness.
Jason Champion and Ian Tarr would need at least two wins, Stuart Mann, Ian Preston and Mark Dixon would need at least three, and Roland Herrera must reach at least the semi-finals.
For Tim Line, Ed Turner and Simonetta Herrera nothing less than a tournament win would suffice.
In the race for the IGP plaque, Nick Barham is the leader. Of course the scoring system in the IGP is subtly different, with bonus points available for defeating Premier Status players, but the bottom line is that Steve Morris, with 15 points to discard, needs to score at least 60 to stand a chance of taking the main prize, while for three other distant pursuers -- Chris Roberts, Miles Farren and George Jakeway -- nothing more than a miracle would suffice.
Who would want to miss such a tournament, with so much riding on it?
11/12/06: Jason's appeal partly successful
Jason Champion (pictured, left) has been reprieved from relegation, after a Premier One appeals sub-committee gave him back half of the six penalty points he was appealing against.
The ruling made was a reflection of the sub-committee's feeling that although Jason undoubtedly attempted to play all his matches, he was partly responsible for the outcome because he left too much too late in the season to be sure of completion.
Jason thus moves up the league by three positions, pushing Steve Ferrer -- the other player concerned in the unplayed match -- down into the relegation zone. Steve did not submit an appeal against the penalties that he incurred.
10/12/06: Martin wins Gammonitis event!
Just two of the twenty-two players contesting the Gammonitis Julian's Christmas Cracker event at Eynsham Hall, Oxford, this weekend were Bristol players.
But both made their presence felt.
Pride of place goes to Martin Hemming (left), who clinched the Main Flight in an exciting double match point game.
His opponent, Independent backgammon columnist Chris Bray, might have thought he'd survived the rigours of Martin's back game, twice avoiding being hit, only to have his very last man sent back.
Martin achieved the shut-out, but was certainly not favourite when Chris re-entered.
Martin thought he needed a double to win, but when he failed to roll it, Chris needed only six pips to win the match. He rolled 3-2!
This was Martin's second national tournament win this year, having won BIBA's Jarvis Trophy back in February.
Meanwhile our other representative, Miles Farren, added to his growing reputation by finishing runner-up in the Last Chance flight.
09/12/06: Seventeen entries during first twelve hours
Within twelve hours of the invitations being sent out for the 2007 Premier League, seventeen positive replies have already been received.
Many more are expected, but Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is expecting around the same number of entries as this year.
07/12/06: Jason appeals against end of season penalty
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has decided against acting unilaterally in the matter of the end of season penalties incurred by two players for non-completion of a Premier One match.
After hearing arguments from all sides he decided that as the rules do not provide for such an intervention, he would ensure that the normal appeals process is undergone.
Having given both Steve Ferrer and Jason Champion a deadline of midnight on Wednesday to indicate their intentions regarding appeals, the deadline passed with no response from Steve, but Jason has appealed.
Three players -- not the same ones who conducted Jason's September appeal -- have agreed to adjudicate this time, and the outcome is expected within the next few days.
07/12/06: Low key new players evening
Around a dozen players turned up for the latest evening devoted to new and developing players at the BCSC last night.
Roland Herrera kicked off the evening with a short quiz involving four positions, each accompanied by a selection of three possible summaries, and the question "which is correct in this case?"
Nobody present got more than three correct!
This was followed by a friendly Tric Trac, with Stuart Mann coming out on top.
04/12/06: Ed closest to UK finals glory
BIBA's Gilbertson UK Finals saw quite a strong Bristol contingent in action, largely in support of the tournament sponsors, the Gilbertson family (which includes two players very familiar to Bristol players, Rosey Bensley and Paul Gilbertson).
Interest in the event had also been stimulated by the performances of a few of our players during the year, as among the eight qualifiers for Sunday's 16-player final knock-out were Martin Hemming, Tim Line and Mark Dixon, plus our "associates" Paul Gilbertson and Nigel Merrigan.
Those eight pre-qualifiers played their own little tournament on Saturday, the one known as Champion of Champions. And the final saw Paul Gilbertson defeating Martin for that prestigious title, which was previously held by Stuart Mann, who was sadly absent on this occasion.
Meanwhile the battle was on to grab the other eight qualifying slots via a modified Swiss format which, perhaps bizarrely, featured two rounds of 7-point matches, followed by two rounds of 5-points.
Ed Turner (pictured) and Paul Watts were successful in progressing through this phase, making a total of seven players flying the Bristol flag in varying degrees of prominence.
The fun sideshow of Saturday evening's "gang" knock-out saw Ed and Ian Tarr getting a share of second place, after narrowly succumbing to Manchester's Brian Lever.
And so, on to Sunday, where the Bristol Seven started to fall thick and fast. When the semi-final stage was reached, only Ed remained, and there he lost the tightest of matches to three times Dutch champion Rogier van Gemert, who went on to play Mick Butterfield in the final, the result of which is not known at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, there was minor success in one or two other flights, with Paul Watts defeating Uldis Lapikens in the final of the progressive consolation for those eliminated from the top sixteen event, and Ian Tarr winning that most lowly of all flights, the "also rans" last chance, defeating former Bristol Premier League player and multi UK tuornament winner Tony Lee in the final, after buying back in following elimination by the very same Tony.
01/12/06: Herreras take the minor placings
Last night's conclusion to the inaugural Consulting Doubles Grand Prix season saw double success for Simonetta Herrera.
Not only did she partner Nina Evangelou to victory in the main flight of the tournament -- she also managed to find time to finish off the May tournament consolation flight final, where she partnered Celia Nicopoulou to victory over Neil Young and Lewis Young.
Eight pairs contested the event, including tournament debutants Marcus Wrinch and Pete Wright, and Simonetta and Nina fought their way past Ian Preston and Marcus, and Blaine Buchanan and Pete, before defeating Steve Morris and Jude Pitt in the final.
Steve and Jude got past Neil and Lewis, and Ed Turner and Todd Young to reach the final.
The four pair consolation flight, where only the winners got prize money, was won by Nick Barham and Peter Edwards, who beat Ian and Marcus in that final.
The destiny of the top two placings was assured when neither Steffen Nowak nor Miles Farren made an appearance. Even allowing for Simonetta's late surge of points, they finished equal first, a handsome 110 points clear of third place.
Simonetta pipped husband Roland Herrera for third place, but both get mementoes as the top four qualify for these.
01/12/06: Stuart finishes twelve points clear
The last action of the Premier League season saw Stuart Mann sign off his third championship season in four years with victory over last year's champion Mark Dixon.
The win saw Stuart finish twelve points clear at the top, with Simonetta Herrera confirmed as runner-up, and Mark in third.
Meanwhile, the end of season deadline has passed, and one match was not played.
Steve Ferrer and Jason Champion therefore each incur four penalty points, something which has the effect of pushing Jason down into the relegation zone, thus handing Ian Tarr a reprieve.
The circumstances surrounding the non-playing of the match were unusual, however, and it is possible that the appeals process might prove successful.
It is also possible that Director Ian Tarr will add substance to his reputation for being a fiendish dictator by intervening directly and short-circuiting the appeals process, given the tight timescale involved in preparing for the 2007 season.
Watch this space for further announcements.
01/12/06: Nick comes from nowhere to pip Miles
With no sign of a fifth promotion place being earned -- by the formula based on overall levels of activity -- the only issue that realistically needed a solution in the Conference was the destiny of the runner-up spot.
The absent Miles Farren, having reported a victory over Cecilia Sparke the previous evening, might have thought that, with one day remaining, he had done enough to claim second place, standing nine whole points (three wins) ahead of third placed Nick Barham.
Nick, however, turned up with two unreported wins from a double header with John Sprague at the BCSC on Tuesday, and followed up with a further double success against Todd Young to pip Miles at the post.
30/11/06: Only the minor placings up for grabs
Tonight at the BCSC sees the finale of our first Consulting Doubles Grand Prix season.
It would be great to ponder on the possibilities of who will become our first doubles champions, but in reality, the options are about as limited as they could possibly be.
The astonishing record of Steffen Nowak and Miles Farren this season has made the outcome a foregone conclusion.
Three tournaments contested by the pair have all produced the same conclusion -- a tournament win! And because of this, their joint lead at the top of the table is unassailable.
The only possible variation for them would be if they split up to give everybody else a chance. But since neither is likely to be there tonight, the status quo looks like the most likely scenario.
In fact if just one of them turned up to play, and formed a partnership with somebody else, the probability is that the absent partner would win the title outright on countback, since the other would be at a disadvantage because of playing one more tournament.
So the main questions to be answered will be who occupies third and fourth places when the dust has settled. Here the options are much more varied, because although Roland Herrera and Tim Line are currently third and fourth, there are many players who could overhaul them.
29/11/06: Premier Two completed
Simon Baker did just enough today to ensure that he finishes in fifth place in the final Premier Two table.
The Rose and Crown in Bath was the unlikely setting for the final Premier two action of the season, as Andrew Cobb inflicted an 11-6 defeat on Simon.
Had Simon scored a couple of points fewer he would have slipped into sixth place, but as things are he will be the first player asked to fill any vacancies which might arise in the top flight next season.
25/11/06: Phil rounds it off in style
New Premier Two champion Phil Charlton rounded off his season in style today at the Bear of Rodborugh Hotel in Stroud, when he edged out Martin Hemming 11-9 on the resumption of their match previously adjourned at 6-all.
Phil finishes six points ahead of runner-up Mike Smith, while the margin of defeat was narrow enough for Martin to pip Roland Herrera for third place.
There is just one match remaining in Premier Two. If Simon Baker can avoid a heavy defeat against Andrew Cobb he will finish fifth. Should he lose by 4-11 or worse, however, he would slip below Michael Corbett into sixth place.
Phil, who has only been playing league matches this year, has now won nine matches in a row, so his next match, whether in next year's top flight, or in the December Lesters event should he choose to compete, could scoop him a 1000 to 1 award.
Martin's failure to finish as runner-up loses him a little prize money, but it also means he has yet to qualify for the 2007 Bristol Masters, as Mike takes the remaining Premier Two high finisher spot.
24/11/06: FINAL LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Six Premier League matches and a couple of Conference matches were completed at the BCSC last night, but with just a week until the end of the season there are still some loose ends to be tied up.
24/11/06: Stuart puts it beyond doubt ......
Already "assured" of taking his third Premier One title in four years, Stuart Mann still had to dot the i's and cross the t's by finishing his season and avoiding penalty points.
Defeating Steve Ferrer last night, though, took him beyond the power of penalties, even with his final match against Mark Dixon still to play.
Mark, of course, has every incentive to play because a victory would give him the runner-up spot, a firm endorsement of his progress over the past couple of years, having shocked everyone by taking the title last year.
Jason Champion and Phillip Hill shared the spoils in their double header, but Jason's final match, against Steve, was not played, and with seven days remaining must be in some doubt.
If the match should not be played, both players would miss out on prize money, as a win for Jason would leave him either second or third, and a Steve success would place him fourth.
Phillip's other match, against Ian Tarr, resulted in a defeat, which cements him to the wooden spoon position, while Ian has claimed the highest of the relegation slots, which could be useful in the event of either defections of 2007 top flight qualifiers or of enlargement of the top division, should overall entries rise.
24/11/06: Martin up, but still has plenty to play for ......
An 11-3 victory over Richard Cartwright was enough for Martin Hemming (pictured left) to be sure of a return to the top flight at the first attempt.
And Martin can clinch the runner-up spot if he wins the adjourned match with new Premier Two champion Phil Charlton at Stroud on Saturday.
Interestingly poised at 6-all, this is a match with a little added spice for both players.
For Martin, there is the runner-up spot at stake, plus a place in the 2007 Bristol Masters. A defeat would give both rewards to Mike Smith.
