News items from 2007 (second half)
27/12/07: Only four at the BCSC
There were just four players present at the final Bristol Backgammon event of the year this evening.
The scheduled jackpot evening was always going to be a low key affair, coming just the day after Boxing Day, and sure enough there was just one such contest, with Ian Preston taking the honours.
An early night was the order of the day!
27/12/07: Sarah Rosich
It was with very great sadness that I learned today of the passing a week ago at her home of Sarah Rosich.
Sarah was a feisty and amusing character, and a great believer in living life to the full. If she was around, you knew about it.
Her Bristol Backgammon appearances were sporadic, with family commitments coming first, and spanned 1999 to 2003.
Her best moment was winning Lesters 39 back in April 2001, and she also enjoyed a few BIBA weekends.
Ironically, she emailed me a couple of months ago to say she would be returning to action some time in 2008.
She was a very proud mother of two sons, Oliver, aged 15, and Dylan, 8, and also leaves a partner.
When funeral arrangements are known, they will be posted here.
23/12/07: A Merry Christmas to all readers!
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr wishes all visitors to this website an enjoyable festive period, and a happy, prosperous, and successful New Year!
23/12/07: New division created in Premier League!
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has decided, after consultation with many players, to implement a new solution for population of the divisions of the Bristol Premier League in time for the 2008 season, which starts in just nine days.
The league will henceforward comprise divisions of approximately twelve players throughout, which will form a pyramid so as to keep the number of levels at a minimum.
The original guideline which stated that any new entrant to the Premier League would never be more than one promotion away from Premier One has had to be amended, simply because the numbers of entries will soon dictate that more than two levels are necessary.
What this actually means is that the twelve players who qualified for next year's Premier One -- either by staying up or by gaining promotion -- will still form the new Premier One, while the other 26 entrants will be split into two equal divisions of Premier Two, with two players from each gaining automatic promotion to replace the four players to be relegated from the top flight.
An extensive rewrite of sections of the league rules is under way, and will be in place in time for the new season.
The line-ups for the two Premier Two divisions will also be made known as soon as possible.
21/12/07: Question: "Who ran out of time at the quick clock tournament?"
Answer: Nobody.
Who would have predicted it? With regulation time allowances halved -- each player was allowed just seven minutes, as opposed to the usual fourteen -- the money would have been on players running out of time left, right and centre.
But with seventeen players playing a total of 24 7-point matches in the two flights, there was not a single such occurrence. So the honour of becoming the first player in Bristol competition to succumb to the dreaded clock is still up for grabs.
Gaz Owen certainly cut it close in the main flight quarter-finals, defeating Roland Herrera with just nine seconds to spare.
But everyone else either managed their time superbly or rushed things under the illusion of pressure to finish with several minutes to spare.
Neil Young took the honours in the main flight, defeating Simonetta Herrera in the final after scoring wins over Richard Owsley, Steffen Nowak and Costas Efthymiou.
Simonetta defeated John Paton, Lewis Young and Gaz Owen en route to the final.
In the consolation flight Derek Clew made light of having to play the only first round match, and scored wins over John Paton, Nick Barham and John Sprague before defeating Tim Line in the final.
For full results of the tournament, click here.
Chris Purchase from the St Albans club, staying in Bridgwater, was a welcome Bristol Backgammon debutant, and managed to cash in a late evening chouette.
20/12/07: Ed makes fifth Lesters final
Ed Turner has reached his fifth Lesters Trophy final.
His victory over Richard Owsley at the BCSC on Tuesday earns him a meeting with Miles Farren, who is in his first Lesters final.
18/12/07: Premier League rules headache for Ian as six celebrate
An oversight at this time last year, when formulating rules revisions for the Premier League, has left Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr with a great deal of head scratching to do between now and the start of the new league season on January 1st.
The specific bone of contention is the table dictating the splits between divisions dependent on the total number of entries.
This table was first introduced a few years back, when the prospect of as many entries as have been received this year was a distant one.
The numbers last year should have acted as a warning sign, but Ian admits to taking his eye off the ball on that occasion.
The tables can be altered this time, but the failure to do so last year makes the transition from the current regime to one where divisions are all small a difficult one to achieve without breaking some of the guidelines for population of the divisions.
The targets of the new order include the possibility of more than two levels, which would kick in after 40 or more entries, leagues small enough to ensure two meetings between players rather than one, and seasons where at least 20 matches, but hopefully no more than 24, are also the norm.
This should have been achieved for 2009 with either (a) a Premier One, and two parallel Premier Twos or (b) a Premier One, a Premier Two and two parallel Premier Threes, but the table was not altered, and as a result six players -- Phil Charlton, Neil Young, Simon Baker, Blaine Buchanan, Mike Smith and Richard Owsley will be celebrating the unexpected bonus of a season in the top flight.
There are various downsides to the way things line-up in 2008. Neither league will constitute as rigorous a test as they should have done with -- as things stand -- only seventeen matches for each player in each division.
Double headers will be a thing of the past until normal order is restored, and there is likely to be no promotion from Premier Two, merely the possibility of staying at that level rather than forming a new Premier Three.
Ironically the situation might have been avoided, but for the well intentioned intervention of a league player who has been pressurising former league players to return to the fold. None of these players had replied to their original invitations until this late, unnecessary, intervention, which suggested a desperation for new league members, something which should never be the case.
The player concerned has been rebuked in no uncertain terms.
16/12/07: Premier League entries hit record level
Entries for the 2008 Bristol Premier League have reached their highest level yet, with thirty-four players committed to competing five days ahead of Friday's midnight deadline.
The split indicated by such an entry gives twelve in the top flight (the same as this year), with twenty-two in Premier Two -- one more than in 2007.
14/12/07: Only nineteen go for the John Chidgey Cup
The final Bristol Grand Prix tournament of 2007 attracted a surprisingly low turnout of just nineteen hopefuls at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
Whether or not this was attributable to the OGP and IGP dominance of Peter Edwards, which left only the minor placings to be decided, is a moot point.
The allure of the final place in the 2008 Bristol Masters and the twelve month tenure of the John Chidgey Cup were obviously scant consolation.
The pre-tournament auction only realised a total of £59, and the Winner Takes All pool attracted only £80 worth of entries, so there was only just over £500 in total on offer.
While the consolation flight reached a conclusion, there are still two matches from the main flight to be played.
Richard Owsley must play Ed Turner in the semis, with the winner meeting Miles Farren in the final.
Miles put his inexplicable lack of Bristol knock-out success behind him by defeating George Jakeway, Tim Line and Mark Dixon en route to the final, while Richard beat Cynthia Roberts and Tony Walters. Ed came through the "long" part of the draw, ending the hopes of Roland Herrera, Lewis Young and Ian Tarr.
Young Lewis Young put the disappointment of his main flight exit behind him by taking the consolation flight scalps of his father Neil Young, Nick Barham and Roland Herrera to take the minor title.
With Richard, Ed and Miles still able to add points to their respective tallies, the only final OGP positions confirmed are those of the top five and all those between 19th place and the foot of a table which runs to 59 names.
Peter's final margin of victory remained unchanged at 257 points, while Ian Preston and Roland Herrera took the other prize money places.
And Peter's 468 points margin over second placed Marcus Wrinch in the IGP also maintained the status quo, while Lewis' late flurry of points, including 30 bonus points for defeating three Premier Status players moved him up to fifth overall.
Richard bought himself in the auction, while Ian Tarr and Louise Parsons have similar interests in Miles and Ed respectively.
The prospect of a Winner Takes All pool rollover are dependent entirely on Richard's chance of winning the final.
10/12/07: Lewis takes Handicap consolation
The last match of the year's Handicap Trophy took place at the Wellington this evening.
Lewis Young defeated Derek Clew 7-3 and claims third place in the final table.
09/12/07: Record entry anticipated for Premier League
Thirty players have committed themselves to the rigours of Premier League backgammon for 2008, and several others are still likely to add their names to the equation.
All twelve Premier One qualifiers have confirmed their places, and all five graduates from the Conference are also inked in for their first taste of life in Premier Two.
As yet responses are awaited from six of last season's Premier Two line-up, but it is anticipated that the majority will participate.
Twenty-four other eligible players have been contacted, but none is yet confirmed to join or rejoin the league.
Obviously there is a time constraint, with entries closing on December 21st, but things are different in the Conference, where players can, of course, join at any time of the year.
Nevertheless there are those only too eager to sign up, including four players new to league backgammon in Sue Burnett, Costas Efthymiou, Lars Ericsson and Giorgos Kalogridis, so the signs are already good for another successful year in our feeder league.
07/12/07: Fourth 2007 title for Peter
There are seven competitions running throughout the Bristol Backgammon calendar year.
We have the three leagues, the Open Grand Prix, the Intermediate Grand Prix, the Handicap Trophy, and the Consulting Doubles Grand Prix.
Peter Edwards last night clinched the Handicap Trophy, when a post-Crawford Game double gammon saw off the challenge of Simon Hughes.
Given that Peter has already won the doubles title, and the OGP and IGP titles only need to be rubber stamped next week, it could be said that he has had a remarkable year, especially when you consider that he was ineligible for two of the aforementioned titles, and was runner-up in the other -- the Conference.
It is tempting to surmise that noone will ever again have such a year, but records are there to be broken, and they usually are eventually.
The centrepiece of the evening, though, was a twelve player Tric Trac Tourno, greatly enjoyed by all, not least by Nick Barham, whose six gammons were instrumental in winning him the money.
04/12/07: Premier League entries flood in
With invitations to compete in the 2008 Premier League having gone out in the early hours of this morning, the responses are already flooding in.
In all a total of 62 invitations have gone out, and a positive response is anticipated from more than fifty per cent, with this year's record total of 33 under threat.
04/12/07: Jerry follows up November BIBA success with another
Former Bristol Backgammon stalwart Jerry Limb last weekend followed up his November BIBA Townharbour Trophy triumph with a strong performance at the Gilbertson UK Finals.
The event winners -- including Jerry -- whose reward was direct qualification for Sunday's final stages, contested the Champion of Champions knock-out on Saturday, and Jerry came through to win, just as Stuart Mann had done in 2004.
Then, in the main event, Jerry reached the semi-finals to cap a very satisfactory weekend.
03/12/07: END OF LEAGUE SEASON ROUND-UP ......
After the curtailed report of Thursday's events, here's an update, now that the dust has settled on a memorable 2007 Bristol Backgammon League season.
03/12/07: Simonetta "nets" a top flight reprieve ......
The "last resort" rule, allowing a Bristol Backgammon League match to take place on the internet in exceptional circumstances, was invoked for the first time ever late on Friday evening.
The league is, after all, a "live" league, where the spice of face to face competition is an integral and major factor, so the circumstances had to be truly exceptional.
And with just one Premier One match remaining on the final evening of the season, and the protagonists separated by hundreds of miles, it was the only workable solution.
Mike Smith was in Yorkshire and Simonetta Herrera was in Bristol, accompanied by absent Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr's delegate Steve Morris, whose brief was to report back on the viability of playing a league match in this manner.
For technical reasons the initial choice of FIBS as a platform for the event had to be discarded, and things eventually (after 10pm) got under way on Play65.
Things went smoothly for Simonetta, and she came in an 11-2 winner to escape the drop at the death, thus condemning Phil Charlton to a probable season in Premier Two -- subject, of course, to the split of players which will be dictated by the total Premier League entry for 2008, when known.
So Phil must wait and see, along with Simon Baker, Mike Smith and John Slattery whose unavailability to complete his final five matches made his precarious position near the drop zone an untenable one, given that his final tally of 22 penalty points all but obliterated the points gained from his eight victories.
The top placings had already been sorted out, with new champion Mark Dixon, runner-up Stuart Mann and third placed Ian Tarr in the prize slots.
For evidence of how competitive Premier One is, however, there is no need to look any further than Paul Watts' experience during the final stages.
With three matches left he harboured hopes of taking the runner-up spot. Two defeats, though, had him looking nervously over his shoulder at the relegation zone. But winning his final match left him in a very respectable fourth place.
03/12/07: Paul's championship triumph provided an exciting ending ......
As previously mentioned, there were still three players contending for the Premier Two championship on the season's penultimate day.
Ann Pocknell had finished her season long since, and could only wait to see whether anyone could put enough results together to overhaul her.
Paul Gilbertson arrived at the BCSC on Thursday with two matches remaining.
When he won the first of these -- 11-4 against John Lewis -- the scene was set for a fascinating title decider, as Paul sat down to play Miles Farren.
