22/05/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.Simon Baker won a Premier One encounter with Gaz Owen at the Wiper and True Taproom, Easton.
In Premier Two Blue Dave Pym defeated Jim Green, and is looking to set an imposing target for his pursuers.
In the parallel Red Division Jon Organ continued his run of wins against Tim Line.
And John Curran hauled himself off the bottom of Premier Three Yellow by beating Frank Jones.
20/05/23: Saturday win for Jim
In the only action of Saturday Jim Green won a Premier Two Blue match against Paul Watts.19/05/23: Friday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Friday.In a fourth round Brunel Trophy match at the Rose and Crown, Kingswood, Gaz Owen kept his lives intact by beating Ian Tarr, who is thus eliminated.
The Compass, Tormarton, was the venue for a Premier Two Blue match, Jim Green narrowly defeating Gary Plant.
In the same division Michael Petrakas got two matches in, beating Hemal Getalal before succumbing to Stephen Little, who is now well placed to challenge the top two.
And Eamonn Reay beat Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Green for the second successive day.
19/05/23: Ian extends GP10 lead
There were twenty-three players in action on Thursday, eleven of them to contest the fourth of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament Ian Tarr was the main flight winner, defeating Kylie Hedges, Simon Tracy and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had defeated Aidan Kenny, Tim Line and Hazel Harper en route to the final.
Tim took the consolation flight with victories over Kylie and Cynthia Roberts.
Ian's GP10 lead is extended to 40 points, with Gaz now in second place.
There were also eight Premier League matches played.
In Premier One Stuart Mann defeated Andy Boysan.
Brookfields Farm, Swindon, saw Dave Pym score another win in his Premier Two Blue promotion quest, a nail biter against Gary Plant.
Online in the same division Safi Tracy scored a much needed win over Hemal Getalal.
James Lintell-Smith played twice in Red Division, succumbing to Pearl Foster before defeating Steffen Nowak.
And Simon beat Hazel at the casino.
Marcel Bancroft of Premier Three Green was another to suffer mixed fortunes, losing to Eamonn Reay before beating Caroline Boulton.
18/05/23: George wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the twentieth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was George Georgiou, whose victims were Chris Rogers, Kev Peters, Andy Boysan and -- in the final -- Nick Barham.
Nick had arrived there by beating Wednesday debutant Matt Sharp, Adam Sinclair and Natalie Singh.
Matt took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia Roberts, Simon Tracy and John Curran.
Tim Line won a post tournament jackpot.
There were two and a half other matches played.
Eamonn Reay defeated Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
Hazel Harper beat Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Red, and in the same division there was an adjourned match.
TD Ian Tarr foolishly agreed to play Jon Organ at 5:30pm, assuming there would be enough time before running the tournament.
The match had to be adjourned, however, with Ian 6-4 ahead.
16/05/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Tuesday.The odds against Adam Sinclair getting promoted from Premier Two Red are getting shorter all the time.
Another victory, this time over Steffen Nowak, kept him well on track, while Jon Organ continued his run of wins in the same division, at the expense of Mathew Nicholls.
In Premier Two Blue Gary Plant defeated Simon Hughes.
Warner Solomon maintained his hot pace in Premier Three Yellow by beating Frank Jones.
And Kev Peters won a fourth round Brunel Trophy match against Richard Owsley, a result which leaves both players with a single life remaining.
16/05/23: Twenty-five in Monday action
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, including the nineteen who contested the sixth Spring Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.The nineteen were split into two groups of four at Sportsmans and groups of six and five online.
The group of six featured a player who attempted to play despite not having Premium Heroes status.
His failure to complete his matches forced his expungement, reducing the group to five.
Online winners were Gaz Owen and Adam Sinclair, while Richard Davies and Matt Sharp prevailed in the live groups.
George Georgiou's lead in the SGP table has been drastically reduced by Adam.
There were also six league matches played, plus the first of the fourth round Brunel Trophy ties, where Chris Rogers defeated the now eliminated Warner Solomon.
Chris was also in Premier One action, defeating Nick Barham, who had earlier lost to Gaz.
Jon Organ's Premier Two Red season gathered pace with a victory over Pearl Foster.
Meanwhile Cynthia Roberts's Premier Three Green promotion hopes suffered a double blow with defeats to Caroline Boulton.
And Daniel Miles scored his first Feeder League win at the club, beating Jake Mochnacz before the tournament.
14/05/23: League wins for Andy, Jon and Tom on Sunday
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.Andy Boysan defeated Gerald Whitehouse in Premier One.
Jon Organ won a Premier Two Red match against Cliff Blofield.
And Cynthia Roberts lost her first Premier Three Green match in eight, Tom Chapman prevailing.
14/05/23: Brunel Trophy fourth round draw made
The draw for the fourth round of the tenth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday by matching two numerical sequences.
The original field of fifty-one in this double elimination tournament has now been whittled down to twenty-seven.
The odd number of survivors necessitated one bye which, according to the rules, goes to the player with the best record.
In this case, that meant one of the six unbeaten players whose opponents have the best record during the competition.
Safi Tracy and Neil Young tied for this, but the draw went in favour of Safi.
There are thirteen ties, eight of which are effectively sudden death.
The number progressing to round five will be somewhere between fourteen and nineteen.
Matches are to be completed by June 18th.
Check out the full draw here.
14/05/23: Saturday's Premier One action
There were two Premier One matches played on Saturday.And Robin Gunney's disappointing start to life in the top flight continued with defeats at the hands of Nick Barham and Gaz Owen.
13/05/23: Friday's results round-up
There were five Premier League matches played on Friday.In Premier One Robin Gunney got two matches in, but suffered defeats in both -- to Neil Young and Gaz Owen.
Neil is now top of the league.
A double header came in Premier Two Blue, and Paul Watts got the double over Gary Plant in two close matches.
Meanwhile Neil Edwards visited Richard Owsley in Premier Three Green, where he was defeated.
12/05/23: George wins May Bristol Grand Prix event
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, including the eight who contested the fifth of our twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments of the year at the Rainbow Casino.George Georgiou took the main flight honours this time, defeating Steve Morris, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Hazel Harper.
Hazel had arrived there with wins over Ian Tarr and Stephen Little.
Gaz Owen won the consolation flight with victories over Ian and Cynthia Roberts.
George moves ten points ahead of Ian at the top of the BGP points table, both having won two of this year's five events, and is the latest player to make sure of a 2024 Bristol Masters place.
There was also Premier Three action.
Neil Edwards visited Cynthia for their last Premier Three Green meeting, and Cynthia prevailed.
In the same division Marcel Bancroft had the better of a double header against Richard Owsley.
And in Premier Three Yellow Warner Solomon scored a narrow win over Michael Corbett.
10/05/23: Gaz wins yet another Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-three players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the nineteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, who has contested fifteen of these events this year and now won eight!
His victims this time were Stephen Little, Kev Peters, George Georgiou and -- in the final -- Simon Tracy.
Simon had arrived there, after a first round bye, by beating Chris Rogers and Adam Sinclair.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight with wins over Elias Hamati and Chris.
Adam won a post tournament jackpot.
There were six other matches played.
The last two of the third round Brunel Trophy matches featured wins for Chris Hughes over Pearl Foster and Simonetta Herrera over Kev.
Pearl is eliminated, while Chris still has both lives intact.
Kev and Simonetta have one each.
The Alma Tavern played host to a Premier One match, Andy Boysan defeating Simon Baker.
Phil Charlton scored another Premier Two Blue win, Ed Turner being his victim.
In Premier Three Yellow Martha Beal beat John Curran.
And Andy Zographou scored a much needed win over Richard Owsley in Premier Three Green.
10/05/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were three matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Red Steffen Nowak defeated Ed Turner.
Phil Doubtfire closed the gap behind Premier Three Yellow leader Warner Solomon a little by beating him.
And in the third round of the Brunel Trophy Paul Watts beat James Lintell-Smith, a result which eliminates James and leaves Paul with one life remaining.
09/05/23: Friday Brunel result comes to light
A further third round Brunel Trophy result has come to light.Steve Pickard defeated Frank Jones on Friday, a result which leaves both players with a single life remaining as they head towards Sunday's fourth round draw.
09/05/23: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, including the seventeen who contested the fifth Spring Grand Prix sessions in DMP round robins across two environments.The seventeen were split eight at Sportsmans and nine online.
The live group featured Bristol Backgammon debuts for Junior Edwards and Jazmine Singh.
On an evening of fine margins, the online group was won by Gaz Owen, with Kev Peters in second on PR, and all nine players were clustered together with either five, four or three wins.
Six of the eight live players were similarly grouped on either four or three wins, the exceptions being Ian Tarr, who won all seven, and Simon Tracy, who did the opposite.
George Georgiou leads the SGP table, followed by Stephen Little and Adam Sinclair.
There were also four league matches played, three of them at Sportsmans.
Online Dave Pym maintained his quest for promotion from Premier Two Blue with a victory over Simon Hughes.
At the club George shared the spoils of a Premier One double header with Simon Baker, while Flora von Michel defeated Jake Mochnacz in the Feeder League.
08/05/23: Sunday action in Premier Two Blue
There were three matches played on Sunday, all of them in Premier Two Blue.Paul Watts played twice, defeating Stephen Little before succumbing to Ismail Yilmaz.
And Jim Green defeated Mike Smith.
06/05/23: Saturday's results round-up
There were three matches played on Saturday.In Premier One Andy Boysan defeated Nick Barham.
