News items from 2024 (first half)
30/06/24: Sunday's league action
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Andy Zographou visited Brookhouse Farm, Swindon, for a Premier Three Green meeting with Gary Plant, where Gary prevailed.
Meanwhile Ed Turner's narrow online victory over Dave Pym finally moved him to the top of Premier Two Red, where Elias Hamati had been sitting for months after completing his league programme.
29/06/24: Frank wins on Friday
The only action on Friday was in Premier Three Green, where Frank Jones defeated Flora von Michel.
The result moves Frank into the third promotion slot at Flora's expense.
27/06/24: Tim wins June Speedgammon event
There were ten players in action on Thursday, with just five taking part in the fourth session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The five formed a single round robin, which saw an overall win for Tim Line who, along with Barry Vasili, won three out of four matches with a points difference of plus four.
The next level of tie-break -- their head to head meeting -- tipped the scales in Tim's favour.
Barry has edged back into the lead of the SGGP table, moving five points ahead of previous leader Ian Tarr.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action, with three results reported.
In the fifth round of the Brunel Trophy, a sudden death encounter went the way of Dicky Biddle at the expense of Ian Hedges.
Ian Anderson won a Premier Three Green match against Mandy Macdonald.
And Dicky scored his second success of the day, defeating Cliff Blofield in Premier Three Yellow.
27/06/24: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were just ten players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the twenty-fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Ian Anderson was this week's winner, defeating Tim Line, Adam Sinclair and -- in the final -- George Georgiou.
George had got past Simon Blinkhorn and Mandy Macdonald en route to the final.
Gaz Owen won the consolation flight by beating Ian Tarr and Simon.
Tim won the post-tournament jackpot.
25/06/24: Gaz wins Spring Grand Prix; Steffen out of Brunel Trophy
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, eleven competitively and six at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic.
Nine of the eleven contested the tenth and final session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into groups of five and four, Gaz Owen and Gary Owston were the group winners, while Steve Pickard took the side pool in Gary's group.
Gaz's group win rubber stamped his SGP title win, with Kev Peters 26 points behind in second place.
And in the fifth round of the Brunel Trophy Kylie Hedges defeated Steffen Nowak, a result which eliminates Steffen while propelling Kylie into round six with both lives intact.
23/06/24: Sunday's results roundup
There were three matches played on Sunday.
Michael Corbett scored another victory in Premier Two Red, this time at the expense of Ed Turner.
In Premier Three Green Ian Anderson defeated Flora von Michel.
And in the fifth round of the Brunel Trophy Reece Hodges won a high quality tie against James Newman, the first time in the competition that either has experienced defeat.
22/06/24: Saturday win for Michael
For the second successive day a single Premier Two Red match was the only action, Michael Corbett defeating Gerald Whitehouse.
21/06/24: Friday win for Phil
The only action on Friday was in Premier Two Red, where Phil Doubtfire defeated Michael Petrakas.
21/06/24: Ian Hedges' promotion confirmed; Umut wins Handicap tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the fifth instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
And Umut Bilge -- on a prolonged visit to Bristol from Turkey -- was the tournament winner, his victims being Tim Line, Steve Morris and -- in the final -- Hazel Harper, after receiving a first round bye.
Hazel also had a bye in round one, and then progressed via wins over George Georgiou and Dom Verrall.
George took the consolation flight by defeating Barry Vasili, Tim and Simon Tracy.
Hazel has extended her HT lead over second placed George to 20 points.
Earlier in the day, Ian Hedges had visited Swindon to take on Gary Plant at Brookhouse Farm, and his 11-3 win finally confirmed his promotion from Premier Three Green.
Ian Anderson, Flora von Michel and Gary can each surpass Ian's current position, but because they have to meet each other, at least one of them won't.
And in the fifth round of the Brunel Trophy Natalie Singh beat Richard Owsley, a result which sees both players progressing to round six with a single life remaining.
19/06/24: Record low turnout for Wednesday's online tournament
There were just eight players in action on Wednesday, four of them to contest the twenty-fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Because there were only four entrants, a 7-point match round robin was staged, and Chris Rogers was this week's winner, with Tim Line in second place.
Tim also won the post-tournament jackpot.
There was also one Premier Two Blue match played, Richard Owsley ending Jon Organ's recent run of wins.
18/06/24: Tuesday's results roundup
There were two matches played on Tuesday.
Hazel Harper defeated Mike Smith in Premier Two Blue.
And the first of the fifth round Brunel Trophy ties was a nail biter, Ian Tarr pipping Kev Peters to the victory.
Both players move on to round six with a single life.
18/06/24: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday, eleven competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic.
The eleven were split into groups of six and five for the ninth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters and Ian Anderson were the group winners.
Gaz Owen takes a 14 points SGP lead into next week's final session of the series, with Kev in second place.
16/06/24: Brunel Trophy fifth round draw made
The draw for the fifth round of the eleventh incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Sunday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The initial field of fifty-eight is now down to just nineteen after eight fell by the wayside during round four.
Given the odd number there has to be one bye, and the lucky recipient this time is Miles Farren.
There is just one tie where both players are thus far unbeaten, while five others will effectively be sudden death affairs.
Matches are to be played by July 21st.
The full draw can be found here.
16/06/24: Michael on a roll
There was just one match played on Sunday.
And Michael Corbett's Premier Two Red win against Pearl Foster was his sixth league win in succession.
15/06/24: Ann's Saturday win
The only action on Saturday was Ann Pocknell's Premier Three Yellow victory over Caroline Boulton.
14/06/24: Promotion announcement a tad premature
There were three matches played on Friday.
And Ian Hedges' Premier Three Green victory over Andy Zographou in Melksham was followed by an announcement on the divisional WhatsApp group proclaiming Ian's promotion to Premier Two.
This despite the fact that three players can still overhaul him into the three promotion slots.
It would be a brave person to bet against Ian's promotion, however, as his fifteen wins from sixteen matches attest.
In Premier Two Red Michael Corbett defeated Mathew Nicholls.
And the last of the fourth round Brunel Trophy ties took place at the Old Stillage, where Ian Tarr survived for another round at Jim Green's expense in what was a very short match.
14/06/24: Ian takes June Bristol Grand Prix honours
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them to contest the sixth instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series at the Rainbow Casino.
Ian Tarr -- with his third tournament success in eight days -- was the tournament winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Andy Boysan, Gaz Owen and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived there by getting past Natalie Singh, Andy Zographou and Barry Vasili.
Natalie took the consolation flight with wins over Simon Tracy, Ian Hedges and Jim Green.
Tim Line had a blank evening, and his BGP points table lead has been slashed to twenty-five points by Ian.
There was also action in the Premier League.
Ian Hedges maintained his pace at the summit of Premier Three Green by beating Barry before the tournament.
And online Phil Charlton moved to the top of Premier Two Blue with a narrow defeat of Rosemary Whotehouse.
12/06/24: Ian wins Wednesday tournament
There were just eleven players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the twenty-fourth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Ian Tarr was this week's winner, defeating Simon Tracy, Dom Verrall and -- in the final -- Simon Blinkhorn.
Simon had got past Tim Line and Phil Doubtfire en route to the final.
Simon Tracy won the consolation flight by beating Tim and Ian Anderson.
Phil won the post-tournament jackpot.
There was also one Brunel Trophy fourth round tie played.
And Simon Hughes's victory over Simon Baker ensured that both players move on to round five with a single life remaining.
11/06/24: Gaz and Tim exit Brunel Trophy
Tuesday's action encompassed just two matches, both in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy.
Both were effectively sudden death encounters, Warner Solomon surviving to the fifth round at the expense of Gaz Owen, while Tim Line was exiting the competition thanks to Ian Anderson.
11/06/24: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday.
Ten of those contested the eighth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in a DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters was the group winner.
Gaz Owen entended his SGP lead to fifteen points in the absence of second placed Adam Sinclair.
Three other matches were played.
The Lock Keeper played host to a Premier One meeting of Chris Rogers and Neil Young, where Chris's narrow victory enhanced his hopes of top flight survival.
Online a fourth round meeting of two undefeated players in the Brunel Trophy went the way of Reece Hodges against Mark Dixon.
And Paul Watts scored a Premier Two Red win over Ben Crowden.
At Sportsmans there were no drop-ins to Ian's Backgammon Clinic, just the second such occurrence this year.
09/06/24: Sunday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Sunday.
In Premier Two Red Ed Turner suffered mixed fortunes in two 11-10 scorelines, defeating Mathew Nicholls before succumbing to Pearl Foster.
Mathew also lost to Michael Corbett.
Frank Jones beat Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Green.
And in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy Phil Charlton beat Cecilia Rogers in what was effectively a sudden death match.
07/06/24: Three Ians to the fore in GP10 tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them to contest the fifth of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Ian Tarr took the honours in the main flight, defeating Chris Hughes, Cynthia Roberts, George Georgiou and -- in the final -- Simon Tracy.
Simon made the final by eliminating Barry Vasili and Andy Zographou after receiving a first round bye.
The consolation flight was won by Ian Anderson with victories over Steve Morris, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Ian Hedges.
Ian Tarr moves to the top of the GP10 points table, 55 points ahead of George.
Before the tournament Ian Anderson defeated Barry in Premier Three Green.
And online James Newman narrowly defeated Paul Watts in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy, a result which eliminates Paul from the competition, while James retains both of his lives.
07/06/24: Stephen won on Sunday
A Sunday result from Premier Two Blue has just come to light.
Stephen Little defeated Chris Hughes at the Lock Keeper.
06/06/24: Alan wins Wednesday tournament
There were just eleven players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the twenty-third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Alan Joicey was this week's winner, defeating Tim Line, Chris Rogers and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian had got past John Curran and Simon Tracy en route to the final.
Dom Verrall won the consolation flight, benefiting from Gaz Owen's opting out of the consolation flight before taking full advantage by beating John in the final.
Ian Anderson won the post-tournament jackpot.
There was one league match played.
In Premier Three Yellow James Timoney beat Cliff Blofield.
04/06/24: Tuesday's Red Division action
The two matches played on Tuesday were both in Premier Two Red.
And both were emphatic scorelines, Michael Corbett defeating Paul Watts and Mathew Nicholls beating Gerald Whitehouse.
04/06/24: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday.
Ten of those contested the seventh session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, forming two groups of five.
Natalie Singh and Kev Peters were the group winners, with Cynthia Roberts taking the side pool in Natalie's group.
Gaz Owen, beaten on PR by Kev, entended his SGP lead over Adam Sinclair to eleven points.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by four players.
02/06/24: Sunday's Red Division action
The only match played on Sunday was an online Premier Two Red encounter between Ben Crowden and Mathew Nicholls, which Mathew won.
02/06/24: Bristol Backgammon reaches Clapton in Gordano
The only match played on Saturday happened at a new venue for Bristol Backgammon, the Black Horse, Clapton in Gordano.
And Cecilia Rogers scored a much needed Premier One victory at the expense of Stuart Mann.
01/06/24: Four penalised at the May 31st checkpoint
The May 31st Premier League checkpoint passed at midnight on Friday, and just four players were penalised.
In Premier Two Red Gerald Whitehouse failed to claw back the two points he incurred on March 31st.
He (one point), Steffen Nowak (one point), and Michael Corbett (two points) have incurred penalties this time which can be clawed back by compliance with the July 31st checkpoint conditions, as has Ben Crabb with a single point penalty in Premier Three Purple.
All players in the other four divisions came through the checkpoint with a clean bill of health.
31/05/24: Friday results roundup
There were four matches played on Friday.
Ian Tarr played twice in Premier Two Blue, defeating Hemal Getalal before succumbing to Robin Gunney.
In Premier Two Red Ben Crowden beat Eamonn Reay.