With both players now guaranteed promotion to the top flight, they could both have a tilt at toppling Ann, with specific targets in mind.
For Paul, any win bar 11-10 would be enough to take the title, while Miles had slightly less margin for error, where any win better than 11-8 would suffice.
If neither target were to be met, then Ann would be champion.
Doubling decisions take on a whole new dimension when factors other than mere match victory come into play, but eventually it was Paul who prevailed 11-6 to take the crown.
Ann is thus runner-up, with Gaz Owen in third and Miles in fourth making up the promotion contingent.
Interestingly all four players were contesting their first full season of Premier League backgammon, and their entry to next year's top flight will surely spice things up in 2008.
Virtually the whole Premier Two season had run exceptionally smoothly, although distance was a contributory factor for Paul in leaving things until the penultimate day.
For Elliot Smart, though, it was something else. Seemingly a workaholic these days, coming to the final Thursday with four to play was not an ideal way of tackling things.
The outcome was, though, as all four opponents dutifully turned up, and all four succumbed, leaving Elliot in fifth place.
03/12/07: Mike so unlucky to miss out ......
With no further action for the top two on the final day Marcus Wrinch was duly confirmed as Conference champion, an accolade richly deserved by someone who won 24 of his 27 matches.
Peter Edwards was a close second, so there is at least something he hasn't won this year!
The main interest late on, however, surrounded the scramble for the minor -- but much sought after -- promotion placings.
Earlier on Thursday at the Holiday Inn, Hambrook, Todd Young had tracked down Mike Osborne, and his double victory put enough daylight between himself and the chasing Simon Hughes and Mike Gartside to ensure his promotion.
With David Olmo breaching the eight result threshold, there was just a ray of hope that someone -- anyone -- could be persuaded to emulate David.
Such an occurrence would have opened up an unprecedented sixth promotion slot, and both Simon and Mike would have been able to relax.
But nobody could be persuaded, and something had to give.
The ultimate clincher was Simon's late Thursday 11-6 win over Derek Clew.
Mike also grabbed Derek for a last day encounter at the Shakespeare, Prince Street, and had he won, he would have displaced Simon from the top five. He fell agonisingly short with a 10-11 defeat.
Having performed heroically on the run in, Mike's luck well and truly ran out with a run of four defeats, and having the best record for somebody not promoted from the Conference will be scant consolation, as Marcus, Peter, Cecilia Sparke, Todd and Simon look forward to their entry into Premier League backgammon.
Mike and Derek may well be the ones to watch next season.
30/11/07: Busy night at the BCSC
It was a case of progress on many fronts at the BCSC on Thursday evening, with a late flurry of league action taking place alongside the final Handicap Trophy event of the year.
A full report will appear here after the weekend, but until then, here is a summary of the main points to emerge:
Peter Edwards and Simon Hughes made the main final of the handicap event, while Lewis Young and Derek Clew reached the final of the consolation flight.
Both finals are expected to take place very soon, and if Peter can win his match, he will pip sponsor Ed Turner for the handicap title.
Paul Watts and Michael Corbett are now safe from the threat of relegation from Premier One, where the final match -- the first Bristol Backgammon match ever to be held on the internet -- will this evening (Friday) decide whether Simonetta Herrera or Phil Charlton joins Mike Smith, Simon Baker and John Slattery in the relegation zone.
At the start of the evening, three players were still in the running for the Premier Two title. Paul Gilbertson clinched it by defeating rival Miles Farren by a margin sufficient to dislodge long time leader Ann Pocknell.
Marcus Wrinch will be Conference champion unless Peter Edwards can find and defeat two opponents by midnight on Friday.
The race for the other promotion places goes to the wire, with Cecilia Sparke and Todd Young looking favourites to join the top two in the Premier League, along with either Simon Hughes or Mike Gartside.
The website has been updated as far as the end of the Thursday session.
Any late results will be recorded after the weekend, so watch this space!
29/11/07: Cecilia may have done enough
Further news of Conference action at the Wellington yesterday evening shows Cecilia Sparke may well have done enough to clinch a place in Premier Two next season.
Her double header with Paul Glasson yielded a win apiece, so Cecilia's third place is looking more solid. And it's hard to see where Mike Gartside, Simon Hughes and Todd Young can all find at least two more victories to overtake her as the season hits its penultimate day.
This evening's BCSC session sems certain to have a strange ambience, with many players concentrating on their league campaigns (from all three leagues) in preference to the final leg of the Handicap Trophy.
Most of the fringe promotion contenders in the Conference have beaten a path to Paul's door in the past few days, but he has proved to be an worthy opponent, having won three of his five most recent encounters.
28/11/07: Simon beaten at the Wellington
Paul Glasson scored his second Conference win of the past few days when Simon Hughes tracked him down at the Wellington, Horfield, this evening.
The 7-11 defeat means Simon is still on a knife edge regarding his quest for Premier Status, as the league campaign cranks up through the gears for the last few hours -- just 50 to go at the time of writing.
28/11/07: And Simon displaces Todd
There was even more Conference action at the Albion after the Cecilia Sparke-Mike Osborne match, it has now emerged.
Mike stayed on for a double header with Simon Hughes, and two tight matches ensued, with one win apiece.
So Simon has dislodged Todd Young from the fifth promotion slot which had just been triggered by Mike's match with Cecilia.
27/11/07: Cecilia goes third of five!
Today's Conference action came from the Albion, Clifton, where there were two significant occurrences.
The lesser of these -- although she might disagree -- was Cecilia Sparke's 11-8 win over Mike Osborne, which lifts her back into third place.
But the big news is that Mike has become the fourteenth player to breach the eight match threshold, thus triggering the fifth promotion slot.
The immediate beneficiary of this is Todd Young, but Simon Hughes is close behind and looking for opponents to take on.
Three days to go, and the excitement shows no sign of abating.
27/11/07: Paul ends Gaz's run
Paul Gilbertson today ended the eight match winning sequence of Gaz Owen to move a step closer to the top flight.
Paul's 11-5 win, secured at his own High Wycombe home, moves him into the fourth and final promotion slot, and even if Neil Young can locate and defeat the elusive Elliot Smart, Paul still has two matches to add to his Premier Two points tally.
And both Paul and Miles Farren can still wrest the title from Ann Pocknell.
26/11/07: Stuart runner-up at the double
The Cornubia was the venue tonight when Ian Tarr and Stuart Mann were effectively playing for the Premier One runner-up spot.
Ian, having already finished his programme, was substituting for John Slattery to give Stuart the opportunity to play the requisite number of matches.
Any wins Ian might get would not alter his own record, but for Stuart the target was to win just one of the double header to ensure he would overtake Ian.
What might have proved a tense encounter descended into anti-climax as everything went Stuart's way, and he scored two emphatic victories, and thus finishes behind new champion Mark Dixon only on average points difference.
There are now just four Premier One matches remaining, while eight matches are yet to be completed in Premier Two.
The daily dose of Conference action occurred at the Hen and Chicken in Bedminster, where another double header involved Derek Clew and Cecilia Sparke -- jolted into action by the recent victories of Mike Gartside, Todd Young and Simon Hughes.
Cecilia failed to score a win, though, as Derek was left to wonder what might have been had he appeared on the scene even a week or two earlier.
He is already up to eighth place, having won six times. He will need at least six more successes by Friday midnight, though, if he wants to threaten the promotion bracket.
The good news for those chasing Premier League places, though, is that Derek became the thirteenth player to break through the eight match threshold, and just one more such occurrence will trigger the hoped for fifth promotion slot.
25/11/07: Todd closes on top four
For the tenth day of the last twelve, there is Conference action to report.
Todd Young played Paul Glasson twice at the Wellington, Horfield, and each player gained a victory, Paul's being his first in Bristol Backgammon competition.
Todd moves above Simon Hughes into fifth place, and is only behind third and fourth placed Mike Gartside and Cecilia Sparke on average points difference.
And he is also getting closer to the record for the number of Conference matches played in a single season, standing just two short of Peter Edwards' current tally for the season.
24/11/07: Mike goes third
In today's Conference action, Mike Gartside was the main beneficiary, even though the honours were even in his double header with Jude Pitt at the Windmill.
Mike won the first encounter 11-3, but Jude hit back to win the second 11-8.
Cecilia Sparke has now been displaced from third place, and may need more points before November 30th to stay in the promotion frame.
Jude moves up to eighth, but has a lot to do to trouble the other promotion contenders.
But what will tomorrow bring? It's anybody's guess.
23/11/07: Unfinished business tied up for Simon
Last night's adjourned Conference match between Simon Hughes and Colin Sara didn't have long to wait for a conclusion.
Resuming at Colin's home this evening, Simon won 11-5 to move up to fifth place, level on points with fourth placed Mike Gartside and sixth placed Todd Young.
Third placed Cecilia Sparke, who looked nailed on for promotion just a week ago, now has three players breathing down her neck.
What now seems like a daily saga of twists and turns still has seven days to go, so nothing can be ruled out as far as these four positions are concerned.
The good news is that this was Colin's eighth result, so if two more of those on the brink can be persuaded to join the action, the fifth promotion slot will materialise.
23/11/07: NOVEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
The final league night of the 2007 season at the BCSC on Thursday featured bits and pieces of action -- much of it significant -- as players tried to tie up any loose ends.
23/11/07: Relegation battle hotting up ......
Conventional wisdom had it that winning half of your Premier One matches would guarantee you safety from the dreaded drop.
Now it seems that this season might prove to be an exception to that unwritten rule.
In the past some players might have felt aggrieved to be relegated with nine wins from twenty matches. This season, with twenty-two matches to be played, it was anticipated that there would be a possibility of going down with just ten wins.
But while the fate of three players seems to have been sealed -- John Slattery is certain to finish bottom with mega penalty points for failing to finish his season, while neither Mike Smith nor Simon Baker can escape -- the fourth and final relegation slot could conceivably rest with a player finishing with a fifty-fifty record.
Seven of the field of twelve have already reached at least 33 points, while Simonetta Herrera and Phil Charlton could join them by winning their remaining matches.
Simonetta needs to defeat Mike Smith, but for that match to take place, the rule allowing last resort internet meetings will need to be invoked for the first time ever after Mike's unannounced disappearance on holiday for the remainder of the season.
Phil's task is to win a double header with the player nominated to substitute for Slatts, ironically the very same Simonetta.
If there is a log jam of players finishing on 33 points, average points difference will be a crucial factor.
On that front Michael Corbett and Paul Watts appear to be the most vulnerable, while Ed Turner and Martin Hemming are safe.
Meanwhile at the sharp end of the league, where Mark Dixon has already clinched the title, the issue to be decided is not who will finish second and third -- Ian Tarr and Stuart Mann will do so after Ian rounded off his season with a win over Simonetta and 2008 Bristol Masters qualification -- but in which order will they finish.
Ian is the nominated substitute for Stuart's double header against Slatts, and needs to replicate his league double over Stuart to clinch the runner-up spot for the first time.
Those two matches are scheduled for Monday evening at the Cornubia, while Phil and Simonetta's double header will be on Thursday, along with the final match for Paul and Martin, who are now gaining a reputation for crucial last ditch meetings.
Whether or not the internet clash will take place is very much up to Mike.
Hopefully the spectre of end of season penalty points deciding a relegation issue will be banished.
23/11/07: Conference contenders don't get their own way ......
Two races are still well and truly joined in the Conference, with just a week to go before the end of season deadline.
For Marcus Wrinch and Peter Edwards the issue is simple -- who will win the league?
For others -- notably Cecilia Sparke, Mike Gartside, Todd Young and Simon Hughes -- it's case of who will fill the other two promotion places, or will it be three?
With Cecilia and Todd absent, the way was clear for the other four contenders to take advantage in a big way. But amazingly not one of them had everything their own way on Thursday.
At the top, the problem for Marcus was actually getting a game. He managed to fit one in, however, and scored a vital 11-4 victory over Mike.
Peter would have taken over at the top had he scored a double over Derek Clew. Derek, however, had other ideas, and after two tense, closely fought tussles, the honours were shared, so Marcus stays ahead on points difference.
Mike had earlier defeated Colin Sara to move back into the promotion bracket, but Simon failed to score a win on the night, although he did have a victory over Jude Pitt from Wednesday to report.
Jude was back to gain ample revenge and end an impressive winning sequence for Simon, and Simon's next match -- against Colin -- was adjourned.
Much of the interest in this part of the race depends on who, of the remaining players, can make it to eight results reported.