Premier Three Yellow leader Warner Solomon extended his lead by beating John Curran.
And in the third round of the Brunel Trophy Steffen Nowak's defeat of Simon Baker leaves both players with a single life remaining.
06/05/23: Friday win for Nick
In Friday's only action Nick Barham secured a much needed Premier One win at the expense of league leader Chris Rogers.05/05/23: Steve wins May Speedgammon event
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, but only six of those took part in the third of the year's eight Speedgammon Grand Prix sessions at the Rainbow Casino.The six formed a single round robin group, and Steve "I don't even like Speedgammon" Morris -- with a clean sweep of five wins out of five -- came out on top.
Ian Tarr pipped Tim Line to the runner-up prize by the slenderest of points difference margins.
Tim still heads the SGGP table, with Ian fifteen points behind in second place.
There was also action in the Premier League and the Brunel Trophy.
Tim defeated George Georgiou before the tournament in the third round of the 2023 Brunel Trophy, while there were online wins for Richard Owsley over Gerald Whitehouse and Jim Green over Warner Solomon.
That was Gerald's last life, while Richard has both still intact.
The other four players go into the fourth round draw with a single life remaining.
Mike Smith defeated Michael Petrakas in a Premier Two Blue meeting of two promotion contenders.
Pearl Foster beat Phil Charlton in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow there was a victory for Phil Doubtfire against Frank Jones.
04/05/23: Nick wins Wednesday tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday to contest the eighteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Nick Barham, whose victims, after a first round bye, were John Curran, Chris Rogers and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there by beating Steve Pickard, Mandy Macdonald and Stephen Little.
Steve P took the consolation flight with wins over Elias Hamati, Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr.
Adam Sinclair won a post tournament jackpot.
02/05/23: Tuesday's league action
There were three matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Red there were wins for Phil Charlton over Tim Line, and Ed Turner over Mathew Nicholls.
And Cynthia Roberts defeated Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
02/05/23: Gaz takes Masters title for the first time
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, including the sixteen who contested the fourth Spring Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.But the day's big news surrounded the completion of the twenty-third Bristol Masters tournament.
The final of that event, featuring reigning Masters champion Jim Green and Bristol's number one player Gaz Owen, had been held over from April 20th.
And the two arrived at Sportsmans well in advance of the Monday evening session to settle things.
Jim's title defence never quite got going, though, and Gaz took his first Masters title in twelve attempts, having lost three previous finals.
The evening's 3-pointers featured eight at Sportsmans and eight online.
Director Ian Tarr made an error in haste, however, splitting both "communities" into two round robins of four players, when the rules allow for a group of eight in the online scenario, where things invariably progress much more quickly.
Jim won one of the live groups, while George Georgiou, Stephen Little and Scott Wood tied for the other.
Scott was returning to action for the first time since August 2005.
The online winners were Adam Sinclair and Andy Boysan.
George still heads the SGP table, with Stephen and Adam not far behind.
Alongside the live tournament there was third round Brunel Trophy action.
Mandy Macdonald scored the win she needed to stay in the competition, while her victim Richard Davies also has one life remaining.
30/04/23: Sunday's league action
There were three matches played on Saturday, all wins for the leaders of the leagues in question.Adam Sinclair maintained his hot pace in Premier Two Red by pipping James Lintell-Smith.
Dave Pym also scored a narrow win, against Paul Watts in Premier Two Blue.
And in the Feeder League Matt Sharp defeated Flora von Michel at the Tinto Lounge, Gloucester Road.
29/04/23: Saturday results round-up
There were two matches played on Saturday.Kev Peters' winning Premier One sequence was brought to an end by Robin Gunney, who registered his first top flight win.
And in the Feeder League Matt Sharp defeated Daniel Miles at the Boston Tea Party, Whiteladies Road.
28/04/23: Friday wins for Kev, Hemal and Rosemary
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.Kev Peters defeated Gerald Whitehouse in Premier One.
In Premier Two Blue Hemal Getalal beat Mike Smith.
And Rosemary Whitehouse beat Phil Doubtfire in Premier Three Yellow.
28/04/23: Ian wins to take GP20 lead
There were twenty players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the third of the year's eight GP20 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament Ian Tarr was the main flight winner, defeating Steve Morris, Simon Tracy, Gaz Owen and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
After receiving a first round bye Tim had got past Cynthia Roberts and Hazel Harper en route to the final.
Ian Hedges took the consolation flight with victories over Steve, Cynthia and Dicky Biddle.
Ian Tarr takes over from Tim at the top of the GP20 table, with a margin of fifteen points.
There were four more matches played on the day.
In Premier One Kev Peters defeated Cecilia Rogers.
And three third round Brunel Trophy ties were decided.
Michael Petrakas and Matt Sharp were eliminated after defeats by Hemal Getalal and Larry Deferville in what were effectively sudden death ties.
While Andy Boysan's whitewash of Adam Sinclair was the only match of the round between two hitherto undefeated players.
27/04/23: Natalie also won on Wednesday
A late reported Premier Two Blue result from Wednesday featured another win for Natalie Singh, who narrowly defeated Safi Tracy in Henleaze.26/04/23: Yet another Wednesday win for Gaz
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the seventeenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen -- his seventh Wednesday tournament win of the year -- whose victims, after a first round bye, were Ian Anderson, Adam Sinclair and -- in the final -- Steve Pickard.
Steve had arrived there by beating Stephen Little, Cynthia Roberts and Tim Line.
Kev Peters took the consolation flight with wins over Chris Hughes and John Curran.
Ian Anderson won a post tournament jackpot.
There was just one more match played.
In Premier Two Red Cliff Blofield defeated Phil Charlton.
25/04/23: Tuesday's Premier League round-up
There were five Premier League matches played on Tuesday.Andy Boysan and Kev Peters played out a Premier One double header, and Kev scored a brace of much needed wins.
In Premier Two Red Tim Line defeated Andrew Cobb.
Cynthia Roberts overcame Eamonn Reay in Premier Three Green.
And Martha Beal beat Fred North in Premier Three Yellow.
25/04/23: Fourteen in Monday action as Daniel and Flora make history
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, ten of them to contest the fourth Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix sessions across two environments.Four at Sportsmans and six online formed single groups.
Gaz Owen won the online group, while honours in the live group were shared by Jake Mochnacz and Ian Tarr.
Adam Sinclair's lead in the NGP table is down to three points over Kev Peters.
There were two other matches played, one of which was a first.
The new Feeder League is off and running with the first match completed at the Tinto Lounge, Bishopston.
Flora von Michel is the league's first winner, having pipped Daniel Miles 11-10.
And in the Premier League Phil Charlton continued his fine start to the Premier Two Red season with a win over Mathew Nicholls.
23/04/23: Sunday win for Stephen
In the only Sunday match, Stephen Little defeated Paul Watts in Premier Two Blue.23/04/23: Cecilia wins on Saturday
There was just one match played on Saturday.Cecilia Rogers defeated Gaz Owen in Premier One.
21/04/23: Jim one step away from successful Masters defence
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday to contest 23rd Bristol Masters event at the casino.And the final was held over until another day.
This will involve Jim Green, the reigning Masters champion, and Gaz Owen.
Jim will be bidding to become the fourth player to retain the title, after Charlie Hetherington, Stuart Mann and Alex Hodge.
Gaz will be trying not to emulate Simonetta Herrera, who has made it to four finals without winning.
Jim got past Robin Gunney, Cecilia Rogers and Kev Peters, while Gaz's victims were Hazel Harper, Cynthia Roberts and George Georgiou.
George and Stuart had met earlier to play a Premier One double header, where the honours were shared.
19/04/23: Chris wins Wednesday tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the sixteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Chris Rogers, whose victims were Andy Boysan, Elias Hamati, Kev Peters and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr.
Ian had arrived there by beating Gaz Owen, George Georgiou and Ian Anderson.
Andy took the consolation flight with wins over Tim Line, Gaz and Chris Hughes.
Kev won a post tournament jackpot.
There were three other matches played, all in Premier Two.
In the Blue Division Natalie Singh defeated Safi Tracy.
And the winners in the Red Division were Phil Charlton and Tim, over leader leader Adam Sinclair and Cliff Blofield.
19/04/23: Bristol "A" team line-up finalised
This year's UK Clubs Championship will take place in London on Sunday May 28th, and Bristol should have at least two teams participating.Bristol "A" won the event in Liverpool in 2022, and will be looking to defend that title this time.
Four of the five players who triumphed last year -- captain Andy Boysan, Stuart Mann, Neil Young and Ian Hedges -- are in the team this year.
But the fifth member of that team, Tim Line, is unavailable this time, so Safi Tracy is stepping into the breach.
A second Bristol team will be announced shortly.
18/04/23: Tuesday's Premier League and Brunel Trophy action
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.Three of the third round Brunel Trophy matches were completed.
The Rose and Crown, Two Mile Hill, saw Gaz Owen score a narrow victory over Jake Mochnacz, while there were online wins for Robin Gunney and Chris Rogers over Ed Turner and Simon Hughes.
While Gaz has both lives intact, Robin, Chris and Simon have one apiece remaining.
Jake and Ed are eliminated.
In Premier Two Blue Mike Smith, Paul Watts and Stephen Little consolidated their challenges with wins over Natalie Singh, Alan Joicey and Simon.
Phil Charlton scored a narrow victory over Hazel Harper in Premier Two Red.
