News items from 2025 (first half)
29/06/25: Sunday's Premier One action
There were three Premier One matches played on Sunday.
League leader Gaz Owen defeated Adam Sinclair.
Michael Corbett scored a much needed win over Cecilia Rogers.
And Hemal Getalal beat Tim Line.
28/06/25: Steffen wins on Saturday
In the only action of Saturday Steffen Nowak defeated Robin Gunney in Premier Two Blue.
27/06/25: Tim and Hazel retain annual doubles title
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the annual Consulting Doubles Championship.
With a title at stake the turnout was encouraging.
Tim Line and Hazel Harper, defending their title, were amongst the four pairings not to get a bye.
No matter, they got past James Timoney and Ceri Pierce before despatching Stephen Little and Andy Zographou.
This brought them to a final meeting with Gaz Owen and Natalie Singh, and again they were victorious.
This was the first successful title defence by a pairing, although Gaz did win the title in successive years, albeit with different partners -- Ian Hedges and Jake Mochnacz.
James and Ceri won the consolation flight by defeating first Steffen Nowak and John Rixon, and then Steve Morris and Barry Vasili.
There was also some Premier League action online, all of it in Premier Two Red.
Richard Owsley played twice, succumbing to Warner Solomon -- who now tops the league -- before defeating Dave Pym, while Ann Pocknell enhanced her promotion hopes by beating Ed Turner.
25/06/25: Ian wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the twenty-fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ian Tarr, who defeated Elias Hamati, Phil Doubtfire, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via wins over Jon Organ and Tim Line after receiving a first round bye.
Both finalists had made it to three Wednesday finals this year without managing to win one, so something had to give.
Adam Sinclair took the consolation flight by beating Jon Organ, Elias and Scott Wood.
Tim won the post tournament jackpot.
25/06/25: Neil won on Sunday
Neil Edwards defeated Barry Vasili in Premier Three Yellow on Sunday, and has finally got around to reporting the result.
24/06/25: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Neil Young defeated Natalie Singh in Premier One.
Steve Cox won again in Premier Three Yellow, beating Simon Hughes to go top of the league.
And in Premier Three Green Cynthia Roberts overcame Rob Clarke.
24/06/25: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, eleven of them competitively.
Nine of the eleven formed 3-point round robin groups of five and four for the twelfth and penultimate session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Nick Barham and Elias Hamati.
SGP leader Gaz Owen was otherwise engaged, but still heads the points table, although Elias has cut the margin to a single point.
The first of the fifth round Brunel Trophy ties was played, Tim Line defeating Steve Pickard in what was effectively a sudden death affair.
And Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Roger Selway and first timer Shilpi Gupta.
22/06/25: Sunday's Red Division action
The only action of Sunday was in Premier Two Red.
Dave Pym defeated Ian Anderson, while Ann Pocknell came out on top against Ian Hedges.
22/06/25: Brunel Trophy fifth round draw made
The draw for the fifth round of the twelfth 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 original field of sixty-two has been whittled down to just nineteen, the odd number necessitating a bye, the lucky recipient of which is Hazel Harper.
Five still have both lives remaining, and two of those -- Jon Organ and Ian Hedges -- are paired together.
There are six sudden death ties, so between eleven and thirteen players will progress to round six.
Matches are to be played by July 27th.
The full draw can be found here.
21/06/25: Saturday win for Steffen
In the only action of Saturday Steffen Nowak defeated Mark Dixon in Premier Two Blue.
20/06/25: Friday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Friday.
Robin Gunney played twice in Premier Two Blue, defeating Pearl Foster before succumbing to Steffen Nowak.
In Premier Two Red Richard Owsley beat Ian Tarr.
Ian had better fortunes later, in the last of the fourth round Brunel Trophy matches, when a bizarre eight cube ending went his way against Hemal Getalal, who is eliminated.
The final match of the day came in Premier Three Yellow, where Steve Cox's extraordinary sequence of wins continued at the expense of Mitch Tucker.
20/06/25: John Rixon wins June Handicap tournament
There were ten players in action on Thursday at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the fifth instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
And the winner this time was John Rixon, who defeated Cynthia Roberts and Rob Clarke before overcoming Tim Line in the final.
