The top intermediate prize went to Peter Broberg, who was actually the only intermediate to compete over the quarter!
After the tournament Tim defeated Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
20/06/22: Brunel Trophy fifth round draw made
The draw for the fifth round of the ninth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Monday morning.
There are seventeen survivors from the fourth round -- the odd number necessitating the first bye of this year's competition.
As per the rules, this went to the player with the best win:loss record, with the number of wins recorded by each player's opponents thus far as a tie-breaker.
That honour went to Hemal Getalal, one of only three unbeaten players still in the draw.
The sixth round will comprise between nine and eleven players.
The matches are to be completed by July 24th.
The draw can be viewed here.
19/06/22: Sunday's Premier League and Brunel round-up
There were five matches played on Sunday.The final two fourth round Brunel Trophy matches were completed, and the results ensured the continued particpation of all four protagonists.
Andy Boysan's victory over Simonetta Herrera and George Georgiou's defeat of Simon Tracy at the Rainbow Casino ensured that all four have a single life remaining.
Ian Hedges scored a much needed Premier One win over Gaz Owen.
In Premier Two Red Hazel Harper and Tim Line met at Shepton Mallet, Tim winning.
And Marcel Bancroft beat Natalie Singh in Premier Three Green.
19/06/22: Natalie the latest to bow out of the Brunel Trophy
There were two matches played on Saturday.Gerald Whitehouse maintained his unbeaten record in this year's Brunel Trophy when he defeated Natalie Singh, who is eliminated.
The final two fourth round matches are both scheduled for today (Sunday), before this evening's fifth round draw.
And Hazel Harper's Premier Two Red promotion campaign is still well on track after her victory over Mike Smith.
17/06/22: George extends Speedgammon Grand Prix lead
There were just seven players in action on Thursday to take part in the fourth instalment of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.The seven formed a single round robin group, with no following knock-out phase -- the top two taking the prize money.
George Georgiou took the honours with five wins from six, Simonetta Herrera in second place with four victories.
George's SGGP lead is now a very healthy 135 points over second placed Ian Tarr.
15/06/22: Tim wins Wednesday round robin tournament
There were ten players in action on Wednesday, just six of them to contest the twenty-fourth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.And because of the low turnout, the customary two flight knock-out format was ditched in favour of a round robin of 5-point matches.
This week's winner was Tim Line, who won four of his five matches, Ian Anderson taking second place with three wins and a superior PR to that of John Curran.
There was also a fourth round Brunel Trophy tie, where unbeaten Simon Baker inflicted a defeat on Neil Young, thus terminating Neil's campaign for another year.
And in Premier Two Red Mike Smith continued his fine run of form with a victory over Jordan White.
14/06/22: Tuesday wins for Jim and Mike
There were two matches played on Tuesday.Chris Hughes made his exit from the Brunel Trophy, suffering defeat to Jim Green, who goes into the fifth round draw with a single life remaining.
And Hazel Harper's exceptional Premier Two Red winning sequence came to an end when she lost to Mike Smith.
Her nine match winning run has only been exceeded six times in the entire history of Premier Two.
14/06/22: Twenty-four in Monday action
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, nineteen of them to contest the ninth Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in DMP round robins across two environments.Fourteen made up the online group, while five (playing each other twice) played a live group at Sportsmans.
The online group featured a very close race, with four players winning nine of thirteen matches.
Kev Peters took the honours on the PR tie-break.
George Georgiou won the live group, with a clean sweep of eight wins.
Tim Line has already won the SGP title, while visiting Danish student Peter Broberg is the only intermediate to feature in the entire SGP programme.
There was also Premier League and >Brunel Trophy action.
Gaz Owen defeated Cecilia Rogers in their fourth round Brunel match, leaving both players with one life remaining as they head to the fifth round draw.
Andy Boysan continued his rich vein of form, recovering from a 4-8 deficit to defeat Simon Hughes to move into second place in Premier One.
And Andy Zographou beat Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Green.
11/06/22: Yellow Division wins for Hemal and Michael
Saturday's action was in Premier Three Yellow.And there were narrow wins for Hemal Getalal over John Curran and league leader Michael Petrakas over second placed James Lintell-Smith.
11/06/22: Bristol players star in Four Regions Challenge
The weekend's top event got off to a good start for our players on Friday evening.The Blackpool Imperial Cup deservedly attracts a large field from up and down the country.
And this year the highlight of Friday evening's prelude to the main event was the Four Regions Challenge, an event with teams of five players from each of Midlands and Wales, North and Scotland, South and East and South and West.
The drawing of the map made it pretty clear that the South and West team would effectively be a Bristol team, while the other teams were aseembled from the massed ranks of multiple clubs.
This, however, did not pose any problems for captain Chris Rogers, Gaz Owen, Stuart Mann, Andy Boysan or Tim Line whose team won the event.
10/06/22: Ian out of Brunel Trophy
In the only domestic action of Friday, Michael Petrakas progressed to the fifth round of the Brunel Trophy.His emphatic win signalled the end of Ian Tarr's campaign.
10/06/22: Roland wins June Bristol Grand Prix event
There were just twelve players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the sixth of this year's series of twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.Roland Herrera took the main flight honours, defeating Marcus Evans, Tim Line and, in the final, Ian Hedges.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Jim Green and Ian Tarr.
Jim won the consolation flight, defeating Marcus and Simonetta Herrera.
Simonetta extended her 10 points Bristol Grand Prix lead over Gaz to 22, with Roland four points further adrift.
Earlier online there was Premier Three Yellow action, where league leader Michael Petrakas suffered a rare defeat at the hands of John Curran.
08/06/22: Alan wins Wednesday tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the twenty-third of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Alan Joicey, whose victims were Cynthia Roberts, Andy Boysan, Gaz Owen and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived in the final via wins over John Curran and Natalie Singh.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight, defeating Cynthia and John.
In an earlier Premier Three Yellow match, league leader Michael Petrakas scored an emphatic win over Eamonn Reay.
07/06/22: Brunel exits for Alan and Robin
Two fourth round Brunel Trophy matches were played on Tuesday.And as both were effectively sudden death affairs, the defeats for Alan Joicey and Robin Gunney were terminal.
Their conquerors, Mike Smith and Ian Hedges, proceed to the fifth round draw.
07/06/22: Monday round robin round-up
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, seventeen of them to contest the eighth Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Eleven were split into groups of six and five online, while six played live at Sportsmans.
Ian Anderson and Kev Peters won the online groups, while there was a four way tie for the lead in the live event, and a three way split in the optional side pool.
Tim Line's lead in the SGP table remains at 38, and with just two sessions remaining that is an insuperable margin.
There was fourth round Brunel Trophy action.
At Sportsmans Ed Turner defeated Steffen Nowak, while Adam Sinclair beat Simon Hughes online.
Steffen and Simon are out of the year-long double elimination event, while Ed and Adam both have a single life remaining.
Earlier at the Windmill Hill City Farm Stephen Little scored a Premier Two Blue win over Mandy Macdonald.
05/06/22: Sunday's Premier Three round-up
Sunday's action was all in Premier Three.Natalie Singh grabbed a brace of wins against Mathew Nicholls to cement her place in the Green Division promotion bracket.
Meanwhile Eamonn Reay had a mixed day in the Yellow Division, narrowly defeating Caroline Boulton before suffering defeat at the hands of Hemal Getalal.
03/06/22: Alan wins GP20 tournament
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, including the nine at the Rainbow Casino who contested the fourth of this year's series of eight GP20 tournaments.Alan Joicey won the main flight, defeating George Georgiou, Cynthia Roberts and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr.
Ian had overcome Roland Herrera and Simonetta Herrera en route to the final.
Stephen Little took the consolation flight, defeating George and Roland.
George's GP20 lead has been reduced to just five points by Ian, with Simonetta not far behind.
There was a Premier One match before the tournament, where Andy Boysan won again, this time at the expense of George.
And online, in a fourth round meeting of two hitherto unbeaten Brunel Trophy players, Hemal Getalal prevailed against Safi Tracy.
02/06/22: Warner takes Wednesday tournament honours
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday to contest the twenty-second of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Warner Solomon, whose victims were Stephen Little, Ian Anderson, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Alan Joicey.
Alan had arrived in the final via wins over Hazel Harper, Robin Gunney and Gaz Owen.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight, defeating Stephen Little and Hazel Harper.
01/06/22: Five penalised at May 31st checkpoint
The Premier League May checkpoint passed at midnight, and five players have penalty issues to deal with.Premier Two Red, Premier Three Green and Premier Three Yellow all came through with a clean bill of health.
In Premier Two Blue Mandy Macdonald, away in Kefalonia, incurred a single penalty point, which can be clawed back by compliance with the terms of the July 31st checkpoint.
The other four players with issues are, unusually, in Premier One.
Simon Hughes has had personal issues to deal with, and would normally have been expunged by now.
But he is now ready to spring into action, and following negotiations with Director Ian Tarr he now has his very own checkpoint criteria to meet in July before returning to parity with the remainder of the division in September.
His penalty points have been amended to a total of six, which will be clawed back by compliance with his "special" July checkpoint requirements.
Others in the top flight to incur initial penalties are George Georgiou (3 points), Andy Boysan (2) and Neil Young (1).
31/05/22: Tuesday win for Ian
In Tuesday's only action Ian Tarr whitewashed Jon Organ in a Premier Two Blue encounter.31/05/22: Twenty-nine in Monday action
There were twenty-nine players in action on Monday, including the twenty who contested the monthly Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix event across two environments.Eleven online were split into groups of six and five, while the nine who made it to Sportsmans formed groups of five and four.
Visiting Danish student Peter Broberg made his Bristol Backgammon debut in the live session.
Sadly for us, his visit is a short one.
John Curran and Nick Barham were the online group winners, although Andy Boysan won the side pool in John's group.
The live session saw George Georgiou win the smaller group, while Mathew Nicholls and Ian Tarr shared the spoils of the larger one.
Tim Line's NGP lead has been narrowed to eight points, with Ian Anderson heading the pursuers.
There was also Premier League action.
Simon Baker defeated Ian Hedges in Premier One.
In Premier Two Blue there were narrow wins for Ian Tarr and Jon Organ over Chris Hughes and Safi Tracy.
Gerald Whitehouse beat Andrew Cobb in Premier Two Red.
And Eamonn Reay continued his winning run with a victory over Kylie Hedges in Premier Three Yellow.
29/05/22: Bristol well represented in Four Nations tournament
The second annual online four-way international team event between the home nations this weekend saw England take the title, after Wales won last year's inaugural event.There was a prominent Bristol presence in the event, which comprised four squads selecting seven players for each match.
Gaz Owen and our occasional visitor Reece Hodges excelled for England, while Simon Baker and James Newman did well for Wales and Scotland repectively.
29/05/22: Steve wins on Sunday
There was just one Premier League match played on Sunday.And Steve Morris hauled himself off the bottom of Premier Two Blue with a resounding win over Chris Hughes.
27/05/22: Friday's Premier League round up
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.Simon Baker played and lost two Premier One matches, both 8-11.
His conquerors -- Gaz Owen and Andy Boysan -- both consolidated their title claims.
And Rosemary Whitehouse defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Three Green.
27/05/22: Ben wins Handicap Trophy tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Rainbow Casino to contest the fourth of this year's series of nine Handicap Trophy tournaments.Ben Crowden was the main flight winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had overcome Roland Herrera, Simonetta Herrera and Cynthia Roberts en route to the final.
The consolation flight honours went to George Georgiou, who defeated Jim Green, Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr.
