News items from 2008 (first half)

29/06/08: Mark and Stuart were "world class"

Thursday's Premier One encounter between Mark Dixon and Stuart Mann saw both players playing at "world class" standard, according to both Snowie and GNU, it has emerged.
Peter Edwards recorded the whole match, and the results, rating wise, were Stuart -4.0, Mark -4.1 according to Snowie, Mark -3.8, Stuart -4.1 according to GNU.
Analysis from this match, which Mark won 11-9, will provide the basis for a seminar to be delivered by Mark at the BCSC on the evening of Monday July 14th.
Mark has had a torrid time thus far in this year's league, but it is perhaps instructive to note that these two "world class" players have between them lifted the last five Premier League championships, while the champion for the two previous years, John Slattery, was also a European champion.
Apparently that's the sort of level needed to win Bristol Backgammon's number one prize.

27/06/08: Congratulations, Mr. Chairman!

Premier Two stalwart John Lewis was this evening elected Chairman of the Bristol County Sports Club, which has been our venue since 1997.
The club has had its difficulties in recent years, but has served Bristol Backgammon very well over the years, just as Bristol Backgammon is a much valued part of the club's fibre.
Hopefully John can become a unifying influence for the club's committee, and can spark an upturn in the club's fortunes.
But whatever the future holds for John, this correspondent is sure that the Bristol Backgammon community will unite in wishing him every success in the role.
And you can be very sure that John will be open to any constructive suggestions or offers of help.

27/06/08: JUNE LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......

Twenty-three players progressed their respective campaigns in Bristol's four leagues at the BCSC on Thursday.

27/06/08: Still hope for Stuart's pursuers ......

Stuart Mann's dominance of the Premier One season faltered slightly at the BCSC last night when, in the evening's "showcase" match -- it was being recorded for input into Snowie -- he lost narrowly to Mark Dixon.
The result gives renewed hope to the other championship contenders, not least to Ann Pocknell, who scored two wins out of three last night to move into third place.
Along with Mark, wins were scored by Martin Hemming and Paul Watts in the battle to get clear of the bottom four, which currently engages at least seven of this year's field.

27/06/08: Phil stays on course ......

Peter Edwards, having finished his season already, was present to record the Premier One match between Stuart Mann and Mark Dixon, but he also had one eye on proceedings nearby, where those with a mathematical chance of robbing him of the Premier Two Blue championship and/or promotion were scrapping against one another.
Phil Charlton came out best of these with victories over both Nick Barham and Marcus Wrinch, which leave him best placed of the pursuers to claim the second promotion slot.
That, of course, assumes that nobody will catch Peter, and yesterday's results have at least confirmed that Marcus is no longer in a position to do this.
Simon Hughes and Todd Young registered wins, as did Alan Parfitt whose two successes on the night have moved him into fifth place and into the fringes of the promotion race.

27/06/08: Absentees thrive in Premier Two Red ......

Some of the main promotion contenders in Premier Two Red were absent on Thursday, but when they check on the results of matches that were played, they will all be pleasantly surprised.
While Simon Baker, Dave Pym and Steffen Nowak were resting on their laurels, leader Cecilia Sparke's evening started well with a victory over fellow contender Richard Owsley, but deteriorated with defeats at the hands of John Lewis and Phillip Hill.
Richard's loss was his first in eight league matches.
Ian Preston brought himself into closer contention -- and into second place, although most pursuers have several matches in hand -- with a narrow win over Drew Caudwell.
Phillip shared the spoils in a double header with Andrew Cobb before his win against Cecilia, and a continued good run might yet bring him into the promotion picture.
Andrew's two wins from three matches moved him out of the bottom four, while the evening's other winners were John Lewis and Cynthia Roberts.

27/06/08: Richard wins titanic tussle ......

There were four Conference players present on Thursday, but because they were the four most committed members of the league, and they had nearly all played one another already, there was just one match completed.
That match was a humdinger, however, with Richard Holness narrowly defeating Simon Temme to stay virtually in touch with leader Lewis Young.
But perhaps the most significant thing to emerge from that encounter was that Richard has now breached the eight match barrier, an occurrence which guarantees that at least one player will win promotion from the Conference this year.
Despite the relative dearth of action in this year's Conference, Director Ian Tarr is still confident that levels of activity will trigger at least one more promotion slot, and hopefully more, before the dust finally settles at the end of November.

27/06/08: Ann back to number one ......

Winning two of her three Premier One matches last night was good enough to edge Ann Pocknell back to the top of the Bristol player rankings at the expense of previous leader Stuart Mann, who suffered a single defeat.

25/06/08: Conference result capping rule under consideration

The way this year's Bristol Conference campaign has unfolded has prompted Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr to consider a rule change for next season.
During the four previous years where players have been allowed to play each other up to twice a season, the flexible format of the league has enabled it to be an undeniable success, fulfilling the overriding aims of (a) being a "proving ground" for players moving towards Premier League Status, (b) allowing all year round inclusion for new league players, and (c) providing players with the opportunity to tailor their own levels of commitment without impinging on the integrity of the competition.
A glance at previous Conference league tables would show that in those four years, many players have benefitted from the flexible format, either by gaining as much match-play experience as possible, by competing seriously to advance their status, or by testing the water to find out if competitive backgammon is for them.
This season, though, has completely bucked the trend, and cast doubt upon the viability of the format, as just one player (Lewis Young) has pulled out all the stops to play as many matches as possible, while three others (Richard Holness, Malcolm Patterson and recent entrant Simon Temme) have also shown their serious intent.
The other fifteen players who put their names forward have, however, completed just twenty matches between them with the season more than half over.
What this has done is to create a larger than usual imbalance in the league table. No blame can be attached to Lewis who is, after all, just doing his best to develop his game.
The fact is, however, that he has contested more than 60% of all the matches played thus far in this year's competition, a situation that could be regarded as farcical. This state of affairs can, it could be argued, have the effect of deterring new players as well as those who have already signed up.
The dilemma now facing Ian is whether or not to introduce a rule from 2009, whereby the number of results allowed in each player's record is capped at a percentage of the overall match total for the season.
The player in question would stockpile additional results (which would still count for his/her opponents), which would be introduced into the league table as and when overall activity levels permitted.
This might also act as an incentive to the player concerned to generate more interest among the other players, rather than just looking at his or her own record.
How this might work can be deduced from looking at this season's results. Applying a cap of 30% of all matches (this is a figure that would not have affected the final results of any previous Conference season) would reduce Lewis's record to just his first eight matches, with four wins and four defeats.
He would be encouraged not to seek further matches when others have the opportunity to play, so that when they finish more matches, some of his later (and more successful) results could be added in.
The alternative is to do nothing in the hope that this season's experience is just a blip in an otherwise rudely healthy competition.

23/06/08: Gaz wins quick clock tournament, and John makes history

Twelve players contested the latest of the series of clock tournaments with reduced time allowances at the BCSC on Monday evening.
Gaz Owen was the main flight winner, defeating Ed Turner in the final, while the consolation final -- between Neil Young and Ian Tarr -- was held over for another time.
The first match of Ian's consolation campaign created a little bit of Bristol Backgammon history, when the seven minute time allowance (with twelve second delay) proved insufficient for John Sprague to finish the match in the customary manner.
With Ian 6-4 ahead post-Crawford, still over five minutes of his own time allowance remaining, and in a complex back game, John's time ran out -- the first such instance in any Bristol clock event.

20/06/08: Vital win for Michael

Michael Corbett scored a vital 11-10 win over Paul Watts at the latter's home last night.
With both players fighting to avoid relegation from Premier One, the result gives Michael fresh hope of extricating himself from the bottom four, at the same time as making the task tougher for Paul.

20/06/08: Peter sets the target

June is not yet over, but Peter Edwards has already completed his league season!
He completed the last two of his twenty-four Premier Two Blue matches at the BCSC on Thursday evening, sharing the honours of a double header with Marcus Wrinch.
The first of these, which had previously been adjourned with Peter 7-6 ahead, saw Marcus edge in front only to lose narrowly, before gaining some revenge in the return with an 11-1 success.
That drubbing, however, cannot disguise what has been a remarkable first season in the Premier League for Peter.
Nineteen wins (for fifty-seven points) from 24 matches is a fantastic effort, and it will take something miraculous to deprive Peter of the Premier Two Blue title.
Only three players are in a position to do this, but their respective tasks are herculean.
Just to finish level on points with Peter -- never mind whether or not their average points difference will be adequate -- Nick Barham needs eleven wins out of twelve, Phil Charlton needs thirteen from fourteen, and Marcus himself needs to win all thirteen.
The good news for these three contenders, however, is that Peter's average points difference, at 2.458, is not that good for a player who has won such a large proportion of his matches.
In Premier Two Red Neil Young and Ian Preston briefly threatened to give us the first result in this division during June before adjourning at 6-3 to Neil.
Earlier in the evening, Peter had partnered Steve Morris to success in the April doubles consolation final, with victory over Marcus and Gaz Owen.
And there were three four player jackpots played during the course of the evening, with Malcolm Patterson prevailing in the £5 version, Tim Line winning a £10 flight, and a split pot between Stuart Mann and Ian Tarr in the other £10 event to be staged.

17/06/08: A special victory for Blaine

A thumping 11-1 victory over Roland Herrera last night at the BCSC in the held over final of Lesters LXVII was a special one in more ways than for Blaine Buchanan.
As one of those who felt the loss of Sarah Rosich the most keenly, being the first name engraved on her Memorial Cup will be a particularly poignant -- and proud -- experience for Blaine.
And of course, there was also the money, not an inconsiderable amount after various deals, taking into account the official tournament prize money, the Winner Takes All pool, and the auction, where Blaine bought himself.
Blaine also qualifies for the 2009 Bristol Masters, and moves into second place in the OGP, albeit still 160 points behind last night's victim.

14/06/08: LESTERS LXVII ROUND-UP ......

Twenty-five players contested one of the most eagerly awaited Bristol Grand Prix events for some time at the BCSC on Thursday.
There were many financial incentives, plus the honour of being the first recipient of the Sarah Rosich Memorial Cup.

14/06/08: Blaine and Roland in main final ......

Only four of the OGP's top 24 players were absent from Lesters LXVII as the majority of Bristol's "big guns" assembled for one of the all-time special local events.
With over £1,100 to be won by various means, the tension was palpable.
Roland Herrera and Blaine Buchanan will meet in the final, which was held over as final departure from the BCSC was at 1.30am.
Roland's path to the final took him past Todd Young, Ann Pocknell, Cecilia Sparke and Ed Turner, while Blaine was eliminating Steve Morris, Miles Farren and Stuart Mann.
Blaine's record in Lesters Trophy events is remarkable. In twenty-eight tournaments, he has reached ten semi-finals and six finals, winning twice so far.
Roland has also won two of the series in thirty-two attempts, but now has three final appearances and six semi-finals to his name.

14/06/08: Marcus wins consolation flight ......

Final qualifier for the consolation flight on Thursday, Marcus Wrinch made the most of his unwanted opportunity when he defeated Steffen Nowak, Steve Morris and Simonetta Herrera to win the flight.
Simonetta had come through the long side of the draw, beating Tony Walters, Nick Barham and Richard Owsley before succumbing to Marcus.

14/06/08: Roland extends OGP lead ......

Roland Herrera's OGP lead over Tim Line has been increased from 110 points to 180 after he once again progressed to the main final.
So the results of he final will either see him 220 points ahead of Tim or 160 ahead of his final opponent Blaine Buchanan.
Roland has managed to evoke memories of Peter Edwards' total dominance of the grand prix season last year, although the distant chasing pack of Tim, Blaine, Stuart Mann and Marcus Wrinch still have six tournaments to do something about giving Roland a run for his money.

14/06/08: Lewis edges closer as intermediates go missing again ......

Four intermediates were present on Thursday, but only two of those took the plunge into tournament entry, so it's largely as you were in the IGP table.
Lewis Young moved 26 points closer to leader Derek Clew, while John Sprague had to be content with the minimum ten points return.

14/06/08: Triple rollover was never likely ......

