News items from 2011 (first half)
27/06/11: Nick close to a clean sweep
Starting the evening with an 11-8 Premier Two Red victory over Jamie Nevill, Nick Barham carried his good form into the evening's advertised event, a DMP Tourno, which was the latest phase of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix.
Nick was one of ten players to contest this, and was already assured of the money when he started his ninth and final encounter undefeated.
Julia Griffith ended Nick's run, however.
With SGP leader Pearl Foster absent, there was a chance for her pursuers to overtake her in the table.
Neither Hadi Kermani nor Ian Preston had great evenings, but they both garnered enough points to move above her.
There was a further £3 DMP Tourno for seven players later, with latecomer Manesh able to take part. And he made the most of his opportunity to take that pot, his five wins just one more than Cynthia Roberts and Ian Tarr.
24/06/11: JUNE LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Fourteen players contested a total of twelve Premier League matches yesterday -- all but two at the BCSC.
24/06/11: Stuart's double puts him top ......
A league double for Stuart Mann over Miles Farren moved him back to the top of Premier One last night.
The defeats leave Miles needing to win the majority of his seven remaining matches to ensure top flight survival.
Of those outside the top three hoping to crash the championship party, Simonetta Herrera stayed in contention with a victory and a defeat, while Steffen Nowak's pair of defeats saw him slip into mid table.
Blaine Buchanan's win moved him out of the bottom four at Miles's expense, while Phil Charlton consolidated his recent revival in fortunes with a victory that gives him tangible hope of avoiding the drop.
24/06/11: Cecilia breaks into top two ......
From two Premier Two Blue double headers the main beneficiary was Cecilia Sparke, whose brace of wins over Cynthia Roberts elevated her into second place, easing Simon Temme out of the promotion bracket.
Ian Preston and Michael Corbett shared the spoils from their encounters.
24/06/11: Richard sets up three way battle ......
Richard Biddle's latest visit from darkest Buckinghamshire yielded his fourth and fifth successive Premier Two Red victories.
The Wellington, Horfield, was the venue for Richard's wins over Simon Hughes.
Those results, and Jamie Nevill's agonisingly close defeat by Steve Morris at the BCSC, have had the effect of stunting Simon's and Jamie's promotion pushes, to the extent that it now looks likely to be a three horse race for the two promotion slots, with Neil Young, Mike Smith and Richard facing an exciting run in.
21/06/11: Jamie and Steve now confirmed for the Masters
One consequence of Roland Herrera's second monthly grand prix win of the year is that all of this year's monthly grand prix winners definitely qualify for the 2012 Bristol Masters.
So February and May winners Jamie Nevill and Steve Morris can rest easy in the knowledge that their places are booked.
21/06/11: Roland the one to beat in the OGP
Roland Herrera yesterday sent out a message to all those with OGP title pretensions.
The final of Lesters 79 was played out at the BCSC, and Roland, who has won the OGP twice in the last three years, defeated Simon Hughes 11-4 to take his third career Lesters title.
The win takes him 80 points clear of second placed Ian Tarr in the OGP table, a very handy lead to have at the half way stage of the competition.
As Roland neglected to enter the Winner Takes All pool, there will now be a rollover of £90 to the July tournament.
Roland's win was also good news for Steve Morris, who bought Roland in the pre-tournament auction, while Simon bought himself to add the second share of the auction pool to his tournament winnings.
The advertised event for the session, a Super Nackgammon round robin, attracted seven entrants, and was closely fought, with the possibility of a five way tie rearing its head until Hadi Kermani clinched the outright win for the second successive Monday.
Monday Club Summer Grand Prix leader Ian Preston had an unspectacular evening, and was overhauled by both Hadi and new overall leader Pearl Foster.
Pearl was already top intermediate, but Hadi is now hot on her heels.
Julia Griffith and Ruari O'Connell both did well on only their second visit.
Meanwhile there was another welcome first appearance for Richard Cottrell, who played out a five points match with Evelyn Weiss under the tutelage of Director Ian Tarr, and Manesh turned up for his customary late evening money game.
17/06/11: A good night for Neil
A dozen players congregated at the BCSC yesterday evening.
Ten contested the second of this year's three Nackgammon Grand Prix events, including Neil Young and Nick Barham who fitted in a Premier Two Red match before the tournament.
Two others -- Derek Clew and Miles Farren -- concentrated entirely on a Premier One double header.
Miles and Derek managed one emphatic victory apiece, enough to see Derek extended his lead to six points, while Miles was edging out of the bottom four at Blaine Buchanan's expense.
Neil's 11-6 win over Nick saw him leapfrog Mike Smith to regain top spot, but this was just the start of Neil's evening.
Victories over Simon Hughes and Steve Morris saw him reach the nackgammon main flight final, where he completed a great evening's work by defeating Cecilia Sparke, conqueror of Nick and Ian Tarr.
Neil's 85 points haul makes him joint leader of the NGP with Simonetta Herrera, with Steve ten points back in third.
The Winner Takes All pool attracted just two investors, who found themselves in the same quarter of the draw.
And Ian's semi-final demise ensured a rollover to the November tournament.
Following this Ian decided that Winner Takes All pools in all events bar the monthly grand prixs will in future be won on the night, with the prize being won or shared by the player(s) progressing furthest in the main flight.
13/06/11: Sudden influx of new players boosts Monday session
It was a great evening for four debut players to turn up for some action at the BCSC.
Had they not turned up, there would not have been enough players present to contest the advertised event, a 3-point round robin session -- an occurrence that last manifested itself in November 2009.
But as it turned out, all four were brave enough to stump up their fivers to make their competitive debuts.
Pick of the four on the night was Julia Griffith, who won four of her five matches, while Ruari O'Connell, Alex Weiss and Evelyn Weiss -- the latter two daughter and mother -- all managed one victory apiece.
Director Ian Tarr decided on a purely watching brief, given that only two of the six contestants had competed before, and seven would have been an unwieldy number given the time available in any case.
Hadi Kermani took the prize by completing a clean sweep of five wins.
Pearl Foster didn't have her best night, but her 40 points tally moved her into second place in the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix table, well within striking distance of absent leader Ian Preston.
Earlier in the evening Cynthia Roberts and Lewis Young had to adjourn a Premier Two Blue match with Cynthia 9-8 ahead.
10/06/11: ALL THE NEWS FROM THE SEVENTY-NINTH LESTERS ......
It was the lowest turnout since 2005 for a Lesters Trophy tournament which graced the BCSC on Thursday, just sixteen players toeing the start line.
And Oliver Rosich -- eighteen years old and studying at Clifton College -- dropped in to watch some of the action from the tournament which each year carries the Sarah Rosich Memorial Cup as a prize for the winner.
10/06/11: Roland and Simon reach Lesters final ......
Last month Simon Hughes reached a monthly grand prix final for the very first time, after thirty-seven blanks.
It appears that he is determined to make up for lost time, as Lesters 79 wins over Tim Line, Gaz Owen and Tony Walters earned him his second successive final berth.
There he will meet Roland Herrera, whose path to the final came via encounters with Miles Farren, Ian Tarr and Steffen Nowak.
10/06/11: Cynthia wins consolation flight ......
Making light of her first round main flight defeat by Richard Owsley, Cynthia Roberts overcame Tim Line, Miles Farren and Hadi Kermani to win Thursday's consolation flight.
10/06/11: Roland can open up sizeable OGP lead ......
Roland Herrera's run to the final moved him into pole position in the OGP, and he can double his 40 points lead by defeating Simon Hughes in the final, which is provisionally scheduled for Monday June 20th at the BCSC.
The key match for Roland's OGP aspirations was his second round defeat of previous leader Ian Tarr.
Simon's points tally from last night took him into third place, and while he will still be third even if he wins the final, the significance of the match can be underlined by the fact that he will be either 40 or 120 points off the lead, depending on the outcome.
10/06/11: Iran first and second in the IGP ......
IGP leaders Bahman Salahshour and Mandy Macdonald weren't there last night, so the IGP spotlight fell on Hadi Kermani, the only intermediate in the tournament.
He reached the final of the consolation flight, scoring bonus points for wins over Premier League opponents Steve Morris and James Lintell-Smith, and has moved into second place, just 12 points behind his Iranian compatriot Bahman.
10/06/11: "Slow play" penalty system begins to take shape ......
The results of the one year experiment designed to attack slow play in the monthly grand prix tournaments are beginning to take shape.
Tournament Director Ian Tarr is selfish enough to actually play in his own tournaments, so a low maintenance method of penalising those who regularly take a long time over their matches came into operation for the first time in January.
This involves logging the names of those players who take part in the last two opening matches to reach a conclusion, with the proviso that such matches have lasted more than 70 minutes.
The three players who end the season with the highest percentage of such loggings per tournament entered -- as long as at least six tournaments have been entered -- will receive penalties of 50, 30 and 10 points respectively.
Now that six tournaments have been contested, there are already seven players who have entered the requisite number of tournaments, so the data is beginning to take shape.
Rather than suddenly dropping in the penalties at the end of the season Director Ian Tarr has decided that they should appear provisionally after the ninth tournament, when a large number of players have entered at least six events.
At the moment, those with the most loggings are Derek Clew and Simonetta Herrera with three apiece, and Phillip Hill, Simon Hughes, Hadi Kermani, Steve Morris and Ian Tarr with two apiece.
10/06/11: Roland can ensure double rollover ......
For whatever reason Roland Herrera didn't invest in the Winner Takes All pool, which carried a mere £30 rollover from May's tournament.
In fact only six of last night's sixteen contestants bothered to do so.
Simon Hughes was one of those, so when the final is played the neutrals will be rooting for Roland to ensure a £90 rollover for the July event.
Meanwhile, the final winner will qualify for the 2012 Bristol Masters and will become the fourth recipient of the Sarah Rosich Memorial Cup.
10/06/11: Derek goes top ......
Derek Clew and Tim Line drew blanks in the tournament, so found the time to fight out a top of the table Premier One clash.
Derek came out the winner 11-9, for his fifth successive league victory, and goes to the top of the league for the first time.
06/06/11: Ian extends Summer Grand Prix lead
Monday's session at the BCSC saw eight players contesting the latest phase of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix, a Tric Trac Tourno, while two others played out a league double header, and two more played friendly matches.
After the main event, there was also a chouette.
In the Tric Trac Tourno Ian Preston came out on top, his backgammon plus two gammons being sufficient.
Ian's lead in the SGP thus increased to over 50 points, while Pearl Foster -- in third place overall behind Roland Herrera -- is far ahead of the next best intermediate.
There were welcome competitive debuts for Adrian Foster, Pearl's son, and Dalir, our latest Iranian recruit.
Meanwhile Michael Corbett and Cecilia Sparke got in some Premier Two Blue action, Michael winning the opening encounter 11-3, but losing the second 10-11.