Phil, who cannot be caught for the championship, has the prospect of a 1000 to 1 award, needing a win here plus one further success to become the first player to clinch one of these John Slattery sponsored awards since last year.
Michael Corbett finished his season with an 11-9 win over Juanita Ferrer, and is currently sixth.
He could, however, move up a place when Simon Baker completes his season in Bath next week. For this to happen, Andrew Cobb would need to score an 11-4 victory, though.
But bearing in mind the annual uncertainty over next year's entries, who is to say that fifth place will not be good enough to clinch a top flight place via the back door?
24/11/06: Miles gains runner-up advantage ......
Shrugging off the disappointment -- and annoyance -- at being stood up by an opponent the previous evening, Miles Farren scored a double win over Peter Edwards at the BCSC last night to steal a march over Nick Barham in the race for the Conference runner-up spot.
On recent form, a double header against Peter is no mean assignment, but Miles came though with flying colours against a player who is already being tipped to take next year's Conference by storm.
Nick, meanwhile, was forced to adjourn his match with Todd Young at 10-1 ahead, and will hope to finish the job when the match is resumed.
It now appears that the battle for second place is the only thing to be settled in the Conference, unless George Jakeway and Marie Harz can be persuaded to crash through the eight match barrier to earn somebody a fifth promotion slot.
23/11/06: Which issues will league night resolve?
The final league night of the season this (Thursday) evening at the BCSC will probably not be the busiest, purely because there are only ten matches yet to be completed in the two Premier Leagues (and some of those are scheduled for later dates), and options are also limited in the Conference.
In Premier One Phillip Hill and Jason Champion still have three matches to play, including their double header, not the wisest situation to be in with just eight days of the season remaining and the possibility of mega penalty points looming.
New champion Stuart Mann also still has two matches to play, and one of these is scheduled for November 30th!
Hopefully penalty points will not be a factor at the season's end, and matters will be decided only by results, because if Stuart's arrangements were to go badly wrong, either Simonetta Herrera or Jason might find themselves unsuspecting champions in somewhat dubious circumstances.
Prize money is also a consideration, with the top four finishers getting a pecuniary return for their efforts.
Relegation has been settled, as long as Jason and Steve Ferrer do indeed finish their matches, but for those in the bottom four, jockeying for the best finishing positions can still be important, in the event that vacancies might occur in next season's top flight. Phillip's match with Ian Tarr could be significant here.
That is also a factor in the "near miss" zone below the Premier Two promotion bracket.
Phil Charlton, Mike Smith and Roland Herrera can all look forward to top flight backgammon in 2007, but who will fill the fourth spot? Martin Hemming -- due to finish his adjourned encounter with Phil on Saturday -- can make sure of a top four finish by winning either that one or his other match, against Richard Cartwright, and would clinch the runner-up spot by winning both.
But if he slips up, Simon Baker is well positioned to capitalise with his match against Andrew Cobb scheduled for next week.
Just below the promotion bracket, Michael Corbett will be looking to finish as high as possible by winning his final match. And it is strongly rumoured that fifth place might well be good enough for a "back door" entry into the top flight next season. If he loses, Juanita Ferrer would move into sixth place.
In the Conference, Steve Morris has his sights only on setting new records as high as he can for future generations to aim at, having long since been sure of Premier League backgammon next season.
For Miles Farren and Nick Barham there is the prospect of securing the runner-up spot. Who gets it may well depend on which opponents can be lined up to play.
And Gaz Owen has now probably done enough to make fourth place his own.
With the remote possibility that a fifth promotion place might be earned if three more players break through the eight match threshold, there is just that chance of a late twist, with any one of half a dozen players in with a chance.
22/11/06: Martin's defeat means Phil is champion
Phil Charlton (pictured left) is this year's Premier Two champion, just as long as he gets to avoid penalty points by completing his final match.
The clincher was Martin Hemming's 5-11 defeat by Blaine Buchanan at the Wellington yesterday, which means Martin can no longer pass Phil.
The priority for Martin now is to make sure he wins at least one of his final two matches -- the unfinished match against Phil, and one against Richard Cartwright -- to ensure he gets promoted back to the top flight, along with Phil, Mike Smith and Roland Herrera.
20/11/06: Belated congratulations to Roland
One important development which recently passed this column by was that Roland Herrera's elevation from Premier Two became a little more than merely almost certain back on October 19th.
It was at that stage that outside contenders Richard Cartwright and Blaine Buchanan crashed out of the race in spectacular style.
And while other contenders were still able to match the 36 points tally of Roland (pictured left), neither Simon Baker nor Steffen Nowak would have been able to match his average points difference.
Indeed, at that stage only Martin Hemming had the chance to overtake Roland and push him down into fourth place, a scenario which is still likely to occur.
Martin, of course, can still win the title itself by continuing his winning run to the end of the season. Two wins out of three would be likely to see him edging Mike Smith out of the runner-up spot, and one win -- given his current points difference -- would probably be enough to guarantee him promotion.
Were he to lose all three matches, this would pave the way for Simon -- who defeated Richard today -- to claim fourth position with a win in his final match.
And while Steffen has now dropped out of contention, there is also a ghost of a chance that Michael Corbett could finish fourth. Michael, though, needs all five remaining matches to go his way, and some of them by wide margins.
19/11/06: Martin and Miles shine at Eynsham
Not too many of our regulars turned up for the latest Gammonitis tournament at Eynsham Hall, Oxfordshire, at the weekend, but two of those who did made their presence felt.
Martin Hemming made the final of the main flight, where he lots narrowly to Barry McAdam, while Miles Farren -- no doubt making the most of his smart new board -- won the consolation flight, defeating Ralph Eskinazi after trailing 1-8 in the first to nine points final.
17/11/06: Gaz uses his initiative
When you're lying in a comfortable fourth place, with no real prospect of catching the third player or being caught by the fifth, and you know it will only take one more player to crash through the eight match barrier to earn a fourth promotion slot for the league, it is only common sense to take matters into your own hands.
That is exactly what Gaz Owen has done.
Realising that John Sprague represented his best chance to trigger that fourth slot, Gaz arranged a double header to ensure that John had done his bit to help as many of his Conference colleagues as possible cross the divide into the Premier League.
The results themselves -- honours shared with two 11-6 results -- are almost secondary.
But the upshot is that it now looks certain that Steve Morris, Miles Farren, Nick Barham and Gaz will be the four players to earn a spot in Premier Two next year.
And a fifth promotion slot is not entirely out of the question. George Jakeway is half a match away from completing his eighth of the season, while newcomer Peter Edwards has racked up six results in no time at all.
The snag here is that it would also need a return to action of somebody like Marie Harz to trigger a fifth slot.
16/11/06: Chouette evening enjoyed by all
It was a low key evening at the BCSC, when a dozen players enjoyed a couple of modest chouette groups and a little league action.
In the Conference Peter Edwards was again in the thick of the action, first finishing off a nearly completed match against Nick Barham, which ended 11-8 to Nick, and then scoring an impressive 11-1 victory over champion elect Steve Morris.
Earlier in the day, Simon Baker resumed his quest for Premier Two honours, when he visited Cynthia Roberts, defeating his hostess 11-9 to move into fifth place.
16/11/06: Fifty up for £10 grand prix tournaments
When the first £10 grand prix tournament was staged in Bristol in January 2000, there was hope, rather than expectation, for a new dawn in Bristol Backgammon.
Last night the fiftieth such tournament was completed -- at another new venue, the Reckless Engineer, by Temple Meads station -- and the concept of grand prix backgammon is now very much taken for granted as one of the bulwarks of our domestic game.
Back in 2000, things were slightly different, with separate tournaments for the OGP and the IGP, but since then our grand prix tournaments, along with our leagues, have become our bread and butter events.
Those fifty tournaments have been contested by a total of 150 different players. The slightly worrying statistic here is that 59 of those players have yet to make their second appearance!
But some stalwarts have missed very few of the fifty, Ed Turner being the most frequent entrant with 48 appearances, followed by Stuart Mann on 46, Roland Herrera 43, Steffen Nowak 36, Martin Hemming 35, and Simonetta Herrera also 35.
Most frequent winner -- surprise, surprise -- is Stuart, who last night managed his seventh success, with Martin and Ian Preston on a creditable five victories each.
Nobody comes close to Stuart's records of 10 finals and 18 semi-finals, although Charlie Hetherington's fourteen semi-final appearances in 32 tournaments are worthy of special mention.
15/11/06: Stuart wins November grand prix
Stuart Mann won his first grand prix tournament in just over a year at the Reckless Engineer this evening.
His first task was to get past Jason Champion in the semi-final held over from Thursday, and this he accomplished with a 7-2 victory.
Then came the first to eleven points final against Martin Hemming -- and once again Stuart did the business with the loss of only two points.
Stuart -- having appeared to be an also ran in the OGP -- is now fifth, and right in the thick of what is probably the closest race yet.
Neutrals will be disappointed that Martin was unable to win the tournament, as that would have facilitated a £130 Winner Takes All pool rollover to the December event.
But Stuart's win will benefit a Premier One player, as he had already qualified for the 2007 Bristol Masters.
Martin gained some consolation for his loss after the final, when he finished off his Premier Two match against Steffen Nowak. His 8-1 lead was soon converted into an 11-3 victory, which elevates him into the top four.
Although he will still win the title if he can win his three remaining matches, he can still not celebrate promotion just yet, as both Michael Corbett and Simon Baker have the chance to overtake him.
12/11/06: NOVEMBER GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS ......
There was another good turnout at the latest Bristol Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday.
Twenty-five players toed the starting line, including four who were playing a grand prix event for the first time. although Jude Pitt, Peter Edwards, Daniel Myers and Nina Evangelou have all been in evidence for the past few weeks.
If more than eighteen players contest next month's grand prix event, a new annual attendance record will have been set.
12/11/06: Martin awaits a final opponent ......
Making his first grand prix visit for four months, Martin Hemming made up for lost time with a run to the main flight final which featured wins over Tim Line, Neil Young and Tony Walters.
In the final he will meet the winner of the outstanding semi-final between Stuart Mann and Jason Champion.
Stuart defeated Steffen Nowak, Miles Farren and Peter Edwards en route to the semis, while Jason was disposing of Daniel Myers, George Jakeway and Simonetta Herrera.
12/11/06: Steffen wins consolation flight ......
Steffen Nowak won Thursday's consolation flight, recording victories over Steve Morris, Paul Watts and Ian Preston before his final success against Richard Owsley.
Richard had beaten Ian Tarr, Jude Pitt and Mark Dixon on his way to the final.
12/11/06: OGP finish could be closest yet ......
The Open Grand Prix is certainly living up to its name, with several contenders still well in touch with the lead at this late stage.
Tony Walters (pictured left) is the current leader, but he could be usurped even before December's grand finale takes place.
Jason Champion is in a position to make things a lot harder for many pursuers, with the possibility of adding 60 points to his current tally by winning both the outstanding semi against Stuart Mann and the final against Martin Hemming.
Martin cannot threaten the leaders this year, but Stuart -- who has had a largely disappointing grand prix year -- has moved well into the frame, having picked up useful points last month and this. If he were to add those 60 points, he would enter the final straight only 24 adrift of Tony.
Others who can play a major role at the end of the race are Steffen Nowak, Juanita Ferrer (who slipped from first to fourth in her absence on Thursday), Ian Tarr, Ian Preston, Roland Herrera, Mark Dixon, Tim Line and Ed Turner.
12/11/06: Nick takes IGP initiative ......
Nick Barham's has been a stunningly consistent performer in the relatively few grand prix events he has attended this year, and Thursday's tournament was no exception to that rule.
He picked up 60 IGP points to grasp the initiative from Steve Morris, who will now need a strong tournament next month if he is to stand any chance of regaining the lead.
08/11/06: Premier One issues all sorted?