At this stage it seems unlikely that the requisite three players will trigger the opening of that fifth promotion slot, but with Colin, David Olmo and Mike Osborne each just one match away, and George Palframan and Derek two away, it could happen. If it did, at least one of the current top six would have cause to be grateful.
23/11/07: Quiet night in Premier Two ......
Nine potential matches in Premier Two yielded but a single result on Thursday, as the majority have been scheduled for next week.
Alan Parfitt scored a narrow win over Nick Barham, but with neither in the running for anything too meaningful, this was an anti-climactic evening for the division.
23/11/07: Peter and Simon clinch final doubles prize ......
Early on Thursday evening the four protagonists from the final of the season's last Consulting Doubles event got together to bring that competition to a conclusion.
It didn't last too long, and Peter Edwards -- partnered by Simon Hughes -- added yet another success to his record breaking year.
The beaten Marcus Wrinch and Tony Walters at least had some prize money to soften the blow.
22/11/07: Todd back in the frame
The drip, drip of Conference results increases to a trickle.
The Merchants Arms, Stapleton, was the venue for a double header last night, with Todd Young and Derek Clew sharing the honours.
So Todd has pushed Mike Gartside back out of the top four.
With eight days to go, including tonight's league session, there is plenty of scope for more changes and a fascinating climax to the league.
21/11/07: Gaz and Miles promoted!
Gaz Owen and Miles Farren today qualified for next year's Premier One without lifting a finger.
Their elevation was confirmed by Elliot Smart's 11-9 defeat by Phillip Hill at the Aztec West Hilton this afternoon.
The fourth and final promotion slot now rests between Neil Young, Paul Gilbertson and Elliot.
21/11/07: Simon closes on leaders
Another Conference result from last night is now to hand.
Simon Hughes scored his fourth successive win, defeating Mandy Macdonald 11-6 at the Windmill, and is just three points away from those in fourth and fifth places.
20/11/07: Ed safe; Mike back in top four
There was a little league action tonight, featuring matches in Premier One and the Conference.
At the Colosseum Ed Turner assured his safety from the threat of relegation from the top flight, and has finished with a fifty-fifty record for the third season running after his DMP defeat of Ian Tarr, whose chances of finishing as runner-up have now receded dramatically.
Meanwhile Mike Gartside and John Sprague were getting in a double header at the Shakespeare, Totterdown, and the honours were shared.
Mike thus displaces Todd Young from the fourth promotion slot.
19/11/07: STOP PRESS: John Hurst wins UK Masters
News of more British success at the UK Masters -- John Hurst won the main event, beating Germany's Christian Plenz in the final.
And the doubles was won by Nicky Check and Lawrence Powell.
Building on these successes can hopefully lead to the loss of our "no-hopers" tag, and even Paul Magriel may be forced to eat humble pie.
19/11/07: Conference prepares for final twists
The climax to last season's Bristol Conference League featured many a twist towards the end of the season, as the jockeying for position at the top -- with Premier League places available -- gathered pace.
This season there seems to be every likelihood that there will be a repeat.
A glance at this year's table will immediately show that the championship is a two horse race.
Over the weekend Marcus Wrinch endeavoured to steal a march on his rival Peter Edwards by cashing in on his matches in hand, playing Richard Biddle twice at the WSOB event. The plan backfired with two defeats, but Marcus remains top with six matches in hand.
The race for the other promotion positions may well prove to be more interesting, however, not least because it is not yet known how many players will actually get promoted.
The formula that decides this thorny issue requires three more players to breach the threshold of eight matches played for a fifth place to be earned, so as yet four slots seems the more likely scenario.
Third placed Cecilia Sparke is strongly placed to capitalise, having twelve victories under her belt, but Todd Young yesterday became her nearest challenger when he scored his tenth win of the season at the expense of Mandy Macdonald at the Windmill.
Mike Gartside has thus been displaced from a promotion berth, but he, Simon Hughes and Lewis Young are all close enough to harbour realistic hopes of playing in Premier Two next year.
With twelve days remaining before the end of the season, what is the betting that more twists and turns will be the order of the day?
18/11/07: Bristol successes in London
While Simonetta Herrera, our only representative in the 128 player Main Flight of this weekend's WSOB UK Masters, was being eliminated by Denmark's Allan Westermann after her great win in round one, other Bristol players were scooping the main prizes in the Intermediate Flight.
Twenty-six players were in the Intermediates, including our own regular players Marcus Wrinch and Gaz Owen, plus occasional visitors Richard Biddle and Alain de Foucher.
Alain was top intermediate, defeating Americans Becca Thompson and Victoria Ondis, Brit Irving Press, and Norway's Per Kummervold, before beating Dane Louise Kortbek in the final.
Marcus and Gaz were unfortunately drawn together in round one, Gaz winning, while Richard also fell at the first hurdle.
Gaz went on to the last eight before dipping out.
In the progressive consolation, however, Gaz got past Brit Farzin Yazdi and Bjorn Kroghsbo of Denmark, before winning the final against fellow Brit Regina Dodge, who had eliminated Marcus in the last eight.
British players have generally shown up very well in this, the biggest international event in the UK this year, perhaps belying their reputation as "no-hopers".
Kazuhiro Shino made the semis in the main event, while John Hurst has gone one better, his result in the final against Christian Plenz of Germany not yet to hand at the time of writing.
Richard and Marcus also managed to get two Conference matches in over the weekend, Richard scoring a notable double.
16/11/07: Simo takes a big scalp
Early news from the big tournament in London, the U K Masters (a World Series of Backgammon event), is that Simonetta Herrera has eliminated a World Giant, Denmark's Morten Holm, in her first match.
Hopefully more good news will follow.
16/11/07: Peter does it yet again
Peter Edwards, with victories over Gaz Owen and Richard Owsley, equalled Martin Hemming's record of four grand prix victories in a calendar year last night at the BCSC.
When Martin achieved a similar feat in 2005, many thought it would be a while before anyone would get close to a performance like that, but Peter has proved those doubters wrong.
With monumental leads in both the OGP and the IGP, Peter could easily take a month off in December, but that would be a surprise, given his keenness to experience everything Bristol Backgammon has to offer.
His exceptional run of form has proved to be a bonanza for his Conference colleagues in terms of qualification for the 2008 Bristol Masters.
Having now qualified four times over, the current rules dictate that the three surplus qualifications go to the highest placed non-qualifiers in his league.
And given that either Peter or Marcus Wrinch will win the guaranteed Conference place, that will mean five Conference players in next year's event.
The event was designated a Jackpot Evening, and there were three such mini-tournaments -- Tim Line winning the only £20 event, while Simon Hughes and Mandy Macdonald took the honours in the two £5 events.
Also competing was Jeroen Wieland, a Newbury based Dutchman, who experienced his first taste of live backgammon, after reading lots and playing online. Hopefully he will be back.
In Premier One neither Mike Smith nor Simon Baker would have been satisfied with the outcome of their double header, as honours were shared.
With both players threatened by relegation, a double success for somebody would have given a lifeline, but both are now condemned to suffer the drop.
In the Conference Simon Hughes is making a late bid for promotion.
In just thirty-four days he has now fitted in no fewer than seventeen matches. Having lost nine of his first fourteen, his chances were looking slim.
But a double header victory over John Sprague at the Wellington on Wednesday was followed by a win in the completion of an adjourned match against Mandy Macdonald, and he is now in sixth place.
Fourth and fifth placed Mike Gartside and Todd Young are now within striking distance.
14/11/07: Slatts bows out of Premier One
John Slattery, who had agreed to finish his Premier One season on his return to the UK in November, will not now be available to do so, it has transpired.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has been forced to take emergency action to resolve the end of the Premier One season.
Slatts' opponents in his final five matches have been reassigned alternative opponents, to ensure that they will have the opportunity to play the same number of matches as every other contestant.
The nominated opponents have been selected specifically because they have a vested interest in defeating their opponents, and will not "go through the motions".
Stuart Mann's double header will now be against Ian himself, while Simonetta Herrera is the nominated opponent for both Phil Charlton (twice) and Simon Baker.
Both Ian's and Simonetta's records will -- of course -- remain unaltered by their participation in these matches.
Slatts, meanwhile, will incur twenty penalty points at the season's end, as well as failing to claw back the two points he incurred on September 30th.
14/11/07: Eight in a row, and Gaz is almost there
The Hillgrove, Cotham, saw Gaz Owen score his eighth successive Premier Two victory last night, a sequence bettered only twice in the five year history of that league.
His unfortunate victim was John Paton who, according to Gaz, had a 95% double gammon chance at 3-7 down until Gaz rolled the 4-3 joker he needed.
In terms of the promotion race, Gaz has almost certainly already done enough.
Having moved into second place, though, if he loses his final match he can still be overhauled by Miles Farren, Paul Gilbertson and Elliot Smart.
That nightmare scenario for Gaz is an extremely unlikely one, however.
12/11/07: Blaine keeps alive his remote promotion chance
There was a smattering of league action on Sunday and Monday, with David Olmo scoring an 11-1 win over Todd Young in the Conference at the Wellington in Horfield, and Blaine Buchanan rounding off his Premier Two campaign by defeating John Lewis at the BCSC.
Blaine's season has been his best since relegation in 2003, and he still retains the faintest of promotion aspirations.
His chances rest, though, on Neil Young losing his final match by at least five points, Paul Gilbertson losing all three of his matches, and Elliot Smart also failing to overtake him.
Blaine will not be holding his breath.
12/11/07: Enjoyment reigns at Live in London
It's a unique event in the UK backgammon calendar, and the keyword is enjoyment.
Mike Main's Backgammon Live in London is a three day extravaganza of wall to wall backgammon with the accent on fun, and a great time was had by all who ventured this weekend to any or all of the three London venues, which had been hastily rearranged at the last minute after the originally planned venue had fallen through.
Despite that setback the whole event was a triumph of organisation by Mike and his team, who catered for around 100 players in a wide variety of competitions, with the centrepiece a boat trip on the Thames to see the Lord Mayor's fireworks show.
Three who ventured to the capital from Bristol were Stuart Mann, Ian Tarr and Cynthia Roberts.
Stuart fared best, winning Saturday's first plate event, consisting entirely of best of three point matches, while Ian's best event featured a run to the semi-finals of the Weekend knock-out, which started on Friday and possibly ended on Sunday. Cynthia cashed in one of the Sunday jackpots.
12/11/07: NOVEMBER GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
The November Bristol Grand Prix tournament was a slightly low key one, with just nineteen participants, while another turned up looking for some league action.
12/11/07: Richard emerges from frustrating grand prix season ......
While Richard Owsley is heading for his best ever league finish, he has had a frustrating year in the main flights of grand prix events.
Nine main flight forays had yielded just one victory before Thursday evening's tournament, where he cleaved his way to the final via wins over Simonetta Herrera, Ian Tarr and Steffen Nowak.
The other semi-final has yet to be played, and will feature Gaz Owen and arguably the player of 2007, Peter Edwards.
12/11/07: Ian's no show clinches title for Peter ......
Only a miracle scenario, featuring November and December grand prix title wins for Ian Preston achieved without the aid of byes, could have prevented the inevitable OGP title win for Peter Edwards.
So when Ian didn't turn up on Thursday evening, there could have been justifiable champagne corks popping for Peter.
And yet, he kept up his relentless quest for honours, clinching top place in the Consulting Doubles Grand Prix when, partnered by Simon Hughes, he put paid to his only challenger Nick Barham and his partner Gaz Owen in the outstanding semi-final, before the start of Thursday evening's singles tournament.
If he and Simon can win the final -- against Marcus Wrinch and Tony Walters -- he will have emulated last year's feat of Steffen Nowak and Miles Farren in winning three out of four events.
If Peter can achieve this, however, he will have done it with three different partners -- Nick, Ian Preston and Simon.
So with the CDGP and the OGP wrapped up, the only possible obstacle to his IGP chances was Marcus, who also needed to win the November and December tournaments with the aid of many bonus points.
And Peter was able to put paid to this unlikely threat when he beat Marcus in round two.
Marcus remains a long way ahead of third and fourth places, which are now occupied by Simon and Jim Best, who fought out the consolation final -- Simon winning.
12/11/07: Only Peter can stop a rollover ......
The Winner Takes All pool at Thursday's tournament only amounted to £70, but Peter Edwards is the only one of the three remaining protagonists who can thwart a rollover to December's event, the only one of four contenders to survive quarter-final ties.