George's lead in the HT standings is reduced to 65 points, with Tim now in second place.
There was also Premier League action.
Online Cliff Blofield defeated Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Blue, while Cynthia Roberts completed her twenty-fourth and last Premier Three Green match, signing off with a victory over in form Rosemary Whitehouse.
And in Premier Three Yellow Hemal Getalal visited Michael Corbett in Fishponds, suffering a defeat.
26/05/22: Kev wins Wednesday tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, just ten of them to contest the twenty-first of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Kev Peters, whose victims were John Curran, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Natalie Singh.
Natalie had arrived in the final via wins over Warner Solomon, Gaz Owen and Tim Line.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight, defeating Elias Hamati and Cynthia Roberts.
There was Premier League action, too.
In Premier Two Blue Steve Morris suffered defeats at the hands of Ben Crowden and Steffen Nowak.
Mike Smith edged out Phil Charlton in Premier Two Red, while Rosemary Whitehouse scored her fourth Premier Three Green win in six days, leader Simon Tracy on the receiving end.
24/05/22: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.Andy Boysan scored two Premier One victories, Ian Hedges and Alan Joicey his victims.
Safi Tracy narrowly defeated Ian Tarr in Premier Two Blue to keep up the pressure on league leader Robin Gunney.
In Premier Two Red Mike Smith defeated Paul Watts.
Rosemary Whitehouse notched her third Premier Three Green victory in five days, this time against Cynthia Roberts.
And John Curran ended his recent run of Premier Three Yellow defeats by defeating Caroline Boulton.
24/05/22: Monday round robin round-up
Apart from those involved in league matches, there were twenty-one players in action on Monday, nineteen of them to contest the seventh Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Fifteen were split into groups of eight and seven online, while four played live at Sportsmans.
Adam Sinclair and Tim Line won the online groups, while there was a three way tie for the lead in the live event.
Tim's lead in the SGP table is now 38, with just three sessions remaining.
Also at Sportsmans, visiting Danish student Peter Broberg, in his first live backgammon scenario, being totally unaware of the rich backgammon tradition in his homeland, showed a lot of promise in his friendly matches with Director Ian Tarr, and may well return next week, although his stay in Bristol will be a short one.
Two more local students, Jasper and Solomon, were also introduced to the game by Ian.
24/05/22: Monday's Premier Two and Premier Three action
There were nine Premier League matches played on Monday.In Premier Two Red Phil Charlton and Andrew Cobb shared the spoils of a double header, while Gerald Whitehouse defeated Frank Jones.
There were Premier Two Blue wins for Ian Tarr and Stephen Little over Dave Pym and Mandy Macdonald respectively.
Stephen and Mandy began their match in the cafe at the Windmill Hill City Farm, but were forced to adjourn to the White Hart, Bedminster Parade, to complete the match when the cafe closed.
Kylie Hedges moved closer to the top two in Premier Three Yellow when she beat both John Curran and Hemal Getalal, while Caroline Boulton scored a much needed victory over Michael Corbett.
And Rosemary Whitehouse edged home against Pearl Foster in a Premier Three Green encounter.
22/05/22: Sunday win for Mike
In a Premier Two Red encounter on Sunday Mike Smith defeated Paul Watts.21/05/22: Saturday's Premier League results
There were four Premier League matches played on Saturday.Chris Rogers is aiming to become the first player to win the Premier One title for a third successive time, but suffered a blow when he was defeated by Alan Joicey.
In Premier Two Red there was a double header where Andrew Cobb twice got the better of Mike Smith.
And Cliff Blofield beat Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Blue.
20/05/22: Friday's Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.In Premier Two Red Kev Peters extended his league lead with a win over Gerald Whitehouse which included an eight-cube.
Steve Morris scored a much needed Premier Two Blue victory at the expense of Jon Organ.
And Rosemary Whitehouse got her Premier Three Green season up and running by defeating Natalie Singh.
20/05/22: Martin's victorious visit
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, including the thirteen who contested the fourth session of the GP10 series of ten tournaments at the casino.Among the starters was former UK team captain Martin Barkwill, visiting the area on business, a long way from his Newcastle home.
And the Bristol Backgammon welcome on this occasion extended to allowing him to win the tournament.
His victims on the night were Ian Tarr, Adrian Farthing and, in the final, George Georgiou.
The third in the series, back in March, was a round robin, but George has made it to the final of all three knock-outs, so it is not surprising that his points lead over second placed Tim Line is substantial.
George's route to the final took him past Roland Herrera, Cynthia Roberts and Tim.
The consolation flight went to Simonetta Herrera, who defeated Ian, Roland and Stephen Little.
There were also three Premier League matches played.
Nick Barham moved into second place in Premier One by defeating Stuart Mann.
Chris Hughes won a Premier Two Blue match against Dave Pym.
And in Premier Three Yellow Michael Corbett beat Hemal Getalal 11-7 in Fishponds.
18/05/22: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the twentieth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Ian Anderson, whose victims were Gaz Owen, Tim Line, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Chris Hughes.
Chris had arrived in the final via wins over Mandy Macdonald, Alan Joicey and Robin Gunney.
Gaz took the consolation flight, defeating Natalie Singh and Warner Solomon.
There was league action, too.
In Premier Two Red Gary Plant defeated Phil Charlton.
And Mathew Nicholls beat Rosemary Whitehouse in Premier THree Green.
17/05/22: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were five Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier One Nick Barham continued his progress towards the summit with a victory over Alan Joicey.
And at the Lansdowne Arms, Calne, Premier Two Red leader Kev Peters again won both sides of a double header, this time against Gary Plant.
Ismail Yilmaz pipped Steve Morris in Premier Two Blue.
And Andy Zographou scored his second win in three days, beating Mathew Nicholls in Premier Three Green.
17/05/22: Gaz and Tim score Monday clean sweeps
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, eighteen of them to contest the sixth Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Fourteen were split into two groups of seven online, while four who expected to be competing at Sportsmans shifted across to George Georgiou's Rendezvous in Denmark Street, when our usual venue was unexpectedly found to be closed for the day.
Gaz Owen and Tim Line excelled in the online groups, each winning every one of his six matches.
At the Rendezvous there was a three way tie for the lead.
Tim has now established a 37 points lead in the SGP table, a margin which will be difficult for his pursuers to peg back in the four remaining sessions, especially with discards beginning to bite.
There was earlier action, too.
The first of thirteen fourth round Brunel Trophy ties saw Chris Rogers win what was effectively a sudden death tie against Stephen Little.
And Michael Corbett defeated Kylie Hedges in Premier Three Yellow.
15/05/22: Sunday's Premier League round-up
There were seven Premier League matches played on Sunday.In Premier Two Red Kev Peters went some way towards transforming his season.
Having suffered relegation from the top flight last season, Kev had endured a stuttering start on his return to Premier Two.
But he completed two double headers and came away with four wins, his victims being Mike Smith and Adrian Farthing.
Michael Corbett completed two Premier Three Yellow matches.
Entertaining James Lintell-Smith in Fishponds, he suffered a narrow defeat, but later online he scored an even narrower victory over John Curran.
And Andy Zographou scored a much needed win in Premier Three Green over Cynthia Roberts.
15/05/22: Brunel Trophy fourth round draw made
The draw for the fourth round of the ninth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday evening.
There are twenty-six survivors from the third round -- exactly half of the original field.
There is just one pair of unbeaten players -- Hemal Getalal and Safi Tracy, coincidentally the two youngest players in the draw -- seven which are effectively sudden death, and five "mixed" ties (where one player has two lives and the other just one).
This means that the fifth round will comprise between fourteen and nineteen players.
The matches are to be completed by June 19th.
The draw can be viewed here.
14/05/22: Saturday's action
There were two matches played on Saturday, but only one of them counted!Alan Joicey edged home against Ed Turner in a Premier One match where both players were much in need of points.
And Adrian Farthing's satisfaction in heavily beating Mike Smith was short lived.
The pair had already met twice in Premier Two Red, a fact which rendered their meeting unnecessary.
13/05/22: Michael beaten at last; Brunel Trophy third round completed
There were just two matches played on Friday.Michael Petrakas had to lose a league match at some stage, and it's finally happened.
After beginning his Premier Three Yellow career with nine successive victories, the run ended abruptly with a whitewash at the hands of Kylie Hedges.
And the final match of round three of the Brunel Trophy was also played.
It signalled the end of Ben Crowden's campaign as he suffered defeat at the hands of Gerald Whitehouse, who retains both his lives.
13/05/22: Andy wins May Bristol Grand Prix event
There were just fifteen players in action on Thursday to contest the fifth of this year's series of twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.Andy Boysan took the main flight honours, defeating Jim Green, Cynthia Roberts, Tim Line and, in the final, Simonetta Herrera.
Simonetta had arrived there via wins over Kylie Hedges, Hazel Harper and Gaz Owen.
George Georgiou won the consolation flight, defeating Alan Joicey, Roland Herrera and Ian Hedges.
Simonetta and Gaz now share the lead in the Bristol Grand Prix table, 85 points ahead of third placed Roland.
Earlier Andy had defeated George in the third round of the Brunel Trophy, where both players go into Sunday's fourth round draw with a single life remaining.
11/05/22: Adam takes Wednesday tournament honours
There were just fourteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the nineteenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Adam Sinclair, whose victims -- after receiving a first round bye -- were Ian Anderson, Warner Solomon and -- in the final -- Alan Joicey.
Alan had arrived in the final via wins over Gaz Owen, Tim Line and Elias Hamati.
Natalie Singh took the consolation flight, defeating Robin Gunney, Gaz and Ian.
Meanwhile Hazel Harper extended her Premier Two Red lead with a victory over Phil Charlton.
And Nick Barham was eliminated from the Brunel Trophy when he lost to Mike Smith, who has one life remaining.
10/05/22: Tuesday Premier League and Brunel Trophy results
Seven matches were played on Tuesday.Stuart Mann scored a Premier One victory over Cecilia Rogers.
Hazel Harper moved to the top of Premier Two Red with a brace of wins over Jordan White.
In the same division there were victories for Tim Line and Adrian Farthing over Paul Watts and previous leader Richard Owsley.
And in the third round of the Brunel Trophy Michael Petrakas beat Tom Chapman and Simon Baker did likewise to Simon Hughes.
Both victors have two lives remaining, Simon Hughes has one, and Tom is eliminated.
10/05/22: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, sixteen of them to contest the fifth Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in DMP round robins across two environments.The healthy presence of twelve made up the online group, while just four (playing each other twice) played a live group at Sportsmans.
The online group was a two horse race, with Kev Peters and Natalie Singh winning ten matches apiece out of eleven, a highly unusual return in a DMP group, Kev shading the group on PR.
Ian Tarr took the honours in the live group.
Tim Line still heads the SGP table, with Nick Barham fifteen points behind in second place.
Before the live group Gaz Owen overturned a 0-8 deficit to defeat George Georgiou in a Premier One match.
And Premier Two Red leader Richard Owsley suffered a setback at the hands of Jordan White.
08/05/22: Sunday Premier League and Brunel Trophy results
Four matches were played on Sunday.Simon Baker scored a Premier One victory over Ed Turner, while in Premier Three Green Natalie Singh defeated Andy Zographou.
Later Natalie lost her first Brunel Trophy life when Simonetta Herrera won their third round tie.
Another to lose a life was Ian Tarr, beaten by Safi Tracy.
Simonetta and Safi go into the fourth round draw with both their lives intact.