Tim had got past Steffen Nowak and Steve Morris en route.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, Hazel Harper's first round victory over Barry Vasili and Steve's quarter-final win over Hazel taking the tenner bonuses.
Alan Papier, whose only previous Thursday visit to our events was back in December 2001, took the consolation flight by beating Barry, Steffen and Cynthia.
John's win took him to the summit of the HT standings, fifty points ahead of previous leader Ian Tarr.
18/06/25: Phil wins Wednesday online tournament
There were 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.
And this week's winner was Phil Doubtfire, who defeated Ian Tarr, Jon Organ and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there via wins over Chris Hughes and Scott Wood.
Ian took the consolation flight by beating Elias Hamati and Ann Pocknell.
Elias won the post tournament jackpot.
In the only league action of the day Steve Cox scored a Premier Three Yellow victory over Marcel Bancroft.
17/06/25: Brunel exits for Cecilia and Chris
Tuesday's action comprised two fourth round Brunel Trophy ties.
James Newman defeated Cecilia Rogers and Hazel Harper beat Chris Hughes.
Cecilia and Chris are both eliminated, while Hazel and James progress to round five with two lives and one life respectively.
Just one fourth round tie remains, and that is scheduled for Friday.
17/06/25: Nineteen in Monday action amid lost phone drama
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, seventeen of them competitively.
Thirteen of the seventeen formed 3-point round robin groups of seven and six for the eleventh session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Scott Wood and Steve Pickard.
SGP leader Gaz Owen sat this one out, so his points table lead has been reduced to 13 points by Elias Hamati, with Adam Sinclair four further points back.
Two fourth round Brunel Trophy ties were played.
Natalie Singh's title defence was ended by Gaz, while Simon Blinkhorn's unbeaten run continued at the expense of Andy Boysan, who is eliminated.
And Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Daniel Miles, who played a key part in retrieving Director Ian's phone after he had stupidly left it on the bus.
Elias's phone call located said phone, while other players ensured via email that Ian was kept up to date with the entry list for the round robins -- Bristol Backgammon teamwork at its best, ensuring that the tournament went ahead almost on schedule.
15/06/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Sunday.
Phil Doubtfire defeated Kev Peters in Premier One, moving into second place.
In Premier Two Red Warner Solomon scored a brace of victories, first against Dave Pym, then over Andy Boysan.
And there were fourth round Brunel Trophy wins for Pearl Foster and Simonetta Herrera.
Simon Dicken was Pearl's victim after leading 10-1, while Simonetta's win came at Kellaway Avenue over Simon Tracy.
Both Simons exit the competition.
14/06/25: Brunel win for Nick
In the only action of Saturday, Nick Barham narrowly won the only fourth round Brunel Trophy between two unbeaten players.
James Timoney takes one life into round five.
12/06/25: Gaz wins monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, just seven of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the sixth instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Gaz Owen took the main flight, but only needed two victories to do so after being the recipient of the only first round bye.
He beat Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Hazel Harper.
Hazel had got past Barry Vasili and Stephen Little en route to the final.
Ian won the consolation flight, defeating Steve Morris and Barry.
Ian's BGP lead is down to 68 points, with Gaz second and Hazel third.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Jon Organ defeated Warner Solomon in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy, a result which sees Jon progressing to round five with both lives intact, while Warner is eliminated.
And in Premier One Phil Doubtfire beat Adam Sinclair.
12/06/25: Scott wins his first Wednesday online tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the twenty-third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Scott Wood, who defeated John Curran, Chris Rogers, Jon Organ and -- in the final -- Ann Pocknell for his first ever Wednesday tournament win.
Ann had arrived there via wins over Phil Doubtfire, Nick Barham and Adam Sinclair.
Phil took the consolation flight by beating John, Chris Hughes and Tim Line.
Elias Hamati won the post tournament jackpot.
10/06/25: Tuesday win for Stuart
In the only action of Tuesday, Stuart Mann defeated Ian Anderson in Premier Two Red.
10/06/25: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, ten of them competitively.
Eight of the ten formed a single round robin DMP group for the tenth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winner was Ian Anderson.
The otherwise engaged Gaz Owen's SGP points table lead has been reduced to a still handy 26 points, with Adam Sinclair now in second place.
One Premier Two Blue match was played, Dicky Biddle's victory over Kylie Hedges elevating him into second place.
And Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Simon Dicken, Scott Wood, Roger Selway and another welcome mother/daughter combination, whose names will be inserted here when known.
08/06/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were three matches played on Sunday.
Phil Doubtfire defeated Michael Corbett in Premier One.
And in Premier Two Blue there were wins for Robin Gunney and Matt Sharp over Steve Pickard and Mike Smith.
08/06/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were four matches played on Saturday.
Cecilia Rogers whitewashed Natalie Singh in Premier One.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Dicky Biddle and Kylie Hedges over Matt Sharp and Nick Barham.
And in Premier Three Green Gary Plant scored yet another win, this time against Cynthia Roberts, a result which moves him to the top of the table.
06/06/25: Friday's results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
The latest casualty in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy is Andy Zographou, who was defeated by Phil Doubtfire at the Post Office Tavern.
Phil has one life remaining.
And in Premier Three Green Gary Plant maintained his unbeaten start to the season at Gerald Whitehouse's expense.
06/06/25: Andy wins June Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the fourth session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel.
The eight were split into two round robin groups of four, with the top two in each progressing to the final knockout phase.
Group winners were Barry Vasili and Tim Line, with runners-up Steve Morris and Andy Zographou also progressing.
Barry and Andy won their semi-finals, then Andy took the final with a whitewash.
Ian Tarr and Barry now sit jointly on top of the SGGP table, with Tim Line just five points behind in third place.
There was action earlier online.
Two more sudden death fourth round Brunel Trophy ties took place, Ed Turner and Elias Hamati exiting after defeats at the hands of Steve Pickard and Tim.
Michael Petrakas whitewashed Robin Gunney in Premier Two Blue.
And Ian defeated Stephen Little in the held over final of the Monday night jackpot.
05/06/25: Elias wins Wednesday online tournament; Barry and Gerald exit Brunel Trophy
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the twenty-second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Elias Hamati, who defeated John Curran, Phil Doubtfire, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over Ian Anderson and Simon Tracy, after receiving a first round bye.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight by beating Jon Organ and Gaz Owen.
The post tournament jackpot was incomplete, with Stephen retiring top his slumbers under the impression that he had won it, despite only reaching the final.
Two other matches were played online, both in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy.
Both were sudden death affairs, Stuart Mann beating Gerald Whitehouse, Robin Gunney overcoming Barry Vasili.
04/06/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were two matches played on Tuesday.
The held over main flight final of Thursday's GP20 tournament was played at the Red Monkey, Chandos Road.
And Steve Morris defeated Simon Tracy to move into third place in the GP20 points table.
The top four players are covered by just 25 points.
And in Premier Three Green Pete Boxer narrowly beat Gerald Whitehouse.
03/06/25: Sixteen in Monday action, and it should have been seventeen
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, eleven of them competitively.
The eleven were split into 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the ninth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
It should have been two groups of six, as an unforgiveable clerical error on the part of Director Ian Tarr omitted Kev Peters from the proceedings.
Kev will be recompensed in some way for the disappointment.
Group winners were Chris Hughes and Stephen Little, while Ann Pocknell was the lucky recipient of the side pool in Stephen's group, as neither Stephen nor Simon Tracy were investors.
The otherwise engaged Gaz Owen's SGP points table lead of 32 points remained intact, with Elias Hamati joining Kev in second place.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy, Roger Selway and Ed Collinge.
01/06/25: Sunday win for Stephen
There was just one match played on Sunday.
Stephen Little defeated Phil Doubtfire in Premier One.
01/06/25: Eleven penalised at May 31st checkpoint
The second Premier League checkpoint passed at midnight, and eleven players were penalised, two of them failing to claw back penalties incurred on March 31st.
The single point penalty incurred by both Paul Watts in Premier Two Red and Ceri Pierce in Premier Three Green have become permanent.
As well as Paul and Ceri, nine others have incurred penalties which can be clawed back by July 31st.
Premier Three Yellow and Premier Three Purple both had a clean bill of health.
31/05/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were two Premier Three matches played on Saturday.
Fred North defeated Pete Boxer in the Green Division.
And in the parallel Yellow Division Simon Blinkhorn is still undefeated after beating Neil Edwards.
31/05/25: Fifty-seven days later, here's a Yellow Division result
Apparently Neil Edwards defeated Barry Vasili in Premier Three Yellow on April 4th.