And Cynthia Roberts defeated Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
18/04/23: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, including the sixteen who contested the third Spring Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.Six at Sportsmans formed a single group, while the ten online formed two groups of five.
George Georgiou won the live group, while Cynthia Roberts and Ian Anderson took the online honours.
In Cynthia's group the side pool was won by Tim Line.
George has taken over leadership of the SGP table from Stephen Little.
Stephen had earlier exited the Brunel Trophy when Neil Young recovered from 3-10 in arrears at the Lodekka.
16/04/23: Sunday's Premier Two results
There were three matches played on Sunday -- all of them in Premier Two.Ed Turner had his revenge for a defeat at the hands of Simon Tracy the previous day, then Simon succumbed to a further Red Division defeat at the hands of Pearl Foster.
And Blue Division leader Dave Pym suffered a setback against Paul Watts.
16/04/23: Simon maintains promotion quest
There was one match played on Saturday.Simon Tracy pipped Ed Turner to maintain his strong start to the Premier Two Red season.
14/04/23: Phil goes second
In Friday's only match Phil Doubtfire moved into second place in Premier Three Yellow by defeating Martha Beal.14/04/23: Ian first to qualify for 2024 Masters
Just a week before the Rainbow Casino hosts the 2023 incarnation of the Bristol Masters Ian Tarr has become the first player to qualify for next year's event.This was achieved by winning multiple Bristol Grand Prix events -- the March and April tournaments.
14/04/23: New league to replace the Conference announced
The dearth of new players which assailed us in 2022 appears to be over, with the emergence of many new players early this year.So there will be a league -- to be contested between now and the end of the season -- to replace the Conference League, which fell into abeyance in 2022.
Entitled the Bristol Feeder League, it will provide interim league action for those players who have future Premier League aspirations.
Although the format will be broadly similar to that of the former league, the distinction between Premier Status players and "intermediates" is now gone forever.
Come November, players will be invited to join the Premier League purely on the strength of their Feeder League conduct, and not on the basis of results.
13/04/23: Ian wins April Bristol Grand Prix event
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, including the twelve who contested the fourth of our twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments of the year at the Rainbow Casino.Ian Tarr took the main flight honours this time, defeating Hazel Harper, Gaz Owen, Safi Tracy and -- in the final -- George Georgiou.
George had arrived there with wins over Simon Tracy and Tim Line after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen Little won the consolation flight with victories over Simon, Gerald Whitehouse and Steve Morris -- Stephen's third consolation flight win in the four BGP events so far.
Ian, who also won the equivalent March event, has overtaken the indisposed Nick Barham at the top of the BGP points table.
There was other action too.
Last week's Handicap Trophy consolation final was resolved alongside the evening's tournament, Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos narrowly defeating Wally Alecci.
Before the tournament, there were wins for George and Ian -- George defeating Gerald in Premier One and Ian eliminating Rosemary Whitehouse from the Brunel Trophy.
Online in Premier Two Blue Mike Smith beat Michael Petrakas.
13/04/23: Gerald takes Wednesday honours
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the fifteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gerald Whitehouse, who took full advantage of a first round bye, defeating Elias Hamati, Kev Peters and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there by beating Stephen Little and John Curran.
Simon Tracy took the consolation flight with wins over Elias, Ian Anderson and Adam Sinclair.
Stephen won a post tournament jackpot.
There were three other matches played, all in Premier Two.
In the Blue Division there were wins for leader Dave Pym and Natalie Singh, over Safi Tracy and Michael Petrakas respectively.
And Red Division leader Adam also registered a win, over James Lintell-Smith.
11/04/23: Safi wins on two fronts
There were two matches played on Tuesday, both involving Safi Tracy.A Premier Two Blue whitewash of Ismail Yilmaz was followed by a third round Brunel Trophy defeat of Elias Hamati.
While Safi goes into the fourth round draw unbeaten, Elias is eliminated.
10/04/23: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, including the fourteen who contested the second Spring Grand Prix sessions in DMP round robins across two environments.Four at Sportsmans (playing each other twice) and ten online formed single groups, with Andy Boysan winning the online group and Ian Tarr the live one.
Stephen Little has extended his lead of the SGP table to ten points.
Meanwhile the first of the third round Brunel Trophy ties was completed, and Natalie Singh's victory sent Ian Hedges out of the competition.
Natalie later added a Premier Two Blue victory over Mike Smith, who was fresh from defeating Paul Watts.
And in Premier Two Red Steffen Nowak defeated second placed Simon Tracy.
09/04/23: Brunel Trophy third round draw made
The draw for the third round of the tenth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday by matching two numerical sequences.
The original field of fifty-one in this double elimination tournament has been whittled down to thirty-eight.
Of the nineteen ties, there is only one where both players are guaranteed to make it to the fourth round, so the number in round four will be somewhere in the range of twenty to thirty-two.
Matches are to be completed by May 14th.
Check out the full draw here.
09/04/23: Safi wins Brunel Trophy match
In the only action of Sunday Safi Tracy defeated Jim Green in the second round of the Brunel Trophy.Safi has both lives intact, while Jim is down to one.
06/04/23: Ben takes special Handicap Trophy honours, and thanks to John
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them to contest the third of this year's series of Handicap Trophy tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.And the identity of the mystery sponsor who added £90 to the tournament prize pot was revealed!
John Curran's idea was to boost the attendance by adding that amount in honour of his recent 90th birthday, and it proved a great success.
The field included a welcome Bristol Backgammon debut for Wally Alecci, a regular poker player.
The main flight saw Ben Crowden triumphant, and he seems to have developed a liking for this format, having been very successful in last year's series of tournaments.
He defeated sponsor John, George Georgiou and Stephen Little, before edging the final against Geoff Paffett.
Geoff had arrived there via victories over Aidan Kenny, Steve Morris and Frank Jones.
The consolation flight final was held over.
It will be contested by Wally and Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos.
Wally received the only quarter-final bye, before defeating Cynthia Roberts, while Dimitrios got past John and Gaz Owen.
Tim Line, absent in Denmark, still holds a 70 points HT lead, with Ben second and Hazel Harper in third.
And in other action Andy Boysan scored a whitewash win over Cecilia Rogers in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, signalling Cecilia's elimination from the tournament.
Meanwhile Natalie Singh scored the only league win of the day against Chris Hughes in Premier Two Blue.
06/04/23: Gaz wins another Wednesday tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the fourteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, who has now contested ten of these events and won six, an extraordinary statistic.
His victims, after receiving a first round bye, were Adam Sinclair, Safi Tracy and -- in the final -- Elias Hamati.
Elias had arrived there by defeating Gerald Whitehouse, Cynthia Roberts and Ian Anderson.
Adam took the consolation flight with wins over Stephen Little and George Georgiou.
Stephen won a post tournament jackpot.
There were two other matches played, both in Premier Two Blue.
Stephen defeated Alan Joicey, and Natalie Singh beat Ismail Yilmaz.
04/04/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Stephen Little and Ismail Yilmaz over Natalie Singh and Chris Hughes.
And in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, James Lintell-Smith beat Ed Turner at the Sugar Loaf, Easton, while online Larry Deferville scored his first ever Bristol Backgammon win at the expense of Gerald Whitehouse and Simon Hughes pipped Kylie Hedges.
Kylie is now eliminated, while James, Ed, Larry and Gerald have one life apiece remaining.
Simon still has both lives intact.
04/04/23: Round robin wins for Stephen and Frank
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, including those in Brunel Trophy ties (see the story immediately below this one).And twelve contested the opening Spring Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.
Six at Sportsmans and six online formed single groups, with Flora von Michel making a welcome competitive debut at Sportsmans.
Stephen Little won the live group, while Frank Jones triumphed online.
In Stephen's group the side pool was shared by joint second placers George Georgiou and Andy Zographou.
So Stephen, then Frank, lead the SGP after the opening forays.
04/04/23: Monday's Brunel Trophy round-up
There were five Brunel Trophy matches played on Monday.As the deadline for completion of second round matches approaches, many minds were concentrated on tidying up the many loose ends.
The Fox Den, Stoke Gifford, played host to Frank Jones's victory over Mike Smith.
And George Georgiou defeated Andy Zographou at Sportsmans before the Monday tournament.
Online there were wins for Rosemary Whitehouse, Simon Baker and Richard Davies, over Mandy Macdonald, Robin Gunney and Eamonn Reay.
For Mike, Andy and Eamonn the defeats brought about their elimination from the tournament.
Robin, Mandy and Rosemary are down to a single life.
But Frank, George, Simon and Richard retain both lives.
Six second round ties remain to be completed before Sunday's third round draw.
02/04/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were four matches played on Sunday.In Premier Two Blue Stephen Little defeated league leader Dave Pym.
Michael Corbett beat Martha Beal in Premier Three Yellow.
And in Premier Three Green Neil Edwards overcame Andy Zographou.
Meanwhile in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, Chris Hughes beat Hazel Harper, so Hazel is now eliminated.
01/04/23: Saturday's action
There were three matches played on Saturday.In the top flight Neil Young continued his impressive campaign with a victory over Cecilia Rogers, which moves him to within three points of the lead.
Martha Beal won her Premier Three Yellow encounter with Phil Doubtfire to displace him in second place.
And Steffen Nowak defeated Simon Tracy in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, eliminating Simon from the competition.
(This was earlier assumed to be a league match).