06/06/11: Bristol participating in new international venture
A revolutionary and ambitious new project, launched by representatives of three of the world's leading national federations (USA, Denmark and Japan), will see participation by Bristol Backgammon.
The event, provisionally entitled the 1st International Backgammon Championship, consists of many nations providing up to four qualifiers for an online tournament, which will last for approximately three months.
The idea is that entry for live national qualifiers will be relatively cheap, but each qualifier will win a seat valued at 1,000 Euros for the online tournament, where the prize money will be large to say the least.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr yesterday had his draft proposal for a Bristol qualifier approved by Masayuki Mochizuki, one of the three drivers of the event.
Final plans for the Bristol event will be released shortly, but this will consist of a one day weekend tournament in August or early September, fed by at least two Thursday satellite events.
05/06/11: Julian is English Open champion
A field of just 22 contested the BIBA English Open at Hinckley this weekend.
And Julian Fetterlein took the title, defeating Marc Turner in the final.
Following his well publicised string of high profile second places late last year, Julian has made frequent visits to BIBA this year, with two title wins and two more second places to show for his efforts.
03/06/11: Mike tops Red Division
Mike Smith took a trip over to Bath for a double header against Andrew Cobb yesterday afternoon.
The Rose and Crown, Larkhall, was the venue, and a double success for Mike moved him to the top of the Premier Two Red table, ahead of Neil Young, who has played three matches fewer.
03/06/11: Pearl wins her first Handicap tournament
The BCSC welcomed Steve and Juanita Ferrer back to competition for the first time since October 2009.
And it was an evening where those with the most beneficial handicaps really made them count.
The third of this year's series of six Handicap Trophy tournaments saw thirteen players competing and, unusually, it was the two with the largest handicaps that made the final.
Pearl Foster and Hadi Kermani have both cut their competitive teeth mostly in Monday competition, but their most recent Thursday excursion suggested that they have what it takes to be competitive in the hurly burly of Thursday events, too.
Pearl, with a 4 handicap, made the most of a three points start over Steve Ferrer, a four points start over Simonetta Herrera, and a two points start over Cynthia Roberts, to reach the main final.
Hadi, whose handicap is currently 3, made it through to the final after receiving a first round bye, edging out Richard Owsley after a single point start, then defeating Roland Herrera from his three points initial advantage.
The final was a close affair, Pearl edging it in the end.
In the consolation flight Derek Clew and Richard made it to the final, but agreed to play it at a later date.
Pearl's 100 points win tally moves her straight up into the bunch of major contenders for the Handicap Trophy.
Ian Preston, despite adding only 15 points to his overall tally, retains the lead, while Derek will overtake him if he defeats Richard.
But with a whole cluster of players within striking distance of the lead, the race is as open as it could be.
01/06/11: Five pick up Premier League penalties
The May 31st Premier League checkpoint passed at midnight, and five Premier Two players have picked up penalties.
In Premier Two Blue Sean Hopson incurred three penalties, Michael Corbett two and Cecilia Sparke one. These can all be clawed back by compliance with the terms of the July 31st checkpoint.
The same applies to Simon Hughes in Premier Two Red, who has incurred two penalty points.
Also in the Red Division, Nick Barham is being treated as a special case.
He is in line for expungement, having failed to record at least seven results.
Nick, however, has been experiencing difficulties with meeting his fixture commitments, but has maintained regular contact with Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr who, having been fully satisfied that Nick is very keen to complete the season, has agreed that there will be no expungement at this time.
Furthermore, those penalties incurred both at March 31st and now -- six in all -- will be rolled up as though initially incurred at this checkpoint, and the situation will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until a satisfactory conclusion can be reached.
30/05/11: Ian wins in Redfield
A Premier One encounter at the Fire Engine, Redfield, this evening saw an 11-6 victory for Ian Tarr over Ed Turner.
26/05/11: Steve takes first monthly grand prix title
The advertised event at the BCSC on Thursday was the first of this year's Clock Blitz Grand Prix evenings.
But there was also a variety of other activity on view, with matches from all three Premier League divisions, the completion of the May Grand Prix tournament final, and some friendlies.
The grand prix final, previously adjourned with Steve Morris holding an 8-4 lead over Simon Hughes, finished with the four point margin maintained, and Steve celebrating his first ever monthly grand prix title win.
Meanwhile Derek Clew was taking the post Crawford game from Monday's adjourned Premier One match with Richard Holness, clinching an 11-9 win that had looked extremely unlikely when he trailed 0-9.
It puts him in the midst of the cluster of four players at the top of the league with 24 points apiece.
Richard Owsley and Simon Temme played out a Premier Two Blue double header, and each was rewarded with an 11-8 win.
Simon moves into second place in the lead to give himself his best chance yet of making the top flight.
And in Premier Two Red Chas Perry edged out Steve Morris 11-10.
Seven players contested a clock blitz round robin, and the pot was shared by Simon Hughes and Gaz Owen, who each won five of their six encounters, and share the initial CBGP lead.
25/05/11: Phil gets much needed win
The Foresters, Downend, played host to a Premier One match this evening.
Phil Charlton scored a much needed victory, edging home 11-10 against Ian Tarr.
24/05/11: Simon wins in Redland
In a Premier Two Red match at the Kensington Arms, Redland, this evening Simon Baker defeated Steve Morris 11-5.
23/05/11: Stuart tops Premier League
With his fourth win in five days Stuart Mann has moved into pole position in Premier One.
Gaz Owen's lead of just three days was eclipsed when Stuart defeated Blaine Buchanan 11-1 at the Cornubia.
Meanwhile, back at the BCSC, an intended double header didn't quite come to fruition when Derek Clew and Richard Holness's second match had to be adjourned at chucking out time, with the score tantalisingly poised at 10-9 in Derek's favour.
This represented a dramatic comeback for Derek, who was trailing 0-9 after winning the initial encounter 11-5.
There was a Premier Two Red double header at the Mouse, Westbury-on-Trym.
Here Jamie Nevill scored an impressive double success against Simon Baker -- 11-9 and 11-0 the winning scores.
The central event at the BCSC was a 3-point round robin, contested by just six players.
If the turnout was a little low, the compensation was a debut performance by Pat Meek, who acquitted herself well with two wins out of five against a set of more experienced opponents.
This event was won by Ian Preston, whose final win over Ian Tarr avoided a three way tie with Ian and Cynthia Roberts.
Ian P now leads the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix by 38.5 points from the absent Pearl Foster, with Ian Tarr, Cynthia and Roland Herrera in hot pursuit.
20/05/11: Gaz goes top, but Richard ends his run; James wins
The Cider House in Surrey Street was the venue this afternoon for a Premier One double header.
Gaz Owen defeated Richard Holness 11-2 in the first encounter, but his run of five successive league wins was halted when Richard won the return 11-10.
Ironically it was this second result which elevated Gaz to the top of the league, as the completion of his twelfth match saw him clawing back the penalty point incurred in March.
Later at the Wessex Flyer, Hengrove Way, James Lintell-Smith scored an 11-9 Premier Two Blue win over Sean Hopson.
20/05/11: MAY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Eighteen players were in Premier League action on the May league night, twelve of them at the BCSC, and six at various other locations.
20/05/11: A night of big Premier One winners and losers ......
An early evening 11-10 win for Gaz Owen over Blaine Buchanan at Gaz's home preceded a sessions of stark Premier One contrasts at the BCSC.
There were seven matches played, and at the end of the evening there were three big winners and three big losers.
Star of the show was Stuart Mann, who scored two lightning quick wins over Dave Pym before edging a tense, DMP, final-roll-of-the-dice encounter with Ian Tarr.
Stuart's uncharacteristically average league record now assumes a more familiar look.
Derek Clew and Steffen Nowak were double winners, Derek beating Dave and Ian, while Steffen inflicted a pair of defeats on Ed Turner.
Tim Line still leads the table, but of those with matches in hand, the best win percentages belong to Gaz and Stuart.
At the foot of the league, Ed will now require one of his traditional spectacular revivals, while Phil Charlton is in need of something similar.
20/05/11: Richard at the double ......
The Richard Biddle Premier Two Red road show ended up at the Fire Engine, Redfield, last night.
Chas Perry's home territory did not, apparently, prove to be an advantage, as Richard scored a brace of wins to emphasise that he is a major contender for elevation to Premier One.
The top two were also in action, with leader Neil Young suffering a rare defeat at the hands of Steve Morris, and Mike Smith sharing the spoils of a double header with Simon Baker at the Lansdown, Clifton.
20/05/11: Lewis and Malcolm closer to contention ......
There were just two Premier Two Blue matches played on Thursday.
And the winners, Lewis Young and Malcolm Patterson, moved into third and fourth places respectively, with Lewis also clawing back his penalty points from the March checkpoint.
19/05/11: Third win in two days for Blaine
Blaine Buchanan has transformed his Premier One season with three wins in two days.
His 11-10 defeat of Phil Charlton at the Bocabar last night has moved him into the top half of the table.
18/05/11: One apiece for Jamie and Alan
Jamie Nevill and Alan Parfitt fought out a Premier Two Red double header at the Three Tuns, St Georges Road, this evening.
And after Jamie bagged an 11-0 whitewash win Alan struck back with an 11-9 success of his own.
17/05/11: Double success for Blaine at the Cornubia; honours even in Redland
Blaine Buchanan and Ed Turner fought out a Premier One double header at the Cornubia this evening.
And it was Blaine who won both matches, by margins of 11-8 and 11-6, to haul himself out of the bottom four.
The first match was Blaine's hundredth career Premier League victory, making him the fifth player to reach that landmark.
Meanwhile there were also one and a half matches at the Kensington Arms, Redland.
Steve Morris and Andrew Cobb continued their adjourned Premier Two Red match, and the 4-4 scoreline turned into an 11-4 win for Steve.
Andrew got some revenge later when he won the return encounter 11-6.
16/05/11: Roland wins DMP Tourno
The Monday Club event was attended by just eight players, seven contesting the DMP Tourno, and another arriving later to play some friendly games.
The DMP Tourno saw Roland Herrera grab the money, edging home ahead of Pearl Foster and Neil Young.
Pearl extends her overall lead in the Summer Grand Prix table, as well as being top intermediate.
Ian Tarr now shares second place with Neil.
There was further action when last week's impromptu 3-point round robin was completed, with Hadi Kermani losing to Manesh and thus missing out on the prize money, which went to Ian.
With plenty of time remaining, a five player DMP Tourno followed, with Ian again taking the pot.
16/05/11: Two venues, two wins for Gaz
The King William Ale House was the venue this afternoon when Ed Turner met Gaz Owen for a Premier One match -- Gaz winning 11-5.
He then moved on to the Graze Bar, where Miles Farren ran him a tad closer, losing 9-11.
Gaz is closing on the leaders.
15/05/11: Julian runner-up in BIBA Swiss Format event
BIBA's County Cups Trophy event on May 7th and 8th produced another fine performance from Julian Fetterlein.