With a double rollover of £260 already in the kitty, the Winner Takes All pool always looked to be an attractive proposition.
Twenty-four of the twenty-five entrants agreed with that contention, so when the odd man out -- sorry, odd woman out -- was eliminated in the first round, disbursement of ther prize was assured.
The eventual semi-finalists struck a deal which saw an immediate payment of £75 each, leaving a mere £200 to be fought for by the finalists, who turned out to be Blaine Buchanan and Roland Herrera, who will also have the £360 main flight prize money to savour.
Blaine also bought himself in the auction, where the split is £114 and £40. John Sprague had the foresight (and the £11) to buy Roland.
With Roland already a double qualifier for the 2009 Bristol Masters, an additional place for a Premier One qualifier would be activated by a Roland win. For Blaine, though, it is simply a case of earning a place for himself.

14/06/08: Simon scores first success ......

Another couple of loose ends from previous tournaments were tied up on Thursday night.
Simon Temme -- making full use of his 3 points start over Tim Line -- won the consolation final from last month's Handicap Trophy event for his first success since starting with Monday evening visits a couple of months ago.
And the April Consulting Doubles tournament is finally one match away from completion after Peter Edwards and Steve Morris defeated Derek Clew and Simon Hughes in the consolation semi-final.
Gaz Owen and Marcus Wrinch await them in the final.

11/06/08: Will double rollover attract large Lesters entry?

There's £260 already in the kitty, even before the entrants to tomorrow's 67th Lesters Trophy knock-out at the BCSC make their decisions on whether to bolster the optional Winner Takes All pool prize pot.
If thirty players, for example, were to turn out for the event, the total prize money -- including tournament entry stakes at £20 per head, the Winner Takes All Pool, and the pre tournament auction of players -- would certainly be well into four figures.
But it is not always the case that the big money brings in extra players, so we will have to wait and see.
A report will appear here on Friday or Saturday.

08/06/08: Cecilia best at the English Open

The ten current Bristol players who ventured to the BIBA English Open at Daventry this weekend had -- for the most part -- modest rewards for their efforts.
Ed Turner was runner up in the Friday warm up tournament, while Simonetta Herrera came third in the Saturday night poker.
Roland Herrera lost the final of the consolation flight to Chris Ternel, while BIBA debutant Peter Edwards was the winner of the 3-point last chance event (but did not enter the pool!).
Pride of place, though, goes to Cecilia Sparke who progressed furthest in the main flight, reaching the last eight from a field of 59 players.
That most occasional of Bristol visitors, Peter Bennet, was the tournament winner.

06/06/08: Premier One edge to victory

The annual Inter League Challenge took place at the BCSC last night, with four teams of six players representing the four Bristol leagues in a specially devised team format.
There were three series of five point matches to play, with match winners contributing a point each to their team's score -- and the winning team's reward (apart from the kudos) was a bottle of red wine each, kindly provided by the soon to be departed Mark Dixon.
From an organiser's point of view the turnout was especially convenient. Six volunteers had come forward from each of the four leagues, apart from the five from Premier One. Non-league player Roland Herrera, however, was present to guest for whichever team needed him, and Premier One it was.
For the first time this year, we have four leagues, so this scenario enabled fascinating sub-plots to materialise in the form of individual matches between the leagues.
In the first series players from Premier One faced those from the Conference, while Premier Two Blue slugged it out with Premier Two Red.
This resulted in 4-2 wins for Premier One and Premier Two Blue.
Series Two followed, with the two winners from the first series battling to a 3-3 draw, while Premier Two Red were seeing off their Conference opposition 5-1.
So with one series to go, the three Premier League outfits had all won a total of seven matches, to set up an intriguing finale.
As in the first series, it was Premier One and Premier Two Blue scoring 4-2 wins to tie overall on eleven wins apiece.
A single point shoot out was decided upon, and with Todd Young already gone and Ann Pocknell needing to get to her train, there were five players on each side remaining, so a further tie was out of the question.
Four Premier One players prevailed to ensure a bottle of wine each, and it was all over.
Summarised scores:
Teams:
Premier One 4 Conference 2; Premier Two Blue 4 Premier Two Red 2; Premier One 3 Premier Two Blue 3; Premier Two Red 5 Conference 1; Premier One 4 Premier Two Red 2; Premier Two Blue 4 Conference 2. TOTALS: Premier One 11; Premier Two Blue 11; Premier Two Red 9; Conference 5.
Players:
Premier One: Roland Herrera 3; Simonetta Herrera 3; Ann Pocknell 2; Mark Dixon 1; Ian Tarr 1; Ed Turner 1.
Premier Two Blue: Simon Hughes 3; Steve Morris 3; Nick Barham 2; Todd Young 2; Blaine Buchanan 1; John Paton 0.
Premier Two Red: Richard Owsley 2; Ian Preston 2; Cecilia Sparke 2; Steffen Nowak 1; Cynthia Roberts 1; Neil Young 1.
Conference: Lars Ericsson 2; Patrick Duggan 1; Mandy Macdonald 1; Lewis Young 1; Nick Hill 0; Richard Holness 0.
One point shoot out winners: Premier One: Mark Dixon; Roland Herrera; Ian Tarr; Ed Turner. Premier Two Blue: Simon Hughes.
There was further action, with Patrick Duggan capitalising on his handicap of 3 to beat Steffen Nowak in the final of last week's Handicap Trophy event.
And Simon Hughes and Nick Barham were able to register Premier Two Blue wins. Nick has probably taken on the mantle of favourite to join Peter Edwards in the promotion bracket.

03/06/08: Amusing Tric Trac Tourno climax

At Monday's informal session at the BCSC an eight player Tric Trac Tourno was approaching a satisfactory conclusion for Lewis Young, who knew when he finished his encounters that the final match -- between Patrick Duggan and Roland Herrera -- would need to finish in a gammon or backgammon to Patrick or a backgammon to Roland for him to be deprived of the prize money.
With Roland firmly in the driving seat, Patrick's gammon never looked likely, but Roland was able to press home his advantage to claim the backgammon for overall victory and the £40 pot.
Meanwhile Simon Temme was scoring an 11-8 Conference victory over Lars Ericsson to move into sixth place in the league table.

01/06/08: Four penalised at end of May checkpoint

The second Premier League checkpoint of the season passed at midnight on Saturday, and four players have fallen foul of the penalty system.
Paul Watts, two matches shy of the eleven needed to avoid penalties, thus gets two penalty points in Premier One, as does Marcus Wrinch in Premier Two Blue.
Marcus's rivals Phil Charlton and Todd Young each incur a single penalty point.
All of these penalties can be eradicated if the players concerned are up with the schedule at the next checkpoint at the end of July.

30/05/08: ALL THE NEWS FROM THURSDAY'S HANDICAP KNOCK-OUT EVENING ......

Twenty-six players started the main flight of the third of this year's six Handicap Knock-outs, and a latecomer was also included in the consolation flight.
The May grand prix tournament was also concluded, along with four league matches.

30/05/08: Steffen and Patrick reach main flight final ......

Patrick Duggan's first foray into knock-out backgammon proved to be a resounding success when he made it through to the main final of the third of this year's Handicap Trophy tournaments.
Patrick, recently signed up for the Conference, fought his way past Tony Walters, Cecilia Sparke, Simon Hughes and Simonetta Herrera to guarantee a share of the prize money.
In the final he will meet Steffen Nowak, conqueror of Helen Clew, Ed Turner and Ian Tarr.

30/05/08: Simon and Tim in consolation final ......

Simon Temme, another new Conference player, was another to make his knock-out debut, and bounced back from early elimination from the main flight to reach the consolation final.
Victories over Tony Walters, Marcus Wrinch and Malcolm Patterson gained Simon a final meeting with Tim Line, whose victims were Blaine Buchanan, Gaz Owen and Roland Herrera.

30/05/08: Steffen claims narrow Handicap Trophy lead ......

Peter Edwards' defence of the Handicap Trophy title became slightly more problematic when he lost the overall lead to Steffen Nowak, and was equalled by Lewis Young.
Only 10 points cover those three, however, but Steffen can increase his lead to 45 points by defeating Patrick Duggan in the main final.
Tim Line, Nick Hill and Tony Walters lead the chasing pack.

30/05/08: Derek's grand prix triumph ......

Derek Clew maintained his steady rise to prominence by taking his first grand prix main flight title on Thursday.
The main final, held over from three weeks ago, saw Derek overcome an early deficit to defeat Tim Line 11-6.
This was a popular win with most of the players, because it guaranteed a double rollover in the Winner Takes All pool, with £260 carried forward to the June 12th Lesters Trophy event.
Derek is also guaranteed a place in the 2009 Bristol Masters, and has opened up an IGP lead of 45 points over second placed Lewis Young, as well as moving him up to seventh in the OGP list.

30/05/08: Ian scores double win in Premier Two Red ......

Premier Two Red was the main focus for league action on Thursday, as Jerry Limb made strenuous efforts to meet the May 31st checkpoint targets.
The good news for Jerry is that he will not be expunged at midnight on Saturday, nor will he incur any more penalties, assuming his double header with Steffen Nowak goes ahead tomorrow.
But the bad news was that, in his haste, he managed to lose all three of his Thursday encounters -- a double defeat by Ian Preston and a further loss to Neil Young, who had earlier succumbed to Cynthia Roberts.
In Premier Two Blue the only action was a meeting between Peter Edwards and Marcus Wrinch, which was adjourned with Peter 7-6 ahead.

23/05/08: Bristol Backgammon visits the Knoydart Peninsula!

News has filtered through that there was Bristol Backgammon action on Wednesday at one of its more unusual locations.
In the past we have seen matches played as far afield as Ireland and Austria, but this time it was Scotland's turn to play host.
Mike Smith and Blaine Buchanan were part of a group holidaying in one of the UK's least spoilt areas, the Knoydart Peninsula, and made sure that they played their return Premier Two Blue match.
Blaine avenged his February defeat at Mike's hands by scoring an 11-6 win at the Old Forge.

23/05/08: Stuart back on top after three weeks

Stuart Mann's displacement at the top of the Bristol Rankings by Ann Pocknell lasted just three weeks.
Thursday's action, where Stuart scored two wins while Ann was winning once and losing once, was enough to tip the scales back in Stuart's favour, although the margin is a slender one.

23/05/08: MAY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......

Twenty-six players progressed their league campaigns at the BCSC on Thursday, a couple more enjoyed some chouette, and the eighth Bristol Masters champion was crowned.

23/05/08: Ann adds Masters title to her portfolio ......

Ann Pocknell's year gets better and better.
Last month she became BIBA British Open champion, and now she has added the eighth Bristol Masters to her list of titles.
This event, for which qualification through the previous year's exploits is necessary, is a great annual challenge for sixteen of Bristol's finest players.
And two of them -- Ann and Paul Gilbertson -- fought out a tense final last night, with Ann edging home 11-10.
The match had added significance, as it doubled up as a Premier One match.
Another knock-out loose end to be tied up was the main flight final of last week's clock tournament, with Stuart Mann defeating Ed Turner as a prelude to their league match.

23/05/08: Stuart still the man to beat ......

Stuart Mann shows no sign of buckling under the weight of his own expectation as he leads the way in Premier One.
His quest for a record fourth title is still on course after he added another three points to his tally with a comfortable win over Ed Turner.
While his nearest challengers -- Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr -- also won their only match of the evening, they will need to rely on a blip on Stuart's part on the run in.
Ann Pocknell and Paul Gilbertson -- in fourth and fifth places -- each won one and lost one to maintain their challenges.
Ed's defeat leaves him with a lot to do to escape the relegation zone, but previous years have shown that he is well capable of extricating himself from trouble.
And Michael Corbett slipped deeper into the danger zone with a brace of emphatic defeats.
Simonetta Herrera still has relegation concerns, but a win and a defeat just about maintained her recent upward impetus.

23/05/08: Cecilia hits Premier Two Red pole position ......