After tonight's action at the BCSC, the major issues in Premier One have been decided. Or have they?
Assuming the end of the season is not blighted by more penalty points, Stuart Mann has taken the title for the third time in four years, while Paul Watts, Dave Pym, Ian Tarr and Phillip Hill are all relegated.
After Dave shared the spoils with Jason Champion -- each player scored an 11-9 win in their double header -- Jason can no longer catch Stuart at the top of the league, assuming Stuart finishes his matches against Mark Dixon and Steve Ferrer on time.
And Jason now has enough points to ensure that he would not finish in the bottom four, even if he were to lose to Phillip Hill (twice) and Steve.
The runner-up prize is still a realistic target for Jason, although Simonetta Herrera, Mark and Steve can also make it to second place.
And while those relegated might rue their fate, there is still the small matter of jockeying for position, as it is always possible that there might be a reprieve in the offing, depending on next year's final entry list.
08/11/06: Premier Two showdown adjourned
Premier Two title contenders Phil Charlton and Martin Hemming adjourned their title showdown at the Foresters, Downend, this evening, with the score tantalisingly poised at 6-all.
After a start delayed by Martin's navigation, a tense session saw both players happy to leave the conclusion for another occasion.
08/11/06: Slatts safe from relegation
John Slattery can no longer be relegated from Premier One after last night's result at the BCSC.
Dave Pym's narrow defeat by Ian Tarr has had the effect of limiting the relegation dog-fight to the bottom five players, only one of whom will escape the drop.
And that one player could still be any one of the five.
Jason Champion -- who could still, in theory, pip Stuart Mann to the title -- is scheduled for a double header with Dave at the BCSC tonight, a session that could go some way towards answering some of the outstanding questions.
05/11/06: Mark wins BIBA event!
Despite the relative lack of interest shown by Bristol players recently in venturing to national events, it seems we are still not above winning titles when we do.
Latest to join this successful band is Mark Dixon (pictured left), our reigning Premier League champion, who paid a rare visit to a BIBA tournament, entering the Townharbour Trophy Swiss Format event at Coventry this weekend.
After four of the six rounds of 11-point matches, Mark was the only one of the 30 entrants left with a 100% record, and he went on to complete the set of six victories by defeating Kevin White and Paul Christmas to take the title.
Our own Martin Hemming, who lost narrowly to Mark in the fourth round, finished in third place.
As this was the last of the eight events to provide a qualifier for the final (Sunday) stages of BIBA's Gilbertson UK Finals in Coventry next month, Mark joins Jarvis Trophy winner Martin and Slattery Scottish Open champion Tim Line on that list of elite qualifiers.
And as the list contains "associate" Bristol members Paul Gilbertson and Nigel Merrigan, and other Bristol players are scheduled to go through the Saturday qualifying stages, who is to say that there won't be another Bristol title winner to write about next month?
03/11/06: NEW PLAYERS EVENING IS BEST YET ......
There were five new faces -- Nina Evangelou's friends Rachel and Hasu, Marcus Wrinch who came all the way from Hereford, casino worker Matt Hayman, and Bristol based Swede Lars Ericsson -- at the latest New Players session at the BCSC on Thursday evening. And some other loose ends were tied up at the same time.
03/11/06: Stuart and Paul provide an exhibition ......
With Roland Herrera and his magnetic board temporarily unavailable, there was a new slant to the first half of the latest session specifically aimed at new players.
Premier League stalwarts Stuart Mann and Paul Watts played a five points exhibition match, complete with open discussion of every move and every cube decision.
The discussions tended towards the long winded on occasions, but the experience was hopefully a rewarding one for the five totally new faces plus several other recent arrivals who clustered around the board.
This was followed by a twelve player Tric Trac, with a time deadline, and the surprise was that all but four of the possible sixty-six matches were completed in the allotted time.
Players had the option to play either for nothing or with a £5 stake, seven taking the pecuniary route.
Stuart, one of five players to complete all eleven matches, took the honours with a final tally of 12 points, while newcomers Marcus Wrinch and Lars Ericsson, who both played without the burden of financial interest, showed immense promise with 10.5 points apiece in equal second place overall.
03/11/06: Tony wins again ......
One issue decided alongside the new players session was the main flight final of the October grand prix tournament, where Ian Preston and Tony Walters were vying for the distinction of becoming the first two-time winner this year.
Tony won a one sided match to confirm his recent astonishing knock-out form, thus scotching widespread hopes of a sizeable Winner Takes All pool rollover at next week's follow-up event.
As Tony was already a 2007 Bristol Masters qualifier, his success has earned an additional spot in that event for a Premier Two high finisher, which means that Phil Charlton, who is guaranteed a top two finish in that league, is also a qualifier for the Masters.
The win has also elevated Tony into second place in the OGP table, just ahead of Ian Tarr on countback, and a mere 10 points behind leader Juanita Ferrer.
03/11/06: Ian has Peter to thank ......
Peter Edwards made the most of his 3-points handicap to win the main flight of the final Handicap Trophy event of the year, defeating Ed Turner in the semi, before despatching title contender Steve Morris in the final.
Peter is making a strong impression, and has achieved a lot in just three visits over the past fortnight.
For Steve, the final result thwarted his hopes of ousting Ian Tarr from pole position in the year long competition, and he will now have to content himself with his Intermediate Trophy title, his inevitable Conference triumph, and a possible IGP title win.
He will now finish either second or third in the Handicap Trophy, with Tony Walters in a position to pass him if he can score a consolation flight final win over John Paton.
Ian, who has benefitted from a handicap of one point throughout most of the past two years of competition, thus retains his title.
03/11/06: Steve takes Tony's records ......
Steve Morris finally tracked down an opponent to record a new Conference record of twenty-seven matches in a season.
And his 11-2 win over Peter Edwards bagged him a second new record for matches won in a Conference season -- twenty-one so far -- as well as some consolation for his handicap knock-out loss at the hands of the same player.
He now has a 27 points lead.
There was also league action in Premier Two, where Blaine Buchanan continued his disappointing vein of form with defeats by Alan Parfitt and Steffen Nowak, who still retains a slim hope of edging into the top four at the end of the season.
27/10/06: Steve eyes quadruple title hit
Twenty-one players contested the final handicap knock-out of 2006 at the BCSC last night, while a couple of others concentrated on their league campaigns.
And one new player was welcomed, namely Jude Pitt (pictured left).
In yesterday's preview article, the question posed was "who could pip Ian Tarr to the Handicap Trophy title?"
Two candidates -- Steve and Juanita Ferrer -- were absent, and thus cut themselves out of the equation.
That left just three challengers, while Ian was not only failing to win a match all evening -- he didn't even win a point!
Tony Walters fell at his first hurdle, and the other two contenders -- Steffen Nowak and Steve Morris -- were drawn together. So when Steve won, he became the only player in a position to pass Ian.
Wins over Jamie Waite and Nick Fisk saw Steve into the final. But he does not yet know who his opponent will be.
Sponsor Ed Turner and relative newcomer Peter Edwards -- I say relative because he arrived last week! -- will probably play their semi-final next Thursday, alongside the new players evening.
Steve has already won this year's Intermediate Trophy, has an impregnable lead in the Conference, and is vying for the IGP title with Nick Barham. So it is quite conceivable that a fourth title win is on the cards!
The consolation flight will probably also finish next Thursday, with Tony and John Paton set to contest the final. A win for Tony here would give him runner-up spot in the Handicap Trophy should Steve lose the main final.
Meanwhile, there was progress in all three leagues.
A grisly, ill tempered session saw Paul Watts and Phillip Hill share the spoils with 11-10 results in both matches of their Premier One double header, which may not prove enough to save either from relegation.
Paul has now finished his campaign, and has moved out of the bottom four, but is at the mercy of late surges by any of those below him.
And in Premier Two Steffen now has only a very slim chance of finishing in the top four after his 10-11 defeat by Neil Young.
In the Conference it was celebration time for Nina Evangelou. Just when she might have wondered if she would ever win a match in this competition, along came two victories -- over Lewis Young and Jamie Waite.
26/10/06: Who can stop Ian?
It has been a mixed playing year for Ian Tarr.
On the brink of relegation from Premier One, Ian has done better in knock-outs, currently lying second in the OGP, and in pole position in the Handicap Trophy, the inaugural version of which he won last year.
Tonight sees the final event of the six in this year's Handicap Trophy, and the question is: who can prevent a successful defence of Ian's title?
Of course Ian will be out to increase his points tally, but this will be difficult as his own consistency works against him with the discard system.
If he is to discard his lowest counting score -- 40 points -- he will need to win at least three matches in tonight's main flight.
So barring another good tournament from Ian, the focus will be on those for whom a hefty score will challenge his lead.
Tony Walters has emerged as the main threat to Ian's chances, having won the penultimate handicap knock-out. With 15 points to discard, though, he needs a minimum of 60 points tonight to edge ahead. And that will mean reaching the semi-finals at least.
For all of the other contenders, the task is clear cut. Steffen Nowak, Juanita Ferrer, Steve Ferrer and Steve Morris need to win the tournament to stand a chance.
With more new players expected along to the BCSC tonight, an interesting finale to this Ed Turner sponsored competition is assured.
20/10/06: ALL THE NEWS FROM THE YEAR'S PENULTIMATE LEAGUE NIGHT ......
Twenty-one players were present for the year's last but one league night at the BCSC, eighteen of whom were in league action. One player made his Bristol Backgammon debut in the Conference.
20/10/06: Stuart almost there ......
Only Jason Champion is now in a position to deny Stuart Mann his third Premier League title in four years, after Stuart's emphatic victory over Ian Tarr last night.
The win, set up by a cruel six point swing in the second game, means that -- regardless of anything even Jason can do -- just one victory from his final matches against erstwhile contenders Mark Dixon and Steve Ferrer will see him home.
Steve and Mark's respective slim hopes were dashed last night, but now the only scenario that can change the outcome would be two defeats for Stuart and five wins for Jason.
The defeats for Ian and Paul Watts, who lost a nail-biter to Simonetta Herrera, mean that these two are now staring firmly into the relegation abyss. Neither can catch John Slattery on average points difference, so the only hope is for one of them to catch Jason if he should suffer an alarming slump.
Simonetta now has a great chance of finishing in the prize money bracket, i.e. the top four. If Mark, Steve and Jason all overtake her, though, she will be unlucky.
20/10/06: ...... and so is Phil ......
Just as Stuart Mann has one and a half hands on the Premier One championship trophy, Phil Charlton has reached a similar position in Premier Two.
Defeating Blaine Buchanan last night took him to the top, displacing long time leader Mike Smith, and now only Martin Hemming can wrest the title from his grasp.
Martin's task is simply to win all of his four remaining matches -- including a meeting with Phil.
With Phil and Mike already assured of top flight backgammon next season, much of the focus now is on the other two promotion slots.
Martin and third placed Roland Herrera are odds on for those two slots, but Simon Baker, Steffen Nowak and Michael Corbett cannot be ruled out.
20/10/06: A Conference welcome for Peter ......
Peter Edwards (pictured left), from Coleford in Gloucestershire, arrived on the scene last night for the first time and moved straight into Conference action.
His cut price late entry saw him complete three matches -- including two wins -- and there is just a ghost of a chance that, if he can get enough matches in between now and the end of November, he might just emulate last season's whirlwind late entrant Tim Line, and gain promotion to Premier Two.
It would be a tall order. The formula which dictates the number of promotion slots has already delivered three, and will quite probably yield a fourth.
At this stage of the season, the division's "heavyweights" -- Steve Morris, Nick Barham and Miles Farren are nailed on certainties for the top three positions. But the scramble for fourth place could yet prove interesting.
Work commitments have curtailed Gaz Owen's season, but his victory over Cecilia Sparke has consolidated his current hold on that fourth spot.