Julian won five of his six matches to finish as runner-up.
The crucial match was his fifth, which he lost to eventual winner Julian Minwalla, who also pipped Julian F to the British Open title last month.
12/05/11: MAY GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT NEWS ......
A convenient sixteen players toed the start line for the May Bristol Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC.
12/05/11: Steve and Simon sample heady heights of rare grand prix success ......
On a night when the form book appeared to have been thrown out of the window, Steve Morris and Simon Hughes made it through to the fifth Bristol Grand Prix final of the year, and were forced by time constraints to adjourn with Steve 8-4 ahead in the first-to-11 points match.
It was Simon's first such final in no fewer than 38 attempts, while Steve at least had the experience of a single final appearance -- in January 2009 -- to fall back on from his 62 attempts.
Simon's conquests en route to the final were Neil Young, Shadow Hamilton and Phillip Hill, while Steve was eclipsing Hadi Kermani, Tim Line and Miles Farren.
12/05/11: Steffen wins consolation ......
Steffen Nowak was the winner of Thursday's consolation flight, defeating Cynthia Roberts and Roland Herrera before his final victory over Neil Young.
12/05/11: Ian still leads OGP despite poor evening ......
The OGP table is still headed by Ian Tarr despite him adding only 15 points to his tally on the evening.
Absences and similar failures were the story for most of the others high in the table, with Miles Farren's 40 points the best of the top thirteen.
So the evening's big scorers had a real chance to make an impression, none more so than Steve Morris, who can rise to fourth place by winning the adjourned final. Similarly a win for Simon Hughes would move him up to fifth.
12/05/11: Shadow enters IGP race ......
Bahman Salahshour and Mandy Macdonald remain first and second in the IGP table despite their absences last night, so there was an opportunity for others to make up some ground.
The only two intermediates present were Hadi Kermani, who drew a blank, and Shadow Hamilton, who announced herself as a contender in her first grand prix outing of the year by eliminating Steffen Nowak in the first round of the main flight, picking up 20 bonus points in the process.
12/05/11: Tim edges further ahead in league title race ......
The top two players in Premier One -- Tim Line and Simonetta Herrera -- had time to get in a league match after their respective quarter-final eliminations in the tournament main flight.
And after a couple of double gammons against her Simonetta never recovered, suffering a 2-11 reverse.
Tim edges three points ahead in the championship race, while Simonetta slips to third on average points difference behind Dave Pym.
12/05/11: Winner Takes All pool takes a hit ......
Is the Winner Takes All pool going out of fashion?
Just three of the sixteen contestants took the plunge, and all were eliminated before the semi-finals, so there will be a rollover at next month's tournament.
Unfortunately the prospect of a mere £30 extra in the kitty would appear unlikely to inspire massive investment.
Meanwhile, in the race to qualify for the 2012 Bristol Masters, the eventual winner of Thursday's tournament will have to wait a while to find out whether or not he has qualified.
There is no tie break to decide whether he or February winner Jamie Nevill qualifies, as both events had a mere 16 entrants, so the best solution would be if there were to be a double qualifier at some stage of the remainder of the year, enabling both to qualify.
12/05/11: Phil's recovery gathers pace
Phil Charlton appears to be putting his longest ever losing league sequence well and truly behind him.
At the Cornubia yesterday evening he defeated Stuart Mann 11-9 to haul himself off the bottom of the Premier One league table at Ed Turner's expense.
11/05/11: Conference up and running ...... thirteen days ago!
With this year's Bristol Conference League breaking all records when it comes to inertia, the long awaited first result should have been greeted with a joyous fanfare.
But news of that ground breaking occurrence has only surfaced now, thirteen days after the event!
Pearl Foster and Mandy Macdonald were there at the last league night, slugging it out for the right to be the competition's first leader of the season.
Unfortunately nobody took the easy route to confirming the result by filling in the sheet provided for that very purpose, and it only dawned on Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr after a chance conversation on Monday evening that the momentous event had actually occurred.
The delay only compounded the problem, as it took a while for the protagonists to figure out what the actual margin of Mandy's victory had been. 11-8 appears to be the agreed result.
Ian had been absent from the league night, and it is surely no coincidence that this oversight, plus one other in Premier Two which was only reported by email the following day, occurred.
Ian, who retains his faith in the format of the Conference, is hoping to be present at the next league night......
10/05/11: Honours almost even at the Graze Bar
Miles Farren and Ian Tarr fought out a Premier One double header at the Graze Bar this evening, and with one win apiece honours were almost even.
Ian grabbed the first win 11-8, after Miles had led for most of the match, but the tables were turned when Ian's advantage evaporated in the second, Miles winning 11-7.
09/05/11: Gaz scores home win over Derek
Gaz Owen played host to Derek Clew in a Premier One encounter this evening, and scored an emphatic 11-2 victory to haul himself out of the bottom four -- ironically at Derek's expense.
09/05/11: Pearl is early Summer pace setter
This year's Monday Club Summer Grand Prix kicked off with a couple of Nackgammon Tournos, contested by a total of nine players.
Pearl Foster came out on top of the larger group, while Ian Tarr won the smaller one.
Pearl is thus the early pace setter both in the overall table and as leading intermediate.
There was also an unofficial 3-point round robin in the latter part of the evening, but with a couple of matches still to go at close of play, the outcome of this will have to be decided later.
07/05/11: News of Malcolm's win emerges
One result which went unnoticed on Thursday -- and this can happen if nobody bothers to report the occurrence at the time -- was Malcolm Patterson's 11-0 Premier Two Blue whitewash of Lewis Young.
This happened before Lewis's other league defeat by Paul Watts, and was the tail end of a match previously adjourned at 8-0.
So all in all it wasn't a great night for Lewis's promotion aspirations.
06/05/11: Neil wins clock tournament
There were sixteen players in action on the evening of the third of this year's Clock Tournament Grand Prix events.
Eleven were in the main event, while others got in some league matches.
Neil Young was the winner of the clock main flight, defeating Richard Owsley, Stuart Mann and Simonetta Herrera, before overcoming Ian Tarr 7-4 in the final, thus ensuring a tiny Winner Takes All pool rollover of £20 to the July tournament.
Steffen Nowak won the consolation flight, beating Miles Farren in the final.
Ian's tally of 50 points was enough to extend his CTGP lead over Simonetta and Stuart to 30 points, with Neil -- whose first tournament of the series this was -- just behind in fourth place.
In Premier One action at the Foresters, Downend, were Derek Clew and Phil Charlton, and it was Phil who won 11-8, a much needed victory which brought to an end his worst ever sequence of league defeats.
Meanwhile, back at the BCSC, Paul Watts was consolidating his Premier Two Blue leadership with an 11-4 win over one of his most dangerous challengers, Lewis Young, while Andrew Cobb and Steve Morris adjourned a Premier Two Red match at 4-4 to enable Steve's tournament participation.
29/04/11: APRIL LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Just twelve players were in league action on the monthly league night, although a handful of others played some chouette.
29/04/11: Tim back on top despite absence ......
The lion's share of the evening's league action was in the top flight, with three double headers played out at the BCSC.
League leader Simonetta Herrera was defeated twice by Derek Clew, whose credentials as a real title contender seem genuine.
Simonetta's average points difference was damaged to the extent that she has slipped to second place in the league table behind Tim Line, who did not feature in the evening's action.
Another double was scored by Richard Holness, who secured tight victories over Phil Charlton.
The other double header also featured close matches, but Miles Farren and Steffen Nowak at least managed a win apiece.
29/04/11: Another win for Mike ......
The evening's Premier Two Red action all took place away from the environs of the BCSC.
Mike Smith continued his impressive return to the league with a victory over Steve Morris at The Farm, St Werburghs, consolidating his second place in the league table.
And there was a double header at the Knights Templar, where Nick Barham and Richard Biddle shared the spoils, Richard edging up to third in the league.
29/04/11: James wins the night's only Blue Division match ......
There was only one Premier Two Blue match played last night, and James Lintell-Smith scored a much needed win at the expense of Richard Owsley.
25/04/11: No Bristol Open this year
Co-Directors of the Bristol Open, Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr have reluctantly announced that the event will not take place this year.
Citing a combination of factors in making their decision, they apologise to those who were looking forward to participating, but are hopeful that the event will be back in 2012.
23/04/11: Lewis tops doubles table
The beckoning Easter weekend may have partly accounted for the lowest ever turnout for a Bristol Consulting Doubles Grand Prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
There were just nine willing participants, so Director Ian Tarr sat out the event, and later played friendly matches with Manesh, whose work commitments always preclude an arrival in time for the tournament.
Four others were at the club for Premier Two Blue double headers, though.
In the tournament we had the unlikely scenario where three of the four pairs would get money back, albeit only a half entry fee in the case of the consolation winners.
The main flight semis saw Roland Herrera and Bahman Salahshour defeating the father/son combo of Neil and Lewis Young, while a double gammon start was all Simonetta Herrera and Pearl Foster could manage as Steve Morris and Hadi Kermani beat them to the five points mark.
Roland and Bahman won the final, while Neil and Lewis won the consolation final.
Lewis, who had been partnered by Stuart Mann at the January event, now leads the CDGP table, just five points ahead of Roland.
In the league action both double headers saw honours even, precisely so in the case of Michael Corbett and Richard Owsley with 11-5 scorelines, the initial match marking the end of Michael's disastrous early season run of defeats.
Cynthia Roberts won by the same score in her opener against Malcolm Patterson but Malcolm won the return 11-9.
20/04/11: Simonetta tops Premier One
Simonetta Herrera defeated Phil Charlton 11-7 at Kellaway Avenue yesterday evening to go top of the Premier One league table.
The 2009 champion is now on a five match winning league sequence, as is the reigning champion Dave Pym, who sits in third place, just behind Simonetta and Tim Line on average points difference.
19/04/11: Simon goes third
The Hen and Chicken, Bedminster, was the venue this evening for a Premier Two Blue meeting between Simon Temme and James Lintell-Smith.
Simon prevailed 11-8, and moves into third place in the table.
18/04/11: Roland edges domestic battle
The April monthly grand prix tournament main flight final, between Roland and Simonetta Herrera took place at their Kellaway Avenue home early this evening.
Simonetta clawed her way back from a 2-9 deficit, but ended up the loser at DMP.
Roland thus moves into second place in the OGP table, and ensures that he has qualified for the 2012 Bristol Masters.
The pair then moved on to the BCSC, where the final session of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix took place.
They were among eleven players present for the scheduled 3-point round robins.
And with four players still in with a shout for the SGP title, the eleven were split into two groups, one of six, the other of five.
Three of the title hopefuls -- Jamie Nevill, Lotte Ryan and Roland Herrera -- were drawn into the same group, knowing that someone would need to score heavily to threaten leader Ian Tarr, who was in the other group.
