News items from 2009 (second half)
22/12/09: Late Lewis entry makes it thirty for the 2010 Premier League
The deadline for entry into the 2010 Bristol Premier League passed at midnight, with Lewis Young the last player to sign up.
This brought the total number of entries to exactly thirty, seven down on last year's entry.
The preferred split of divisions, as per the rules, was finally twelve players in Premier One, with nine each in Premier Two Blue and Premier Two Red.
So the twelve entrants qualified for Premier One were accommodated, as is their right, but the level of natural wastage from the top flight -- represented by Marcus Wrinch alone -- meant that there were no "back door" admissions this year.
The pecking order for allocation of the Premier Two places between the two divisions resulted in the following line-ups for 2010:
Premier Two Blue: Derek Clew, Cecilia Sparke, Tony Walters, Ed Turner, Cynthia Roberts, Ian Preston, Simon Temme, Andrew Cobb;
Premier Two Red: Steve Morris, Tim Line, Richard Holness, Blaine Buchanan, John Lewis, Lewis Young, Richard Owsley, Paul Watts.
This only left the draw for this year's new entrants, which was performed by Simonetta Herrera. Chas Perry will be in the Blue Division, while Malcolm Patterson is in Red.
Apart from Marcus, those missing from the line-up in 2010 are Peter Edwards, Todd Young, Phillip Hill, John Paton and Mike Smith, plus those who failed to finish the 2009 season -- Michael Corbett, Martin Hemming and Drew Caudwell.
One previously unseen feature in Premier Two will be the number of meetings with each opponent -- up to three, so that players will get a total of 24 matches. In Premier One, eleven opponents played twice gives the ideal balance with 22 matches for each player.
22/12/09: Neil and Ian win final Tric Trac Tournos of the year
The curtain fell last night on another Bristol Backgammon year.
The final session before the BCSC takes its Christmas break featured the last phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix, billed as a Tric Trac Tourno, which actually turned out to be two Tric Trac Tournos, given that there was plenty of time for the six players present to fit both in.
Neil Young and Ian Tarr proved to be the winners, although the impact on the MCAGP was minimal, as Roland Herrera has already annexed the title.
"Hostilities" resume on Monday January 4th with the opening session of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
21/12/09: Julian declines "fast tracking" offer
After thinking "long and hard" Julian Fetterlein has declined an offer from Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr to be fast tracked into Premier One for the 2010 season.
The offer had uniquely been extended to Julian in view of his World Backgammon Giant status, and Julian was known to be wavering in his response until today's declination.
Entries are set to be well down on last year, with twenty-nine acceptances so far. Of those who finished the 2009 season, responses are yet to be received from Lewis Young and John Paton.
Premier One will have twelve players, with only Marcus Wrinch, of those qualified, opting out.
The preferred split for 29 players would have been 11 in Premier One, with 9 each in Premier Two Blue and Premier Two Red, but because Premier One qualifiers are guaranteed their top flight places, this means there is a possibility of a numerical imbalance in the two Premier Two divisions.
If necessary a draw will determine which division has the extra player, while a draw will certainly decide which divisions newcomers Malcolm Patterson and Chas Perry will be allocated to.
18/12/09: Derek wins Christmas Swiss event
There were just nine players present at the BCSC last night, with temperatures dropping and Christmas looming.
So an inaugural Bristol Swiss format event involved eight of them, with Director Ian Tarr taking a back seat for the sake of the format.
Derek Clew emerged from the field as the winner of the main prize, defeating Steve Morris in what was effectively the final.
Steve, Simon Hughes and Simon Temme each won twice to earn the return of their entry fees, while Roland and Simonetta Herrera, Ian Preston and Chas Perry made up the field.
16/12/09: Ian caps OGP title win by defeating Simonetta
Having already assured himself of the OGP title during last Wednesday's Lesters 73 tournament, Ian Tarr extended his final points lead to an unlikely 75 by winning the held over final.
It was a gruelling match, that took well over two hours, as Ian defeated Simonetta Herrera 11-8 at Kellaway Avenue.
Simonetta had already clinched third place in the OGP, but was hoping to secure a Winner Takes All pool rollover for Bristol's players to target at the January grand prix tournament.
Ian's win was good news, however, for John Plummer who bought Ian in the pre-tournament auction. Steve Morris has to content himself with the second prize for his purchase of Simonetta.
15/12/09: Roland establishes winning Autumn Grand Prix lead
Roland Herrera has added another title to his portfolio, namely that of the 2009 Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix winner.
Next Monday's Tric Trac Tourno phase is the last of the four month competition, but the maximum number of points available there is 65, and Roland's lead was already close to that before last night's clock blitz round robin began.
And when he shared the honours with highly promising newcomer Jamie Nevill last night, his points tally was boosted by a further 16 points after discards, taking him into the realms of the uncatchable, as second placed Ian Preston failed to add to his tally, while third placed Ian Tarr took time out from competition to put welcome debut player Haydn Beard through his paces.
11/12/09: Sponsor Roland killed two birds with one stone
Roland Herrera's sponsorship of the 1000 to 1 awards, which he generously took on this year, put him in an interesting situation during Wednesday's grand prix tournament at the BCSC.
In the main flight, after receiving a bye, Roland was drawn into the tie of the second round against Julian Fetterlein.
Not only had Roland drawn the most difficult opponent he could face (as, arguably, had Julian, too), he also faced the prospect of having to provide Julian with a prize in the event of Julian claiming what would have been his tenth successive win in qualifying Bristol Backgammon competitions.
So Roland's progression to the next round moved him a step closer to the prize money, although a certain Simonetta Herrera soon scuppered those plans, and also saved him a small sponsorship outlay.
09/12/09: LESTERS 73 ROUND-UP ......
The climax of the Bristol Grand Prix season at the BCSC saw a strong field of twenty players contesting Lesters 73, with Anne Buchanan making her Bristol Backgammon debut, and John Sprague leaving it late to make his first appearance of the year.
09/12/09: Simonetta and Ian to contest Lesters final ......
Simonetta Herrera and Ian Tarr will contest the final of Lesters 73, probably some time next week.
Simonetta progressed past Steffen Nowak, Roland Herrera and Stuart Mann to reach the final, while Ian was defeating Neil Young, Steve Morris and Derek Clew.
09/12/09: Ian grabs OGP title ......
The intriguing race for the OGP title, involving three contenders, was resolved at the BCSC on Wednesday.
Gaz Owen had been in pole position since April, while his lead had been eroded by Ian Tarr, and Julian Fetterlein had won on his two previous attempts to surge into contention.
Julian didn't need to worry about discarding low scores, having previously only entered six of the year's competitions,but did need to make it a hat-trick of wins to stand a chance of winning the title.
And although Ian was close behind Gaz, discards meant that he wouldn't start adding to his score until he had won two main flight matches.
So Gaz could quite easily have drawn a total blank on the night and still walked away as OGP champion.
The draw saw all three pretenders receive a bye to the second round, something which had more significance for Julian than for his rivals, as his maximum potential points tally on the night was now limited to 120 -- still enough to give him a chance, but making him even more reliant on failures for Gaz and Ian.
First of the three to register a result was Gaz, who fell to a shock defeat at the hands of John Sprague.
But the defeat came quickly enough to put Gaz into the long part of the consolation draw, affording him the opportunity to win as many as 52 points, giving him a potential net gain of 27, ensuring that Ian would need to make at least the main semi-finals to surpass him.
Meanwhile Ian was progressing to the quarter-finals at Neil Young's expense, while Julian was engaged in an epic encounter with Roland Herrera.
The next development was Gaz's elimination from the consolation flight by Neil, leaving him an anxious wait.
But it began to look as though Gaz had done enough when Roland prevailed over Julian, and Steve Morris moved 6-1 Crawford ahead of Ian.
Ian recovered, however, and his win was enough to make him OGP champion. His subsequent win over Derek Clew was merely icing on the OGP cake.
09/12/09: John pips Malcolm for IGP honour ......
There were just four intermediates at Wednesday's tournament, and two of those -- Anne Buchanan and John Sprague -- were making their first appearances of the year.
So without the distraction of pursuers spoiling their party, Malcolm Patterson and John Plummer were able to focus fully on slugging it out for the IGP title.
With Malcolm just 10 points ahead going into the tournament, the draw favoured John.
While he was drawn against fellow Hereford player Anne Buchanan, Malcolm faced the slightly more daunting prospect of a tie against Stuart Mann.
John won, Malcolm lost, so John now held the points advantage.
Next up for John was Stuart, while Malcolm faced Julian Fetterlein in the consolation flight. And when both matches went by the form book John was confirmed as 2009 IGP champion.
That wasn't the end of the intermediate action, though.
Anne crowned a very special Bristol debut by taking the consolation flight by storm, bonus point victories over Simon Hughes and Neil Young in the final, sandwiching the biggest scalp of all, that of Julian!
09/12/09: Simonetta carries rollover hopes ......
Simonetta Herrera didn't bother with the Winner Takes All pool on Wednesday, and it is with her that hopes of a rare rollover now reside, when she takes on Ian Tarr in the final.
And for the traditional Lesters pre-tournament auction of players the final takes on added significance for Steve Morris and John Plummer, purchasers of Simonetta and Ian respectively.
09/12/09: Further Premier One qualifier for Masters ......
As both finalists to emerge from Wednesday's tournament have already qualified for the 2010 Bristol Masters the final place is reserved for a player from their league, Premier One.
The year's fourth and final Premier One beneficiary is Simon Baker.
09/12/09: Simon wins two titles in a single evening ......
Simon Hughes may have concluded his disappointing grand prix season with another blank tournament, but on balance he will have returned home from Wednesday's session well and truly satisfied with the outcome.
The first good news for Simon materialised before he even arrived at the venue, when Peter Edwards and Derek Clew concluded the Handicap Trophy season by playing the outstanding final of the November 5th tournament.
Peter needed a win to pip Simon to the title, but Derek thwarted him, ensuring the winner's prize for Simon.
Then came Simon's elimination from the main event, which coincided more or less with that of Marcus Wrinch, leaving the way clear for the pair to fight out the Premier Two championship play-off match.
And Simon, Premier Two Blue winner, prevailed, defeating Marcus, winner of Premier Two Red, 11-5, making it two titles in one evening.
09/12/09: All set for grand prix showdown
This evening's tournament at the BCSC, brought forward from Thursday, is the climax to the Bristol Grand Prix season, with points available for the OGP and the IGP.
Most interest will centre around the destiny of the OGP title, with three players still in contention.
Gaz Owen, as the current leader, has a distinct advantage over his rivals, since he could win no matches on the night and still take the title, while three main flight wins for him would at least exclude third placed Julian Fetterlein from the title equation.
Second placed Ian Tarr is only five points behind Gaz, but because his score to discard is 40 as compared to Gaz's 25, Ian would need to win at least two main flight matches to stand a chance of ousting Gaz.
For Julian the task is clear cut. With no scores to discard he must still win the tournament to stand any chance of taking the title, and hope that Gaz and Ian falter.
The permutations for Ian and Gaz are many, and although the situation is even more obscure because main flight semi-final and final wins count for more points than the earlier rounds, the likelihood is that Ian will need to win two more matches than Gaz.
Even then, there are further opportunities, as an immediate exit opens up the possibility of scoring as many as 52 points for winning the consolation flight.
In the IGP Malcolm Patterson and John Plummer -- just 10 points apart -- hold the vital top two positions which are passports to Premier League backgammon next season.
Tim Parker will be absent, and therefore misses the chance to challenge, but good tournaments for either Pam Jakeway or George Jakeway could yet see them surge into contention.
Look out for a report here some time on Thursday.
07/12/09: Steve wins DMP Tourno
Steve Morris paid a rare Monday visit to the BCSC and took the honours in the nine player DMP Tourno -- the latest phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix.
Roland Herrera slightly increased his useful AGP lead.
Earlier Roland had given the assembled throng a demonstration on DMP tactics.
03/12/09: Ian wins the year's final clock event
There was a definite air of "winding down for the holidays" at the BCSC on Thursday evening, when just eight players contested the final one of the year's series of eight Clock Grand Prix tournaments.
Although two other players did turn up later, there was never any question that the event would be completed on the night.
Ian Tarr took the main flight honours, defeating Steve Morris, Simon Hughes and Chas Perry, who had beaten both Simonetta Herrera and Roland Herrera to make the final.
Simonetta also lost out to Steffen Nowak in the consolation final.
The CTGP, of course, had long since been won by Roland, and despite failing to add to her overall tally, Simonetta ws confirmed in second place.
01/12/09: Chas confirmed as Conference champion
Nobody really anticipated a late flurry of Conference results, and that's the way it turned out as the end of the season passed as quietly as could be.
So Chas Perry has sealed the championship title, and more importantly managed to do enough to confirm his eligibility for next season's Premier League.
He was the only one, though.
This season marked the dawn of a new scoring system for the Conference, designed to make the promotion criteria easier and clearer. As it happens, the old system would have yielded exactly the same result in terms of new Premier League recruits.
Every previous season has seen the rise of between three and five players to Premier Status, so this year has been a disappointment in that respect, although two more players will earn their Premier League stripes via the IGP next week.
Meanwhile at the BCSC the Monday Club saw a welcome debut for Jamie Nevill, who took part in the six player 3-point round robin.
This was won jointly by Ian Preston and Ian Tarr, who both enhanced their Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix points tallies, but both have some work to do to catch leader Roland Herrera, who was not back from Cyprus in time to compete.
29/11/09: Simonetta cashes in Cyprus
Simonetta Herrera has followed up her Premier League championship triumph by winning the last chance in the championship flight at the inaugural Cyprus Open.
The tournament is the fourth and final leg of the European Backgammon Tour after the Open events of Portugal, Georgia and France.