He still looks vulnerable, though, to a late surge from the chasing pack, and that could include Peter.
20/10/06: Tony ties up some loose ends ......
Tony Walters has had a hugely disappointing first season in Premier Two, after being the dominant force at intermediate level last season.
That contrasts with his fortunes in other competitions this year, though.
Last night he made headway on two different fronts, finally deciding the outcome of the September 7th Handicap knock-out by defeating John Sprague, and then going on to eliminate Cynthia Roberts in the held over grand prix semi-final from last week.
The win over John moves Tony into second place in the Handicap Trophy table, just 45 points behind leader Ian Tarr.
If he can make at least the semis in mext week's final handicap knock-out of the year, he may have a chance to take that title.
And by defeating Cynthia, Tony has moved into sixth place in the OGP. Beating Ian Preston in the final would put him into second place there, too -- just ten points adrift of Juanita Ferrer.
18/10/06: Ed completes remarkable recovery
Ed Turner (left), has completed a stunning recovery to move to safety in Premier One tonight.
Defeating Mark Dixon 11-7 at the BCSC, he has now finished his league campaign with an even record, something which looked decidedly unlikely when, at the season's half way mark, Ed languished in bottom place with just two victories to show from his first ten league outings.
The second half of the season, though, has seen Ed turn this form completely on its head, suffering only two defeats in his final ten matches. It is difficult to see how Ed could now be relegated.
For Mark, however, the reverse all but spells the end of his title defence. He needs a miracle now to overhaul leader Stuart Mann, needing to beat Stuart in his final match, while hoping Stuart loses his other two encounters.
Steve Ferrer is in a similar situation, except that apart from mirroring what Mark needs to happen, Steve also has an extra match which he must win, and his points difference is such that most margins will need to be wide.
The only player with a little margin for error in the race to catch Stuart is Jason Champion,
If, for example, Jason were to win his final five matches, Stuart would need two wins out of three to stay ahead.
18/10/06: Martin back in promotion frame
Martin Hemming, pictured left, moved into fourth place in Premier Two last night.
His 11-4 victory over Alan Parfitt at The Leap, Downend, puts him in a strong position for a final promotion push.
16/10/06: BCSC non-backgammon events now featured
Our regular venue, the Bristol County Sports Club, a k a the BCSC, has for some time had its own page on our website.
Now it has two. Non-backgammon events at the BCSC are now featured on a separate page, which you can link to by visiting the main BCSC page, and clicking on the events link.
Backgammon players might, for example, be up for entering a team or teams for the quiz night, or the jazz aficionados amongst you may be interested in the fortnightly jazz sessions.
It won't be too long now -- terrible thought, perhaps -- before the build up to Christmas sets in, with the opportunity to partake of an evening Christmas meal, probably on Tuesdays or Wednesdays in December.
15/10/06: Jason loses appeal
Jason Champion's appeal against the imposition of two Premier One penalty points has been unsuccessful.
The panel of three impartial players appointed to adjudicate on the appeal were unanimous in their decision, all feeling (a) that the circumstances surrounding Jason's failure to rectify the situation were not "exceptional" within the meaning of the rules, (b) that Jason's progress through the season had not paid due attention to the Advisory Schedule, and (c) his attempts to rectify matters were left too late to allow for arrangements not working out.
The loss of the two points does constitute a blow to Jason's hopes of taking the Premier League title, but he can still reach 40 points, and has a great chance of claiming some of the prize money, which goes to the top four finishers.
13/10/06: OCTOBER GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Thirty-one players were in action at the October grand prix evening, including twenty-eight in the main event. The other three concentrated on their league campaigns.
There were three making their Bristol Backgammon bows -- brothers Nick and Adrian Fisk from Cardiff, and Mike Gartside, somebody who has played his part on our behalf in the past by inserting items in the Venue Magazine Events Diary, something which has often borne fruit for us in the continual search for new players.
13/10/06: Ian awaits a final opponent ......
With a semi-final and the final still to be played, it rests with Cynthia Roberts to preserve the remarkable record of a different winner for each and every grand prix tournament during 2006.
Her semi-final opponent will be Tony Walters, winner of the July event, while waiting for the winner in the final is Ian Preston, who won in May.
Ian, one of four lucky bye recipients in the first round, got past Nick Barham, Tim Line and Stuart Mann, while Cynthia beat Gabriela Perales, Mike Gartside (the only one of nine intermediates to score a win in the main flight) and Richard Cartwright, while Tony earned his passage to the semis by defeating Ian Senior, Roland Herrera and John Paton.
13/10/06: Consolation final adjourned ......
Adrian Fisk got to the consolation final on his first ever appearance in Bristol competition, defeating Chris Roberts, Richard Owsley and Ian Tarr along the way.
Nick Barham, who appears to be making a habit of reaching consolation finals, beat Ian Senior, Mark Dixon and Steve Morris.
The final had to be adjourned, with Adrian 3-2 ahead in the first to five points match, so Nick could get the last bus back to Weston-super-Mare.
Since Adrian also had a distance to travel, finishing the match could be problematical. But finish it must, to ensure the prize money is paid out, and somebody earns grand prix points.
13/10/06: Juanita back into OGP lead ......
Steffen Nowak's blank night saw him toppled from the pinnacle of the OGP points table.
Juanita Ferrer (pictured left) scored a 40-points haul without discards to see her rise back to pole position, while second placed Ian Tarr remains second by edging past Steffen.
By the time the tournament is finished, though, there could be a new leader.
2001 OGP title winner Ian Preston -- eighth before play started last night -- would go five points clear at the top if he could win the final.
Meanwhile, semi-finalists Tony Walters and Cynthia Roberts also have a great chance to make inroads.
Tony would go second on countback with a win, while Cynthia could close to within 105 points of Juanita, enough to give her an outside chance of stealing into the year end prize money.
As things stand, there are ten players less than 100 points off the pace, so the final two tournaments should see some fireworks.
13/10/06: Nick closes on Steve in IGP ......
It looks increasingly like a two horse race for this year's IGP title.
The consolation final could provide a further boost for second placed Nick Barham, who seemed to have missed a trick by being unavailable for the recent Intermediates Trophy, which saw Steve Morris surge into a 68 points lead.
Steve failed to add to his points tally last night as discards begin to bite, but the good news for Nick is that he will not be troubled by discards this season, having achieved remarkable consistency in just five scoring events.
Last night was no exception as, complete with bonus points, Nick reduced Steve's lead to just 18 points.
A further fifteen from the final, assuming he can defeat Adrian Fisk, would probably make Nick slight favourite at this stage.
Chris Roberts, the absent Miles Farren and George Jakeway need to do something special in the two remaining tournaments if they are to shift either or both of the leading duo.
13/10/06: Not necessarily a rollover! ......
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr apologises unreservedly for jumping the gun, and gleefully announcing a Winner Takes All pool rollover last night.
When Stuart Mann succumbed in the semis, it was thought that all pool entrants had been eliminated, prompting a glowing anticipation of a total of £210 rolled over to the November event.
A quick check later revealed, however, that Tony Walters had in fact handed over his extra tenner to buy what amounts to the "villain's" role in the proceedings.
Cynthia Roberts and possibly Ian Preston will seldom have had more well wishers.
13/10/06: Lewis does his bit for Conference contenders ......
In early evening league action, Nick Barham closed to within a gnats whisker of second placed Miles Farren in the Conference, by beating Lewis Young 11-2.
But whatever tension there might have been over a scrap for the second and final promotion place evaporated with the realisation that Lewis had done his bit for Conference solidarity by reaching the eight match threshold.
As the eighth player to do so, he has earned his Conference colleagues a third promotion place.
It is not beyond the realms of possibility that a further slot may be earned before the season is out, with a small cluster of players within striking distance of the threshold.
11/10/06: Miles back in the frame
Miles Farren, pictured left, is back into second place in the Conference after coming out on top in a double header with Nina Evangelou tonight.
Nick Barham is, for the moment, out of the promotion bracket in third place, but Nina has helped the situation by already crashing through the eight match threshold.
It would only take one more player to do so, and a third promotion place would be assured. But since there are four players just one or two matches away, the hope still persists that a fourth promotion place will become available, under the formula which dictates these matters.
09/10/06: Good news for Keith!
Some nine months after the end of radiotherapy on his brain tumour, Keith Wiltshire today received news of a good scan, with no visible evidence of any return.
He needs no further scan for six months.
Keith is only an occasional visitor to Bristol Backgammon events, but in days gone by he was an important figure on the local backgammon scene as Director of the Bristol Backgammon Club in the early 80's.
All his friends will be gladdened by this news.
08/10/06: Jason appeals against penalty
Jason Champion, pictured left, has submitted an appeal to reinstate the two points he failed to claw back by being behind the Penalty Avoidance Schedule for the second successive checkpoint.
Under the rules Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr now has to appoint a three player appeals sub-committee to adjudicate.
None of those appointed will be from Jason's league, Premier One.
05/10/06: First jackpot night a success
The first attempt at running a jackpot evening at the BCSC proved a positive experience for many tonight.
Five mini-tournaments -- with either four or eight players, and entry fees between £10 and £50 and totalling £480 -- were staged, and with two pairs of finalists splitting the pot seven of the fifteen players present -- Miles Farren, Mark Dixon, Stuart Mann, Nick Barham, Roland Herrera, Cynthia Roberts and Tim Line -- ended the night with some prize money.
And to cap a productive evening, Nick also scored a Conference victory over Nina Evangelou to move ahead of Miles into second place.
04/10/06: Phil back in the top flight
Phil Charlton (pictured left) has made it back to the top flight of the Bristol Backgammon League after a gap of two years, having defeated Tony Walters 11-6 at the BCSC yesterday evening.
The win means the lowest he can finish now is third, and he has an excellent chance to clinch the Premier Two championship.
With Phil and Mike Smith assured of promotion, there is sure to be a stampede towards claiming the other two promotion berths.
04/10/06: New players night date change
The New Players Evening scheduled for Thursday December 7th has been brought forward to the previous evening.
The change has come at the request of the BCSC, who have the opportunity to stage a potentially very lucrative function on the Thursday, and Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr was only too happy to accommodate the request, given the ample notice given.
01/10/06: Checkpoint passes with six penalised
The penultimate checkpoint of the Premier League season passed at midnight, and six players were penalised.
In Premier One both Jason Champion and Phillip Hill found themselves two matches short of the requisite seventeen matches, and are thus docked two points each.
Sadly, for a player with a chance to take the league title itself, in Jason's case the penalties incurred at the previous checkpoint -- also two points -- are now consolidated, although he does have the right to appeal.
Four Premier Two players have incurred penalties, with Blaine Buchanan picking up three, Richard Cartwright and Martin Hemming two each, and Alan Parfitt one.
All the penalties incurred at this checkpoint can be clawed back by finishing the season on time.
29/09/06: Make Your Point readers please note ......
Readers of Gammonitis Make Your Point magazine directed to this page for reports of the 2006 Bristol International Festival of Backgammon should scroll down this page to read the items dated 24/08/06, 25/08/06, 26/08/06, 27/08/06, 28/08/06, 29/08/06, and 01/09/06.
And if you want to browse other pages on the best club backgammon site in the UK, visit the home page and take your pick of the options.
29/09/06: SEPTEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
On a night of "no shows" for various -- explained and unexplained -- reasons, there were still nineteen players willing and able to further their league aspirations or tidy up loose ends.
Two players, though, went home unfulfilled without playing matches that had been pre-arranged, while others were able to find other opponents.
29/09/06: Stuart on course for third title ......
Surprisingly only two matches from the Premier One campaign were played at the BCSC last night.
Both involved Stuart Mann, and both ended in wins for the man looking for his third title in four years.