01/04/23: Added money boost for Thursday's Handicap Trophy tournament
An anonymous sponsor has added £90 to the prize pool for this coming Thursday's Handicap Trophy tournament at the casino.The idea is to boost the attendance, not only in attracting back some players who may not have been along much recently, but also in drawing in newer players who will benefit from the chance to play their more experienced counterparts with the benefit of a few points start.
The sponsorship would have the effect of, for example, doubling the tournament prize pool for a ten player tournament.
01/04/23: Sixteen penalised at the first Premier League checkpoint
The first Premier League checkpoint of the season passed at midnight on Friday.The good news was that everyone avoided the dreaded fate of expungement from the league.
But sixteen players have incurred either one, two or three penalty points for being behind the relevant schedule.
That's three players in Premier One, six in Premier Two Blue, three in Premier Two Red and four in Premier Three Yellow.
Only Premier Three Green had a clean bill of health.
All of the penalties can be clawed back by complying with the terms of the May 31st checkpoint.
31/03/23: Friday's Premier League results round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.Premier Two Red was the busiest division, with three results.
There were wins for Ian Tarr, James Lintell-Smith and Jon Organ, over Pearl Foster, Steffen Nowak and Adam Sinclair.
Jon's win was the result of the day, being bottom of the league against top.
The day's other winner was Rosemary Whitehouse, who defeated Michael Corbett in Premier Three Yellow.
31/03/23: George wins GP10 tournament
There were just ten players in action on Thursday, seven of them to contest the third of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament George Georgiou was the main flight winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had defeated Tim Line in the semi-final after receiving a quarter-final bye.
Cynthia Roberts took the consolation flight with victories over Hazel and Tim.
Ian has moved into the GP10 lead, just ahead of George and the absent Gaz Owen.
There were three Premier Two matches played.
In the Blue Division the Swan, Almondsbury, was the latest new Bristol Backgammon venue, hosting Stephen's victory over Alan Joicey.
And an online double header saw 11-10 wins for both Ed Turner and James Lintell-Smith in the Red Division.
29/03/23: Ian wins Wednesday tournament
There were just eleven players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the thirteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Ian Tarr, whose victims were Elias Hamati, Chris Hughes and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there by defeating John Curran and Adam Sinclair.
Stephen Little took the consolation flight with wins over John and Elias.
Ian also won a post tournament jackpot.
There were two other matches played.
If Ian's evening went well, his afternoon had offered a stark contrast, when he suffered a Premier Two Red whitewash at the hands of Steffen Nowak.
In Premier Three Green Richard Owsley beat Caroline Boulton.
29/03/23: Tuesday's Premier League and Brunel Trophy round-up
There were nine matches played on Tuesday.In the second round of the 2023 Brunel Trophy Richard Owsley defeated Simonetta Herrera.
Simonetta still has one life remaining, but Richard retains both of his.
Kev Peters suffered a damaging day in Premier One, losing to Simon Baker before being beaten twice by Stuart Mann.
Another busy player was Chris Hughes in Premier Two Blue.
A defeat by Alan Joicey was followed by a double header with Simon Hughes, where each player won once.
And in the same division league leader Dave Pym lost narrowly to Stephen Little.
Meanwhile in Premier Two Red it was business as usual for leader Adam Sinclair, who defeated Ed Turner.
28/03/23: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, fourteen of them to contest the third Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix sessions across two environments.And for the second time this season live players outnumbered those playing online.
Nine at Sportsmans were split into groups of five and four, while the five online formed a single group.
Adam Sinclair won the online group, while George Georgiou won the larger of the live groups.
The smaller live group saw honours shared by Tim Line and Stephen Little.
Adam moves fractionally into the NGP lead, ahead of Tim.
There were also four Premier League matches played.
A top flight win still eludes Robin Gunney, who lost at DMP to Chris Rogers.
In Premier Two Blue Simon Hughes became the last of the fifty-nine Premier League players to begin his campaign, but needs to wait for his opening win, having been pipped twice by Mike Smith.
And in the same division Alan Joicey defeated Hemal Getalal.
26/03/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Sunday.Premier Two Blue saw wins for league leader Dave Pym and Jim Green, over Alan Joicey and Paul Watts.
Simon Tracy beat Jon Organ in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Michael Corbett beat Rosemary Whitehouse and Frank Jones pipped league leader Warner Solomon.
25/03/23: Saturday's action
In the only match played on Saturday Phil Doubtfire defeated Rosemary Whitehouse in Premier Three Yellow.24/03/23: Friday league win for Alan
There was just one match played on Friday.In Premier Two Blue Alan Joicey beat Mike Smith.
23/03/23: Tim wins March Speedgammon event
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, just five of them to take part in the second of the year's eight Speedgammon Grand Prix sessions at the Rainbow Casino -- the lowest turnout ever in eighty-four incarnations of this event.The five formed a single round robin group, and Tim Line -- with three wins out of four -- came out on top.
Tim succeeds Hazel as the SGGP leader, by just five points.
There was also action in the Premier League and the Brunel Trophy.
George Georgiou scored a Premier One victory over Andy Boysan before the tournament.
Gary Plant defeated Chris Hughes at the Compass, Tormarton, in Premier Two Blue.
Meanwhile online Phil Charlton pipped Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Red.
And there were second round 2023 Brunel Trophy wins for Gaz Owen (over Ian Hedges) and Michael Petrakas (over Ian Tarr).
22/03/23: Gaz returns with a win
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the twelfth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, whose return from holiday coincided with a fifth Wednesday victory this year, his victims being Mandy Macdonald, John Curran, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian had arrived there after a first round bye by defeating Chris Hughes and Andy Boysan.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia Roberts and Chris.
Ian also won a post tournament jackpot.
There were three other matches played.
Pearl Foster defeated Matt Sharp in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, leaving both players with a single life to take into the third round draw.
Steffen Nowak beat Phil Charlton in Premier Two Red.
And Cynthia continued her Premier Three Green revival with a victory over Tom Chapman.
21/03/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.In what was effectively a sudden death encounter in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, Stephen Little defeated Cynthia Roberts.
Reigning champion Andy Boysan played two Premier One matches, and was on the receiving end of a whitewash at the hands of Gerald Whitehouse before defeating Robin Gunney.
Andy has already lost as many league matches as he did during the whole of his magnificent 2022 season, while Gerald is proving to be the surprise packet of the division, with the highest percentage of wins thus far.
Robin is still searching for his first league win of the season.
Premier Two Blue saw wins for Mike Smith and Chris Hughes, over Safi Tracy and Alan Joicey.
Ed Turner and Cliff Blofield were the Premier Two Red winners, Steffen Nowak and Tim Line being on the wrong end of those results.
And Richard Owsley beat Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
21/03/23: Adam wins Winter Grand Prix by a whisker
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, sixteen of them to contest the tenth and final Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.Six at Sportsmans formed a single group, while those online initially split into groups of six and five, until one player's technical problems reduced that to a lop-sided six and four.
Andy Boysan and Ian Anderson took the honours online.
But the live group is one match short of reaching a conclusion, with Hazel Harper's four wins putting her into a lead, which would be shared were Jake Mochnacz to win the unplayed match.
The final top overall WGP positions cannot be affected by the unplayed match, with George Georgiou destined to fall just short of threatening the top two, Adam Sinclair and Kev Peters.
Kev began the session five points adrift of Adam, who didn't contest the session.
Kev's second place finish -- just marginally behind Andy on PR -- in the larger online group gained him exactly five points after discards, so Adam took the prize on the strength of contesting one session fewer than Kev.
If Adam's absence was a calculated one, it worked a treat!
There were four other matches played.
The Lodekka, Brislington, was another new Bristol Backgammon venue, hosting the Brunel Trophy second round meeting of Chris Rogers and Neil Young, where both had two lives remaining.
Neil won to preserve his double lifeline.
There were Premier Two Blue wins for Hemal Getalal and Ismail Yilmaz, over Alan Joicey and Paul Watts, who thus lost his undefeated record.
And in Premier Two Red Pearl Foster defeated Jon Organ.
20/03/23: Premier Three prize money boost
The prize pool for Premier Three has, for the second successive year, been boosted by a £100 injection from an anonymous sponsor.This represents a 22% addition to the total entry fees for Premier Three, and pushes prize levels closer to those in Premier Two, where there are more players.
19/03/23: Sunday's Premier League results round-up
There were six matches played on Sunday.Neil Young and Simon Baker played a Premier One double header at the Pump House, and shared the spoils.
Premier Two Blue leader Dave Pym suffered a narrow defeat to Mike Smith.
Phil Doubtfire played two Premier Three Yellow matches, succumbing to league leader Warner Solomon before defeating Frank Jones.
And Neil Edwards beat Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
19/03/23: Saturday win for Michael
There was just one Premier League match played on Saturday.And that was Michael Corbett's victory over John Curran in Premier Three Yellow.
17/03/23: Friday's Premier League results round-up
There were four matches played on Friday.In Premier One Robin Gunney played twice, succumbing to both Gerald Whitehouse and Andy Boysan.
And in Premier Three Yellow there were wins for league leader Warner Solomon and Phil Doubtfire, Martha Beal and John Curran being their victims.
17/03/23: Tim wins GP20 tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, just seven of them to contest the second of the year's eight GP20 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament Tim Line was the main flight winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Cynthia Roberts and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr.
Ian had got past George Georgiou and Chris Rogers en route to the final.
George took the consolation flight with victories over Hazel and Steve Morris.