The Premier Two Red promotion race gets more and more fascinating.
As things now stand there appear to be five major contenders for the two promotion slots, and the four of those present yesterday did their chances no harm at all.
Cecilia Sparke may have lost her crunch match against Simon Baker, but a later win over Andrew Cobb has moved her to the top of the league.
Simon, who has three matches in hand, won two of his three matches to move into second place.
Steffen Nowak had his seven match winning sequence ended by Ian Preston, but also scored a win over Andrew.
And moving quickly into contention is Richard Owsley, whose two victories last night brought his current winning league sequence up to seven.
Ian scored a brace of wins to end his recent slump, while other winners were Jerry Limb (twice), and John Lewis.

23/05/08: Peter almost there ......

If the championship race in Premier Two Red seems too close to call, that can definitely not be said about the equivalent issue in Premier Two Blue.
Peter Edwards will be able to take a long holiday from league action if he can pin down his single remaining opponent -- Marcus Wrinch -- for their double header.
But the fact that he has now won no fewer than eighteen of the twenty-two matches played effectively means that the bookies have stopped taking bets on the championship outcome.
For any challenge to materialise, there would be a mountain of Everest like proportions to climb for somebody.
Nick Barham, Phil Charlton and Marcus can each claim to have lost as few matches as Peter. But they would need to win their eleven, twelve and thirteen matches in hand respectively to draw level!
The second promotion slot, though, is very much up for grabs.
The three pursuers already mentioned, plus Tim Line, are the only players who have won more than they have lost, but those with middling records cannot be ruled out, as a handful of wins can change the picture dramatically.

23/05/08: Maiden win for Malcolm ......

There were four Conference players present at the BCSC last night, and that was almost cause for celebration such has been the level of activity in this league so far this year.
Richard Holness added to his impressive record with a narrow victory over John Sprague, while Malcolm Patterson claimed his first league win after narrowly missing out in two previous matches.

20/05/08: Mixed fortunes for Mark

Mark Dixon, who is due to leave Bristol in the summer, enjoyed mixed fortunes when he played two Premier One fixtures in Clifton this evening.
First up, at the Royal Oak, was Gaz Owen and an 11-4 victory which boosted Mark's hopes of extricating himself from the bottom four.
Later at Clifton College, however, the pendulum swung the other way when Ian Tarr scored an emphatic win.

20/05/08: Tric Trac Tourno and chouette at the BCSC

Monday's session at the BCSC featured both an eight player Tric Trac Tourno and a three player chouette.
Kate Chaney made a welcome first appearance, and acquitted herself well in the Tric Trac Tourno, winning five of her seven matches.
There were not enough gammons, though, for Kate to win, an honour taken by Ian Tarr, who just pipped Ed Turner.

19/05/08: Weekend results

Ed Turner's run of success in clock tournaments continues.
He earned himself a final meeting with Stuart Mann in the latest such event by defeating Lewis Young in the semi-final at the weekend.
Ed won the last clock event he entered back in January, so is on a run of nine successive victories in that particular genre.
Another result came in the main final of the most recent consulting doubles tournament where Roland Herrera and Lizzie Pearce defeated Simonetta Herrera and Cecilia Sparke.
Roland now tops the table in the Consulting Doubles Grand Prix, while Lizzie is in fourth place.

16/05/08: ALL THE NEWS FROM THURSDAY'S CLOCK TOURNAMENT ......

Twenty-four players contested the latest in the series of clock tournaments at the BCSC on Thursday. Mike Clew made his individual debut after a doubles appearance back in January.

16/05/08: Stuart awaits clock final opponent ......

Stuart Mann must wait before he finds out the identity of his opponent in the main flight final of Thursday's clock tournament.
He fought his way past Richard Owsley, Todd Young and Cecilia Sparke to reach the final, but the other semi -- from the "long" half of the draw -- has yet to be completed.
That will be between Ed Turner and Lewis Young.

16/05/08: Simonetta wins consolation flight ......

Simonetta Herrera took the consolation flight at Thursday's tournament with victories over Ian Tarr, Cynthia Roberts, Gaz Owen and Ian Preston.

16/05/08: Richard and Tim make grand prix progress ......

A couple of the many loose ends from previous tournaments were tied up last night.
Richard Owsley and Marcus Wrinch contested the main final of the April grand prix event, and Richard came out on top from a very close encounter, for the first main flight title of his Bristol Backgammon career.
The win makes him only the second player so far this year to qualify for the 2009 Bristol Masters, and makes him a popular man, because the win ensured a Winner Takes All rollover of £130 to the incomplete May tournament.
Talking of which, another match completed was the outstanding main flight semi-final of that event, where Tim Line booked his final meeting with Derek Clew by defeating Roland Herrera.
The effect of this is to keep Roland's OGP lead down to almost manageable proportions, with Tim now "only" 110 points adrift, although a victory in the final would take Tim 35 points closer and 83 points ahead of third placed Stuart Mann.
And rollover hopes have now moved onto the shoulders of Derek, whose success would make it £260 rolled over to the June event, which is Lesters LXVI, and also carries the Sarah Rosich Trophy as a prize.

16/05/08: Cyclists beware! ......

In these days of ecological concern, cycling to and from the BCSC would seem like a sensible option.
It is not without its pitfalls, however, as one player found to his cost last night when he discovered that his detachable seat had gone missing.
That player has asked me to emphasise the importance of removing anything that could be a target for thieves before securing the remainder of the bike.

12/05/08: Simon's win makes history

Simon Temme scored his first Conference win this evening at the BCSC, and unwittingly made history with his victim, Mandy Macdonald.
The result was the 2,500th in the history of Bristol Backgammon leagues.
124 players have competed in the various Bristol Backgammon leagues since the inaugural Premier League in 2000, and the results break down into 962 in the top division of the Premier League, 820 in Premier Two, and 718 in the Conference.

10/05/08: MAY BRISTOL GRAND PRIX NEWS ......

Twenty-four players entered the fifth of our monthly grand prix events at the BCSC on Thursday, and one or two loose ends from previous tournaments were tied up.

10/05/08: Derek's best yet ......

Since Derek Clew made his entry into Bristol Backgammon competition back in October he has impressed many with his prowess.
On Thursday he notched up his biggest achievement yet, when he fought his way through to the main flight final, defeating Simon Hughes, John Sprague and Ian Preston along the way.
In the final he will meet either Tim Line or Roland Herrera, whose semi-final will be played soon.

10/05/08: Ed wins consolation flight ......

Thursday's consolation flight saw Ed Turner beating Cecilia Sparke in the final.
Doing well in this particular flight was no mean achievement, given that the four intermediates in the main draw all won matches and thus failed to qualify for the consolation.
Ed beat Simon Hughes, Marcus Wrinch and Neil Young en route to the final, while Cecilia got a bye before defeating Peter Edwards and Steffen Nowak.

10/05/08: Marcus ends Roland's amazing grand prix run ......

The outstanding semi-final of the April tournament was at last completed, just before the May event got under way.
And Marcus Wrinch earned the right to meet Richard Owsley by ending Roland Herrera's remarkable sequence in grand prix events.
It was the first defeat in grand prix competition this year for Roland, after twelve straight wins, although Roland appears to have started another run later in the evening.

10/05/08: Rollover resolution approaches ......

With the April tournament still not completed, there was some confusion about the merit of investing in the Winner Takes All pool at Thursday's event.
The outcome was exactly the same as it was at the April event, with thirteen of the twenty-four starters taking the plunge.
Rollover hopes from April rest with Richard Owsley's chances against Marcus Wrinch, while the single or double rollover from the May event will only be achieved through a Derek Clew victory, as both semi-finalists Roland Herrera and Tim Line chose the investment route.

10/05/08: Roland's consistency gives him a runaway lead ......

Roland Herrera's amazing grand prix form has already given him a clear OGP lead of 135 points over second placed Tim Line, and wins over Tim and Derek Clew at the sharp end of the May event would increase that to a massive 195.
But Tim has the opportunity to turn it into a something like a two horse race as a tournament win would see him reducing the deficit to 75 points, with third placed Stuart Mann a further 83 points away.
Stuart has shown this year that consolation flight points can be significant, as the two wins he got on Thursday were his first in grand prix main flights this year!
Tony Walters, Blaine Buchanan and Marcus Wrinch are in hot pursuit.

10/05/08: Derek stakes IGP claim ......

Derek Clew was making only his second grand prix appearance of the season, but has shown all intermediates what can be achieved.
He is now level on points with previous IGP leader Lewis Young, but leads on countback, having contested fewer tournaments.
In fact Lewis, Derek, and sixth placed Richard Holness are the only intermediates to contest more than one grand prix tournament so far this year, a regrettable statistic given the fact that Colin Sara, George Jakeway, and now Nick Hill and John Sprague have scored well when they have taken the plunge.

10/05/08: April and May winners guaranteed Masters places ......

The eventual winners of the main flights of the April and May tournaments will both qualify for the 2009 Bristol Masters.
Under this year's revised qualification rules, only seven of the eight winners of the £10 monthly grand prix events qualify, the deciding factor being the attendance figures at each event.
So far it is the February winner Juanita Ferrer who is sweating on a place, because only twenty-one players contested that tournament.

10/05/08: Cecilia goes second ......

The only league match played at the BCSC on Thursday was in Premier Two Red.
And Cecilia Sparke took the opportunity to step up her promotion campaign with an 11-6 win over Neil Young, which moves her into second place.

10/05/08: Progress made in doubles event ......

The unfinished quarter-final consolation match from last month's consulting doubles tournament finally came to a conclusion at the BCSC on Thursday, when Derek Clew and Simon Hughes got past the challenge of Ian Preston and Nick Hill.
Waiting for them in the semis are Peter Edwards and Steve Morris, but this match will now have to wait until Steve's return from a two and a half week trip to Peru.

08/05/08: Roland's record run

Roland Herrera's defeat by Ann Pocknell in the Bristol Masters a week ago was his first in fourteen matches in competitions which qualify for the 1000 to 1 award.
Since the awards were first introduced for Bristol Backgammon competitions, this run of thirteen wins has been the longest recorded, being roughly equivalent to odds of 8000-1.
His amazing record in grand prix tournaments this year, with two tournaments won and a semi-final yet to be played, has been behind the unprecedented sequence.

02/05/08: ALL THE NEWS FROM THE BRISTOL MASTERS ......

The eighth annual Bristol Masters knock-out took place at the BCSC on Thursday evening, and there was also some league action.

02/05/08: Paul and Ann will contest Masters final ......

The eighth Bristol Masters final will be contested by Paul Gilbertson and Ann Pocknell, the two players who travel the furthest for their regular fix of Bristol Backgammon action.
Ann defeated Cecilia Sparke, Roland Herrera and Ed Turner to make the final, while Paul was getting past the respective challenges of Steve Ferrer, Todd Young and Peter Edwards.
The final is likely to take place at the next league night, when it may well be doubled up as a Premier One match.
In Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr's absence, Tim Line volunteered to take the reins, and came through without a hitch.
All sixteen contestants turned up -- Steffen Nowak and Tim had already taken the places of qualifiers Marcus Wrinch -- away at the Portuguese Open -- and Ian himself -- away watching an important football match.

02/05/08: Simonetta boosts Premier One survival hopes ......

Simonetta Herrera's despondency at her showing in Premier One was alleviated to a degree last night when she scored a much needed league double over Miles Farren, to move out of the bottom four.
Blaine Buchanan suffered a blow to his Premier Two Blue promotion hopes when he slipped to defeat against Tony Walters, who subsequently lost a double header against Steve Morris.
In the Conference Malcolm Patterson was close to a maiden victory, but just lost out 10-11 to John Sprague.

02/05/08: Ann takes over at the top ......

Bristol's unofficial rankings list, originally a by-product of our unique handicapping system, is regarded with varying degrees of interest by the players.
There are those who regard the system purely as a means to the original end, but there is no doubt that there are others who have a genuine interest in where they stand.
Whichever camp you subscribe to, there is no denying that Stuart Mann's dominance -- he has been in pole position from the moment it was first devised, except for a brief period in 2006 when Mark Dixon edged in front -- has been a fair indication of his status in the local game.
Last night, however, he was toppled from his perch, when he was eliminated from the eighth Bristol Masters in the first round, while second placed Ann Pocknell was winning the three matches which got her through to the final.
The swing was enough to move Ann, winner of last month's BIBA British Open, the coveted number one position, while Peter Edwards, in third place, is within striking distance.