12/11/07: Derek bags another league win ......
Recent arrival Derek Clew had to wait for an opponent in Thursday's main flight, and used his time well, defeating David Olmo in a Conference match.
Derek will almost certainly not have enough time to get the necessary number of wins to gain promotion to the Premier League before the season ends on November 30th, but is using the time to acclimatise to the league before a concerted attempt next season.
08/11/07: Cecilia's three strides towards promotion
The BCSC was the venue last night as Cecilia Sparke did her chances of playing Premier League backgammon next season a power of good.
Three matches played, and the results could hardly have been better for her as she scored convincing wins over Todd Young (twice) and Simon Hughes.
Cecilia is now firmly entrenched in third place in the Conference table with just 22 days of the season remaining.
06/11/07: Defeated, but Mark is the champion
Mark Dixon clinched his second Bristol Premier League championship in three years tonight despite suffering a 7-11 defeat to closest rival Stuart Mann at Clifton College.
Since a 2-11 defeat would have been good enough for Mark, it might appear to have been a formality, but when he took what he describes as a "sweaty" cube at 0-7 down it would have seemed anything but.
Stuart, who thus became the first player ever to win a century of Bristol Backgammon League matches, has moved into second place -- ahead of Ian Tarr on average points difference.
Both players have two matches remaining, and along with fifth placed Paul Watts will be chasing the runner-up spot.
06/11/07: Mark a small step away
At Clifton College this evening Mark Dixon takes on Stuart Mann in the final Premier One match of his season, knowing that even if he loses heavily he will probably still clinch his second league title.
Stuart is, ironically, the only player who can possibly prevent Mark from achieving his aim. But his chances are, to put it mildly, slim.
Mark's average points difference superiority is such that Stuart has virtually no margin for error when he tackles his final three matches -- tonight's encounter and a double header against John Slattery.
If Mark wins tonight, he is champion. But the irony is that even if he were to lose by as much as 2-11, Stuart's task then becomes impossible as a double whitewash of Slatts would still leave him in second place.
05/11/07: Backgammon on YouTube
Gaz Owen has pointed out an interesting YouTube clip you may not have seen.
Made by 8mm Productions, it highlights the standing of British players in the world of backgammon, epitomised by Paul Magriel's total dismissal of our collective ability.
Apart from those recognisable locally -- Slatts and Chris and Cynthia Roberts -- there are many British players on view, mostly from the documentary "Ernie's Game", based around the experiences of Ernie Pick, an "average" player.
Among those on view are: John Clark, Julian Minwalla, Francine Brandler, John Broomfield, Andrew Sarjeant, Paul Lamford, Neil Davidson, Paul Turnbull, Alison Lee, Liz Barker, Martin Barkwill, Lawrence Powell, Monica Beckerson, Mike Heard, Peter Bennet and Dod Davies
04/11/07: Jerry wins Townharbour Trophy!
Jerry Limb, an infrequent visitor to the BCSC in recent months, today won BIBA's Townharbour Trophy Swiss Format event at the Coventry Hilton.
He emerged from a field of 32 players to take the title for the greatest achievement of his career.
And this correspondent understands that there is every likelihood that he will return to action in Bristol very soon.
03/11/07: PLEASE NOTE: LIVE IN LONDON VENUE CHANGES!
Anyone going to -- or thinking of going to -- next weekend's Backgammon Live in London should note that there have been last minute venue changes. You are advised to visit the event website for the full details.
Organiser Mike Main appears to have everything well in hand, but informing everyone involved is an absolute priority.
02/11/07: Neil still in the hunt
It was the last of the scheduled New Player evenings at the BCSC yesterday, and there was a small but cosy gathering for the occasion.
Neil Young and Cynthia Roberts took the opportunity to play their outstanding Premier Two match, and Neil's whitewash victory kept him in the promotion race picture.
There was a 5-point team match, featuring teams captained by Hayley Young and Lars Ericsson, which featured a gripping eight cube conclusion.
Then followed a Tric Trac Tourno for eight players, Nick Barham taking the money.
Sue Burnett, from Pontypridd, was a welcome debut visitor, and she will hopefully be back for more after winning five of her seven Tric Trac Tourno matches.
26/10/07: CONSULTING DOUBLES REVIEW ......
The Consulting Doubles Grand Prix continues to gain in popularity.
Because of the nature of the event -- and obviously the consultation -- progress can be a little slow for some, but as a stimulating learning medium it can be invaluable for the less experienced players.
The fact that there were twelve pairs for the second successive doubles tournament shows that there is a definite demand.
And once again there were new players present to sample the atmosphere -- Lars Ericsson, who had come along to a new players' evening around a year ago, Darren Penberthy, Caz Clarke and nine year old Abigail Best.
26/10/07: One and a half matches still to play ......
Marcus Wrinch and Tony Walters reached the final of the fourth and last Consulting Doubles Grand Prix tournament of 2007 at the BCSC on Thursday.
Having benefitted from a bye, they defeated Roland Herrera and Caz Clarke and then Blaine Buchanan and Darren Penberthy to claim their final place.
In the more populous half of the draw the semi-final had to be adjourned (for late night transport reasons) with Nick Barham and Gaz Owen 3-2 ahead of Peter Edwards and Simon Hughes.
The consolation flight did reach a conclusion, with Simonetta Herrera and Hayley Young taking the honours at the expense of Tim Line and Todd Young.
26/10/07: Top four places confirmed, but in which order? ......
The honours in the 2007 Consulting Doubles Grand Prix -- consisting of trophies for the four most successful doubles players of the year -- will be shared by those players already occupying the top four positions in the table -- Peter Edwards, Ian Preston, Nick Barham and Marcus Wrinch.
But the final finishing order has yet to be decided, with three of the four potentially able to accrue more points in the remaining one and a half matches.
Marcus will definitely finish fourth, Ian will be either second or third, Nick will be either third, second or equal first, and Peter will finish first -- either on his own or jointly with Nick.
26/10/07: Abigail makes her mark ......
At nine years and 177 days Abigail Best has her best backgammon days ahead of her. But I suspect she will always remember her competitive debut, partnering her father, Jim Best, in Thursday's doubles.
The best tribute to her performance was that it was not always apparent which player was the senior partner as the Plymouth based duo first eliminated Tim Line and Todd Young from the main flight, and were then unfortunate not to similarly despatch Peter Edwards and Simon Hughes for a place in the semis.
Abigail displayed an outstandingly focussed temperament for one so young which will stand her in good stead as she gains experience.
26/10/07: Forty-three takers in 2007 ......
The inaugural doubles series in 2006 attracted entries from a total of 32 pairs consisting of 33 different players.
2007 has surpassed those figures, with 43 pairs contesting the four events, coincidentally made up from 43 different players.
24/10/07: Another good Gammonitis event for Marcus
Marcus Wrinch is defying the trend which sees Bristol players playing less and less at national events, and to very good effect.
Whether or not this trend stems from the increasingly high standard of local events, which now afford so many opportunities to play at a competitive level, remains to be seen.
Last month Marcus reached the semi-final of the Gammonitis Highgate tournament, and this month he has repeated the feat at Gammonitis' Fifth Birthday tournament.
With only seventeen players contesting the main flight, Mark Dixon was unfortunate enough not to get one of the fifteen byes!
His misfortune did not end there, though -- he had to face John Clark, one of Britain's top players, at the preliminary stage. He won, however, and went on to defeat Malcolm Robertson.
Two other Bristol players present -- Marcus and Martin Hemming -- faced each other in the last sixteen, Marcus winning through.
While Mark was being eliminated by Julian Fetterlein, Marcus then progressed to the semis, where he was defeated by eventual runner-up Barry McAdam.
The action didn't end there, though, as both Mark and Marcus progressed well in the consolation flight, Marcus defeating Mark in the semi-finals, before succumbing to Malcolm Robertson.
One of Marcus' consolation opponents was Julian Fetterlein, who asked for a clock after Marcus had been involved in mild controversy at the previous event. Marcus timed his match perfectly, though, inflicting the coup de grace with just fourteen seconds of his time remaining!
Mark and Martin finished second and third in the Saturday evening poker.
23/10/07: Gaz take inaugural clock tournament title
It is perhaps ironic that the first ever Bristol clock tournament should take a long time to complete! But that cannot be put down to the clocks.
Finalists Mark Dixon and Gaz Owen finally got down to business at the Royal Oak, Clifton, this afternoon, and it was Gaz who claimed the honour of being the first such winner with a 7-0 success.
Gaz has also decided to provide the funds for a further clock -- the fifteenth we will have at our disposal when we start to have clock events regularly next year.
19/10/07: OCTOBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
There was not a great deal of league action, but the October grand prix event reached its conclusion at the BCSC on Thursday.
Another new player -- Juliet Begley -- was welcomed.
19/10/07: Neil takes October grand prix title ......
Neil Young defeated Peter Edwards 11-8 in the final of the October grand prix event at the BCSC.
Peter had earlier won the outstanding semi-final with Steffen Nowak, and thus taken a further step towards his inevitable OGP and IGP double.
Assuming the turnouts at the November and December events do not exceed 32 players, only Ian Preston can now overhaul Peter in the OGP -- and he needs to win both events without the aid of byes.
Neil moves up to fifth place in the OGP, and has booked his place in the 2008 Bristol Masters.
19/10/07: Ian and Tony finish their campaigns ......
Only two of thirty-one potential Premier League matches took place, and both were in Premier Two.
Ian Preston and Tony Walters finished their campaigns with defeats -- at the respective hands of Dave Pym and John Lewis.
19/10/07: Mike takes Conference centre stage ......
It was "tidy-up" time in the Conference, with three of five results stemming from previously adjourned encounters.
Derek Clew made his league debut after impressing at last week's tournament, and opened with an emphatic victory.
Todd Young was another winner, but the evening's start turn was undoubtedly Mike Gartside -- winner of all three of his matches.
After a hard fought double success against Simon Hughes, Mike finished off a long adjourned meeting with Peter Edwards with another win.
This nine points boost has elevated Mike into third place and stronger contention for promotion.
17/10/07: Neil reaches final
Neil Young this evening defeated Stuart Mann 7-4 at the Quarry, Yatton, to claim a place in the main flight final of the October grand prix event.
It is anticipated that the other semi-final -- between Peter Edwards and Steffen Nowak -- will be played tomorrow evening at the BCSC, possibly to be followed by the final.
15/10/07: Tony goes close at BIBA
Tony Lee, who last played in the Bristol Premier League in 2001, was runner-up at the recent BIBA Sandy Osborne Memorial at the Coventry Hilton -- a weekend tournament contested by just twenty-two players.
13/10/07: OCTOBER GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT NEWS ......
A great turnout of thirty players contested the October Bristol Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday.
The line-up included a debut for Derek Clew and a return after an absence of two and a half years by Nigel Mitchell.
13/10/07: Semis due for next week ......
Progress was a little slow in the main flight of the October Bristol Grand Prix event, and the semi-finals and final will probably be staged next week.
The pairings are Neil Young versus Stuart Mann and Peter Edwards against Steffen Nowak.
Neil progressed via a bye and wins over Ian Preston and Nick Barham, while Stuart defeated both Juanita and Steve Ferrer before despatching Ian Tarr.
Peter's victims were Cynthia Roberts, Mike Gartside and Ed Turner, while Richard Owsley, Roland Herrera and Steve Morris succumbed to Steffen.
13/10/07: Mike wins consolation flight ......
Mike Osborne achieved his first flight win of any kind when he won the consolation flight of Thursday's event.
He was fortunate to get the only first round bye, but took advantage, defeating Ian Preston and Pete Wright before his final win against Cynthia Roberts.
Cynthia had fought her way past Nigel Mitchell, Tony Walters and Marcus Wrinch.
13/10/07: Peter's grand prix monopoly a step closer ......
He may or may not win this month's tournament, but the Peter Edwards grand prix show is becoming something of a procession.
With just the closing stages of the main flight, plus two more tournaments to go, Peter's leads in the OGP and the IGP are now 157 and 338 respectively.
The pertinent question is: can he be caught in either competition?
The answer is: yes, possibly, but almost certainly not.
Looking at the OGP, and assuming that we don't get in excess of 32 players for either event, Peter's current score of 567 can only be surpassed by four other players.
Of those four Stuart Mann would need to win each of the October, November and December events, while Roland Herrera and Nick Barham would need to win the two remaining events.
Ian Preston has the luxury of the possibility of winning one and losing the other final.