30/05/25: Friday's results roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.
Steffen Nowak defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Two Blue.
And in Premier Three Green Gerald Whitehouse and Rosemary Whitehouse were winners, over James Timoney and Pete Boxer.
30/05/25: Steve and Simon reach GP20 final
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the fourth instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Steve Morris and Simon Tracy made it to the main flight final, which will no doubt be played soon.
Steve got past Nick Barham and Ian Tarr, while Simon's victims were Andy Zographou and Elias Hamati.
Steffen Nowak took the consolation flight with wins over Barry Vasili, Nick and Rob Clarke.
The absent Tim Line still heads the GP20 table, with Nick and Barry close behind, and Steve who will move into third place if he beats Simon.
There was also Premier League action.
Stephen Little scored a much needed Premier One victory over Jim Green at the Rendezvous Cafe.
Warner Solomon and Ann Pocknell were Premier Two Red winners, Alan Joicey and Ed Turner their victims.
And in Premier Three Yellow Eamonn Reay was defeated twice, thanks to Dom Verrall and Neil Edwards.
28/05/25: Jon wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty-four players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the twenty-first of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Jon Organ, who defeated Nick Barham, Elias Hamati, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over Scott Wood and Gaz Owen, after receiving a first round bye.
Ann Pocknell took the consolation flight by beating Nick, Steve Pickard and Warner Solomon.
Elias won the post tournament jackpot.
Six other matches were played online.
Richard Owsley defeated Pete Boxer in the fourth round of the Brunel Trophy, leaving both players with a single life to carry forward to round five.
In Premier Two Red Ian Tarr beat Frank Jones.
Steffen Nowak overcame Pearl Foster in Premier Two Blue.
Ceri Pierce played twice in Premier Three Green, losing to Rosemary Whitehouse before defeating Kev Lee.
And in a top of the table Premier Three Yellow clash Simon Blinkhorn remains unbeaten after his victory against Scott.
27/05/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were seven Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Steffen Nowak defeated Jon Organ in Premier Two Blue.
In Premier Two Red there were wins for Ann Pocknell and Ian Tarr over Dave Pym and Ed Turner.
Premier Three Purple leader Titus Simen had mixed fortunes, defeating Richard Davies after being whitewashed by Chris Hughes.
In the same division Photis Gittoes overcame Andy Zographou.
And Gerald Whitehouse beat Ceri Pierce in Premier Three Green.
27/05/25: Eighteen in Bank Holiday Monday action
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, fourteen of them competitively.
Six of the fourteen formed a single Nackgammon 3-point round robin group for the eighth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Gaz Owen was the group winner, and has opened up a 32 point lead over second placed Kev Peters in the SGP points table.
There were also five Premier League matches and one in the Brunel Trophy played online.
Reece Hodges moved into the fifth round of the Brunel Trophy, whitewashing James Lintell-Smith, whose run is now over.
Premier One saw a flurry of activity with the May checkpoint looming.
Simon Baker played three times, defeating Adam Sinclair and Natalie Singh before succumbing to Hemal Getalal, who had earlier lost to Neil Young.
Meanwhile Premier Three Yellow leader Scott Wood suffered a setback in losing to Simon Hughes.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy and first timer Jo Foster, who is already an accomplshed player.
25/05/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were five Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Natalie Singh defeated Phil Charlton in Premier One.
In Premier Two Red Frank Jones beat Dave Pym.
Premier Three Yellow leader Scott Wood defeated Eamonn Reay for the second succesive day.
And in Premier Three Purple Andrew Cobb finally ended his Premier League record losing sequence with a brace of victories over Caroline Boulton.
24/05/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were eight Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Jim Green defeated Cecilia Rogers in Premier One.
Chris Rogers substantially improved his chances of promotion from Premier Two Blue by winning three times -- twice over Matt Sharp and once over Nick Barham.
In the same division Mike Smith defeated Dicky Biddle.
Alan Joicey chalked up another Premier Two Red win, this time against Frank Jones.
Premier Three Yellow leader Scott Wood defeated Eamonn Reay.
And in Premier Three Green Fred North beat Kev Lee.
23/05/25: Friday's results roundup
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.
Simon Baker defeated Cecilia Rogers in Premier One.