26/04/08: Tim gets lucky Masters break

Tim Line is the lucky recipient of a place in this coming Thursday's eighth annual Bristol Masters knock-out.
Tim was originally second reserve for the event, which is for sixteen Bristol players who qualified through their 2007 exploits.
Steffen Nowak took the place of Marcus Wrinch, who is at the Portuguese Open in Estoril, and now Tim gets in thanks to Exeter City's striker Richard Logan, whose goal in the 6th minute of added time at Burton Albion this evening means that Exeter will play their play-off first leg match against Torquay on Thursday evening, one of the very few counter attractions that would ever stop Ian Tarr from competing in the Masters, an event at which he has hitherto been an ever present.

26/04/08: Martin's close encounters

Martin Hemming visited Bristol yesterday and took in three Premier One matches.
First up was Stuart Mann at the Reckless Engineer, where Martin romped into a 9-2 lead, only to get caught by two double gammons as he slid to a 9-11 defeat.
A visit to the Herreras in Bishopston was next, and this time Simonetta Herrera was on the receiving end of 10-11 and 9-11 reverses.

24/04/08: APRIL LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......

Twenty-five league players progressed their respective campaigns at the BCSC last night. And Simon Temme made his Conference debut.

24/04/08: Stuart one step closer ......

Stuart Mann's quest for a fourth Premier League title moved another step in the right direction last night, when he recovered from a 4-6 deficit to defeat Michael Corbett 11-6.
His closest challengers Gaz Owen and Ann Pocknell were not present, but Ian Tarr and Paul Gilbertson each managed a victory to keep their seasons ticking over.

24/04/08: Peter looks nailed on for Premier One ......

A double success against Alan Parfitt last night has moved Peter Edwards further towards an unassailable position at the top of Premier Two Blue.
Having already completed twenty of his twenty-four matches, Peter has only lost four times, and while those below him have many, many matches in hand, only Nick Barham and Phil Charlton (a winner last night) have lost fewer matches -- three apiece.
It looks as though the intriguing race will be for the second guaranteed promotion slot -- a race which could hardly be more wide open.
Front runners at this stage would appear to be Tim Line, who won twice last night, Blaine Buchanan, Nick and Phil, but in truth the majority of competitors are well in the hunt.
Other winners last night were Steve Morris, Todd Young and John Paton.

24/04/08: Premier Two Red promotion race hots up ......

All but two of the entire Premier Two Red field were in action at the BCSC last night, and the promotion race is beginning to take shape.
There seem to be five leading contenders at this stage, but there are many others who can move into contention with a good run of results.
Dave Pym still leads, having won one and lost one last night, while Steffen Nowak has shrugged off a slow start to move into second place, with two victories last night.
Cecilia Sparke is still third after winning and losing, while Richard Owsley continued his good form with a win which moves him closer to the absent fourth placer Simon Baker.
Other winners last night were Neil Young and Andrew Cobb (twice apiece), and John Lewis.
Phillip Hill lost, but has done enough to claw back the penalty point he incurred at the March 31st checkpoint.

24/04/08: Just one match in the Conference ......

Just two Conference players were at the BCSC last night, and just one match took place.
Simon Temme made his league debut, and ran leader Lewis Young very close before losing 8-11.
Exactly how to kick start the season in this division is a subject exercising Director Ian Tarr's mind recently.

21/04/08: Blaine wins clock tournament

There were seventeen players present at the BCSC for Monday evening's session.
The centrepiece was the second of our Quick Clock Tournaments, contested by eleven players, where time allowances for the 7-point matches were a mere seven minutes per player with a delay of twelve seconds.
Norway's world backgammon giant Katja Spillum Svendsen was amongst the field, but was eliminated from the main flight by Stuart Mann.
Blaine Buchanan took the honours in the main flight, defeating Ed Turner and Neil Young, before winning the final against Gaz Owen. Gaz had overcome Steve Morris, Jerry Limb and Cecilia Sparke to reach the final.
Roland Herrera won the consolation flight, with Ed Turner as runner-up.
Meanwhile, new Monday regular Simon Temme was signing up for the Bristol Conference, and another welcome newcomer, Sue Baynes, got in some games with Cecilia and Director Ian Tarr.

21/04/08: Another giant at the BCSC

It's a slightly less low key Monday session at the BCSC this evening.
While the usual welcome will be given to new and developing players, there is also a £10 entry Quick Clock tournament for the edification of our aficionados.
And we will also be welcoming another world backgammon giant, Norway's 2002 European champion and 2003 World Championship semi-finalist Katja Spillum Svendsen, who is currently staying with the Herreras.

21/04/08: Awards photos on the site at last

January's Award Night photos are now -- at last -- on the site. Director Ian Tarr apologises profusely for the delay in displaying these.
Many thanks are due to Mike Smith, the photographer for the night.

18/04/08: Record doubles turnout at the BCSC

The Consulting Doubles Grand Prix, already gaining in popularity with encouraging attendance figures last year, hit new heights with a record turnout of thirteen pairs at the BCSC last night.
There are trade offs with doubles, in that progress is notoriously slow at times, but the benefits -- in educational terms -- surely outweigh the negatives.
Amongst the field of twenty-six players were two making their Bristol Backgammon debuts -- Gavin Szechi and young Lizzie Pearce -- and both enjoyed the experience, tasting victory with their respective partners, Neil Young and Roland Herrera.
And Director Ian Tarr also broke with tradition slightly, just for this one occasion, in allowing two highly ranked players -- Gaz Owen and Marcus Wrinch -- to partner one another, given that they are going to the lengths of testing their doubles expertise in Portugal shortly.
The main flight got as far as sorting out the finalists.
Roland and Lizzie got there via wins over Nick Barham and Phillip Hill and Ian Tarr and Helen Clew.
Simonetta Herrera and Cecilia Sparke came through the more heavily populated part of the draw, vanquishing Ed Turner and Anne Ryder, Neil and Gavin, and Blaine Buchanan and Todd Young.
That final will doubtless take place soon.
Progress was a little less satisfactory in the consolation flight, however.
Ian Preston had been given dispensation to leave early, but -- with his partner Nick Hill -- he might have been expected to finish more than a match and a half in the three and a half hours at his disposal.
As a consequence, three further sessions will be required to finish the flight, firstly to complete the adjourned match with Derek Clew and Simon Hughes, then for the winners to tackle Peter Edwards and Steve Morris, with the winners of that taking on Gaz and Marcus.
The effect so far on the Consulting Doubles Grand Prix table is negligible, with Nick Barham and Phillip Hill retaining equal top spot, courtesy of their January win.
Others have closed the gap, though, as Roland, Blaine, Todd, Simonetta, Cecilia and Ian Tarr all within 35 points. And three of those have the chance to add to their tallies in the final.
Two others were present for league action. In Premier Two Red there was a double header between Richard Owsley and Cynthia Roberts -- Richard gaining two hard fought wins to move into promotion contention.
And before the doubles Blaine Buchanan beat Tony Walters to enhance his challenge for promotion from Premier Two Blue.

11/04/08: APRIL GRAND PRIX NEWS ......

Twenty-four players contested the fourth of our 2008 grand prix events on Thursday, including Bristol Backgammon debuts for two illustrious Danish guests.

11/04/08: Richard reaches third grand prix final ......

Richard Owsley defeated Peter Edwards, Ian Preston and Derek Clew to reach a grand prix final or the third time.
Hereford based Marcus Wrinch needed his sleep, and was allowed to postpone the outstanding semi-final with Roland Herrera until another time.

11/04/08: Stuart getting the consolation habit ......

Stuart Mann's unfortunate run of defeats in main flights continued at the BCSC on Thursday, but he made the most of his consolation flight chance by winning for the third time out of four this year.
Stuart beat Cecilia Sparke, Peter Edwards and Lars Trabolt to win the flight, and Lewis Young has the distinction of being the only player to defeat Stuart at this level this season.

11/04/08: Draw conspires against international set ......

Two top Danish players -- and Denmark arguably vies with the USA for the title of world's strongest backgammon nation -- were welcomed to Thursday's event.
World backgammon giant number 16 Lars Trabolt, his partner Anne Jeppesen and baby daughter Ida are currently staying in Bishopston with Bristol's own globetrotters, the Herreras.
But the draw was unkind to our visitors as well as to Roland and Simonetta, as they were forced to knock one another out of the two flights.
While Lars was suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Tony Walters despite assistance from Ida, and Simonetta was being eliminated by Cynthia Roberts, Anne and Roland were drawn together in the first round, Roland prevailing.
But it was in the consolation flight that two more clashes arose, Lars defeating both Simonetta and Anne on his way to the final.

11/04/08: Twelve in a row for Roland ......

Roland Herrera is the latest player to earn a coveted 1000 to 1 award, although his current sequence of twelve victories means he is currently poised on 4000 to 1, and could go higher!
Roland is, of course, a non-league player these days, so his only involvement in events which count for the award is in the grand prix series.
And he has been undefeated in all three grand prix tournaments he has entered this year, having reached the semi-final stage of this latest one.
Marcus Wrinch now stands in the way of a continuation of the sequence.

11/04/08: Roland is the runaway leader ......

Roland Herrera's unbeaten OGP run sees him a full 135 points ahead of second placed Tim Line, and he can open the gap by a further 60 points by beating Marcus Wrinch and finalist Richard Owsley.
The race for second place is currently a lot more interesting, with Tim hotly pursued by Blaine Buchanan, Tony Walters, Stuart Mann and Ann Pocknell.

11/04/08: Lewis extends lead in wide open IGP ......

Intermediate attendance at grand prix events so far in 2008 has been sparse by any standards, with only Lewis Young and Richard Holness having contested more than one event.
Lewis extended his IGP lead to 35 points over second placed Colin Sara, but the competition is wide open for anyone to take by the scruff of the neck.
Colin has not been seen since January, but breathing down his neck are two players who made their first appearances of the year last night.
Both Derek Clew and George Jakeway scored well, and are already well in contention.

11/04/08: Richard carries rollover hopes ......

With no rollover to tempt the punters, the Winner Takes All pool nevertheless had a take up of more than fifty percent, and £130 awaits the lucky winner.
While both Marcus Wrinch and fellow semi-finalist Roland Herrera both invested, finalist Richard Owsley did not, and will consequently be carrying the best wishes of the neutrals.

11/04/08: Tony and Cecilia win league matches ......

Four league matches took place on Thursday, two being adjourned before completion.
But Cecilia Sparke defeated Simon Baker 11-5 in a battle of Premier Two Red promotion contenders, while Tony Walters was consolidating on his best league campaign to date with a Premier Two Blue with a win over Todd Young.

08/04/08: Other successes at BIBA

The report of the weekend's event at BIBA (see below) concentrated -- not unnaturally -- on the main flight.
There were other performances of note, however.
Paul Gilbertson won the Friday evening "500" tournament out of a field of 40 players.
Roland Herrera and Cecilia Sparke made the quarter-finals of the Progressive Consolation.
Tony Walters reached the semi-finals of the Last Chance, with Stuart Mann and Cynthia Roberts eliminated in the quarter-finals.
And Marcus Wrinch was runner-up in the "Noodle", the latest daft name for the three points flight, as well as winning the Saturday evening Team competition.
In the Poker, Blaine Buchanan won the Friday night session, while the main event on Saturday saw Paul Gilbertson finishing fourth, with Paul Watts sicth, and Ann Pocknell eighth.
Meanwhile, the traditional Bristol Backgammon pool for furthest progression in the main flight, featured a split prize (£120 for the winner and £60 for the next best) because of the unprecedented support. Ann, of course, took the £120, while quarter-finalists Paul Gilbertson and Ian Tarr shared the £60.

06/04/08: Gaz and Ann further league ambitions

Three of the main flight matches at this weekend's BIBA British Open (see the story immediately below this one) also doubled up as Bristol Premier League Division One matches.
And a further match was played late on Saturday evening.
Gaz Owen and Ann Pocknell each scored a brace of wins which now see them as the main challengers to Stuart Mann's lead.
Gaz defeated Paul Watts and Miles Farren, while Ann overcame Mark Dixon and Paul Gilbertson.
Mark's margin for error as he attempts to defend his title is now exceedlingly slim, with seven defeats already experienced from just nine matches.