Roland Herrera did not compete but did get lessons from World Backgammon Giants Matvey "Falafel" Natanzon and Michihito Kageyama.
27/11/09: Premier League was completed last night
It has emerged that the Neil Young-Richard Holness encounter at the BCSC last night was in fact the last Premier League match to be completed this season.
The Premier Two Blue meeting between Phillip Hill and John Paton did in fact happen at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham, on Wednesday, although nobody thought to report the result until being prompted about playing.
For the record the match ended in an 11-9 win for Phillip.
26/11/09: Neil ends with a win
Tonight at the BCSC there was the very last match of the Premier Two Red season, featuring Neil Young and Richard Holness.
Richard would have been able to oust Steve Morris from third place in the final league table had he managed an 11-6 win or better.
But his 7-11 defeat actually pushed him below Tony Walters into fifth place, still a very creditable result from his first Premier League season.
The victory for Neil consolidated his very fine runner-up spot, and ended a run of four defeats.
Meanwhile in the Conference there was more consolidation going on.
Chas Perry had already garnered enough points to be sure of his elevation to next year's Premier League before his 11-2 win over Becky Lewis.
The BCSC session was advertised as a Tric Trac Tourno evening, but players voted with their feet -- confirming Director Ian Tarr's decision to take these off the Thursday menu next year -- as apart from those in league action only four were present, so a £10 3-point round robin was convened, and Malcolm Patterson swept all before him to take the prize pot.
25/11/09: Simon's Hatchet job on Derek
What was arguably the biggest Premier League match of the year took place at the Hatchet, Trenchard Street, this evening.
Derek Clew met Simon Hughes in a Premier Two Blue match of major significance, in that the winner would clinch the divisional championship while the loser would finish third, missing out on automatic promotion.
And it was Simon who triumphed with an 11-8 win, moving up to the top flight for the first time.
Spare a thought, though, for both Derek and Cecilia Sparke, third and fourth with records which would normally be more than enough to move up to Premier One.
Meanwhile at the Bay Horse the Premier One season came to a close when Phil Charlton picked up where he left off when the match was adjourned last week.
He converted his 3-0 lead into an 11-7 win, moving up to fourth place in the process -- his best finish since he was third in 2002.
There remain just two Premier League results unreported. In Premier Two Blue Phillip Hill must meet John Paton, while in Premier Two Red Neil Young takes on Richard Holness.
25/11/09: Gaz goes fourth
Concluding what for him has been a rollercoaster of a Premier One season, Gaz Owen defeated Simon Baker 11-8 at the Somerset House, Clifton, yesterday afternoon.
When Gaz won nine successive league matches early this year he looked a strong favourite for the title, but this spell was followed, remarkably, by six successive defeats.
Yesterday's win puts Gaz fourth, but he could yet be pushed down to fifth by Phil Charlton, whose strong finish to the season has already extricated him from the relegation battle.
Phil resumes what is the very last Premier One match of the season 3-0 ahead of Ed Turner at the Bay Horse tonight at 8.30pm.
As for Simon, his run in has been disappointing indeed, his final four matches ending in defeat, when a second league title beckoned.
23/11/09: Simonetta wins first Premier League title, Tim relegated, Chas promoted
On Thursday Simonetta Herrera finished her Premier One campaign with a flourish, and had to wait to find out whether or not she had done enough to take the title for the first time.
She didn't have to wait very long, as things fell into place very nicely this evening.
At the BCSC Steffen Nowak, needing an 11-2 victory at the very least to have a chance of taking the title, faced Phil Charlton.
Steffen felt able to offer a cube in the opening game, but when the game swung he was obliged to take the inevitable redouble, as failure to do so would see the end of his title hopes.
And when Phil took the 4-0 lead, Steffen's sights had to be reset to scoring a mere victory to enhance his prize money chances.
Phil had just left the Bay Horse, where Simonetta's other title rival Simon Baker was in trouble, 0-7 down to Ed Turner with a 4-cube race in progress.
The Steffen and Phil encounter -- where a win for Phil would see him staving off relegation -- reached 10-all, and it was Phil who emerged the relieved victor.
And when news filtered through from the Bay Horse, where Ed had scored a sensational double over Simon, 11-0 and 11-4, the title was Simonetta's.
Despite his defeat Steffen is runner-up, and Phil's win condemned Tim Line to relegation, along with Peter Edwards and Ed, unless Phil, Simon or Gaz Owen should incur penalty points by failing to report the division's last two results.
In Premier Two Blue Andrew Cobb signed off with an 11-2 win over Paul Watts.
And Chas Perry became the first player to cross the twenty points barrier in the Conference, when he beat Shadow Hamilton 11-8 to clinch a Premier League place.
The Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix this week featured a clock knock-out, where the seven contestants fought out a single flight.
Roland Herrera beat Cynthia Roberts in the final to extend his AGP lead.
23/11/09: Crucial league action tonight
With nine matches still to be completed in this year's three Premier League divisions, and just seven days to go to the season's official end, many outstanding issues are likely to be settled tonight.
And the focus is largely on Premier One.
One big match is Steffen Nowak versus Phil Charlton at the BCSC, scheduled for 7pm. Phil needs to win one of his last two matches to secure his top flight status for 2010, while Steffen has an even bigger prize to aim for.
An 11-0 or 11-1 win would move him ahead of leader Simonetta Herrera (11-2 would put them dead level), leaving him waiting for the outcome of Simon Baker's final three matches.
The wait may not be too long, however, as Simon starts a double header against already relegated Ed Turner at the Bay Horse at 6pm.
If Simon can win all three of his matches -- he still has to face Gaz Owen -- he will clinch his second league championship, having won the inaugural competition back in 2000.
He can also clinch the title by winning twice and improving his points difference by at least seventeen points, quite a tall order entailing a narrow defeat and two emphatic wins.
Phil is hoping to move on to the Bay Horse to complete his adjourned match with Ed after the double header is over.
Paul Watts and Andrew Cobb are also due to complete their Premier Two Blue campaigns.
23/11/09: Chas takes award
The Bristol Backgammon Rookie of the Year Award for 2009 has been won by Chas Perry.
This time the "year" is only ten months (from January to October inclusive) because of the nature of the prize.
New award sponsor Paul Gilbertson is generously arranging accommodation and registration for BIBA's January tournament, the Bright 'n' Breezy, in Brighton from January 8th to 10th.
Of the many contenders Tim Parker was adjudged by Director Ian Tarr to have pushed Chas closest, and there were other noteworthy performances during the year from Pam Jakeway, Michal Ciupak and Anne Foreman.
23/11/09: BIBA event closest yet to Bristol
The December BIBA event, the Gilbertson UK Finals, will be the closest BIBA tournament to Bristol yet.
BIBA supremo Michael Crane has consistently refused to recognise Britain's second backgammon city as a viable venue for a BIBA tournament, but at least the Barcelo Oxford Hotel is closer to us than any BIBA event so far.
The tournament takes place from December 4th to 6th, with Saturday taken up by qualification for the Sunday knock-out, where eight of this year's BIBA event winners lie in wait, having justly received byes.
22/11/09: Simon and Mike end season at the Tobacco Factory
The Tobacco factory, Southville, was this afternoon's venue for Simon Temme and Mike Smith's final Premier Two Red action of the season.
Simon prevailed 11-2, but at least Mike had his reclaimed penalty points to show for his efforts.
There's only one match to play in that division now, with already promoted Neil Young meeting Richard Holness later in the week.
Richard can finish anywhere between third and fifth, depending on the result.
20/11/09: NOVEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
There wasn't a massive amount of activity on the final league night, but the sixteen players who got some league action in contributed to a dramatic evening.
Three other players enjoyed some friendly action.
20/11/09: Ed down, and has Simonetta done enough? ......
While two players got in more than half of a relegation double header at the Bay Horse, two other matches had a considerable bearing on the Premier One championship race.
The night's big match featured Simonetta Herrera and Stuart Mann.
It was the pair's final league match, with the winner having an excellent chance to take the title.
And in an enthralling see-saw encounter it was Simonetta who came out ahead 11-10.
Earlier Steffen Nowak had seen speculation accumulate in a big way with an 11-0 whitewash of Ian Tarr.
Steffen's hitherto unimpressive points difference got a welcome boost, and he now knows what he needs to do in his final match to overtake Simonetta.
An 11-0 or 11-1 will move him ahead, while 11-2 would see the pair level, and possibly facing an unprecedented championship play-off match.
The word "possibly" is in that previous sentence because the final part of the title equation is Simon Baker who, by winning his last three matches, would take the title outright.
Simon has a double header against Ed Turner to play, plus a meeting with Gaz Owen, while Steffen's final match pits him against Phil Charlton.
Meanwhile at the Bay Horse Phil and Ed faced each other, and Ed's traditional late surge to safety has not materialised this year, as Phil sealed his fate with an 11-5 success.
Phil now looks likely to escape the drop, needing to win just one of his two remaining encounters, that match against Steffen, and the resumption of his return match with Ed, where he has a 3-0 lead.
Should Phil escape, Tim Line would be the unhappy player completing the relegation line-up.
20/11/09: Derek and Simon face mega match ......
Miles Farren has been setting the Premier Two Blue pace for a long while now, and had the opportunity to clinch the title as well as promotion by winning his two final matches last night.
But defeats by Lewis Young and Ian Preston saw him end the season in anti-climax, albeit with a considerable silver lining.
While Miles was suffering the second of those defeats, Lewis moved on to play Derek Clew in a match every bit as important.
Derek led all the way, and his 11-3 victory set the scene for a remarkable situation at the top.
Derek will reclaim his penalty points when he plays Simon Hughes next week in their final match -- a match with a great deal riding on it!
With Miles fractionally ahead of both Derek and Simon (a +49 points difference, compared to their +48), Miles knows that he cannot now win the title. What he does know is that he will finish in the second automatic promotion place, whatever the outcome of Derek and Simon's encounter.
For those two there are no half measures. One will take the title, while the other finishes third, missing out on automatic promotion.
Matches as big as this one are the reason we play competitive backgammon.
20/11/09: Marcus clinches Premier Two Red title ......
Marcus Wrinch duly completed the job of securing the Premier Two Red title last night.
First up was his match against Todd Young, who had family honour to play for.
This proved to be a one sided encounter -- 11-1 to Marcus -- and left second placed Neil Young needing a big margin of victory over Marcus to set up the possibility of wresting the title from Marcus's grasp in his final match against Richard Holness.
Unfortunately for Neil, the match started off in a similar manner to that of his younger son's effort, with Marcus stretching out into a handsome lead.
The damage had been done at this stage, with Marcus out of Neil's reach in title terms, but a brave comeback threatened at least the consolation of a hard earned victory.
In the end Neil succumbed 8-11, but at least he had the knowledge that his second place, and promotion to the promised land of Premier One were already safely in the bag.
20/11/09: Chas still not across the line ......
The race to the "holy grail" of 20 points in the Conference -- the mark which guarantees promotion to the Premier League -- has been largely uneventful, but might still have a sting in the tail.
Chas Perry is effectively one win away, and after last night's action Malcolm Patterson might still make it.
Malcolm defeated Tim Parker 11-9 in what has effectively scuppered any hopes Tim might have had of making a late surge towards promotion, given the nature of his severely work interrupted season.
Malcolm then resumed his adjourned match with Chas. The score moved on from the "overnight" 4-4 to 5-5, before a game of dramatic swings saw an eight cube in play.
Unfortunately for Chas, the last swing went Malcolm's way, leaving Chas still searching for that final all important win.
Malcolm still has time to mount a late bid for the 20 points, needing three more victories before the deadline at midnight on November 30th, although he does have the fall back scenario of probable elevation to the top flight through his exploits in the IGP.
17/11/09: Ian safe, so Peter is down
A further piece of the Premier One jigsaw fell into place this afternoon at the Cornubia when Ian Tarr defeated Gaz Owen 11-5 to confirm his survival in the top flight.
And while this was good news for Ian, that wasn't so for Peter Edwards, who cannot now escape the drop.
Assuming all penalties will be reclaimed (when Gaz, Phil Charlton and Ed Turner have completed all their matches), Peter will be joined in the bottom three by two of Phil, Ed and Tim Line.
17/11/09: December Grand Prix date change
The December Bristol Grand Prix tournament has been brought forward a day to Wednesday December 9th.
The BCSC had the opportunity to stage a lucrative function -- a party for the cast and crew of BBC TV's Casualty -- and given the amount of notice Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr approved the change.
16/11/09: A win apiece for John and Paul
John Paton and Paul Watts did Premier Two Blue battle at the BCSC this evening, and each managed a victory.
John took the first match 11-2, but Paul gained his revenge with an 11-6 success.
The advertised Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix phase was one or more Tric Trac Tournos, but with only five players available for this, a non-AGP three point round robin was substituted.
Liz James and Ian Tarr shared the pot with three wins apiece from their four matches. Both Liz and Carrie Williams scored wins over Roland Herrera.
16/11/09: Stuart wins Live in London
This weekend's Backgammon Live in London singles tournament was won by our very own Stuart Mann.
Stuart thus became the second Bristol player to take this title, after Steve Ferrer in 2005.
Follow the YouTube links from the link above for some footage.
15/11/09: Phil, Simonetta one step closer
Two Premier One matches played over the past three days have brought the most dramatic of seasons closer to a conclusion, without actually resolving very much.
On Friday at Kellaway Avenue Phil Charlton snatched an 11-10 victory against Simonetta Herrera, while today Simonetta redressed the balance for her with an 11-6 win over Ed Turner at the Colosseum.
This moves Simonetta back to the top of the league, ahead of Stuart Mann on average points difference, with both players just one match away from completion of their respective campaigns.
That match is their meeting at the BCSC at 7.30pm on Thursday!