Disappointingly, from the viewpoint of those who enjoy tense close finishes, Ian was to win all five of his matches to take both his group and the SGP title.
The other group featured a three way tie for the money, with Jamie, Roland and Pearl Foster each winning three out of four matches.
Lotte was unsuccessful on the night, being pushed down into fourth place overall, but she already knew she had taken the top intermediate prize.
17/04/11: Simon makes a move
Simon Temme declared himself very much a part of the promotion race from Premier Two Blue this evening.
His double header with Cecilia Sparke at the Windmill finished with two emphatic wins by Simon, who has now won five of his seven matches thus far, a record that Cecilia boasted before this meeting.
Simon won 11-0 and 11-4.
14/04/11: APRIL GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
The April monthly grand prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday was used as a vehicle for a fundraiser for the Japanese Tsunami Appeal on the occasion of Michihito Kageyama's latest visit to Bristol.
Eighteen players turned out to contest the event, and two of them took the opportunity to play a Premier One match after their tournament elimination.
14/04/11: Michi pleased at an all Herrera final ......
Michihito Kageyama was pleased to see it as symbolic that his good friends Roland and Simonetta Herrera made it to the monthly grand prix tournament main flight final on the occasion of the fundraising effort on behalf of the Japanese Tsunami victims.
No doubt he would have preferred to get there himself, but that possibility disappeared at the first hurdle when Thursday debutant Hadi Kermani collected the prize scalp.
Simonetta arrived at the final with three DMP victories -- over Miles Farren, Derek Clew and Ian Tarr, while Roland fought his way past Steffen Nowak, Bahman Salahshour and Jerry Limb.
There was no rush to play the final -- they can do it any time they like in the comfort of their own home, and this will happen over the next couple of days.
14/04/11: Mandy wins the consolation flight ......
Mandy Macdonald completed her most noteworthy backgammon achievement to date with a late night consolation flight final victory over World Backgammon Giant #9, Michihito Kageyama.
Mandy had beaten Steffen Nowak and Miles Farren en route to the final, while Michi was defeating Chas Perry and Phillip Hill.
14/04/11: Ian takes advantage of absences ......
Three of the top four players in the OGP table were absent from the April event, leaving themselves vulnerable to their pursuers.
Ian Tarr's run to the main flight semi-finals via the long part of the draw yielded him enough points to assume pole position at the expense of previous leader Stuart Mann.
Roland Herrera can move into second place from fourth with a final win, while a win for his wife Simonetta Herrera would convert her seventh place to third.
14/04/11: Mandy pushing Bahman in IGP ......
IGP leader Bahman Salahshour netted 35 IGP points at Thursday's tournament, but his lead is threatened by Mandy Macdonald, whose season's grand prix debut appearance netted her 100 points, leaving her just 15 adrift.
Her victories over two Premier One players and a current World Backgammon Giant contributed 60 bonus points to her tally.
Hadi Kermani also netted 45 points on his Thursday debut.
14/04/11: Herreras to scoop pool ......
The special Japanese Tsunami pool contributed £90 to the cause, leaving the other £90 to be competed for by finalists Roland Herrera and Simonetta Herrera.
And there were further donations from players present and absent which brought the total raised to an excellent £180!
Meanwhile the winner of the final, when it is played, will be guaranteed a place in the 2012 Bristol Masters.
14/04/11: Tim edges back to Premier One lead ......
Tim Line and Steffen Nowak each drew a blank in the Thursday tournament, so it made sense to play a Premier One match.
It ended 11-10 to Tim, whose points difference is superior to that of Dave Pym despite having played two more matches.
So Tim regains the lead he held earlier in the season.
11/04/11: Paul scores important win
Paul Watts consolidated his position as leader of Premier Two Blue at the BCSC this evening when he defeated close pursuer Lewis Young 11-8.
Meanwhile the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix saw Lotte Ryan once again picking up the prize money, pipping Jamie Nevill on countback in the eight player Tric Trac Tourno.
With just next weeks 3-point round robins to go, Lotte has already comfortably clinched the "Top Intermediate" prize, and cannot be ruled out of contention for the main prize, where Ian Tarr's lead over second placed Jamie was cut to just under 15 points, with Lotte now in third place after overhauling Roland Herrera.
With discards biting at this stage of the proceedings, Jamie, Lotte and Roland will be looking for round robin victories next Monday, or something very close, if they are to pip Ian for the title.
11/04/11: Julian a runner-up again
Julian Fetterlein's recent run of major final disappointments continued at Hinckley at the weekend.
The BIBA website records that Julian Minwalla took the UK title at the weekend, although the full report has not appeared at the time of writing.
10/04/11: Julian in British Open final; Stuart scores league win in Hinckley
Julian Fetterlein has reached another major final.
This afternoon he faces Julian Minwalla in the final match of the BIBA British Open in Hinckley.
Stuart Mann, Jerry Limb and Tim Line all failed to survive Saturday's play in the main flight, but Tim and Stuart spent part of Saturday evening fighting out a Premier One match.
Stuart won 11-2 to get his top flight challenge back on track, while Tim -- suffering his third successive league defeat -- has hit a run he needs to reverse.
More news of the Battle of the Julians here when it emerges.
08/04/11: Ian's title defence on track
Fourteen players contested the second of the year's series of six Handicap Trophy tournaments at the BCSC last night.
And it was Ian Preston, last year's Handicap Trophy champion, who emerged from the field with the victory and 100 points, which moves him into pole position.
Ian defeated Simonetta Herrera, Eamonn Reay and Richard Owsley before his final win over Ian Tarr, whose victims had been Steffen Nowak, Cynthia Roberts and Roland Herrera.
Simonetta was the winner of the consolation flight, beating Steve Morris and Lewis Young before despatching Derek Clew in the final.
Ian Preston's tally of 110 points sees him just ahead of a chasing pack of four players who are all within 30 points of him.
The evening's only league action saw Lewis edging home 11-9 over James Lintell-Smith in a Premier Two Blue encounter, moving him into fourth place.
05/04/11: Sundry Masters statistics
The eleventh incarnation of the Bristol Masters gives us an opportunity to visit some points of interest surrounding the event.
2011 marked the end of Stuart Mann's perfect record of qualification, Stuart having been the only player to qualify by right for each and every one of the first ten events, although by not taking up his place in either 2002 or 2004 he ensured that, so far, he has not made the most Masters appearances.
That accolade goes to Roland Herrera, who this year made his tenth appearance in the competition, having filled in for absentees on three occasions in the early years of the competition.
Roland also holds the longest current sequences both for qualification and participation, having taken up his rightful place in each of the last six incarnations.
This year there were four debut Masters players -- Miles Farren, Richard Holness, James Lintell-Smith and Jamie Nevill.
And perhaps surprisingly Tim Line, who was making his fourth appearance, was there as an original qualifier for the very first time.
And in all, sixty-one different players have qualified over those eleven years, with fifty-seven different players participating.
04/04/11: Derek wins eleventh Masters
The final of the eleventh annual Bristol Masters, between Derek Clew and Steffen Nowak, took place at the BCSC on Monday evening, and it was Derek who triumphed with a 9-2 win.
Derek thus becomes the ninth player to hold the illustrious title -- just the latest step in his inexorable rise through the Bristol Rankings.
There was also league action before the evening's advertised event, a 3-point round robin session as the last but two event in this year's Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
Lewis Young scored an emphatic Premier Two Blue win over Malcolm Patterson, before the tables were almost turned in the return match. This was adjourned with Malcolm 8-0 ahead.
The twelve players contesting the Monday Club event were split into two groups of six.
Ian Tarr won one of these with four wins out of five, while a similar record was only enough for a share of the spoils in the other group -- the beneficiaries being Simonetta Herrera and Lewis.
Ian's 75 points haul on the night catapults him into the SGP lead, a full 25 points ahead of previous leader Jamie Nevill, with third and fourth placed Roland Herrera and top intermediate Lotte Ryan also within striking distance.
01/04/11: BRISTOL MASTERS NIGHT REVIEW ......
On the evening of the eleventh annual Bristol Masters tournament there were twenty-five players in action at a total of four locations.
01/04/11: Steffen and Derek make it to the Masters final ......
Only severe logistical problems stop qualifying players from taking part in the Masters these days -- the only two unable to make it had the formidable excuse of needing to cross several time zones to compete.
But the other fourteen qualifiers and the two happy substitutes all made it to the BCSC as expected for the "tweaked format" version of the event.
To counter the disappointment of last year's event, clocks were in use in the Masters for the first time, and the length of matches was reduced to nine points.
The changes had the desired effect in terms of making an acceptable level of progress.
In a tournament notable, among other things, for the absence of several players who might have been expected to qualify but didn't, there was an air of "anything's possible" as the sixteen contestants got down to business.
First round casualties included 2009 World Championship semi-finalist Roland Herrera, reigning Premier League champion Dave Pym (playing under clock rules for the first time), other current Premier One players Miles Farren and Richard Holness, and the second father and son combo to contest the event, Neil and Lewis Young.
The first father and son team was, of course, Neil and Lewis's younger brother Todd in 2008.
Reigning Masters champion Neil was defeated by Derek Clew while Lewis was a tad unlucky to lose a gripping encounter with Blaine Buchanan.
Blaine and Derek were also quarter final winners in the top half of the draw, Derek coming through the semi.
The other half of the draw saw Steffen Nowak and Richard Owsley come through to the semis, which was particularly good news for Steffen, as he was the only one of the six optional £20 pool entrants to get this far, thus netting himself a tidy profit from the evening even before overcoming Richard.
No date has been set for the final as yet, but it is expected to be very soon.
01/04/11: League round-up ......
Some of those not involved in the main event (and two that were) took the opportunity to catch up on some league action.
Dave Pym and Gaz Owen met for a Premier One encounter at the Three Sugar Loaves before their tournament outing, and Dave's 11-7 win took him to the top of the table.
At the BCSC Simonetta Herrera had a great night, despatching both Ian Tarr and Stuart Mann to move into second place, ensuring that the last two champions occupy the top two positions.
In Premier Two Blue Cynthia Roberts and Ian Preston fought out a double header, Cynthia winning the first, Ian edging home in the second.
In the same division Sean Hopson and Malcolm Patterson completed their adjourned encounter at the Post Office Tavern, another new venue for a Bristol Backgammon match, Malcolm winning 11-6.
Meanwhile Alan Parfitt and Steve Morris were breaking yet more fresh ground with their double header in Premier Two Red.
The White Lion, Frenchay Common, made its Bristol Backgammon debut, playing host to Alan's 11-1 opener and Steve's 11-8 reply.
01/04/11: Penalties for ten at opening checkpoint ......
The first league checkpoint of the season passed at midnight, and ten of the 35 Premier League contestants picked up penalty points for being behind their schedules.