And in Premier Three Purple Alan Joicey beat Andrew Cobb.
31/05/24: Ian Hedges breaks Gaz's GP20 monopoly
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, just seven of them at the casino to contest the fourth instalment of the year's GP20 series.
And after Gaz Owen had amassed an unbeaten run of eleven matches and three tournament wins in this year's series, he finally met his match in the final.
Ian Hedges, having received a quarter-final bye, defeated Simon Tracy in the semis before eclipsing Gaz.
Gaz had got past Barry Vasili and Ian Tarr en route.
Barry took the consolation flight with wins over Stephen Little and Steve Morris.
Ian H has moved into second place in the GP20 standings, but is still 170 points behind Gaz.
Ian also defeated Stephen before the tournament, when they played out their fourth round Brunel Trophy match, which was effectively a sudden death encounter.
And online there were five Premier League matches played.
Kev Peters moved to the summit of Premier One after sharing the spoils of a double header with Simon Baker.
The table is a tad deceptive, however, as Kev has rattled off twenty-two of his twenty-four fixture load.
Having lost eight in a row earlier in the season, he looked in severe danger of relegation, but his subsequent recovery has given him a great chance of top flight survival.
Michael Corbett defeated Eamonn Reay in Premier Two Red.
And Simon Hughes played a couple of Premier Three Yellow matches, losing to Ann Pocknell and Cliff Blofield.
30/05/24: Steve wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-six players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the twenty-second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Steve Pickard was this week's winner, defeating Gaz Owen, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Alan Joicey, after receiving a first round bye.
Alan had got past Natalie Singh, Simon Tracy and Simon Blinkhorn en route to the final.
Ian Anderson won the consolation flight by beating Adam Sinclair, Gaz and Natalie.
Ian Tarr won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were eight other matches played.
Premier Two Blue was the most active of the leagues, with four results.
Jon Organ scored a brace of victories -- Rosemary Whitehouse and Robin Gunney his victims -- while the top two in the division both suffered defeats, Warner Solomon to Chris Hughes and Phil Charlton to Hemal Getalal.
Eamonn Reay experienced mixed fortunes in his two Premier Two Red matches, defeating Gerald Whitehouse before succumbing to Pearl Foster.
Andy Zographou visited Barry Vasili in Chepstow, but came away with a Premier Three Green defeat.
And Simon Hughes beat Ann Pocknell in Premier Three Yellow.
28/05/24: Tuesday results roundup
There were ten matches played on Tuesday.
Premier One saw another new venue for Bristol Backgammon when Jim Green pipped Nick Barham at the Woolpack, Weston-super-Mare.
The victory took Jim to the top of the league.
Four matches in Premier Two Red included wins for Michael Petrakas over Eamonn Reay and Ben Crowden.
Eamonn had earlier defeated Dave Pym, whereas Ben suffered another defeat later, this time to Michael Corbett.
Hemal Getalal scored Premier Two Red victories over Chris Hughes and Robin Gunney.
In Premier Three Yellow James Timoney was another to get two matches in, a win over Kylie Hedges and a defeat at the hands of Cliff Blofield.
And in Premier Three Purple Alan Joicey beat Andrew Cobb.
28/05/24: Twenty-two in Bank Holiday Monday action
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, seventeen competitively and five at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The fifth session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in 3-point Nackgammon round robins at the Heroes website was contested by just six players, forming a single group.
And Gaz Owen consolidated his NGP lead by winning the group, extending the margin over second place to twenty-four points, Adam Sinclair now occupying that position.
Seven Premier League matches were played online.
Simon Baker scored a momentous double over Premier One leader Adam, handing the role of title favourite to Jim Green.
Chris Hughes was another to win twice, his Premier Two Blue wins coming at the expense of Rosemary Whitehouse and Neil Edwards.
In the same division Stephen Little narrowly defeated Hemal Getalal.
Steffen Nowak defeated Ben Crowden in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Purple Steve Pickard beat Richard Davies.
26/05/24: Sunday results roundup
There were nine matches played on Sunday.
The Rising Sun, Lacock, hosted a Premier One double header, where Kev Peters grabbed a brace of wins over Cecilia Rogers.
And online Jim Green scored the narrowest of wins over Simon Baker.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Jon Organ and Ian Tarr, over Neil Edwards and Chris Hughes.
Phil Doubtfire and Steffen Nowak were winners in Premier Two Red, Paul Watts and Gerald Whitehouse their victims.
And in Premier Three two winning runs came to an end.
Kylie Hedges was defeated by Fred North in the Yellow Division, while in the Green Division Flora von Michel succumbed to Marcel Bancroft.
26/05/24: Tom pulls out of the Purple Division
After a recent hospitalisation, Tom Chapman has declared himself unable to continue his Premier Three Purple campaign.
His nine results are all expunged from the league table, which is beneficial to some players but less so for others.
The checkpoint schedules for the division have been revised for the remainder of the season to reflect the reduced fixture load.
24/05/24: Ian marches on
The only action on Friday was a Premier Three Green encounter at Bowerhill, Wiltshire.
And Ian Hedges was the victor over visiting Andy Zographou, maintaining his blistering pace at the summit of the table.
24/05/24: Nick wins May Speedgammon event
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, with eight taking part in the third session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The eight were split into two groups for the opening round robin phase, which saw a clean sweep group win for George Georgiou and a narrower win for Ian Tarr.
In the knock-out phase, however, George and Ian fell at the semi-final stage, Nick Barham and Umut Bilge progressing to the final, which Nick won.
Ian has edged ahead of previous leader Barry Vasili at the top of the SGGP table.
There was also Premier League action, with six results reported.
The Pump House hosted Premier One action, with Nick and Neil Young not only finishing a previously adjourned match but also completing the return.
Neil was the winner in both cases.
Stephen Little got in two Premier Two Blue matches, succumbing both to league leader Warner Solomon and Neil Edwards.
In the same division Phil Charlton continued his impressive run by edging out Mike Smith.
And in Premier Three Yellow Kylie Hedges scored another win, this time at the expense of Caroline Boulton.
23/05/24: Late result from Monday
A Premier Two Red result from Monday has belatedly come to light.
Paul Watts defeated Dave Pym.
23/05/24: Phil wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the twenty-first of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Phil Doubtfire was this week's winner, defeating Steve Pickard, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Simon Tracy.
Simon had got past Adam Sinclair and Ian Anderson en route to the final.
Adam won the consolation flight by beating John Curran and Steve.
Ian A won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were six other matches played.
A fourth round Brunel Trophy tie between two hitherto unbeaten players took place at the Pump House.
Miles Farren was the victor against Neil Young.
Stuart Mann and Kev Peters fought out a Premier One double header, sharing the spoils, albeit with a points difference advantage for Stuart.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Stephen Little and Jon Organ, over Rosemary Whitehouse and Hemal Getalal.
And Ben Crowden defeated Gerald Whitehouse in Premier Two Red.
21/05/24: Tuesday results roundup
There were five matches played on Tuesday.
The Old Colonial in Weston-super-Mare hosted a Premier One meeting of Nick Barham and Jim Green, which Jim won as he mounts an ever more credible bid for the title.
Premier Two Blue saw the remainder of the action online.
Hazel Harper scored a brace of emphatic victories, Stephen Little and Rosemary Whitehouse her victims.
And Jon Organ defeated Ian Tarr.
Meanwhile in Premier Three Yellow Kylie Hedges progressed her promotion ambitions with a victory over Simon Hughes.
21/05/24: Twenty-six in Monday action
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday.
Nine of those contested the sixth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, forming groups of five and four.
Nick Barham and Adam Sinclair were the group winners.
Adam has reduced Gaz Owen's SGP lead to just three points, with a sizeable gap now opening up between second and third.
There was some Premier League action, too, with seven matches played across all six divisions.
The Lock Keeper was the venue for Chris Rogers's Premier One victory over Andy Boysan.
Ismail Yilmaz defeated Pearl Foster Premier Two Red.
In Premier Two Blue Jon Organ pipped Hazel Harper.
Barry Vasili visited Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Green, but left defeated, while Flora von Michel put a little more pressure on third placed Ian Anderson by beating him.
In Premier Three Yellow Kylie Hedges moved into third place by beating league leader Dicky Biddle.
And in Premier Three Purple Simon Blinkhorn beat Richard Davies.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by four players.
20/05/24: Sunday results roundup
There were three matches played on Sunday.
Phil Doubtfire narrowly defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Two Red.
Kylie Hedges kept her Premier Three Yellow promotion bid on track by beating Cliff Blofield.
And in Premier Three Green Andy Zographou beat Marcel Bancroft.
19/05/24: Saturday results roundup
There were seven matches played on Saturday, and it was a day of extremes for both Andy Boysan and Kev Peters.
Andy was involved in all three Premier One matches, and lost them all.
A narrow defeat at the hands of Nick Barham was followed by a brace of emphatic losses to Kev.
And based on records so far, a clutch of emiment players -- Andy, Kev, Chris Rogers and Neil Young -- all appear to be involved in battles to stave off relegation.
Kev's good day was topped off by a defeat of Adam Sinclair in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy, where Dicky Biddle also defeated Mike Smith.
Mike is thus eliminated, while Adam and Dicky have one life remaining, and Kev retains both of his lives.
Mike also suffered defeat in Premier Two Blue, succumbing to Stephen Little while Neil Edwards was beating Ian Tarr.
17/05/24: Friday results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
Jim Green narrowly defeated Natalie Singh in Premier One.
And in Premier Two Red Ben Crowden beat Phil Doubtfire.
16/05/24: George wins Handicap tournament
There were ten players in action on Thursday to contest the fourth instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
And George Georgiou was the tournament winner, his victims being Stephen Little, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Tim Line, after receiving a first round bye.
Tim had arrived there by getting past Steve Morris and Simon Tracy.
Hazel Harper took the consolation flight with wins over Steve and Stephen.
Hazel has taken over the lead of the HT standings from Steve, with George now in second place.
16/05/24: Adam wins Wednesday tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the twentieth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Adam Sinclair -- for the fifth time this year -- was this week's winner, defeating John Curran, Tim Line, Gaz Owen and -- in the final -- Chris Rogers.
Chris had got past Elias Hamati and Natalie Singh en route to the final, after receiving a first round bye.
Simon Blinkhorn won the consolation flight by beating Ian Anderson and Ian Tarr.
Tim won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were four other matches played.
The first two fourth round ties in the Brunel Trophy were completed.
Richard Owsley pipped Matt Sharp, who is eliminated, while Richard retains both lives.
Natalie beat Steffen Nowak, both players taking a single life into round five.
In Premier Three Green Mandy Macdonald visited Chepstow and suffered a defeat at the hands of Barry Vasili.
And Simon Hughes scored a much needed win over Fred North in Premier Three Yellow.
14/05/24: Tuesday results roundup
There were three matches played on Tuesday.
Gaz Owen recovered from 1-8 down to end his run of Premier One defeats by pipping Jim Green at the Roze and Crown.
Phil Charlton strengthened his Premier Two Blue promotion campaign with a win over Ian Tarr.
And in Premier Three Yellow Ann Pocknell beat Fred North.
14/05/24: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday.
Twelve of those contested the fifth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in DMP round robins at the Heroes website, forming a single group.
Adam Sinclair won the group with Cynthia Roberts in second place.
Adam has reduced Gaz Owen's SGP lead to sixteen points.
There was some Premier League action online, too.
Pearl Foster defeated Paul Watts in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Matt Sharp scored a brace of wins over Simon Hughes.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by six players, and there was also growing interest from random passers by.
12/05/24: Brunel Trophy fourth round draw made
The draw for the fourth round of the eleventh incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Sunday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The initial field of fifty-eight is now down to twenty-seven after sixteen fell by the wayside during round three.