By his own admission, Stuart was fortunate at the death against Paul Watts, and his next encounter -- against Simonetta Herrera -- was also a tough one.
But wins are wins, and this morning Stuart can survey the league table from pole position, knowing that the title is his to lose.
Only Mark Dixon, Jason Champion and Steve Ferrer have the chance to surpass Stuart, and at least in Steve's case the odds are exceedingly long.
For Paul, the defeat makes his top flight survival bid a far trickier proposition. The margin for error for each of the bottom four is slim indeed, and it will be no surprise now if they all take the drop.
But none of the three players just above the relegation zone -- John Slattery, Ed Turner and Jason Champion -- can yet rest totally easy.
29/09/06: Jason in penalty peril ......
A projected double header with Dave Pym came to nothing when Jason Champion called in sick at the eleventh hour, so Dave made his way home to Swindon (although he does work in Bristol) without any action.
While Dave can tackle his three remaining games without fear of penalty, the same cannot be said for Jason.
Having incurred two penalty points at the July checkpoint, he has had two months to make arrangements to claw the points back and also avoid further penalties at the September 30th midnight checkpoint.
With Dave unavailable to play the two matches before then, Jason might yet save the day by tracking down Phillip Hill for their two matches.
This would solve problems for both players, as Phillip will also incur a couple of penalty points on Saturday night without further activity.
29/09/06: Phil and Roland almost there ......
With Mike Smith already assured of promotion from Premier Two, two others have put themselves firmly in the frame to join him.
Mike, Roland and Tim Line all completed their seasons last night.
For Tim, the reigning BIBA Scottish Open champion, a mid table finish will be a disappointment, but he will doubtless be in stronger contention next year.
Mike ended his sensational season with a slightly anti-climactic defeat at Roland's hands. His championship hopes are thus diminished, but still alive.
Roland's win, followed by another over Andrew Cobb, sees him currently second, and the chances of more than two players overtaking him are now slim indeed.
The other major protagonist in this absorbing race is Phil Charlton, who now has to be regarded as favourite for the divisional title after his important win over Steffen Nowak.
Martin Hemming, whose non appearance from darkest Gloucestershire was a consequence of transport problems, is probably the fourth favourite for promotion.
He will need to play five matches over the next two months, though, but if he can win the majority he has a great chance of Premier One backgammon again next year.
Simon Baker and Steffen also have a chance, while Richard Cartwright, a victim of Martin's no show, Blaine Buchanan and Michael Corbett also have slim chances.
Four players, though, are faced with penalty points at Saturday's midnight checkpoint. Blaine, Richard, Martin and Alan Parfitt can all claw any points back, though, if they finish the season on time.
29/09/06: Steve equals Tony's records ......
At least two Conference players were said to have reneged on turning up for pre-arranged matches without even offering an excuse, a practice which would be very damaging to the league, were it to become commonplace.
The good news was that Gaz Owen and Nina Evangelou were able to find alternative opponents.
Meanwhile, the inevitable was happening, as Steve Morris was equalling the amazing records of Tony Walters, by registering his twenty-sixth match of the Conference campaign, and his twentieth victory -- over Nina.
Nick Barham consolidated his third position with a couple of wins, and is now breathing down Miles Farren's neck.
There are still only two promotion slots in the league table this morning, but a third will surely be triggered soon, and a fourth remains a possibility if enough players can be persuaded to play at least eight matches.
Gaz Owen, who won one of two matches last night, would be the most likely beneficiary if the fourth slot came to fruition.
29/09/06: Lesters LX reaches its conclusion ......
The sixtieth Lesters Trophy event, played a fortnight ago, finally reached a conclusion last night, when the finals of both flights were played.
First up was the consolation final, where Simonetta Herrera managed a gammon on the Crawford game to edge home against Nick Barham.
Later came the main flight final, with Ian Tarr defeating Steffen Nowak 11-3.
This was Ian's first Lesters win for thirteen years! The most frequent Lesters entrant -- this was his fifty-seventh attempt -- has now won three Lesters titles.
More important for Ian were his qualification for the 2007 Bristol Masters and his move into second place in the OGP table, just a single point behind Steffen.
All nine of this year's monthly grand prix events have gone to different winners.
28/09/06: Phil a step closer
The Hillgrove Porter Stores, Kingsdown, was the venue for a Premier Two clash last night.
And Phil Charlton's 11-7 victory over John Paton has moved him a step closer to a return to the top flight. Phil is now second, and would be sure of promotion if he were to win two of his remaining four matches.
Although John lost, he moves three places higher in the league after reclaiming the penalty point he incurred in July.
27/09/06: Simon goes sixth
Simon Baker gained five whole points in his effort to get amongst the promotion challengers of Premier Two at the BCSC this evening, when he scored another narrow victory, this time over John Lewis.
With one of the four guaranteed promotion slots claimed yesterday evening, the race is on to grab the other three places.
Phil Charlton and Martin Hemming are best placed to go up, while Simon, Roland Herrera and Steffen Nowak are right in the thick of things.
And both Richard Cartwright and Blaine Buchanan can still have a say in the final outcome if they excel on the run in.
26/09/06: Mike makes it to Premier One
Unless something extraordinary occurs, and Mike Smith (pictured left) fails to complete his final Premier Two match, he will be a Premier One player next year.
After Roland Herrera's narrow defeat by Richard Cartwright at the Shakespeare in Redland tonight, Mike can only be overtaken by three players, and is thus assured of the necessary top four finish.
Mike's promotion odds at the start of the season -- his first at this level after promotion from the Conference last year -- would have been fairly long, but he has his reward for a season of remarkable consistency.
25/09/06: Simon edges to another victory
Simon Baker has scored another victory while bidding to keep his promotion hopes alive.
The Bay Horse was the venue for his 11-10 Premier Two win over Neil Young today.
Simon has another match scheduled for Wednesday against John Lewis, after which he is hoping to be five more points better off, with a win and his two penalty points from the July checkpoint being clawed back.
22/09/06: Sponsor Steve takes Intermediates Trophy title
Ten players fought out the Bristol Intermediates Trophy at the BCSC last night.
This fifth incarnation of the knock-out unencumbered by elite players saw debut appearances by sisters Gabriela Perales and Carla Ferrer.
With a trophy and some prize money at stake, entrant Steve Morris had also provided a bottle of bubbly for the winner, although quite what would have happened had any of Carla, Todd Young or Lewis Young -- potential under age drinkers all -- was never quite worked out.
As it happened it was Steve the sponsor who edged home in the final (see picture, left), with Gabriela taking the small cash runner-up prize.
Gabriela had to fight her way through the long part of the draw, overcoming Lewis, Nina Evangelou and Miles Farren to reach the final.
Steve's victims were George Jakeway and Daniel Myers.
Steve's win also put him top of the IGP, as some of his main rivals missed out on the chance to gain valuable points.
There was also plenty of action in the three leagues.
Five Premier One matches served only to intensify the relegation battle, although Steve Ferrer has ensured his continued top flight status.
Ed Turner can also be sure of safety if he wins his final match -- against Mark Dixon -- although he may already have done enough.
Each of the bottom four has a lot of work to do. Paul Watts at least has the luxury of having lost only nine matches, but must still target three wins out of four for safety.
The other three, Dave Pym, Ian Tarr and Phillip Hill have even lass margin for error. As all have lost ten times, the smart money would be on any defeat on the run in sealing their respective fates.
In Premier Two Roland Herrera did his promotion chances some good by whitewashing Richard Owsley, while Simon Baker and John Paton fought out a tense battle on the fringes of the race -- Simon prevailing 11-10 at the Hare on the Hill.
And in the Conference George Jakeway scored a double success against Todd Young, while Lewis Young registered his second win of the season against Nina Evangelou.
A third promotion place seems certain to be earned before the season is out, as both Lewis and George are just one match away from contributing to the cause by reaching the eight match threshold.
21/09/06: Phil goes second
Simon Baker last night completed his escape from expungement from Premier Two, when he visited Phil Charlton (pictured left) at the Foresters in Downend.
It was Phil who emerged victorious from the encounter, winning 11-7, a result which moves him into second place in the table.
20/09/06: Simon back with a win, Jason loses ground
Simon Baker (pictured left) has returned to Premier Two action yesterday and today with an 11-5 victory over Michael Corbett at Edge, in Gloucestershire, and an 8-11 defeat to Roland Herrera at Kellaway Avenue.
Simon is one of only two Premier League players who could still face expungement at the September 30th checkpoint, the other being Paul Watts of Premier One.
Simon needs to complete another match before the deadline to avoid expungement, but also needs three more to claw back the two penalty points he incurred at the July checkpoint.
And this evening, Michael bounced back from yesterday's disappointment with an 11-2 victory over Tony Walters.
And a late Premier One result featured a narrow defeat of Jason Champion by Ed Turner, throwing the championship race even wider open than it already was.
17/09/06: League contenders in weekend action
There was some important league action today in both Premier Leagues.
Clifton College was the scene for a long awaited Premier One double header, with title contenders Mark Dixon and Jason Champion locking horns.
Jason took the honours in the first match with an 11-9 success, but Mark turned the tables to win by exactly the same score in the return.
The session did little to solve the thorny issue of who will take the championship this season, but both players are still in with a chance.
A little further afield, at the Bear of Rodborough, Stroud, which is the new venue for the Cotswold Fireside tournament, Premier Two promotion contenders Martin Hemming, pictured left, and Roland Herrera were the protagonists.
And it was Martin who came out on top, winning 11-8 and moving into second place. Roland has now lost three league successive league matches, and will need to arrest that slump to capitalise on his excellent start to the season.
15/09/06: LESTERS 60 REVIEW ......
There were just eighteen entrants to the 60th incarnation of the Lesters Trophy, but three others were present to grab a little league action.
15/09/06: Ian and Steffen through to main final ......
Early season OGP leader Ian Tarr arrested an alarming run of defeats to reach a Lesters final for the eighth time.
Victories over Simonetta Herrera, Stuart Mann and Tim Line earned him a final meeting with Steffen Nowak, who will contest his first ever Lesters final.
Steffen fought his way past Chris Roberts, Roland Herrera and Richard Owsley.
15/09/06: Nick's Lesters consolation speciality ......
Nick Barham (pictured left) has only ever entered two Lesters Trophy events.
The bad news for him is that he suffered defeat at the first hurdle each time. The good news, though, is that on each occasion he has made his way to the consolation final.
On Thursday he fought his way past Premier League opposition in Cynthia Roberts, Tony Walters and Jason Champion, and he now awaits a clash with current Premier League leader Simonetta Herrera, who had beaten Miles Farren and Chris Roberts.
15/09/06: Steffen can open up a lead ......
Steffen Nowak's run to the main final has moved him into a 10 points OGP lead over last month's leader Jason Champion.
And with 40 points at stake in the Lesters final, he might find himself 50 ahead of his closest rival.
Defeat, though, would see his lead cut to a single point, as his opponent Ian Tarr can cement his place high on the leaderboard by winning this encounter, having already climbed from 10th place to 4th through Thursday's efforts.
15/09/06: Bonus points give Nick IGP boost ......
Nick Barham has only entered four monthly knock-outs in this, his maiden year, but he has managed to pick up very useful IGP points tallies on each occasion.
Last night he was the only one of five competing intermediates to pick up bonus points, and the 40 he amassed were enough to send him into an overall lead of seven points.
Should he succeed in defeating Simonetta Herrera in the consolation final, he would pull a further 38 points clear of second placed Steve Morris.
15/09/06: Rollover assured ......
Only five players invested in the Winner Takes All pool on Thursday evening, and when the draw immediately pitted four of those together, the chances of a rollover looked outstanding.
Ed Turner and Stuart Mann then fell at the second hurdle, leaving Tim Line the only remaining contender at the semi-final stage.
He went out to Ian Tarr, who ironically elected not to enter the pool for the first time ever.