Six of those are in Premier One, where Derek Clew incurred three penalty points, Phil Charlton two, and Gaz Owen, Stuart Mann, Richard Holness and Ed Turner one apiece.
The two parallel divisions in Premier Two each saw two players penalised, Lewis Young with two points and Simon Temme with one in Premier Two Blue, Nick Barham with two Simon Baker one in Premier Two Red.
All ten players can claw back their points by compliance with the May 31st checkpoint.
30/03/11: Home win for Gaz
Gaz Owen this afternoon scored an 11-6 Premier One win over Ian Tarr at Gaz's Kingswood home.
28/03/11: Fourteen in Monday action
There were twelve players in action at the BCSC on Monday evening, and two more at the Westbury Park Tavern.
At our number one venue ten players contested the Monday Club DMP Tourno, while Michael Corbett and Paul Watts played out a Premier Two Blue double header.
And it was Paul who emerged with a double success to push Cecilia Sparke down into second place, and to leave Michael wondering where his first win of the season will come from.
Another Blue Division double header was attempted at the Westbury Park Tavern, where Sean Hopson continued with his solid start to the season, defeating Malcolm Patterson 11-9.
The return encounter, however, was adjourned with Malcolm 8-5 ahead.
Back at the BCSC Lotte Ryan stormed to success in the DMP Tourno, winning eight of her nine games.
As well as extending her lead as top intermediate, Lotte has moved herself into contention for the overall Spring Grand Prix title, where she is fourth, behind leader Jamie Nevill, Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr.
25/03/11: MARCH LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
There were twenty-two players in competitive action at various venues on league night, plus four others in attendance.
Nineteen Premier League matches were completed, as well as the outstanding final from Lesters LXXVIII.
And the good news for Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr is that expungement will not be a factor when the first checkpoint of the league season comes next week.
25/03/11: Stuart takes March Lesters title ......
Stuart Mann and Julian Fetterlein played out the final of the seventy-eighth Lesters Trophy tournament at the BCSC last night.
And it was Stuart who triumphed 11-6.
Aside from the pecuniary benefits of winning, Stuart has wrested the OGP lead from Dave Ablett, and qualified for the 2012 Bristol Masters at a time when his failure to qualify for the 2011 event next Thursday will have been in the forefront of his mind.
Stuart had also bought himself in the auction, so maximised his prize winning potential, while Steve Morris, who purchased Julian, will have been a tad disappointed at the outcome.
25/03/11: Dave's title defence gathers momentum ......
Dave Pym would be the first to admit that his Premier One title win last year was not the most expected outcome.
But having got a taste for life at the sharp end of our elite competition, Dave last night served notice that he will not relinquish his hard earned title without a fight.
Three close matches -- a double header with Blaine Buchanan was followed by a meeting with Derek Clew -- were negotiated by Dave, and he came through each with a narrow win to move level on points, if not points difference, with leader Tim Line.
And the evening's seven Premier One matches finished with just three players adding to their wins tally.
Simonetta Herrera defeated Phil Charlton and Richard Holness, while Steffen Nowak's victims were Richard and a possibly Lesters-lagged Stuart Mann.
25/03/11: Paul the main mover in Blue Division ......
Six Premier Two Blue results, involving seven players, saw only one two time winner on the night.
Paul Watts defeated Ian Preston and leader Cecilia Sparke to leap seven places and into contention near the top.
Ian and Cecilia were among the evening's other winners, along with Richard Owsley and Cynthia Roberts, who shared the spoils of a double header.
25/03/11: Steve turning his season around ......
Steve Morris has gone a long way towards recovering from his disappointing start to the season in Premier Two Red.
Having lost five of his first six matches, Steve stopped the rot earlier in the month a with a win over Simon Baker, and last night came out on top of a double header with Nick Barham, whose return to league action this season has not gone the way he would have wished thus far.
Two further double headers occurred away from the environs of the BCSC.
Just up the road at Colston Yard Alan Parfitt and Chas Perry scored a win apiece, as did Mike Smith and Richard Biddle at the Wellington.
Neil Young, who didn't play yesterday, is the man to catch in this division.
23/03/11: Premier One win for Gaz; Alan and Andrew share spoils
The Spotted Cow, Bedminster, was the venue for a Premier One match this afternoon.
Gaz Owen was the victor over Blaine Buchanan by 11-8.
And later, in a Premier Two Red encounter at Colston Yard, Alan Parfitt and Andrew Cobb grabbed a win apiece -- 11-2 to Alan, 11-4 to Andrew.
21/03/11: Twelve in Monday night action
There were twelve players in various forms of Monday evening action, including eight at the BCSC, where six players contested a SuperNackgammon Tourno as the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
This was won by Simon Temme, who won all five of his games, including a gammon and a backgammon.
Jamie Nevill scored 47.5 points to move back ahead of Roland Herrera into the SGP lead.
Premier Two Blue pace setter Cecilia Sparke was also at the BCSC, suffering her first league defeat of the season, 6-11 at the hands of Malcolm Patterson.
Four Premier One players were playing elsewhere.
A double header at the Graze Bar, Queen Square, saw an 11-2 win for Blaine Buchanan over Miles Farren, Miles striking back with an 11-9 victory of his own.
Meanwhile at the Merchants Arms, Eastville, Derek Clew was beating Ed Turner 11-8.
18/03/11: Derek registers first top flight win
Derek Clew scored his first win in Premier One, defeating Phil Charlton 11-10 at the Foresters, Downend, last night.
17/03/11: Simonetta's title defence starts well
There were thirteen players in action at the BCSC on Thursday, seven in the first of the year's Nackgammon Grand Prix tournaments, four playing league matches, and two late arrivals contesting a hastily thrown together three point round robin.
Simonetta Herrera won last year's inaugural NGP title, and started her title defence well by winning the tournament, defeating Steffen Nowak, Cynthia Roberts and Steve Morris in the process.
Roland Herrera defeated Jamie Nevill in the consolation final.
The league action centred around Premier Two Blue, as Cecilia Sparke continued her 100% start to the season with an 11-7 win over Richard Owsley.
Meanwhile Ian Preston and Sean Hopson fought out a double header -- Sean winning the first match 11-6, Ian taking the return 11-3.
Bahman Salahshour and Manesh arrived mid evening, and contested a four player three points round robin with the first two players eliminated from the NGP event, Ian Tarr and Steffen. Ian took this with a clean sweep of wins.
15/03/11: No Anna and Michi, but good news for Simon and Richard
The eleventh Bristol Masters tournament is just over two weeks away, and it's time to firm up the sixteen player start list.
A place in the starting line-up is much cherished amongst the Bristol Backgammon community, and it's not unheard of that all of the sixteen qualifiers actually turn up for the event.
This year, however, two players have decliend to enter, but their reasons are more than understandable.
February and August Grand Prix winners Michihito Kageyama and Anna Mielech will not be coming, but then round trips from Japan and Poland are difficult to justify, even for a one evening event which we hold in high regard!
Their absence, though, has provided the opportunity for Simon Hughes and Richard Owsley to take their places.
15/03/11: Chas and Simon share league honours; Roland wins round robin
A Premier Two Red double header at the Albion, Clifton, today saw honours even when Chas Perry defeated Simon Baker 11-8, only to lose the return 4-11.
And Chas then moved on to contest the three point round robin at the Monday Club session at the BCSC.
Roland Herrera came out on top of that competition, winning four of his five matches.
His 75 points tally was enough to move him just ahead of Jamie Nevill in the Spring Grand Prix table.
13/03/11: St Albans win inaugural UK Clubs Championship
The UK Clubs Championship should be a permanent fixture in the UK backgammon calendar.
That's the inescapable conclusion after a very enjoyable day's backgammon at the Coventry and West Warwickshire Cricket Club today.
Sixteen teams of five players turned up at the excellent venue, and organiser Phil Tutchings and his team should be immensely satisfied with the smoothness of the proceedings.
Teams were spread over five distinct sixteen player tournaments with various flights, which were designed to come up with a finishing order for each tournament.
Points were allocated according to those finishing positions, and the leaderboard was updated.
The Bristol "A" and "B" teams both acquitted themselves well.
The "A" team, comprising five experienced volunteers culled from the top twelve of the Bristol Rankings, started well, with four of the five winning their vital opening match, ensuring top half finishes for them.
But despite winning a total of thirteen of their twenty matches, the absence of any of the team from the five finals, where the big points were available, was the decisive factor in their finishing only fifth of the sixteen teams.
In contrast, the "B" team, which featured one experienced player and four in the development stage of their careers -- only two of the team feature in the current Bristol top 60 -- fared particularly well, finishing in eleventh place overall.
The final (unofficial) positions and points tallies (the official results are likely to appear on the BFCE website) were:
1st ST ALBANS 86 pts.
2nd Team UK 83
3rd= Backgammon in London 68
3rd= Birmingham "A" 68
5th BRISTOL "A" 66
6th Rugby 60
7th Birmingham "B" 55
8th Liverpool 54
9th Manchester "A" 46
10th Huddersfield 42
11th BRISTOL "B" 39
12th= Coventry "B" 36
12th= Manchester "B" 36
14th Nottingham 35
15th= Coventry "A" 33
16th= North Norfolk 33
11/03/11: All set for the UK Clubs Championship in Coventry
The inaugural UK Clubs Championship takes place in Coventry this Sunday, and Bristol will be well represented.
Eleven different UK backgammon centres have teams of five players competing, and Bristol is among four groups fielding two teams. A sixteenth team, made up from unattached or spare players from various locations, plays under the banner "Team UK".
Bristol's "A" Team is selected by means of the highest Bristol Rankings of those players who volunteered, and the "B" Team comprises other volunteers on a first come first served basis.
The format pits one player from each team in a group of sixteen, so there are five groups.
Every player gets four matches, and the results of these determine the finishing order of each player in the group from 1 to 16.
The positions are allocated a number of points, and the team with the highest number of points accumulated by its five players will be UK Clubs Champion.
The draws for the initial rounds of matches have been done, and those of particular interest to us are:
Group A: Miles Farren (Bristol "A") plays Paul Barwick (Huddersfield); Steve Morris (Bristol "B") plays Fak Laight (Birmingham "A"); Ann Pocknell (Team UK) plays Dorothy Lee (Manchester "B");
Group B: Gaz Owen (Bristol "A") plays Monica Beckerson (Backgammon in London); Pearl Foster (Bristol "B") plays Steve Taylor (Liverpool); Jamie Nevill(Team UK) plays Eric Westbrook (Coventry "A");
Group C: Tim Line (Bristol "A") plays Richard Biddle (Backgammon in London); Shadow Hamilton (Bristol "B") plays Gerry Enslin (North Norfolk);
Group D: Ian Tarr (Bristol "A") plays Simon Morecroft (Backgammon in London); James Lintell-Smith (Bristol "B") plays Simon Jones (Liverpool);
Group E: Julian Fetterlein (Bristol "A") plays Maurice Ekpenyong (Manchester "A"); Lotte Ryan (Bristol "B") plays Rhod Farthing (Rugby);
Expect a report of the event here by Monday.