08/05/22: Saturday news round-up
Saturday saw two matches played, one in the third round of the Brunel Trophy, the other in the Premier League's top flight.Nick Barham was the league victor over Ian Hedges, as his title challenge gathers pace.
And Steve Morris exited the Brunel when beaten by Hemal Getalal, who still has both lives intact.
06/05/22: Robin maintains hot pace
In the only action of Friday Robin Gunney met Chris Hughes.And Premier Two Blue leader Robin kept up the pressure on his promotion rivals by recording his eleventh win in twelve matches thus far.
06/05/22: Nick wins Speedgammon Grand Prix tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to take part in the third instalment of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.The twelve were split into three round robin groups of four, with the top two from each qualifying for the second phase of straight knock-out.
Group winners were Gaz Owen, Nick Barham and Roland Herrera, with the performances of Gaz and Nick earning them quarter-final byes.
And it was Gaz and Nick who made it through to the final, with semi-final wins over Roland and George Georgiou.
Nick then won the final.
George had done enough to extend his already formidable SGGP lead from 75 to 105 points over second placed Ian Tarr.
There was also Premier One action.
Alan Joicey had endured a difficult start to life in the top flight, failing to register a single win in his opening six matches.
But the elusive first win came in some style, a whitewash of six-time Premier League champion Stuart Mann.
05/05/22: Natalie wins Wednesday tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday to contest the eighteenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Natalie Singh -- making her first Wednesday appearance of the year -- whose victims were Cynthia Roberts, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Alan Joicey.
Alan had arrived in the final via wins over John Curran, Nick Barham and Tim Line.
John took the consolation flight, defeating Elias Hamati, Safi Tracy and Gaz Owen.
Tim had earlier shared the spoils of a Premier Two Red double header with Jordan White.
And Cecilia Rogers won a third round Brunel Trophy tie against Steffen Nowak.
Both players go forward to the fourth round draw, Cecilia with two lives remaining.
04/05/22: Tuesday's Premier League and Brunel Trophy action
There were three matches played on Tuesday.In Premier One Nick Barham edged to victory over Cecilia Rogers and moved into the top four.
Phil Charlton defeated Adrian Farthing in Premier Two Red.
And Richard Owsley made his exit from the Brunel Trophy when he lost his third round tie against Neil Young at the Pump House.
Neil has one life remaining.
02/05/22: Tim and Ian win Monday round robins
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, twelve of them to contest the fourth session of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins on the Heroes site, with no action at Sportsmans due to their Bank Holiday closure.The twelve were split into groups of six, which were won by Tim Line and Ian Tarr.
Tim has regained the lead in the SGP table, with a nine point cushion over second placed Nick Barham.
There was also action in Premier Two Blue, where league leader Robin Gunney collected yet another victory, this time narrowly over Mandy Macdonald.
And two more third round Brunel Trophy matches were played.
Ed Turner defeated Cynthia Roberts, while Adam Sinclair overcame Jim Green.
Adam, Jim and Ed have one life apiece remaining, but Cynthia is eliminated.
01/05/22: What happened on Sunday
There were two matches played on Sunday.In Premier Three Yellow James Lintell-Smith scored another win, this time a narrow one against Caroline Boulton at the Post Office Tavern.
And John Curran made his exit from the Brunel Trophy when he lost his third round tie against Chris Hughes, who still has one life intact.
30/04/22: Saturday win for Eamonn
In the only action of Saturday, Eamonn Reay defeated John Curran in Premier Three Yellow.29/04/22: Friday's results round-up
There were three matches played on Friday.In Premier Two Blue Robin Gunney moved back to the top of the league by defeating Ismail Yilmaz and previous leader Safi Tracy.
And Frank Jones made his exit from the Brunel Trophy when he lost his third round tie against Alan Joicey, who takes one life with him into the next round.
29/04/22: Simonetta wins GP20 tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, including the eleven at the Rainbow Casino who contested the third of this year's series of eight GP20 tournaments.Simonetta Herrera won the main flight, defeating Gaz Owen, Cynthia Roberts, Tim Line and -- in the final -- George Georgiou.
George had overcome Stephen Little and Hazel Harper en route after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen took the consolation flight, defeating Tom Chapman, Gaz and Cynthia.
George has opened up a 40 points lead in the GP20 table, with Simonetta now in second place.
Stephen had earlier visited Simon Tracy for their third round Brunel Trophy tie, which Simon won.
Simon's two lives remain intact, while Stephen has one remaining.
There was also Premier League action.
Adrian Farthing beat Frank Jones in Premier Two Red, while John Curran was defeated by Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Yellow.
28/04/22: Adam wins Wednesday tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday to contest the seventeenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Adam Sinclair, whose victims were Tim Line, Gaz Owen, Alan Joicey and, in the final, Andy Boysan.
Andy had arrived in the final via wins over Cynthia Roberts, Nick Barham and Elias Hamati.
Chris Hughes took the consolation flight, defeating Ian Tarr, Steve Pickard and Tim.
27/04/22: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Red there were wins for Hazel Harper and Tim Line over Frank Jones and Paul Watts.
And Natalie Singh moved up to second in Premier Three Green with a narrow victory against Andy Zographou.
26/04/22: Jim wins 2022 Bristol Masters title
There were eighteen players in action on Monday.The highest profile match was the held over final from Thursday's Bristol Masters tournament.
Nick Barham and Jim Green had elected to adjourn to the Monday Sportsmans session, and it was Jim who emerged the victor from a close match to take his first Masters crown.
It was Nick's tenth attempt to win the title, but his first final -- although he has reached the semi-finals on five occasions now.
There was also Premier League action.
Chris Rogers extended his Premier One lead with a victory over Alan Joicey.
Stephen Little defeated Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Blue.
And Natalie Singh pressed her promotion claims with a win over Martha Beal in Premier Three Green.
The monthly Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix event was a mixed bag.
The upside of the equation was the online session, where groups of six and five players enjoyed their round robin sessions.
Frank Jones and Ian Anderson were the group winners, although Andy Boysan won the side pool in Frank's group.
Ian has narrowed Tim Line's NGP lead to eleven points.
The downside, however, was the turnout at the parallel live session at Sportsmans.
Apart from the Masters protagonists, there were just two players hoping to contest a Nackgammon round robin.
So Stephen and Ian Tarr had to content themselves with a couple of friendly matches.
Mondays at Sportsmans, formerly regarded as the prime time for welcoming new and developing players, are now in serious doubt for the immediate future.
24/04/22: The weekend's Premier League and Brunel Trophy action
There were three matches played over the weekend -- two in Premier Two and one in the third round of the Brunel Trophy.On Saturday it was a Brunel Trophy meeting of Pearl Foster and Robin Gunney, where both players were defending their only remaining life.
Robin won, so Pearl misses out on fourth round participation.
Sunday made it a mixed weekend for Robin, however, when he was narrowly defeated in a Premier Two Blue encounter with Ian Tarr.
This ended a magnificent sequence of twelve Premier League wins, only exceeded four times in Premier League history.
The run stretched back to the tail end of last season.
The other Sunday action was in Premier Two Red, where Gerald Whitehouse pipped Tim Line.
22/04/22: Nick and Jim to contest 2022 Masters final
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday at the Rainbow Casino.Sixteen of those were there vying for one of our most prestigious titles in the 22nd annual Bristol Masters tournament.
Although five of the original qualifiers were unable to take up their rightful places, the line of eager reserves, using finishing positions from the 2021 Bristol Grand Prix, filled the gaps.
Jim Green, victor over Hemal Getalal, Cynthia Roberts and Ian Hedges, and Nick Barham, whose victims were Roland Herrera, Mike Smith and Gaz Owen, made it through to the final, but decided to rearrange this for Monday evening at Sportsmans.
The other action involved a Premier Three Yellow encounter between Kylie Hedges and James Lintell-Smith, where James consolidated his second position in the league table.
20/04/22: Wednesday tournament cancelled after power outage
There were just seven players in action on Wednesday, although it would have been a lot more but for a fiendishly timed power outage at Ian Tarr's home.This rendered him unable to run the regular Wednesday online tournament.
There was also Premier League action -- some regardless of the cancellation, some stemming precisely from it.
In Premier One Nick Barham defeated Gaz Owen.
League leader Richard Owsley won a Premier Two Red meeting with Tim Line.
And Pearl Foster moved into second place in Premier Three Green with victories over Mathew Nicholls and Andy Zographou.
20/04/22: Intermediates Trophy postponed
The annual Bristol Intermediates Trophy knock-out event, scheduled for Thursday at the Rainbow Casino, has been postponed, as it appeared unlikely that the requisite minimum number of entrants (four) would be reached.The intention now is to stage the event later in the year when, hopefully, more new players will have emerged.
19/04/22: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Red Hazel Harper scored a brace of wins, over Adrian Farthing and Frank Jones.
And in Premier Three Green the winners were Pearl Foster and league leader Simon Tracy, both by 11-10 scorelines.
Pearl's victim was Mathew Nicholls, while Andy Zographou lost a marathon against Simon in Henleaze.
19/04/22: Nick edges ahead in Spring Grand Prix
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, sixteen of them to contest the third session of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins on the Heroes site, with no action at Sportsmans due to their Bank Holiday closure.The sixteen were split into groups of eight, which were won by Safi Tracy and Nick Barham.
Andy Boysan won the side pool in Safi's group.
Nick has edged into the lead in the SGP table, with a whole clutch of players in close pursuit.
There was also action in two of the five Premier League divisions.
In Premier Two Red there were wins for Hazel Harper and Frank Jones over league leader Richard Owsley and Tim Line.
And Mathew Nicholls played three matches in Premier Three Green.
A victory over league leader Simon Tracy at the Post Office Tavern was sandwiched between online defeats at the hands of Marcel Bancroft and Cynthia Roberts.
17/04/22: Sunday win for Ian
In the only Sunday action, Ian Hedges defeated Nick Barham in a Premier One encounter.17/04/22: Covid modifies Masters field
This Thursday sees the staging of the 22nd annual Bristol Masters tournament, which serves as a "Champion of Champions" title event.Sixteen players who qualified via various 2021 exploits are champing at the bit to take this title, but two -- Adam Sinclair and Warner Solomon -- had to withdraw for reasons of distance, allowing others from the reserve list -- Safi Tracy and Elias Hamati -- to toe the start line.
And now two more contenders have had to cry off.
Cecilia Rogers -- who is temporarily London based pending a move to Chippenham -- has contracted Covid, and Chris Rogers has understandably taken the decision to miss the event too.
This allows further "back door" entries for Steve Morris and Alan Joicey.
16/04/22: Saturday Premier League and Brunel Trophy action
There were three matches played on Sunday, two in the Premier League, one in the third round of the Brunel Trophy.Busiest was Gaz Owen, who followed up a Premier One win against Ian Hedges by inflicting a knock-out blow to Mandy Macdonald in the Brunel Trophy.
Gaz still has one Brunel life remaining.
The other match saw Michael Petrakas scoring yet another Premier Three Yellow win, this time over John Curran.
14/04/22: Nick wins April Bristol Grand Prix event
There were just twelve players in action on Thursday, including the ten who contested the fourth of this year's series of twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.Nick Barham took the main flight honours, defeating Tim Line, George Georgiou and, in the final, Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via wins over Simon Tracy and Ian Tarr.
Simon won the consolation flight, defeating Tim and Simonetta Herrera.
Gaz has moved into the lead in the Bristol Grand Prix table, 25 points ahead of Simonetta.
There was also league action, where Safi Tracy extended her Premier Two Blue lead by beating Ismail Yilmaz.