And in Premier Three Yellow Simon Blinkhorn maintained his winning start to the season at the expense of Eamonn Reay.
23/05/25: Steffen wins GP10 tournament
There were just nine players in action on Thursday, six of them to contest the third session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
The low turnout, with a few regulars away, necessitated a change of format, with a round robin of 5-point matches.
Steffen Nowak was the victor, winning four of his five matches, while Ian Tarr took second place with a points difference superior to that of Stephen Little.
So Ian's GP10 lead increases to 60 points, with second placed Steve Morris still heading the new "non Premier One and Two" added money list by 75 points from Barry Vasili.
There was also some Premier Three Yellow action, with Simon Hughes defeating both Eamonn Reay and Mitch Tucker.
22/05/25: Ann wins Wednesday online 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.
And this week's winner was Ann Pocknell, who defeated Phil Doubtfire, Stephen Little, Jon Organ and -- in the final -- John Curran.
John had arrived there via wins over Gaz Owen and Nick Barham, after receiving a first round bye.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight by beating Phil and Ian Anderson.
Elias Hamati won the post tournament jackpot.
Three other matches were played online.
Jim Green defeated Phil Charlton in Premier One.
In Premier Two Red Warner Solomon beat Stuart Mann.
And Matt Sharp overcame Pearl Foster in Premier Two Blue.
20/05/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were seven Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Kev Peters and Phil Charlton won Premier One matches, Jim Green and Tim Line their victims.
In Premier Two Blue there were victories for Kylie Hedges, Pearl Foster and Chris Rogers, who defeated Nick Barham, Jon Organ and Steffen Nowak.
Stuart Mann beat Ian Tarr in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Green Rosemary Whitehouse overcame Cliff Blofield.
20/05/25: Twenty-five in Monday action
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, twenty-one of them competitively.
Ten of the twenty-one formed two 3-point round robin groups of five for the seventh session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Gaz Owen and Adam Sinclair.
Gaz has drawn twelve points ahead of Kev Peters in the SGP leadership race.
There were also seven Premier League matches played online.
Tim Line is emerging as a contender for the Premier One title, having scored a brace of narrow victories over Simon Baker.
And Jim Green is also moving in the right direction after a slow start, Phil Doubtfire his latest victim.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Kylie Hedges and Steve Pickard over Matt Sharp and Steffen Nowak.
Steve's win moved him into pole position.
And there were wins for Marcel Bancroft and Mitch Tucker over Dom Verrall and Barry Vasili in Premier Three Yellow.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Ceri Pierce, Titus Simen and Roger Selway.
19/05/25: Brunel Trophy fourth round draw made
The draw for the fourth round of the twelfth incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Monday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The original field of sixty-two has been whittled down to thirty-three, the odd number necessitating a bye, the lucky recipient of which is Ian Hedges.
Seven still have both lives remaining, and two of those -- Nick Barham and James Timoney -- are paired together.
There are eleven sudden death ties, so between eighteen and twenty-two players will progress to round five.
Matches are to be played by June 22nd.
The full draw can be found here.
18/05/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were seven Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Tim Line fitted in three Premier One matches, defeating Natalie Singh and Michael Corbett before succumbing to Adam Sinclair.
Busiest in Premier Two Red was Warner Solomon, who suffered defeats at the hands of Ann Pocknell and Dave Pym.
Titus Simen and Scott Wood moved to the top of their respective Premier Three divisions.
In the Purple Division Titus defeated Hazel Harper, while Scott's win in the parallel Yellow Division came at the expense of Simon Hughes.
17/05/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were three matches played on Saturday.
A Premier One match in the sunshine at Arbor Ales probably set a new league record.
Jim Green's narrow victory over league leader took not far short of five hours to complete, bringing to mind Johann Huyck at the 2006 Bristol Open.
And the last two of the third round Brunel Trophy ties took place online.
Andy Zographou beat James Newman, while Gerald Whitehouse overcame Barry Vasili.
All four players move on to round four with one life remaining.
16/05/25: Friday's results roundup
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier Two Red Ed Turner scored a much needed win at thr expense of Ian Tarr.
And Scott Wood moved into second place in Premier Three Yellow by defeating Mandy Macdonald.