Tim takes over from holidaying Gaz Owen at the top of the GP20 table.
There were also six Premier League matches played.
In Premier Two Blue Safi Tracy, Michael Petrakas and Jim Green were winners, over Mike Smith, Alan Joicey and Ismail Yilmaz respectively.
Phil Charlton and Steffen Nowak scored Premier Two Red victories over Andrew Cobb and Mathew Nicholls.
And Cynthia Roberts completed what was almost certainly a unique hat-trick of 11-10 wins over Richard Owsley in Premier Three Green.
15/03/23: James wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the eleventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was former Premier League player James Newman, whose victims were Cynthia Roberts, Robin Gunney, Andy Boysan and -- in the final -- Elias Hamati.
Elias had arrived there after a first round bye by defeating Chris Hughes and Alan Joicey.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight with wins over Ian Anderson, Cynthia and John Curran.
Elias also won a post tournament jackpot.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Cliff Blofield and Steve Morris were eliminated from the Brunel Trophy, Cliff losing to unbeaten Kev Peters while Steve succumbed to Jake Mochnacz, who has one life remaining, at the Kensington Arms.
And in Premier Two Red second placed Simon Tracy defeated Steffen Nowak.
14/03/23: Elias sets a target for the Green Division
Just seventy-three days into the 334 day Bristol Premier League season we already have a player who has completed his campaign.Elias Hamati won the fifteenth of his twenty-four match Premier Three Green allocation against Richard Owsley and can now sit back and wait to see whether he has done enough.
In terms of promotion, the odds would appear to be in his favour, while the destiny of the Green Division title seems less certain.
14/03/23: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, seventeen of them to contest the ninth Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions in DMP round robins across two environments.Eight at Sportsmans and nine online formed single groups.
Kev Peters pipped Frank Jones online, while George Georgiou and Stephen Little tied for the leadership of the live group.
Kev has moved to within five popints of WGP leader Adam Sinclair with just next week's session remaining.
There was also Premier Two action.
In Premier Two Blue Mike Smith scored a narrow victory over Jim Green, while Phil Charlton notched a win against Jon Organ in Premier Two Red.
12/03/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were two matches played on Sunday.In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Tim Line defeated Hemal Getalal, so both players will go into the third round draw with a single life remaining.
And in Premier Two Red league leader Adam Sinclair scored another victory, this time against Jon Organ.
12/03/23: Saturday's Premier League results round-up
There were three matches played on Saturday.In Premier One there were wins for Ben Crowden and Cecilia Rogers, over Kev Peters and Simon Baker respectively.
And in Premier Two Blue Michael Petrakas scored a narrow victory against Gary Plant.
12/03/23: Paul beat Mike on Thursday
In a hitherto unreported result, Paul Watts scored his third successive Premier Two Blue victory over Mike Smith online on Thursday.10/03/23: Ian wins March Bristol Grand Prix event
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the third of our twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments of the year at the Rainbow Casino.Ian Tarr took the main flight honours this time, defeating Tim Line, Hazel Harper and -- in the final -- Nick Barham.
Nick had arrived there with wins over Neil Young and Stephen Little, making it to his third successive BGP final.
George Georgiou won the consolation flight with victories over Neil and Tim.
Nick has extended his BGP lead to 70 points, with Ian now in second place.
There was also Premier League action.
Neil had defeated Nick at V-Shed before the tournament in a Premier One encounter.
In Premier Two Blue the venue was Brookhouse Farm, Swindon, where two of Bristol Backgammon's most eminent Wiltshire residents met, Dave Pym clinching victory over Gary Plant with a very necessary double six to consolidate his divisional leadership.
Tim and Ed Turner met before the tournament, Ed winning their Premier Two Red match emphatically.
And Elias Hamati is now one match from completing his Premier Three Green season after a brace of victories over Marcel Bancroft.
With fourteen wins so far he will be hoping to defeat Richard Owsley in his final match to set an imposing title target for his pursuers.
08/03/23: Cecilia takes Wednesday honours
There were twenty-one players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the tenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Cecilia Rogers, whose victims after a first round bye were Gerald Whitehouse, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian had arrived there by defeating Chris Rogers, Tim Line and Ian Tarr.
Chris took the consolation flight with wins over John Curran and Stephen Little.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Elias secured his spot in the third round of the Brunel Trophy by defeating Natalie Singh, both players having one life remaining.
Andrew Cobb and Ian Tarr played out a Premier Two Red double header, Ian prevailing twice.
Richard Owsley defeated Neil Edwards in Premier Three Green.
And the Premier Three Yellow winners were Martha Beal and Phil Doubtfire, over John and Fred North respectively.
07/03/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were nine matches played on Tuesday.The first of the second round Brunel Trophy matches saw victories for Steve Pickard and Adam Sinclair over Phil Charlton and Alan Joicey.
Phil and Alan have both lost twice, so are the first to be eliminated from this year's competition.
Premier One rookies Gerald Whitehouse and Ben Crowden met, and it was Gerald who prevailed to maintain his promising start to top flight life.
Four Premier Two Red matches included a double header between Andrew Cobb and Hazel Harper, where Hazel won both times.
In the same division leaders Simon Tracy and Adam met differing fates, Adam edging home against Ian Tarr while Simon was losing to Tim Line.
And in Premier Two Blue there were wins for Paul Watts and leader Dave Pym over Alan and Chris Hughes.
07/03/23: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday to contest the eighth Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.Eight at Sportsmans formed two groups of four, while the eleven online were split into groups of six and five.
George Georgiou and Mathew Nicholls won the live groups, while Adam Sinclair and Andy Boysan took the honours online.
In Andy's group of five every player won twice, which left the PRs to decide finishing positions.
In Kev Peters' absence Adam took advantage, and has moved into a nine points WGP lead.
Before the live event Mathew met Hazel Harper in a Premier Two Red match, where Hazel prevailed.
05/03/23: Brunel Trophy second round draw made
The draw for the second round of the tenth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday by matching two numerical sequences.
The fifty-one entrants all survived the first round, as this is a double elimination tournament.
The lucky recipient of the only bye of the round is Warner Solomon.
Matches are to be completed by April 9th.
This time, of course, there will be players eliminated, and there could be anything between five and twenty casualties.
Check out the full draw here.
05/03/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Sunday.The final first round Brunel Trophy match saw George Georgiou score the narrowest of wins over Cecilia Rogers.
In Premier Two Red there were three matches.
Pearl Foster shared the spoils of a double header with Andrew Cobb, while Adam Sinclair took over at the top of the division by defeating Mathew Nicholls.
And Michael Corbett beat Frank Jones in Premier Three Yellow.
03/03/23: Friday win for Gary
In Friday's only action Gary Plant scored a Premier Two Blue win over Safi Tracy.02/03/23: Thursday's results round-up
There were three Premier Two matches played on Thursday.In Premier Two Blue Alan Joicey defeated league leader Dave Pym online, while Michael Petrakas beat Stephen Little at the casino.
Another match played at the casino was Tim Line's Premier Two Red victory over Ed Turner.
01/03/23: Gaz wins another Wednesday tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday to contest the ninth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, who has now won four of this series of Wednesday events this year.
His victims were Robin Gunney, Alan Joicey, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Andy Boysan.
Andy had arrived there by defeating Adam Sinclair and Elias Hamati after receiving a first round bye.
Robin took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia Roberts, Chris Rogers and Stephen Little.
Elias won a post-tournament jackpot.
28/02/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Tuesday.The Alma Tavern hosted a Premier One match, where Andy Boysan began his title defence with a narrow defeat to Simon Baker.
Premier Two Red pace setters Simon Tracy and Adam Sinclair kept up their strong starts with victories over Cliff Blofield and Ed Turner.
And two more first round Brunel Trophy ties were resolved -- Safi Tracy edging home against Michael Petrakas and Kev Peters defeating Hazel Harper.
28/02/23: Nineteen in competitive Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, eleven of them online for the year's second Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix session.And while five turned up at Sportsmans, two of those were playing a first round Brunel Trophy match, so the three others were denied the chance of competitive Nackgammon action and played random friendly matches.
The eleven were split into groups of six and five, where Nick Barham and Kev Peters took the honours.
Nick has taken over as NGP leader, five points ahead of Kev.
The Brunel Trophy match, between Steffen Nowak and Richard Davies, adjourned downstairs to the Hideaway Bar -- later described as a mausoleum by Richard -- but it was Richard who prevailed.
Online in the Premier League there were three matches played.
Phil Charlton scored a Premier Two Blue win over James Lintell-Smith.
And in Premier Three Green there were wins for Andy Zographou and Eamonn Reay over Marcel Bancroft and Caroline Boulton.
26/02/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were three matches played on Sunday.Premier Two Blue leader Dave Pym defeated Safi Tracy.
In Premier Three Green Cynthia Roberts had her revenge over Eamonn Reay after the result of the previous day.
And in Shepton Mallet Tim Line beat Hazel Harper in the held over main flight final from Thursday's Handicap Trophy tournament.
This latter match was a second attempt, after an earlier effort had failed to take into account the handicap differential.
Tim has won both of this year's HT events, and has established a 70 points lead over second placed Hazel.
26/02/23: Saturday's Premier Three action
There were two Premier Three matches played on Saturday.In the Yellow Division Martha Beal defeated Frank Jones.
And Eamonn Reay scored a Green Division victory over Cynthia Roberts.