All of this assumes, of course, that Peter will be unable to add to his points tally, and at the current rate of progress that would be a foolhardy assumption!
It's a similar story in the IGP, where Marcus Wrinch -- adrift of Peter by some 338 points -- is actually the only player within 702 points of him!
13/10/07: Rollover hopes depend on Steffen ......
Steffen Nowak is the only player left in Thursday's main flight not involved in the Winner Takes All pool, and will thus carry the best wishes of everyone bar Stuart Mann, Peter Edwards and Neil Young when he tries to take the title.
There's no rollover this month, but the kitty of £100 would still be welcomed by the other three contenders.
13/10/07: LEAGUE NEWS ......
Wednesday and Thursday saw some league action taking place at various venues.
13/10/07: Only a miracle can stop Mark ......
Mark Dixon's 11-0 win over Simon Baker at the Royal Oak, Clifton Village, on Thursday afternoon not only leaves Simon's hopes of top flight survival hanging by the slenderest of threads, but it also came within a whisker of ensuring that Mark will take his second Premier One title.
His fine average points difference means that the last hopes of Ian Tarr and Paul Watts have now totally disappeared, and only Stuart Mann can possibly thwart him.
Mark and Stuart are likely to meet soon, and if Mark can do anything better than a 1-11 defeat he is champion.
Even then Stuart would need whitewash victories in his double header with John Slattery, so the odds against Stuart are about as long as can be imagined.
13/10/07: Gaz almost there ......
An 11-2 win for Gaz Owen over Drew Caudwell at the BCSC on Thursday rewrote one or two league records.
Drew's all-time league losing sequence now stands at thirteen, while Gaz now has seven successive Premier Two victories under his belt -- a run only bettered four times in the history of that league.
More importantly, Gaz has now won thirteen times, and it is just possible that he may already have done enough to ensure promotion with two matches remaining.
Winning both matches would make it certain, while one win would make failure extremely unlikely.
13/10/07: Fourth promotion slot assured ......
Pete Wright's Brislington home on Wednesday evening was the unlikely venue where a fourth Conference promotion slot was opened up.
Pete became the eleventh player to cross the threshold of eight matches played when he won a double header against Lewis Young.
The Hen and Chicken, Bedminster, played host to another Conference match the same evening, when Simon Hughes completed his eleventh league match in a space of just six weeks, defeating third placed Cecilia Sparke 11-8 to keep his own promotion quest on track.
There were four matches adjourned at the BCSC on Thursday, but two matches were completed.
Peter Edwards drew level on points with leader Marcus Wrinch when he beat Mike Osborne, while Mandy Macdonald was celebrating a maiden league win at the expense of Todd Young.
05/10/07: Slatts' appeal upheld
John Slattery's appeal against the permanent imposition of two Premier One penalty points for being behind the schedule on July 31st has been upheld.
The three player sub-committee appointed to pass judgment -- each drawn from Premier Two and thus without a vested interest in the outcome -- agreed that John's absence from the country for such a great proportion of the year constituted exceptional circumstances within the meaning of the rules, and felt that he had made reasonable efforts to retrieve the situation by September 30th.
His pledge to complete the league season upon his return to the UK in November was also noted.
The league table now shows the two points restored to his total, while the two additional points provisionally incurred last week still -- of course -- appear until he completes the season by the end date, November 30th.
05/10/07: Steve loses two records
Thursday evening's session at the BCSC was billed as a jackpot evening, and several players enjoyed four player mini jackpot tournaments at various stakes.
But the evening featured a sub-plot of no little significance, as Peter Edwards decided to use the evening to further his Conference title claims.
This had the effect of encouraging Marcus Wrinch, who had arrived expecting to play in jackpots, to follow suit, and seven matches were concluded.
Peter took advantage of the reappearance of Sebastian Akkam, now a York resident, to get in a double header.
The first match had been adjourned a few months back with Peter 7-6 ahead, but Sebastian hit back to win. Peter was to get his revenge later with a whitewash.
Marcus defeated Mike Osborne -- another who had tunred up expecting jackpot action -- and the Conference evening was completed by Simon Hughes completing double headers against both of he top two.
It is probably true to say that no single player in Conference history has ever tackled a cumulative task as great as Simon took on last night, given that his two opponents must rank amongst the best players ever to play at this level.
The fact that Simon lost all four matches may be a disappointment, but the fact that three of the matches were close, and he scored as many as 27 points in the process should give him some encouragement as he looks to challenge for promotion on the run in.
Simon last night became the tenth player to complete eight or more matches, so just one more will confirm a fourth promotion slot becoming available.
Marcus and Peter plough on inexorably, and each claimed a Conference record last night at the expense of Steve Morris.
It was only last season that Steve set new single season records for (a) the number of Conference matches played, and (b) the number of Conference matches won.
Peter claimed the first of those records with his twenty-ninth result (his defeat of Sebastian), and Marcus -- who quite remarkably has still only lost one of his twenty-three matches -- set the new record of twenty-two wins with his second success against Simon.
No doubt both records will be revised several times over the next few weeks.
Six jackpots were contested, the winners of which were (entry stake in parentheses): Sebastian Akkam (£20), Richard Owsley (£5), Simonetta Herrera (£10), Roland Herrera (£20), Steve Morris (£5), and Tim Line (£10).
01/10/07: Four in penalty strife
The September 30th midnight checkpoint has passed, and four players have penalty issues.
In Premier One John Slattery has submitted an appeal against the firming up of the two points incurred for being behind the schedule at the July checkpoint. He has incurred two more penalties for still being two matches adrift this time.
Simon Baker has also incurred a single penalty point, which -- like Slatts' latest two -- will be clawed back if he can finish the season on time.
The two transgressors in Premier Two were Elliot Smart (2 points), and John Lewis (1 point). These can also be clawed back subject to timely completion of the season.
Slatts' appeal will, as per the rules, be heard by a committee of three impartial players to be appointed by Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr during the next couple of days.
30/09/07: Martin safe in a canter
Martin Hemming's apparent fixation with horses has corresponded with quite a decent trot of results.
Friday's double victory at the Black Horse was followed today by a single win at the Bay Horse, Broadmead -- 11-8 over Ed Turner.
Now fourth in Premier One on 33 points with a single match to play, Martin should be safe from relegation.
Meanwhile Ed will need to win his final match to be absolutely sure of staying up.
And Mike Gartside reported two Conference results -- a defeat at the hands of Cecilia Sparke, and a victory over Lewis Young.
Mike thus becomes the ninth player to reach the threshold of eight Conference results during the season. Two more will open up a fourth promotion slot.
He is in the running for one of those places. Having won three quarters of his matches he is now in sixth place, just behind Lewis.
Cecilia's win consolidates her third place.
28/09/07: Martin's double over Phil
The Black Horse at Amberley, near Stroud, was the venue for a Premier One double header this afternoon.
And Martin Hemming made home advantage count when he scored two 11-3 victories over Phil Charlton.
Phil had the minor consolation of meeting the September 30th penalty avoidance criteria, and has clawed back the penalty he incurred in July.
He is now in the bottom four, however, and will need something positive from his last two matches to avoid the drop.
Martin's relegation fears have receded, but he too will want to win at least one of his final two matches to be safe.
28/09/07: SEPTEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT REVIEW ......
More than twenty players were present at the BCSC on Thursday for the September league night. Thirteen actually got in some league action, while a couple of outstanding finals were played, and -- as so often happens -- a chouette closed out the evening.
And French Riviera native Alain de Foucher -- who works in Cardiff -- made his first visit.
28/09/07: Mixed fortunes for Paul ......
John Paton dealt a blow to Paul Gilbertson's Premier Two title hopes when he scored an 11-4 win early in last night's session. Paul recovered to pip Alan Parfitt, and is back in the top four.
Nobody can now surpass Ann Pocknell's tally of 45 points, but Paul, along with Miles Farren and Gaz Owen can still equal it, while Elliot Smart can make it to 42, which is still likely to be enough to clinch promotion.
Despite the fact that there are still three head to head clashes between promotion contenders to come, it remains the case that only Ann can definitely be sure of top flight backgammon next year.
Neil Young and -- tenuously -- Blaine Buchanan still retain their outside interest in proceedings.
Phillip Hill and Steffen Nowak were double winners last night, while Richard Owsley ensured that Drew Caudwell left the club with an unwanted record -- that of the all-time longest losing sequence in Bristol league backgammon.
28/09/07: Phil suffers further title blow ......
Having suffered defeat two days earlier, Phil Charlton returned to the BCSC to meet Ed Turner in the only top flight clash of the evening.
Ed scored an 11-8 win, and is thus almost safe from the threat of relegation. Meanwhile Phil's chances of taking the title have all but disappeared, but there is still a good chance of getting amongst the prize money.
28/09/07: Marcus back on top ......
A Thursday afternoon visit to the Wellington, Horfield, saw Marcus Wrinch gaining the three points he needed to get back to the top of the Conference league table.
His whitewash of John Sprague was followed at the BCSC with the evening's only other result -- an 11-6 win over new Conference player Mandy Macdonald.
A recent emailed call to arms by Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
This was an attempt to fire the imagination of a whole clutch of Conference players who have a very real chance of clinching Premier League backgammon for next season.
Simon Hughes did heed the call, but had a right to expect more than the half a match he played against Peter Edwards, who was understandably diverted by the need to fit in the main final of this month's grand prix tournament.
28/09/07: Peter scoops third grand prix win ......
Martin Hemming's record haul of four grand prix wins in a single year is under threat!
Peter Edwards yesterday made it three this year when he defeated Ann Pocknell in the held over final of Lesters LXIV.
The win leaves him with near impregnable leads in both the OGP and the IGP.
And a quirky by-product of this run of success is that Peter has garnered a clutch of 2008 Bristol Masters places for his Conference colleagues, something which may indicate a pending adjustment of the rules for 2009 qualification!
Marcus Wrinch will assuredly be one of the three beneficiaries, but it's anybody's guess who will take up the other places.
28/09/07: Marcus pips Mandy in Handicap final ......
The September Handicap knock-out event was finally completed last night when Marcus Wrinch met Mandy Macdonald in the main final.
The handicapper gave Mandy a three points start, and this was almost enough to give her a title win at the very first attempt. Indeed at 6-1 up she was an average roll away from closing out the match.
It didn't happen, and Marcus clawed his way back to victory.
Marcus moves up to second place in the Handicap Trophy table, 30 points behind leader Ed Turner with just one event remaining.
26/09/07: Michael close to safety
Two 11-6 victories at the BCSC last night have brought Michael Corbett very close to clinching another season in Premier One.
His first victim, Phil Charlton, now sees his title odds lengthening from long to extremely long, and leader Mark Dixon now knows that winning his last two matches will confirm his second championship.
Mike Smith was the second player to suffer, and despite clawing back the two penalty points incurred in July, he must win all of his three remaining matches to stand a chance of avoiding the drop.
24/09/07: Blaine suffers promotion blow
Alan Parfitt has unleashed a stunning blow to Blaine Buchanan's Premier Two promotion hopes.
The 11-9 result ensures that Blaine -- like Alan -- now has only a very slim mathematical chance of finishing in the top four.
22/09/07: Miles almost up, and Gaz gets ever closer
League action has continued over the past two or three days, as the jockeying for final positions becomes more intense.
The most significant development was Miles Farren's 11-6 victory over John Lewis at the BCSC on Thursday. Despite Miles' celebrations, however, this has not quite confirmed his promotion from Premier Two, although it would take a bizarre selection of results to thwart him.
He can now, with the reasonable certainty of promotion under his belt, target the championship itself, by winning his final match against fellow contender Paul Gilbertson. If he can win by four or more points, he will overhaul leader Ann Pocknell.
His only potential chanpionship problem then would come from the winner of the outstanding Paul Gilbertson:Gaz Owen encounter.
That player would then have the opportunity to pip Miles on average points difference, but a single defeat would be enough to put Miles out of their reach.
Gaz, who came into this season as the least experienced of all Premier Two players, seemed destined for a satisfactory mid-table placing when he won six of his first eleven Premier Two matches. Since then, however, he has won six in a row, including Thursday's emphatic victory over Steffen Nowak at the King William, and his chances of playing top flight backgammon next year are looking strong.
Also in the race is Elliot Smart, who can make it to 42 points by winning his last five matches, having defeated Richard Owsley on Thursday at the BCSC.
Meanwhile Blaine Buchanan and Neil Young must win their final two matches apiece and hope that others falter on the run in.