13/04/22: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the fifteenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Ian Anderson, whose victims were John Curran, Reece Hodges and, in the final, Cynthia Roberts.
Cynthia had arrived in the final via wins over Safi Tracy, Simonetta Herrera and Alan Joicey.
Elias Hamati again took the consolation flight, defeating Ian Tarr and Tim Line.
There was also Premier League action.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Cliff Blofield and Ismail Yilmaz, who defeated Ben Crowden and Jon Organ.
And in Premier Three Yellow James Lintell-Smith beat John Curran.
12/04/22: Michael maintains strong start
Michael Petrakas's outstanding start to life in the Bristol Premier League continues apace.His Tuesday victory over James Lintell-Smith was his eighth straight win, and consolidates his Premier Three Yellow lead.
12/04/22: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty of them to contest the second Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in DMP round robins across two environments.Fifteen made up a mega-group online, while five played live.
The online group saw a win for Natalie Singh, while Roland Herrera took the honours in the live group.
None of the top three in the online group invested in the optional side pool, so the proceeds went to fourth placed Nick Barham. voTim Line leads the SGP table, with Elias Hamati in second place.
Earlier there had been third round Brunel Trophy action, with victories for Chris Rogers abd Ian Hedges.
In what were effectively sudden death ties that was bad news for Cliff Blofield and Ismail Yilmaz.
10/04/22: Sunday Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.Safi Tracy moved to the top of Premier Two Blue with a victory over Dave Pym.
And Andy Zographou suffered two Premier Three Green defeats, first to Cynthia Roberts, then to Natalie Singh.
10/04/22: Brunel Trophy third round draw made
The draw for the third round of the ninth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday afternoon.
The thirty-eight survivors from the second round are pitched together in some interesting pairings.
There are five pairs of unbeaten players, ten which are effectively sudden death, and amazingly only four "mixed" ties (where one player has two lives and the other just one).
This means that the fourth round will comprise between twenty-four and twenty-eight players.
The matches are to be completed by May 15th.
The draw can be viewed here.
09/04/22: Simon extends Green Division lead
There were three matches played on Saturday, all of them in Premier Three Green.Leader Simon Tracy had the best of a double header with Marcel Bancroft, and at this stage appears to be running away with the divisional title.
In the other match Pearl Foster defeated Natalie Singh.
08/04/22: Andy is final Brunel Trophy second round casualty
The last of the twenty-six second round Brunel Trophy ties was completed on Friday.And Andy Zographou was the fourteenth and last player to be eliminated at this stage of the year-long double elimination tournament, when he succumbed to Safi Tracy, who still retains both lives.
The third round draw will be made on Sunday.
08/04/22: Stephen wins Handicap Trophy tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them at the Rainbow Casino, of whom thirteen contested the third of this year's series of nine Handicap Trophy tournaments.Stephen Little was the main flight winner, defeating Ian Tarr, Tim Line, Mandy Macdonald and -- in the final -- Safi Tracy.
Safi had overcome George Georgiou and Ben Crowden en route to the final.
The consolation flight honours went to George, who defeated Simonetta Herrera, Jim Green and Ian.
George's lead in the HT standings is extended to 80 points, with Stephen now in second place.
George had earlier defeated Neil Young in a second round Brunel Trophy meeting of two unbeaten players.
And online in Premier Two Red Richard Owsley moved to the top of the division with a narrow victory over Frank Jones.
07/04/22: UK team third in Venice
Venice has been the venue for the WBGF Team World Championship over the past few days, and the UK team, captained by our own Chris Rogers, finished a very creditable third out of eighteen national teams.Gaz Owen and our occasional visitor Reece Hodges were also important parts of the UK squad.
The initial qualifying group of eighteen saw eight nations progress to the knock-out stages, and the UK were second in that table, just behind favourites Japan.
After a quarter-final victory over Austria, the UK lost narrowly to Japan in the semis, before defeating Sweden in the third place play-off.
Japan succumbed to the host nation in the final.
07/04/22: Roland wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the fourteenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Roland Herrera, whose victims were Simon Tracy, Ian Anderson, Alan Joicey and, in the final, Ian Tarr.
Ian had arrived in the final via wins over Cynthia Roberts and Chris Hughes.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight, defeating George Georgiou, Cynthia and Simonetta Herrera.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Ian Tarr defeated James Lintell-Smith at the Lock Keeper, while online Simon Hughes beat Paul Watts.
While Ian and Simon both retain two lives, their opponents are both eliminated.
And in a Premier Two Blue double header both results went the way of Stephen Little against Steve Morris.
05/04/22: Tuesday's Brunel Trophy round-up
There were four second round Brunel Trophy matches played on Tuesday.The winners were Pearl Foster, Gerald Whitehouse, Michael Petrakas and Simonetta Herrera.
Their victims were Chris Hughes, Hazel Harper, Phil Charlton and Jordan White.
For Phil, Hazel and Jordan it was the end of their involvement in this year's competition, having now lost both lives.
Chris, Pearl and Michael all have one life remaining, but Simonetta and Gerald are unbeaten.
Just four second round matches remain to be completed in time for the weekend's third round draw.
05/04/22: Elias, Tim and Simon are early Spring Grand Prix leaders
There were twenty-seven players in action on Monday, twenty-three of them to contest the opening Monday Club Spring Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Eighteen were split into groups of six online, while five made up a single group at Sportsmans, where new players Mary Bailey and Alan Storer spent some time with Director Ian Tarr playing some friendly games.
The online groups were won by Elias Hamati, Tim Line and Simon Tracy, while Simonetta Herrera won the live group.
Andy Boysan took the side pool in Simon's group.
So the opening SGP table sees Elias, Tim and Simon as joint leaders, with Simonetta just behind.
The only other action had come earlier when Cliff Blofield defeated Roland Herrera in the second round of the Brunel Trophy, a result which signals Roland's elimination from the tournament.
03/04/22: Bristol "A" take UK Clubs Championship crown
The top annual UK team event took place at the Liner Hotel, Liverpool, on Sunday, and the Bristol "A" team took the main title!
Pictured (courtesy of Hazel Harper) are (left to right): Ian Hedges, Tim Line, tournament director John Wright, team captain Andy Boysan (holding the Tutchings Trophy), Neil Young and Stuart Mann.
The group overcame NEBA "A" in the final.
Another team, dubbed Bristol Buccaneers, also competed well.
Captained by Simon Tracy, and also comprising Safi Tracy, Chris Hughes, Hazel Harper and Cynthia Roberts, the Buccaneers reached the semi-finals of the consolation flight.
The "A" team's success makes it the second time the title has been taken by a Bristol team.
Back in 2013 -- when the tournament was in its third incarnation, and still run by event founder Phil Tutchings at Moseley, Birmingham -- our "A" team, comprising Roland Herrera, Marcus Wrinch, the late lamented Paul Gilbertson, Gaz Owen and Julian Fetterlein, took the title, beating St Albans "A" in the final.
Later, when Phil declared himself no longer able to run it, Bristol Director Ian Tarr -- then a UKBGF board member -- led the UKBGF's initiative to revive the event and bring it under the federation's umbrella.
He ran the 2015 event at the Hanham Community Centre, and also the 2016 event at the Grosvenor Casino, Didsbury, Manchester.
The following year saw the current pattern emerge, where a different club each year hosts the event.
And it was in 2017 at St Neots, Cambridgeshire, that St Albans "A" got their revenge, narrowly defeating the Bristol "A" team in the final.
02/04/22: Saturday's league and Brunel action
There were three matches played on Saturday.A second round Brunel Trophy match saw Ed Turner defeat Elias Hamati.
Since both players had lost in the opening round, this was effectively a sudden death match, so it was Elias who exited the tournament.
The other matches were in Premier Three Green, where Natalie Singh experienced mixed fortunes.
After losing to Pearl Foster Natalie maintained her promotion challenge with a victory over Marcel Bancroft.
01/04/22: Eleven pick up points penalties at initial Premier League checkpoint
The first of the year's Premier League penalty checkpoints passed at midnight, and eleven players have picked up penalty points, which are all eligible for clawing back at the May 31st checkpoint.In Premier One Alan Joicey incurs two points and Andy Boysan one, while Simon Hughes incurs four, while also avoiding expungement on account of a bereavement.
Premier Two Red sees no fewer than six players incurring penalties -- Tim Line three, Phil Charlton and Hazel Harper two, Adrian Farthing, Frank Jones and Mike Smith one apiece.
Steve Morris is alone in Premier Two Blue in incurring a three point penalty.
Rosemary Whitehouse also collects three penalties in Premier Three Green.
And the remaining members of Premier Three Yellow have all cleared the checkpoint unblemished.
01/04/22: Roland wins GP10 round robin
There were just ten players in action on Thursday, including the six who contested the third session of the GP10 series of ten tournaments at the casino.The turnout was affected by absences of regulars, either on their way to Liverpool for the weekend's tournament or simply dozing off at the wrong time!
So, as dictated by the GP10 rules, six players signalled a change of tournament format, with a switch to a round robin of five-point matches.
And Roland Herrera fared best, succeeding in four out of five to take the overall win.
Ian Tarr pipped George Georgiou for second place on points difference.
However George -- who won both the January and February tournaments -- has extended his already impressive GP10 lead to 110 points, with Ian now in second place.
There was also Brunel Trophy and Premier League action.
Kev Peters is eliminated from the Brunel after a defeat at the hands of Simon Baker, who still has both lives intact.
Ian and Stephen Little met before the tournament to contest a Premier Two Blue match, which Ian won.
And Michael Petrakas continued his unbeaten start to the Premier Three Yellow season by defeating Hemal Getalal.
31/03/22: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the thirteenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Ian Anderson, whose victims were Robin Gunney, Tim Line, Cynthia Roberts and, in the final, Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via wins over Ian Tarr, Hazel Harper and Stephen Little.
Robin took the consolation flight, defeating John Curran, Frank Jones and Andy Boysan.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Jim Green won a battle of two unbeaten players against Tom Chapman.
Gaz scored another Premier One win over Stuart Mann.
In Premier Two Red Phil Charlton hauled himself out of the relegation bracket by defeating Paul Watts.
And Ben Crowden continued his encouraging Premier Two debut season with a Blue Division win over Stephen.
29/03/22: Tuesday's league and Brunel action
There were nine matches played on Tuesday -- eight in the Premier League and one in the second round of the Brunel Trophy.The Brunel Trophy match saw Robin Gunney score a victory over Ismail Yilmaz -- a result which leaves both players on one life remaining as they look forward to the third round draw.
Stuart Mann was the top performer in Premier One, getting the better of Ed Turner in a double header at the Bridge Inn, Yatton.
Gaz Owen also got in two matches, succumbing to Simon Baker before defeating Alan Joicey.
Premier Two Blue saw wins for Ian Tarr, Chris Hughes and Jon Organ over Ismail, Steffen Nowak and Stephen Little.
And the winner in Premier Two Red was Frank Jones against Richard Owsley.
28/03/22: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday, thirteen of them to contest the third monthly session of this year's Monday Club Nackgammon Grand Prix, held across two environments.Nine were split into groups of five and four on the Heroes site, while four more played in one group at Sportsmans.
The two online groups were won by Tim Line and Andy Boysan, while the live group saw a triple tie between Jim Green, Stephen Little and Ian Tarr.
Tim is establishing a handy lead in the NGP table, with Ian Anderson in second place, 21 points behind.
Alan Joicey won a post-tournament jackpot.
And there was also a Premier Two Blue encounter, Ismail Yilmaz edging home against Cliff Blofield.