Whoever wins that match will end the season on thirteen wins, but that will not guarantee the title, as both Simon Baker and Steffen Nowak can also reach thirteen wins. In fact Simon can reach fourteen, and can put the title beyond the reach of everyone else with two wins over Ed and another over Gaz Owen!
Were Simon to win just two out of three, he would need to improve his points difference from +6 to anything between +14 and +27 in the process, hoping that Simonetta has not improved her difference by 6 or more points, thus moving out of reach.
Steffen's difference is currently +3, so cannot improve beyond +25 with hoped for victories over Phil and Ian Tarr.
The relegation dog fight is no less complex, although one issue definitely resolved is that Gaz is mathematically safe from the drop.
His points difference is such that, when all penalties are reclaimed, he will definitely finish above both Tim Line and Peter Edwards, and only one of Phil and Ed can now pass him.
Phil's target is to win two of his remaining three matches, while Ed's margin for error is now zero -- only four wins out of four will give him a chance to avoid the drop.
And Ian will also be safe if he can win one of his final two matches.
13/11/09: NOVEMBER GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Twenty-four players were at the BCSC on Thursday evening, two for a league double header and the remainder to contest the eleventh Bristol Grand Prix tournament of the year.
Among the tournament starters was Michael Soerensen, currently ranked number eight in Denmark, and an ever present at our annual prestige event, the Bristol Open.
13/11/09: Ian wins November grand prix event ......
Ian Tarr scored his second grand prix win of the year, defeating Marcus Wrinch, Michael Soerensen, Steffen Nowak, Simonetta Herrera and Tim Line.
Tim's path to the final took him past Peter Edwards, Jim Best and Gaz Owen.
13/11/09: Peter takes consolation flight ......
Peter Edwards took the consolation flight last night with victories over Chas Perry, Blaine Buchanan, Roland Herrera and Neil Young, who had made the final via wins over Simon Temme and John Plummer.
13/11/09: Ian still well in the hunt for OGP title ......
With discards biting hard at this time of the year, Gaz Owen's 80 points lead over Ian Tarr going into the year's penultimate tournament looked a formidable one.
Indeed there was a strong argument that even despite his absence last night third placed Julian Fetterlein -- 100 points behind Gaz -- offered the greater threat to the lead, having won his last two tournaments and having no discards to worry about.
A further win in December would be enough to surpass Gaz's tally, always assuming Gaz failed to add further points.
Gaz's two main flight wins last night gave him 40 points, giving him a net gain of 15 after taking into account his 25 points discard.
But Ian's tournament win (115 points less 25 discarded) brought him to within five points of Gaz.
The gap seems slight, but next month Gaz will discard another 25, while Ian discards 40, so Gaz will begin to gain points with his first main flight win, while Ian will need to win twice to start adding to his tally.
Meanwhile a December win for Julian is still a threat to both leaders.
13/11/09: Malcolm edges into IGP lead ......
It's taken a while, but it seems that John Plummer has finally cottoned on to the fact that he could win the IGP.
When Hereford based John made his only previous Bristol Grand Prix appearance back in May, he won the tournament, and the 175 points he gained from those exploits have been enough to keep him at the top of the IGP table.
But with others snapping at his heels it became apparent that John would need to do a little more to safeguard his lead, hence his latest expedition.
Ironically John managed just 25 points last night, while Malcolm Patterson -- level with John, but second simply because he had contested more tournaments -- scored 35 points to edge into a 10 points lead.
But the good news for Malcolm and John was the absence of their closest pursuers -- Tim Parker, Pam Jakeway and George Jakeway -- from last night's tournament.
While there is still one more opportunity for that chasing pack to make inroads into the top two, it's looking good for Malcolm and John to take the two Premier League places available from this competition.
13/11/09: Once again there's no rollover ......
Only ten of the twenty-two tournament entrants opted for the Winner Takes All pool at yesterday's tournament, and five of these were eliminated before the quarter-finals.
But when non-WTA entrants Steffen Nowak, Jim Best and Jim Goodwin failed to make it into the last four, it was certain that there would once again be no rollover to next month's tournament.
13/11/09: Another Premier One high finisher will contest Masters ......
Ian Tarr's second grand prix success of the year means that one more Premier One high finisher will qualify for the 2010 Bristol Masters.
Along with Ian, Gaz Owen, Simonetta Herrera and Peter Edwards, there will now be at least four other Premier One players qualifying for the event.
13/11/09: Dave safe, Peter, Tim and Phil still cling to hope ......
Three Premier One matches took place at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
Phil Charlton and Dave Pym turned up to contest a double header, and when the spoils were shared Dave could celebrate reaching the safe haven of eleven victories, while Phil will be looking to win three of his last four matches to ensure his own safety, although two might still be enough.
Before the tournament Peter Edwards and Tim Line played their final match of the season, Peter winning 11-2.
The defeat means Tim, having finished on ten wins, must wait to see how many players overtake him, although his average points difference is likely to be an advantage.
The win for Peter -- also on ten victories, but below Tim on average points difference -- means he still has a chance of staying up, although he needs both Phil and Ed Turner to stay below him, while Ian Tarr suffers a pair of average margin defeats to slip below him.
11/11/09: Chas speeds to double victory
The latest unlikely venue for Bristol Backgammon action was Sedgemoor Service Station on the M5 this afternoon.
And in a Conference double header Chas Perry twice defeated Shadow Hamilton 11-1.
Chas is now just two points away from becoming the first player this season to breach the magic 20 points barrier which delineates passage into next season's Premier League.
09/11/09: Gaz and Stuart share the spoils
In a Premier One double header at the Cornubia this evening, Gaz Owen and Stuart Mann shared the spoils, Gaz winning 11-8 before Stuart turned the tables with an 11-6 success.
Stuart now heads the table, but his hopes of retaining the title now rest on his only remaining fixture, against second placed Simonetta Herrera.
Gaz really needed a double victory to give himself a major chance, but he will now need to rely on other results going his way, although his points difference -- if called upon -- looks likely to stand him in good stead.
Simon Baker is the other main contender, and he and Simonetta are the only two who can finish on fourteen wins.
Meanwhile the BCSC saw the latest phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix, with two clock blitz round robins.
Ian Tarr won the five player group, while Roland Herrera extended his AGP lead by topping the four player group.
06/11/09: Tony defeated by Todd
Tony Walters finished his Premier Two Red season at the Cambridge Arms, Redland, this evening, losing 7-11 to Todd Young.
Tony will finish the season in fifth place unless Richard Holness loses his final match heavily, his second successive season in the top half of Premier Two.
There are just four matches remaining in the division, three of which will have a bearing on the divisional championship.
06/11/09: Apology from Ian after miscalculation
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has been obliged to apologise to Simon Hughes and Peter Edwards after a miscalculation misled both players regarding their chances of winning this year's Handicap Trophy title.
The turnout of just eleven players to contest the final event of this year's Handicap series, and the fact that Peter received a bye to the quarter-finals, deceived Ian into thinking that Peter would not have the opportunity to overhaul Simon at the top of the table, when in fact it was still just possible.
Only winning the tournament would actually suffice for Peter, as long as Simon was unable to add to his points tally.
And success for Peter is still on the agenda, with the main final adjourned for another day.
Simon fell at the first hurdle to Shadow Hamilton, and although he later went on to win the consolation flight, he was unable to add to his tally after discarding the points from his fifth best performance.
So the destiny of the title depends on the result of the final between Peter and Derek Clew.
Earlier in the evening Ian Preston had defeated Phillip Hill in a Premier Two Blue encounter.
04/11/09: Cecilia's promotion dream almost over
Cecilia Sparke completed her Premier Two Blue campaign at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham, in a disappointing manner this evening.
Her adjourned match with Phillip Hill, resumed with Phillip 5-1 ahead, and ended at 11-2.
Cecilia is third -- out of the promotion frame -- and only a miracle can change that for the better.
Second placed Simon Hughes will stay ahead of Cecilia even if he is whitewashed in his final match, but leader Miles Farren could slip out of the top three by losing heavily in his final two encounters.
Even if that unlikely scenario were to come to fruition, fourth placed Derek Clew can still overtake Cecilia by doing well in his two remaining matches.
03/11/09: Bristol players do well on their travels
The past couple of weeks have seen some noteworthy performances by Bristol players further afield.
Stuart Mann made his customary pilgrimage to the Irish Open in Dublin, and made it to the semi-finals.
This was Stuart's fourth appearance at that stage and, despite moving into the final on two occasions, the title itself has eluded him thus far.
Last weekend at Daventry BIBA had their November Swiss format event, with Paul Gilbertson and Marcus Wrinch the pick of the bunch, both winning five of their six matches.
02/11/09: Double rations for the Monday six
The latest phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix, a DMP Tourno, was contested by just six players.
Not surprisingly this failed to take up anything like the whole evening, allowing a little known Monday Club rule to be invoked, entailing just doing it all again -- two competitions for the price of ...... well, two, actually!
The first saw a four way share of the prize pot between Jim Goodwin, Roland Herrera, Chas Perry and Ian Tarr, while the second was shared by just two -- Roland again, and Ian Preston.
Roland has now edged his way back past Ian P into the AGP lead.
Prior to the DMP Tournos Blaine Buchanan wrapped up his Premier Two Blue campaign with an 11-3 victory over Ian Preston.
Blaine is now certain to finish fifth.
30/10/09: Simon's vital victory
Simon Hughes last night scrambled his way to an 11-10 Premier Two Blue victory over Lewis Young to grab back second place from Cecilia Sparke.
Simon, like Cecilia, has just one match remaining, but the slight complication for him is that he faces fourth placed Derek Clew, who is just as much involved in the promotion dog fight as anyone in the top four.
Speculation is understandably rife at this stage, but if leader Miles Farren should lose his match in hand and Derek should win his, we would have a situation where all four players went into their last match separated only by average points difference, and even then probably not by very much.
Meanwhile in Premier Two Red Todd Young saw his excellent sequence of wins ended by Richard Holness, who still harbours hopes of pipping Steve Morris for third place.
The main event of the evening was the final leg of this year's Consulting Doubles Grand Prix, which saw the participation of nine pairs.
Going into the evening there was a three way tie for the CDGP lead, the regular pairing Stuart Mann and Lewis Young sharing this honour with Tony Walters.
But the whiplash affected Tony -- his car shunted from behind earlier in the week -- failed to make the starting line, and his chance of winning the top prize had gone.
Equal fourth placed pairing Ed Turner and Ann Ryder and seventh placed Chas Perry were then best placed to challenge, with other potential contenders absent.
Stuart and Lewis set about their task to good effect, getting past Ian Tarr and Jim Goodwin, and then Steve Morris and Shadow Hamilton.
Ed and Anne's elimination, followed by withdrawal from the consolation flight, took them out of CDGP contention, but Chas, partnered by Mandy Macdonald, was making progress, defeating Miles Farren and Sue Hall.
But when Stuart and Lewis scored a semi-final win over Neil Young and Simon Hughes, they had done enough to ensure that they would share the title.
Chas and Mandy then beat Ian Preston and Simon Temme to clinch a final meeting with Stuart and Lewis.
Stuart and Lewis then won the final to celebrate their title win in style.
Chas and Tony take the other two prizes.
The consolation flight was won by father and daughter team Jim and Abigail Best, who thus made their journey up from Plymouth well worthwhile.
27/10/09: Cecilia goes second
Something had to give last night when the latest chapter of the intriguing four way battle at the sharp end of Premier Two Blue unravelled.
With little sign of any of the protagonists buckling under the pressure, two of them -- Cecilia Sparke and Derek Clew -- met last night at the Shakespeare Tavern in Prince Street, so somebody had to suffer a setback.
In the end it was Cecilia who grabbed the vital three points with an 11-8 win. She leapfrogs Simon Hughes into second place, with just her adjourned match against Phillip Hill to be played out.
As she is 1-5 down in that encounter, she will need to draw on all her resources to continue to press her promotion claim.
The unrelenting pace set by the top four is such that all of them probably deserve to win a top flight place for next season.
But there are only two automatic promotion slots, although the four will be hopeful that a third place finish might be enough to clinch a back door elevation in the event of natural wastage.
Meanwhile there were two four player 3-point round robins at the BCSC as the latest phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix.
Jim Goodwin, on only his second visit, won one outright, while the other saw a three way tie between Chas Perry, Ian Preston and Carrie Williams.
Ian has regained his AGP lead.
23/10/09: OCTOBER LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Eighteen players were in league action at the year's penultimate league night, and a few others played chouette.
23/10/09: Steffen still in the hunt after extraordinary comeback ......
When Steffen Nowak and Ian Tarr sat down to contest the only Premier One match of the evening at the BCSC, it was with the knowledge that whoever lost would be out of the hunt for the championship, and whoever won would be free of the threat of relegation.
But the way the match unfolded was bizarre indeed.
At 2-0, 6-0 and 10-0 things seemed more than likely to go Ian's way.
Then, in a dramatic Crawford game, Steffen was very close to a gammon -- and possibly even a backgammon -- while Ian had spent the entire game with a man on the bar.
But a hit when Steffen had borne ten men off gave Ian a glimmer of hope that the whitewash could still be on.
Ian still had to build a block from scratch while containing Steffen's last man, but amazingly was eventually able to shut the man out.
And as the bear-off unfolded, Ian became favourite and, with two men remaining on the one point, would be the winner if Steffen failed to roll a double. The double duly came, and the match moved on.
Steffen then proceeded to win each and every one of the next six games (including a free drop) to complete a remarkable comeback.
At 10-0 and 83% to win the eleventh point, is this the biggest turnaround ever in an eleven point match?
23/10/09: Cecilia and Derek keep up the pressure ......
The intriguing four way battle for promotion from Premier Two Blue is no closer to being resolved after last night's double bill.
At the BCSC Cecilia Sparke recovered from going 8-9 down to Ian Preston to score an 11-9 victory.