11/03/11: LESTERS LXXVIII REVIEW ......
There were twenty-four players in action at the BCSC on the occasion of the seventy eighth Lesters Trophy tournament.
Twenty toed the tournament starting line, one other was persuaded to buy into the consolation flight for a mere £5, and three players were there purely to get some league matches in.
And two of those in the tournament -- Bahman Salahshour and Manesh -- were making their Thursday debuts, each availing themselves of the £10 assistance from Gaz Owen's sponsorship.
11/03/11: Stuart and Julian to contest Lesters final ......
Stuart Mann and Julian Fetterlein fought their way through a strong field of twenty players to arrive at the final of the seventy-eighth Lesters Trophy tournament at the BCSC last night.
Stuart fought his way past Phillip Hill, Manesh and Derek Clew, while Julian's victims were Steffen Nowak, Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr.
No date has yet been set for the staging of the final, but it must be completed before the April grand prix event.
11/03/11: Dave takes consolation honours ......
Dave Ablett fell at the first hurdle of the main flight, but gained plenty of compensation when he beat Anne Foreman, Steffen Nowak and Richard Owsley, before defeating Simonetta Herrera in the final.
11/03/11: Dave leads OGP ......
With OGP leader Jamie Nevill absent on Thursday, the way was clear for his pursuers to take advantage of the situation.
January tournament winner Dave Ablett was best placed to strike, and the 52 points gained from his consolation flight win were enough to take him into the overall lead.
Ian Tarr's run to the main flight semis gained him a useful 70 points, and he has moved into second place.
Things could all change, though, when the final takes place, as a win for Stuart Mann would be enough to move him to the top.
The other result, though, would see Julian Fetterlein -- in his only OGP appearance this year -- push Stuart out of his current fourth place on countback.
11/03/11: Iranians rescue IGP ......
With all due respect to overnight IGP leader Anne Buchanan, the lack of intermediates in tournament action so far this year has been a greater concern than ever.
Anne turned up for the January event, and her basic 10 points tally was enough to see her at the top, middle and bottom of the IGP table with two events gone.
Last night the cavalry arrived in the form of the Iranian Connection.
Bahman Salahshour is one of five new Iranian players who have recently arrived in our midst, and yesterday he brought along a sixth welcome newcomer, Manesh.
While Bahman looks a very useful player, albeit lacking competitive experience, Manesh had no experience of even using the doubling cube.
It was quite emphatically suggested to him that he might like to sit out the event and watch, to get a feel of how things work.
At Bristol Backgammon we are not in the habit of taking cynical advantage of players new to our environment.
Showing commendable courage and positivity, however, Manesh insisted he would play, and was rewarded with some valuable experience, including a first hurdle victory over Gaz Owen, whose generous sponsorship had paid half of his £20 entry fee!
Manesh fell to Stuart Mann in his next match, but his single win amassed him a tidy reward of 50 IGP points, including 20 bonus points for defeating a current Premier One player.
Meanwhile Bahman was also making his presence felt, with wins over Dave Ablett and Tim Line garnering him a total of 80 points, and the IGP lead, with Manesh in second place.
11/03/11: No WTA rollover; Steve and Stuart to cash in auction ......
The smallest Winner Takes All pool rollover in memory -- just £20 from the February event -- at least attracted a slightly more favourable response with eight players investing this time.
Three of those eight made it to the semis, with only Derek Clew flying the flag for rollover hopefuls.
Stuart Mann put paid to that idea, though, and he and Julian Fetterlein will have that £100 as part of the final equation.
Stuart will also cash in the pre-tournament auction, where he bought himself, while Steve Morris's £10 investment in Julian has proved a good one.
Other rewards for the tournament winner will include a place in the 2012 Bristol Masters, and twelve months tenure of the Samuel Mead Memorial Shield.
11/03/11: League wins for Ian, Steve and Simon ......
There were two and a half Premier Two matches played at the BCSC on Thursday.
Simon Baker and Steve Morris played before the tournament, with Steve scoring a "much needed" (his words not mine) 11-4 Premier Two Red win.
Ian Preston and Simon Temme were slated to play out a Premier Two Blue double header, but after Simon won the opener 11-9, the second match was adjourned at 10-7 (post Crawford) to Ian.
Earlier, in Redfield, Ian Tarr won a Premier One encounter with Tim Line 11-3 to move into second place in the table, behind Tim.
09/03/11: Premier wins for Ian and Chas
There were two Premier League matches played tonight.
At the Foresters, Downend, Ian Tarr defeated Phil Charlton 11-3 in a Premier One match, while at the Wellington Neil Young suffered only his second Premier Two Red defeat of the season, going down 8-11 to Chas Perry.
08/03/11: Mike goes second
A Premier Two Red match took place at the Fire Engine, Redfield, this evening, and an 11-5 victory over Chas Perry was enough to move Mike Smith up to second place in the table.
07/03/11: Ann and Julian win the weekend's big events
The Scope charity tournament at the RAC Club, London, on Sunday saw the sixteen player Masters category won by former Bristol Premier League player and 2008 British Open champion Ann Pocknell.
Ann defeated Edward Leighton and Martin Barkwill to secure an all-Bristol semi-final with Tim Line, who had defeated Sean Williams and Richard Olsen.
Tim was pipped in the semi, leaving Ann to contest the final with 2009 British Open champion Jon Barnes.
Jon opened up a 9-3 lead, which moved to 10-5, but Ann pegged it back to 7-10 and managed a back-game inspired gammon to take the title.
Meanwhile the BIBA "International Championships" at Hinckley -- contested by what looked suspiciously like a domestic field of 21 -- featured just one Bristol player, Julian Fetterlein, and he was the winner, defeating Ginge Fullen in the final.
07/03/11: Ian wins Monday Tric Trac
The Monday Club session centred around an eight player Tric Trac Tourno, with some friendly games played afterwards.
Ian Tarr scored four gammon wins in his seven games to take the pot and close Jamie Nevill's Spring Grand Prix lead to less than 6 points.
04/03/11: Ed moves out of the bottom four
Derek Clew finally got his top flight career under way at the Merchants Arms, Eastville, this evening.
But he was narrowly defeated, 10-11, by Ed Turner, whose second victory in successive days has hauled him clear of the bottom four in the Premier One table.
04/03/11: Stuart wins clock tournament
There were twelve players in action on Thursday evening, just eight in the second of the year's six Clock Grand Prix tournaments, and four playing league matches elsewhere.
It was Stuart Mann who took the honours in the tournament, with wins over Richard Owsley and Steve Morris before his final win over Ian Tarr, who had got past Simon Hughes and James Lintell-Smith.
Miles Farren won the consolation tournament, defeating Richard and Steffen Nowak.
Ian's 50 points haul is enough to edge him into the lead in the CTGP table, just five points ahead of Stuart and Simonetta Herrera who have each played only one of the two tournaments.
Stuart's win was a record seventeenth main flight win in Bristol competitions.
Meanwhile there was Premier One action at the Bay Horse, where Ed Turner bagged his first league win of the season at the expense of Phil Charlton.
And at the Prince of Wales, Westbury on Trym, Sean Hopson finally got his Premier League career under way, and he did it in style with a double over Premier Two Blue leader Cynthia Roberts.
Sean's start means that, of all players in the Premier League's three divisions, every player has played at least two matches, except Derek Clew whose first match of the season is expected imminently.
03/03/11: Chas and Jamie get a win apiece in Henleaze
Yesterday at the Westbury Park Tavern Chas Perry met for a Premier Two Red double header, and they shared the spoils, after Chas's 11-7 win was answered by an 11-6 success for Jamie.
01/03/11: Another win for Neil
Neil Young scored the tenth win of his Premier Two Red season at the Wellington today.
The 11-8 win over Simon Baker extends his lead to 14 points.
28/02/11: Twelve at Monday event
Our three Iranian friends -- Asad, Bahman Salahshour and Hadi Kermani -- who first appeared at the February Grand Prix evening -- made their first competitive appearances at the Monday Club session at the BCSC.
And joining them were two more compatriots -- Heidar and Saman -- who came along later and played some friendly games.
Of the three in the competition, only Hadi took the paying option, which was ironic because both Asad and Bahman would have won cash prizes had they followed Hadi's lead.
There were two groups of five players contesting 3-point round robins, the latest phase of the Spring Grand Prix.
Asad won one group with three wins out of four, but the cash was split three ways -- between Sean Hopson, Jamie Nevill and Cynthia Roberts, who each won twice.
And Lotte Ryan was the beneficiary in the other group, tieing at the top with Bahman -- both winning three times, but only Lotte paying for the privilege.
Jamie's overall SGP lead was slightly extended (it's now nearly 18 points), but Cynthia is now second, ahead of Ian Tarr.
25/02/11: Jerry wins opening Handicap event
Appearing at the BCSC for the first time in over two years, Jerry Limb made the most of his visit.
Jerry, who now spends most of his time in Cornwall, took the honours in the first of this year's six Handicap Trophy tournaments, defeating Ian Tarr, Steve Morris and Derek Clew.
Derek had come through the "long" part of the eleven player draw, beating Ian Preston, Colin Sara and Richard Owsley en route to the final.
Steffen Nowak took the consolation flight, defeating Phillip Hill, Ian Tarr and Simon Temme in the process.
23/02/11: Honours pretty much even at the Three Tuns
The Three Tuns in St Georges Road was the venue for a Premier Two Red Division double header this evening.
Mike Smith took the first match against Jamie Nevill 11-4, but Jamie later struck back to register an 11-5 win of his own.
21/02/11: Fourteen at Monday session
It was good to see a decent Monday turnout at the BCSC this evening, after some pretty quiet Mondays.
There were fourteen players present, including the ten who contested the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix, a DMP Tourno.
And while Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr took time out to give aspiring player Les Nicholls some tuition, Cecilia Sparke and Lewis Young were there for a Premier Two Blue match where something had to give, since both players had been unbeaten before this meeting.
The outcome, then, was a tad unexpected. Instead of a Clash of the Titans, five games all went the same way, and Cecilia marched on to second place with an 11-0 whitewash.
There was later action in the same division, when Cynthia Roberts and Simon Temme had time to complete an 11-4 win for Simon.
The central event yielded a shared pot between Cynthia and Jamie Nevill who each won seven of their nine games.
Jamie takes over at the head of the SGP table, moving 16 points ahead of previous leader Ian, while Cynthia is very close behind in third place.
21/02/11: Fifty-two days in, and Neil reaches half way
Neil Young has wasted no time at all in getting his league season well under way.
This afternoon at the V-Shed (formerly Lloyds No. 1 Bar) he scored a Premier Two Red double over Andrew Cobb, and has completed exactly half of his twenty league fixtures just fifty-two days into the eleven month season.