27/03/22: Sunday Brunel Trophy and Premier League round-up
There were ten matches played on Sunday -- seven in the Premier League, three in the second round of the Brunel Trophy.Simon Tracy entertained Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green for the second successive day, this time gaining some revenge for the previous day.
And he later scored a Brunel Trophy victory over Steve Morris.
There were also Brunel wins for Mandy Macdonald and Steffen Nowak, over Ben Crowden and Frank Jones.
All six of those involved in the Brunel live to fight another day -- Simon and Steffen with both lives intact.
Jon Organ scraped a Premier Two Blue win over Dave Pym.
And there were Premier Two Red wins for Adrian Farthing, Paul Watts and Richard Owsley, over Mike Smith, Kev Peters and Gerald Whitehouse.
The Premier Three Yellow action involved wins for Eamonn Reay and John Curran over Caroline Boulton and Michael Corbett.
27/03/22: Saturday wins for Gerald and Andy
Two Premier League matches were played on Saturday.Gerald Whitehouse scored a Premier Two Red victory over Paul Watts.
And Andy Zographou visited Simon Tracy in Henleaze, coming away with an emphatic win over the Premier Three Green league leader.
25/03/22: Simon consolidates Green Division lead
In the only Friday action Simon Tracy scored a brace of Premier Three Green victories over Mathew Nicholls.The wins consolidate Simon's position at the top of the league.
25/03/22: George wins to take handsome Speedgammon Grand Prix lead
There were just thirteen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them to take part in the second instalment of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.The eleven were split into round robin groups of six and five, with the top three from each qualifying for the second phase of straight knock-out.
Group winners -- each winning every group match -- were George Georgiou and Stephen Little, whose performances earned them quarter-final byes.
George got past Ian Tarr in the semis, while Stephen succumbed to Roland Herrera, and George pipped Roland in the final.
George's seven wins from seven matches earned him a monster haul of 145 points, taking him into a very handy lead of 75 points over second placed Ian in the SGGP table.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Stephen made headway here, both before the tournament and afterwards, scoring a Premier Two Blue win over Ian and a second round Brunel Trophy victory over Tim Line, who is eliminated, while Stephen still has both lives remaining.
And in Premier Three Yellow Eamonn Reay defeated Michael Corbett.
24/03/22: A good day for Gaz
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the twelfth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Gaz Owen, whose victims were Elias Hamati, Tim Line, Robin Gunney and, in the final, Ian Anderson.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Nick Barham and Mandy Macdonald.
Alan Joicey took the consolation flight, defeating Chris Hughes and Steve Morris.
A post tournament jackpot was won by Ian Tarr.
There was also Premier League action.
In the afternoon at the Pump House Gaz scored an important Premier One win over league leader and reigning champion Chris Rogers, this just after Chris had beaten Stuart Mann.
Andy Boysan also maintained his challenge with a narrow win over Simon Baker.
And Jon Organ scored a Premier Two Blue win over Cliff Blofield.
23/03/22: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier One Simon Hughes's first victory of the season was coincidentally Andy Boysan's first defeat.
Stephen Little and Steffen Nowak shared the spoils of a Premier Two Blue double header.
Paul Watts scored a narrow win over Phil Charlton in Premier Two Red.
And Eamonn Reay suffered mixed fortunes in Premier Three Yellow, defeating John Curran before succumbing to Kylie Hedges.
22/03/22: Ian Anderson wins Winter Grand Prix
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, twenty of them to contest the tenth and final Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Fifteen were split into groups of eight and seven online, while five made up a single group at Sportsmans.
The online groups were won by Gaz Owen and Elias Hamati, while Ian Tarr won the live group.
Ian Anderson, long time leader of the WGP duly completed his expected title win, fifteen points ahead of second placed Elias.
And in a somewhat depleted field of intermediates throughout the competition Kian Sabet was the pick of them, winning the winter John Curran sponsored top intermediate prize.
Ian Anderson was also the winner of a post-tournament jackpot.
There was plenty of other action, too.
Gaz Owen secured his place in round three of the Brunel Trophy third round by defeating Alan Joicey, who also has one life remaining.
Gaz also won a Premier One match, against second placed Cecilia Rogers.
League leader and reigning champion Chris Rogers edged to victory over Simon Baker, while George Georgiou's brace of matches at Sportsmans resulted in defeats at the hands of Ed Turner and Nick Barham.
Chris Hughes was a narrow Premier Two Blue winner over Ian Tarr, who also found time to lose the held over consolation final of the February Handicap Trophy tournament to Jim Green.
20/03/22: Sunday results round-up
There were nine matches played on Sunday -- seven Premier League matches plus two in the Brunel Trophy.In the second round of the Brunel Trophy there were wins for Nick Barham and John Curran over Kylie Hedges and Richard Owsley.
That was Kylie's second defeat in the competition, which signals her exit.
Nick, John and Richard each have one life remaining.
Gary Plant moved into second place in Premier Two Red with a brace of wins over Andrew Cobb, while in the same division Adrian Farthing defeated Mike Smith.
In the parallel Blue Division Chris Hughes overcame Jon Organ, while Ian Tarr beat Mandy Macdonald.
Simon Tracy consolidated his Premier Three Green lead by defeating Marcel Bancroft.
And Michael Petrakas is still unbeaten in Premier Three Yellow, John Curran being his latest victim.
19/03/22: Simon tops Green Division
In the only match played on Saturday, Simon Tracy scored an emphatic victory over Pearl Foster.The win moves Simon to the top of the Premier Three Green table.
19/03/22: Friday's league results round-up
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.In the top flight Nick Barham defeated Alan Joicey.
And Hemal Getalal scored a narrow Premier Three Yellow win over Caroline Boulton.
18/03/22: Ian wins GP20 tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, including the nine at the Rainbow Casino who contested the second of this year's series of eight GP20 tournaments.Ian Tarr won the main flight, defeating Hazel Harper, Roland Herrera, Jim Green and -- in the final -- Simonetta Herrera.
Simonetta had overcome George Georgiou and Tim Line en route.
George took the consolation flight, defeating Hazel, Chris Rogers and, in the final, Roland.
George and Ian share the GP20 lead, with a cushion of 65 points over third placed Tim.
Chris had earlier defeated Adrian Farthing in the Brunel Trophy, a result which signals the end of Adrian's campaign, while Chris has one life remaining.
There was also Premier Three action.
Marcel Bancroft beat Martha Beal in the Green Division, while John Curran pipped Hemal Getalal in the Yellow Division.
And in a late reported result Richard Owsley defeated Kev Peters in Premier Two Red.
17/03/22: Wednesday tournament win for Simon
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the eleventh of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Simon Tracy, whose victims were John Curran, Alan Joicey and, in the final, Steve Pickard.
Steve had reached the final via wins over Robin Gunney, Gaz Owen and Tim Line.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight, defeating Steve Morris, Robin and Ian Anderson, who also won a post tournament jackpot.
There was also Brunel Trophy and Premier League action.
Eamonn Reay made his exit from the Brunel Trophy, when Hemal Getalal deprived him of his second life, while Hemal still has both intact.
Cecilia Rogers continued her fine early season Premier One form when she defeated Nick Barham.
In Premier Two Blue Steffen Nowak has rediscovered the winning habit, this time prevailing over Jon Organ.
And Marcel Bancroft scored a Premier Three Green win over Natalie Singh.
17/03/22: Late result from Tuesday
In a Tuesday Premier Two Red match played online -- but not in the Bristol Backgammon Leagues room -- Phil Charlton pipped Gerald Whitehouse.15/03/22: National awards for Gaz and Ian
Two of our own were honoured today when the results of the annual awards vote were released by the UKBGF.Among the eight categories voted on by UKBGF members were "British Player of the Year – Online" and "Club Organiser of the Year".
Gaz Owen scooped the former, thanks to an outstanding 2021 record, while Ian Tarr is the recipient of the latter award.
Other Bristol players who received honourable mentions in the form of nominations were Stuart Mann, Roland Herrera and Simonetta Herrera.
15/03/22: Tuesday's league and Brunel action
There were two matches played on Tuesday -- one in the Premier League and one in the second round of the Brunel Trophy.The Brunel Trophy match saw Andy Boysan score a victory over Mike Smith -- a result which leaves both players on one life remaining as they look forward to the third round draw.
And in Premier Two Blue Steffen Nowak won for the first time in eleven league matches when he defeated Steve Morris.
15/03/22: Twenty-five in Monday action
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, twenty of them to contest the ninth Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in DMP round robins across two environments.Fifteen made up a mega-group online, while five -- including debut player Sean Gulliford -- played live.
The online group was closely contested, with Kev Peters taking the honours, while there was a triple tie for the lead in the live group, involving George Georgiou, Stephen Little and Kian Sabet.
Ian Anderson -- who hasn't contested a WGP event since February 21st -- still holds what looks like an insuperable lead in the WGP table.
And Kian looks set to take the top intermediate prize.
Before the tournament George edged a Premier One encounter with Ed Turner.
In Premier Two Blue Jon Organ beat Steffen Nowak.
And earlier Eamonn Reay scored his first Premier Three Yellow win of the season at the expense of John Curran.
13/03/22: Sunday Premier League round-up
There were six Premier League matches played on Sunday.In the top flight Ian Hedges has finally scored his maiden victory at that level, a close one against Simon Baker.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Dave Pym and Chris Hughes, with Stephen Little and Steffen Nowak the victims.
All three of Steffen's league matches so far have been 10-11 reverses.
Premier Two Red leader Kev Peters defeated Gerald Whitehouse.
Cynthia Roberts, leader of Premier Three Green, came back from 0-9 to pip Marcel Bancroft.
And in Premier Three Yellow there was a win for James Lintell-Smith over Eamonn Reay.
13/03/22: Saturday's league and Brunel action
There were four matches played on Saturday -- three in the Premier League and one in the second round of the Brunel Trophy.The Brunel Trophy match featured two players with both lives intact, and Cecilia Sparke remained undefeated at the expense of Adam Sinclair.
Jordan White defeated Gerald Whitehouse in Premier Two Red.
Rosemary Whitehouse continued in her perplexing tradition of early season reverses, losing narrowly to Simon Tracy in Premier Three Green.
And in Premier Three Yellow there was a win for Hemal Getalal over Eamonn Reay.
11/03/22: Friday results round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.In Premier Two Red Adrian Farthing defeated Phil Charlton.
Marcel Bancroft continued her highly satisfactory start to the Premier Three Green season by narrowly beating Rosemary Whitehouse.
And Michael Petrakas is still the unbeaten leader of Premier Three Yellow after his victory over Eamonn Reay.
11/03/22: Simonetta takes March Bristol Grand Prix title to share BGP lead
There were fifteen players in action on Thursday, including the thirteen who contested the third of this year's series of twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.And it was Simonetta Herrera who took the main flight honours, defeating Stephen Little, Ian Tarr, Safi Tracy and, in the final, Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via a first round bye and wins over Roland Herrera and Ian Hedges.
The consolation flight was won by George Georgiou, who beat Hazel Harper, Roland and Ed Turner.
Simonetta and Gaz now share the lead in the Bristol Grand Prix table.
There had been league action online earlier, where Dave Pym defeated Mandy Macdonald in Premier Two Blue.
10/03/22: Robin wins Wednesday tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Wednesday, eleven of them to contest the tenth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Robin Gunney, whose victims were John Curran, Cynthia Roberts and, in the final, Alan Joicey.
Alan had reached the final via wins over Ian Anderson, Ian Tarr and Chris Hughes.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight, defeating Steve Morris, Ian Anderson and Elias Hamati.