Given the odd number there has to be one bye, and the lucky recipient this time is Kylie Hedges.
There are three ties where both players are thus far unbeaten, while six others will effectively be sudden death affairs.
Matches are to be played by June 16th.
The full draw can be found here.
12/05/24: James out of Brunel Trophy
The only action on Saturday was the last of the third round Brunel Trophy matches to be completed.
And Natalie Singh whitewashed James Lintell-Smith to book her place in round four with a single life remaining.
James is eliminated.
11/05/24: Friday results roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.
Jim Green won a battle of potential Premier One title contenders, defeating league leader Adam Sinclair.
Mathew Nicholls beat Phil Doubtfire in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Dicky Biddle consolidated his league lead by defeating Kylie Hedges.
10/05/24: Second successive Thursday win for Stephen
There were twenty-four players in action on Thursday, fifteen of them to contest the fifth instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series at the Rainbow Casino.
Stephen Little -- fresh from his GP10 win last week -- was the tournament winner, defeating Steffen Nowak, Simon Tracy and -- in the final -- Umut Bilge, after receiving a first round bye.
Umut had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr, Nick Barham and Gaz Owen.
Steve Morris took the consolation flight with wins over Barry Vasili, Cynthia Roberts and Ian.
Tim Line had a blank evening, but his BGP points table lead is still at a healthy 105 points ahead of second placed Hazel Harper.
There was action in the Premier League and the Brunel Trophy.
Stephen had earlier defeated Chas Perry at the Watershed in the third round of the Brunel Trophy in what was effectively a sudden death tie.
The Lock Keeper played host to a Premier One match, Andy Boysan defeating Neil Young, while online Adam Sinclair was regaining top spot with a narrow victory over Stuart Mann.
Robin Gunney ended his run of Premier Two Blue defeats by beating Richard Owsley emphatically.
Ian Hedges pipped Barry in Premier Three Green before the tournament.
And Dicky Biddle is back at the top of Premier Three Yellow, unseating previous leader Ann Pocknell by defeating her.
09/05/24: Gaz wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the nineteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Gaz Owen was this week's winner, defeating Adam Sinclair, Simon Tracy, Gerald Whitehouse and -- in the final -- Rosemary Whitehouse.
Rosemary had got past Tim Line and Elias Hamati en route to the final, after receiving a first round bye.
Nick Barham won the consolation flight by beating Adam, Chris Rogers and Tim.
Tim won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were four other matches played.
Eamonn Reay was eliminated from the Brunel Trophy after his third round defeat at the hands of Matt Sharp, who carries a single life into round four.
In Premier Two Blue Warner Solomon, who is recovering well after a slow start to his season, scored a brace of wins over Robin Gunney and moves to the top of the league.
And the Fox Den played host to a Premier Three Green match, Barry Vasili defeating Frank Jones.
07/05/24: Tuesday results roundup
There were seven matches played on Tuesday.
Gaz Owen suffered his fifth successive Premier One defeat, at the hands of Nick Barham, his longest losing league sequence for fifteen years.
Phil Doubtfire defeated Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Purple Tom Chapman and Cynthia Roberts shared the spoils of a double header.
There were also three third round Brunel Trophy ties played.
Tim Line, Paul Watts and Phil Charlton were the victors over, respectively, Simon Hughes, Andy Boysan and Hazel Harper.
Andy and Hazel are eliminated from the competition while the other four take a single life into round four.
07/05/24: Twenty-two in Monday action
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday.
Eleven of those contested the fourth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, forming groups of six and five.
Group winners were Gaz Owen and Adam Sinclair.
Adam's group was decided entirely on PR, as all five players won two of their four matches.
Gaz's SGP lead has increased to Twenty-three points, with Adam now in second place.
There was some Premier One action, too.
Tim Line fitted in three matches, sandwiching a victory over Chris Rogers between defeats at the hands of Andy Boysan and Natalie Singh.
And another new Bristol Backgammon venue materialised when The Eldon House hosted Simon Baker's narrow defeat of Neil Young.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by five players, including two players entirely new to the game.
04/05/24: Saturday results roundup
There were five Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Mike Smith drove the action in Premier Two Blue, but suffered only defeats at the hands of Ian Tarr and Stephen Little.
Meanwhile in Premier Three Green Frank Jones fared better, succumbing to Ian Anderson before defeating both Mandy Macdonald and Marcel Bancroft.
03/05/24: Friday results roundup
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.
There were Premier One wins for Neil Young (over Kev Peters at Knights Templar) and Stuart Mann (over Gaz Owen at the Pump House).
Mark Dixon defeated Simon Blinkhorn in Premier Three Purple.
And in Premier Three Yellow Dicky Biddle beat Caroline Boulton.
03/05/24: Stephen wins GP10 tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them to contest the fourth of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Stephen Little took the honours in the main flight, defeating Hazel Harper, Ian Hedges, Steffen Nowak and -- in the final -- Barry Vasili.
Barry made the final by eliminating Cynthia Roberts, Tim Line and Gaz Owen.
The consolation flight was won by Steve Morris with victories over Simon Tracy and Cynthia.
It's very close at the top of the GP10 points table, where Tim has moved into a ten point lead, with Steffen in second place, and the top seven covered by a 40 points span.
Before the tournament Ian Hedges defeated Simon Blinkhorn in the third round of the Brunel Trophy in what was effectively a sudden death tie.
And there was action online in Premier Two.
Phil Doubtfire defeated Gerald Whitehouse in Premier Two Red, while in Premier Two Blue Mike Smith was beating Richard Owsley.
01/05/24: Nick wins Wednesday tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the eighteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Nick Barham was this week's winner, defeating Chris Hughes, Adam Sinclair and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen, after receiving a first round bye.
Gaz had got past Simon Tracy, John Curran and Steve Pickard en route to the final.
Ian Anderson won the consolation flight by beating Tim Line and Elias Hamati.
Stephen Little won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were two Premier League matches played.
In Premier One reigning champion Gaz suffered his third successive league defeat, this time to Stuart Mann.
And in Premier Two Red Phil Doubtfire narrowly defeated Pearl Foster.
30/04/24: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, eleven competitively and six at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The eleven contested the fourth session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in 3-point Nackgammon round robins at the Heroes website.
That session consisted of groups of six and five, won respectively by Gaz Owen and George Georgiou.
Gaz now holds a 13 point NGP lead over second placed Nick Barham.
And at the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and hopefully informative action, with first timer Julian Tucker making a very favourable impression.
28/04/24: Sunday results roundup
There were four matches played on Sunday.
In the third round of the Brunel Trophy Mark Dixon preserved his unbeaten record when eliminating Frank Jones from the competition.
Warner Solomon defeated Rosemary Whitehouse to go second in Premier Two Blue.
And Ann Pocknell got the better of James Timoney in a Premier Three Yellow double header, the first win a comfortable one, the second less so.
27/04/24: Saturday Premier League action
There were three matches played on Saturday, two of them in Premier Three Green, where Flora von Michel defeated Frank Jones and Marcel Bancroft beat Mandy Macdonald.
The Dumb Post Inn, Calne, played host to a Premier One meeting between Cecilia Rogers and Tim Line.
Tim scored an emphatic win to move into second place, only behind Adam Sinclair on average points difference.
26/04/24: Friday results roundup
There were three matches played on Friday.
In Premier One Kev Peters scored a brace of wins over Nick Barham.
And Cliff Blofield defeated Fred North in Premier Three Yellow.
26/04/24: Gaz maintains GP20 monopoly
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them at the casino to contest the third instalment of the year's GP20 series.
And once again Gaz Owen was the tournament winner, capitalising on a first round bye by defeating Hazel Harper, Ian Hedges, and -- in the final -- Barry Vasili.
Barry had got past Umut Bilge, Steve Morris and George Georgiou to reach the final.
The consolation flight saw Tim Line victorious, with Hazel and Ian Tarr his victims.
So Gaz -- having won all three GP20 tournaments this year -- has stretched his lead in the current series to 155 points, with reigning GP20 champion Ian Tarr a very distant second.
There was one Premier League match played online, Paul Watts narrowly defeating Phil Doubtfire in Premier Two Red.
25/04/24: Chris wins Wednesday tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the seventeenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Chris Rogers was this week's winner, defeating Simon Blinkhorn, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Nick Barham, after receiving a first round bye.
Nick had got past Tim Line and Phil Doubtfire en route to the final.
Simon won the consolation flight by beating Elias Hamati and Ian Anderson.
Elias won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were six Premier League matches played.
Premier Two Red saw most action, with Michael Petrakas getting three matches in -- a defeat to Ismail Yilmaz, followed by victory over Dave Pym and another loss against Gerald Whitehouse.
In the same division Paul Watts beat Mathew Nicholls, while Hazel Harper scored a much needed Premier Two Blue win against Richard Owsley.
And in Premier One there was a first ever Bristol Backgammon match in Glastonbury.
Gaz Owen suffered defeat to Natalie Singh at the Finca coffee house.
23/04/24: Tuesday results roundup
There were five matches played on Tuesday.
Premier One saw most action, with both Gaz Owen and Tim Line playing twice.
Gaz defeated Neil Young before succumbing to Tim, who followed that up by beating Natalie Singh.
Warner Solomon beat Hazel Harper in Premier Two Blue.
And Steve Pickard moved to the top of Premier Three Purple by defeating Simon Blinkhorn.
23/04/24: Twenty-four in Monday action
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday.
Thirteen of those contested the third session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, forming groups of seven and six.
Group winners were Alan Joicey and Gaz Owen, although Kev Peters took the side pool in Alan's group.
Gaz's SGP lead has increased to eighteen points, with Alan now in second place.
There was some online league action, too.
Ismail Yilmaz defeated Paul Watts in Premier Two Red; Matt Sharp beat James Timoney in Premier Three Yellow; and in Premier Three Purple Cynthia Roberts overcame Richard Davies.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by five players.
21/04/24: Sunday results roundup
There were three matches played on Sunday.
In the third round of the Brunel Trophy there were exits from the competition for Steve Morris and Alan Joicey.
Steve's defeat was inflicted by Simon Baker at the Red Monkey, Chandos Road, while Alan's loss came online at the hands of Dicky Biddle.
Simon retains both lives, while Dicky has one left.
And Ed Turner defeated Michael Corbett in Premier Two Red.
19/04/24: Friday results roundup
There were three matches played on Friday.
In the third round of the Brunel Trophy Reece Hodges defeated Robin Gunney, preserving his two lives while eliminating Robin from the competition.
Ed Turner suffered a rare Premier Two Red defeat at the hands of Ben Crowden.
And Dicky Biddle beat James Timoney in Premier Three Yellow to go top of the league.
19/04/24: Stuart wins third Masters title
There were twenty-four players in action on Thursday, sixteen of them to contest the 24th annual Bristol Masters event at the casino.
And it was Stuart Mann who came through the gruelling four 9-point match schedule to take the title.
Stuart thus equals Alex Hodge's record tally of three Masters wins, having won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.
He got past Jim Green, Elias Hamati and Tim Line, while his final opponent Warner Solomon was defeating Ian Tarr, Gaz Owen and Ian Hedges.
Stuart has qualified by right for twenty of the twenty-four events, which is a record.
For anyone interested Roland Herrera holds the records for most Masters events contested (21), most semi-final appearances (8), and most finals (5).
There was other action, both live and online.
Adam Sinclair and Ian Tarr made the most of the opportunity afforded by early Masters elimination by playing their third round Brunel Trophy match, where Adam prevailed.
At the Pump House Nick Barham and Neil Young played one and a half matches.
Neil won the Brunel opener emphatically, eliminating Nick from the competition, and leads in the adjourned Premier One match by 6-4.