16/05/25: Stephen wins May Handicap tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Thursday, nine of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the fourth instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
And the winner this time was Stephen Little, who shrugged off the disappointment of being drawn in the only first round match, defeating Steffen Nowak, Hazel Harper and Steve Morris before overcoming Andy Zographou in the final.
Andy had got past Barry Vasili and Ian Tarr en route.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, Andy's two victories coming up trumps for him with both tenner bonuses.
John Rixon took the consolation flight, beating Barry and Hazel in the process, and closing to within 25 points of HT leader Ian.
There were five Premier League matches played online.
Jim Green beat Phil Charlton in Premier One.
Premier Two Red was the busiest of the divisions, Alan Joicey, Stuart Mann and Ian Hedges registering victories at the expense of Richard Owsley, Ed Turner and Ian Anderson.
And Chris Hughes moved to the summit of Premier Three Purple by defeating Simon Dicken.
15/05/25: Jon wins Wednesday online tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the nineteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Jon Organ, who defeated Ian Anderson, Elias Hamati, Chris Hughes and -- in the final -- Simon Blinkhorn.
Simon had arrived there via wins over Ann Pocknell and Ian Tarr, after receiving a first round bye.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight by beating Ian A and John Curran.
Ian A won the post tournament jackpot.
Four other matches were played online.
Neil Young exited the BrunelTrophy in a sudden death third round tie against Warner Solomon.
Neil later lost a Premier One encounter with Phil Doubtfire, while Jim Green hauled himself off the bottom of the table by defeating Cecilia Rogers.
And in Premier Two Red Ian A beat Stuart Mann.
14/05/25: Phil also won on Tuesday
One result not reported yesterday was Phil Doubtfire's defeat of Jim Green in Premier One.
13/05/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were six matches played on Tuesday.
In the third round of the Brunel Trophy the winners were Cecilia Rogers, Richard Owsley and John Organ, who beat Simon Hughes, Mike Smith and Simon Baker.
All three losers were eliminated, while Cecilia and Richard go into the third round draw with a single life remaining, and Jon still has both lives intact.
In Premier One leader Gaz Owen suffered a narrow defeat to Phil Charlton.
Stuart Mann scored a Premier Two Red win over Ann Pocknell.
And in Premier Three Yellow Simon was beaten by Barry Vasili.
13/05/25: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, fifteen of them competitively.
Nine of the fifteen formed a single DMP round robin group for the sixth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
The group winner was Gaz Owen, with Kev Peters the runner-up.
The tantalisingly close SGP leadership race still sees the top four covered by just six points, but Kev and Gaz are now first and second.
There were also two Premier League matches and a Brunel Trophy third round tie played.
Simon Tracy's Brunel Trophy victory over Natalie Singh leaves both players with a single life to take into round four.
In Premier One Phil Charlton scored a narrow win against Michael Corbett.
And in Premier Three Purple Caroline Boulton defeated Richard Davies.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Daniel Miles, Penny Walters, Kate Waldron and Scott Wood, although Scott left without partaking of any action.
11/05/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were five matches completed on Sunday.
There were third round Brunel Trophy wins for Robin Gunney and Pete Boxer, their victims Ian Tarr and Ceri Pierce.
Pete remains unbeaten, Robin and Ian have one life remaining, but Ceri is eliminated.
In Premier One Kev Peters played twice, losing to league leader Gaz Owen before defeating Hemal Getalal.
And Ian earlier narrowly beat Dave Pym in Premier Two Red.
Another top flight match reached the latter stages before one player encountered connectivity issues, and they will complete the match some time soon.
11/05/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were four matches played on Saturday.
There were third round Brunel Trophy wins for James Lintell-Smith and James Timoney, their victims Adam Sinclair and Andy Boysan.
James T remains unbeaten, James LS and Andy have one life remaining, but Adam is eliminated.
In Premier Two Blue Steve Pickard moved into second place by beating Kylie Hedges.
And Ann Pocknell defeated Ian Hedges in Premier Two Red.
10/05/25: Gaz wins May BGP final
There were four matches played on Friday.
The Wiper and True Taproom was the venue for the held over final of Thursday's monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament.
And Gaz Owen emerged the victor over Ian Tarr after narrowly avoiding a match ending quadruple gammon in the opening game.
Ian stays 100 points ahead of the field in the BGP table, with Gaz now just behind Steve Morris in third place.