15/09/06: Miles and Miles ......
Miles Farren was prominent in the auction bidding at yesterday's tournament, but in the end he was successful only twice.
But he went home with the entire £91 auction pot, as his charges Steffen Nowak and Ian Tarr reached the final.
15/09/06: Steve approaches records ......
When Tony Walters swept all before him last year, in his final campaign as an intermediate, the two records he established in the Conference appeared likely to stand for some time.
Now, though, only a year later, Steve Morris is close to eclipsing both.
Tony's twenty-six Conference matches played in a season, and twenty Conference victories, were outstanding feats, but after last night's 11-6 victory over Nina Evangelou Steve stands just one away from equalling both records.
His main problem is likely to be tracking down available opponents.
The evening's other league activity saw John Paton defeat John Lewis, thus keeping his Premier Two promotion hopes alive.
08/09/06: Eighteen enjoy fifth Handicap event
The fifth of our six Handicap Trophy events this year attracted an entry of eighteen players, including a debut player in Nina Evangelou (pictured left).
Nina came along on a fact finding mission, and was persuaded -- mostly by Cynthia Roberts -- to take the plunge, despite never having previously used the doubling cube.
How ironic it was, then, that after a swift exit from the main flight, Nina did rather better in the consolation, eclipsing Tim Line and Lewis Young before defeating none other than Cynthia in the final -- a memorable Bristol Backgammon debut.
The main flight is not yet complete, after the Young family stretched bedtime to the limit before wending their way home.
Both Todd and Lewis scored wins, but it was their father, Neil who did best, reaching the semi-final before his departure.
Neil defeated Lewis and Ian Tarr, and must now meet John Sprague at some stage to decide who gets the honour of a final meeting with Tony Walters, conqueror of Roland Herrera, Tarim and Ian Preston.
In the Handicap Trophy table, leader Ian Tarr did enough to extend his lead, and is on track for a successful title defence.
He will find it difficult to add to his score in the final event, however, as he now has a 40 points effort to discard.
The five players pursuing him can all catch him, but one of them will probably need to reach the final -- or better -- to dislodge him from top spot.
01/09/06: At last ...... the Festival results in full!
The full results of the 2006 Bristol International Festival of Backgammon are now on the site. Click on the picture on the left.
Apart from the 67 players who played the three categories of the main event, the Bristol Wide Open, the numbers of those who participated in all the events were boosted by cameo appearances from the Tournament Direction staff (Ian Tarr, Lone Foldager and Jo Davies), catering assistant Drew Caudwell, five players who contested only the Warm-up Tournament (Tami Jones, Tom Duggan, Steve Ferrer, Juanita Ferrer and Gabriela Perales), a player who turned up a day late, but found himself plenty of side action (Dave Marshall), Clive Donoghue, who came along to watch, but found himself playing the doubles, and Martin Potter, who bought into the the last 32 of the Individual Last Chance for £5 when Eric Guedj had to catch his flight home.
That makes a total of 79 players overall.
Scroll down this page for daily reports of the action.
01/09/06: Lost property at the Festival
After the 2006 Bristol International Festival of Backgammon we managed to reunite a camera, a cellphone and a board with their rightful owners.
Just one item remains, however. A blue sweater has so far gone unclaimed. Its label suggests ownership by a UK based player. Any takers? If so, email Ian Tarr, or ring him on 07940-284652.
31/08/06: AUGUST LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Twenty-two players turned up for the August league night, although only fifteen of those took part in league action.
Others, including the last of the overseas visitors remaining in Bristol after the Bristol Festival, Norway's Odin Spillum Svendsen, took part in an impromptu eight player £20 Jackpot.
Also present, and testing the local backgammon water, was a welcome first time visitor, Adrian Kitchen, who will hopefully be back for more.
31/08/06: Relegation tussle hots up ......
Only two matches were played in the top flight on Thursday evening, and both involved Dave Pym.
After suffering defeat at the hands of Ian Tarr, Dave was able to salvage something from his trip when he defeated Ed Turner.
John Slattery, who recently completed his season with just nine victories under his belt, is probably a realistic target for those still in trouble to chase.
To give an idea of what might be required to escape relagation, Ed would probably need three wins from his four remaining matches to overhaul Slatts, Dave three out of three, Paul Watts four out of seven, Ian four out of five, and Phillip Hill six out of six.
All of the foregoing would suggest that Slatts is probably safe, and that the top player of the five listed will be the only survivor.
31/08/06: Mike almost there ......
Premier Two was the main source of league action, and Mike Smith was present to extend his lead.
A victory over Richard Cartwright did just that, and although Mike later suffered a defeat by Alan Parfitt, it is difficult to see how he can now fail to gain promotion.
Phil Charlton and Steffen Nowak each recorded a win to stay well and truly in the race, while Michael Corbett -- with a win and a defeat -- remains on the periphery.
Others to suffer similarly mixed fortunes were Neil Young, John Paton and Andrew Cobb.
31/08/06: Gaz making up for lost time? ......
Conference matches are becoming extremely thin on the ground, and the only one to get played on Thursday evening involved -- almost inevitably -- Steve Morris.
It was his opponent, Gaz Owen, however, who scored the win, and in so doing registered a notable double over Steve -- the first Steve has had to endure for the entire season.
While Steve's position still looks impregnable, Gaz -- who started the season pretty late -- has his sights set on what is likely to become a third promotion slot.
31/08/06: Odin's happy farewell ......
Odin Spillum Svendsen's second successive week at the BCSC -- he was a part of the Rest of the World team that beat Bristol 28-16 last Thursday -- saw him leave with a bonus prize.
In a hastily arranged eight player Jackpot, he progressed to the final, where he defeated Stuart Mann 9-6 to scoop the money.
30/08/06: Festival results soon
The comprehensive story of the 2006 Bristol International Festival of Backgammon, in terms of the complete results from the five days of backgammon and poker action, will appear on the site within the next day or so. Watch this space.
29/08/06: Relaxed finale at Clifton College
On Bank Holiday Monday the action switched from the excellent main venue to the more studious surroundings at Clifton College Prep School Pre Hall.
This was the scene for what is probably a unique day in world backgammon, the Bristol Wide Open Team Event and Individual Progressive Last Chance.
The format devised by Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr worked well last year, and so it had been decided to persevere with it again this year.
If anything, it even worked better this time.
This departure from the norm had forty-five players who had stayed on from the weekend's extravaganza forming into teams of three to do battle in a straight knock-out.
With entry already paid for from the original Bristol Wide Open fee, the only provisos were that no more than two players from the Championship category were allowed in the same team, and you had to think of a suitable team name.
In the first round the provocatively named The Best were fortunate enough to receive the only bye, and were able to relax and watch as fourteen other teams fought it out for the remaining quarter-final places.
Three players, sat over three boards opposite three opponents, each pair playing a 5-point match. First team with at least two winners progresses to the next round, while the unlucky losing team feed into the individual progressive last chance.
And so, the teams were eliminated one by one. Out went Erbou's Handymen, One Odd Person, The Worthy Naylors, Three Jokers, The Bride and the Vikings (last year's winners with a slightly changed line-up), The Spurt of Backgammon, and finally 2-6 From The Bar -- twenty-one players destined for either the Round of 64 or the Round of 128 (depending on the luck of the draw) in the individual event.
In the next round came elimination for The Best (who obviously weren't -- see action photo of their demise, with Bell Ends (l to r Andy Bell, Mike Heard and Martin Hemming; Roland Herrera, Lars Trabolt and Torben Hasseriis; photo by Simo), Fab One, It's A Long Way To Tipperary, and Fold The World Famous Jeppesen Sisters.
In the semis the sun set for The Animals and Longbridge, leaving The Bell Ends (a k a Andy Bell, Martin Hemming and Mike Heard) and Cheap And Nasty (more familiarly known as Martin Barkwill, John Sprague and Chris Ternel) as the worthy finalists.
With two of the three matches completed, and honours even, there was a long drawn out deciding match between Mister Barkers and Andy. At DMP Martin prevailed, and Cheap and Nasty had won the prize.
Meanwhile the individual event was progressing well. If ever you find yourself in a round of 128, where the players' names are so small that they are barely legible, and you are wondering whether or not it's really worth it, remember this particular competition because one player proved what can be done.
The twelve losing players from the team quarter-finals slotted into the draw in the round of 32, and the six team semi-final losers went into the last sixteen.
Eight Danes were in the last sixteen, and when six of those progressed to the last eight, the remaining Brit, Mark Dixon, and the sole Italian, Giuseppe Ricciardi, might have felt intimidated.
Torben Hasseriis, Patrick Toxvaerd and Jan Petersen made it to the semis, and only needed Irene Erbou to beat Mark to establish total Danish supremacy.
She was unable to do so, however, and then Mark defied the odds in defeating Torben and Patrick to take another title for Bristol and for all those who keep the faith in the possibility of a run from the round of 128.
A great day, blemished only slightly by a dodgy barbecue.
28/08/06: Home winner in the main event
With Mochy Masayuki not present to defend the title he won at last year's inaugural edition of the Bristol Wide Open, there was certain to be a new champion.
And the strong foreign contingent was always likely to play a significant part.
Nevertheless, five of the main quarter-finalists were home based, although both Andy Bell and Bristol's Stuart Mann had been eliminated when they got their quarter-finals out of the way before close of play on Saturday.
Martin Barkwill struck a blow for the UK when he defeated one of the tournament favourites, Lars Trabolt of Denmark.
Norway's Odin Spillum Svendsen, however, defeated Michael Michael to ensure that there would be two home versus abroad semis.
American Carter Mattig was first to reach the final when he eliminated Martin. John Clark, however, always seemed to have his match against Odin firmly in his grip, and clinched an encounter with Carter, which provided a home success. John is pictured, left, receiving his prize, flanked by Roland and Simonetta, with Ian Tarr in the background; photo by Cynthia Roberts, using Simo's camera.
While the Championship unsurprisingly took centre stage, there was some Bristol interest in the Advanced category.
The semis here provided UK versus Scandinavia battles, but Dane Patrick Toxvaerd and Norwegian Ivar Roeynstrand succumbed respectively to home players Malcolm Robertson and Bristol's Miles Farren.
The Ivar versus Miles match was a titanic tussle, twenty games being necessary to settle the first-to-13 match.
Miles then went on to record an emphatic final victory to maintain the Bristol tradition (if you can have a tradition after only two events) of success.
The Intermediate category also had its moments, with an all female final between Denmark's Irene Erbou and Aussie Fiona Oldham, who emerged as intermediate champion.
Progressive consolation flights were, of course, in evidence in all three categories.
Home interest in the Championship version was extinguished with quarter-final exits for Neil Davidson, Rachel Rhodes and Stuart Mann.
The only French visitor, Eric Guedj, found himself in the semis with three Danes, but did make it to the final. Here, however, he succumbed to Bjarke Skovgaard.
The Advanced progressive consolation was another flight which produced two home players and two Danes.
This time the draw ensured an "international" match as Roland Herrera overcame Martin Hemming while Anne Jeppesen went out to Michael Soerensen.
Roland the host failed to extend Michael any further hospitality, and won a flight at his own tournament for the second year running.
Come presentation time, the only issue to be decided was in the final of the Intermediate progressive consolation.
In a field where the only overseas player was Lindsay Mattig of the USA, it wasn't too surprising that the final stages were a domestic affair. Bristol's Cynthia Roberts and Richard Owsley didn't make it past the semis, leaving the happy couple (in more senses than one) Diane Iveson and Paddy Smith.
They were part way through their final when presentation time came, so they were happy enough to be presented jointly with the pair of prizes, sorting out the precise destinations of the hardware at a later stage. It was eventually Diane who took possession of the larger trophy, and the larger cash prize.