Meanwhile at the Ship in Park Row Derek Clew was doing his bit to keep the pressure on the top two by defeating Blaine Buchanan 11-8.
Seven of the division's remaining thirteen matches involve the top four.
Two of these, Derek's meetings with Cecilia and second placed Simon Hughes appear likely to have a major impact on the outcome, while Lewis Young could be equally influential, as he still has to play Simon, Derek, and leader Miles Farren.
23/10/09: Neil promoted despite prolonging losing run ......
The race for automatic promotion from Premier Two Red is over.
Neil Young will join Marcus Wrinch in the top flight, despite losing to Steve Morris last night.
The clincher for Neil was a Tony Walters defeat by Richard Owsley -- later avenged in the return match.
The remaining issue is the divisional title, with Marcus now in the driving seat.
The pair still have one meeting, and if Neil should win 11-6, and then match Marcus's final result, we could have a play-off scenario.
Steve finished his best ever season with twelve victories and a probable third place finish.
Mike Smith and John Lewis also recorded wins.
23/10/09: Chas eight points away from promotion ......
With just 37 playing days until the season concludes, there is still a vestige of hope that someone will do enough to gain promotion from the Conference to the promised land of the Premier League.
This season's new points scoring system, requiring the contestants to breach the 20 points barrier by recording three points for every match won, while losing a single point when losing, seemed like a good idea at the start of the season.
But, even with four meetings per pairing now allowed, progress has in the main been painfully slow.
All is not lost, however, after relatively late entrant Chas Perry chalked up his fifth victory in six matches, beating Malcolm Patterson 11-8 last night.
Chas has twelve points (five wins at three points each, less a single point deduction for his only defeat thus far, and two further single point deductions for adjourned matches), so winning his adjourned matches would see him to exactly twenty points.
Rufus Rozelaar, Tim Parker, Malcolm, and Anne Foreman all have the opportunity to get the necessary results under their belts, but only if they show some initiative and get some matches in.
20/10/09: Cecilia goes third
Just a day after Miles Farren's latest Premier Two Blue win, Cecilia Sparke scored another win to move into third place.
She defeated Paul Watts 11-8 at the BCSC, and the intriguing four horse promotion race shows no sign of relenting.
19/10/09: Miles scores vital win
Miles Farren this evening scored a vital win to keep him on course for promotion from Premier Two Blue.
John Paton suffered the 7-11 defeat at the Ship, Park Row.
Meanwhile Roland Herrera was the winner of this evening's event in the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix.
Just seven players contested the clock knock-out event, not quite enough to trigger a second flight.
Roland takes over from Ian Preston as leader of the AGP.
15/10/09: Tim takes intermediate crown
The second attempt to stage the 2009 Intermediates Trophy tournament was a success, in that it took place with five contestants, one more than the stated minimum required.
And the winner was Tim Parker, who did things the hard way, having not received one of the three quarter-final byes.
Victories over Anne Ryder, Malcolm Patterson and Chas Perry in the final clinched the title for Tim, plus a very useful 85 points towards his IGP points tally, moving him to within 30 points of leader John Plummer.
Simultaneously there was a nackgammon tournament, with just eight players taking part.
Roland Herrera defeated Simon Temme in the main final, while Miles Farren won the consolation final against Ian Tarr.
14/10/09: Julian wins second successive monthly grand prix event
It took Julian Fetterlein only three games to win the held over final from the October Bristol Grand Prix event.
Ian Tarr could feel a tad unfortunate to be 0-8 down after the first game, in the sunlit garden of the Bear of Rodborough, near Stroud, this afternoon, but it got no better for him in the two subsequent games.
So with just two tournaments remaining, Julian -- who will miss the November event -- has put himself within exactly 100 points of OGP leader Gaz Owen, and if Gaz should do nothing special in those two events, another tournament win could yet see Julian take the title.
Ian, now just 20 points ahead of Julian, missed a chance to put himself closer to the leader, but still has the best opportunity to make a challenge.
In fourth, fifth and sixth places, Peter Edwards, Simonetta Herrera and Marcus Wrinch have nothing more than remote mathematical possibilities of figuring at the very top.
12/10/09: Ian wins Monday Tric Trac Tourno
There were just seven players present for the sixth phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix, which featured a Tric Trac Tourno, and a competitive debut for Louise Parsons.
While Ian Tarr managed four gammons from his six games to take the prize, second placed Ian Preston increased his AGPlead to 56 points.
09/10/09: ALL THE NEWS FROM THE OCTOBER GRAND PRIX ......
A disappointing turnout of just seventeen players contested the tenth of our monthly grand prix tournaments at the BCSC last night.
Two others played a couple of league matches, and the last loose end from the September Handicap Trophy tournament was tied up.
09/10/09: Ian and Julian reach October final ......
The final of the October monthly grand prix tournament will be fought out by Ian Tarr and Julian Fetterlein, possibly some time during the coming week.
Simon Temme, Gaz Owen and Steve Ferrer were Ian's victims en route to the final, while Julian was eliminating Pam Jakeway, Simon Hughes and Roland Herrera.
09/10/09: Debutant Shay wins consolation flight ......
Glastonbury based Shay Baabahar made his Bristol Grand Prix debut count for something last night after an early exit from the main flight.
Wins over Pam Jakeway, Juanita Ferrer and Marcus Wrinch took him to success in the consolation flight.
09/10/09: Gaz can still be caught -- just ......
Gaz Owen still has one hand on the OGP title after last night's tournament, but he can still be caught.
He went into the event with a 120 points lead over second placed Ian Tarr, and when the pair met in the main flight quarter-finals, Gaz had a big opportunity to decimate Ian's challenge.
But he spent inordinately long periods on the bar at crucial stages and had to be content with just a three point gain to his overall total, with 25 points scored and 22 discarded.
Ian's win was the springboard to the final for a net gain so far of 43 points to close to within 80 points of Gaz. And victory over Julian Fetterlein would bring him a further 35 points closer.
Meanwhile Julian has moved into third place overall, and if he should grasp those 35 available points he would be exactly 100 adrift of Gaz.
The complication for Julian is that he will be unavailable for the November tournament, so he will be relying on beating Ian and winning the December event, whilst hoping that Gaz fails to exceed his 25 point discards in November and December.
With nobody else within striking distance, it seems that Ian has the more realistic chance of overhauling Gaz, but with his own discard stumbling blocks of 25 and 40 to contend with, even he needs to do extremely well on the run in to stand a chance of success.
09/10/09: Who can grasp the IGP nettle? ......
Ten tournaments out of thirteen have gone, and yet there are still only four intermediates who have entered more than one of those events!
But it's not one of those leading the IGP. That honour falls to John Plummer, whose only foray in May yielded him the total of 175 points that still sees him proudly on top of the IGP pile.
Malcolm Patterson, Pam Jakeway and George Jakeway are all within sixty points of John, and one half decent showing by any of them could grasp the lead.
A further opportunity to pick up points occurs next Thursday with the staging of the annual Intermediates Trophy tournament, the only chance to score IGP points without the obstacles provided by Premier Status players.
Perhaps this event, rearranged after only two players showed enough interest to turn up back in August, will answer the question of who, if anybody, will overhaul John in the IGP race.
Shay Baabahar showed what can be done yesterday when he scored 60 points on his first outing.
09/10/09: Rollovers going out of fashion ......
It's been a while since we last saw a Winner Takes All pool rollover at a Bristol Grand Prix tournament, and November's event will be no different.
Nine of the seventeen contestants at last night's tournament took the plunge, and when four of them made it to the semis, the fate of the £90 was sealed.
09/10/09: Eight Masters places still up for grabs ......
Both Julian Fetterlein and Ian Tarr had already qualified for the 2010 Bristol Masters before yesterday's event, so there are still eight places to be claimed.
With nobody qualifying via the October event, this means there will now be a third high finisher from Premier One.
09/10/09: Peter can still catch Simon ......
While Simon Hughes remains the overwhelming favourite to scoop the Handicap Trophy title, the only other realistic contender Peter Edwards moved to within 60 points of Simon when he completed a victory over Ian Tarr to take the September consolation flight title.
09/10/09: John and Mike in league action ......
John Lewis and Mike Smith yesterday evening sat down to play two Premier Two Red matches, the second with an unusual twist.
John won the first match, but changed identity for the second when he substituted for Drew Caudwell, who will not be finishing the season.
This match, which was won by Mike, will count for the purposes of his league record, but not for John's (or Drew's).
08/10/09: Derek maintains pressure
At the Ship Inn, Lower Park Row, last night Derek Clew managed to keep up the pressure in the Premier Two Blue promotion campaign, defeating John Paton 11-5.
Derek leapfrogs Cecilia Sparke into third place, and it's anybody's guess as to which two of the four top players will be gaining automatic promotion.
06/10/09: Roland wins clock blitz round robin
A low key Monday Club session saw Roland Herrera winning a six player clock blitz round robin, the fifth phase of the Autumn Grand Prix.
Roland moves to within 25 points of leader Ian Preston.
02/10/09: Roland clinches CTGP title
Roland Herrera won a Clock Tournament Grand Prix event for the third time this year at the BCSC on Thursday.
And with one of the series of eight tournaments still to play, Roland can be said to have clinched the title, his lead of 145 points and the effect of discards meaning that his closest challengers -- Simonetta Herrera and Tim Line -- can only overhaul him if there are at least 257 competitors at the final event.
There's further cause for celebration as he replaces Stuart Mann at the top of the Bristol Rankings, of which Stuart has invariably been the leader since they were introduced.
The fleeting challenges of Mark Dixon and Ann Pocknell having been summarily dismissed, the feeling is that this time it could be difficult to regain pole position.
For the record, Roland's victims last night were Simonetta, Steve Morris and John Plummer.
Simon Hughes took the consolation flight, defeating Simon Temme in that final.
There was also action in the Conference, which Shadow Hamilton has now joined.
Malcolm Patterson won narrowly against Anne Foreman, while Chas Perry became the first player to get half way to the magic 20 points needed to clinch Premier Status for next year when he defeated Anne Ryder to go top of the league.
01/10/09: Penalties bite at midnight
The penultimate Premier League checkpoint has passed with one player failing to claw back a penalty incurred on July 31st, and ten incurring fresh penalties, which can at least be clawed back by completing the season on time.
Paul Watts, in Premier Two Blue, is the player with the confirmed single penalty, and will have seven days to decide whether or not to lodge an appeal. He has also incurred another penalty point at the current checkpoint.
Others to incur penalties are Phil Charlton (3), Ed Turner (2), and Gaz Owen (1) in Premier One; Derek Clew and John Paton (2 apiece), and Cecilia Sparke and Ian Preston (1 each) in Premier Two Blue; and Drew Caudwell and Mike Smith in Premier Two Red.
At the end of the season, any results not reported are subject to four penalty points each.
28/09/09: Chas wins Monday DMP Tourno
The latest phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix consisted of a DMP Tourno contested by eleven players.
There were competitive debuts for Luke Owen, Jan Cave and John Dawson, with the latter two taking the non paying option which is always available on Mondays.
Chas Perry won the competition, with eight wins from his ten meetings, while Ian Preston scored one less to take second place, and increased his AGP lead to 58 points.
There might have been more contestants, but Liz James and Carrie Williams arrived too late for inclusion, as did Ed Turner.
25/09/09: SEPTEMBER LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Twenty players progressed their respective league campaigns at the BCSC last night, while three others tied up some knock-out loose ends.
And Becky Lewis has joined the Conference at the bargain post-August rate of a mere fiver.
25/09/09: Simonetta, Stuart and Simon emerge as prime Championship contenders ......
Just seventeen of the 132 projected Premier One matches remain to be played, and still none of the major issues have been decided.
The seven matches played last night did at least go a small way towards unravelling the many conundrums of this extraordinary competition, and the divisional leadership changed hands three times during the evening.
Paul Gilbertson arrived from High Wycombe to play his final three matches, knowing that a successful evening could consolidate his position at the top, and put him out of reach of most other contenders.
His plans were scotched, however, when he lost the opening leg of a double header against fellow contender Simon Baker.
Dave Pym then edged home against Stuart Mann, a result which left both players still well in contention.
Simon followed up his opening win over Paul with another, and moved to the top with eleven wins and seven defeats and hopes of a second title win growing by the hour.
His lead was short lived, however, as Paul reclaimed top spot with an emphatic win over Dave.
In what other league could a player top the league with his final result at the same time as ensuring he will not be relegated?
While that result was a blow for Dave, next to make a move was Simonetta Herrera with an 11-7 win over Steffen Nowak.
Stuart then moved into second place by defeating Simon -- now third -- before the final leadership change of the evening.
This was effected by Simonetta, who dealt a death blow to Dave's receding title chances with an 11-4 win.
The championship can now go one of only seven ways.
Simonetta, Stuart and Simon (first, third and fourth) are now the main contenders with eleven wins and eight defeats each.
Simonetta's points difference is the best of the three at plus eighteen, Stuart's is plus eleven, and Simon's plus six.
Four other players -- all on nine defeats -- can still take the title, but for Steffen, Ian Tarr, Gaz Owen and Phil Charlton, there is little margin for error.
Any defeat for these four is likely to signal the end of their challenge, and as there are still four matches to play involving pairings from this group -- Steffen versus Ian twice, Steffen versus Phil, and Ian versus Gaz -- the pitfalls are many.
Gaz, whose points difference is such that it will probably serve him well whoever he finishes level with, possibly has the best chance.
But apart from his meeting with Ian, his other three matches are against Stuart (twice) and Simon!
And of the top three, Simonetta and Stuart have yet to play their second match.
As far as relegation goes, only the top four can consider themselves safe, although with things as close as they are, it's not entirely inconceivable that an even record with a poor average points difference might not be quite enough.