Stephen Little won a post tournament jackpot.
There was also Premier One action at the Pump House, where Simon Baker and Neil Young emerged from a double header with honours more or less even.
08/03/22: Tuesday results round-up
There were three matches played on Tuesday.In a Premier Two Red Richard Owsley won narrowly against Mike Smith.
And the first two results of the second round of the Brunel Trophy were also close affairs.
Ian Hedges defeated Cynthia Roberts, while Natalie Singh beat Martha Beal.
Natalie still has both lives intact, but Martha is eliminated, while Ian and Cynthia each have one life remaining.
08/03/22: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday to contest the eighth Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Twelve were split into two groups of six online, while four made up a single group at Sportsmans, where new player Dominic Valitis also made a fact-finding appearance.
The online groups were won by Andy Boysan and Kev Peters, while Jim Green won the live group.
Ian Anderson, despite his absence from action on this occasion, still holds a formidable lead in the WGP table, and with just two sessions remaining he will be tough to dislodge.
06/03/22: Sunday wins for Cecilia and Marcel
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.In a Premier One meeting in Portland Square Cecilia Rogers defeated George Georgiou.
And online Marcel Bancroft pipped Martha Beal in Premier Three Green.
06/03/22: Brunel Trophy second round draw made
The draw for the second round of the ninth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday evening.
With its record entry of fifty-two players, anything between five and twenty-one players will lose their second life in this round.
The matches are to be completed by April 10th.
The draw can be viewed here.
05/03/22: Friday wns for Andy, Safi and Pearl
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.At the Cambridge Arms Andy Boysan maintained his unbeaten Premier One start to the season by despatching Neil Young.
And online There were wins for Safi Tracy over Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Blue and Pearl Foster over Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Green.
04/03/22: Gaz and Ian are Bristol's doubles champions
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday at the Rainbow Casino to contest the annual Consulting Doubles Championship tournament.And it was the pairing of Gaz Owen and Ian Hedges which claimed the annual title, although this was the first time the event has been held since 2019, thanks mostly to Covid.
Gaz and Ian got past Tim Line and Hazel Harper in the quarter-finals, before despatching Roland and Simonetta Herrera in the semis.
Their final opponents Cynthia Roberts and Adrian Farthing then went the same way.
Cynthia and Adrian had got past Safi and Simon Tracy, then Andy Boysan and Alan Joicey en route to the final.
Safi and Simon took the consolation flight with victories over Nick Barham and Tom Chapman, then Tim and Hazel.
02/03/22: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were just ten players in action on Wednesday to contest the ninth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Ian Anderson, whose victims were Alan Joicey, Safi Tracy and, in the final, Tim Line.
Tim had reached the final via wins over Adam Sinclair, Andy Boysan and Robin Gunney.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight, defeating Alan and Hazel Harper.
Tim won a post tournament jackpot.
01/03/22: Tuesday Premier League and Brunel Trophy round-up
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.The first round of the Brunel Trophy was completed, with the day's winners Neil Young, Richard Owsley, Simon Hughes and Jim Green consigning Phil Charlton, Paul Watts, Tim Line and Robin Gunney to the ranks of those with a single life remaining.
Richard gained an additional benefit when defeating Paul, as the pair had agreed to double up their encounter as a Premier Two Red match.
The Red Division was busy, with Kev Peters and Jordan White playing a double header which resulted in a win apiece, while Hazel Harper defeated Adrian Farthing.
And Cynthia Roberts returned to the top of Premier Three Green when she edged out previous leader Natalie Singh.
Natalie does have nine matches in hand, however.
01/03/22: Jim, Tim and Kev win Nackgammon groups
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, sixteen of them to contest the second monthly session of this year's Monday Club Nackgammon Grand Prix, held across two environments.Twelve were split into two groups of six on the Heroes site, while four more played in one group at Sportsmans.
The two online groups were won by Tim Line and Kev Peters, while the live group saw a win for Jim Green.
Tim has moved into a 5 points lead in the NGP table, with Kev, Ian Anderson and Adam Sinclair jointly in second place.
There was also a Premier Two Red double header, where Adrian Farthing and Jordan White swapped 11-2 victories.
27/02/22: League action on Sunday
There were threeTwo unbeaten players met in Premier One, where Andy Boysan came out on top against Cecilia Rogers.
It was Cecilia's first defeat in ten league matches, in a run stretching back to the tail end of last season.
In Premier Two Red Richard Owsley whitewashed Gerald Whitehouse.
And in Premier Three Yellow Hemal Getalal scored his first Premier League win at the expense of Caroline Boulton.
27/02/22: Doubles event switched to this Thursday; Masters and Intermediates Trophy switched to April 21st
In a last minute switch, the events advertised for Thursday March 3rd and Thursday April 21st have been swapped around.This Thursday will see the revival of our Annual Consulting Doubles Championship, which for various reasons has not been seen since 2019.
Meanwhile, the 22nd Bristol Masters and the 21st Intermediates Trophy will now take place on April 21st, when the weather and the post-Covid situation are both likely to be more conducive to live play.
26/02/22: Saturday results round-up
There were eight matches played on Saturday, six of them in the first round of the Brunel Trophy.Brunel winners were Simon Tracy, who whitewashed Chris Rogers, Gerald Whitehouse, victor over Kev Peters, Hemal Getalal, who pipped fellow Yellow Division member Michael Petrakas, Cecilia Rogers, winner against Roland Herrera, Safi Tracy, who beat Eamonn Reay, and Simonetta Herrera, who accounted for Nick Barham.
There are just four of the first round matches to be completed before next weekend's draw, which will of course contain all fifty-two players, half with two lives remaining, the other half with one.
In league action Cecilia had earlier scored a Premier One win over Alan Joicey.
In the only live match of the day James Lintell-Smith defeated Michael Corbett at the Greenbank in Premier Three Yellow.
25/02/22: George wins to take Handicap Trophy lead
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Rainbow Casino, of whom eight contested the second of this year's series of nine Handicap Trophy tournaments.George Georgiou continued in his rich vein of form to take the main flight, defeating Cynthia Roberts and Hazel Harper before overcoming Tim Line in the final.
Tim had overcome Ian Tarr and Safi Tracy en route to the final.
The consolation flight final was held over.
The protagonists -- Jim Green and Ian Tarr -- will play the match very soon.
George now leads the HT standings, 50 points ahead of January winner Ian Hedges.
The day's other action was in the first round of the Brunel Trophy.
Frank Jones scored a victory over Mandy Macdonald online, while Alan Joicey overcame Ian Hedges at the casino.
Eleven of the first round ties are yet to be completed.
24/02/22: Carwyn Jenkins: an apology
A small number of readers would have seen a subtly different version of the story below dated 23/02/22, before I took the step of amending it this morning.While my avowed priority is to defend our leagues and other competitions from potential damage, nothing written here should reflect the exasperation I felt at the time of writing.
This should be the place for measured and balanced reporting.
I would therefore like to apologise unreservedly to Carwyn for any upset my original words may have caused.
23/02/22: Tim wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-six players in action on Wednesday, sixteen of them to contest the eighth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Tim Line, whose victims were Stephen Little, Ian Anderson, Kev Peters and, in the final, Safi Tracy.
Safi had reached the final -- for the second successive Wednesday -- via wins over Andy Boysan, Cliff Blofield and Simonetta Herrera.
John Curran took the consolation flight, defeating Stephen, Alan Joicey and Elias Hamati.
Ian Tarr won a post tournament jackpot.
There had earlier been some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action, in one case utterly pointless.
The latest first round Brunel Trophy encounter was Ian Tarr's defeat of Jordan White.
There were Premier Two Red victories for Mike Smith and Hazel Harper, over Phil Charlton and Richard Owsley.
In Premier Three Yellow James Lintell-Smith beat Carwyn Jenkins.
Carwyn later resigned from the league, citing changed work circumstances, which means that James's win -- and that of Kylie Hedges earlier in the season -- now count for nothing.
22/02/22: Tuesday results round-up
There were two matches played on Tuesday.Ben Crowden defeated Hazel Harper in the first round of the Brunel Trophy.
And Kev Peters moved back to the top of Premier Two Red when he beat Andrew Cobb.
21/02/22: Twenty-nine in Monday action
There were twenty-nine players in action on Monday, twenty-four of them to contest the seventh Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Nineteen were split into a group of seven and two of six online, while five made up a single group at Sportsmans.
The online groups were won by Robin Gunney, Elias Hamati and Kev Peters, while Ian Tarr won the live group.
Ian Anderson won the side pool in Robin's group.
Ian Anderson still holds a formidable lead in the WGP table, with Elias Hamati now in second place.
There were three other matches played.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Simon Baker defeated James Lintell-Smith.
And there were Premier Three Green victories for Cynthia Roberts and Pearl Foster, whose victims were Rosemary Whitehouse and Martha Beal.
20/02/22: All the news from Sunday
There were six matches played on Sunday.There were first round Brunel Trophy wins for Tom Chapman and George Georgiou, who inflicted lost lives on Elias Hamati and Adrian Farthing respectively.
The Sugar Loaf, Easton, played host to the Premier One meeting of Neil Young and Ed Turner, where Ed notched his first win of the season.
And there were three matches in Premier Two Blue.
Safi Tracy played in two of them, defeating Ismail Yilmaz, before losing to league leader Robin Gunney despite a world class PR.
And Jon Organ kicked off his campaign by defeating Dave Pym.
19/02/22: Saturday results round-up
There were six matches played on Saturday.Adam Sinclair defeated Ed Turner in the first round of the Brunel Trophy.
Ian Tarr began his Premier Two Blue campaign with two defeats, one by Ismail Yilmaz, the other by Safi Tracy.
Another to play twice was Andrew Cobb in Premier Two Red.
Both of his results were emphatic -- a victory over Richard Owsley and a defeat at the hands of Gerald Whitehouse.
And Simon Tracy narrowly beat Pearl Foster in Premier Three Green.
18/02/22: Friday win for Mandy
There was just one match to report from Friday.Mandy Macdonald defeated Cliff Blofield in Premier Two Blue.
18/02/22: George consolidates GP10 lead
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, including the nine who contested the second session of the GP10 series of ten tournaments at the casino.In the main flight it was George Georgiou who took the honours, just as he did in January.
He defeated Cynthia Roberts, Ian Tarr and Tim Line, who had reached the final with wins over Robin Gunney, Alan Joicey and Stephen Little.
The consolation flight went to Robin, thanks to victories against Cynthia, Hazel Harper and Jim Green.
So George has moved into a commanding GP10 lead of 80 points, with Tim in second place.
There were also two first round Brunel Trophy matches played -- Chris Hughes emphatically depriving Cliff Blofield of his first life in the year-long double elimination event, while Stephen Little also defeated John Curran.
16/02/22: Safi wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-three players in action on Wednesday, eighteen of them to contest the seventh of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was 18-year-old Safi Tracy, whose victims were Ian Anderson, Simonetta Herrera, Ian Tarr and, in the final, Robin Gunney.
Robin had reached the final via wins over Elias Hamati, John Curran, Nick Barham and Roland Herrera.
Mandy Macdonald took the consolation flight, defeating Tim Line, George Georgiou and Elias.
Elias won a post tournament jackpot.
There had earlier been some Premier Three action.
Martha Beal got in two Green Division matches, defeating Rosemary Whitehouse before succumbing to league leader Natalie Singh.
And in the parallel Yellow Division Michael Corbett scored his first league win since his return from exile, defeating league leader Kylie Hedges.