24/02/23: Friday's Brunel Trophy round-up
Four first round Brunel Trophy matches were played on Friday.At a new venue for Bristol Backgammon -- the Dark Horse, Redfield -- Frank Jones defeated James Lintell-Smith, to the accompaniment of a heavy rock sound-track.
And online there were wins for Gerald Whitehouse, Warner Solomon and Simon Baker, who respectively despatched Pearl Foster, Alan Joicey and Cynthia Roberts.
Just four of the first round matches remain to be resolved before the second round draw on Sunday March 5th.
24/02/23: Tim and Hazel in Handicap Trophy final
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the second of this year's series of Handicap Trophy tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.And the day featured two Bristol Backgammon debuts.
The main flight final was held over, as Hazel Harper and Tim Line decided to play it over the weekend as a "local derby".
Hazel came through the long side of the draw with victories over Frank Jones, George Georgiou and Ed Turner, while Tim's victims were Steve Morris and Stephen Little.
The HT leadership depends on the outcome of the final.
Should Hazel win, the pair will share the lead, but the reverse result would see Tim open up a 70 point gap.
The consolation flight honours went to Ian Tarr, who overcame Frank and Nick Barham.
Aidan Kenny enjoyed his competitive debut, and also had the satisfaction of a consolation flight victory over Steve.
And in other action the second debutant, Larry Deferville, was pipped by Jim Green in the first round of the Brunel Trophy.
A Premier One match before the tournament saw Nick fall to defeat by Neil Young at the Pump House.
Natalie Singh beat Alan Joicey in Premier Two Blue.
And Caroline Boulton played twice in Premier Three Green, succumbing to Richard Owsley before defeating league leader Elias Hamati.
23/02/23: Nick wins Wednesday tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, including the twelve who contested the eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Nick Barham, who defeated Simon Tracy, Adam Sinclair, Alan Joicey and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there by defeating Ian Anderson and Chris Rogers after receiving a first round bye.
Chris Hughes took the consolation flight with wins over Andy Boysan and John Curran.
Ian won a post-tournament jackpot.
There were also two Premier League matches played.
Mathew Nicholls scored a Premier Two Red win over Hazel Harper.
And in Premier Three Green Richard Owsley defeated Neil Edwards.
21/02/23: Tuesday's results round-up
There were three matches played on Tuesday, one in the Premier League and two in the Brunel Trophy.In the first round of the Brunel Trophy there were wins for Chris Hughes (at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham) and Simon Hughes over Stephen Little and Tim Line.
And in Premier Two Red Ed Turner defeated Phil Charlton.
20/02/23: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty of them to contest the seventh Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.Six at Sportsmans formed a single group, while the fourteen online were split into groups of seven.
Stephen Little won the live group, while Nick Barham and Natalie Singh took the honours online.
Andy Boysan won the side pool in Natalie's group, while George Georgiou did likewise live.
Kev Peters still holds the WGP lead, with Adam Sinclair eleven behind.
There were three other matches played.
Matt Sharp won a first round Brunel Trophy tie against Jake Mochnacz at the club, and the same pair took a step towards resolving the unfinished Nackgammon Grand Prix session from three weeks ago.
Meanwhile Hemal Getalal was scoring his first Premier Two Blue win of the season against league leader Dave Pym.
19/02/23: Sunday's results round-up
There were four matches played on Sunday, three in the Premier League and one in the Brunel Trophy.The Plough, Easton, became the latest new Bristol Backgammon venue, when James Lintell-Smith scored the narrowest possible win over Premier Two Red leader Simon Tracy.
Online in Premier Two Blue Ismail Yilmaz halted Chris Hughes early season winning run.
And Michael Corbett defeated Mandy Macdonald in Premier Three Yellow.
And the first round Brunel Trophy action saw a narrow win for Ian Tarr over Paul Watts.
18/02/23: Saturday's results round-up
There were six matches played on Saturday, four in Premier Three and two in the Brunel Trophy.In Premier Three Green Elias Hamati scored a brace of wins over Andy Zographou to pull away at the top of the league.
Martha Beal played twice in the parallel Yellow Division, succumbing to league leader Warner Solomon before defeating Mandy Macdonald.
The first round Brunel Trophy action saw wins for Neil Young and Hemal Getalal over Elias and Simon Tracy repectively.
17/02/23: Friday's Premier League action
There was just one Premier League match played on Friday.Elias Hamati pipped Eamonn Reay in a Premier Three Green match, and moves to the top of the league.
16/02/23: Ian wins GP10 tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the second of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament Ian Tarr was the main flight winner, defeating Tom Chapman, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- George Georgiou.
George had got past Tim Line and Gaz Owen en route to the final.
Steve Morris took the consolation flight with victories over Hazel Harper and Tom.
Gaz's early GP10 lead has been cut to 5 points by Ian.
There were two other matches played.
In the Brunel Trophy first round Adam Sinclair defeated Andy Zographou.
And in Premier Three Green Richard Owsley beat Eamonn Reay.
16/02/23: Chris Hughes wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-three players in action on Wednesday, including the twelve who contested the seventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Chris Hughes, who defeated Ian Anderson, Gaz Owen, Alan Joicey and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived there by defeating Ian Tarr and Elias Hamati after receiving a first round bye.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight with wins over Adam Sinclair, Tim Line and Frank Jones.
Ian Tarr won a post-tournament jackpot.
There were also six Premier League matches and two Brunel Trophy first round ties played.
In the Brunel Trophy there were wins for Simonetta Herrera and Ed Turner, over Steve Pickard and Cliff Blofield respectively.
Tim and Mathew Nicholls played a Premier Two Red double header after the tournament, with honours shared.
Ismail Yilmaz defeated Gary Plant in Premier Two Blue.
Neil Edwards had his amazing run of Premier Three Green wins ended by Eamonn Reay.
And Fred North ventured into Bristol from Wantage to play Frank Jones at the Fox Den, Stoke Gifford, and Mandy Macdonald in Windmill Hill.
He won both Premier Three Yellow encounters.
14/02/23: Tuesday's Premier League round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Blue Chris Hughes continued his winning start to the season at the expense of Hemal Getalal.
Ian Tarr visited Simon Tracy in Henleaze for a Premier Two Red match and was defeated, while online Adam Sinclair narrowly beat Hazel Harper.
And Elias Hamati scored a Premier Three Green win over Eamonn Reay.
There was also a first round Brunel Trophy match played, Andy Boysan defeating Mike Smith.
14/02/23: Twenty-two in Monday action
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, eighteen of them to contest the sixth Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions in DMP across two environments.There was a group of seven at Sportsmans and one of eleven online.
Andy Boysan won the online group, while the live group saw a tie for the lead between Tim Line and Ian Tarr.
Kev Peters holds the WGP lead, with Adam Sinclair eleven points behind.
There were also three Premier League matches played.
Simon Baker met Stuart Mann at the Pump House, where they shared their Premier One spoils.
And Fred North defeated John Curran in Premier Three Yellow.
13/02/23: Premier Three sponsorship boost
An anonymous player has added £100 to the prize pot for Premier Three Green and Premier Three Yellow.The initial prize pot of £450 reflects the entry fees paid by the eighteen Premier Three starters.
That total is lower than the pot for Premier Two, where there are more players.
So the overall Premier Three total is now £550.
12/02/23: Sunday's Premier League action
There were seven Premier League matches played on Sunday.In Premier One Gaz Owen defeated Ben Crowden.
Premier Two Blue saw most action, with victories for Michael Petrakas, Alan Joicey and Chris Hughes over Jim Green, Mike Smith and league leader Dave Pym.
Tim Line visited Simon Tracy and came away with a Premier Two Red victory, Simon's first league defeat of the season.
And Neil Edwards continued his remarkable return to action with a ninth successive Premier Three Green win, this time over Tom Chapman.
In the same division Andy Zographou beat Elias Hamati.
11/02/23: Saturday's results round-up
There were five matches played on Saturday.In Premier One Ben Crowden had a busy day, defeating Cecilia Rogers before succumbing to Chris Rogers -- for Chris's first league win in seven -- and Gaz Owen.
The other two results came in the first round of the 2023 Brunel Trophy, where Natalie Singh beat Nick Barham and Gaz defeated Rosemary Whitehouse.
10/02/23: Friday's action
There were two matches played on Friday.In Premier One at the Pump House Gerald Whitehouse defeated Neil Young.
Online Eamonn Reay and Chris Rogers met in the Brunel Trophy, Chris prevailing.
10/02/23: George wins February Bristol Grand Prix event
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the second of our twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments of the year at the Rainbow Casino.George Georgiou missed the January tournament, but took the main flight honours this time, defeating Steve Morris and Rosemary Whitehouse before beating January winner Nick Barham in the final.
Nick had arrived there with wins over Stephen Little and Gaz Owen.
Stephen won the consolation flight for the second successive time, beating Ian Tarr and Hazel Harper.
Nick has extended his BGP lead to 65 points, with George in second place.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Premier One leader Chris Rogers is in the middle of an uncharacteristic slump, and his double loss to George before the tournament made it six league defeats in succession.
Gerald Whitehouse also finished off an adjourned match against Nick Barham before the tournament, adding the two points he needed for victory.
Meanwhile online Cecilia Rogers was beating Ben Crowden.
Eamonn Reay began his Premier Three Green campaign with a narrow defeat to Elias Hamati.
Richard Owsley was a Brunel Trophy first round winner at the casino, defeating Steve Morris.