06/04/08: Ann is Bristol's first British Open champion

Where Simon Baker, Phil Charlton, Tony Lee, Stuart Mann and Ian Tarr all fell just one tantalising step short of winning the biggest title in British backgammon, Ann Pocknell made it to the promised land today in Daventry.
The scene was the Barcelo Hotel, just north of the town, and the occasion was the seventeenth incarnation of the BIBA British Open.
The field of 79 was fifteen up on last year, and it is not an exaggeration to say the increase could be largely attributed to the band of no fewer than twenty current Bristol players -- that's just over a quarter of the entire field, for the benefit of the very few members of our readership who are numerically challenged, and unquestionably the largest ever Bristol contingent at a BIBA event.
Eight of the twenty were unfortunate enough not to receive byes through the first round, and this was to prove our worst round, with six falling at the first fence.
Blaine Buchanan, Tony Walters and Jerry Limb all succumbed to high quality opposition, while Tim Line lost an all Bristol encounter to Neil Young. Marcus Wrinch and Cynthia Roberts were the other fallers, while Miles Farren won through.
A further seven Bristol players fell in the second round -- BIBA debutant John Sprague, Ed Turner, Paul Watts (defeated by yet another getting his first taste of BIBA action, Gaz Owen), fourteen-year-old Lewis Young (also making his BIBA debut and far from disgraced when beaten by reigning champion Brian Lever), Neil, Roland Herrera, and Miles, who lost to double Irish Open champion Sean Casey.
Only seven made it through to the last thirty-two -- Ian, Mark Dixon (who recorded a fine win over Mardi Ohanessian), another BIBA debutante Cecilia Sparke, Gaz, Paul Gilbertson, Stuart Mann, and Ann.
It was at this stage that the Bristol contingent came into their own, with only two casualties -- both losing to highly rated players. Stuart succumbed to Ray Tannen, while Gaz went out to double British Open winner and one time (literally!) Bristol tournament entrant Nigel Merrigan.
Successes came for Ian (over top American and occasional TV pundit Carter Mattig), Ann (over Egypt's Rida Hassan), Cecilia (whose elimination of Brian Lever was one of the weekend's big highlights), Mark (over Dave "Cracker" McNamara), and Paul G (over Jeff Barber).
Who knows what might have happened in the last sixteen had the Bristolians been apart in the draw?
There had to be two eliminated when Ian met Cecilia and Ann met Mark. Ian and Ann progressed, as did Paul at the expense of Ray Tannen.
So Sunday morning arrived with three representatives in the quarter-finals. Once again the draw ensured one Bristol elimination, as Paul and Ann met -- Ann recovering from a 0-8 deficit to edge through. Ian, meanwhile, lost out at the death to Tom Duggan, leaving Ann as our only hope of ending the last of the big domestic Bristol jinxes.
Ann duly defeated Dave Moon to keep the flag flying in a final encounter with Uldis Lapikens, who had looked an unlikely semi-final winner at 1-10 down to Tom.
A double game set Ann on the road to final success, followed by a double gammon for a 6-0 lead.
A dropped cube got Uldis off the mark before Ann picked up a further four points. Uldis was 1-10 down for the second successive match!
The Crawford Game won, Uldis secured a double gammon, and the unlikely was looking less so.
Uldis was then forced into a mega back game, and Ann succeeded in bearing off fourteen men before encountering a minor hiccup. A timely double five ended all doubt, and the Bristol Premier League's only Newton Abbot based Canadian had won the title.

04/04/08: A tale of two Hills

Only eighteen players contested the second of the year's six Handicap Trophy events at the BCSC on Thursday.
Four others played some league matches, and a further player arrived too late for the tournament.
One theory to account for the low turnout concerned the potentially record sized Bristol contingent rumoured to be descending on the BIBA British Open in Daventry this weekend.
Bristol, it is said, was built on seven hills. Two of them were prominent on Thursday, as Nick Hill made his competitive Bristol Backgammon debut after a few Monday visits, and Phillip Hill managed to record no fewer than four league results, presumably in an effort to ensure that his March 31st penalty point will be recouped.
In the main event, Nick Hill -- benefitting from his introductory four handicap -- got past Derek Clew, Peter Edwards and Steffen Nowak to reach the final.
There he met his match in Lewis Young, whose handicap has recently reduced to 2. Lewis defeated Steve Morris, Ian Preston and Tim Line, before despatching Nick for his first main flight triumph, after two consolation flight wins last year.
At fourteen years and thirty-one days old, Lewis had become the youngest main flight winner in Bristol Backgammon history.
The consolation flight final featured zero handicapped Gaz Owen and Cynthia Roberts, whose handicap gave her a two point start. Gaz prevailed.
In the Handicap trophy table, Lewis has moved up to second, cutting Peter Edwards' lead to thirty points, with Steffen, Tony Walters and Tim not too far behind.
Phillip Hill's four match league adventure began with a brace of defeats at the hands of Dave Pym, but he balanced things with wins over Ian Preston and Neil Young.
Dave moves ahead of Simon Baker at the top of Premier Two Red.
Two Conference matches were started but adjourned.

01/04/08: BIBA invasion is on

Attendance by Bristol players at BIBA events has been going out of fashion lately, but that trend will be reversed -- at least for one month -- as a mass invasion is on the cards.
At least a dozen current Bristol players will be amongst the field at the British Open in Daventry. Expect a report here on Sunday evening or Monday.

01/04/08: Five penalised

The first Bristol Premier League checkpoint of the season passed at midnight with five players falling foul of the penalty system.
While Premier One was unaffected, and only John Paton picked up two penalty points in Premier Two Blue, it was in Premier Two Red that penalties really bit.
Jerry Limb with three, Neil Young two, and Phillip Hill and John Lewis one apiece, were penalised for being in arrears of the schedule, while Jerry's single point penalty for non-payment of his league fee became permament.
All of the other penalties can, of course, be clawed back by compliance with the May 31st checkpoint.

01/04/08: Gaz's BIBA freebie

Neil Young staged a jackpot with a difference at the BCSC on Monday evening.
Eight players, on a first come first served basis, paid £13.75 each to contest a knock-out where the prize pot equated to the amount for two nights' accommodation at the Barcelo, Daventry, for the coming weekend's BIBA British Open.
All eight players were already booked to go anyway, but it was Gaz Owen who came through to take the prize, defeating Cecilia Sparke in the final.
Lewis Young beat Patrick Duggan in a Conference match to extend his lead, while another new player -- Neil Whitfield -- paid us a welcome visit.

30/03/08: MARCH LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......

There were twenty-eight league players in action at the March league night at the BCSC.

30/03/08: Miles inflicts Stuart's second defeat ......

Stuart Mann still sets the pace at the top of Premier One, but at least Miles Farren managed to share the spoils of their double header.
Stuart has now lost two out of ten matches, with Gaz Owen and Miles now his closest pursuers.
Gaz defeated Michael Corbett, who ensured his visit was not entirely wasted by beating Ann Pocknell.

30/03/08: Peter eighteen points clear ......

At the current rate of progress Peter Edwards will have finished his league programme by the end of April.
With only six of his twenty-four Premier Two matches still to play, it seems likely that he will be setting a formidable target for his rivals, with fourteen wins already under his belt.
The question is, who are his rivals? Of the remaining players Nick Barham with just five wins from eight matches, has the best record, while only Blaine Buchanan, Alan Parfitt and Phil Charlton of the others are even in profit.
Alan was the night's main beneficiary in the division, despite scoring fewer points in total than his opponents.
Tim Line whitewashed him, before he scraped narrow wins in the return and against Mike Smith, with a more emphatic victory over Tony Walters sandwiched in between.
Meanwhile Marcus Wrinch and Simon Hughes traded wins, and John Paton got off the mark with victory over Steve Morris.

30/03/08: Steffen makes inroads ......

With only one of the top three of Premier Two Red in action -- Dave Pym suffering a narrow defeat at the hands of Neil Young -- the way was clear for the pursuing pack to close the gap.
Steffen Nowak was the night's star, winning all three matches contested, and is now fourth after a very slow start to his campaign.
Late arrival Andrew Cobb, replacing the expunged Tim Jefferies, lost no time in springing into action, winning one of three matches played.
Neil's win over Dave was followed by another over Drew Caudwell, while other victories were scored by Ian Preston, Richard Owsley and Phillip Hill.

30/03/08: Is the Conference in crisis? ......

Once again, only three Conference players were present, and although they made the most of the opportunity, the overall level of activity in the league is giving cause for some concern.
While it is not unusual for the league to get off to a slow start, the current crop of players seem to be taking things to extremes!
Lewis Young, Richard Holness and Malcolm Patterson were in action on Thursday, and these three players have been involved in seventeen of the nineteen matches played to date.
In recent seasons there have been as many as five players promoted from the Conference, but current levels of activity suggest that will be an unlikely scenario this year.

21/03/08: One in, one out, in Premier Two Red

Thursday morning saw Tim Jefferies expunged from Premier Two Red.
It emerged during a telephone conversation with Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr that Tim will be unable to complete his season, due to hardship caused primarily by illness.
As a by product of this, there are two beneficiaries.
Steffen Nowak, Tim's only opponent so far this season, has his 9-11 defeat wiped out.
And Tim's place in the league was put on offer to two players who made enquiries thirteen days after the December 21st deadline.
Andrew Cobb won the race to accept, and will have a modified set of targets at the checkpoints, having entered the season two and a half months late.
He will not be penalised at all at the March 31st checkpoint, will have tapered requirements at the May and July checkpoints, and will then fall into line with the rest of the league for the final two checkpoints.

21/03/08: Unusual jackpot evening

When is a jackpot evening not a jackpot evening?
Presumably when, as on Thursday, there were never quite enough players willing and able to contest a four player jackpot at any stage of the evening.
What actually transpired was an auxiliary league night, with players quite legitimately using the occasion to progress their campaigns in the three divisions of the Bristol Premier League, as well as enjoying -- for four players at least -- an experimental clock consulting doubles match.
In Premier One Simonetta Herrera ensured that she would not have the spectre of penalty points hanging over her as she jets off on yet another overseas trip.
A victory over Ed Turner, who has now also done enough to be clear of penalty worries, was followed by a narrow defeat at the hands of Stuart Mann who, even at this early stage of the season, is threatening to run away from the remainder of the field.
In Premier Two Red there were six matches, including a couple of double headers.
Leader Simon Baker defeated Steffen Nowak to record his seventh successive win at the start of the campaign which, together with his two victories at the end of his relegation campaign, constitutes a sequence bettered only four times in the entire history of the Premier League.
The run came to an end later in the evening, though, as Steffen gained his revenge, before beating Ian Preston.
Phillip Hill and Richard Owsley swapped 11-4 wins, while John Lewis defeated Neil Young, who is yet to register his first league win of the season.
There were five Premier Two Blue matches at the BCSC, as well as Mike Smith's 11-7 win over John Paton at the Hillgrove.
That John has been unfortunate early in the season can be demonstrated by the fact that this was his worst result score wise of the season, but he has yet to record his first win.
Peter Edwards edged closer to what, even at this juncture, looks like an inevitable promotion by scoring a hard earned win over Simon Hughes.
Simon was to defeat second placed Nick Barham for the second time this season later on.
Tony Walters and Tim Line shared the spoils in their double header, and Tim later suffered a further blow when losing to Steve Morris, for whom wins have not come easily so far.
Meanwhile Gaz Owen and Marcus Wrinch were limbering up for their forthcoming trip to Portugal with a clock based consulting doubles success over Stuart and Ian Tarr.

18/03/08: Roland's run continues

Lesters 66 reached its climax at Colston Yard this evening, when Roland Herrera made it two grand prix wins from two outings in 2008.
Blaine Buchanan left his sick bed to clinch a final place with a narrow win over Ann Pocknell in their resmued encounter, but Roland scored an emphatic 11-2 win to open up an OGP lead of 85 points.
Ann's visit to Bristol was not entirely in vain, though, as her recompense came in a Premier One clash with Ian Tarr, whose 5-2 lead counted for nothing after a quadruple gammon set up Ann's 11-5 win.