A sixteen pair Consulting Doubles event had also been convened on Sunday afternoon, and after a slow start it reached a timely conclusion when Neil Davidson and Malcolm Robertson took the title at the expense of Odin and Denmark's Pia Jeppesen.
There was also a £10 2-point shoot-out with rebuys, and Bristol's Steve Morris gained an appropriate reward for his persistence by hitting a winning streak on his final entry of five, defeating Italian visitor Giuseppe Ricciardi in the final!
On a disappointing playing weekend for the hostess Simonetta Herrera, there was a small silver lining. Mark Dixon and Ed Turner managed to get in a Bristol Premier League Division One match, and Ed's 11-3 win moved him out of the relegation zone. The other side effect it had was to topple Mark from the lead into second place on average points difference, ...... behind Simonetta.
27/08/06: Second Bristol Wide Open well under way
Pictured left is a large section of the field of the 2006 Bristol Wide Open event settling down to play their opening matches at the Artillery Grounds, Whiteladies Road, Bristol.
Sixty-seven players turned up for the centrepiece of the Bristol International Festival of Backgammon, more than half lured by the challenge of hefty competition and sizeable prizes.
Thirty-six graced the Championship category, with seventeen in the Advanced, and fourteen in the Intermediate.
By the time the dust had settled on an eventful day's play, the fields in the main flights had been considerably whittled down.
In the semi-finals of the Championship main are Britain's John Clark, who will meet the winner of the outstanding quarter-final between London-based Michael Michael and Norwegian Odin Spillum Svendsen, while Carter Mattig of the U.S.A. is due to play either Lars Trabolt of Denmark or another visiting Brit, Martin Barkwill -- last year's runner-up.
The other categories are down to the semi-final stage.
In the Advanced, Malcolm Robertson (UK) meets Patrick Toxvaerd of Denmark, while Miles Farren is keeping the Bristol flag flying as he awaits his semi, against Norway's Ivar Roeynstrand.
Only one overseas player remains in the Intermediate category -- Denmark's Irene Erbou. She has a semi-final against Mick Vacarey to look forward to, while Fiona Oldham will meet former Bristol Conference player Simon Fahoury.
26/08/06: SS Great Britain hosts a Lawrence Powell win!
After the frenetic fun of the international match following Thursday's poker, Friday proved a little more relaxing.
Twenty-four players lined up for the Warm-up Tournament at the Artillery Grounds, in Bristol's popular Whiteladies Road, while others chose to use the day for sight-seeing before the start of the second Bristol Wide Open at the weekend.
For most Warm-up entrants, entry was included in the price of their SS Great Britain Gala Dinner tickets, so the prize fund was minuscule. Many, however, availed themselves of the optional side pools at either £10 or £50.
The idea was to whittle the field down to just the finalists before close of play at the venue, with a view to staging the final during the evening festivities.
The field, however, still comprised three hopefuls at that stage, and Steffen Nowak and Lawrence Powell fought out the semi in the bar on the SS Great Britain before dinner, Lawrence prevailing.
After dinner in the award winning ship-cum-museum, the scene was set (see photo, left) for Lawrence (right) to take on Julian Fetterlein.
It is likely that it has been a very long time since anyone had the honour of saying they had clinched a backgammon title on the historic vessel, but after a hard-fought encounter, it was Lawrence who was in a position to make that proud boast.
As for the evening, in sumptuous surroundings and in celebration of the first wedding anniversary of Roland and Simonetta Herrera, this went off without a hitch, and a fine time was had by all, including entertainment provided by Bristol Backgammon's musical fraternity/sorority.
25/08/06: Festival off to a great start with a defeat for Bristol
The first day of real activity at the Bristol International Festival of Backgammon concluded successfully at the BCSC last night.
The afternoon poker session, conducted by Martin Hemming, went well, and was followed by a low-key backgammon event in the evening.
The hope had been for a few visitors to come along to spice up the regular Thursday evening Bristol Backgammon night, but expectations were exceeded.
A projected Bristol versus the Rest of the World match came to fruition with no fewer than fifteen players on each team.
There were a few professionals among the Rest team, which included eight Danes, four Norwegians, and three assorted Brits, including lapsed Bristol player Rosey Bensley.
The Bristol team comprised five Premier One players, six from Premier Two, and four from the ranks of the intermediates.
Mark Dixon was the night's first scorer, as Bristol made the early pace, but by the time the first phase of fifteen matches had been completed, the visitors were 9-6 ahead.
A slightly better second phase for Bristol nevertheless saw them slip a further point behind at 13-17, but a disappointingly one sided third phase saw the Rest team pass the 23 wins needed for outright victory, with the final score at 28-16, with one match not played.
Henrik Veje, Ivar Roeynstrand and Torben Hasseriis were the stars for the visitors, with unblemished records, while none of the home side managed a similar feat.
Stuart Mann, Ian Tarr, Cynthia Roberts, Ed Turner and Steffen Nowak did at least have the satisfaction of winning two of their three encounters.
24/08/06: Let the Games begin!
The Bristol International Festival of Backgammon is now with us.
Several overseas visitors are already in Bristol, and proceedings opened with a leisurely pub crawl in Clifton last night, with wine and takeaway food at Goldney Hall afterwards.
Today there is poker at the BCSC, with the regular Thursday evening Bristol Backgammon session being thrown open to all comers, with the hope that there may be a match between the locals and our visitors.
Tomorrow is the warm up tournament at the Artillery Grounds, followed in the evening by the Gala Dinner on the SS Great Britain to celebrate Roland and Simonetta's first wedding anniversary.
The main event, the Second Bristol Wide Open, plays out its first two flights on Saturday and Sunday, and then the action moves to Clifton College Pre Hall on Monday, for the Team Event and the Last Chance.
There is also poker on Tuesday. See the website link above for more details.
17/08/06: Thirteen present for doubles night
Steffen Nowak and Miles Farren have extended their remarkable run in doubles competition, by winning the third successive event in this year's Consulting Doubles Grand Prix.
Only five pairs competed, so with a bye to the semi-finals(!), all they had to do was defeat Simonetta Herrera and Steve Morris in the semi and Ed Turner and Ian Preston in the final.
Roland Herrera and Tim Line won a three-pair consolation flight the hard way, after battling their way through a semi-final tie.
Meanwhile, in league action, Simonetta Herrera has surely safeguarded her top flight status with an 11-3 victory over title contender Jason Champion, while Richard Owsley defeated Alan Parfitt in a Premier Two encounter.
12/08/06: AUGUST GRAND-PRIX ROUND-UP ......
Twenty-one players paid to enter the August grand prix tournament at the BCSC, but sadly three fell by the wayside even before the start of proceedings.
The Young family were forced to withdraw en bloc when Lewis suffered a stomach upset.
12/08/06: Better late for Jason ......
Jason Champion was extraordinarily late for Thursday's tournament, keeping in touch en route to the venue with a succession of phone calls and text messages to Director Ian Tarr.
In a stricter regime there would have been penalty points and possibly an early exit. However Jason was able to make the most of his good fortune and got past Tony Walters, Steve Morris and Ian Preston before sitting down to the final with Juanita Ferrer just before midnight.
Juanita had beaten Ian Tarr, Tim Line and Cynthia Roberts, and was ready and waiting to do battle in her third successive grand prix final.
Having made light of some astonishingly rash doubling decisions, which saw her lose eight points at one fell swoop in the 11-point final, Juanita nevertheless recovered to the extent that she reached the DMP game, and eventually only lost the deciding bear-off by a single roll.
12/08/06: Martin makes the most of his visit ......
Martin Potter's visits to the BCSC are few and far between, but he will certainly remember this one.
Having lost narrowly in his opening main flight encounter with Steve Morris, Martin was consigned to the consolation flight, where he progressed straight to the semis after receiving a surprise helping hand from Tony Walters.
Pursuing a common theme of the evening -- and it is to be hoped that everyone will be well soon -- Tony felt particularly unwell after his elimination from the main flight, and decided to head for home.
Beneficiary Martin then proceeded to make the most of his good fortune, getting past his father before eclipsing Steve Ferrer in the final to clinch his first Bristol title win, albeit a modest one.
Steve had actually won three matches to get to the final.
12/08/06: Jason and Juanita take over OGP lead ......
Mark Dixon's tenure of pole position in the OGP is over, for the time being at least.
Thursday's finalists roared past him into the lead, Jason Champion heading Juanita Ferrer by just five points.
12/08/06: Steve edges 35 points clear in IGP ......
The intermediate contingent at Thursday's tournament was boosted by the welcome visit of father and son Simon Fahoury and Martin Potter, making five intermediates in all.
Of the five who were present, four were paired together in their opening matches, which gave Steve Morris and George Jakeway the only intermediate victories in the main flight.
It was a different story in the consolation flight, however, with Simon and Martin earning the only IGP bonus points of the evening -- Martin's 20 for defeating Steve Ferrer of Premier One in the final.
Steve Morris' overall lead is now 35 points, with Chris Roberts still in second place.
12/08/06: Rollover hopes die in the semis ......
Considering the fact that there was no rollover to tempt players into the Winner Takes All pool, the fact that eleven of the eighteen starters took this option showed that there was a fair degree of optimism in the air.
And when six of these made it into the last eight, chances of a rollover for September's tournament looked slim.
But when non-pool participants Ian Preston and Cynthia Roberts won their quarter-finals, neutrals hopes were raised.
These were dashed, however, when neither player managed to progress further.
12/08/06: Jason is ninth Masters qualifier ......
Jason Champion, who won the Bristol Masters title in 2004, became the ninth player to qualify for the 2007 incarnation of the event when he defeated Juanita Ferrer in Thursday's main flight final.
12/08/06: Cynthia scores league win ......
A successful night for Cynthia Roberts included a Premier Two victory over Neil Young, who had led 6-1 at one stage. This was Cynthia's third successive league win.
A Conference match between leader Steve Morris and Lewis Young was started, but had to be adjourned at 3-2 to Lewis, with a further game uncompleted.
04/08/06: Steve takes Handicap title
Just days after making a disappointing debut outside the environs of Bristol Backgammon at the Liverpool Open, Steve Morris bounced back to take his first title of any description, when he won the main flight of the fourth of this year's six Handicap Trophy knock-outs.
The smallest field yet for one of these events -- just eleven players toed the start line -- will have been partly explained by holidays, and partly, perhaps, because of email problems experienced by Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr during the build-up. But there were no fewer than four present playing off scratch, with Cynthia Roberts the possessor of the highest handicap on the night, a 3.
Amazingly, all four scratch players ended up in the consolation flight!
Steve's Liverpool experience may have lacked a few wins, but he will have gained much from playing highly regarded UK players such as Brian Lever and Uldis Lapikens, and overall he will tell you he very much enjoyed the trip.
Gaining a bye to the last eight, Steve fought his way past Roland Herrera and Tim Line before despatching Ian Tarr in the final.
Ian had won two nail-biters -- against Steffen Nowak and Ian Preston -- before gaining his place in the final in a single 8-point game against Cynthia.
In the consolation flight, Roland and Steffen were forced to adjourn their final at "lights out" with the score tantalisingly poised at 6-5 in Roland's favour.
Roland had defeated his wife, Simonetta and Richard Owsley en route to the final, while Steffen had benefitted from a bye before beating Tony Walters.
Reigning Handicap Trophy champion Ian Tarr did enough during his run to the main final to regain the lead in this year's competition, moving 30 points clear of Steffen -- a lead which would be halved, were Steffen to recover to defeat Roland in the consolation final.
Steve is now well placed in fifth position, 70 points adrift, but with the knowledge that -- having played only two of the four Handicap events this year -- discards will not be a hindrance to him on the run-in, as they will for many of the other main contenders.
31/07/06: Three penalised
Three Premier League players have incurred penalty points, having failed to match the penalty avoidance schedule at the July 31st midnight checkpoint.