Under greatest threat are Ed Turner and Peter Edwards.
Peter must win his only remaining game to stand a chance of reaching safety, while the minimum requirement for Ed will be four wins out of five.
25/09/09: Marcus clinches top flight place ......
Wins over closest Premier Two Red rivals Neil Young and Tony Walters were enough last night to clinch promotion to Premier One for Marcus Wrinch.
The wins moved Marcus into pole position, and only Neil can now catch him.
And after Tony's defeat only a miracle can stop Neil claiming the other guaranteed promotion place. Either one more win for Neil or one more defeat for Tony would do the job.
Meanwhile Todd Young scored a brace of wins to put him on a career best league sequence of six victories.
John Lewis was the evening's other winner.
25/09/09: Miles and Derek keep up the pressure ......
The four horse race for the two promotion slots in Premier Two Blue shows every sign of going to the wire.
Miles Farren lost to Paul Watts, but maintained some kind of momentum by winning the return, while Derek Clew defeated Lewis Young to move closer to the promotion bracket.
Miles has regained the lead from Simon Hughes, but Cecilia Sparke and Derek are within striking distance with matches in hand.
The remainder of the field are completely out of contention, although Andrew Cobb was the evening's other winner in the division.
25/09/09: Adjournments dominate in Conference ......
The addition to the Conference of Becky Lewis at least sparked a little action in that division.
But there were just three adjournments and no results to report, as time runs out for players to reach the twenty points target necessary to earn promotion to next year's Premier League.
25/09/09: Roland and Simon score knock-out successes ......
There were some knock-out loose ends tied up at the BCSC last night.
Simon Hughes took a giant step towards taking the Handicap Trophy title when he defeated Simon Temme in the held over final of last week's tournament.
Only second placed Peter Edwards is in a position to overhaul Simon, and even he would need a good run in the final event, although the fifteen points he can still add for winning the outstanding consolation final from last week would also come in handy.
And the consolation flight to the September Clock Tournament Grand Prix event was resolved, when Steffen Nowak defeated Tony Walters in the semi, only to be pipped in the final by Roland Herrera.
Roland now holds a 100 points lead over Simonetta Herrera with two events remaining.
22/09/09: Blaine twelve points better off!
Blaine Buchanan used the Monday BCSC session to catch up with his Premier Two Blue fixtures and ended the evening twelve points better off than when he started.
An 11-8 win over Lewis Young was followed by a double success against Paul Watts, and those nine "win" points were supplemented by the reclaiming of the three penalty points Blaine had incurred at the July checkpoint.
This late surge moves Blaine into the top half of the league table, but has almost certainly come too late to give him a chance of automatic promotion.
Meanwhile there were two 3-point round robins as the latest phase of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix, where Shadow Hamilton and her friend Brendon Byrne made their Bristol Backgammon debuts.
The six player round robin saw the honours shared by Duncan Lee and Tony Walters with four wins apiece, while the five player group was won by Ian Tarr with three wins.
Ian Preston still leads the AGP points table.
18/09/09: ALL THE NEWS FROM HANDICAP TROPHY NIGHT ......
There were twenty players in action at the latest Handicap Trophy evening, including seventeen in the main event.
18/09/09: Julian wins 72nd Lesters ......
The final of last week's Lesters LXXII event took place at the BCSC yesterday evening, and it was Julian Fetterlein who took the honours, defeating Blaine Buchanan.
The win took Julian into fifth place in the OGP, ensured that there would be no Winner Takes All pool rollover, and bagged him a place in the 2010 Bristol Masters.
Tim Line was the lucky auction winner, with Neil Young taking the second prize.
18/09/09: Simons make the final ......
The main flight final of the fifth of this year's Handicap Trophy tournaments will feature Simon Hughes and Simon Temme.
Simon Hughes performed the draw, and pulled himself out of the proverbial hat for the only first round match.
Undaunted, he found his way past Anne Ryder, Ian Preston, Lewis Young and Neil Young.
Meanwhile Simon Temme was defeating Tony Walters, Ed Turner and Simonetta Herrera to clinch his place in the final.
And in the consolation flight Peter Edwards and Ian Tarr are the two finalists.
No doubt both finals will take place soon.
18/09/09: Final win would make Simon tough to pass ......
The race to win this year's Ed Turner sponsored Handicap Trophy took a distinct turn in the direction of Simon Hughes last night.
Simon started the evening in second place, level on points with Peter Edwards but having played one tournament more.
But the 80 points he has racked up on his way to the main final have given him a 40 points advantage over Peter, who is now just five points ahead of third placed Simonetta Herrera.
With discards now biting, and only one tournament remaining in the series, the outcome of Simon's final with Simon Temme could go a long way towards deciding the title outcome.
A win for Simon H would give him a 75 point cushion, while pushing fourth placed Simon T out of contention.
The reverse result would be better for the neutral, keeping Simon T in with a ghost of a chance, and ensuring that the leader would still be well within striking distance for the second and third placed players.
18/09/09: Peter in relegation peril ......
The adjourned Premier One match between Ed Turner and Peter Edwards reached its conclusion before last night's tournament, and there were no surprises as Ed converted his 10-4 lead into a victory at the first time of asking.
Peter has only one match remaining, and has slipped into the relegation bracket below Dave Pym on average points difference.
So a win in his final match, against Tim Line, is the only realistic way for Peter to stand a chance of preserving his top flight status.
There is always a high likelihood that one or more top players will face the dreaded drop in this toughest of challenges, but this season, even at this late stage, there is literally nobody safe from the drop, given the unprecedented closeness of this campaign.
Even ten wins cannot be considered a guarantee of safety, although a strong points difference is likely to be of considerable benefit.
Those who have already lost eleven or more are the only ones who can be ruled out of title contention, but Ed will still be optimistic that he can produce another of his late season surges to clinch safety.
Todd Young also scored a league win, in Premier Two Red over Simon Temme.
16/09/09: Four Conference meetings now allowed
Using the discretionary power allotted to him in the rules, Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has increased the number of potential meetings of opponents in the Bristol Conference League to four.
With action still thin on the ground, and nobody yet within ten points of the magic twenty required to achieve Premier Status for 2010, the opportunities for promotion are still there for those who are keen enough.
15/09/09: Sixteen in action on Monday
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, most of them at the BCSC.
The Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix featured event was a 7-points clock knock-out tournament with one minute per point per player, and a twelve seconds delay. This was contested by a handy eight players, enabling two flights.
Two played friendlies, while six others were playing league matches, including Cynthia Roberts who dropped in to report a Premier Two Blue double over Blaine Buchanan at Colston Yard, which made her the first player to complete her Premier One fixtures.
In the same division John Paton and Lewis Young fought out another double header, with honours even -- not good enough for Lewis, who was looking to reattach himself to the promotion chasing group.
In Premier Two Red Tony Walters was busy, fitting in three matches.
The first was the resumption of his match with Neil Young, whose 8-7 lead proved just insufficient to stave off defeat.
Neil remains odds on to gain promotion, but will have to wait for another occasion to clinch his top flight place.
Tony's other two matches were as a substitute opponent for Richard Holness, following Drew Caudwell's unfortunate departure from the league.
And Richard will consider himself unfortunate after suffering two defeats.
Ian Preston won the clock tournament, defeating Rufus Rozelaar in the final and moving to the top of the MCAGP table.
Roland Herrera won the consolation final, defeating Ian Tarr in that final.
11/09/09: LESTERS LXXII ROUND-UP ......
Twenty-four players were in action on Thursday, twenty contesting the seventy-second Lesters Trophy event, and a further four catching up with some league action.
Duncan Lee, based in South Wales, having won the Intermediates Division at the recent Bristol Open, made his Bristol Backgammon debut.
11/09/09: Julian and Blaine reach Lesters final ......
The main flight final of the seventy-second Lesters Trophy event will feature Julian Fetterlein and Blaine Buchanan.
In the pre-tournament auction of players Director and reluctant auctioneer Ian Tarr highlighted Julian's recent slump in form.
But what is it they say? "Form is transient, quality is permanent" or words to that effect, and just to prove the point, the UK's highest rated player bounced back with wins over Steffen Nowak, Gaz Owen, Peter Edwards and Simonetta Herrera to clinch his place in the final.
Blaine reached the same destination via a bye and wins over Neil Young, Marcus Wrinch and Tim Line.
The final will be played soon, hopefully.
11/09/09: Derek wins consolation flight ......
Derek Clew turned up for only his third monthly grand prix event of the year (the others were also Lesters events) on Thursday, and shrugged off early main flight elimination by taking the honours in the consolation flight.
Victories over Stuart Mann, Steve Morris and debutant Duncan Lee did the job for him.
11/09/09: Modest return for Gaz, but OGP lead extended ......
OGP leader Gaz Owen didn't pull up any trees at Lesters 72, but his sole victory -- over Ed Turner -- was still enough to extend his points lead from 100 to 120, while second placed Ian Tarr was drawing a total blank.
Peter Edwards took closer order in third, but the remainder of the field has a great deal to do if there is to be any challenge to Gaz's leadership.
A final win would propel Julian Fetterlein into fifth place, while Blaine Buchanan would go sixth with the desired result.
11/09/09: Duncan ploughs a lonely furrow ......
Just days after Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr sent out an exhortation to the massed ranks of Intermediates to challenge for qualification for the Bristol Premier League, the first signs are that the message may have fallen on stony ground.
Admittedly the £20 entry fee for a Lesters event is a little on the high side for some intermediates, but the response of just one player toeing the start line was still a disappointment.
That player, debutant Duncan Lee, did the intermediates proud, though, after first round elimination from the main flight, when he despatched two Premier League players from the consolation flight, gaining forty IGP bonus points in the process for the elimination of Ian Tarr and Steffen Nowak.
Nine monthly grand prix events have thus yielded a total of just 25 intermediate entries so far this year, and Duncan enters the fifteen strong list of contestants in fifth place, a mere 107 points behind leader John Plummer.
11/09/09: Masters qualification up for grabs ......
Neither Julian Fetterlein nor Blaine Buchanan has yet qualified for the 2010 Bristol Masters, so when the final of Lesters 72 takes place that incentive will imbue the match with some added spice.
Neutrals will mostly be rooting for Blaine in the hope that he can clinch a £90 Winner Takes All pool rollover.
And other interested parties in the outcome are the purchasers of the two finalists in the pre-tournament auction.
Neil Young acquired Blaine for just £4, while Tim Line had to pay a princely £8 to buy Julian.
11/09/09: Three league results, and three adjournments ......
There were two Premier League matches adjourned to pave the way for Thursday's tournament.
Ed Turner was tantalisingly 10-4 ahead of Peter Edwards in a crucial Premier One survival match, while Neil Young was no less tantalisingly 8-7 up against Tony Walters, where a victory would more than consolidate his strong odds on chances of promotion from Premier Two Red.
The only Premier League match to finish was the Premier Two Blue encounter between Ian Preston and Lewis Young.
Ian arrested a slump in form with his first win in seven matches, a result which hampers Lewis's chances of attaching himself to the promotion chasing pack.
Meanwhile the Conference saw most of a double header between Anne Foreman and Chas Perry.
The first match resumed with Anne 9-7 ahead, and she duly added the two points needed for a third successive victory.
Chas later gained his revenge with an 11-5 win, and the two are well in the mix in the race for promotion.
In an attempt to further galvanise the players, Director Ian Tarr is set to announce that players can now play a maximum of four matches against each other.
The more matches that are played, the more chance there is that someone -- anyone -- will breach the magic 20 points mark which delineates promotion to the Premier League.
08/09/09: Michi leads Autumn Grand Prix!
He may not be available for the other fifteen phases of the Monday Club Autumn Grand Prix series, but for the moment Michihito Kageyama is in the lead.
There was a gratifying turnout of sixteen players at the BCSC yesterday evening, ranging from World Giants to novices -- exactly the audience Bristol Backgammon purports to cater for (i.e. everyone!).
Michi returns to Japan on Wednesday, but made the most of his latest foray into Bristol action by winning one of the two Tric Trac Tournos, winning three of only five gammons in that seven player group.
The other group, of six players, was won by Roland Herrera, although this group was extremely close fought, with just one and a half points covering the entire field.
There were first time visits for Liz James and John Dawson. Liz, who has been playing for around 20 years, was a non paying Tric Trac Tourno entrant (and managed a victory over Michi!), while John, who has only recently taken up the game, played out a couple of friendlies with another relative novice Jan Cave, under the tutelage of Director Ian Tarr.
08/09/09: Premier Two Blue win for Blaine
The Rose and Crown, Larkhall, Bath, was the venue for a Premier Two Blue match last night.
And it was a tight affair, Blaine Buchanan edging to an 11-9 win over Andrew Cobb.
06/09/09: Drew pulls out of Premier Two Red
Drew Caudwell has exercised his choice not to compete again in Bristol Backgammon events until further notice.
His decision follows an altercation with Tim Line outside the BCSC a few weeks ago.
Following this episode Drew says he will only return to competition if Tim is not involved. Tim, meanwhile, has been warned as to his future conduct and the possible repercussions for him.
The immediate effect of this sorry saga is that alternative arrangements have to be made in order to complete Premier Two Red.
Drew has gone beyond the point where he might have been expunged from the league, so Director Ian Tarr has followed the precedent set in 2007 by the departure of John Slattery, and followed last year for Alan Parfitt's illness.
Substitute opponents have been found to play Drew's five outstanding matches in his place in order to afford Richard Holness, Mike Smith and Todd Young the opportunity to play the same number of matches as everybody else (bar, of course, Drew).
Tony Walters has kindly agreed to play Richard twice, while John Lewis is doing the same for Mike (twice) and Todd.
Neither Tony nor John benefit directly from their involvement in these matches, except that it is in their interests to try and thwart their opponents' search for points.