17/03/08: Gaz goes second

A Premier One double header at Channings, Clifton, this evening saw Gaz Owen and Martin Hemming scoring an emphatic win apiece.
Martin then moved on to Clifton College, where he scored an 11-9 victory over Mark Dixon.
Gaz moves into second place in the league table, while Martin has extricated himself from the bottom four.
Meanwhile, at the Monday BCSC session, Simon Baker shot to the top of Premier Two Red with a brace of victories over promotion rival Ian Preston.
Simon goes ahead of both Dave Pym and Cecilia Sparke on average points difference, and has now won eight Premier League matches on the trot, a sequence stretching back to the end of his relegation season.
A welcome new Conference entrant, Patrick Duggan, started his competitive career with an 11-4 win over the prolific Lewis Young.
And a six player Tric Trac Tourno was won by Nick Hill.

16/03/08: Honours shared in Clifton

There was a Premier One double header at Clifton College today, when Mark Dixon and Miles Farren played out a couple of one sided encounters.
Alarm bells were ringing for Miles when he succumbed 0-11 in the first match -- he had suffered a similar embarrassment against Gaz Owen in his only previous match -- but an 11-1 success in the return kick-started his season.

16/03/08: ALL THE NEWS FROM LESTERS LXVI ......

With a double rollover in the Winner Takes All pool, the £20 entry, and the pre-tournament auction, you might have expected a bumper turnout at the sixty-sixth Lesters Trophy event.
But just twenty-two hardy souls made it to the start line, although John Sprague also turned up later for his first league action of the season.

16/03/08: Roland's unbeaten start to 2008 grand prix events ......

Roland Herrera may have missed February's grand prix event after winning the January one, but as he hasn't lost a match yet he would be justified in going into Tuesday's final with some confidence.
Victories over Phillip Hill, Marcus Wrinch and Tim Line took him to the final, and there he will meet either Blaine Buchanan or Ann Pocknell, whose semi-final was adjourned with Blaine leading 5-4.
The resumption is due at Colston Yard on Tuesday evening, with Roland waiting in the wings for the victor.

16/03/08: Stuart compensated for another early main flight exit ......

Stuart Mann has not won a main flight grand prix match since October.
That perplexing run continued on Thursday, but at least he had the consolation flight title to be thankful for.
The 52 points gained for that run -- he defeated Cynthia Roberts, Ian Tarr, Peter Edwards and Steffen Nowak -- have at least kept him in some kind of contention for the OGP title.

16/03/08: Roland and Lewis head grand prix tables ......

Roland Herrera has regained his OGP lead from the absent Juanita Ferrer, and can extend it if he wins the final.
Tim Line's 50 points tally for reaching the semi-final has moved him into second place, but Blaine Buchanan or Ann Pocknell may dislodge him, even if Roland's lead is safe for the moment.
Meanwhile Colin Sara's January purple patch has not been maintained, simply because he has not been seen in grand prix action since.
His IGP lead has consequently been lost, after Lewis Young was rewarded for his win over Ian Tarr, which earned him twenty bonus points.

16/03/08: Rollover hopes eclipsed in second round ......

With just four of the twenty-two runners opting out of the Winner Takes All pool, the chances of a third consecutive rollover were always looking slim.
But when none of the four managed even a single main flight win, the possibility of the pool of £360 carrying over to April evaporated as early as the second round.
There was just £77 invested in the pre-tournament auction, and those still with an interest are finalist Roland Herrera and semi-finalist Blaine Buchanan, who were both confident enough to buy themselves, and Richard Holness, purchaser of the other surviving semi-finalist, Ann Pocknell.

16/03/08: Peter's Premier Two Blue season gathers pace ......

There was another Premier Two Blue win for Peter Edwards on Thursday evening, when he rounded off an adjourned match against Simon Hughes.
Peter has now won eleven out of the fourteen league matches he has completed, and although he may have to suffer withdrawal symptoms later in the year when he runs out of opponents, he is already setting a daunting target for his pursuers.
If he can maintain his win ratio in his remaining ten matches, it will take an exceptional effort to knock him from his lofty perch.
There was further play in his division at the Highbury Vaults, where Phil Charlton put an end to Mike Smith's recent good run.

16/03/08: John starts with a win ......

John Sprague emerged from snooker conflict to get his first taste of Conference play this season, and inflicted another defeat on Lewis Young, who had now lost five of his nine league matches this year.

16/03/08: Simonetta and Neil take clock honours ......

Last week's clock tournament loose ends were tied up on Thursday.
Simonetta Herrera made light of a 1-6 deficit to overcome Gaz Owen in the main flight final, while Neil Young took the consolation flight final at Steffen Nowak's expense.

12/03/08: Mike starts with a win

Mike Gartside -- so unfortunate when he missed out on promotion to the Premier League last year -- began his 2008 Conference campaign with an 11-8 win over Jude Pitt at Blaine Buchanan's house in Totterdown this evening.

11/03/08: Lewis suffers double blow

Lewis Young -- the keenest of this year's Conference line-up, judging by his level of activity -- suffered the blow of a brace of defeats at the BCSC last night.
His adjourned match with Jude Pitt ended in a 4-11 defeat, then Mandy Macdonald opened her season's campaign with an 11-7 win.
Lewis is the first player to reach the threshold of eight results which is intrumental in triggering promotion slots to the Premier League. Hopefully more players will follow Lewis' example soon.

07/03/08: Paul wins in Daventry

This weekend's BIBA tournament at Daventry saw some Premier One action on Friday evening when Paul Gilbertson edged home narrowly against Ed Turner.
The win moves Paul up to fourth in the table.

07/03/08: Gaz and Simonetta to contest clock final

There were twenty-four players in action at the BCSC on Thursday, and twenty of those contested the second of the year's clock tournaments.
The main flight saw Simonetta Herrera and Gaz Owen reaching the final, which has not yet taken place. Simonetta got there via wins over Simon Hughes, Richard Owsley and Nick Barham, while Gaz overcame Peter Edwards, Lewis Young and Roland Herrera.
And in the consolation flight, we have another final to look forward to, with Steffen Nowak and Neil Young the protagonists.
Steffen got there by defeating Steve Morris and Todd Young, while Neil beat Mandy Macdonald and Peter Edwards.
There was also league action, with the only results coming in Premier Two Red.
Simon Baker won both legs of a double header against Drew Caudwell, while leader Dave Pym succumbed to second placed Cecilia Sparke.
Dave, Cecilia, Simon and Ian Preston are the front runners so far in that particular league.

07/03/08: Nick makes an appearance

Monday's informal session at the BCSC produced a smaller than average turnout, but the good news was that another new player, Nick Hill from Clifton, made his bow in one of the two chouette groups.

01/03/08: Seven penalised

Seven Premier League players have been docked a single penalty point for non-payment of their £20 league fees.
The good news for Simonetta Herrera, Tim Line, Alan Parfitt, Tim Jefferies, Jerry Limb, Dave Pym and Cecilia Sparke is that they have until March 31st to reclaim their penalties.

29/02/08: Leap Day wins for Martin and Mike

The first ever Bristol Backgammon matches to be played on the 29th day of February resulted in wins for Martin Hemming and Mike Smith.
Martin returned to the scene of yesterday's defeat by Paul Watts. This time Paul's guest was the victor, securing his first Premier One win of the season.
And the Highbury Vaults was the venue when Mike Smith scored a narrow Premier Two Blue victory over Blaine Buchanan, Mike's third win in two days.

29/02/08: FEBRUARY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......

Thirty-three players were present at the BCSC on Thursday for the league night and the conclusion of four outstanding tournament flights.

29/02/08: Stuart setting the pace again ......

Stuart Mann's hunger for league titles shows no sign of abating.
He only played once at the BCSC last night, but his 11-6 victory over Paul Gilbertson sees him opening up a six points gap at the top of the Premier One table.
With no activity for the second, third and fourth placed players, the way was clear for other challengers to leapfrog their way to the upper reaches, but only Ann Pocknell, with a brace of victories, made significant headway.
Paul Gilbertson, Michael Corbett, Paul Watts and Mark Dixon each registered a single victory.

29/02/08: Peter's season already more than half over ......

As February comes to a close, one player apparently unconcerned about the probability of late season league inactivity is Peter Edwards.
He completed three more Premier Two Blue matches last night, including two wins, and has already completed thirteen of the scheduled 24 matches.
And with a tally of ten wins so far, it is likely to be some time before he is displaced from the league's summit.
Second placed Nick Barham retained his position despite a defeat, while double successes were scored by Tim Line, Mike Smith and Simon Hughes.
Tony Walters was the player to defeat Peter.

29/02/08: Ian suffers first defeat ......

The absent Dave Pym still sits proudly atop the Premier Two Red table.
Ian Preston would have hoped to close the gap between himself and Dave, but suffered his first league defeat of the year at the hands of Cecilia Sparke, who also defeated Richard Owsley and moves above Ian.
Simon Baker and Neil Young made a belated start to their league campaigns with a double header which went emphatically Simon's way.
Richard gained some consolation for his defeat by beating Steffen Nowak.
Cynthia Roberts made a partial recovery from a woeful start to her campaign by winning two matches out of three, although she succumbed once to Drew Caudwell.

29/02/08: Richard closes on lead ......

After a January which saw only three matches completed, the Conference is slowly showing signs of gathering some momentum.
Lewis Young had been the catalyst for most of the activity prior to Thursday's session, but in his absence Richard Holness moved to within three points of Lewis at the top by beating Jude Pitt.
Jude later got off the mark by defeating Malcolm Patterson.

29/02/08: Four tournament loose ends tied up ......

Thursday's session saw the tieing up of a few loose ends in recent uncompleted tournament flights.
The February Bristol Grand Prix consolation flight final saw Marcus Wrinch pipped by Ian Tarr.
The opening Handicap Trophy was also wrapped up with the completion of the finals of both flights.
Reigning Handicap Trophy champion Peter Edwards sealed a perfect start to his title defence by beating Tony Walters in the main flight, while Simonetta Herrera was unable to claw back a similar two points handicap in the consolation flight, where she was edged out by Richard Holness.
And the main flight of the year's opening Consulting Doubles event was settled when Nick Barham and Phillip Hill saw off the challenge of Derek and Mike Clew.

25/02/08: Gaz and Ed share spoils

Gaz Owen and Ed Turner played a Premier One double header at the BCSC tonight, and scored a victory apiece -- Ed by 11-2, Gaz by 11-9.
Gaz remains in third place, just behind Ian Tarr on average points difference, while Ed moves into fourth.
Lewis Young scored a season's Conference double over Lars Ericsson when he scored an 11-7 win tonight.
Lewis still leads, but then again he has figured in six of the division's eight results so far!

25/02/08: Nordic satellite news

Five Bristol players were among the slightly disappointing turnout of twenty-four contestants for a satellite tournament for the upcoming Nordic Open, at the King's Stores, London E1, on Sunday.
With a winner's prize valued at £1,200, constituting free entry to the Danish event plus all accommodation paid for, it was surprising that more did not take the plunge.
Ian Tarr and Tim Line were among the sixteen players who didn't receive a bye, but both won through to the last sixteen, where they met, Ian prevailing with a quadruple gammon from 4-7 down.
Stuart Mann, Gaz Owen and Cecilia Sparke did get byes, but Gaz and Stuart were drawn together, and Stuart progressed. Cecilia also won her second round match, giving the Bristol contingent three of the quarter-final slots.
Cecilia lost to the eventual tournament winner, Murray Sharp, while Ian was edged out by eventual finalist Zoe Cunningham.
It was left to Stuart to carry the Bristol flag into the semis, which he did with a victory over Michael Michael. Murray eliminated him in the semis, however.
Gaz and Cecilia, meanwhile, each managed to win one of several jackpots run by TD Mike Main.