15/02/22: Premier Two action on Tuesday
There were five matches played on Tuesday, all of them in Premier Two.Safi Tracy scored emphatic Premier Two Blue victories over Steve Morris and Chris Hughes.
Divisional leader Robin Gunney continued his fine start to the season by pipping Steffen Nowak.
And Ismail Yilmaz defeated Dave Pym.
The other match was in the Red Division, where Gary Plant beat Jordan White to go top of the league.
15/02/22: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, eighteen of them to contest the sixth Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in DMP round robins online.There would have been a live session too, but the three who turned up for that were forced into a chouette instead.
The eighteen were split into two groups of nine, which were won by Tim Line and Nick Barham.
Ian Anderson still holds a handsome WGP lead, with Nick the only one in a position to challenge strongly as he has only contested four of the six sessions.
Kev Peters won the post-tournament jackpot.
There was also Premier League action, where Ismail Yilmaz pipped Steve Morris in a Premier Two Blue encounter.
13/02/22: Sunday results round-up
There were eight matches played on Sunday.In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Natalie Singh narrowly defeated Pearl Foster.
The only Premier One match saw Simon Baker whitewashing Alan Joicey.
In Premier Three Yellow John Curran scored his first league win of the season against James Lintell-Smith.
But the lion's share of activity came in Premier Two Red, where double headers between Mike Smith and Gary Plant and Hazel Harper and Kev Peters saw the spoils shared.
Divisional leader Kev also found time for a defeat by Tim Line.
12/02/22: Battle of the Michaels
There was just one Premier League match played on Saturday.In Premier Three Yellow Michael Corbett and Michael Petrakas met at the Greenbank, Easton.
And it was Michael P who maintained his 100% league record.
11/02/22: Friday match action
There were two matches played on Friday.In Premier Two Red Gary Plant scored a narrow win over Jordan White.
And the latest first round Brunel Trophy tie saw Mike Smith defeat Kylie Hedges.
11/02/22: Gaz runs and wins February Bristol Grand Prix event
In the absence of Director Ian Tarr, Gaz Owen stepped in on Thursday to run the second of this year's series of twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments.And he emerged from the field of eleven players to win the main flight, defeating Tim Line, Cynthia Roberts and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over George Georgiou and Nick Barham.
The consolation flight was won by Jim Green, who beat debut player Mohammed Mustafa, Robin Gunney and George.
Gaz draws level with Roland Herrera at the top of the Bristol Grand Prix table.
Unusually, of nineteen BGP contestants over the first two events, only four have played in both.
10/02/22: Simonetta wins Wednesday tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Wednesday, eighteen of them to contest the sixth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Simonetta Herrera, whose victims were Frank Jones, Steve Morris, Tim Line and, in the final, Gaz Owen.
Gaz had reached the final via wins over Robin Gunney, Safi Tracy and Simon Tracy.
Nick Barham took the consolation flight, defeating Stephen Little, Robin Gunney and Warner Solomon.
Tim won a post tournament jackpot.
There had earlier been action in Premier Two Red, where Gary Plant defeated Frank.
08/02/22: Tuesday Premier League round-up
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier One Andy Boysan defeated Ian Hedges.
Safi Tracy scored a brace of wins in Premier Two Blue, Ben Crowden and Chris Hughes the victims.
And in Premier Two Red there were wins for Frank Jones and Paul Watts at the expense of Gary Plant and Hazel Harper, while Tim Line shared the spoils of a double header with Andrew Cobb.
08/02/22: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, sixteen of them to contest the fourth Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins online.The customary live session had been cancelled as Director Ian Tarr had fallen foul of covid, albeit with mild symptoms.
The sixteen were split into two groups of eight, which were won by Tim Line and Nick Barham.
Ian Anderson finished second in his group, gathering enough points to install him in the role of runaway WGP leader.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
In Premier One Chris Rogers continued his productive run, edging home against Simon Baker.
And there were Brunel Trophy lives lost by Gaz Owen and Martha Beal when they succumbed, respectively, to Steffen Nowak and Steve Morris.
07/02/22: Monday live event cancelled
The live portion of Monday's parallel Monday Club Winter Grand Prix sessions has been cancelled at short notice as Director Ian Tarr has tested positive for Covid-19.His symptoms are very mild, so he will be running the online session as usual.
Wednesday's online tournament will not be affected, and a decision on Thursday's Bristol Grand Prix tournament will be made very soon.
07/02/22: Sunday wins for Chris and Cynthia
There were two matches played on Saturday.Chris Rogers's Premier One resurgence continued with a victory over Ed Turner.
And in the Brunel Trophy Cynthia Roberts began with a win against Andy Zographou.
05/02/22: Saturday hat-trick for Robin
There were three matches played on Saturday, all in Premier Two Blue.All three involved Robin Gunney and all three were victories for him -- Ben Crowden, Cliff Blofield and Dave Pym being the victims.
04/02/22: Ian takes opening Speedgammon GP tournament
There were just eleven players in action on Thursday, seven of them to take part in the opening instalment of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.The low turnout dictated that there would be a single round robin group, with no knock-out phase to follow, with the prize money going to the top two finishers.
And Ian Tarr took first place, a whisker ahead of Tim Line on points difference, after both players had managed five victories out of six.
Tim and Ian thus share the early SGGP lead.
There was also Premier League action, with two results reported.
Unusually the matches both involved players with either 100% or 0% records in terms of wins, and that state of affairs was maintained.
Cecilia Rogers edged home again in her Premier One match with Ian Hedges, for whom three of his five defeats have involved 10-11 score-lines.
And in Premier Three Yellow Michael Petrakas prevailed against Caroline Boulton.
02/02/22: Nick wins Wednesday tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday to contest the fifth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Nick Barham, whose victims were Chris Hughes, Tim Line, Cynthia Roberts and, in the final, Cecilia Rogers.
Cecilia had reached the final via wins over Hazel Harper and Ian Anderson after receiving a first round bye.
Andy Boysan took the consolation flight, defeating Hazel, Chris Hughes and Frank Jones.
Elias Hamati won a post tournament jackpot.
01/02/22: Kev consolidates lead
In the only Tuesday action Kev Peters defeated Frank Jones in Premier Two Red to consolidate his early league lead.01/02/22: Kian and Adam take Nackgammon Grand Prix lead
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, seventeen of them to contest the opening session of this year's Monday Club Nackgammon Grand Prix, held across two environments.Eleven were split into two groups -- one of six, one of five -- on the Heroes site, while six more played in one group at Sportsmans.
The two online groups were won by Adam Sinclair and Alan Joicey, although Tim Line won the side pool in Alan's group.
The live group saw a win for Kian Sabet.
So Adam and Kian, winners of the larger groups, take the initial lead in the NGP table.
There was also League and knock-out action.
In Premier One George Georgiou defeated Nick Barham at the Rainbow Casino, while Chris Rogers scored online victories over Simon Hughes and Ian Hedges, as Chris's title defence gains impetus after an indifferent start to his season.
Michael Petrakas won a nail-biter over Hemal Getalal in Premier Three Yellow.
And the 2022 Brunel Trophy has its first result, Ismail Yilmaz defeating Andy Boysan.
30/01/22: Sunday Premier League round-up
There were five Premier League matches played on Sunday, the day when Bristol Backgammon passed the milestone of 9,000 league matches.Andy Boysan and Alan Joicey kicked off their Premier One campaigns with a close encounter, which saw Andy prevailing.
Live action at the Lounge, Bedminster, featured James Lintell-Smith's first Premier Three Yellow defeat of the season, against league debutant Michael Petrakas.
In the same division Hemal Getalal was also making his Premier League debut, but he succumbed to league leader Kylie Hedges.
The parallel Green Division saw wins for Simon Tracy and Mathew Nicholls, over Pearl Foster and Cynthia Roberts respectively.
30/01/22: Brunel Trophy launched with record entry
The draw for the first round of the ninth incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Sunday evening.
The heavily sponsored year-long double elimination knock-out competition this year features a record entry of fifty-two players, and is expected to last for nine or ten rounds.
First round matches are to be completed by March 5th.
The draw can be viewed here.
30/01/22: Saturday wins for Chris and Ben
There were two Premier League matches played online on Saturday.Chris Rogers reached the half way stage in his title defence with an emphatic Premier One victory over Ed Turner.
And for the first time this season he has won more league matches than he has lost.
And Ben Crowden continued his promising start to life in Premier Two Blue with a win over Mandy Macdonald.
28/01/22: Friday results round-up
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.Chris Rogers took another step towards resurrecting his title defence with a Premier One victory over Stuart Mann at the Pump House.
And Natalie Singh returned to the top of the Premier Three Green table when she defeated Simon Tracy.
28/01/22: George takes year's first GP20 tournament
There were just fifteen players in action on Thursday at the Rainbow Casino to contest the first of this year's series of eight GP20 tournaments.George Georgiou won the main flight, defeating Andy Zographou, Kev Peters and Ian Tarr before overcoming Tim Line in the final.
Tim, the only recipient of a first round bye, had overcome Nick Barham and Alan Joicey en route.
Adrian Farthing took the consolation flight, defeating Stephen Little, Elas Hamati and, in the final, Nick.
George takes a handy 50 points lead into the second of the series, in March.
27/01/22: Chris Hughes wins Wednesday tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Wednesday, just twelve of them to contest the fourth of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Chris Hughes, whose victims were Nick Barham, Stephen Little, Robin Gunney and, in the final, Elias Hamati.
Elias had reached the final via wins over Ian Anderson and Tim Line after receiving a first round bye.
Nick took the consolation flight, defeating Ian, John Curran and Hazel Harper.
Stephen won two post tournament jackpots.
There were four Premier League matches played.
In Premier One there was another narrow defeat for Ian Hedges at the hands of Chris Rogers.
Steve Morris began his Premier Two Blue campaign with victory over Clif Blofield.
And in Premier Three there were wins for Marcel Bancroft over Pearl Foster in the Green Division and Kylie Hedges over Carwyn Jenkins in the Yellow Division.
26/01/22: Tuesday Premier League results round-up
There were seven Premier League matches played on Tuesday.Neil Young inflicted Stuart Mann's first Premier One defeat at the Pump House, while Cecilia Rogers maintained her 100% start to the season with a narrow victory over Ian Hedges.
Premier Two Blue's winners were Cliff Blofield and Chris Hughes, whose wins were at the expense of, respectively, Ben Crowden and Dave Pym.
Martha Beal is rivalling Cynthia Roberts in speedy completion of league fixtures, but suffered narrow losses against Pearl Foster and Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
And Kylie Hedges pipped John Curran in Premier Three Yellow.
25/01/22: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty of them to contest the fourth Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Fifteen were split into a group of eight and one of seven online, while five made up a single group at Sportsmans.
The online groups were won by Ian Anderson and Nick Barham, while Mathew Nicholls won the live group.
Ian Anderson is building a formidable lead in the WGP table, with Adam Sinclair in second place.
There were also three Premier League matches played.
In Premier Two Blue Dave Pym scored an emphatic win over Mandy Macdonald.
Meanwhile in Premier Three Green Martha Beal took on two of the season's pace setters and enjoyed two very close matches -- a defeat to Mathew and a victory over Simon Tracy.
22/01/22: Saturday results round-up
There were five matches played on Saturday.Ed Turner began his Premier One campaign with two matches -- the first online, the second at the Sugar Loaf, Easton.
A defeat to Gaz Owen preceded another against Neil Young.
Safi Tracy also played two matches.
The first was the held over consolation final of Thursday's Handicap Trophy tournament, where she lost narrowly to Nick Barham.