And in the same competition Ian Hedges defeated Phil Charlton.
08/02/23: Another Wednesday tournament win for Gaz
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, who defeated Simon Tracy, Adam Sinclair, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson, to record his third Wednesday tournament win of the year.
Ian had arrived there by defeating Andy Boysan and Chris Hughes after receiving a first round bye.
Andy took the consolation flight with wins over Elias Hamati and Nick Barham.
Stephen Little won a post-tournament jackpot.
There were also two Premier League matches played.
Cliff Blofield beat Hazel Harper in Premier Two Red.
And Rosemary Whitehouse began her Premier Three Yellow campaign with a victory ver Fred North.
06/02/23: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, fourteen of them to contest the fifth Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions in 3-point round robins across two environments.Five at Sportsmans formed a single group, while the nine online were split into groups of five and four.
While Ian Anderson and Adam Sinclair won the online groups, the live group saw a tie for the lead between Jake Mochnacz and Ian Tarr.
Kev Peters holds the WGP lead, with Adam six points behind.
There were also two Premier League matches played.
Ben Crowden defeated Kev in Premier One, while Gary Plant was beating Safi Tracy in Premier Two Blue.
05/02/23: Sunday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.Natalie Singh beat Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Blue.
Meanwhile Warner Solomon was losing for the first time this season in Premier Three Yellow against Fred North.
05/02/23: Saturday's Premier League action
There was just one Premier League match played on Saturday.Warner Solomon continued his unbeaten start to league backgammon with win number six over Phil Doubtfire in Premier Three Yellow.
03/02/23: Hazel wins opening Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, eight of them to take part in the first of the year's eight Speedgammon Grand Prix sessions at the Rainbow Casino.The eight were split into two round robin groups of four, with reigning SGGP champion George Georgiou and Ian Tarr scoring clean sweeps to win their groups.
They were joined in the semi-finals of the knock-out phase by second placers Hazel Harper and Tim Line.
And it was Hazel and Tim who turned the tables to reach the final, where Hazel recovered from 0-4 down to win.
Hazel is thus the opening SGGP leader.
There was also action in the Premier League and the Brunel Trophy.
Nick Barham defeated George in Premier One before the tournament.
Meanwhile online Natalie Singh pipped Alan Joicey in Premier Two Blue.
And Robin Gunney registered the 2023 Brunel Trophy's first victory, a narrow one over Kylie Hedges.
01/02/23: Tim wins latest Wednesday tournament
There were just twelve players in action on Wednesday to contest the fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Tim Line, whose victims were Chris Hughes, Adam Sinclair, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Elias Hamati.
Elias had arrived there by defeating Frank Jones and Nick Barham after receiving a first round bye.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight with wins over Frank, Robin Gunney and Chris Hughes.
Elias won a post-tournament jackpot.
01/02/23: Phillip Hill RIP
Sad news to report is that Phillip Hill, a regular player between 2001 and 2012, left us on December 22nd.A unique character, who will be well remembered by all who knew him.
He won three Bristol Open Grand Prix main flights between 2003 and 2004, and spent one season (2006) in Premier One.
31/01/23: Brunel Trophy first round draw made
The draw for the first round of the tenth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Tuesday.
There are fifty-one entrants, just one short of last year's all-time record.
The lucky recipient of the only bye of the round is Mandy Macdonald.
The matches are to be completed by March 6th.
Check out the full draw here.
31/01/23: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.Gaz Owen defeated Kev Peters in Premier One.
And Simon Tracy continued his fine start to the Premier Two Red season by beating Cliff Blofield.
31/01/23: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, nineteen of them to contest the opening Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix sessions across two environments.And the great news for purists was that the live players outnumbered those playing online.
Eleven at Sportsmans were split into groups of six and five, while the eight online formed two groups of four.
While Nick Barham and Adam Sinclair won the online groups, things were less clear cut live.
Tim Line won the smaller group outright, but the larger group was not finished in the prescribed time slot, with three matches still to be played.
Ian Tarr heads the provisional group table, but can be caught should Jake Mochnacz win his two outstanding matches.
For the moment Tim is the NGP leader, but should Jake fail to win those matches, Ian will edge ahead.
There were also two Premier League matches played.
Michael Petrakas defeated Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Blue, while Marcel Bancroft was beating Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
29/01/23: Sunday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.Ben Crowden scored his first win in Premier One at the expense of Robin Gunney.
In Premier Two Blue league leader Dave Pym continued his fine form by defeating Michael Petrakas.
Cliff Blofield defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Two Red.
And Cynthia Roberts notched her fourth win in five matches, beating Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Green.
28/01/23: Saturday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Saturday.In Premier Two Blue there were wins for league leader Dave Pym and Michael Petrakas, Dave defeating Hemal Getalal while Michael was beating Gary Plant.
Hazel Harper began her Premier Two Red campaign in Henleaze, where she lost narrowly to unbeaten Simon Tracy.
And another to maintain an unblemished record was Warner Solomon, whose fifth Premier Three Yellow victory came at the expense of Michael Corbett.
27/01/23: Friday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.Chris Hughes and Gary Plant began their Premier Two Blue season, Chris prevailing.
Tom Chapman completed two Premier Three Green matches, pipping Cynthia Roberts before succumbing to league leader Neil Edwards.
And Martha Beal notched her first Premier Three Yellow win of the season, overcoming Phil Doubtfire.
27/01/23: Gaz wins opening GP20 tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the first of the year's eight GP20 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament Gaz Owen was the main flight winner, defeating George Georgiou, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had got past Steve Morris and Tim Line en route to the final.
George took the consolation flight with victories over Steve and Hazel Harper.
So Gaz is the early GP20 leader, 35 points ahead of Stephen.
There were also five Premier League matches played.
In Premier One Neil Young defeated Chris Rogers online, while Nick Barham beat George before the tournament.
Dave Pym and Paul Watts were the winners in Premier Two Blue, defeating Natalie Singh and Hemal Getalal respectively.
And Richard Owsley's habit of being involved in 11-10 finishes in Premier Three Green was maintained -- unfortunately for him, in defeat by Cynthia Roberts.
26/01/23: Gaz wins second successive Wednesday tournament
There were just twelve players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the fourth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner -- for the second successive Wednesday -- was Gaz Owen, whose victims were Warner Solomon, Stephen Little, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Cecilia Rogers.
Cecilia had arrived there by defeating Elias Hamati and Tim Line after receiving a first round bye.
Elias took the consolation flight with wins over Chris Hughes and Andy Boysan.
Ian Tarr won a post-tournament jackpot.
There was also one Premier League match played.
Cynthia Roberts pipped Richard Owsley in Premier Three Green, the third time in as many matches that Richard has been a part of an 11-10 score-line.
24/01/23: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.Ismail Yilmaz defeated Hemal Getalal in Premier Two Blue.
And Elias Hamati scored a narrow victory over Richard Owsley in Premier Three Green.
23/01/23: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty-one of them for the fourth instalment of our Monday Club Winter Grand Prix competitions across two environments.And while eleven contested the online 3-point round robins in groups of six and five, the live session at Sportsmans was also well attended, featuring ten players -- including debut player Liam Connolly -- split into groups of five.
The online groups saw Kev Peters and Adam Sinclair victorious, while the winners at the club were Mathew Nicholls in one group and Hemal Getalal and Ian Tarr who tied for the lead in the other.
Kev has extended his lead in the MCWGP table to eleven points, with Adam now in second place.
And there was also Premier League action.
Chris Rogers suffered his third successive Premier One defeat, losing narrowly to Neil Young.
And Adam increased his Premier Two Red lead by defeating Mathew.
22/01/23: Sunday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.Pearl Foster defeated Mathew Nicholls in Premier Two Red.
And Elias Hamati shared the spoils of a Premier Three Green double header with Caroline Boulton.
21/01/23: Saturday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Saturday.Dave Pym defeated Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Blue.
And Marcel Bancroft shared the spoils of a Premier Three Green double header with Cynthia Roberts.
21/01/23: Friday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.Kev Peters inflicted a rare whitewash on Nick Barham in Premier One.
And Elias Hamati defeated Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Green.
20/01/23: Tim wins opening Handicap Trophy tournament; Stuart gives Premier One some hope
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, just eight of them to contest the first of this year's series of Handicap Trophy tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.Tim Line was the main flight winner, defeating Mary French, George Georgiou and -- in the final -- Steve Morris.
Steve had overcome Hazel Harper and Ian Tarr en route to the final.
The consolation flight honours went to Hazel, who beat Stephen Little and Cynthia Roberts.
There were also four Premier League matches played.
And after Gaz Owen ended his recent run of Premier One defeats at the expense of Neil Young, Stuart Mann was giving hope to other title contenders by halting the progress of Chris Rogers.
The pair met at the Pump House, where Stuart inflicted two heavy defeats on Chris, whose attempt to set a forbidding target for his pursuers now looks a little less imposing.
Then Tom Chapman inflicted another late night defeat on Elias Hamati in Premier Three Green.
19/01/23: Gaz wins Wednesday tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, whose victims -- after a first round bye -- were Ian Tarr, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Nick Barham.
Nick had arrived there by defeating Ian Anderson and Cynthia Roberts.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight with wins over Stephen Little and Ian Tarr.
There were also three Premier League matches played.
Chris Rogers defeated Gerald Whitehouse in Premier One after losing a quadruple gammon.