Adam and Neil take both lives into round four, while Ian has just the one.
Phil Charlton continued his winning ways in Premier Two Blue, defeating second placed Richard Owsley.
Mathew Nicholls edged out Gerald Whitehouse in Premier Two Red.
Frank Jones beat Gary Plant at the Fox Den in Premier Three Green, and in the same division Marcel Bancroft beat Ian Anderson online.
18/04/24: Chris wins Wednesday tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the sixteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Chris Hughes -- was this week's winner -- his second such success in three weeks -- defeating Simon Blinkhorn, Simon Tracy and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian had got past John Curran and George Georgiou en route to the final.
Simon B won the consolation flight by beating Tim Line and Elias Hamati.
Elias won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were Brunel Trophy third round exits for Jordan White and Gerald Whitehouse.
Jordan was defeated by Kev Peters, while Gerald succumbed to Kylie Hedges.
Both Kev and Kylie have both lives intact going into round four.
And in Premier Two Red Ed Turner continued his fine recent run by beating Ben Crowden.
16/04/24: Tuesday results roundup
There were five matches played on Tuesday.
In the third round of the Brunel Trophy two players made their exits from the competition, Cynthia Roberts losing to thus far unbeaten Richard Owsley, while Andy Zographou succumbed to Ian Anderson, who has one life remaining.
Phil Charlton defeated Hazel Harper in Premier Two Blue.
And at the Fox Den a Premier Three Green double header saw the spoils shared by Gary Plant and Frank Jones.
16/04/24: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday.
Sixteen of those contested the second session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in DMP round robins at the Heroes website, forming two groups of eight.
That should have been seventeen, but Director Ian Tarr sadly failed to pick up a message from Alan Joicey.
Group winners were Natalie Singh and Simon Tracy, although neither winner invested in the optional side pools, so Cynthia Roberts and Adam Sinclair collected.
Gaz Owen's SGP lead increased slightly, with Adam now in second place.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by Simon Dicken, with three Sportsmans regulars trying their hand at the great game.
14/04/24: Sunday win for Ed
In the only league action on Sunday Ed Turner maintained his strong start to the Premier Two Red season by defeating Dave Pym.
13/04/24: Saturday Brunel wins for Jim and Miles
The only action on Saturday was in the third round of the Brunel Trophy.
Online Jim Green defeated Mike Smith, a result which leaves both players with a single life to take into round four.
Meanwhile at the Wiper and True Taproom Miles Farren receovered from 4-10 down to score an epic win against Gaz Owen.
Each player came into the match with both lives intact.
Gaz and Miles made their Bristol Backgammon debuts in the same tournament, back in March 2005.
12/04/24: Friday win for Stephen
In the only league action on Friday Stephen Little defeated Premier Two Blue league leader Simon Tracy.
12/04/24: Tim wins second successive Bristol Grand Prix event
There were twenty players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the fourth instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.
Tim Line was the tournament winner, just as he was in March, defeating Stephen Little, George Georgiou, Hazel Harper and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there by getting past Cynthia Roberts and Steve Morris after receiving a first round bye.
Safi Tracy took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia, Simon Tracy and Ian Tarr.
Tim has moved further into the lead in the BGP points table, moving 120 points ahead of second placed Hazel.
He is also the first player to clinch a 2025 Bristol Masters place.
There was action in the Premier League and the Brunel Trophy.
Warner Solomon won twice, defeating Cecilia Rogers and Phil Charlton.
The victory over Cecilia was in the third round of the Brunel Trophy, a result which leaves both players taking a single life into round four.
His second win of the day -- in Premier Two Blue -- was much needed, and also put a small dent in Phil's fine start to the season.
Another who has begun his league season well is Ed Turner, who continued his impressive Premier Two Red run by defeating Mathew Nicholls.
The other action was in Premier Three Green, where Marcel Bancroft beat Gary Plant at the Compass, Tormarton, before succumbing online to Frank Jones.
10/04/24: Adam wins Wednesday tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the fifteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Adam Sinclair -- was this week's winner, defeating John Curran, Australian visitor Daniel Pedrecal, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had got past Chris Hughes and Tim Line en route to the final, after receiving a first round bye.
It was Adam's fourth Wednesday success this year, while Gaz has now been runner-up four times.
Ian Anderson won the consolation flight by beating Simon Tracy, Chris and John Curran.
Stephen Little won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were league wins for Phil Charlton (over Robin Gunney in Premier Two Blue), and Ed Turner (over Paul Watts in Premier Two Red).
09/04/24: Chris exits Brunel Trophy
The first result from the third round of the Brunel Trophy is in.
And Chris Rogers's defeat at the hands of James Newman signals his exit from the competition, while James still has both lives intact.
09/04/24: Tuesday win for Ed
In the only league action on Tuesday Ed Turner defeated Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Red.
09/04/24: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday.
Thirteen of those contested the opening session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, forming groups of seven and six.
Group winners were Gaz Owen and Mike Smith, although George Georgiou won the side pool in Mike's group.
Gaz, having just won his first ever Monday Grand Prix title in the previous quarterly competition, now leads the SGP standings.
There was one league match played online, Flora von Michel's Premier Three Green victory over Andy Zographou.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by Aditya Narayanan, Glyn Davies and Hina Shah.
07/04/24: Brunel Trophy third round draw made
The draw for the third round of the eleventh incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Sunday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The initial field of fifty-eight has been reduced by fifteen casualties to forty-three, which has necessitated a bye for this round, the lucky recipient of which is Steffen Nowak.
There are only two ties where both players are thus far unbeaten, while eight others will effectively be sudden death affairs.
Matches are to be played by May 12th.
The full draw is here.
07/04/24: Saturday results round-up
There were four matches played on Saturday.
Cynthia Roberts and Andrew Cobb played a Premier Three Purple triple header.
Cynthia won the first match but Andrew struck back with two victories of his own.
And the second round of the Brunel Trophy is now complete, after Jordan White's defeat of Tom Chapman and James Timoney's concession against Cynthia.
05/04/24: Friday wins for Andy and Mark
There were two matches played on Friday.
Andy Boysan won his second round Brunel Trophy tie against Natalie Singh, leaving both players with a single life to take into round three.
And Mark Dixon beat Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple.
05/04/24: Safi wins Handicap tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the third instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
And Safi Tracy -- making her first appearance of the year -- was the tournament winner, her victims being Simon Tracy, Tim Line and -- in the final -- George Georgiou, after receiving a first round bye.
George had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr, Nick Barham and Hazel Harper.
Andy Zographou took the consolation flight with wins over Ian, Tom Chapman and Simon.
Steve Morris remains the leader of the HT standings, although Hazel has reduced his lead to ten points.
Nick and Simon found time to fit in their outstanding GP20 consolation final from the prevous week, Nick prevailing.
And there was league action online.
The last remaining unbeaten record in the entire Premier League fell when Phil Charlton was edged out by Chris Hughes in Premier Two Blue, where Richard Owsley was another winner, defeating Warner Slomon.
And in Premier Three Yellow Ann Pocknell beat Matt Sharp.
03/04/24: Chris wins Wednesday tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the fourteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Chris Hughes -- was this week's winner, defeating Tim Line, Adam Sinclair and -- in the final -- Simon Tracy.
Simon had got past Gaz Owen and Elias Hamati en route to the final.
Ian Anderson won the consolation flight by beating Gaz and Chris Rogers.
Adam won the post-tournament jackpot.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy there were wins for Gerald Whitehouse and Simon Baker, who defeated Chas Perry and Robin Gunney.
All four players move into round three, Simon with both lives intact, the others on their final life.
And Phil Charlton continued his unbeaten start to the Premier Two Blue season, overcoming Jon Organ.
It was the 500th Premier League match of Phil's career.
03/04/24: Adam won Monday's Nackgammon event
After investigation into aspects of Monday's Nackgammon Grand Prix event, Adam Sinclair has been declared the winner.
One match was not played, and never will be.
Adam moves to second place in the NGP table, just behind leader Gaz Owen.
02/04/24: Tuesday's results roundup
There were four matches played on Tuesday.
Ian Tarr won his second round Brunel Trophy tie against Phil Doubtfire, thus eliminating Phil from the competition, while retaining both of his own lives.
A Premier One double header saw honours shared between league leader Adam Sinclair and Tim Line.
And Mark Dixon beat Tom Chapman in Premier Three Purple.
02/04/24: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, eleven competitively and five at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Five contested the third session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in 3-point Nackgammon round robins at the Heroes website.
That NGP session consisted of a single round robin group, which was not completed, and is the subject of further investigation and adjudication by Director Ian Tarr.
There was a second round Brunel Trophy victory for Eamonn Reay over Frank Jones, leaving both players with a single life remaining.
In Premier Two the day belonged to the Whitehouses, who each registered 11-2 wins.
Gerald's came against Paul Watts in Premier Two Red, while Rosemary's in Premier Two Blue was at the expense of Neil Edwards.
At the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action, with Simon Dicken entertaining absolute beginner Neil, while Ian welcomed back Sarah and Peter Collingwood, who last attended late in 2021.
01/04/24: Thirteen incur penalties at March 31st checkpoint
The first Premier League checkpoint of 2024 passed at midnight on Sunday.
And thirteen players have incurred penalty points for not reporting at least seven results.
These can be clawed back at the May 31st checkpoint.
31/03/24: Sunday's results roundup
There were three matches played on Sunday.
Mike Smith won his second round Brunel Trophy tie against Simon Tracy, thus eliminating Simon from the competition, while Mike retains both of his lives.
Simon later lost a Premier Two Blue clash with Rosemary Whitehouse after leading 10-4.
Stephen Little defeated Ian Tarr in the same division.
30/03/24: Saturday's Premier League action
There were just two Premier League matches played on Friday, both in Premier Two Blue.
The winners were Stephen Little and Simon Tracy, their victims Hemal Getalal and Jon Organ.
30/03/24: Good Friday Brunel Trophy action
One second round Brunel Trophy match was played on Friday.
And Neil Young's victory over Chris Rogers leaves Neil with both lives remaining while Chris has one.
30/03/24: Good Friday Premier League action
There were just two Premier League matches played on Friday.
Michael Corbett defeated Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Dicky Biddle supplanted Ann Pocknell as league leader by beating her.
29/03/24: George wins GP10 tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the third of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
George Georgiou took the honours in the tournament, defeating Simon Blinkhorn, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Geoff Paffett after receiving a first round bye.
Geoff made the final by eliminating Kylie Hedges, Ian Tarr and Ian Hedges.
The consolation flight final was held over for another time after Simon Tracy, perhaps justifiably disapproving of his final opponent Nick Barham prioritising the latter stages of his second round Brunel Trophy match, decided not to wait around.
For the record Nick defeated Stephen Little in that Brunel match, leaving both players with a single life remaining for the third round.
George has drawn level with Tim at the head of the GP10 table, and he also has the advantage of having played one event fewer.
There was also Premier Three Yellow action online, where Dicky Biddle whitewashed Caroline Boulton.
27/03/24: Kev wins Wednesday tournament again
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, just six of them to contest the thirteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And once again the turnout dictated a change to a round robin of 5-point matches.
Kev Peters -- just as last week -- was this week's winner, with Chris Rogers as runner-up this time.
Elias Hamati won the post-tournament jackpot.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy a meeting of two hitherto unbeaten players saw victory for Cecilia Rogers over Matt Sharp.
Pearl Foster and Mathew Nicholls were winners in Premier Two Red against Ed Turner and Steffen Nowak.
And Matt Sharp won a Premier Three Yellow encounter with Cliff Blofield.
26/03/24: Tuesday's results roundup
There were six matches played on Tuesday.
Premier Two Red was the busiest of the divisions, with three matches completed.