All those who were threatened with permanent penalties after the May 31st checkpoint managed to claw those back, and it is to be hoped that the three -- Jason Champion of Premier One, and Premier Two players John Paton and Simon Baker -- will achieve similar satisfaction come the September checkpoint.
28/07/06: JULY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Summer counter attractions might be the best bet as to why there were just twenty-one league players present at the BCSC for Thursday's monthly league night.
28/07/06: Stuart and Ed make great strides ......
There might have been a temptation to view the race for the Premier League title as one between two horses.
It is almost invariably a mistake to think in those terms, though, with many a twist or turn in evidence during any past league campaign you might like to mention. And last night provided the proof, if any was needed.
Mark Dixon and Jason Champion have been setting the pace, but with the whole of the home straight still to be negotiated, a third prime contender has moved into the frame.
Twice champion Stuart Mann should never be written off, and few would make that mistake.
Last night, though, he was in devastating form, scoring three victories to move him up to Mark's shoulder, with only average points difference separating the two.
His final victim of the session, John Slattery, needed only to avoid rolling a double four to take their encounter into the DMP game, after Stuart had clawed himself back from a 2-10 deficit.
This apparently simple task proved beyond Slatts, though, and Stuart stole the gammon he needed to clinch a remarkable victory.
Slatts, whose opportunities to visit Bristol will be limited for a while, has now, quite sensibly, finished his season early, but -- having won only nine of his twenty matches -- he can only wait and see whether or not he has done enough to preserve his top flight status.
In the past two seasons a total of three players have been relegated with similar records, but Slatts' average points difference is good enough to suggest that he will ultimately be safe.
Safety was looking a distant dream for Ed Turner before Wednesday, though.
A pair of victories at Paul Watts' home on Wednesday saw him double his win tally for the season, and he repeated the feat at Phillip Hill's expense last night to move to within reach of the coveted seventh place -- coveted, that is, by all who languish in the relegation mire.
Phillip is now strong odds on for the drop, with Ian Tarr, another of the night's losers, only slightly better off.
Dave Pym and Paul are also in the thick of the action at the wrong end of the table.
28/07/06: Phil threatens the top four ......
Five matches were completed in Premier Two last night.
Possibly the most significant of those was Phil Charlton's narrow win over Roland Herrera, whose second defeat of the week should help him guard against any complacency regarding the promotion race.
Phil, with matches in hand on most, is now well placed to mount a serious challenge for honours.
Other winners on the night were Michael Corbett, Tim Line, Blaine Buchanan and Cynthia Roberts.
28/07/06: Stuart's consolation speciality ......
Stuart Mann has had a disappointing time in main flights of grand prix tournaments this year, managing only three victories in seven attempts so far.
But the story has been completely different in the four consolation flights he has contested.
In February he lost his first consolation match of the year to Ian Tarr, but since then his record in the five point matches has been superb.
Three wins in each of the March and April consolation flights were enough to take the spoils, and three more in the July equivalent took him to the final, in which he met Ed Turner last night.
Fittingly, for a match between the night's two form players, it was a close affair, going to DMP before Stuart made it three consolation flight wins in a row.
If there were a 1000 to 1 prize for consolation flights alone, Stuart would have clinched one.
28/07/06: Penalties loom for five ......
Five Premier League players have still to avoid the inconvenience of penalty points, as three playing days remain before the July 31st checkpoint bites.
Jason Chmapion in Premier One and four members of Premier Two -- Simon Baker, Phil Charlton, John Paton and Alan Parfitt -- are those threatened.
28/07/06: Blank night in the Conference ......
Four Conference players were present last night, but for various reasons no league action was forthcoming for any of them.
It would be sad indeed if the season were to peter out into anti-climax, but that does seem to be a danger this year.
25/07/06: Simonetta cashes on the Riviera
Simonetta Herrera took time out from the main purpose of her visit to the French Riviera -- promoting next month's Bristol International Festival -- to reach the semi-final (complete with cash and trophy) of the Advanced Flight of the Cannes tournament.
Two jobs well done!
24/07/06: Ann forced to withdraw from Premier Two
Ann Pocknell has finally been defeated by difficult circumstances in her bid to complete a season in Bristol Premier League Division Two.
Having returned to her native Canada to care for her ailing mother, Ann has reluctantly been forced to concede that completion of the season will not now be possible, and has tendered her resignation from the league. This has reluctantly been accepted.
This means that the six matches Ann completed will now be expunged from the record -- something which may please Steffen Nowak, but will not be so happily accepted by Martin Hemming, Tim Line, Alan Parfitt, John Paton and Cynthia Roberts.
Penalty point and expungement avoidance targets will also be adjusted slightly to compensate for the reduced number of matches to be played -- eighteen now, as opposed to the twenty expected when the season started, before the various numerical fluctuations took effect.
20/07/06: Third new players' evening at the BCSC
Some new players and some not so new ones were present at the BCSC for the latest of our new players' evenings.
The evening kicked off with a discussion on an excerpt of the 2004 Venice final between two top Danes, Lars Trabolt and Mogens Knudsen, both of whom have been playing visitors to our city.
Players then split into groups to play games with the benefit of full discussion of moves.
Meanwhile Nick Barham and Cecilia Sparke took time out to play a Conference match, which Nick won to consolidate his third place.
14/07/06: JULY GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
The lure of big bucks pulled in a larger than average field for the seventh Bristol Grand Prix event of 2006 at the BCSC.
The twenty-seven contestants included a welcome return by Rosey Bensley, making her first Bristol appearance of the year, and Conference players John Sprague and Gaz Owen, who were making their first grand prix appearances of 2006.
14/07/06: Tony prevents back-to-back Juanita triumphs ......
Tony Walters (pictured left) scooped his first ever Bristol Grand Prix title when he prevented back-to-back successes by Juanita Ferrer late last night.
Tony's run to the final of the main flight took him past Stuart Mann, Phillip Hill, Richard Cartwright and Steve Morris, while Juanita's victims were John Slattery, Ian Preston, Jason Champion and Neil Young.
At 1am the decision was taken to adjourn to the Cornubia, where the final was completed, Tony just coming out on top.
The chouette that ran alongside it and well beyond it may well prove, sadly, to be the last ever backgammon action in one of Bristol's most popular venues. Hopefully that will not be the case.
14/07/06: Ed and Stuart to contest consolation final ......
Uncharacteristically it was the consolation flight which failed to reach a conclusion on Thursday evening.
Ed Turner and Stuart Mann will fight out the final of this at another time.
Phillip Hill and Steffen Nowak succumbed to Ed, while Roland Herrera, John Paton and John Slattery were the players who failed to stop Stuart.
14/07/06: Absent Mark still rules OGP roost ......
OGP leader Mark Dixon was the only player in the top thirteen positions not present on Thursday evening, but he still holds the lead.
Ten other players are within 85 points of him now, though, so he has no room for complacency. Steffen Nowak is just 14 points behind Mark in second place, while Juanita Ferrer's 80 points haul moved her into third place.
Tournament winner Tony Walters also moved into the leading pack with his gain of 115 points.
As from next month discards will begin to take effect for the six players who have so far contested every event. For the other main contenders discards will also be a factor very soon.
14/07/06: Steve back on course for intermediate double ......
IGP leader Chris Roberts was again absent from the fray, so he won't be too surprised to learn that he has been overhauled.
Taking back the lead he held from January until May was Steve Morris, whose march to the main flight semi-final -- complete with bonus points for defeating Rosey Bensley and Steffen Nowak -- netted him 60 points for an overall lead of 20.
While Steve and fourth placed Miles Farren will soon find discards a factor, neither Chris nor third placed Nick Barham will be troubled by these for a while.
Chris, of course, collected a whopping 130 points in May on one of only two forays thus far, while Nick has taken only three appearances to close to within 22 points of the lead. He also collected 60 points last night, aided by bonus points for defeating Ed Turner.
Steve's reappearance at the top puts him back on course to emulate the feat first achieved by Tony Walters last year, namely the IGP and Conference double.
14/07/06: Quadruple rollover hopes dashed ......
Only three of last night's field of 27 players resisted the urge to participate in the Winner Takes All pool, which carried a rollover of £320, thanks to the negligence of the three previous tournament winners.
So with £240 added to that, there was considerable interest in the outcome.
For those eliminated early, the chance to encourage Richard Owsley, Ian Preston and John Sprague on to great things added another dimension to the evening.
But despite the valiant efforts of all three in winning their first round matches, their respective demises in the last sixteen put paid to any prospect of a quadruple rollover.
Eventual finalists Tony Walters and Juanita Ferrer were thus free to compete for a total prize pot of £755, including the minor detail of the official tournament prize money.
14/07/06: Tony is eighth Masters qualifier ......
After Thursday's tournament half of the sixteen places for the 2007 Bristol Masters have now been filled.
The seven monthly tournament winners, plus this year's Masters winner Stuart Mann await the outcome of the battles for the other eight slots.
14/07/06: All three leagues see some action ......
There were also six league matches completed during Thursday's session.
Premier One wins for Steve Ferrer and Stuart Mann meant that neither can yet be ruled out of the title race.
Martin Hemming, Juanita Ferrer and Steffen Nowak also did their Premier Two promotion hopes no harm with their victories.
The only result in the Conference featured something of a rare event -- a Steve Morris defeat.
After eleven successive league victories, which have seen him establish a lead of 27 points, the run was ended by an 8-11 reverse at the hands of Gaz Owen, whose recent return to action has yielded three wins from four matches.
12/07/06: Large Thursday turnout anticipated
As news of Bristol Backgammon's triple rollover in the Winner Takes All pool spreads, so the chances of a large turnout at Thursday's tournament increase.
With £320 already sitting in the pool, the £10 entry/£10 optional pool Bristol Grand Prix event is looking like an attractive proposition.
10/07/06: Slatts reaches semi
Best placed Bristol connection in the 28-strong field for BIBA's Keren di Bona Memorial Trophy knock-out event at the Coventry Hilton at the weekend was ...... you guessed it ...... John Slattery, who made it to the semi-finals before succumbing to Southampton's Jeff Barber.
Former Danish Backgammon Federation supremo Chris Ternel was the tournament winner.
Also present were quarter-finalists Nigel Merrigan and Kevin White, and Rosey Bensley, who was eliminated in the previous round.
06/07/06: Ian and Steve scoop Tric Trac prizes
There were enough players present at the BCSC tonight to enable two separate Tric Trac Tournos to be played, one with eight players, the other with six.
All entrants agreed to part with a fiver for the privilege, so the prize pools were £40 and £30 respectively.
The larger pool was won by Ian Preston, who finished level on points with Roland Herrera but took the money by virtue of he tie-breaker which decreed that the results of meetings of players finishing level would be decisive.
The same situation in the smaller pool saw Steve Morris take the prize at Tim Line's expense.
There was also time for a little league action, with the leaders of Premier Two and the Conference extending their leads.
Mike Smith is now twelve points clear in the Premier League promotion race after defeating Tony Walters, who later also lost to Cynthia Roberts.
And Conference top man Steve is now a massive 21 points ahead of second placed Miles Farren, after recording an 11-5 win over Nick Barham.
Nick had taken over third spot only the previous evening by beating Gaz Owen, and tonight became the sixth Conference player to reach the eight match threshold. When a further two players attain this goal this will trigger a third promotion place.
06/07/06: Thank you, Michael!
Michael Anstice, a borrower from the Bristol Backgammon Library, has acquired three volumes and donated them to the library, a gesture for which we should be very grateful.
One of the titles -- Jacoby and Crawford's "The Backgammon Book" -- duplicates an existing volume, while the others -- Bruce Becker's "Backgammon for Blood" and Robin Clay's "Teach Yourself Backgammon" -- should prove valuable additions to the list.
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