Mathew Nicholls and Steffen Nowak got their respective Premier Two Red campaigns under way, Mathew prevailing.
And Tom Chapman defeated Elias Hamati in Premier Three Green after the tournament.
17/01/23: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.Simon Tracy met Adam Sinclair in Premier Two Red, and Simon prevailed.
And Elias Hamati played two Premier Three Green matches, losing narrowly to Richard Owsley before defeating Tom Chapman.
17/01/23: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, eighteen of them for the third instalment of our Monday Club Winter Grand Prix competitions across two environments.And while ten contested the online 3-point round robins in two groups of five, it was heartening that the live session at Sportsmans featured eight players split into groups of four.
The online groups saw Kev Peters and Tim Line victorious, while the winners at the club were George "Gnasher" Georgiou and Matt Sharp.
Kev has taken over at the top of the MCWGP table, five points ahead of George.
And in the only league action Neil Edwards continued his astonishing start to the Premier Three Green season with victory over Marcel Bancroft.
15/01/23: Sunday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.Simon Tracy and Adam Sinclair were winners in Premier Two Red, defeating James Lintell-Smith and Pearl Foster respectively, Simon versus James taking place at a new Bristol Backgammon venue, Cote, The Mall, Clifton.
In Premier Two Blue Stephen Little got his revenge over Ismail Yilmaz for Saturday's defeat.
And Neil Edwards kept up the pace at the top of Premier Three Green by defeating Caroline Boulton.
15/01/23: Saturday's Premier League action
There were six Premier League matches played on Saturday.In the top flight Cecilia Rogers played twice, succumbing to Neil Young before defeating Gaz Owen.
Adam Sinclair was another to suffer mixed fortunes, beating Pearl Foster in Premier Two Red before losing to Simon Tracy.
In Premier Two Blue Ismail Yilmaz defeated Stephen Little.
And Phil Doubtfire notched his first Premier League win since 2000, narrowly defeating Michael Corbett in Premier Three Yellow.
13/01/23: Friday Premier Two win for Dave
The only Premier League action on Friday was a Premier Two Blue encounter.And Dave Pym beat Natalie Singh in a nail-biter.
13/01/23: Nick wins to take early Bristol Grand Prix lead
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, nine of them to contest the opening monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament of the year at the Rainbow Casino.Nick Barham took the main flight honours, shrugging off the disadvantage of having to play the only first round match, defeating Rosemary Whitehouse, Tim Line, Ian Tarr and, in the final, the fit again Hazel Harper.
Hazel had arrived there with wins over Gerald Whitehouse and Gaz Owen.
Stephen Little won the consolation flight, beating Steve Morris, Rosemary and Tim.
So Nick is the first BGP leader, with a 50 points cushion, and has an odds on chance of qualifying for the 2024 Bristol Masters.
There was also Premier League action.
Runaway Premier One leader Chris Rogers suffered a rare setback, losing to Kev Peters online.
And in the same division Nick and Gerald almost squeezed in a double header before the start of the tournament, Gerald registering his first top flight win before adjourning the return encounter with the score tantalisingly at 9-7 in his favour.
Elias Hamati has finished his second set of three Premier Three Green encounters.
Having previously defeated Cynthia Roberts three times, it has been a different story against Neil Edwards, who completed his hat-trick of wins yesterday to surge ahead in the division.
12/01/23: Andy wins Wednesday tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the second of 2023's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Andy Boysan, whose victims -- after a first round bye -- were Simon Tracy, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Nick Barham.
Nick had arrived there by defeating Gerald Whitehouse, Ian Tarr and Gaz Owen.
George Georgiou took the consolation flight with wins over Stephen Little, Gerald and Tim Line.
George also won a post-tournament jackpot.
There were also two Premier League matches played.
Neil Young defeated Gaz in Premier One, while Neil Edwards beat Elias Hamati -- inadvertently omitted from the tournament draw -- in Premier Three Green.
10/01/23: Reformatted Monday standings are now in place
The reunification of the Monday Club Winter Grand Prix has taken place.Director Ian Tarr's original attempt to rectify an anomaly in the points tariffs has now been revisited, and the results of that exercise show Adam Sinclair leading the standings, with Gaz Owen in second plvce.
10/01/23: Tuesday's Premier League action
The only Premier League matches played on Tuesday made up a double header in Premier One.And Neil Young and Stuart Mann shared the spoils at the Pump House.
10/01/23: Jake, Matt and Richard to the rescue
Once again there were seventeen players in action on Monday for the second instalment of our Monday Club Winter Grand Prix competitions.And while the twelve who contested the online DMP round robin made it pretty much business as usual, the evening's real story surrounded the live session at Sportsmans.
For some time now numbers have been perilously low for the live Monday session, the traditional breeding ground for new players to be welcomed to the fold, and sure enough the live session appeared doomed to non-existence when only two of the more regular Monday players turned up.
But the evening was saved in style with the emergence of no fewer than three new players!
Jake Mochnacz had been in touch and was expected, but then Richard Davies and Matt Sharp arrived from out of the blue to give the evening an altogether more healthy appearance.
All three threw themselves into the live DMP round robin, and all three emerged with credit -- Matt and Richard sharing the top grand prix points spoils with Stephen Little.
The online group saw Adam Sinclair victorious, with George Georgiou -- playing from Turkey -- in second place.
Director Ian Tarr is on the point of finalising a revised series of points tariffs, with the projected Winter Live Grand Prix and Winter Online Grand Prix being unified once more into a single competition.
The new tariffs will enable live contestants, who effectively had no chance of winning the MCGPs under last year's rules, not to be disadvantaged by the rewards stemming from the differing formats of competition in the two environments.
As well as encouraging live play rather than discouraging it, players who choose to play some live and some online sessions will also not be disadvantaged.
08/01/23: Sunday's Premier League action
Chris Rogers is setting the Premier One pace in more ways than one.After completing three more matches on Sunday, he is already one third of the way through his programme of fixtures, eight days into the 334 day season!
And he has won seven of the eight he has played.
Today he struck a major blow to Gaz Owen's title hopes by defeating him twice, and in between those two matches he found time to defeat Gerald Whitehouse.
Dave Pym suffered mixed fortunes in his Premier Two Blue activities, suffering defeat to Mike Smith before bouncing back to beat Ismail Yilmaz.
Warner Solomon maintained his strong start to the Premier Three Yellow season with victories over Michael Corbett and Mandy Macdonald.
And Neil Edwards leapfrogged Elias Hamati to the top of Premier Three Yellow, having inflicted Elias's first league defeat.
07/01/23: Saturday's Premier League action
There were seven Premier League matches played on Saturday.In Premier One Chris Rogers beat Cecilia Rogers in Chippenham, while online Gaz Owen got his season off to a winning start against Kev Peters.
Adam Sinclair notched a brace of wins over Cliff Blofield in Premier Two Red.
Neil Edwards made his long awaited return to league action with two Premier Three Green victories over Cynthia Roberts.
And Warner Solomon beat Fred North in Premier Three Yellow.
06/01/23: Friday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.In Premier One Chris Rogers beat both Ben Crowden and Kev Peters.
And Warner Solomon made his league debut, defeating Martha Beal in Premier Three Yellow.
05/01/23: Gaz wins opening GP10 tournament
There were just twelve players in action on Thursday, nine of them to contest the first of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.In the tournament Gaz Owen was the main flight winner, defeating Stephen Little, Ian Tarr, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Nick Barham.
Nick had got past Frank Jones and Steve Morris en route to the final.
Ian took the consolation flight with victories over Andy Zographou and Stephen.
So Gaz is the early GP10 leader, 50 points ahead of Nick.
There were two Premier League matches played.
In Premier One Chris Rogers beat Robin Gunney.
And before the tournament Stephen found the time to play a Premier Two Blue match with Jim Green, which Jim won.
05/01/23: Tim wins the year's opening Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday to contest the first of 2023's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Tim Line, whose victims were Simon Tracy, Ian Anderson, Alan Joicey and -- in the final -- Gerald Whitehouse.
Gerald had arrived there by defeating Stephen Little, Nick Barham and Gaz Owen.
Adam Sinclair took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia Roberts, Robin Gunney and Warner Solomon.
Ian Anderson won a post-tournament jackpot.
Before the tournament Cynthia and Elias Hamati played their second and third Premier Three Green matches, Elias winning both.
03/01/23: Seventeen kick off the 2023 Bristol Backgammon year
There were seventeen players in action on Monday to start off what we all hope will be a momentous and enjoyable year of Bristol Backgammon competition.The newly configurated grand prix competitions, the Monday Club Winter Live Grand Prix and Monday Club Winter Online Grand Prix got off to a slowish start, with nine -- split into groups of five and four -- online and five in a single group at Sportsmans.
There were clean sweeps in all three groups, Adam Sinclair and Kev Peters winning online and Gaz Owen winning live.
The new format attracted some criticism, and Director Ian Tarr is very likely to have a re-think.
The first two Premier League matches of the year were also played.
In Chippenham Cecilia Rogers scored a resounding victory over Chris Rogers in Premier One.
And after the online round robins Elias Hamati completed his first ever league match with a win over Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Green.
01/01/23: And then there were fifty-nine
The single vacancy mentioned in the December 28th story below has been filled.Warner Solomon has taken it up, and now the two Premier Three divisions are the same size, with nine players in each playing 24 matches apiece.
Recent news items
News items from 2023 (second half)
News items from 2022 (second half)
Back to Home Page