Elias Hamati was one of the winners, concluding his campaign with a narrow victory over Steffen Nowak.
Yes, you read it correctly. Instead of spreading the fixture load across the 335 days of the Premier League season, Elias's season is done and dusted on Day 86!
He has finished with an even record in terms of wins and losses, so although he will top the table for a while yet, it's safe to conclude that he will not ultimately be figuring in either the promotion race or the battle to avoid relegation.
Other winners in the division were Dave Pym and Ed Turner, either or both of whom may well be in the final shakedown at the top end of the table if they continue their impressive form.
Their victims on this occasion were Michael Corbett and Ismail Yilmaz.
In Premier Two Blue Phil Charlton became the last of the league's 68 players to ensure that no expungement will take place when Sunday's checkpoint passes.
He remains the only unbeaten player in the entire Premier League, however, after defeating Stephen Little.
Simon Blinkhorn pulled off a fine win against Mark Dixon in Premier Three Purple.
And in Premier Three Yellow Fred North defeated Caroline Boulton.
25/03/24: Eighteen in Monday action
There were eighteen players in action on Monday.
Just seven contested the final session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Those seven formed a single group, which was won by Elias Hamati.
The absent Gaz Owen had already made sure of winning the WGP title, so the honour of finishing second was up for grabs.
That fell to Kev Peters.
There were five other matches played.
In Premier Two Blue Ian Tarr defeated Rosemary Whitehouse.
Dave Pym and Steffen Nowak were winners in Premier Two Red, Phil Doubtfire and Ismail Yilmaz their victims.
In Premier Three Purple Steve Pickard got the better of Tom Chapman.
And Matt Sharp defeated Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Yellow.
At Sportsmans Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by James Hammonds, who was put through an intensive session on his third visit.
25/03/24: Modest Simon reports a Saturday win
Simon Hughes visited Simonetta Herrera in Kellaway Avenue on Saturday, and recorded a second round Brunel Trophy victory.
The result is only just in, and leaves Simon with both lives intact as the third round draw approaches.
For Simonetta, however, her Brunel campaign is over for another year.
24/03/24: Sunday's results roundup
There were ten matches played on Sunday.
In the top flight Tim Line pipped Andy Boysan.
Paul Watts scored a brace of Premier Two Red wins, overcoming Elias Hamati and Gerald Whitehouse.
In the same division there were wins for Ed Turner and Pearl Foster, over Phil Doubtfire and Michael Corbett.
Another two-time winner was Hemal Getalal in Premier Two Blue, defeating Rosemary Whitehouse and league leader Simon Tracy.
And other Blue Division winners were Ian Tarr and Hazel Harper, whose victims were Chris Hughes and Robin Gunney.
Meanwhile in the second round of the Brunel Trophy Ian Hedges defeated Phil Charlton, leaving both players with a single life to take into round three.
24/03/24: Saturday's Premier League results
There were seven Premier League matches played on Saturday.
A top flight double header between Cecilia Rogers and Natalie Singh saw honours shared, in terms of wins if not points difference.
Michael Petrakas was the player of the day, getting in three Premier Two Red matches and winning thm all.
He defeated Michael Corbett, Pearl Foster and Ben Crowden.
That division's other winner was Phil Doubtfire, who beat Elias Hamati.
And in Premier Two Blue Hemal Getalal beat Neil Edwards.
22/03/24: Friday's Premier League results
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.
Mathew Nicholls played twice in Premier Two Red, succumbing first to Dave Pym, then to Ben Crowden.
And there were Premier Three Purple wins for Mark Dixon and Steve Pickard, their victims being Andrew Cobb and Tom Chapman.
22/03/24: Barry wins March Speedgammon event
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, with twelve taking part in the second session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The twelve -- including debut appearances for Umut Bilge and Alla Lulzim, and a welcome return for Rufus Rozelaar for the first time since November, 2019 -- were split into three groups for the opening round robin phase, which saw clean sweep group wins for Umut and Barry Vasili and a narrower win for Ian Tarr.
The knock-out phase saw the unbeaten group pair Umut and Barry make it to the final where Barry prevailed.
Barry has edged ahead of previous leader Ian in the SGGP table.
There was also Premier League action, including two double headers in the casino alongside the tournament.
For Richard Owsley and Stephen Little in Premier Two Blue honours were shared, while Simon Tracy continued his impressive progress online against Hemal Getalal.
And in Premier Three Green leader Ian Hedges scored a brace of wins over Frank Jones.
20/03/24: Kev wins Wednesday tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday, just six of them to contest the twelfth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And the low turnout dictated a change of format -- a round robin of 5-point matches.
Kev Peters was this week's winner, with Adam Sinclair as runner-up.
Elias Hamati won the post-tournament jackpot.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy there was effectively a sudden death encounter.
And Andy Zographou emerged as the winner against Ed Turner to survive to the third round.
Hazel Harper emphatically ended her winless Premier Two Blue streak at the expense of Jon Organ.
And Ben Crabb was a popular winner in Premier Three Purple against Mark Dixon.
20/03/24: Tuesday's results round-up
Seven matches were played on Tuesday.
There were second round Brunel Trophy victories for Dicky Biddle and Simon Blinkhorn.
Their victims were Pearl Foster and Alan Joicey.
Pearl thus becomes the latest player to be eliminated, while Dicky, Simon and Alan are now on one life apiece.
The Pump House, arguably the most regular alternative venue for Bristol Backgammon endeavours, played host to a Premier One match -- Jim Green building on his promising start to life in the top flight by defeating Stuart Mann.
Premier Two Blue leader Simon Tracy narrowly beat second placed Richard Owsley.
Elias Hamati continued his Premier Two Red campaign at break-neck speed, defeating Eamonn Reay, and has only three matches remaining.
Chepstow saw a Premier Three Green meeting, where visiting Andy Zographou was beaten by Barry Vasili, while Ian Anderson won online against Mandy Macdonald.
18/03/24: Twenty-two in Monday action
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday.
Fourteen contested the latest session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Those fourteen were split into two groups of seven, which were won by Kev Peters and Adam Sinclair.
Gaz Owen was absent and therefore unable to protect his WGP lead of twenty-eight points.
He needn't have worried, however, as the two players in with a chance of overhauling him were also no shows.
But although Gaz's lead has been cut to 23 points by Kev, there won't be enough points available from next week's final WGP session to bridge the gap, when discards are taken into account.
Gaz therefore wins his first ever Monday title.
There were five other matches played, including one for Gaz, who played his second round Brunel Trophy tie against Barry Vasili from the other side of the world.
Gaz's win sealed Barry's Brunel exit, while Gaz's lives remain intact.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Simon Tracy and Jon Organ, over Stephen Little and Neil Edwards respectively, Simon's win moving him to the top of the table.
Dave Pym defeated Elias Hamati in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Dicky Biddle got the better of Simon Hughes.
18/03/24: Monday Sportsmans session cancelled
The regular Monday evening session at Sportsmans, which is these days billed as "Ian's Backgammon Clinic", has been cancelled just for this week as Ian has a heavy cold and would not wish to inflict that on anyone else.
It should resume next week, all guns blazing!
The Monday online session will still be operated, from the safety of Ian's home.
17/03/24: Twenty-one in busy Sunday action
It was a busy Sunday of activity, with twenty-one players in action in a total of thirteen matches.
All six divisions of the Premier League were represented, as well as the second round of the Brunel Trophy.
There were Brunel exits for Chris Hughes and John Curran who both lost to unbeaten players in James Newman and Miles Farren.
Premier One saw the only live action, and this was at a new venue for Bristol Backgammon.
Jim Green had the better of a brace of matches against Tim Line.
Michael Corbett may have been the last of the sixty-eight Premier League players to register an opening result, but he appears ready to make up for lost time.
His Premier Two Red victory over Elias Hamati was followed by defeat at the hands of Eamonn Reay.
In the same division Dave Pym scored a win over Pearl Foster.
Simon Tracy and Warner Solomon were winners in Premier Two Blue -- Robin Gunney and Jon Organ their victims.
Andrew Cobb and Mark Dixon shared the spoils of a Premier Three Purple double header.
Ian Anderson suffered defeat by Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
And Matt Sharp defeated Ann Pocknell in Premier Three Yellow.
17/03/24: Andy opens league account
In the only action on Saturday, Andy Boysan registered his first Premier One win of the season, at the expense of Natalie Singh.
15/03/24: Friday wins for Elias and Mark
There were two matches played on Friday.
Elias Hamati defeated Michael Corbett in Premier Two Red.
And Mark Dixon beat Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple.
15/03/24: Tim wins March Bristol Grand Prix event
There were nineteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the third instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.
Tim Line was the tournament winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Simon Tracy and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr, after receiving a first round bye.
Ian had arrived there by getting past Barry Vasili, Ian Hedges and Flora von Michel.
George Georgiou took the consolation flight with wins over Andy Zographou, Hazel and Steve Morris.
Tim has taken over the lead in the BGP points table, moving 60 points ahead of previous leader Hazel.
There was also action in four Premier League divisions.
In the top flight Natalie Singh circumvented potential time zone difficulties, defeating Chris Rogers before succumbing to new league leader Adam Sinclair.
Phil Charlton continued his unbeaten start to the Premier Two Blue season by beating Rosemary Whitehouse.
Michael Corbett became the last of the sixty-eight Premier League players to register a result, beginning with a Premier Two Red victory over Phil Doubtfire.
And in Premier Three Yellow Caroline Boulton beat Simon Hughes.
13/03/24: Nick wins Wednesday tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the eleventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Nick Barham was this week's winner, defeating Adam Sinclair, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian got past Chris Hughes and Tim Line en route to the final.
Adam won the consolation, beating John Curran and Chris, while Ian Tarr won the post-tournament jackpot.
There was also action in the Brunel Trophy and the Premier League.
Richard Owsley and Rosemary Whitehouse elected to double up their second round Brunel Trophy tie with a Premier Two Blue match.
Richard was the emphatic winner.
In Premier One Kev Peters and Natalie Singh swapped one sided wins, while Nick Barham defeated Cecilia Rogers.
And Steffen Nowak defeated Eamonn Reay in Premier Two Red.
12/03/24: Tuesday's results round-up
Eight matches were played on Tuesday.
There were second round Brunel Trophy victories for Hazel Harper, Mark Dixon and James Lintell-Smith.
Their victims were Warner Solomon, Mandy Macdonald and Ian Anderson.
Mandy thus becomes the latest player to be eliminated, while Hazel, James, Warner and Ian are on one life apiece, and Mark retains both of his.
Premier Two Blue saw a double header where Simon Tracy and Chris Hughes shared the spoils of two one sided encounters.
Eamonn Reay played two Premier Two Red matches, losing to Ismail Yilmaz before defeating Steffen Nowak.
And Tom Chapman beat Steve Pickard in Premier Three Purple.
11/03/24: Nine in Monday action
There were just nine players in action on Monday.
Seven contested the latest session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in DMP round robins at the Heroes website.
Those seven formed a single group, which was won by Gaz Owen.
Gaz's lead in the WGP has extended to twenty-eight points from second placed Nick Barham.
There was also a single Premier Three Purple match played, Steve Pickard defeating Richard Davies.
At the Sportsmans, Ian's Backgammon Clinic had no drop-ins at all, for the first time since the sessions began at the start of the year.
10/03/24: Sunday's results round-up
There were seven matches played on Sunday.
Holder Tim Line and Paul Watts suffered second round Brunel Trophy defeats -- Tim to Jim Green at the Farm, St Werburghs, and Paul online against Kylie Hedges.
Kylie has both lives remaining, while the other three have just one left.
In Premier Two Blue Ian Tarr got three matches played -- defeats at the hands of Simon Tracy and Warner Solomon, and a victory over Robin Gunney.