The Wellington, in Horfield, has recently been the focus for Conference action.
It is here that the "Young Roadshow" has been clocking up appearances.
Todd Young was hoping to push on from his fourth position on Wednesday when he took on Simon Hughes in a double header. Simon won both matches, however, and on Friday it was Lewis Young's turn.
Lewis scored his fourth successive league win, defeating David Olmo, and moved above his younger brother into fourth place.
Simon, who only made his debut appearance three weeks ago, has already won four Conference matches, and is one of a whole clutch of players in with a real chance of promotion with over two months of the season remaining.
The best guess at the number of promotion slots that will finally be available -- under the formula based on participation levels -- is between four and five.
Since everyone from third place right down to eleventh has between eight and four wins in the bag, there is considerable scope for some exciting developments on the run in.
22/09/07: Peter in another final
Peter Edwards may have missed out on the Intermediates Trophy title on Thursday, but he took another big step towards taking both the OGP and IGP titles when he beat Ian Preston in the semi-final of last week's Lesters Trophy event.
He now faces Ann Pocknell in the final, probably next Thursday at the BCSC.
Victory in that match would increase his OGP lead from 102 points to 142, and his IGP lead from 268 to 318.
22/09/07: Intermediates spurn chance of glory (and champagne)
The annual opportunity for all non Premier Status players to grab a title passed with barely a murmur at the BCSC on Thursday evening, when just seven players turned up to contest the sixth incarnation of the Bristol Intermediates Trophy.
Whilst admittedly never the most well attended event in the Bristol Backgammon calendar -- previous attendances had ranged between eight and fifteen -- the turnout was a distinct disappointment, especially bearing in mind the generous gesture of 2006 winner Steve Morris, who provided a bottle of bubbly for the winner, and the fact that Jim Best did the 250 mile round trip from Plymouth to be there.
It was suggested that one reason for the apathy might have centred around the two players -- Peter Edwards and Marcus Wrinch -- who have been head and shoulders above all Bristol intermediates so far this year. If they are so good, the reasoning went, then what would be the point of anybody else turning up. If that were true it would be a damning indictment of the rest of the current crop of developing players.
When Peter and Marcus came out of the hat in opposing sides of the draw, there was a feeling that they could meet in the final, and so it proved.
Marcus was first to get there, with victories over the Young brothers -- Todd and Lewis. Meanwhile Peter was despatching Hayley Young and Simon Hughes on his way to the final.
Marcus took the first game of the final, then Marcus regretted a cube decision when going 1-4 down. But after that, Peter never managed another point.
Thus Peter's chances of helping himself to a fantastic four title haul have eveporated, although two of them seem to be nailed on at this stage.
For Marcus, this was just another step along the road to better things which have appeared inevitable almost from the first moment he competed, earlier this year.
19/09/07: Phil and Paul make progress in Premier One
Two more results are in as the Premier One season approaches its climax.
Phil Charlton -- still in with a chance of a late run to the title -- did his hopes no harm at all with an 11-6 win over Mike Smith at the Miners Arms, St Werburghs, yesterday evening.
And this afternoon Paul Watts played host to Simon Baker in Redfield. The welcome did not extend to giving Simon the points, as Paul scored an 11-7 victory to keep his hopes of having a say in the title race very much alive.
Phil's result means that Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr will not be faced with having to deal with any expungements in either division of the Premier League this year.
18/09/07: Ian falters in title quest
A Premier One double header at the New Inn, Pwllmeyric, this afternoon saw Ian Tarr lose ground in the title race, despite moving into second place in the league.
Hoping for a brace of victories over Michael Corbett to keep the pressure firmly on favourite Mark Dixon, Ian started well by taking the first match 11-3.
But the return encounter was a much tighter affair, Michael eventually clinching an 11-8 win.
Because of Mark's vastly superior points difference, the only way Ian can now win the title is by winning his two remaining games, while Mark is losing both of his.
Even then, Stuart Mann could pip Ian by winning his final three matches, one of which is against Mark.
If Mark were to win his matches, he could only be thwarted by Phil Charlton, with a seven match winning run in.
14/09/07: Busy day for Michael
Michael Corbett spent much of his day catching up with some Premier One fixtures.
A visit to Bishopston this afternoon featured a dramatic comeback from 0-8 to record a stunning 11-8 win over Simonetta Herrera.
But this evening there was no way back for Michael, when he lost a double header to Ed Turner 11-4 and 11-8.
The wins elevate Ed from the relegation zone right up to the top half of the table.
14/09/07: ALL THE NEWS FROM LESTERS LXIV ......
Twenty-five players contested the sixty-fourth Lesters Trophy event at the BCSC on Thursday evening, while two others were present for league matches.
14/09/07: Ann makes the final again ......
Ann Pocknell made only her second Bristol Grand Prix excursion on Thursday, and is again amongst the prize money.
Having won the July event, she reached the final of Lesters LXIV with wins over Gaz Owen, Simon Baker, George Jakeway and Ian Tarr.
The current plan is to play the final at the BCSC on the Thursday 27th league night, although who her opponent will be will not become known until next week, when semi-finalists Peter Edwards and Ian Preston will meet.
Ian scored wins over Neil Young, Stuart Mann and Simonetta Herrera to reach the semis, while Peter was defeating Jim Best, Steve Morris and Dave Pym.
14/09/07: Neil pips Tim for consolation prize ......
Neil Young snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the consolation final of Lesters LXIV, pipping Tim Line at the death.
Neil's run to the final came via wins against Gaz Owen, Simon Hughes and Jim Best.
Tim's victims were Simon Baker and Roland Herrera.
14/09/07: Peter builds on OGP and IGP leads ......
It is becoming increasingly likely that we will have the first instance of a player winning both the OGP and the IGP.
The player in with a great chance of achieving this feat is Peter Edwards, whose run to the semi-finals has moved him 72 points ahead in the OGP and 303 ahead in the IGP.
While the IGP now looks to be beyond even the reach of second placed Marcus Wrinch, Peter may still have a little work to do in the OGP.
But if he were to overcome Ian Preston in the semis and Ann Pocknell in the final, that lead would look a lot more impressive at 142 points.
The importance of the semi-final becomes even greater, given that Ian is in second place, and can move to within two points of Peter's tally by going on to win the tournament.
Ian overhauled Roland Herrera last night, while Nick Barham and Ian Tarr lost ground on the leaders despite scoring respectably.
Ann would move up to ninth in the table with a final win, not a bad effort for someone who has only turned up twice!
Discards become all the more important at this stage of the season, as most of the contenders have played at least seven events.
Peter has scored so consistently that his two outstanding matches represent his best scoring opportunity for the remainder of the season. In each of the last three events, he will need to score 40 points before he even begins to add to his score.
In the IGP not much changed, although Jim Best and George Jakeway moved into the top eight, both aided by bonus points.
14/09/07: Ian carries rollover hopes ......
There was already £70 in the Winner Takes All pool kitty before last night, and a further fourteen players invested to raise the total to £210.
Whether or not there will be a further rollover deoends entirely on Ian Preston's ability to win the event.
Ian, a habitual non-entrant of this pool, will be carrying the hopes of many a well-wisher against Peter Edwards and, hopefully, Ann Pocknell.
Three players retain an interest in the pre-tournament auction of players. Peter bought himself, while Ian Tarr invested wisely in Ann, and Cynthia Roberts has further reason to support Ian Preston's progress.
14/09/07: Gaz closes on Premier Two leaders ......
Gaz Owen may have drawn a blank in Thursday's tournament, but the evening was certainly not a failure for him.
He fitted in a brace of Premier Two matches, scoring a couple of emphatic victories to lift himself closer into promotion contention.
And the fact that his second success was against promotion rival Elliot Smart made it all the more satisfying.
A match and a half were also played in Premier One, with Paul Watts and Simon Baker in opposition.
Paul edged the first encounter, and holds a narrow lead in the adjourned return.
14/09/07: Ed increases Handicap Trophy lead ......
Ed Turner took the consolation final of last week's Handicap knock-out on Thursday evening and, with just one of those events to go, is well placed to take the Handicap Trophy title, holding a 35 points lead.
Peter Edwards had earlier beaten Neil Young in the outstanding semi to set up his final clash with Ed.
Marcus Wrinch can reduce Ed's lead by five points by winning the outstanding main final, against Mandy Macdonald.
12/09/07: More positions to look at
Interesting submissions from Mark Dixon and Richard Owsley are the latest to be featured in our match archives.
12/09/07: Lewis goes fifth
The race for promotion places from the Conference continues to gather pace.
Latest to make a positive move is Lewis Young, who scored a brace of victories over Simon Hughes at the Wellington, Horfield, this evening.
There's some scope for a little family rivalry as Lewis moves up to fifth place, just one behind his younger brother Todd Young.
At the moment, there are three guaranteed promotion slots, but it is anticipated that this number will rise to either four or five, under the formula based on overall participation levels in the competition.
09/09/07: Cecilia moves into promotion bracket
Cecilia Sparke defeated Mike Gartside 11-2 at the Windmill this evening to move into the third Conference promotion slot, displacing Todd Young.
With the top two slots apparently safe in the possession of Peter Edwards and Marcus Wrinch, the race should hot up for third -- which is a guaranteed promotion slot -- and fourth -- which probably will be before too long.
These places are realistic targets for everyone in the league, and the remaining dozen or so weeks of the season will surely provide many a twist.
09/09/07: SEPTEMBER HANDICAP TROPHY NEWS ......
A magnificent complement of twenty-eight players contested the fifth of our six Handicap Trophy events at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
Included in that event were debuts for Mandy Macdonald, who had previously attended a new players evening, and Paul Parsons.
Another player, John Lewis got in a league match, following this by taking the weight off Ian Tarr by directing the tournament until 10pm.
09/09/07: Mandy and Marcus make the main final ......
Mandy Macdonald celebrated her competitive debut by making the most of her 4 handicap and storming to the final of the Handicap knock-out main flight on Thursday.
Wins over Neil Young, Cynthia Roberts and John Sprague earned Mandy her final meeting with Marcus Wrinch, whose victims were Tim Line, Simonetta Herrera, Juanita Ferrer and Simon Hughes.
The decision on a date and venue for this match has not yet been taken.
09/09/07: Ed in consolation final ......
Ed Turner made it to the consolation flight final on Thursday evening. His victories over Hayley Young and Tarim saw him through, but he will have to wait to see who he plays in the final.
The other semi, between Peter Edwards and Neil Young, had to wait for another day.
09/09/07: Can Ed win his own event? ......
Handicap Trophy sponsor Ed Turner is now twenty points clear of the Handicap Trophy field, after his run to the consolation final.
He can increase that lead to as much as 35 points by winning the outstanding final, but on the other hand sixth placed Marcus Wrinch can leapfrog into second place just fifteen points adrift of Ed's current tally by winning the main final.
Whatever the outcome of the remaining matches, it looks as though at least nine players will have a chance of the title when the final leg of this season's competition comes along at the tail end of November.
And thirteen-year-old Lewis Young is certainly one of those players, having moved into second place with a couple of useful wins on Thursday.
09/09/07: John moves out of bottom two ......
John Lewis defeated Cynthia Roberts to move above her, and out of the bottom two places in Premier Two on Thursday evening.
With six matches left, John has the chance to improve further on his current position, although he will not trouble the leaders.
09/09/07: Marcus closes on Peter ......
Three Conference results were registered on Thursday.
Lewis Young's match with George Palframan, previously adjourned at 10-9 in George's favour, took a final twist and Lewis recorded a rare league victory.
But in the battle for the top two places, it was Marcus Wrinch's day, as he recovered from last week's unfamiliar experience to defeat Todd Young, while Peter was being defeated by Mike Osborne.
Marcus is now just three points behind Peter with seven matches in hand.
09/09/07: Tim wins clock consolation ......
Tim Line apparently has a very short memory.
When picking up his cash prize for winning the consolation flight of the inaugural clock tournament -- he beat Steve Ferrer for the honour -- he surprised many by proclaiming his first ever flight win in Bristol.
So was his win over Steve Miles in the consolation flight of the July grand prix event such a painful experience that it had been erased from his memory banks?
Just for the record, then, we'll congratulate Tim on his second flight win this year, and his third overall -- the other grand prix consolation success, against Ian Tarr in October 2005, was at least long enough ago to be a little more forgettable.
06/09/07: Defeat hits Blaine's promotion hopes ......
There was another new venue for Bristol Backgammon last night.