04/09/09: Michi takes clock honours
Visiting Japanese luminary Michihito Kageyama swept all before him when he arrived for the sixth in the Clock Tournament Grand Prix series yesterday evening.
Michi defeated Cynthia Roberts, Gaz Owen and Tim Line before his final win against Neil Young.
Roland Herrera made it to the consolation final, where he will meet either Tony Walters or Steffen Nowak.
Roland's 85 points CTGP lead is therefore intact, and can be increased to the round 100 if he wins the final.
03/09/09: A disappointing weekend for Bristol players
The Championship divisions of the previous three incarnations of the Bristol Open have all had their moments from the perspective of successful performances of local players.
Past highlights have included Roland Herrera winning the Progressive Consolation at the Wedding Tournament in 2005, and of course Simonetta Herrera's famous victory in the Main last year.
But this year the fourteen Bristol connected players in the Championship were all evicted from the Main by the end of the second round!
This, not surprisingly, had its knock on effect in the Progressive Consolation, despite the efforts of Simonetta and Gaz Owen to redress the balance, as they made it only as far as the last sixteen.
Simonetta and Tim Line got as far as the semis in the Last Chance -- Simonetta via a rebuy -- but that was about it.
Bristol had to look to the Advanced for successes, although clinging to Main winner Ann Pocknell's Bristol identity now that she lives in Norfolk will not resonate too well with some observers.
It didn't end there, however, as two home players fought out the final of the Last Chance, Richard Holness defeating Steve Morris.
02/09/09: Bristol Championship main final on YouTube
You can now view the whole of Sunday's big final between Lawrence Powell and Martin Barkwill by clicking here and following the links.
02/09/09: Full results from the weekend
Full results from the weekend's tournament at the Artillery Grounds are now available here.
01/09/09: Left behind at the Artillery Grounds......
Inevitably, given that here were 100 contestants and various other interested parties at the event, there were a few items left behind at the Bristol Open venue, the Artillery Grounds.
The owner of the scorer has been identified, because he had the good sense to label it.
But where the sweater, the spectacle case, the ring, and the dice pouch should be returned is a mystery.
If these items are yours, email Ian Tarr, or ring him on 07940 284652,
31/08/09: Persistence pays for Lawrence
The fourth Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com was given many plaudits at the weekend by the throng of no fewer than 100 participants in the three divisions.
The Championship division had a full draw of 64 players, 24 more than the biggest previous entry, while 26 contested the Advanced Division with 10 in the Intermediates.
And despite the strong international presence the main flight of the Championship was dominated by Brits, of whom six lined up alongside two Danes in the quarter-finals.
And it was two of the real stalwarts of the event who fought out the final, which was streamed live onto the net.
Bristol Open ever presents Martin Barkwill and Lawrence Powell were the men in question, and it was Lawrence who took the title with a 15-5 victory.
Lawrence was the winner of the Warm-up tournament in 2006 and the Progressive Consolation in 2008, so can be considered one of the most consistent performers over the four events so far.
His vanquished opponent, though, can claim to be even more consistent, having reached the main flight last eight on every occasion, including another runner-up performance in 2005 against Masayuki Mochizuki.
Other flight winners were:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Progressive Consolation: Winner: Michael Soerensen; Runner-up: Raj Jansari. Last Chance: Winner: Pia Jeppesen; Runner-up: Mike Heard.
ADVANCED: Main flight: Winner: Ann Pocknell; Runner-up: Ali Shimeri. Progressive Consolation: Winner: Fiona Oldham; Runner-up: Tony Fawcett. Last Chance: Winner: Richard Holness; Runner-up: Steve Morris.
INTERMEDIATE: 1st: Duncan Lee; 2nd: Shadow Hamilton; 3rd: Carel Lindley.
More on the weekend's event here soon, and read Roland Herrera's blog.
30/08/09: Bristol Open final live on the net!
In a groundbreaking move for British backgammon events the 2009 Bristol Open sponsored by casinorip.com will be streamed live over the net this afternoon.
After a great deal of testing by Backgammon in London's Mike Main and casinorip staff a test transmission of the championship third round match between Sean Williams and Chris Ternel was streamed early yesterday evening, and there was subsequently a green light for transmission of today's big match.
Although the timing of the final encounter is provisionally scheduled for 4.30pm UK time, the vagaries of backgammon scheduling could make the match earlier or later.
Click here for the streaming.
Full reports and pictures are likely to emerge after the event closes this evening.
Meanwhile Roland Herrera's blog is well worth a visit.
27/08/09: Lull before the storm at league night
With many players focussed on the coming weekend's extravaganza,there wasn't a great deal of league action at the BCSC this evening.
Just fourteen players progressed their league campaigns, although at least four other regulars were there, and a chouette was augmented by visitors of some eminence.
Former Danish number one Mikael Jensen, and top Japanese players Michihito Kageyama and world champion Masayuki Mochizuki were there, but later left to welcome more of the throng of overseas entrants to the fourth Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com.
In Premier One there were just two double headers, and in such an even season you would have put money on shared spoils in the Tim Line versus Stuart Mann and Peter Edwards versus Ian Tarr encounters.
That was exactly what happened, and ten of the twelve players are now locked together on either ten or nine victories.
Only those who have already lost eleven -- Peter, Tim and Ed Turner -- can be ruled out of the title race.
Talking of title races, in Premier Two Red Neil Young picked up yet another three point haul when he finished off his adjourned match with Mike Smith.
With the score standing at 9-8 to Neil, anything could have happened, but it was Neil who put further pressure on his main rival Marcus Wrinch.
Simon Temme salvaged some pride after a disappointing run with a double success against John Lewis.
And Simon Hughes leapfrogged over Miles Farren to the top of Premier Two Blue with a narrow victory over Ian Preston, although Miles does have three matches in hand.
The only Conference match of the evening, between Anne Foreman and Chas Perry, was adjourned with Anne 9-7 ahead.
25/08/09: Michael wins Intermediate Open entry
With the carrot dangled before the massed ranks of Bristol intermediates of winning free entry and registration for the Intermediate category of the Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com, there was only one player prepared to rise to the challenge.
True, as Monday Club events go this was the toughest assignment. A clock blitz round robin has time constraints to test the most hardened campaigner, but Michael Bennett stood up to the plate, mixing it with five seasoned players, and although he found victories hard to come by, he deserved the prize he won by default.
Astonishingly there was a five way tie for the clock blitz prize, which was effectively a "dead rubber" in the quest for the Monday Club Summer Club Grand Prix title, as Roland Herrera had long since got that one well and truly wrapped up.
Meanwhile recent recruits Carrie Williams and Jan Cave (it was her welcome first visit) were put through their paces by the Ians, Tarr and Preston, on a congenial evening for all.
22/08/09: Extra prize on offer on Monday
There will be an extra prize available to be won on Monday evening at the BCSC, when the final phase of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix takes place.
Monday's event is a clock blitz round robin, or more than one if there are enough players, and with entry at £5, there is of course modest prize money at stake.
In addition, the organisers of next weekend's Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com, are giving away entry and registration to the Intermediate category at the Bristol Open to the player not yet qualified as a Premier League player who performs best on Monday.
This prize is valued at £20, and will enable the winner to rub shoulders with some of the best players in the world at the Open.
22/08/09: Gaz opens up 100 point OGP lead
Gaz Owen won his third Bristol Grand Prix tournament of the year on Thursday, when he defeated Steffen Nowak in the held over final of the August event.
His OGP lead has now stretched to 100 points with just four tournaments remaining.
And in Thursday's main event, the third of our four Consulting Doubles Grand prix tournaments, Tony Walters and Chas Perry won the main flight, defeating Miles Farren and Sue Hall, who was making her Bristol Backgammon debut, Roland Herrera and Lizzie Pearce, and Phillip Hill and Rufus Rozelaar.
Steffen, partnered by Simon Fahoury, won the consolation flight.
With just one tournament remaining, the CDGP honours are there for the taking, with many players in contention, including three way leaders Tony, Stuart Mann and Lewis Young.
22/08/09: Sue wins Camden qualifier
Sue Keeble became the latest player to win a place in the Championship category of the Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com, when she won a fifteen player qualifier at The Lockside Lounge, Camden, London, on Tuesday evening.
Having despatched a succession of distinguished players -- Jon Barnes, Peter Bennet, Dave Ablett and Raj Jansari -- Sue proved she is a very worthy contender for next weekend's event.
18/08/09: Camden qualifier for the Bristol Open tonight
The Lockside Lounge, Camden, London plays host to the latest live qualifier for the Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com.
Last registration for tonight's qualifier is at 7pm, and there is a 32 player limit. The prize will be to the value of £320, equivalent to the £200 entry plus registration for the Bristol event, plus £120 travel and accommodation money.
Entry tonight (plus £5 registration) is £320 divided by the number of entrants. Casinorip are also adding £30 and £20 to the online accounts of the winner and runner-up.
Visit Mike Main's Backgammon in London website, where you can pre-register for the qualifier.
Meanwhile the last of the series of four online qualifiers hosted by casinorip.com was last night won by Ilja Tardijn, from the Netherlands.
18/08/09: Alan pops in after eight years
There were just five players present for the start of the latest phase of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix, not enough to make the advertised DMP Tourno viable.
So there was an improvised 3-point round robin, which was won by Ian Tarr.
Later in the evening Ed Turner continued his training of a new player, while Alan Papier popped in for a game or two -- his first visit since January 2001!
14/08/09: AUGUST GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
There were just sixteen players present at the BCSC on Thursday to contest the August grand prix tournament, the holiday season taking its toll in no uncertain way.
14/08/09: Steffen and Gaz to contest the August final ......
Steffen Nowak and Gaz Owen will contest the main final of the August Bristol Grand Prix event.
Gaz fought his way past George Jakeway, Lewis Young and Neil Young to earn his final place, while Steffen was defeating Julian Fetterlein, Tony Walters and Simon Temme.
14/08/09: Miles wins consolation ......
Miles Farren got past Chas Perry and Todd Young before defeating Ian Preston in the consolation final.
14/08/09: Gaz aims for 100 points OGP lead ......
Gaz Owen's run to the August main flight final has stretched his OGP lead over second placed Ian Tarr from 10 points to 65, and a victory over Steffen Nowak will round it up to exactly 100.
Ian is now in the realm of discards, gaining 25 points and losing 15, but still heads third placed Peter Edwards by 62 points.
14/08/09: Rufus notches big scalp ......
It was an unspectacular tournament for the three intermediates present, but the one shaft of light was provided by Rufus Rozelaar, whose first round consolation win over the nation's number one ranked player Julian Fetterlein must be seen as the highlight of his blossoming career thus far.
IGP leaders John Plummer, Malcolm Patterson and Pam Jakeway were all absent, but George Jakeway, Rufus and Chas Perry all missed the chance to get amongst the big points.
14/08/09: Rollover chance fifty per cent ......
Neutrals will be rooting for Steffen Nowak when the August main final takes place, as a win for Bristol Backgammon's most popular German would ensure a rollover to the September tournament of £70 in the Winner Takes All pool.
Gaz, of course, will be hoping otherwise.
14/08/09: Steffen or Premier One high finisher for Masters ......
As Gaz Owen has already qualified twice for the 2010 Bristol Masters, a further tournament win will do no more than reserve an extra place for a Premier One high finisher.
Steffen Nowak, of course, can grab that place for himself by defeating Gaz.
14/08/09: Tony edges closer to promotion challenge ......
When Tony Walters found himself 0-8 down to Simon Temme after a single game in their Premier Two Red match, he would not necessarily have envisaged an 11-8 win, although one game later, with the score at 6-8(!), it was looking like a more realistic ambition.
The win duly achieved, Tony moved three points closer to the promotion bracket, and could capitalise if either of the top two should falter.
10/08/09: "dana88" wins third online qualifier
Once again there were 27 players online to contest the penultimate qualifier for the casinorip.com sponsored 2009 Bristol Open.
This time the prize of entry and registration for the Championship category of the August Bank Holiday event went to "dana88", who defeated "BGSHOPdotCOM" in the final.
10/08/09: Cynthia wins 3-point round robin, Roland wins the GP
Seven players -- the worst possible number -- turned up to contest the latest phase of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix -- a 3-point round robin -- so Director Ian Tarr sat it out to make it a more manageable competition in the time allotted.
And it was a Cynthia Roberts purple patch that took the honours on the night with five wins from five matches.
Roland Herrera took second place, and has now amassed enough points to ensure that he will be the inaugural winner of the Summer Grand Prix competition, his lead of 153.5 points being more than can possibly be gained from the two remaining phases.
07/08/09: Miles, Lewis and Steve earn Bristol Open tickets
Three qualifiers for the Bristol Open sponsored by Casinorip.com were held at the BCSC last night.
There was just one for the Championship category, and this saw Miles Farren emerge victorious from the field of eight hopefuls to clinch his seat at the end of August extravaganza.
The final of the first of two Advanced qualifiers featured the two youngest players in the competition, with a combined age of just 29 years and 123 days. Fifteen year old Lewis Young beat his brother Todd Young, still thirteen.
While that was in progress, there was enough interest to start a second Advanced qualifier with just six players, with two semi-final places auctioned off.
Steve Morris and Neil Young paid the extra, but failed to get any further, leaving Steve Ferrer and Simon Temme to contest the final, Steve triumphant.
Meanwhile, the scheduled staging of the annual Intermediates Trophy knock-out came to nothing, when only two potential entrants turned up.
This will now be rescheduled for later in the year, with a minimum requirement of four players to make it viable.
At least those two players didn't have a wasted evening. Tim Parker and Chas Perry played a couple of Conference matches, Chas winning both on his league debut, and inflicting league defeat on Tim for the first (and second) time.