Phil Doubtfire defeated Michael Petrakas in Premier Two Red.
And Mark Dixon beat Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple.
10/03/24: Reece eliminates Elias
In the only Saturday action, Reece Hodges defeated Elias Hamati in the second round of the Brunel Trophy.
Elias becomes the latest player to be eliminated, while Reece still has both lives intact.
08/03/24: Friday's league action
There were four matches played on Friday.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Phil Charlton over Mike Smith and Stephen Little over Neil Edwards.
Ian Anderson scored a Premier Three Green victory over Andy Zographou.
And Steve Pickard defeated Simon Blinkhorn in Premier Three Purple.
08/03/24: Thursday round-up
There were twenty-seven players involved on Thursday.
There was a very low turnout at the annual Bristol Backgammon Awards Night at the casino, with just fifteen present.
Forewarned is forearmed, however, and Director Ian Tarr took the unprecedented step of leaving many of the awards at home in the knowledge that many would not be present to receive them.
The display of hardware was still reasonably impressive.
Nevertheless, those who did get there sampled the unique flavour of the evening, with an American buffet provided free of charge by the casino, and several of those present putting faces to names for the first time.
It's a simple fact of Bristol Backgammon life that the playing opportunities afforded by live tournaments, online tournaments and leagues are so varied that many players' paths never usually cross.
Ian delivered his usual Review of the Year, giving out prizes -- both of the hardware variety and the brown enveloped variety -- along the way.
Many photographs were taken, some of which will undoubtedly surface in due course.
Apart from the "known quantity" prizes for winning or nearly winning various competitions, there were the usual "surprise" awards.
Stephen Little and Pearl Foster were there to receive mementoes for being, respectively, the 26th and 27th players to rack up a century of career Premier League victories, while Tim Line's achievement of being the thirteenth to make it to 200 was similarly marked.
The Gaz Owen sponsored Most Improved Player award went this year to Gerald Whitehouse, while the Rookie of the Year award -- sponsored jointly by Andy Boysan and Ian Hedges -- was won by Matt Sharp.
After the ceremony there was an eight player jackpot, which was won by Tim.
There were also ten league matches, and two in the Brunel Trophy, played on Thursday.
Steffen Nowak defeated Steve Morris in a second round Brunel Trophy match at the casino, while Adam Sinclair was beating Ben Crabb online in the same competition.
While Ben is eliminated, Steve still has one life remaining, although Adam and Steffen still have both lives intact.
In Premier Two Red Ed Turner scored a brace of wins over Elias Hamati, who is apparently relieved that he will now be now unlikely to be promoted to play the sharks of the top flight.
Pearl beat Gerald at the casino in the same division.
Also at the casino Rosemary Whitehouse inflicted a Premier Two Blue defeat on Hazel Harper, while online Phil Charlton was kicking off his Blue Division season with a win over Hemal Getalal.
Premier Three Purple saw the rarity of a league triple header involving Steve Pickard and Andrew Cobb, Steve winning the second and third of those matches.
In Premier Three Green Gary Plant overcame Mandy Macdonald at the Three Brooks.
And Simon Hughes won a Premier Three Yellow encounter with Caroline Boulton.
06/03/24: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were just six players in action on Wednesday, all of them to contest the tenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And the low turnout dictated a change of format -- a round robin of 5-point matches.
Ian Anderson was this week's winner, with Adam Sinclair as runner-up.
05/03/24: Tuesday results round-up
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.
Steve Pickard became the first player to be eliminated from the Brunel Trophy, when he lost his second round match to Kev Peters.
Later Kev was on the wrong end of a Premier One double header against Adam Sinclair.
In Premier Three Green Ian Anderson notched three victories -- two over Marcel Bancroft, the other over Barry Vasili.
Alan Joicey defeated Mark Dixon in Premier Three Purple.
And Ann Pocknell won a Premier Three Yellow encounter with Fred North.
05/03/24: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, nineteen competitively and just two at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Thirteen contested the latest session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Those thirteen were split into groups of seven and six, which were won by Kev Peters and Adam Sinclair.
Gaz Owen still heads the WGP table by twenty-six points from Nick Barham.
There was also Premier League action.
In Premier One at Channings Hotel Simon Baker defeated Andy Boysan.
And there were Premier Two Blue wins for Mike Smith (over Warner Solomon) and Hemal Getalal (over Hazel Harper).
At the Sportsmans "education" session Ian Tarr was able to give his undivided attention to Newport based Glyn Davies.
04/03/24: Sunday win for Paul
In the only Sunday match Paul Watts defeated Ed Turner in Premier Two Red.
03/03/24: Brunel Trophy second round draw made
The draw for the second round of the eleventh incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Wednesday, using the recent practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The field of fifty-eight remains intact, but this time there will be casualties, as several players will lose for the second time in the competition.
Draws are every five weeks, and the competition typically spans nine or ten rounds, with the latter stages towards the end of the year.
The full draw is here.
02/03/24: Saturday results round-up
There were two Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Natalie Singh began her first Premier One campaign with a victory over Andy Boysan.
And in Premier Three Green Frank Jones defeated Ian Anderson.
01/03/24: Friday results round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier Two Red there were wins for Ed Turner over Ismail Yilmaz and Steffen Nowak over league leader Elias Hamati.
And in a Premier Three Green double header Ian Hedges visited Marcel Bancroft and came way with two wins.
01/03/24: Gaz eyes GP20 title
There were twenty players in action on Thursday, thirteen of them at the casino to contest the second instalment of the year's GP20 series.
And, just as in January, Gaz Owen was the tournament winner, capitalising on a first round bye by defeating Andy Zographou, Hazel Harper, and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr.
Ian had got past George Georgiou, Steve Morris and Flora von Michel to reach the final.
The consolation flight saw Chris Rogers victorious, with George, Yuri Cherkasenko and Andy his victims.
So Gaz has stretched his GP20 lead to 90 points, with Chris in second place.
There were league matches played before the tournament, Chris grabbing a Premier One victory over Jim Green at the Pump House before succumbing to Gaz at the casino.
Flora had also notched a Premier Three Green win over Ian Hedges at the casino.
Online there were wins for Paul Watts (over Elias Hamati in Premier Two Red) and Matt Sharp (over Fred North in Premier Three Yellow).
And the final first round match in the Brunel Trophy took place at the Watershed, Simon Hughes edging home against James Lintell-Smith.
28/02/24: Adam wins Wednesday tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the ninth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Adam Sinclair was this week's winner, defeating Elias Hamati, Gerald Whitehouse and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian got past Tim Line and Gaz Owen en route to the final.
Elias won the consolation, beating John Curran and Tim.
There was also action in the Brunel Trophy and the Premier League.
The first round of the Brunel Trophy saw wins for Simon Baker and Phil Charlton -- Andy Zographou and Ed Turner their victims.
Simon Tracy scored a Premier Two Blue win against Warner Solomon.
In Premier Three Green Barry Vasili defeated Gary Plant at the Three Brooks.
And Tom Chapman shared the spoils of a Premier Three Purple double header with league leader Alan Joicey, both matches won by wide margins.
27/02/24: Tuesday results round-up
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Ian Tarr defeated Dicky Biddle at the Pump House, Matt Sharp visited Barry Vasili in Brentry and came away with a victory, while Warner Solomon beat Jordan White online.
Richard Owsley moved back to the top of Premier Two Blue by beating Robin Gunney.
Andrew Cobb began his Premier Three Purple campaign with a win over Simon Blinkhorn.
And there were Premier Three Green wins for Ian Hedges, Mandy Macdonald and Marcel Bancroft over Mandy, Frank Jones and Andy Zographou.
26/02/24: Eighteen in Monday action
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, fourteen competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Six contested the second session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in 3-point Nackgammon round robins at the Heroes website.
That NGP session consisted of a single round robin group, which was won by Nick Barham.
Gaz Owen leads the NGP table by five points from Nick.
There were first round Brunel Trophy victories for Robin Gunney and James Newman over Simon Tracy and Mandy Macdonald.
In Premier One there was a double header at the Pump House, where Stuart Mann notched a double success against Simon Baker.
And Alan Joicey's first Premier Three Purple defeat in nine matches was inflicted by Mark Dixon.
At the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action, with Ben Crabb, Simon Dicken and Glyn Davies participating.
25/02/24: Sunday results round-up
There were five matches played on Saturday.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Mark Dixon pipped James Timoney.
Gaz Owen won a Premier One encounter with Kev Peters.
Premier Two Red leader Elias Hamati defeated Gerald Whitehouse.
And Premier Three Yellow high fliers Dicky Biddle and Ann Pocknell were both beaten -- Dicky by Caroline Boulton and Ann at the hands of Matt Sharp.
25/02/24: Saturday results round-up
There were two matches played on Saturday.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Tim Line defeated Pearl Foster.
And in Premier Two Blue Mike Smith beat Warner Solomon.
23/02/24: Friday results round-up
There were three matches played on Friday.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Kylie Hedges overcame Nick Barham.
Ann Pocknell defeated Simon Hughes in Premier Three Yellow.
And in Premier Three Purple Alan Joicey maintained his recent winning sequence by beating Steve Pickard.
22/02/24: Steve wins Handicap tournament
There were just eight players in action on Thursday to contest the second instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
And Steve Morris was the tournament winner, his victims being Stephen Little, George Georgiou and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there by getting past Geoff Paffett and Hazel Harper.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight with wins over Stephen and Geoff Paffett.
Steve has overtaken Hazel at the head of the HT standings.
21/02/24: Ian Tarr wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty-two players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Ian Tarr was this week's winner, defeating Kev Peters, Elias Hamati, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Simon Blinkhorn.
Simon got past Steve Pickard and Adam Sinclair en route to the final.
Chris Rogers won the consolation, beating Nick Barham and Kev.
There was also action in the Brunel Trophy and the Premier League.
The first round of the Brunel Trophy saw wins for Alan Joicey and Paul Watts -- Hazel Harper and Rosemary Whitehouse their victims.
Pearl Foster continued her encouraging start to the Premier Two Red season by defeating Steffen Nowak.
And in Premier Three Yellow Dicky Biddle beat Fred North, then Ann Pocknell defeated Caroline Boulton.
20/02/24: Tuesday results round-up
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy there were wins for Richard Owsley, Steffen Nowak and Mike Smith over Ian Hedges, Andy Boysan and Eamonn Reay.
Richard later scored a Premier Two Blue victory over Warner Solomon.
Premier Two Red leader Elias Hamati suffered defeat at the hands of Pearl Foster.
Kylie Hedges scored another Premier Three Yellow win, at the expense of Cliff Blofield.
And in Premier Three Purple Alan Joicey beat Simon Blinkhorn, and Ben Crabb defeated Tom Chapman.
19/02/24: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, seventeen competitively, the remainder at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Thirteen contested the latest session of our Monday Club Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
They were split into groups of seven and six, which were won by Gaz Owen and Phil Doubtfire.
Gaz has extended his WGP lead to twenty-six points, with second placed Nick Barham a further twenty-six points ahead of third place.
Three Premier League matches were played online.
In Premier Two Blue Ian Tarr defeated Warner Solomon.
Flora von Michel beat Frank Jones in Premier Three Green.
And Alan Joicey scored a Premier Three Purple victory over Ben Crabb.
Meanwhile, at the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian, three others were present for informal action and discussion.
18/02/24: Sunday results round-up
There were seven matches played on Sunday.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Cecilia Rogers scored a narrow victory over Steve Pickard, while Ian Anderson defeated Tom Chapman.
A Premier One double header between Tim Line and Kev Peters spanned two venues.
Starting at the George at Nunney, Tim took the opener 11-7, after which the venue unexpectedly closed at 8pm.