25/02/08: Juanita takes OGP lead

Juanita Ferrer defeated Tim Line on Saturday in the outstanding main final from the February Grand Prix event.
The win moves her into a five points lead in the OGP, pushing Roland Herrera into second place.
Some consolation for Roland is the fact that his January win now definitely qualifies him for the 2009 Bristol Masters, while Juanita will have to wait and see whether or not the February tournament is one of the seven best attended £10 grand prix events, thus qualifying her.
Another important by-product of Juanita's win was the rollover in the Winner Takes All pool, which will now carry a kitty of £180 forward to the March event.

22/02/08: Juanita reaches final

Juanita Ferrer today made it through to a main flight final meeting with Tim Line in the February Bristol Grand Prix tournament, after narrowly defeating Miles Farren in the semi-final.
Whoever wins the final will wrest the mantle of OGP leader from Roland Herrera.
And if Juanita is the winner, there will be a £180 Winner Takes All rollover to look forward to in March.

22/02/08: FEBRUARY HANDICAP TROPHY ROUND-UP ......

Thirty-three players were at the BCSC on Thursday, mostly for the first of this year's Handicap Trophy events. But there was some action in all four leagues, including two players whose presence was exclusively for that purpose.
Helen Clew made her Bristol Backgammon debut, and acquitted herself very well.

22/02/08: Peter and Tony in main final ......

Reigning Handicap Trophy champion Peter Edwards has made a great start to his title defence, making the main final of Thursday's tournament despite his zero handicap.
His victims were Richard Holness, Phillip Hill, Cecilia Sparke and Derek Clew, while the other finalist -- Tony Walters (handicap two) -- was fighting his way past Ian Preston, Todd Young, Blaine Buchanan and Steffen Nowak.
The winner will take a 35 points lead at the head of the Handicap Trophy table.
The turnout of thirty-one contestants equalled the record for the competition.

22/02/08: Richard and Simonetta to contest consolation final ......

Richard Holness progressed to the consolation final of Thursday's tournament via victories over Steve Ferrer, Ian Preston and Helen Clew.
His final opponent, who will start with a two points deficit, is Simonetta Herrera, who defeated Sue Burnett, Roland Herrera(!) and Ed Turner.

22/02/08: Gaz edges out Ian ......

The only Premier One action of the evening featured two players who have made good starts to their respective campaigns.
Gaz Owen edged out Ian Tarr 11-10 to tuck himself handily in third place with matches in hand over the top two.

22/02/08: Peter keeps up the pace ......

An 11-7 win over Todd Young was enough to maintain Peter Edwards' impetus at the top of Premier Two Blue.
Blaine Buchanan and Marcus Wrinch also scored wins to attain positive overall records.

22/02/08: Six in a row for Dave ......

Dave Pym extended his winning Premier Two Red run from four to six matches, overtaking Ian Preston at the top of the league.

22/02/08: Conference gathering pace after slow start ......

The Bristol Conference League traditionally starts slowly, gathers pace, and finishes with a rousing crescendo of activity throughout November.
This year, though, it has to be said that the competition has started off very slowly indeed, especially when such a great degree of interest had been shown by the prospective participants.
Finally, things seem to be accelerating, and five players were in league action on Thursday.
Lewis Young seemed to be hogging the limelight from the outset, and while he still leads, he now has serious challengers breathing down his neck.
League debutant(e)s Sue Burnett and Richard Holness have each started with a brace of wins -- Sue's both being at the expense of Lewis.

20/02/08: Ian closes on Stuart

Ian Tarr played host to Paul Watts in Redfield this afternoon, but the hospitality was limited as he recovered from 3-8 down to claim a win that puts him just three points behind Premier One leader Stuart Mann.

19/02/08: Miles into semi

Miles Farren's Bridgwater home was the venue this evening when Miles reached the main flight semi-final of last Thursday's Bristol Grand Prix event.
Ann Pocknell was the victim, and Juanita Ferrer awaits Miles in the semis.

19/02/08: Stuart opens a gap

Stuart Mann pulled six points clear at the head of the Premier One league table with a brace of victories at the BCSC last night.
His victims were Paul Watts and Ed Turner.
Tony Walters beat Todd Young in Premier Two Blue, while Sue Burnett celebrated her Conference debut with a narrow win over Lewis Young.
Mark Dixon delivered a fascinating seminar entitled "Five concepts to improve your game", and there was a chouette, plus an eight player jackpot.
There was also Premier Two Blue action elsewhere, with Mike Smith and Steve Morris sharing the spoils of a double header at the Miners Arms, St Werburghs.

15/02/08: FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......

Twenty-one players contested the February Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday evening.

15/02/08: Tim faces long wait for final opponent ......

Tim Line made it through to his first Bristol Grand Prix main flight final for two years at the BCSC last night, with wins over Todd Young, Peter Edwards and Tony Walters.
But as Tim was progressing through the "short" side of the draw, the "long" side was living up to its name.
Eventually Miles Farren emerged from gruelling matches against Steve Morris and Phillip Hill to clinch a quarter-final with the waiting Ann Pocknell, but as the time of her return train to Devon was getting ever closer, the quarter-final has to be rescheduled.
Juanita Ferrer awaits the winner of that one in the semis.

15/02/08: Marcus and Ian in consolation final ......

Marcus Wrinch and Ian Tarr are in the consolation final of Thursday's tournament, and will probably settle matters next week.
Marcus beat Gaz Owen, Steve Morris and Todd Young for the privilege, while Ian defeated Richard Owsley and Lewis Young.

15/02/08: Roland leads for the moment ......

Roland Herrera missed Thursday's tournament, but still leads the OGP standings, for the moment at least.
But of those remaining in contention in the main flight, any one of Tim Line, Juanita Ferrer and Miles Farren might overhaul him, while Ann Pocknell can draw level.

15/02/08: Nearly all quiet on the intermediate front ......

Only two IGP qualifiers contested the Thursday event, so Colin Sara's great exploits in January still see him with a 40 points lead, although second placed Richard Holness now has company in the shape of Lewis Young.

15/02/08: Rollover hopes rest with Juanita ......

The chance of a second successive Winner Takes All Pool rollover rest with Juanita Ferrer, the only one of the four remaining main flight protagonists not to be tempted by the £80 rollover from January.
The pool now stands at £180.

15/02/08: Four Two Blue results ......

Half a Premier One match was played last night, but it was in Premier Two Blue that most of the league action took place.
Leader Peter Edwards suffered mixed fortunes, losing 9-11 to Blaine Buchanan after holding a substantial lead, but later defeating Todd Young.
Tim Line and Marcus Wrinch scored the other wins.

12/02/08: Gaz takes clock honours

Monday evening's BCSC session featured a quick clock tournament, and eight players contested it.
Gaz Owen took the honours with wins over a trio of Youngs!
Neil Young was despatched in a single 8-cube game, Lewis Young was also whitewashed -- albeit in more games -- and Todd Young succumbed in the final.
Nick Barham won the consolation flight.
Lewis Young scored another Conference win, just edging out Malcolm Patterson 11-10.

08/02/08: Stuart beaten

It was jackpot night at the BCSC on Thursday, but many players took the opportunity to contest league matches.
In Premier One leader Stuart Mann suffered his first defeat -- 9-11 at the hands of Ian Tarr, who now trails Stuart only on average points difference. Paul Watts was the division's other winner.
Five matches were played in Premier Two Red, where Dave Pym had an outstanding evening, winning all three matches contested, including a double over second placed Jerry Limb, whom he has displaced.
Cecilia Sparke and Drew Caudwell also scored wins.
The only action in Premier Two Blue was the conclusion of the return match between Peter Edwards and Steve Morris, Peter prevailing narrowly to regain top spot.
There were three four-player jackpots played, resulting in wins for Marcus Wrinch, Cecilia and Peter.

03/02/08: Ed second at BIBA

BIBA's Jarvis Trophy event at the Barcelo Hotel, Daventry, this weekend saw some Bristol successes.
In a 32 strong field Ed Turner was runner-up with five wins from his six 11-point matches, while Marcus Wrinch won the consolation flight.
Paul Gilbertson won four of his six matches.
The event was won by John Hedge, making only his second BIBA appearance, with Chris Ternel third.

01/02/08: Derek and Mike far from "Clewless"!

Derek Clew, who made an impact towards the end of last year's programme, brought his father Mike Clew along for his Bristol Backgammon debut at the opening Consulting Doubles Grand Prix event at the BCSC last night.
And the pairing duly made it through to the main flight final, defeating Simonetta Herrera and another debutant, Shay Baabahar, before a semi-final win over Peter Edwards and Neil Young.
In the final they will meet either Roland Herrera and Steve Morris or Nick Barham and Phillip Hill.
The consolation flight final will feature the young Young Brothers on opposing sides, Todd Young partnering Blaine Buchanan against Stuart Mann and Lewis Young.
Stuart had been severely tested earlier in the evening when he met Gaz Owen in a top of the table Premier One encounter.
Gaz roared into a 7-0 lead, but the match turned on the next game where the cube was raised to four. Stuart narrowly prevailed in that one, and didn't concede another point, taking his place at the league's summit.
Peter Edwards drew level on points with Premier Two Blue leader Nick Barham with an 11-7 victory over Steve Morris.

27/01/08: Gaz back on top

Gaz Owen has edged his way back to the top of the early season Premier One table.
His 11-10 victory over Mark Dixon at Clifton College yesterday moves him ahead of Stuart Mann on average points difference, while condemning the reigning champion to the kind of start he would not have envisaged as he defends his title.
Mark has now lost his opening three matches.
And Ian Tarr moved closer to the top two with an 11-6 win over Martin Hemming today at the Amberley Inn, Gloucestershire.

25/01/08: JANUARY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......

Twenty-four players played a total of twenty-two league matches as the 2008 season in Bristol's four leagues gathers pace.
All but five of the thirty-eight Premier League players have now started their campaigns, although the Conference has started slowly.
And Malcolm Patterson made his Bristol Backgammon debut in the Conference.

25/01/08: Stuart wants his title back ......

Stuart Mann, Premier League champion in three of the past five seasons, has made a solid enough start to his campaign to suggest that a fourth title is anything but out of the question.
Stuart scored wins over Ann Pocknell and Ian Tarr to take the early Premier One lead at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
Contrast this with Mark Dixon's start. The reigning champ, who also took the title in 2005, lost his second match of the season to Ian.
With twenty matches remaining though it's far too early to draw any conclusions.
Michael Corbett and Simonetta Herrera scored their first wins of the season, while three players have yet to make a start.

25/01/08: Nick intent on a better season ......

After his spectacular entry into the Bristol Backgammon arena in 2006, many expected Nick Barham to progress straight through Premier Two at his first attempt.
Last year was a disappointing one for Nick, who could only watch as his fellow Premier League rookies Gaz Owen and Miles Farren achieved that breakthrough.
But there are signs that Nick will be a lot closer to reaching the top flight at the end of this season.
Three victories moved him to the top of Premier Two Blue ahead of the absent Peter Edwards.
Steve Morris (twice), Alan Parfitt and Tim Line were the evening's other winners.

25/01/08: Ian still unbeaten ......

Ian Preston is the early leader of Premier Two Red.
A fourth successive win last night puts him on top of a league where everybody who has played has won at least one match.
Jerry Limb, absent last night, is still second, but Drew Caudwell and Cecilia Sparke moved closer in third and fourth.
Others to register victories were Richard Owsley, Tim Jefferies, Dave Pym, Phillip Hill, John Lewis and Cynthia Roberts.

25/01/08: Two make Conference debuts ......

It seems to be a developing tradition that the Conference starts slowly, gathers pace, and reaches an exciting finale in November.
A slow start was not expected this year, however, as an unprecedented fifteen players have committed themselves to the competition this early in the campaign.
Only two Conference players were present last night and not playing snooker, so it was left to those two -- Richard Holness and Malcolm Patterson -- to play the only match of the night.
Richard was making his league debut after also entering the January grand prix tournament, while the match was the first of Malcolm's Bristol Backgammon career.
Only three matches in total have been played, so the victor, Richard, is in second place. There's a very long way to go, though.

21/01/08: Thirteen at the BCSC

The third Monday session at the BCSC was attended by thirteen players, who played a chouette and some league matches.
Premier Two saw three double headers taking place, with honours shared by Nick Barham and Peter Edwards in Premier Two Blue.
The same could not be said of Premier Two Red, however, where Cynthia Roberts suffered terribly at the hands (metaphorical ones!) of both Jerry Limb and Ian Preston.