But quantity has been more than matched by quality as Neil endeavours to regain the the top flight place he lost back in November, and nine victories out of ten give him the ideal platform to achieve his goal.
20/02/11: Tim falls at penultimate hurdle
Tim Line's quest to be the first player to win the BIBA Scottish Open title twice ended in disappointment with a narrow semi-final defeat in Stirling today.
20/02/11: New Blackpool tournament unveiled
There's a new, hopefully annual, tournament on the UK calendar.
John Wright of Liverpool Backgammon Club announces the Blackpool Imperial Cup, to be held between May 20th and 22nd at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool.
The Liverpool club already stages the popular annual Liverpool Open, which has its 16th incarnation at the end of July, so this new departure is to be wholeheartedly welcomed.
Check out our UK Calendar for a rundown on 2011 backgammon activity around the nation.
19/02/11: Sterling show from Tim in Stirling
Stirling is a long way to go for a UK backgammon event, but Tim Line has a particular reason to contest the BIBA Scottish Open this weekend.
Back in 2006 Tim won that title, although in those days the event had moved south of the border after garnering insufficient support when held in its rightful country.
The event fell dormant for a couple of years, before once again being held in Scotland last year, and attracting a close-to-average BIBA crowd of 33 players.
So this year's field of just nineteen will have been a disappointment.
But the news emanating from the event at the Saturday evening break is that the field is now down to the semi-final stage, and Tim is still involved, apparently with three other players who are all named Neil.
More news tomorrow, and the hope is that Tim will become the first player to win this title twice.
18/02/11: FEBRUARY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Twenty league players were up and ready for action in three different locations for the February league night.
One, Colin Sara, got no more than a friendly match with Roland Herrera, as Conference opponents proved less than thin on the ground.
18/02/11: Stuart making a familiar move ......
Eight of the thirteen Premier One contestants were in action, with seven matches being completed.
Leader Tim Line, with nine matches already under his belt, was one of the absentees, but his twelve points lead was only cut to nine.
Making his now customary run towards major contention was Stuart Mann, who won both of his encounters last night to move into second place.
After pipping Ed Turner 11-9 at the Ship, Stuart turned his attention to the BCSC, where he defeated Simonetta Herrera -- already beaten 7-11 by Steffen Nowak -- 11-3.
Miles Farren and reigning champion Dave Pym fought out the tightest of double headers, each winning 11-9, while other victories were recorded by Ian Tarr and Richard Holness.
18/02/11: Lewis in pursuit of leader Cynthia ......
Prime mover in Premier Two Blue last night was Lewis Young, whose victories over Ian Preston and Richard Owsley were the second and third of a perfect start to the season.
Lewis ousts Richard from second place.
Leader Cynthia Roberts suffered her first defeat at the tail end of a double header with Paul Watts, while the evening's other winner -- finishing off an encounter with Paul adjourned from Monday -- was Malcolm Patterson.
18/02/11: Richard wins three out of four ......
Richard Biddle has not been seen at the BCSC yet this season, but his trips from Buckinghamshire have been well targetted.
His latest visit saw him play two Premier Two Red double headers at the Wellington, sharing the spoils with leader Neil Young -- thus inflicting Neil's first league defeat of the season -- and scoring a double success against Steve Morris.
Richard moves into third place, behind Neil and Simon Hughes, whose own double header with Alan Parfitt at the BCSC resulted in a win apiece.
18/02/11: Conference slow start not yet a record ......
The fact that no results have yet been recorded in this season's Conference has prompted a look at the record books.
More than half way through February, it is surely unprecedented that there has been such a slow start to the season?
Surprisingly not.
In 2009, which was the least active season on record for this competition, it was not until February 26th that the first result was on the board.
That record is, of course, now under threat, but nobody should blame Colin Sara, who turned up last night more in hope than expectation.
As the only Conference player present he was, however, living proof that league matches that take place these days are usually pre-arranged, and seldom impromptu.
14/02/11: Cynthia tops Premier Two Blue
There were almost three Premier Two Blue matches played at the BCSC tonight.
Paul Watts and Malcolm Patterson planned to play out a double header, with Paul winning the first encounter 11-6. The return match was adjourned, however, with Malcolm 10-7 ahead.
But in the meantime James Lintell-Smith and Cynthia Roberts, fresh from the Monday Club session, also had time to play an 11-10 match, which Cynthia won to go top of the league table.
The central event of the evening was a Nackgammon Tourno contested by just five players.
Ian Tarr took the honours in that one to oust Pearl Foster from the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix leadership.
14/02/11: Awards night photos now online
Photos of our recent Annual Awards Night are now to be found here.
11/02/11: ALL THE NEWS FROM THE FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT ......
Just sixteen players contested the second of our monthly grand prix series at the BCSC on Thursday.
Three new players -- Asad, Bahman Salahshour and Hadi Kermani -- turned up later and enjoyed some friendly games.
11/02/11: Jamie is a rookie no more ......
Last week Jamie Nevill scooped a few prizes at the annual awards night, not least of which was the title of Rookie of the Year 2010.
He's now graduated from "rookiedom", though, and taken his rightful place in the Premier League.
And last night he took yet another step along the road, claiming his first monthly grand prix title, defeating Neil Young, Ian Preston and Roland Herrera before his 11-9 victory over Derek Clew in the final.
Derek had made the final via wins over Simon Hughes, Ian Tarr and Miles Farren.
11/02/11: Stuart adds to catalogue of consolation wins ......
Having fallen to Steve Morris at the first hurdle of the main flight, Stuart Mann extended his outstanding record in grand prix consolation flights.
The fact that he has only contested thirty consolation flights in 83 tournaments speaks volumes.
But in defeating Neil Young, Simon Hughes and Blaine Buchanan Stuart claimed his twelfth success in those thirty flights.
11/02/11: Jamie takes OGP lead ......
January winner Dave Ablett was overhauled at the top of the OGP table by Jamie Nevill who has a 25 points lead, with Blaine Buchanan a further 10 points back.
11/02/11: Anne could win IGP without winning a match! ......
Of course it won't happen, and intermediates will, in due course, contest the odd monthly grand prix tournament, but after two tournaments, there has only been one appearance.
Anne Buchanan came to the January event and claimed the minimum ten points for her trouble, but the fact is that she leads the IGP table, and will do, at least until somebody else turns up!
Thursday's tournament made history in a negative way, when for the first time in the twelve year history of the IGP, there was not a single intermediate present to contest the tournament.
11/02/11: Dave qualifies for Masters ......
Jamie Nevill's exploits in last night's event may well turn out to be enough to clinch his place in the 2012 Bristol Masters tournament.
But for the moment, because it is possible that one of the twelve monthly winners will not make it, Jamie must wait.
Not so Dave Ablett, though. There were seventeen entrants when Dave won the January event, so his success guarantees that he is this year's first qualifier.
Meanwhile the Winner Takes All pool at Thursday's event sparked the smallest rollover in history!
Only Stuart Mann and Ian Tarr took the proverbial plunge, and Stuart's first round exit was followed by Ian's in the quarters.
Will the usual suspects be tempted by a rollover of a mere £20 when the March event takes place? Time will tell.
11/02/11: Tim extends Premier One lead ......
There were just two league matches before Thursday's tournament -- both involving Premier One leader Tim Line.
Tim is making the most of his limited visits to Bristol this year, and has already completed nine of his twenty-four matches.
The eighth was an 11-6 win over Blaine Buchanan at the Cornubia, while the ninth saw him defeated 11-9 by Miles Farren at the BCSC.
Six wins out of nine is a fine start, and should he maintain that ratio and his break-neck start, it could be that he will set a tough target for the pursuing pack.
08/02/11: Cynthia at the double
Cynthia Roberts began her league campaign this afternoon at home, where she entertained Michael Corbett.
She was less than the perfect hostess, however, winning both matches, first 11-7, then 11-9.
Cynthia moves to second in Premier Two Blue.
07/02/11: Neil still hundred per cent
Having suffered relegation from the top flight last year, Neil Young seems in determined mood to make an immediate return.
Before tonight Neil had won all four of his Premier Two Red matches, and tonight's double header against Alan Parfitt at the BCSC saw him maintain the winning sequence.
After an 11-2 win things got a lot tougher for Neil, but he still edged home 11-10.
The evening's centrepiece, a Monday Club 3-point round robin session, attracted just five players, including a debut for Peter Snowman.
This featured a three way tie for the money, with Jamie Nevill, Cynthia Roberts and Lotte Ryan sharing.
Jamie moves to within 16 points of Spring Grand Prix leader Pearl Foster, whose position as top intermediate is also beginning to come under pressure from Lotte.
Director Ian Tarr put new player Les Nicholls through his paces, while Roland Herrera popped in after working late.
04/02/11: Cecilia's winning start
The latest player to begin her 2011 league campaign was Cecilia Sparke, who played a double header with James Lintell-Smith at the Windmill this evening.
And with 11-5 and 11-4 Premier Two Blue victories Cecilia got off to a fine start.
04/02/11: Twenty-seven celebrate the achievements of 2010
There were twenty-seven players present at the BCSC last night for what is as close as we get to an official Bristol Backgammon party.
The occasion was the eleventh annual awards evening, where there was a free buffet, Director Ian Tarr's Review of 2010, an absorbing backgammon quiz devised by Gaz Owen, the awarding of the vast majority of the seventy-nine prizes, lots of photo opportunities, several league matches, and a chouette.
In short, the BCSC was at its most vibrant, and there was a genuine sense of "The Year Starts Here" after what had been a slightly muted January.
The "surprise" awards were scooped by Jamie Nevill (Rookie of the Year, sponsored by Paul Gilbertson), Miles Farren (Most Improved Player, sponsored by Gaz and eXtreme Gammon), with the inaugural Sportsperson of the Year Award (sponsored by Blaine Buchanan with the help of John Sprague) going to a very deserving Stuart Mann.
Roland Herrera's photographs of the event are now visible here.
In the leagues, Tim Line -- a multi prize recipient -- made his long distance trip all the more worthwhile by managing to fit in no fewer than four Premier One matches, starting with a victory over Gaz and an adjournment with Blaine at the Cornubia, before eventually falling to defeat against Blaine and sharing the spoils of a double header with Dave Pym -- another who had journeyed from far afield to be present.
Stuart gained revenge over Richard Holness in a closely fought match.
Tim remains top, but then again, he has actually been involved in almost half the matches played so far!
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Richard Owsley -- who moves into the lead -- and Lewis Young over Ian Preston and Simon Temme respectively, while in Red Division Neil Young and Mike Smith maintained their early season momentum with wins over Chas Perry and Simon Hughes -- this latter one at Colston Yard.
Neil looks particularly well placed with four wins out of four.