Kev's lead disappeared at the second venue -- the Ship, Frome -- and Tim completed the double.
Mike Smith played twice in Premier Two Blue -- succumbing to Rosemary Whitehouse (who was making her Premier Two debut) before walloping Simon Tracy.
And in Premier Three Yellow Ann Pocknell defeated Cliff Blofield.
17/02/24: Saturday's Premier Three results
There were two Premier Three matches played on Saturday.
Ian Anderson defeated Mandy Macdonald in Premier Three Green.
And in Premier Three Purple Mark Dixon beat Cynthia Roberts.
16/02/24: Tim wins GP10 tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the second of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Tim Line took the honours in the tournament, defeating George Georgiou, Barry Vasili and -- in the final -- Steve Morris after receiving a first round bye.
Steve, who also had a first round bye, made the final by eliminating Ben Crabb and Gaz Owen.
George took the consolation flight by defeating Stephen Little, Alan Joicey and Ben.
Tim draws level with January winner Steffen Nowak at the head of the GP10 table, albeit from two tournaments as opposed to Steffen's one.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action earlier.
The Courtyard, Keynsham, was a new venue for Bristol Backgammon, hosting Gaz's narrow first round Brunel Trophy victory over Chris Hughes, while Chris Rogers also scored a narrow win over Gerald Whitehouse online.
There was a Premier Three Green double header at the Compass, Tormarton, where Gary Plant shared the spoils with Marcel Bancroft.
And Ben suffered a narrow Premier Three Purple defeat at the hands of Mark Dixon.
15/02/24: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday tournament
There were just ten players in action on Wednesday to contest the seventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Ian Anderson was this week's winner, coming through the long side of the draw with wins over Tim Line, Gaz Owen, Chris Hughes and -- in the final -- Elias Hamati.
Elias got past Chris Rogers and Kev Peters en route to the final.
Simon Tracy won the consolation, beating Cecilia Rogers and Ian Tarr.
13/02/24: Tuesday's Premier League results
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Simon Baker narrowly defeated Neil Young at the Pump House in Premier One.
And Warner Solomon lost for the first time in Premier Two Blue, against Neil Edwards.
13/02/24: Twenty-six in Monday action
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday, twenty-one competitively, the remainder at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Eleven contested the latest session of our Monday Club Winter Grand Prix in a single DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
The group was won by Gary Owston, while Nick Barham and Cynthia Roberts took first and second places in the optional side pool.
Gaz Owen still leads the WGP table, but Nick has reduced the margin to 18 points.
Four Premier League and Brunel Trophy matches were played.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy Ben Crabb visited Steve Morris in Redland, but came away with a defeat.
And Chas Perry returned to action to defeat Jim Green at the Watershed in the same competition.
Andy Boysan and Simon Baker opened their Premier One campaigns at the Alma Tavern, Simon prevailing.
In Premier Two Blue a meeting of previously unbeaten players saw Warner Solomon narrowly defeat Chris Hughes.
And Kylie Hedges again beat James Timoney in Premier Three Yellow.
Meanwhile, at the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action, with seven present in all, including valuable insights from Jim.
11/02/24: Sunday's results round-up
There were two matches played on Sunday.
In Premier Two Blue Chris Hughes defeated Mike Smith.
And Kylie Hedges beat James Timoney in Premier Three Yellow.
10/02/24: Saturday win for Mike
There was just one match played on Saturday.
In Premier Two Blue Mike Smith defeated Neil Edwards.
09/02/24: Friday's results round-up
There were two matches played on Friday.
The Post Office Tavern played host to a Premier Three Green meeting between Ian Hedges and Andy Zographou, which Ian won narrowly.
And in the first round of the Brunel Trophy Stephen Little defeated Elias Hamati.
09/02/24: Gaz wins February Bristol Grand Prix event
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the second instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.
Gaz Owen was the tournament winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Ian Hedges and -- in the final -- Tim Line, after receiving a first round bye.
Tim had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr, Barry Vasili and Cynthia Roberts.
Hazel took the consolation flight with wins over Andy Zographou and Ian.
That consolation run was enough to extend Hazel's BGP points table lead to 25.
There was also Premier Two action.
In the Red Division Gerald Whitehouse defeated Dave Pym, while Chris Hughes scored a Blue Division victory over Richard Owsley.
08/02/24: Kev wins Wednesday freeroll tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
This was a subtly different Wednesday tournament, with free entry and a greater variety of optional side pools.
Kev Peters was this week's winner, with Simon Blinkhorn as runner-up.
Kev, who received a first round bye, got past Frank Jones and Elias Hamati, before defeating Simon.
Simon reached the final the hard way, beating Chris Hughes, Ian Anderson and Chris Rogers en route.
Tim Line won the consolation, beating Chris Hughes and Frank, while Ian Anderson won the post-tournament jackpot.
There were also three league matches played.
Richard Owsley beat Jon Organ in Premier Two Blue, while in Premier Three Green Gary Plant got the better of Barry Vasili in a double header at the Three Brooks.
06/02/24: Tuesday's Premier League results
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
In Premier Two Blue Warner Solomon defeated Jon Organ.
And Alan Joicey beat Simon Blinkhorn in Premier Three Purple.
06/02/24: Twenty-four in Monday action
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, eighteen competitively and six at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Eleven contested the latest session of our Monday Club Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
The WGP session saw groups of six and five, which were won by Gaz Owen and Elias Hamati.
Gaz has opened up a good lead in the WGP table.
Six matches were played in the Premier League and Brunel Trophy.
Gaz suffered a Premier One defeat at the hands of Adam Sinclair.
In Premier Three Green there was another double header at Cafe Kino, where Flora von Michel and Barry Vasili shared the spoils.
And Caroline Boulton defeated James Timoney in Premier Three Yellow.
In the first round of the Brunel Trophy there were wins for Miles Farren and Frank Jones, Phil Doubtfire and Cynthia Roberts their respective victims.
And at the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action, with six present in all, and good work done by Scott Wood and Simon Dicken, with Emsy making her first visit.
04/02/24: Sunday win for Dave
There was just one match played on Sunday.
Dave Pym defeated Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Red.
04/02/24: Saturday win for Mike
There was just one match played on Saturday.
Mike Smith defeated Neil Edwards in Premier Two Blue.
02/02/24: Friday's results round up
There were two matches played on Friday.
The first result from the 2024 Brunel Trophy is in -- a win for Adam Sinclair over Simon Blinkhorn.
And in Premier Two Red Michael Petrakas defeated Ismail Yilmaz.
02/02/24: Ian wins opening Speedgammon event
There were fifteen players in action on Thursday, with eight taking part in the opening session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The eight were split into two groups for the opening round robin phase, which saw Ian Tarr winning his group with a clean sweep, while Steve Morris took the other on points difference.
The knock-out phase saw Ian continue unbeaten to take the win, with Barry Vasili as runner-up, and Ian has already built a lead of 55 points in the SGGP table as he tries to defend his title.
There was also Premier League action.
Robin Gunney defeated Neil Edwards in Premier Two Blue.
Premier Three Purple saw a win for Alan Joicey over Richard Davies.
And Premier Three Green was the busiest division, with three results recorded.
Ian Anderson began his league career online with a victory over Frank Jones, who then moved on to the casino to meet Ian Hedges.
Ian H had already beaten Barry before accounting for Frank as well.
31/01/24: Adam wins Wednesday tournament
There were just six players in action on Wednesday, all of them to contest the fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And the low turnout dictated a change of format -- a round robin of 5-point matches.
Adam Sinclair was this week's winner, with Gaz Owen as runner-up.
31/01/24: Record entry in Brunel Trophy first round draw
The draw for the eleventh incarnation of the Brunel Trophy was made on Wednesday, using the recent practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The field of fifty-nine is a record for the competition which is, and always has been, sponsored by an anonymous benefactor.
The double elimination format ensures at least two bites of the cherry for all players, with the last five standing (plus ties, if any) taking the prize pot, which amounts to £1,430 -- £1,180 in entry fees plus £250 added by the sponsor.
As there is an odd number of players, one lucky player -- Natalie Singh -- gets a first round bye.
The full draw is here.
30/01/24: Tuesday's Premier League results
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
The Dumb Post Inn, Calne, played host to Jim Green's first ever top flight match, which was a victory over Chris Rogers.
In Premier Two Red Pearl Foster defeated Eamonn Reay.
Warner Solomon began his Premier Two Blue campaign by beating Stephen Little.
Andy Zographou also made it a winning start in Premier Three Green against Barry Vasili at the Sportsman, Nevil Road.
And in the same division Mandy Macdonald and Gary Plant scored a win apiece at the Three Brooks, Bradley Stoke.
30/01/24: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday, twelve competitively and three at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Ten contested the opening session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in 3-point Nackgammon round robins at the Heroes website, while two played a league double header.
The NGP session saw two groups of five, which were won by Ian Anderson and Gaz Owen.
So Ian and Gaz share the lead in the NGP table.
The league action was in Premier Three Green and took place at Cafe Kino, where Flora von Michel and Mandy Macdonald shared the spoils.
At the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action, with Michael Corbett and Scott Wood participating.
29/01/24: Sunday's Premier League results
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier Two Red Elias Hamati is setting a hot pace in more ways than one.
He defeated Dave Pym and has now completed exactly half of his year's fixtures, while establishing a 15-point lead.
If he can replicate that over the second half of his season he will be odds on for promotion to the top flight.
And in Premier Three Purple Alan Joicey defeated Ben Crabb.
27/01/24: Saturday's Premier League results
There were six Premier League matches played on Saturday.
In Premier One Gaz Owen defeated Adam Sinclair.
Premier Two Red saw the most action, with three results.
Michael Petrakas and Mathew Nicholls shared the spoils of a double header at Sportsmans, while online Ismail Yilmaz pipped Paul Watts.
James Timoney scored his opening Premier Three Yellow win over Cliff Blofield.
And in Premier Three Purple Simon Blinkhorn beat Steve Pickard.
26/01/24: Gaz wins opening GP20 tournament
There were twelve players in action on Thursday at the casino, eleven of them to contest the opening instalment of the year's GP20 series.
The exception was Nick Barham, who suffered a brace of Premier One defeats to Chris Rogers before the tournament, and decided to cut his losses and go home.
Chris also found time for a third pre-tournament league match, which he lost to Tim Line.
In the tournament Gaz Owen took the honours, defeating Steve Morris, Chris, and -- in the final -- Geoff Paffett, after receiving a first round bye.
Geoff had got past Tim and Mike Smith to reach the final.
The consolation flight saw Stephen Little victorious, with Barry Vasili, Ian Hedges and Steve his victims.
So Gaz is the first leader of the GP20 table.
25/01/24: Ian wins Wednesday tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the fourth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Ian Tarr was this week's main flight winner, defeating Elias Hamati, Simon Tracy, and -- in the final -- Adam Sinclair, after receiving a first round bye.
Adam -- in his second successive Wednesday final -- had arrived there via wins over Simon Blinkhorn, Phil Doubtfire and Nick Barham.
Ian Anderson took the honours in the consolation flight, overcoming Simon Blinkhorn, Mark Dixon, and Elias.
Tim Line won the customary post-tournament jackpot.
Three Premier League matches were also played.
In Premier Two Red there were wins for Phil and Ismail Yilmaz -- Eamonn Reay and Mathew Nicholls being their victims.
And Steve Pickard scored another victory over Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Purple.
23/01/24: Tuesday's Premier League results
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
The Pump House played host to a Premier One meeting between Stuart Mann and Neil Young, Stuart prevailing.
In Premier Two Blue Neil Edwards defeated Hazel Harper.
Dicky Biddle continued his unbeaten start to the Premier Three Yellow campaign with a win over Fred North.