At the Banco Lounge, Totterdown, Steffen Nowak scored an 11-8 victory over Blaine Buchanan, which was a blow to Blaine's chances of gaining promotion from Premier Two.
The minor damage to his average ponts difference was still enough to drop him below Neil Young and Paul Gilbertson into fifth place, and he now needs to win his final two matches to stand a chance of going up.
31/08/07: AUGUST LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Twenty-four players were in action at the eighth league night of 2007 at the BCSC last night, mostly -- of course -- in league action, but others were tying up loose ends in three outstanding knock-out finals.
And the Conference welcomed another new player, locally based Simon Hughes.
31/08/07: Stuart suffers double blow ......
Starting the evening as favourite, Stuart Mann left the BCSC as an outsider for the Premier One title on Thursday night.
Defeat at the hands of his main championship rival Mark Dixon followed an earlier reverse at Simonetta Herrera's hands, and Stuart knows that unless he can win the return match against Mark his title dream will be over.
If he can win that, and his two matches against John Slattery, he has a chance, provided he can bridge a thirty point difference gap, although the task becomes easier if Mark fails to defeat Simon Baker in his other match.
Also very much in the title race is Ian Tarr, who could only be caught by Mark and Phil Charlton if he were to win his final four matches. In Phil's case, that would take seven straight wins, however.
Paul Watts, Michael Corbett, Simonetta and Slatts all retain minute mathematical chances of taking the title, dependent in some cases on the ability to reclaim penalty points.
As for the relegation zone, a k a the bottom four, only the top three can claim at this stage to be safe.
Thirty points might be enough to survive, or might not. Michael Corbett and Martin Hemming need fifty-fifty records to reach that mark, while Ed Turner, Simon, and Mike Smith need to do a little better than that.
It would be unwise to rule anything out, however. Mike Smith looked a strong favourite for relegation until he won three of four matches last night, including a stunning double success against Slatts.
Slatts, who has been out of the UK far more than he has been in it this season, came from his High Wycombe base on a mission to (a) avoid the ignominy of expungement, (b) at least get close to his penalty avoidance target, and (c) grab some wins to catapult himself into the thick of the title race.
In this third aim he was thwarted, winning only one of his four matches on the evening. And he is off again to Thailand after the weekend for a further two month stint.
31/08/07: Miles one step closer to his goal ......
Miles Farren, strongly placed to secure promotion from Premier Two at the first attempt, took another sizeable step towards achieving that goal with a victory over Dave Pym.
His thirteen wins could conceivably already be enough, although victory in at least one of his two remaining fixtures should ensure his place in the top flight next season.
With the majority of the top half either finished or absent, his win was the only positive move at the sharp end of the league.
With Ann Pocknell long since promoted, Paul Gilbertson, Blaine Buchanan, Gaz Owen, Neil Young and Elliot Smart are the other realistic contenders.
Other victories on the night were scored by Dave Pym, Steve Morris and Cynthia Roberts, whose two wins lifted her from the bottom of the table.
31/08/07: Mike ends Marcus' great run ......
It had to happen sooner or later.
Marcus Wrinch has lost a Conference match.
His run of sixteen victories since arriving in league backgammon in January remains a record for the Conference, a record for any single league season, and of course, a record sequence at the start of a league season.
The one record he couldn't catch was Rosey Bensley's all time best winning league sequence of seventeen, when she won her last fifteen matches in the 2001 Conference and followed that by winning her first two encounters in Premier Two the following season.
His conqueror was Mike Osborne, who has flitted in and out of Bristol Backgammon competition (more out than in) during the last four years, and clearly has the potential to do well if he plays more.
Mike also beat Cecilia Sparke, and other winners were Cecilia and Simon Hughes, who celebrated his debut with a double success over David Olmo.
31/08/07: Peter progresses on all fronts ......
Peter Edwards is rapidly becoming a star player in Bristol Backgammon circles.
Having tackled his Conference season in a manner designed to leave nothing to chance, Premier League backgammon is a certainty for him next season.
There are, of course, other ways to ensure qualification, including three which Peter already seems to have taped.
A top ten finish in the OGP or a top two finish in the IGP will also get you there, as will two main flight wins in Bristol Grand Prix events.
This last criterion was met last night at the BCSC when Peter followed his success in the March Lesters event by winning the August grand prix final at Ian Tarr's expense.
The points gained leave him a very handy 52 points ahead of OGP second placer Roland Herrera, with a whopping 223 point advantage over Marcus Wrinch in the IGP.
If that was the main story for Peter last night, it wasn't the only one.
There was also the matter of the final of the August Consulting Doubles event, where Peter, partnered by Ian Preston, was victorious against Marcus and Tony Walters.
Peter and Ian are now first and second respectively in the CDGP table.
A note of caution should be inserted here. Peter is currently "only" equal third in the Handicap Trophy, so his year cannot yet be considered perfect!
Another final to be decided was that of the August Handicap Knock-out consolation flight, where Ed Turner prevailed against Marcus, for whom the evening was a blank one.
31/08/07: Masters boost for Conference players ......
Peter Edwards' victory in the August grand prix event has provided a boost for Conference players.
Qualification for the 2008 Bristol Masters, like every other year, already includes a space for a Conference high finisher.
Since Peter had already booked his place in March, Marcus Wrinch could be said to be nailed on for this high finisher place, unless of course, he finds success in one of the four remaining instalments of the grand prix season.
But because Peter now has a dual qualification, the rules state that his league benefits from that extra slot.
It is thus guaranteed that at least three Conference players will be Masters qualifiers this time.
Another group to benefit from Peter's latest success will be the participants of the September grand prix knock-out, which doubles as Lesters LXIV.
Peter neglected to enter the Winner Takes All pool in the August event, so there will be a £70 rollover in the kitty on September 13th.
25/08/07: Quality double by Ann
Mark Dixon has submitted a position from Thursday's tournament for everyone's perusal.
It depicts a doubling decision against Mark by Ann Pocknell, and is a demosntartion of the fact that you don't necessarily need to be ahead to make a valid double offer.
If you have any interesting positions, let's put them on the website, on the Bristol match archives page.
24/08/07: Clock tournament a decided hit
If further evidence were needed that backgammon is alive and kicking in the Bristol area, last night's session at the BCSC would have provided the incontrovertible proof.
What was originally billed as a sixteen player all clock tournament elicited such a response that it evolved into a "mostly" clock event contested by no fewer than twenty-nine players, including a welcome debut player, Nick Martin, who will hopefully be back for more.
With nine clocks available -- Stuart Mann added his own to the pool of eight clocks already provided by several worthy sponsors -- Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr performed something of a juggling exercise to ensure that (a) every match after the first round of both flights had a clock and (b) every player had at least one match with a clock.
Ian had decided not to play, given the possible complexity of the new venture. This was slightly ironic, given that it was his own slightly "unfortunate" experience in this year's British Open final that had inspired him to endeavour to ensure that no Bristol player would ever need to feel similarly disadvantaged in the future.
And on the evidence of yesterday evening, clock events in Bristol are here to stay!
Clocks have now been provided for Bristol Backgammon by Mark Dixon and Ian (two apiece), Roland Herrera, Ed Turner, Paul Watts and Marcus Wrinch.
Add to this the facts that: Stuart's clock is now on "permanent loan" to Bristol Backgammon; three other players, namely Tim Line, Steve Morris and Ann Pocknell, have now provided the funds for further clocks; and others have also promised to do likewise.
The 2008 Bristol Backgammon calendar will include regular clock-only events thanks to the generosity of these players, and Ian is looking at possible additions and/or amendments to the remainder of this year's programme to accommodate clock events.
As for Thursday evening, the BCSC was pulsating with backgammon action.
To the twenty-nine players in the main event add the Director, plus four others who got in some league action, and two more who played a friendly -- a grand total of thirty-six players in one room, not bad at all.
There was a further irony in the evening's proceedings. Using BIBA's timing rules, not a single player fell foul of the time allowances, and both finals have had to be held over. The view that all would be done and dusted in a single session was a false one.
Closest to using up their 14 minutes allowance (using the 12-second delay feature) in the first to seven points matches were Mark Dixon, who clinched first round victory over Marcus Wrinch with exactly two minutes remaining, Mark again -- with just 66 seconds left when he despatched Ann in the quarter-finals -- and Phillip Hill, who had 104 seconds left when he went down to Gaz Owen at the same stage.
Gaz and Mark will contest the main final at some future time and place, while Tim Line and Steve Ferrer will meet in the consolation final.
Click here for the full results of the inaugural clock tournament.
Meanwhile, there was some league action. In Premier One Phil Charlton pipped Paul Watts, and Steffen Nowak was on the wrong end of a sixteen cube against Ian Preston in Premier Two.
In the Conference Todd Young played twice, losing to Marcus Wrinch and defeating league debutant David Olmo.
Marcus thus set a new record for successive Conference wins (sixteen), and is just one away from equalling the all-time record for all Bristol leagues, currently held by Rosey Bensley.
Nick Barham and Phillip Hill won the adjourned consolation final of the August doubles event, defeating Steve Morris and David Olmo. Nick is now just 25 points off the CDGP lead, although leader Peter Edwards and second placed Ian Preston will move further ahead if they win the outstanding main final from the same event next Thursday.
17/08/07: Record turnout at doubles
The third of this year's Consulting Doubles Grand Prix events featured the highest turnout yet for one of these competitions.
Twelve pairs contested the event, and there were two more debut players -- locally based Kelly Werrett and visiting Mexican student David Olmo, both of whom sampled the sweet taste of victory during the evening.
Joint doubles grand prix leaders Nick Barham and Peter Edwards were victims of Director Ian Tarr's policy of keeping apart the top players after Peter's recent steep rise up the Bristol Rankings, so the new table now features an individual outright leader.
The main flight saw Peter reach the final with his new partner, Ian Preston, himself a contender for doubles honours.
In the final they will meet Marcus Wrinch and Tony Walters.
The consolation flight final was adjourned with the protagonists -- Nick and Phillip Hill and Steve Morris and David Olmo -- level at 2-all.
Peter leads the grand prix table, with Nick second and Ian Preston third. Peter and Ian can, of course, add to their respective tallies by winning the main final, while Nick can do likewise in the consolation final.
10/08/07: Martin back in circulation
In Bristol Backgammon action for the first time since April, Martin Hemming shared the spoils of a pair of Premier One matches at Ian Tarr's in Redfield this afternoon.
He fought back from 0-10 in the first match to lose narrowly at 9-11, and when the boot was on the other foot Ian's fightback from 2-9 down resulted in an 11-6 win for Martin.
10/08/07: AUGUST GRAND PRIX REVIEW ......
There were twenty entries for the August Bristol Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday, and another player completed two league fixtures.
10/08/07: Peter and Ian reach August Grand prix final ......
Peter Edwards and Ian Tarr will contest the final of the main flight of the August Grand Prix tournament.
Peter defeated Jim Best, Steve Morris and Ian Preston en route to the final, while Ian was beating Roland Herrera, Marcus Wrinch and Simonetta Herrera.
10/08/07: Roland thwarts a Martin repeat ......
Martin Potter, whose Bristol Grand Prix appearances have always been in August, just failed to repeat his 2006 August consolation flight win, losing Thursday's final to Roland Herrera.
Martin fought his way past George Jakeway, Nick Barham and Jim Best, while Roland's victims were John Sprague and Neil Young.
10/08/07: Peter leads both grand prix tables ......
Peter Edwards run to the final of Thursday's tournament sees him on top of both grand prix tables.
His IGP lead over Marcus Wrinch is now up to 168 points, and this will be extended to 203 if he can win that final.
Meanwhile, in the OGP, leader Ian Preston has dropped two places despite reaching the semi-finals on Thursday.
August is the first month where discards are a factor, and the four ever presents -- Ian, Ian Tarr, Neil Young and Tony Walters -- are the first to feel the effect.
Roland Herrera's consolation flight win secured him just enough points to overhaul Ian, while Peter has leapfrogged both players into a 17 points lead, which would rise to 52 if he can win the final.
Ian Tarr will remain fifth even if he beats Peter. He would, however, close to within 67 points.
10/08/07: Peter carries rollover hopes ......
Hopes of a Winner Takes All pool rollover rest with Peter Edwards in the forthcoming final of the August tournament.
Defeating Ian Tarr would ensure a £70 starting pot for the September pool.
10/08/07: Drew defeats equal record ......
Drew Caudwell completed two Premier Two fixtures on Thursday, and emphatic defeats at the hands of Phillip Hill and Nick Barham have brought him a share of a record he would not have wanted.