17/01/08: Nine league results at Awards Night

The annual Bristol Backgammon Awards Night was enjoyed by many, including fourteen of the sixteen players who were due to collect prizes.
There was a free buffet at 8pm to get people in the right mood, and Mark Dixon provided an interesting quiz with a bottle of champagne for the winner.
Director Ian Tarr again delivered his Review of the Bristol Backgammon Year, during which -- as is the custom -- lots of records were broken (during the year, not during the review!).
As for the prizes, there were twelve annual trophies presented, twenty-five engraved mementoes, fourteen bottles of wine (generously supplied by Ed Turner), and sixteen envelopes containing various sums of money, all of which were the fruits of the labours of the players during 2007.
Nobody laboured to better effect than Peter Edwards, who took home four annual trophies, seven mementoes, five bottles of wine, and three envelopes!
The "surprise" awards went to Marcus Wrinch as Rookie of the Year, Gaz Owen as Most Improved Player (sponsored by Martin Hemming), and Stuart Mann picked up the first of what will become a series of trophies to commemorate his landmark of 100 career Premier League wins.
Ian Tarr won the champagne!
Photos were taken by Mike Smith, and will hopefully appear on this site within the next few days.
Both before and after the festivities a good deal of backgammon was played, and there were results in all three Premier Leagues.
Premier One saw wins for Gaz Owen, Ann Pocknell and Paul Gilbertson, while Peter Edwards completed a highly satisfactory night with a Premier Two Blue double over Mike Smith, with Nick Barham, Tony Walters and Blaine Buchanan also scoring victories.
In Premier Two Red Ian Preston notched the night's only win.

15/01/08: Monday works again

Once again, sixteen players attended the Monday session at the BCSC.
These included three welcome new players -- Suzanne Rosenfeld from Horfield, and Richard and Sally Collett from Alveston.
There were also some league action -- in Premier Two Blue, Premier Two Red, and the Conference -- and one or two friendlies.

12/01/08: Roland into the final

Roland Herrera defeated Colin Sara at Colin's Redland home this evening to set up a meeting with Steve Ferrer in the final of the January Bristol Grand Prix tournament.
They will be playing for the tournament prize money, the overall OGP lead, and a place in the 2009 Bristol Masters, where the new rules dictate that the least well attended of the twelve tournaments will not necessarily carry a place.

11/01/08: JANUARY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......

Only twice (both times in 2001) in the history of Lesters Trophy and Bristol Backgammon grand prix tournaments has the thirty player turnout at yesterday's event been exceeded.
That's 124 events, for those who are counting, and the signs are all there for another bumper, record breaking, year for Bristol Backgammon.
Another player new to our ranks was Richard Holness from Swindon, who has also signed up for the 2008 Bristol Conference League.

11/01/08: Steve awaits an opponent as Colin scales unexpected heights ......

The Ferrers made a return to grand prix competition at the BCSC on Thursday, and Steve Ferrer made the most of the opportunity to reach the main final, where he awaits an opponent.
Steve's victims were Ian Tarr, Peter Edwards, Tony Walters and Mark Dixon, and he will play either Roland Herrera or Colin Sara when they have resolved their outstanding semi-final.
Roland got past Steffen Nowak, Cecilia Sparke and Phillip Hill, while Colin started his 2008 campaign in marked contrast to his 2007 experience by defeating Simon Hughes, David Olmo and Cynthia Roberts.

11/01/08: Stuart takes consolation flight ......

The fifteen player consolation flight saw Stuart Mann defeating Tim Line in the final.
Stuart beat Ian Tarr, Neil Young and Richard Holness while Tim was disposing of Steffen Nowak, Chris Roberts and Juanita Ferrer.

11/01/08: Steve takes early OGP lead ......

Steve Ferrer's run to the final of the main flight puts him, of course, at the top of the opening OGP table, with a 25 points lead over the other three semi-finalists -- Mark Dixon, Roland Herrera and Colin Sara.
While Mark has lost his semi, the other three leaders have points available to win in the two remaining matches.
Stuart Mann's consolation flight win puts him in fifth place.

11/01/08: Colin makes early IGP running ......

Twenty bonus points -- for wins over Premier Status players Simon Hughes and Cynthia Roberts -- boosted the IGP points tally of early leader Colin Sara, giving him a forty points cushion over his nearest pursuer Richard Holness.
And Colin has the chance to increase this lead as he tackles the semi and hopefully the final.
Richard's total also includes twenty bonus points, as the only intermediate to defeat a Premier One player -- Gaz Owen.
Other intermediates to score victories were David Olmo, who won the only all-intermediate match of the evening against Gabriela Perales, and Chris Roberts, whose consolation flight win over Simon Hughes scored him ten bonus points.
Intermediates made up seven of the thirty entrants to Thursday's tournament.

11/01/08: £80 rollover awaits February entrants ......

The Winner Takes All pool was never in serious danger of being won on Thursday evening.
To begin with, only eight players bothered to invest, and all bar one of those made their exits before the quarter-final stage.
And when Tony Walters succumbed to Steve Ferrer a rollover was assured.

11/01/08: One result from five Premier Two matches ......

Seven players managed to get in some league action on Thursday evening, but although five matches started, just one was concluded.
The victor was Peter Edwards, who takes over at the top of the Premier Two Blue.

07/01/08: First Monday session a success

Nobody could be sure quite what to expect from Monday evening sessions at the BCSC, but the first one tonight was encouraging.
With a time span of just 7pm until 11pm, which will be the norm on Mondays, unlike our habitually longer Thursday competition sessions, there was still plenty of time for some very useful action to take place, although the hoped for trickle of new players did not materialise on this occasion.
There were, however, no fewer than sixteen players present to enjoy various activities.
The evening consisted of an eight player Tric Trac Tourno, two knock-out finals, three league matches, a series of friendly matches, and a chouette.
It was a special evening for Ed Turner, who contested both of the finals, and came through each successfully.
First up was the outstanding December grand prix main flight final against Miles Farren. Ed's win brought the 2007 season to a belated close, bringing Ed up to eighth in the final OGP table, but more importantly clinching the final 2008 Bristol Masters slot for him, as well as twelve months' tenure of the John Chidgey Cup.
His second final won was the main flight from last week's clock tournament, where he was pitted against Nick Barham.
The Tric Trac Tourno was won at a canter by Cynthia Roberts, who only needed to go through the motions in the last three of her seven matches after scoring a backgammon and three gammons in her first four encounters.
In the leagues, we had a Premier Two Blue double header between Blaine Buchanan and Todd Young, where Blaine took the first match 11-6, only to suffer a 1-11 reverse in the return, sending Todd to the top of the embryonic league table.
Todd's elder brother, Lewis Young, was not to be outdone, and scored the first Conference win of the season when he edged home 11-10 against Lars Ericsson.
And Cynthia, in a hot vein of form, came out ahead in the chouette which closed the evening for a few players.

05/01/08: Sarah's funeral on Wednesday

The funeral for Sarah Rosich (see story dated 27/12/07) will be on Wednesday (9th) at 3.30pm, at Canford Cemetery, Canford Lane, Bristol BS9 3PQ.
The family are asking for no flowers, but donations to any of "Children in Need or a War Veterans/Victims charity" will be welcomed.
Director Ian Tarr is happy to co-ordinate this on behalf of Bristol Backgammon, and plans to talk to the family on Wednesday about the possibility of a memorial competition in Sarah's name.
Pledges to the tune of £50 have already been received, so if you wish to add to this, please let Ian know.

05/01/08: Martin to host Bristol League weekend!

Martin Hemming's Cotswold Fireside Tournament will not be occupying its usual slot at the end of January -- it will hopefully be confirmed for some time before the end of March -- so Martin is proposing to host an informal weekend's backgammon for Bristol players, with the emphasis possibly on playing some league matches.
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th at the Amberley Inn, Amberley, Gloucestershire GL5 5AF promises to be a fun weekend in the Cotswolds, and there's also the possibility to take some time out at the Blue Square Premiership match between Forest Green Rovers and Exeter City just down the road!
There is reasonably priced accommodation available for Saturday night -- visit the Amberley website -- although Martin is hoping to beat the advertised rates, so contact him first on 07988 237997 or by email.
Martin says "The theme of the proposed weekend is informality. People are welcome to play as much or as little as they want in any format that suits. There are no fees. I hope to hear from a few of you, and may I wish all of you an enjoyable Bristol Backgammon year."
Given the informality of the occasion, there's also the possibility of visiting on either or both of the days. Have a think about it.

05/01/08: NEWS FROM 2008'S FIRST EVENT ......

The 2008 Bristol Backgammon season got under way when twenty-three players contested the first of six scheduled clock tournaments at the BCSC.
And the first new player of the year, Tom Browning, made a welcome debut, as well as signing up for the Conference.

05/01/08: Ed and Nick to contest clock final ......

Three Bristol clock tournaments have now been completed -- barring one match -- and we are still waiting to see which player will go down in history as the first to run out of time!
With standard time allowances of two minutes per point per player, with a 12 seconds delay, there shouldn't really be a problem, but it is heartening to note that nobody has yet fallen foul of the clocks.
The main flight of the tournament saw Ed Turner and Nick Barham fighting their way through to the final, which will no doubt be played very soon.
Ed, in the "long" half of the draw, defeated Tony Walters, Ian Preston, Blaine Buchanan and Lewis Young to reach the final, while Nick's victims were Steve Morris, Ann Pocknell and Peter Edwards.

05/01/08: Tim pips Roland in consolation flight ......

Tim Line took the consolation flight of Thursday's tournament, when he fought back from 0-6 down to defeat Roland Herrera in the final.
Tim also defeated Ian Tarr and Simonetta Herrera, while Roland was easing past Mark Dixon, Steffen Nowak and Neil Young.

05/01/08: Half a match, and the league season is under way ......

The 2008 league season is under way.
Fittingly it was two new league players who kicked off the campaign, when Costas Efthymiou and Bristol Backgammon debutant Tom Browning made use of their early exits frorm the tournament.
So the Conference has started, albeit with half a match, adjourned at 4-4.
With thirteen players already committed to competing in the Conference, and thirty-eight others lining up for Premier League action, we look to be set for another record season, as last year's total of 59 league players seems certain to be surpassed when new entrants join the Conference throughout the year.

04/01/08: Two men and a missed boat

Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has reluctantly turned down late approaches from two players to return to Premier League action.
The two former Premier League players coincidentally made their enquiries within four hours of each other yesterday, but the natural inclination to include them was thwarted by the fact that both divisions of Premier Two are at full capacity with thirteen players in each.
The fixture load of twenty-four matches per player is considered by Ian to be at the top end of the scale in terms of the feasibility of everyone completing the season.

01/01/08: New Premier League line-ups announced

The new line-ups for the Premier League have been announced after an update of the league rules.
The thirty-eight entrants have been split into three divisions, with twelve in Premier One, and thirteen in each of two parallel divisions of Premier Two, Premier Two Blue and Premier Two Red. Most players were seeded on their 2007 positions to ensure a fair split, with new league entrants being drawn randomly to fill the remaining gaps.
Four players will be relegated from Premier One, with two being promoted from each of the Premier Two divisions.
The Premier One season will consist of twenty-two matches per player, while Premier Two players will have twenty-four matches each.
The table for populating the divisions of the league has been completely revamped, and caters for a maximum of 91 players in a pyramid structure.
There is a possibility that, if current trends continue, there will be enough players in 2009 to trigger the first of four potential Premier Three divisions. Should that be the case, up to seven Premier Two players might run the risk of demotion to the new division. The precise numbers would depend on the total number of Premier League entries.
Because there has been such an extensive rewrite of the rules Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is allowing a period of one month -- until the end of January -- for players to express their opinions and/or suggestions for refinement of the rules, but he is not expecting anything more than cosmetic changes to be made before finalising them on January 31st.
Many updates to the website are now in place, while others will bring things totally up to date within the next week or so.

Recent news items
News items from 2008 (second half)
News items from 2007 (second half)
Back to Home Page