A couple of loose ends were tied up when Peter Edwards won the consolation final of the July Handicap Trophy tournament, and Ian Preston became the winner of the inaugural Nackgammon event. Peter's win moves him to the top of the Handicap Trophy table, heading Simon Hughes by virtue of having played fewer tournaments.
Before the tournaments Todd Young defeated Simon Temme in a Premier Two Red match, while Mike Smith and Neil Young had to adjourn at 9-8 to Neil.
04/08/09: Qualifiers filling up
The first eight-player Bristol Open sponsored by Casinorip.com Championship qualifier at the BCSC on Thursday has now been filled, and the first Advanced qualifier has just one place remaining.
So it looks as though we will be running two of each.
Email Ian Tarr or ring him on 07940 284652 to confirm your place.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Manchester is monopolising the online qualifiers via our sponsors' website.
After Kevin Jones scooped the prize last week, it was the turn of 2007 British Open champion Brian Lever to book his place yesterday evening.
04/08/09: Roland and Simonetta on the radio
For those who missed Roland and Simonetta Herrera's radio interview on BBC Radio Bristol this morning, it is now available on BBC iPlayer.
Click the Play button, and move the slider to 1 hour 38 minutes.
04/08/09: Bristol Open qualifiers gathering pace
The big Bristol backgammon event of the year is now less than four weeks away, and there's a lot of appetite whetting going on in the form of qualifiers -- both online and live.
The Bristol Open 2009, sponsored by casinorip.com has already been the subject of two online qualifiers on the sponsors' website, with two more to come on August 10th and 17th.
And this Thursday at the BCSC there will be a series of live qualifiers, enabling the winners to take their seats at the Bristol Open for a tiny fraction of the actual entry and registration cost.
The first Championship qualifier and the first Advanced qualifier are nearly full, so it looks as though there may be two eight player qualifiers in each category.
But to be absolutely sure of participation on Thursday you are recommended to book your places straight away by emailing Ian Tarr or phoning him on 07940 284652.
04/08/09: Roland takes commanding Summer Grand Prix lead
Monday's session at the BCSC, featuring a 7-point clock tournament with seven minute time banks and a twelve seconds delay, saw eight players taking part, just enough to justify two flights.
Roland Herrera won the main flight, defeating Ian Preston in the final, and Todd Young took the consolation flight.
Roland now has a lead of 98.5 points over his nearest Summer Grand Prix rival, Neil Young, and there are only three more phases for the gap to be closed.
Ian Tarr put debut player Michael Bennett though his paces (or was it the other way round?) in a few friendly games, while Ed Turner did the same for a mystery new player.
And it was good to see Nick Hill and Patrick Duggan making their first visit this year.
02/08/09: Signing up for Thursday's qualifiers begins
Thursday's live qualifier tournaments at the BCSC for the 2009 Bristol Open, sponsored by casinorip.com, require players to book their places in advance, to make it easier to assess demand.
Those interested are urged to ring (on 07940 284652) or email Director Ian Tarr.
Entry is set at £20 for the Championship Division and £7 for the Advanced Division. The winner of each eight player tournament takes a seat at the Bristol Open at the end of the month with their entry fees and registrations paid for by the prizes, valued at £200 for the Championship and £70 for the Advanced.
Those prizes are funded by the eight players' entry fees plus 20% provided from the Bristol Open budget. And in addition, the sponsors are offering extras for the finalists in their casinorip.com accounts.
It could well be a busy night on Thursday, as the annual Intermediates Trophy is being held at the same session.
01/08/09: Michael Corbett expunged from Premier One
Michael Corbett has suffered expungement from Premier One at the July 31st midnight checkpoint.
Although the personal difficulties Michael has been experiencing are showing positive signs of improvement, Michael has indicated that he will not be appealing, either against the expungement or the two penalty points incurred at the May checkpoint.
He does have seven days to change his mind, however.
The unfortunate effect of the expungement is the wiping of the nine matches Michael has played to date.
Not only has Michael's record disappeared, but the records of his six opponents are affected.
Principal beneficiaries are Simonetta Herrera and Dave Pym who have each "lost" a defeat, while Gaz Owen, in having two victories erased, and Paul Gilbertson, one win, are the ones to suffer.
Peter Edwards and Stuart Mann each lose a win and a defeat.
This effectively concertinas the nine players now above the relegation line into a group spread by only three points, and even Peter, just below the line, is only six points off the pace.
The requirements for the September checkpoint have been scaled back to account for the reduction in fixtures.
Meanwhile four Premier Two players have incurred penalties at the checkpoint.
Todd Young's single point penalty sends him back to bottom place in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Two Blue Blaine Buchanan has picked up three penalty points, Lewis Young two, and Paul Watts one.
Those penalised can claw back the points by complying with the requirements of the September 30th checkpoint.
31/07/09: Chas makes instant impact
Chas Perry, attracted to Bristol Backgammon by Monday's Evening Post article on the exploits of the travelling Herreras, made an immediate impact when he won the fourth of our six 2009 Handicap Trophy tournaments.
Chas made the most of his friendly 4-handicap to get past Todd Young, Derek Clew and Malcolm Patterson, before defeating Roland Herrera in the final.
And further good news is that Chas has agreed to join the Bristol Conference League.
Eighteen entrants battled out the tournament, while a couple of others played league matches.
The consolation final, held over for another time, will be between Peter Edwards and Steve Morris, who will start with a 2-0 lead.
Leader Simon Hughes could only add 15 points to his Handicap Trophy tally last night, but he is still in pole position. This would change if Peter were to win the consolation final.
The league action before the tournament involved a match in Premier One and another in Premier Two Red.
Stuart Mann hammered Simonetta Herrera 11-3 in the top flight match at Colston Yard, while Todd Young hauled himself off the bottom of the Red Division with a win over Mike Smith.
Stuart's win leaves him handily placed in the tightest league on record, as he now has the best percentage of wins.
30/07/09: Ian pips Phil
Phil Charlton staged a great fightback from a 1-10 deficit only to lose the DMP game to Ian Tarr in Premier One at The Chequers, Kingswood, this afternoon.
28/07/09: Honours shared in Premier One double header
A Premier One double header in Kellaway Avenue this afternoon did little, if anything, to give a clue to the outcome of the various important issues to be decided on the run in.
Simonetta Herrera defeated Simon Baker 11-2 before suffering an 8-11 reverse.
27/07/09: Roland wins Tric Trac
The latest Monday Club session at the BCSC saw Roland Herrera taking the honours in an eight player Tric Trac Tourno.
Ian Preston finished on 9 points, and hoped that Roland would not win a gammon in his last game to pip him by half a point. His hopes were in vain.
Roland takes over the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix lead from Neil Young, who was otherwise engaged online.
One new player, Chas Perry, was welcomed, and is looking to return for Thursday's Handicap Trophy event.
27/07/09: Kevin wins Bristol Open seat
The first of the four online qualifiers for the fourth Bristol Open, sponsored by CasinoRip.com has been won by Kevin Jones from Manchester.
He emerged from a field of 29 players to earn the Championship seat, valued at £200.
Kevin has played at Bristol once before -- in February 2005, when he was runner-up in our monthly grand prix tournament.
Further online qualifiers will be held on the sponsor's site on Monday August 3rd, 10th and 17th, all at 9pm.
27/07/09: Rookie award restricted to ten months!
This year's Rookie of the Year award will -- just for this year -- actually reflect just a ten month period rather than the calendar year.
The reason for this arrangement surrounds the newly announced sponsorship details for the award.
As previously reported Paul Gilbertson has taken over the sponsorship slot which fell vacant upon the demise of the orginal sponsors, Gammonitis.
Paul has agreed to provide a new trophy, which will include the names of all the previous winners, plus a memento to keep for the latest recipient.
The other exciting element to the prize is the funding for the player in question to attend the BIBA UK Finals in December. The deal includes accommodation, plus free entry and registration to that event.
This constitutes the biggest sponsored prize ever offered on behalf of Bristol Backgammon -- not, of course, to be confused with the Bristol Open, sponsored by CasinoRip.com, which of course is the annual event co-organised by Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr.
27/07/09: First online satellite tonight!
The fourth Bristol Open, sponsored by CasinoRip.com, effectively starts tonight!
The sponsors are staging the first of four online qualifiers for the Championship category of the event.
Each of the four events, which are being held tonight at 9pm, and at the same time on the next three Mondays, will cost just £4 to enter, with the winner of each taking the £200 prize, which consists of £170 entry plus £30 registration for the big event.
Click here to register and play!
23/07/09: JULY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Twenty players were in league action at the BCSC on Thursday, where the most enthralling Premier One season ever took centre stage.
23/07/09: Pick a name, ...... any name ......
Take a glance at the Premier One league table, freshly updated after Thursday's action, and try to work out who's favourite for the title, or even who's favourite for the drop.
Such is the nature of this bizarre season that it is conceivable that different pundits could come up with the same name for either list.
True, it's difficult to make a case for Ed Turner as champion, even allowing for his propensity for dramatic late revivals. His run in needs to be extremely good if he is to escape the relegation bracket.
And Peter Edwards, with eleven defeats in his twenty matches thus far has probably also suffered a little too much to be considered a title contender.
But since there is nobody who has even three victories more than defeats, it is easy to make a case for literally any of the remaining eleven players.
And apart from Ed there is also nobody with three more defeats than wins.
Leader Gaz Owen, a double loser yesterday, has probably -- but not necessarily -- done enough to be free of relegation worries, as has new second placer Paul Gilbertson, who won all his three matches on the night.
Dave Pym and Tim Line did their causes no harm at all with a brace of victories apiece, although it could have been even better for Tim at DMP against Simonetta Herrera, who rolled a last ditch double to steal the win.
Simonetta's win, and that of Stuart Mann, kept those two well in contention, while setbacks for Phil Charlton and Ian Tarr have by no means ruled them out of contention.
So there we have it -- the majority of players still hopeful of claiming the big prize, while at the same time looking anxiously over their shoulders at the all too real threat of relegation to the second tier.
And the situation could be made even less clear if, as seems likely, Michael Corbett suffers expungement at the July 31st checkpoint.
With Michael still four matches short of the required minimum, the silence from the other side of the bridge seems ominous.
If the worst were to happen, and Michael's nine matches were to be ruled out, the main losers would be the top two, Gaz and Paul, while the main winners would be Simonetta and Dave.
23/07/09: Simon maintains impetus ......
There were just two matches in Premier Two Blue, and both had a bearing on the promotion race.
Top two Miles Farren and Simon Hughes fought out a nail biter, with Simon taking the honours, meaning that Miles still has a little to do before he can even think of a celebration.
Simon is looking in good shape now, having drawn level on points with Miles, who still has two matches in hand, however.
And fourth placed Derek Clew kept up the pressure with a win over Ian Preston.
23/07/09: Marcus and Richard close on Neil ......
Neil Young, leader of Premier Two Red, took time out from his promotion campaign to limber up for the Bristol Open with a fifteen points clock match against Tony Walters.
Meanwhile his closest pursuer, Marcus Wrinch, moved closer with a brace of wins over Mike Smith.
While those two remain favourites for the two promotion slots, a surprise contender is lurking in third place waiting to capitalise on any slip up.
Richard Holness, just up from the Conference, is six points adrift of the top two after completing a handy double over John Lewis.
23/07/09: Anne the Conference form player ......
Anne Foreman is warming to the task of becoming a contender in the Conference.
Having registered her first win on Monday, the second came close on the heels of that one, as Anne scored an 11-6 win over Malcolm Patterson to move into joint third place.
As yet, nobody is getting close to the magic twenty points mark which guarantees elevation to the Premier League.
But there's still plenty of time for that to change.
23/07/09: Ian out of bottom four, slows Simon's march
Ian Tarr's home in Redfield was the scene for the latest bout of league action this lunch-time.
Simon Baker was the guest, but left with only a 4-11 Premier One defeat to show for his efforts, slowing his march towards the top of the league.
For Ian it meant an end to his longest ever Premier League losing sequence, and an escape from the bottom four.
There will no doubt be lots more league news to report after this evening's monthly league session at the BCSC.
22/07/09: Ian's losing streak continues, Gaz back on track
The home of the Herreras, in Kellaway Avenue, was the venue for two Premier One encounters today.
The hostess, Simonetta Herrera demolished Ian Tarr 11-4, his fifth successive league defeat.
But she was pipped by her next visitor, leader Gaz Owen, for whom these were further green shoots of a recent revival.
Meanwhile, news of another Premier Two Blue double header yesterday has emerged. Phillip Hill and Paul Watts shared the spoils.
And tonight's double header at he Merchants Arms, Hotwells, saw Mike Smith score a much needed brace of Premier Two Red wins over Richard Owsley.
21/07/09: Miles hits Cecilia's promotion hopes
At the Shakespeare, Prince Street, this evening Miles Farren delivered a double blow to Cecilia Sparke's Premier Two Blue promotion hopes.
Their double header ended 11-6 and 11-9 in Miles' favour, sending him back to the top of the league, while at the same time ensuring that Cecilia will need to perform well in her five remaining matches.
20/07/09: Busy Monday at the BCSC
Monday customarily being the low key day for Bristol Backgammon, it was gratifying to see a decent turnout of eighteen players at the BCSC this evening.
The advertised Monday Club session featured eight players contesting two clock blitz round robins, a further seven there to play league matches, a returning World Championship semi-finalist taking a well earned break from competition to give a little tuition to an inexperienced player, and a further player there for purely social purposes.
There was action in all four leagues, Stuart Mann edging to victory over Ian Tarr in Premier One, where Simon Baker came out on top of a double header with Tim Line.
Simon is now right back in the race for honours, after apparently blowing an excellent start to the season, while Stuart's poor start hasn't stopped him stealing quietly into the picture.
Neil Young -- playing Simon Temme -- scored his twelfth win in fourteen Premier Two Red matches to pull six points clear of second placed Marcus Wrinch.