The second defeat was Drew's eleventh successive reverse, equalling Cynthia Roberts all time league losing sequence from 2006.
04/08/07: Leo's handicap will need adjusting!
Berlin based English teacher Leo Waters, visiting his mother in Somerset, took in the fourth of our Handicap Trophy events at the BCSC on Thursday, and walked away with the main prize.
The "special introductory offer" of the maximum handicap (4) was clearly inappropriate in Leo's case, and when he next visits he may find this has been revised!
During wins over Ed Turner, Peter Edwards, Stuart Mann and finally Lewis Young Leo showed enough quality to suggest that even a handicap of one point might be a generous one.
Lewis defeated his father Neil Young, Ian Tarr and Ian Preston on his way to the final to augment his points tally by 65 for a share of third place in the latest table.
Blaine Buchanan missed out on an opportunity to stretch his 30 points lead, when he failed to record a victory in Thursday's event.
The effect of this was to allow a raft of seven challengers to line up within 40 points of Blaine, including Ed Turner, who can equal Blaine's score by winning the outstanding consolation flight final against Marcus Wrinch, which may take place next Thursday.
Ed got past Roland Herrera, Todd Young and debut player Hayley Young to reach the final, while Marcus's victims were Blaine and John Sprague.
04/08/07: Marcus among the records
Marcus Wrinch's extraordinary Conference campaign continues apace.
His fifteenth match yielded a fifteenth victory, which -- perhaps surprisingly -- has not yet claimed all possible league sequence records.
What he has long since ensured is that he holds the record for the longest sequence of victories at the start of any league season -- having eclipsed Steve Ferrer's extraordinary twelve match run at the start of the 2005 Premier Two season.
With his victory over Paul Glasson on Thursday he has now equalled Rosey Bensley's 2001 record of consecutive Conference wins, so needs one more to claim this one outright.
Rosey has one further record which Marcus threatens, however. In 2002 she extended her winning league sequence by a further two to seventeen at the commencement of the Premier Two season.
So Marcus still has a little work to do.
01/08/07: Five incur Premier One penalties
The third Premier One checkpoint came and went at midnight, and no fewer than five players have collected penalties.
Mike Smith has been hit hardest of all, as he needed at least to match the penalty avoidance target, not only to avoid new penalties, but also to claw back the single point he was docked at the May 31st checkpoint.
That point now becomes "permanent", i.e. it will stand unless Mike submits an appeal.
The points incurred at midnight -- three for Paul Watts, two each for Mike and John Slattery, and one each for Phil Charlton and Michael Corbett -- can, of course, be clawed back if the players comply with the requirements of the September checkpoint.
But now they have all put pressure on themselves because of the need to report between five and seven results during August and September.
The Premier Two checkpoint passed without incident.
28/07/07: Follow Stuart's latest win, blow by blow
Thursday night's epic Premier One encounter between Stuart Mann and Simonetta Herrera can now be viewed, move by move.
The match, which Stuart won 11-9 after an epic 150-move final game, was recorded by Roland Herrera, and can be viewed on Roland's website.
Snowie's analysis rates both players at expert level.
Roland's site now has a collection of recorded matches. Check out the menu.
27/07/07: JULY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Twenty league players attended the seventh league night of 2007 at the BCSC last night, although three didn't get any league action.
27/07/07: Ann is up! ......
Devon's finest, Ann Pocknell, will play in Premier One next season.
She finished her Premier Two campaign yesterday with a defeat by Nick Barham and a victory over John Paton, and has set a target of 45 points (15 wins) for the other championship contenders to aim at.
After last night's matches only Paul Gilbertson can exceed her points tally, while three other players -- Miles Farren, Gaz Owen and Elliot Smart -- can equal it. But because points will be dropped by one or more of these contenders, Ann's place in the elite division is assured.
While fourteen wins should ensure promotion, thirteen will be seen as a minimum requirement. Miles and Paul are odds on to reach that mark.
Blaine Buchanan, Neil Young, Gaz and Elliot all have realistic chances of getting there, while Richard Owsley, Dave Pym or Alan Parfitt could conceivably put themselves in the frame with scintillating finishes.
And all Premier Two players have managed to avoid penalty points at Tuesday night's checkpoint.
27/07/07: Stuart safe from relegation! ......
In Premier One, as in most leagues, there are very good reasons for finishing at the top. Equally, not finishing near the bottom, with the looming threat of relegation, is perhaps the first priority.
Until yesterday only Mark Dixon could say with any certainty that relegation would not be a problem for him.
Now Stuart Mann, who has moved to within three points of Mark, can say the same.
In reality Stuart's sights will always have been set at the top of the league, having won the title on three occasions, and the scene is now set for a fascinating run in as the two leaders still have to meet twice.
There are others in with a chance of pressing their own title claims, however.
Ian Tarr, double champion John Slattery, and Paul Watts have all won more than they have lost, while special winning streaks for Phil Charlton, Martin Hemming or Michael Corbett could yet see them figure in the home straight.
While ten of the twelve players are still not out of the relegation woods, the six players who have lost more than they have won have most to do on the run in.
Under greatest threat is Mike Smith, despite his last gap win over Ed Turner last night. This is not least because he now appears unlikely to reclaim the penalty point he was docked on May 31st.
Penalty points, albeit with the possibility to reclaim them in September, could also be an issue for Paul Watts, John Slattery, Phil and Michael Corbett at midnight on July 31st.
27/07/07: Third promotion slot confirmed ......
John Sprague yesterday became the eighth player to complete at least eight Conference matches, and in so doing triggered the third promotion slot.
Now that this has become a reality -- although in truth it always looked likely to materialise, as does a fourth, and possibly a fifth slot -- there could be a mad scramble for the occupancy of third place, especially given that the honour appears to be there for the taking by a number of players.
The top two positions seem to be beyond the reach of most, though.
Peter Edwards managed to collar another victim in George Palframan yesterday, and scored two more wins, increasing his lead over Marcus Wrinch to twelve points. Marcus does have ten matches in hand, however.
In between those two defeats George did manage to score his first Conference win, beating Todd Young 11-7.
26/07/07: Honours even for Simon and Ed
Simon Baker and Ed Turner fought out a Premier One double header at the BCSC last night, and the spoils were shared.
Simon won the opening encounter 11-9, but Ed gained revenge by winning the return 11-7.
Both players have thus moved three points closer to extricating themselves from the bottom four.
24/07/07: Simon on the move
Simon Baker defeated Ian Tarr 11-5 in Redfield at lunch-time.
Ian missed the chance to move into second place in Premier One, but the win helps Simon's bid to extricate himself from the relegation zone.
Simon later met Simonetta Herrera in Kellaway Avenue, however, and was defeated 6-11.
23/07/07: Ian consolidates third place
Ian Tarr this evening defeated Mike Smith 11-0 at the Miners Arms, St Werburghs.
The win has firmed up Ian's hold on third place in Premier One, while doing nothing for Mike's bid to raise himself from the bottom of the league.
21/07/07: Eight cubed gammon sees Stuart to lightning quick win
The Fox at Easter Compton was the venue for one of the shortest Premier One matches of all time this afternoon.
In the opening game the cube was used three times -- on the third occasion by Stuart Mann, whose subsequent gammon took him to victory over Michael Corbett.
Second placed Stuart is now nine points adrift of leader Mark Dixon with four matches in hand, and has done his average points difference no harm at all with the whitewash.
20/07/07: Ann takes July grand prix title
Ann Pocknell has won her first Bristol knock-out title.
In the closest of finishes she defeated Tony Walters in the held over final of last week's Bristol Grand Prix event, clinching her qualification for the 2008 Bristol Masters.
Last night's BCSC session featured a couple of Tric Trac Tournos, one at £10 entry, the other at £5. These were won by Neil Young and Peter Edwards.
Devon based players Jim Best and Alan Cairns made welcome debuts.
There was also a little league action, with Ian Tarr pipping Simonetta Herrera thanks to a post-Crawford double gammon to move into third place in Premier One, and Elliot Smart keeping in the promotion race mix in Premier Two by defeating Steve Morris.
Elsewhere Steve Miles has defeated Paul Glasson in a Conference match.
13/07/07: Simonetta is out
Simonetta Herrera has been defeated by American Richard Munitz at the World Championships.
It is, nonetheless, a great achievement to get as far as the last sixteen in this tournament which is contested by many of the world's top players.
The line-up for the last sixteen featured eleven different nationalities.
13/07/07: JULY GRAND PRIX AND MONTE CARLO NEWS ......
There were twenty-three contestants for the seventh of the 2007 Bristol Grand Prix series at the BCSC on Thursday, and one other player turned up for some league action.
13/07/07: Bristol has a world championship contender ......
Perhaps the most notable moment during the monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday evening was when a spontaneous burst of applause broke out.
That was what greeted the news that our own Simonetta Herrera had progressed to the last sixteen of the championship flight at the World Championships in Monte Carlo, the only British resident remaining in contention.
It had not been Simonetta's intention to contest the top flight, but she was persuaded to do so by the generous sponsorship of a group of friends.
Her run, courtesy of a bye and three hard fought victories -- over Italian Mario Fenocchio and Swedes Robert Lindbom and Thomas Ronn -- has more than justified the faith of her sponsors.
When there is news of her next match, against American Richard Munitz, it will be posted here.
13/07/07: Ann and Tony in main flight final ......
Before last night anyone could have been forgiven for believing the title defence of 2006 OGP champion Tony Walters was dying without even a whimper.
Having contested all six of this year's series, Tony had failed to win a single main flight match, and had only three victories in nine consolation matches to show for his efforts.
All that changed last night when Tony fought his way past Paul Watts, Mark Dixon, Gaz Owen and Roland Herrera to bag a place in the main final against Ann Pocknell.
Ann got a bye in the first round before despatching Tim Line, Ian Preston and Peter Edwards.
The final has been arranged for next Thursday at the BCSC.
13/07/07: Tim wins consolation flight ......
Tim Line beat Steve Miles in the consolation flight of Thursday's tournament.
Tim defeated Richard Owsley and Paul Watts on his way to the final while Steve, who had arrived hoping to find the odd Conference match, then reasoned that his only real chance of action was to enter the tournament.
This turned out to be a sensible decision, as his victories over both Steve and Juanita Ferrer and Neil Young attest.
13/07/07: Roland closes on OGP leader Ian ......
Roland Herrera's run to the semi-final of Thursday's tournament yielded him 55 OGP points to move him to within 5 points of leader Ian Preston.
Peter Edwards and Nick Barham are also within striking distance of the top.
13/07/07: Peter extends IGP lead ......
Peter Edwards and Steve Miles were the only intermediates to register more than the bare minimum at Thursday's event.
Peter's 50 points have given him an IGP lead of 108 points over second placed Marcus Wrinch, who in turn extended his cushion over third placed John Sprague to a massive 269 points!
Steve's debut grand prix performance saw him gather enough points (60) to enter at sixth place.
13/07/07: Another rollover "disappointment" ......
Hopes of a Winner Takes All pool rollover to August were running fairly high when non-pool contestants Roland Herrera and Peter Edwards made it to the semi-finals.
Both were to fall, though, and finalists Ann Pocknell and Tony Walters decided to split the £110 pot, as well as the £167 main flight final pot.
13/07/07: John scores vital Premier Two win ......
John Lewis made the most of the opportunity to ensure he won't fall foul of the penalty rules at the end of the month by playing his Premier Two match against Nick Barham.
And when he secured an 11-4 win, thanks largely to an 8-cube, it proved a successful session for him.
12/07/07: Further setback for Stuart
Stuart Mann's bid to win a fourth Premier League championship in five years faltered at the Cornubia yesterday evening.
Phil Charlton stormed to an 11-2 victory which leaves a clutch of players still some way from challenging current leader Mark Dixon.
01/07/07: Smokeless BCSC from now on
Our regular venue, the BCSC -- and all other enclosed venues for that matter -- are now smokeless zones in line with the new legislation.
It remains to be seen, of course, what effect the new regime will have on our activities, but the hope is that things will henceforward be better for smoke-phobes while still being workable for those who still need their "fix".
The forecourt at the BCSC is the place for smoking breaks, and non-smokers are urged to be understanding of smokers who call for breaks, as long as they don't overdo things.
One five minute smoking break per hour would seem to be a fair guideline, but we shall doubtless learn from experience.
Recent news items
News items from 2008 (first half)
News items from 2007 (first half)
Back to Home Page