01/02/11: Mike fights back again
The Mike Smith Road Show moved on to Redfield this evening, and once again he made light of a serious deficit, coming back from 3-9 to defeat Chas Perry 11-10.
Mike moves into second place in the Premier Two Red table, while Chas remains fourth after suffering his first defeat.
01/02/11: Mike wins in Redland
Another result from Premier Two Red has surfaced.
Mike Smith and Steve Morris locked horns at the Kensington Arms in Redland last night, and Mike managed to overcome a 1-7 deficit to win 11-8.
31/01/11: Nearly all quiet on the backgammon front
The eerily quiet start to the 2011 Bristol Backgammon year continued at the BCSC tonight when just four players arrived to contest the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
It was advertised as a Tric Trac Tourno, but because the rules demand at least six players for that, a switch was made to a 3-point round robin.
This resulted in a three way tie for the lead when Jamie Nevill, Lotte Ryan and Ian Tarr won two matches apiece.
Pearl Foster still heads the table, but will not be expecting her lead of just over 40 points to remain intact until she returns to action in around a month's time.
29/01/11: Double win puts James on top
The Hen and Chicken, Bedminster, was the venue for a Premier Two Blue double header this afternoon.
And James Lintell-Smith scored a brace of wins over Michael Corbett to go top of the league table.
29/01/11: Stuart and Lewis win opening doubles tournament
Fifteen players were in action on Thursday, including the twelve who contested the first of this year's four Consulting Doubles Grand Prix tournaments.
Stuart Mann and Lewis Young took the honours in the doubles, which was smoothly run by Stuart, Roland Herrera and Ian Preston in Director Ian Tarr's absence.
They defeated first Ian Preston and Steve Morris, and then Simon Hughes and Neil Young before despatching Roland and Shadow Hamilton in the final.
The consolation flight saw a victory for Simonetta Herrera and Pearl Foster.
There were four Premier Two Red matches completed -- Neil winning a double header against Mike Smith at the Lloyds No.1 Bar before the tournament, and Chas Perry scoring a similar double over Andrew Cobb in preference to entering the tournament.
26/01/11: Simon extends Premier Two Red lead
2009 Premier Two champion Simon Hughes appears determined to regain his top flight place without delay.
He has already completed five matches in Premier Two Red, winning the fourth of those tonight at the Alma Tavern.
Jamie Nevill ran him close, but eventually succumbed 9-11.
25/01/11: Gaz in sponsorship to encourage new players
Gaz Owen is behind a new sponsorship scheme, where Thursday debut players will have their £10 entry fee in whichever event they enter paid for!
This scheme is under way with immediate effect and will proceed until further notice.
Read more about the scheme here.
24/01/11: Five in a sharing mood
There were just five players present to contest the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix at the BCSC -- the smallest turnout since December 2009.
But the 3-point round robin was keenly contested, so much so that all five players finished level with two wins apiece.
This is the first instance where all contestants have tied, thus sharing all the prize money and all the grand prix points, although there was a clock blitz round robin back in August 2009 which saw a five way tie for the lead from a group of six players.
Pearl Foster thus kept her 48.5 points lead over second placed Roland Herrera.
21/01/11: Andrew and Richard break even in Bath
Richard Biddle made his first excursion of the season from Buckinghamshire yesterday evening and played out a Premier Two Red double header with Andrew Cobb at the Ram in Bath.
Not only did the pair win a match apiece, but they also won by identical scores -- Richard's 11-4 win being repaid in kind in the return.
20/01/11: JANUARY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
There were seventeen players progressing their league campaigns at the BCSC on the first dedicated league session of the year.
All three Premier League divisions were represented, but the Conference has not yet seen any action.
20/01/11: Simonetta and Miles in epic double header ......
The highlight of the evening's Premier One play was arguably the double header between Miles Farren and 2009 Premier League champion Simonetta Herrera.
The matches could hardly have been closer, but Miles received scant reward for his considerable efforts, losing both 10-11.
In another double header reigning champion Dave Pym shared the spoils with Steffen Nowak, although Steffen's average points difference fared better than Dave's with an 11-1 win and an 8-11 defeat.
And making his top flight debut was Richard Holness who chose four times league champion Stuart Mann as his opening test at the level.
Unfazed, Richard scored a memorable 11-7 victory for a more than satisfactory start to his season.
The evening's other top flight winners were Phil Charlton and Ian Tarr.
League leader Tim Line couldn't make it down, but his lead remains intact.
20/01/11: Simon surges to Premier Two Red summit ......
After opening the season with a defeat a couple of days ago, Simon Hughes looks determined to set a furious pace in Premier Two Red.
Resuming his adjourned match with Steve Morris 7-1 ahead, Simon finished the job with an 11-2 win, and then went even better in the return encounter.
And an 11-4 victory over Nick Barham made it three wins on the night with just seven points conceded.
Steve and Jamie Nevill were the evening's other victors.
20/01/11: Richard and Ian start with wins ......
There were only two Premier Two Blue matches played at Thursday's session -- Richard Owsley and Ian Preston securing their first wins of the season.
That makes just three results so far in the division, and Richard tops the pile by virtue of having paid his league fee!
20/01/11: Ian wins held over clock consolation ......
The held over final of the January 6th Clock Tournament Grand Prix event took place early in the evening, and it was Ian Tarr who emerged the winner over Richard Owsley by a 7-2 margin.
Thus Ian maintains a 0% main flight success rate and a 100% consolation flight success rate after the opening two knock-outs of the year.
Richard made history by becoming the first player to book a clock out and back in again from behind the bar -- no doubt the first of many!
19/01/11: Gaz and Mike off the mark
Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr played their opening Premier One game of the season at St George's Hall this afternoon, and it was Gaz who emerged the victor, by 11-5.
And the evening saw the first Bristol Backgammon match since 2007 at the Knights Templar, where the Premier Two Red season kicked off with a meeting of Simon Hughes and the returning Mike Smith.
Mike prevailed with an 11-4 win..
18/01/11: Simon starts with a win
The Hen and Chicken in Bedminster was the venue when Simon Temme and James Lintell-Smith began their Premier Two Blue campaigns.
And it was Simon who went to the top of the league table -- well, it was the first match completed so far in that division -- with an 11-8 victory.
17/01/11: Pearl makes it two in a row
Having won one of last week's Super Nackgammon Tournos, Pearl Foster cashed for the second week running, coming out on top of a nine player DMP Tourno, the latest phase of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
Pearl won seven of her eight games, and has moved into an SGP lead of 48.5 points, with Roland Herrera leading the chasing pack.
14/01/11: JANUARY GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
Just seventeen players opened the Bristol Grand Prix year at the BCSC last night, the seventh consecutive such event to draw a field of fewer than 20.
14/01/11: Dave continues his BIBA form in Bristol ......
Having starred at the Bright n Breezy tournament at the weekend, Dave Ablett picked up where he left off on his return to Bristol competition.
Wins over Anne Buchanan, John Plummer and Gaz Owen got him to Thursday's final, which transferred to his Southville home.
And there he defeated Blaine Buchanan 11-9 to clinch the tournament, the Winner Takes All pool, the early OGP lead, and most probably a slot in the 2012 Bristol Masters.
Blaine had fought his way past Cynthia Roberts, Jamie Nevill and Tim Line.
14/01/11: Ian shouldn't have been there, but gained some consolation ......
Having put out a call for assistance when he knew he wouldn't be there to direct Thursday's tournament, Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr suddenly found himself available after all, when his seven hour visit to St Michaels Hospital proved to be a waste of time.
A long drawn out defeat at the hands of Jamie Nevill in the main flight's opening match then saw him contest the consolation, eventually taking the flight with wins over Steffen Nowak, Simonetta Herrera and fellow finalist Cynthia Roberts, who had defeated Richard Owsley and Nick Barham.
14/01/11: Anne turned up, so tops IGP ......
How many intermediates will be contesting the monthly grand prix tournaments this year?
On the evidence of last night, perhaps not too many.
Nevertheless there are still IGP prizes to be won, and if merely turning up to contest the event is enough to take the lead, sobeit.
That's what Anne Buchanan did, proving that winning isn't everything, as she sits on top, in the middle and at the bottom of the IGP table with eleven events to go.
14/01/11: Tim gets off to a Premier One flyer ......
Apart from making the main flight semi-finals Tim Line also made the most of his Bristol visit by getting in three Premier One matches -- and he won them all.
These were the season's first three league matches, Tim winning a double header against Ed Turner at the Cornubia before whitewashing Miles Farren at the BCSC just prior to the tournament.
12/01/11: Dave makes Brighton final
There was a sizeable Bristol contingent -- by recent standards, anyway -- at BIBA's season opener, the Bright 'n' Breezy, at the weekend.
And there were six players who reached the latter stages of the various flights, with pride of place going to Dave Ablett, who reached the final of the 67 player main flight, only to succumb to Southampton's Bob Young.
Ann Pocknell won the progressive consolation flight, Stuart Mann won the last chance, and Richard Biddle reached the semis in the suicide, a k a the tidal wave in deference to the south coast location.
And the Friday warm up tournament, contested by 36 players, featured two Bristol players in the final -- Tim Line defeating Jerry Limb.
10/01/11: Super Nackgammon makes its Bristol bow
The Monday Club session at the BCSC broke new ground for Bristol Backgammon, featuring the first ever Super Nackgammon round robins.
Nine players took part -- split into two groups -- and Pearl Foster won the five player group while Roland Herrera took the honours in the four player group.
Pearl thus takes the initial Monday Club Spring Grand Prix lead.
And there was an enjoyable chouette to round off the evening.
06/01/11: Fifteen end the fortnight drought
After the Christmas break fifteen players were present at the BCSC to contest the year's first domestic competition, the first of six events in the Clock Tournament Grand Prix.
And it was Simonetta Herrera who began her title defence in the best possible way by defeating Gaz Owen in the final of the main flight.
Simonetta was the recipient of the evening's only bye, and took full advantage, beating Richard Owsley and Cynthia Roberts on her way to the final.
Gaz's victims were Ian Tarr, Eamonn Reay and Jamie Nevill.
Richard and Ian will contest the consolation final some time soon.
There was also the first league action of the season, but no result, as Simon Hughes and Steve Morris had to adjourn their Premier Two Red match with Simon 7-1 ahead, to enable them to contest the tournament.
04/01/11: Revealed: a chance to represent Bristol
Phil Tutchings of the Coventry Backgammon Club is staging a new event with a lot of potential.
The UK Club Championships will take place at Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club on Sunday March 13th.
There is space for up to sixteen teams of five players each, hopefully representing the majority of UK clubs in an individual knock-out format where all players play four matches, the length of which will be dependent on each player's relative success.
A match won results in points equivalent to the match length being added to the player's team score.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has asked for volunteers to represent Bristol at the event, and already has more than enough interest to fill one team.
If there should be insufficient teams entering, there may be openings for second and even third teams from the same club, but obviously first teams take precedence.
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