And a Premier Two Blue double header saw the honours shared between Phillip Hill and Cynthia Roberts. Phillip moves off the bottom at Andrew Cobb's expense.
Meanwhile Anne Foreman scored her first ever league victory in the Conference, beating Michal Ciupak 11-10. Michal, shortly to be lost to Bristol Backgammon as he returns to Poland, remains keen to the end.
The two clock blitz round robins were won by Ian Preston and, jointly, Tony Walters and Neil Young.
Neil edges ahead of Roland Herrera in the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix, but Roland is not yet in the realms of discards while Neil will be from now on.
Neil also found time to play his Nackgammon consolation final from Thursday, but had to defer to Simon Temme, who gained some consolation for his earlier league defeat.
19/07/09: Mochy takes the title
In a World Championship final contested by two faces familiar in Bristol, it was Japan's Masayuki Mochizuki, better known as Mochy, who took the title with a 25-20 victory over Denmark's Lars Trabolt, better known as Trabi, conqueror of the last two UK (and Bristol) residents in the competition, Simonetta Herrera in the last sixteen and Roland Herrera in the semis.
It looked as though Trabi was mounting another of his monumental comebacks when improving from 14-22 to 20-22, but a bold play as he chased a double gammon backfired on him, and he became the victim of a double gammon himself.
19/07/09: It only takes a second......
It has emerged that Roland Herrera started what turned out to be the final game of yesterday's semi-final with just one second of his time bank remaining, not one minute.
This gave him a maximum of fifteen seconds for every move. Lars Trabolt had thirty seconds of his time bank remaining.
Roland did not intend to let his time run down to that extent, and was expecting to hear warning bleeps for the final few seconds. These were not forthcoming, so he was quite shocked -- and not too happy -- to realise that he was down to just one second.
The reason for this misunderstanding was that Roland has been accustomed to using DGT clocks, which can bleep for the final five seconds (if the volume is on), while the Excalibur clocks in use in Monte can only be programmed with a single warning bleep a specified number of seconds from the end.
Apparently there was no applause at the end of the match, just a stunned silence, and this despite the attendance of a huge crowd.
18/07/09: Roland out after epic semi-final
After a truly epic match Roland Herrera's bid to reach the final of the World Championships in Monte Carlo has ended in valiant but agonising failure.
Having held the lead for most of the match, Roland acceded to the request of his opponent -- good friend and reigning World Champion Lars Trabolt -- to break for dinner with the match healthily poised at 20-12 in Roland's favour.
And the break appears to have had the desired effect for Trabi who, like the true champion he is, began clawing back the deficit on the resumption.
From 20-12, it went to 20-16, 20-17, 20-18, 21-18, 21-20, and then parity at 21-21 for the first time since the match started.
Roland then succumbed with just a minute to spare on his clock.
Trabi now plays Masayuki Mochizuki in tomorrow's 25-point final.
It's a disappointing outcome for the Bristol (and the UK) scene, but in retrospect one player in the last sixteen and one in the semis (from a starting line-up of 173) still amounts to a magnificent achievement.
18/07/09: Gaz ends dismal run to regain Premier One lead
Gaz Owen's desperate run of Premier One results came to an end today, but not before he lost a sixth successive league match.
In a double header at his home in Clifton, Gaz succumbed 7-11 to Tim Line, before bouncing back with a whitewash victory in the return.
That win was enough to raise him to the top of the league at Steffen Nowak's expense, while Tim escapes the bottom four, pushing Simon Baker into the relegation bracket.
Gaz's season has been a bizarre one. After losing his opening match a string of nine wins made him red hot favourite to go better than last season's runner-up spot.
But that was when his form deserted him, with six defeats bringing him right back into the pack.
He will be hoping that his win this afternoon is the start of another long sequence.
And at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham, Andrew Cobb edged home 11-10 against Phillip Hill in Premier Two Blue.
18/07/09: Roland's run sparks local media interest
Roland Herrera's exploits in Monte Carlo are now attracting the interest of the local media.
The Bristol Evening Post is already on the case, while there was a national mention yesterday evening when John Clark gave Roland and Simonetta a mention on BBC Radio 2.
17/07/09: Roland earns a day off
Roland Herrera's run through the rounds at the World Championships in Monte Carlo continued last night when he clinched a semi-final meeting with reigning champion Lars Trabolt, conqueror of Simonetta Herrera in the last sixteen!
He will play this on Saturday at 3pm, when it is the featured match on the big screen, so can relax today.
For the record, the scores of his wins show that he has not yet been severely stretched: first round bye, second round 17-6, third round 19-10, fourth round 19-6, fifth round 21-10, and quarter-final 21-11.
The other semi features Philippe Lecomte and Masayuki Mochizuki.
16/07/09: Herreras in Monte -- latest update
Mixed news from Monte Carlo, where Roland Herrera has defeated Giorgio Castellano to reach the quarter-finals, which may also be played tonight.
Simonetta, meanwhile, only just succumbed to reigning champion Lars Trabolt of Denmark, and has to settle for emulating her achievement of two years ago.
16/07/09: Twelve sample inaugural Nackgammon event
There was a great deal of absorbing play when Nackgammon made its Bristol bow at the BCSC this evening.
Just twelve players contested the event, and play was adjourned with both final line-ups decided.
Ian Tarr and Ian Preston will contest the main flight final, while the consolation counterpart will feature Simon Temme and Neil Young.
There was also some league play, with Gaz Owen suffering another Premier One defeat, this time at the hands of Peter Edwards.
Meanwhile in the Conference Tim Parker staged a stunning fightback to recover from a 2-9 deficit to defeat Michal Ciupak.
16/07/09: Herreras now into last 16!
A further update from Monte Carlo -- Roland and Simonetta are now both in the last sixteen of the 173 player World Championship main flight, the last two remaining British based players!
Simonetta will play her good friend, the reigning champion Lars Trabolt, while Roland is pitted against Italian Giorgio Castellano, who was based in the UK a while ago.
All of this is yet another feather in the cap of Bristol Backgammon, where Roland is currently ranked number two with Simonetta at number nine. Simonetta, of course, reached this stage two years ago.
Also in the last sixteen is top Japanese player Masayuki Mochizuki, who won the inaugural Bristol Open in 2005.
16/07/09: Nackgammon comes to Bristol
Bristol Backgammon stages its first ever nackgammon tournament this evening at the BCSC.
Nackgammon, devised by top American player Nack Ballard, is the same as ordinary backgammon apart from the initial board set up, with two more men back near the start, ensuring lots of contact and more complex games.
Come along and be part of what is a new experience for us in Bristol -- it starts at 7pm.
15/07/09: Herreras into last 32
Roland and Simonetta Herrera have now both moved into the last thirty-two at the World Championships. Watch this space for further announcements.
14/07/09: Two rounds safely negotiated in Monte
Both Roland Herrera and Simonetta Herrera have safely got through two rounds at the World Championships in Monte Carlo.
This puts them both in the last 64, so Simonetta needs two more wins to emulate her feat of two years ago.
More news will be posted here when available.
13/07/09: Steffen tops Premier League!
Steffen Nowak completed three Premier One matches at the BCSC tonight, and won two of them to move above Gaz Owen at the top.
Gaz does have four matches in hand, but in this unpredictable season Steffen is definitely becoming a serious title contender.
Steffen's first result was a defeat at the hands of Dave Pym, but he later got his revenge, as well as edging home against Ed Turner.
The Monday Club Summer Grand Prix event was a DMP Tourno contested by nine players, including a debut appearance by Carrie Williams from Burnham-on-Sea.
The prize pot was split three ways -- between Carol Mayne, Ian Preston and Ian Tarr, while Neil Young squandered a golden opportunity to overtake leader Roland Herrera, whose lead is still more than 30 points.
12/07/09: Dave clinches grand prix win
Dave Ablett picked up where he left off on Thursday evening, demolishing the challenge of Stuart Mann 11-1 at the Cornubia this evening.
After honours were shared in the first two games a double gammon left Stuart chasing the game, and two double acceptances later the match was over.
Dave thus becomes the seventh qualifier for the 2010 Bristol Masters, and moves into the top twenty of the OGP.
10/07/09: JULY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Twenty-eight players were in action at the BCSC on Thursday, all but two of them in the monthly grand prix knock-out.
10/07/09: Dave and Stuart reach the July final ......
Dave Ablett, London based South African friend of Cecilia Sparke, made his Bristol Backgammon tournament debut on Thursday, and did so to very good effect.
Victories over Richard Owsley, Steffen Nowak, Ian Tarr and Gaz Owen saw him progress to the main final, where he will meet Stuart Mann.
Stuart needed to kick-start his moderate (by his standards) OGP season, and wins against Steve Morris, Neil Young, Simon Hughes and Peter Edwards delivered a grand prix main flight final place for him, for the first time in just over two years.
The final will need to be arranged smartly, as Dave's visits to Bristol are few and far between.
10/07/09: Pam wins consolation flight ......
Pam Jakeway shrugged aside the disappointment of first match elimination from the main flight to score an excellent consolation flight victory on Thursday.
She defeated Richard Owsley, Tony Walters, Ed Turner and Ian Preston to take the prize.
10/07/09: Gaz reclaims OGP lead ......
Ian Tarr's OGP lead lasted just four days.
Gaz Owen moved 10 points ahead of Ian with three wins to Ian's two in the main flight -- both players' progress halted by Dave Ablett.
Peter Edwards is a further 42 points adrift in third place, with Marcus Wrinch another 44 points back.
Finalist Stuart Mann can move into fifth place if he can defeat Dave Ablett.
10/07/09: Malcolm and Pam close on John ......
John Plummer's sole grand prix visit this year -- a winning one back in May -- is still enough to see him sat on top of the IGP after the settling of Thursday's dust.
But his challengers are at least getting closer.
Second placed Malcolm Patterson moved to within ten points of John, while Pam Jakeway is now only 35 points further back after her consolation flight run earned her a total of 95 points, including bonus point victories over four Premier Status players.
10/07/09: No rollover this time ......
The recent trend of no rollovers in the Bristol Grand Prix series Winner Takes All pool continued at the BCSC on Thursday.
Simon Hughes alone carried the hopes of the neutrals into the quarter-finals, where he was eliminated by Stuart Mann.
And the 2010 Bristol Masters qualification situation ensures that the winner of the main final will definitely qualify for that event.
10/07/09: Gaz falters again in Premier One ......
Premier One leader Gaz Owen, who was looking a very firm favourite to take the title not long ago, may still be favourite.
But his fourth successive league defeat, yesterday at the hands of Dave Pym, has at least ensured that the race remains about as open as it could be.
And Malcolm Patterson finally completed his adjourned Conference match with Anne Ryder, winning 11-3 to move right into the thick of the promotion battle.
06/07/09: Derek and Miles still in the hunt
A Premier Two Blue double header between Miles Farren and Derek Clew at the BCSC this evening saw the honours pretty much shared.
Derek won the first match 11-4, but Miles hit back with an 11-6 victory of his own to move back into second place in the league table at Cecilia Sparke's expense.
And Derek closed on the leading three to keep his promotion hopes well and truly alive.
In the latest Monday Club session, the order of the day was 3-point round robins.
With the worst possible number -- seven -- present, Director Ian Tarr opted out to ensure a more manageable six player contest.
Roland Herrera won all five of his matches, while the other five contestants bizarrely each won two of their five.
Roland thus increases his Summer Grand Prix lead over second placed Neil Young from 10 points to 54.
06/07/09: Paul and Julian also succeeded at Daventry
BIBA's "World Championship" event at the weekend, where Marcus Wrinch did so well to reach the final, also saw Paul Gilbertson progress as far as the semis, while Julian Fetterlein won the Friday warm-up.
And Marcus's defeat by Chris Ternel featured a strong comeback from 0-7, before he finally succumbed.
05/07/09: Ian clinches his fourth Lesters title
Ian Tarr has won the June edition of the Lesters Trophy, defeating Neil Young 11-9.
The match began at the Cambridge Arms, Coldharbour Road, but the quiz was so loud that the players and spectators adjourned to the Westbury Park Tavern (formerly known as the Cock of the North) for the completion of the match.
Neil had led 5-1 at this stage and continued to make most of the running, except at the sharp end of the match.
The win means Ian now narrowly leads the OGP, and is assured of a place in the 2010 Bristol Masters -- the sixth of the eventual sixteen qualifiers.
Having entered more Lesters events than anyone else (sixty-eight of the seventy-one staged so far), Ian's fourth such win still leaves him behind Dave Pym (7 wins), Charlie Hetherington (6), Simon Baker (5) and Stuart Mann (5).
Neil was contesting his third Lesters final.
And Blaine Buchanan will welcome the result, having bought Ian in the auction. Neil's purchaser, Simonetta Herrera was present to receive her share of the auction pot, albeit with a little disappointment!
05/07/09: Marcus close to "World Championship"
BIBA's so called World Championship event this weekend saw Marcus Wrinch reach the final, where he was defeated by Chris Ternel.
More details will be posted here if of any Bristol significance.
03/07/09: Roland opens up CTGP lead
The fifth of the year's series of eight Clock Tournament Grand Prix events was the least well attended yet, with just eleven players taking part, although five others got in some league action.
Roland Herrera took the main flight, defeating Derek Clew, Ian Tarr and Miles Farren after receiving a bye in the first round, and now leads the competition by 85 points.
And the consolation flight saw a memorable comeback by Lewis Young, who trailed 0-6 Crawford to Simon Hughes before two blitz inspired gammons pulled him level, and a remarkable four-five-seven back game sealed the win.
Lewis had earlier suffered a Premier Two Blue defeat at the hands of Andrew Cobb, while his brother Todd Young was scoring a much needed Premier Two Red win over Richard Owsley.
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