And the second was her opening Premier Two Blue match, where she again suffered defeat, this time to in form league leader Ben Crowden.
Simon Tracy was the day's other winner, inflicting Natalie Singh's first Premier League defeat in their Green Division encounter.
22/01/22: Mathew's brace of wins
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday -- a Premier Three Green double header between Martha Beal and Mathew Nicholls.And it was Mathew who won both matches.
21/01/22: Ian takes early Handicap Trophy lead
There were twenty players in action on Thursday, fifteen of them to contest the first of this year's series of nine Handicap Trophy tournaments.Ian Hedges won the main flight, defeating Roland Herrera, Cynthia Roberts and Hazel Harper before overcoming George Georgiou in the final.
George had overcome Ian Tarr, Tim Line and Adrian Farthing en route to the final.
The consolation flight final was held over.
The protagonists -- Nick Barham and Safi Tracy -- are likely to play the match online very soon, as they are both on zero handicaps.
Before the tournament Nick had undergone the most rigorous of warm-ups, with a Premier One double header against reigning champion Chris Rogers.
The scorelines were both one sided, but the spoils were shared.
Earlier online Robin Gunney had begun his Premier Two Blue campaign with victories over both Ben Crowden and Cliff Blofield.
And Kylie-Clair Hedges also scored a league win, defeating John Curran in Premier Three Yellow.
20/01/22: Kev wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-three players in action on Wednesday, eighteen of them to contest the third of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Kev Peters, who was playing his first Wednesday tournament of the year.
His victims were Gaz Owen, Cynthia Roberts, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian reached the final via wins over Safi Tracy, Ben Crowden and Alan Joicey.
Chris Hughes took the consolation flight, defeating Robin Gunney, Gaz and Nick Barham.
Elias won the post tournament jackpot.
There were four Premier League matches played.
In Premier One there were wins for Stuart Mann and Gaz, who defeated Ian Hedges and Simon Hughes respectively.
At the Pump House there was a Premier Three Yellow double header where James Lintell-Smith scored two narrow wins over Caroline Boulton.
18/01/22: Premier League action on Tuesday
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.In Premier Two Red Kev Peters edged to victory against Tim Line.
And Mathew Nicholls returned to league action after a year's sabbattical with a win over Andy Zographou and a defeat to Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Green.
Cynthia is back on top of the league.
18/01/22: Thirty-two in Monday action
There were thirty-two players in action on Monday, twenty-nine of them to contest the third Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in 3-point round robins across two environments.Twenty-one were split into three online groups of seven, while eight were split into two groups of four at Sportsmans.
The online groups were won by Elias Hamati, Gaz Owen and Andrew Montgomery, while George Georgiou won one of the live groups, the other being shared by Stephen Little and Kian Sabet.
Ian Anderson has moved into a 13 point lead in the WGP table, with Stephen still in second place.
There were also five Premier League matches played.
In Premier One Chris Rogers and George shared the spoils of a double header in Portland Square, while Gaz suffered a rare whitewash defeat at the hands of Nick Barham.
Simon Tracy defeated Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Green, while Kylie-Clair Hedges and Caroline Boulton began their Premier Three Yellow campaigns, Kylie winning.
17/01/22: Simon wins on Monday
In Premier Three Green action on Monday were Cynthia Roberts and Simon Tracy, Simon edging home.16/01/22: Premier League action on Saturday
There were three Premier League matches played on Saturday.In Premier Two Blue Mandy Macdonald won a nail biter against Cliff Blofield.
The busiest division so far this season is Premier Three Green.
And Cynthia Roberts is primarily responsible for this, having played her twelfth match of the season yesterday, a defeat at the hands of Pearl Foster.
But Natalie Singh took back pole position by defeating Simon Tracy.
14/01/22: Friday Premier League round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.In Premier Two Red Kev Peters defeated Frank Jones.
And Cynthia Roberts fitted in three Premier Three Green matches.
Two defeats at the hands of Simon Tracy were followed by victory over Andy Zographou.
Cynthia has already played eleven league matches this season, and now finds herself top of the league.
14/01/22: Cecilia extends early top flight lead
In a Premier One match played in Portland Square on Thursday, Cecilia Rogers continued her fine early season form with an emphatic victory over Neil Young.14/01/22: Roland is the year's first Bristol Grand Prix leader
There were twelve players in action on Thursday to contest the first of this year's series of twelve monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments.Roland Herrera won the main flight, making the most of a first round bye by defeating Tim Line and Ian Hedges before overcoming Safi Tracy in the final.
Safi had arrived there via the long part of the draw and wins over Simonetta Herrera, Ben Crowden and Ian Tarr.
The consolation flight was won by Simonetta with victories over Simon Tracy and Hazel Harper.
Roland is thus the year's first leader of our flagship knock-out series, with Safi 20 points behind.
14/01/22: Not forgetting the UK Champions League......
The 2021 UK Champions League was also overlooked in my summary of late 2021 achievements.Tsk, tsk......
Bristol's four representatives all did well enough to progress to the knock-out phase, but Neil Young fared best, reaching the semi-finals.
13/01/22: Not forgetting the Players Championship......
Yesterday's summary of Bristol players' achievements towards the end of 2021 omitted the Players' Championship, played live in London in December.Cecilia Rogers was runner-up in a very strong field, plus Stuart Mann and Tim Line also had very strong tournaments.
12/01/22: Chris wins Wednesday tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday to contest the second of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.This week's winner was Chris Hughes, who fought his way past Chris Rogers, Simon Tracy and Tim Line before overcoming Stephen Little in the final.
Stephen, who also reached last week's final, had arrived there via wins over Cynthia Roberts, Alan Joicey and Elias Hamati.
Chris Rogers took the consolation flight, defeating Gaz Owen, Safi Tracy and Adam Sinclair.
Stephen won the post tournament jackpot.
12/01/22: Bristol players continue to achieve elsewhere
Towards the tail end of 2021 there were a handful of noteworthy achievements by Bristol players outside of our own events.Stuart Mann was the UK Online League champion in the final quarter of the year -- becoming the first player to achieve this accolade twice.
That means that Bristol Backgammon players won three of the inaugural year's four quarterly titles, since Gaz Owen won the very first.
Gaz also reached the final of the UK P-40 Online Knock-out, where he was defeated by Liverpool's Kev Jones.
There were 338 players in that event, and our occasional player Reece Hodges was eliminated by Gaz in the semi-finals.
Other players to gain promotion from their UK Online League divisions were Cecilia Rogers, Alan Joicey, Reece, Steve Pickard and Kev Peters.
Meanwhile our youngest active player Safi Tracy has been making waves.
Having recently turned eighteen, her results are continually progressing.
In November there was an informal practice tournament on the new Backgammon Hub, and from a field of thirty-nine players, Safi emerged as the victor.
Recognition followed in her selection -- along with Cecilia -- for the five-player UK Women's team for the recent match against a UK Men's team.
11/01/22: Tuesday Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.The first Premier One match of the calendar year -- although four matches were completed at the tail end of 2021 -- was enacted at the Pump House, where Stuart Mann began his campaign with victory over Neil Young.
And Cynthia Roberts continued in her quest for copious action with a Premier Three Green double header against Marcel Bancroft.
They scored a win apiece.
11/01/22: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty-one of them to contest the second Monday Club Winter Grand Prix session in DMP round robins across two environments.Sixteen were split into two online groups of eight, while five made up a single group, playing each opponent twice, at Sportsmans.
The online groups were won by Ian Anderson and Frank Jones, while the live group was won by George Georgiou.
Adam Sinclair scooped the side pool in Frank's group.
Ian has established an eight point lead in the WGP table, with Stephen Little in second place.
There was also league action, with Ben Crowden defeating Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Blue.
09/01/22: Sunday wins for Paul and Martha
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.In Premier Two Red Paul Watts and Frank Jones began their campaigns, Paul prevailing.
And Martha Beal defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Three Green.
08/01/22: James and Michael kick-off the Yellow Division
The opening match of the 2022 Premier Three Yellow season took place on Saturday in Fishponds, where Michael Corbett played host to James Lintell-Smith.And James won narrowly to become that division's first leader.
It was Michael's first Bristol Backgammon match since a November 2012 league meeting with Richard Holness.
07/01/22: George sets early GP10 pace
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, including the fourteen who got the live 2022 season under way by contesting the opening session of the GP10 series of ten tournaments at the casino.In the main flight it was George Georgiou who took the honours, making the most of receiving a first round bye by defeating Stephen Little, Safi Tracy and Ian Hedges.
Ian had arrived in the final by getting past Kylie-Clair Hedges, Cynthia Roberts and Gaz Owen.
The consolation flight again went to Ian Tarr, another to benefit from a first round bye when he beat Hazel Harper and Jim Green.
So George is the leader in the GP10 table, with a 25 points cushion over second placed Ian H.
There was also a Premier League match played.
And it was the first of the season in Premier Two Red, where Richard Owsley edged it against Kev Peters.
06/01/22: Alan wins inaugural Wednesday weekly tournament
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday -- sixteen of them to contest the first of our stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.And Alan Joicey had the honour of winning this inaugural event, defeating Chris Hughes, Tim Line and Robin Gunney before despatching Stephen Little in the final.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over Gerald Whitehouse, Nick Barham and Gaz Owen.
John Curran took the consolation flight, getting past Elias Hamati and Roland Herrera, then beating Chris in the final.
Ian Anderson won his speciality event -- the post tournwment jackpot.
And there were also two Premier League matches played.
Ben Crowdenmoved to the top of the embryonic Premier Two Blue table by beating Dave Pym.
And Pearl Foster began her Premier Three Green campaign with a win against Cynthia Roberts.
04/01/22: Seven in Tuesday league action
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday -- two in Premier Two Blue and two in Premier Three Green.In the Blue Division the winners were Cliff Blofield and Ben Crowden, who defeated Dave Pym and Ismail Yilmaz respectively.
And as was the case last season, the main driver of Premier Three action so far is Cynthia Roberts.
She completed her fourth and fifth Green Division matches of the season, defeating Martha Beal and succumbing to Natalie Singh, who has begun her first season at this level very well.
03/01/22: Roland, Ian and Stephen win opening 3-point round robins
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, including twenty-one who contested the opening session of the Monday Club Winter Grand Prix online.The pattern of simultaneous Monday tournaments online and live, established last year, will continue, but on this occasion Sportsmans was closed at the Bank Holiday, so only the online session happened.
The twenty-one were split into three groups of seven, and the winners were Roland Herrera, Ian Anderson and Stephen Little, although Ian Tarr won the side pool in Stephen's group.
The three group winners are the opening leaders of the WGP table.
The John Curran intermediate sponsorship is set to continue this season, but recent circumstances mean there is a current dearth of new intermediates.
Gaz Owen joined the fray to win a post tournament jackpot.
There was also Premier League action online.
The first two matches in Premier Two Blue were a double header, where Ismail Yilmaz scored a brace of wins over Mandy Macdonald.
And Cynthia Roberts got off the mark in Premier Three Green with a victory over Martha Beal.
02/01/22: Three Green Division matches played on Sunday
The first league matches of the new year -- but not of the new season, as four Premier One matches were played at the tail end of 2021 -- were in Premier Three Green.And Natalie Singh -- new to the Premier League -- emerged as the first divisional leader with victories over both Cynthia Roberts and Martha Beal.
Martha, another Premier League newcomer, followed up by defeating Cynthia.
Recent news items
News items from 2022 (second half)
News items from 2021 (second half)
Back to Home Page