Online Adam Sinclair defeated Hemal Getalal in Premier One.
In Premier Two Blue Matt Sharp beat Kylie Hedges.
And Ian Hedges continued his winning sequence in Premier Two Red by whitewashing Ian Anderson.
08/05/25: Gaz and Ian reach monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament final
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the fifth instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr reached the main flight final, and adjourned until another day.
Gaz made the most of a first round bye by defeating Rob Clarke and Ian Hedges, while Ian T's victims were Barry Vasili, Steffen Nowak and Chris Hughes.
Nick Barham won the consolation flight, defeating Tim Line and Barry.
Ian moves into a 100 points lead in the BGP table, with Steve Morris in second place.
A win in the final would extend that lead to 135 points, while a Gaz win would move him into third place.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Chris met Ian Hedges at the Ibis before the tournament to play their third round Brunel Trophy match, Ian maintaining his unbeaten record while Chris takes a single life into round four.
Ian Tarr had earlier lost a Premier Two Red match against Ann Pocknell online.
08/05/25: Marcel also won on Wednesday
In a late reported result, Marcel Bancroft defeated Mandy Macdonald on Wednesday in Premier Three Yellow.
The match was played in another new Bristol Backgammon venue, the Crown, near Bath.
08/05/25: Adam wins Wednesday online tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the eighteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Adam Sinclair, who defeated Ian Anderson, Jon Organ and -- in the final -- Tim Line, after receiving a first round bye.
Tim had arrived there via wins over Rob Clarke, Gaz Owen and Elias Hamati.
Phil Doubtfire took the consolation flight by beating Ian A and Stephen Little.
Stephen won the post tournament jackpot, which had erroneously been set for five point matches.
In other online action Neil Young defeated Natalie Singh in Premier One.
06/05/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were four matches played on Tuesday.
Dom Verrall made his exit from the Brunel Trophy, losing what was effectively a sudden death third round tie against Stuart Mann.
In Premier Two Blue Nick Barham strenghtened his promotion charge by beating Michael Petrakas.
James Timoney narrowly defeated Kev Lee in Premier Three Green.
And in Premier Three Yellow Barry Vasili beat Mitch Tucker.
06/05/25: Twenty-five in Monday action
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, twenty of them competitively.
Thirteen of the twenty were split into 3-point round robin groups of seven and six for the fifth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
The group winners were Ian Anderson and Kev Peters.
The SGP leadership is now a close run affair, with three players -- Elias Hamati, Ian and Kev -- covered by just two points.
There were also three Premier League matches and a Brunel Trophy third round tie played.
Rob Clarke exited the Brunel Trophy in a sudden death meeting with Tim Line.
In Premier Two Blue Mike Smith defeated Dicky Biddle.
Ann Pocknell whitewashed Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Mitch Tucker scored a much needed win over Scott Wood.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Titus Simen, Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy and Roger Selway.
04/05/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were two matches played on Sunday.
Stuart Mann beat Dave Pym in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Purple Andy Zographou defeated Richard Davies.
03/05/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were two matches on Saturday.
Kev Peters is out of the Brunel Trophy after his defeat in what was effectively a sudden death third round tie against Hemal Getalal.
And in Premier Two Blue Steve Pickard defeated Robin Gunney.
02/05/25: Ian wins on Friday
There was just one match played on Friday.
Ian Hedges defeated Paul Watts in Premier Two Red.
02/05/25: Steve wins another low key Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were just seven players in action on Thursday, five of them to contest the third session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel.
The low turnout meant a single round robin group with no subsequent knockout phase.
Steve Morris won the group with three wins out of four, and might have made it a clean sweep as he was 3-0 ahead in his fourth match when he timed out.
Ian Tarr, who had an evening to forget, nevertheless retains the leadership of the SGGP, with Tim Line now in second place.
Before the tournament Tim and Barry Vasili played out the held over final of the previous week's GP20 event, Tim prevailing to move to the head of the GP20 standings.
The only other action was online, where Ian Hedges defeated Richard Owsley in Premier Two Red.
01/05/25: Kev wins Wednesday online tournament
Not counting the two Premier One players who thought they were playing a league match when they had already played both, there were thirteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the seventeenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Kev Peters, who defeated Stephen Little, Nick Barham, Chris Hughes and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Simon Blinkhorn and Jon Organ after receiving a first round bye.