And in Premier Three Purple Alan Joicey whitewashed Cynthia Roberts.
23/01/24: Thirty-two in Monday action
There were thirty-two players in action on Monday, twenty-three competitively and nine at the third session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Fifteen contested the third session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, while eight others were involved in league matches.
The WGP session saw groups of eight and seven, which were won by Ian Anderson and Gaz Owen.
Ian leapfrogged Gaz at the top of the WGP table, albeit by just two points.
The league action was in Premier Two and Premier Three.
Simon Tracy defeated Hazel Harper in Premier Two Blue, while Ismail Yilmaz was beating Mathew Nicholls in Premier Two Red.
In the third tier there were victories for Dicky Biddle over Cliff Blofield in the Yellow Division and Simon Blinkhorn over Richard Davies in the Purple Division.
At the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action.
No fewer than eight aspiring players, from a very broad range of levels, were present.
Umut Bilge, a Turkish player studying in Bristol and brought to our attention by world renowned TD Arda Findikoglu, will be looking to get involved in competition immediately.
Lebanese Jean-Louis Kassis, who has recently moved from Essex, is also competition ready.
Failand based Bryan Greene and Cheryl Garner, totally self-taught, are looking to take their game to the next level, and will need one-to-one tuition.
And Monday regular Simon Dicken, whose role in bringing in newcomers cannot be overstated, helped Glyn Davies, Cynthia Aiken and James Hammonds to acclimatise to live play.
21/01/24: Sunday's Premier League results
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier One Adam Sinclair defeated Cecilia Rogers.
Elias Hamati continued to rack up Premier Two Red results, defeating Gerald Whitehouse before succumbing to Phil Doubtfire.
And in Premier Two Blue Chris Hughes scored a win over Neil Edwards.
21/01/24: Saturday's Premier League round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Saturday.
In Premier One Adam Sinclair defeated Chris Rogers.
Premier Two Blue gathered a little momentum after a slow start with four players launching their campaigns, Jon Organ and Neil Edwards the victors over, respectively, Robin Gunney and Simon Tracy.
And in Premier Three Purple Steve Pickard defeated Alan Joicey.
19/01/24: Friday's Premier Three action
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier Three Purple Steve Pickard defeated Cynthia Roberts.
And Dicky Biddle beat Cliff Blofield in Premier Three Yellow.
19/01/24: Second successive Thursday tournament win for Hazel
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them to contest the opening instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
For the second successive Thursday Hazel Harper was the tournament winner, her victims this time being Carmen van-der-l'Isle, Cynthia Roberts and -- in the final -- Steve Morris, after receiving a first round bye.
Steve had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr and Barry Vasili.
Mandy Macdonald took the consolation flight with wins over Carmen and Ian.
So Hazel now leads both the Handicap Trophy and the Bristol Grand Prix.
A point of discussion during the event -- which has prompted a little research -- concerned how difficult it is for a zero-handicapped player to win in these events, and indeed there were no match wins for scratch players over non-scratch players this time.
But that is only the fourth such occurrence in 126 handicap tournaments, and in fact exactly a third of all our handicap events (forty-two of them) have been won by zero-handicapped players.
This suggests that the handicapping system works very well.
There was also Premier League action.
Ian Hedges and Flora von Michel played out a Premier Three Green double header alongside the tournament, and Ian prevailed twice.
In Premier One Gaz Owen defeated Kev Peters.
And Eamonn Reay scored his first Premier Two Red win of the season against Dave Pym.
18/01/24: Adam wins Wednesday tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Adam Sinclair was this week's main flight winner, defeating Ian Tarr, Ian Anderson, Elias Hamati, and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via a first round bye and wins over Kev Peters and John Curran.
Nick Barham took the honours in the consolation flight, overcoming Chris Hughes, Kev and Andy Boysan.
Three Premier League matches were also played, every one of them involving Elias.
His Premier Two Red campaign gathered pace with a win and a defeat against Michael Petrakas, followed by a further victory, over Eamonn Reay.
16/01/24: Tuesday's Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
A Premier One double header saw Nick Barham twice victorious over Adam Sinclair.
And Fred North defeated Cliff Blofield in Premier Three Yellow.
16/01/24: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, sixteen competitively and five at the second session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Twelve contested the second session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in DMP round robins at the Heroes website, while four others were involved in league matches.
The WGP session saw a single group, which was won by John Curran, although second placed Ian Anderson and third placed Adam Sinclair took the spoils of the optional side pool.
Gaz Owen has taken over the leadership of the WGP table, albeit by a single point from Ian Anderson and Nick Barham.
The league action was in Premier Three Green, and featured wins for Barry Vasili and Mandy Macdonald.
Barry's win came from a visit to Marcel Bancroft, while Mandy was a narrow victor over Flora von Michel at Cafe Kino, Stokes Croft.
At the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was more friendly and fascinating informal action involving Richard Davies, Simon Dicken and welcome new players Ben Bennett and Glyn D -- a total beginner brought to us by Simon's excellent MeetUp initiative.
14/01/24: Sunday's Premier One action
There were just two Premier League matches played on Sunday, both of them in Premier One, and both of them involving Cecilia Rogers.
She defeated Tim Line before succumbing to Nick Barham.
14/01/24: Saturday's Premier League round-up
There were six Premier League matches played on Saturday.
In the top flight there were wins for Cecilia Rogers and Adam Sinclair over Gaz Owen and Chris Rogers.
Premier Three Purple saw victory for Mark Dixon against Steve Pickard.
And Ann Pocknell was busy in the Yellow Division, fitting in three matches -- all wins -- against Caroline Boulton and Kylie Hedges (twice).
12/01/24: Friday's Premier Three results
There were two Premier Three matches played on Friday.
Marcel Bancroft and Ian Hedges met in the Green Division in what is believed to be the first Bristol Backgammon match ever staged in Melksham, Ian prevailing.
And in the Purple Division Richard Davies defeated Ben Crabb.
12/01/24: Hazel wins opening monthly Grand Prix event
There were fifteen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them to contest the opening instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournaments at the Rainbow Casino.
Hazel Harper was the tournament winner, defeating Gaz Owen, Cynthia Roberts and -- in the final -- Stephen Little, after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr, Steffen Nowak and Nick Barham.
Barry Vasili took the consolation flight with wins over Steffen and Tim Line.
So Hazel is the first leader of the BGP points table.
There was also Premier League action.
The Knights Templar was the venue for a Premier One meeting between Neil Young and Kev Peters, where Neil came out on top.
And for the second successive evening, there was a late Premier Two Red match online between Mathew Nicholls and Elias Hamati, where Elias got his revenge.
Mathew had earlier defeated Phil Doubtfire at the Eastfield Inn.
11/01/24: Chris wins Wednesday tournament
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Chris Rogers was this week's main flight winner, defeating Ian Anderson, John Curran, and -- in the final -- Mark Dixon, after receiving a first round bye.
Mark had arrived there via wins over Chris Hughes, Ian Tarr and Phil Doubtfire.
Chris Hughes took the honours in the consolation flight, overcoming Tim Line and Simon Tracy.
There was time and interest enough for two post-tournament jackpots, which saw wins for Ian Anderson and Ian Tarr.
Five Premier League matches were also played online.
Richard Owsley's win over Hazel Harper kicked off the Premier Two Blue season.
Kylie Hedges scored a brace of Premier Three Yellow victories, at the expense of Matt Sharp and Ann Pocknell, who was later whitewashed by Cliff Blofield.
And after the tournament there was a late, late, match in Premier Two Red, where Mathew Nicholls began his campaign with an emphatic win over Elias Hamati.
09/01/24: Tuesday's league results round-up
There were five Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Kev Peters and Chris Rogers shared the spoils of a Premier One double header at a new venue for Bristol Backgammon, the Red Lion, Lacock, Chippenham.
In the same division Stuart Mann defeated Neil Young at the Pump House.
Phil Doubtfire opened his Premier Two Red campaign with victory over Ismail Yilmaz.
And in Premier Three Purple Steve Pickard continued his winning start to the campaign against Ben Crabb.
09/01/24: Twenty-seven in Monday action
There were twenty-seven players in action on Monday, twenty-three of them in competitions and four of them at the inaugural session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Thirteen contested the opening session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website, while ten others were involved in league matches.
The WGP session saw groups of seven and six, which were won by Nick Barham and Gaz Owen, so Nick -- as winner of the larger group -- is the early WGP leader.
In the leagues, there was a Premier One double header at the Pump House, where Chris Rogers scored a double success over Stuart Mann.
Dave Pym defeated Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Red.
The season's first result from Premier Three Green came from Frank Jones's narrow victory over Barry Vasili at the Bocabar.
And in Premier Three Yellow Kylie Hedges and Dicky Biddle were victors over Fred North and Matt Sharp.
At the Sportsmans session hosted by Ian Tarr there was friendly and hopefully informative action involving Richard Davies, Simon Dicken and welcome new player Simon Griffiths.
07/01/24: And on Sunday, too......
Just one Premier League match was played on Sunday.
Cynthia Roberts defeated Alan Joicey in Premier Three Purple.
07/01/24: Cynthia wins on Saturday......
Just one Premier League match was played on Saturday.
Cynthia Roberts defeated Ben Crabb in Premier Three Purple.
05/01/24: Friday's league action
Four Premier League matches were played on Friday.
Elias Hamati maintained his pace in Premier Two Red, completing his fifth match and his fourth win, Ben Crowden his victim.
Ben had already lost to Ismail Yilmaz.
And Premier Three Purple saw wins for Cynthia Roberts and Mark Dixon, over Simon Blinkhorn and Ben Crabb respectively.
05/01/24: Steffen wins opening GP10 tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the first of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Steffen Nowak -- having returned to Thursday action at December's Fizz tournament -- must have had his appetite whetted, and wins over Barry Vasili, Steve Morris, Ian Hedges and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr saw him take the main flight honours.
Ian, having received a first round bye, made the final by eliminating Hazel Harper and Nick Barham.
Hazel took the consolation flight by defeating Barry and reigning GP10 champion Gaz Owen.
There was also league action online, with Elias Hamati completing his third and fourth Premier Two Red matches, beating Ismail Yilmaz before succumbing to Ben Crowden.
03/01/24: Fourteen in Wednesday action
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, just six of them to contest first of the new year's Wednesday online tournaments.
The low entry meant the competition switched to round robin format with first-to-5-points matches.
Tim Line came out on top this week, winning four of his five matches, with Gaz Owen taking second place.
Stephen Little joined in the customary post-tournament jackpot and won it.
Meanwhile there were four Premier League matches played.
The Rose and Crown, Wick, hosted a Premier One match, Neil Young defeating Chris Rogers.
Elias Hamati scored his second Premier Two Red win, Ismail Yilmaz his victim this time.
Mark Dixon's winning start to life in Premier Three Purple came to a juddering halt in a whitewash by Steve Pickard.
And Kylie Hedges signalled her return to league play by defeating Cliff Blofield in Premier Three Yellow.
02/01/24: Tuesday's league action
Three Premier League matches were played on Tuesday.
Gaz Owen and Chris Rogers met online for a Premier One match, with Gaz making the winning start.
Elias Hamati pipped Pearl Foster in the first Premier Two Red match of the season.
And in Premier Three Purple Mark Dixon again defeated Cynthia Roberts.
01/01/24: New Year's Day Premier Three action
Three Premier Three matches were played on Monday.
Cynthia Roberts has been characteristically quick off the mark, and played her second and third Premier Three Purple matches, suffering a whitewash at the hands of Mark Dixon before edging home against league debutant Ben Crabb.
And along with Mark, Ann Pocknell was another to make a winning return to the league, defeating James Timoney in Premier Three Yellow.
Recent news items
News items from 2023 (second half)
Back to Home Page