Tim Line took the consolation flight by beating Phil Doubtfire and Simon.
Ian Tarr won the post tournament jackpot.
In other online action Dicky Biddle defeated Michael Petrakas in Premier Two Blue.
29/04/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were four matches played on Tuesday.
Rosemary Whitehouse was eliminated from the Brunel Trophy by a third round defeat at the hands of Hazel Harper, who progresses to round four with both lives remaining.
Phil Charlton defeated Phil Doubtfire in Premier One.
In Premier Two Blue Dicky Biddle beat Jon Organ.
Along with Mark Dixon, Chris Rogers and Steve Pickard, Dicky is well ahead of an even playing schedule, and all four players have done pretty well.
But the fifth and sixth players in the league table -- Nick Barham and Michael Petrakas -- arguably have superior records, while having matches in hand, which points to an interesting second half of the season.
And Ed Turner scored a much needed victory over Paul Watts in Premier Two Red.
29/04/25: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, fifteen of them competitively.
Nine of the fifteen were split into 3-point round robin groups of five and four for the fourth session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
The group winners were Kev Peters and Gaz Owen.
Elias moves into an eight point SGP lead over latest second placer Gaz.
There were also three Premier League matches played.
Winners in Premier Two Blue were Michael Petrakas and Kylie Hedges -- their victims Steve Pickard and Mark Dixon.
And in Premier Three Purple Hazel Harper halted Titus Simen's winning sequence.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy and debutant Roger Selway.
28/04/25: Saturday results roundup
There were three matches played on Saturday.
Stephen Little was eliminated from the Brunel Trophy by a third round defeat at the hands of Simonetta Herrera, who progresses to round four with one life remaining.
Cecilia Rogers moved into second place in Premier One by defeating leader Gaz Owen.
And in Premier Two Blue Dicky Biddle beat Pearl Foster.
28/04/25: Friday win for Paul
There was just one match played on Friday.
Paul Watts scored a Premier Two Red victory over Ed Turner.
25/04/25: Jim wins second Masters title
There were nineteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the third instalment of the year's GP20 series.
But before the tournament, Nick Barham and Jim Green fought out the held over final of the previous Thursday's Bristol Masters.
Jim won a tight affair to clinch his second Masters title -- and ironically that original success also came at the expense of Nick.
And on the subject of held over finals, the evening's advertised event followed suit.
Tim Line and Barry Vasili will be contesting it at some stage, Tim having defeated Rob Clarke and Gaz Owen, Barry getting past Ian Tarr and Nick.
Steve Morris took the consolation flight with wins over Rob and Ian.
Nick heads the GP20 table, but whoever wins the held over final will overhaul him.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
In the third round of the Brunel Trophy Ed Turner beat Phil Doubtfire, so both players move on to round four with a single life.
Richard Owsley defeated Ian Anderson in Premier Two Red.
In Premier Two Blue Pearl Foster was beaten by Dicky Biddle.
And Titus Simen moved to the top of Premier Three Purple with a brace of victories over Andrew Cobb.
24/04/25: Nick wins second successive Wednesday online tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the sixteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Nick Barham -- for the second successive week and the fourth time this year.
Nick defeated Warner Solomon, Tim Line, Scott Wood and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via wins over Elias Hamati and Ian Anderson after receiving a first round bye.
Warner took the consolation flight by beating Rob Clarke and Elias.
Stephen Little won the post tournament jackpot.
In other online action Pearl Foster scored a third round Brunel Trophy win over Gaz, leaving both players with one life remaining.
And Michael Petrakas got in two Premier Two Blue matches, succumbing to Kylie Hedges before defeating Matt Sharp.
22/04/25: Tuesday win for Matt
There was just one match played on Tuesday.
Matt Sharp scored a Premier Two Blue victory over Dicky Biddle.
22/04/25: Fifteen in Bank Holiday Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday, eleven of them competitively.
Nine of the eleven were split into 3-point round robin groups of five and four for the third session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
The group winners were Elias Hamati and Gaz Owen.
Elias edges into a two point SGP lead over previous leader Ian Anderson, who didn't contest the session.
There were also two other matches played.
A third round Brunel Trophy match resulted in Reece Hodges scoring an emphatic victory over Simon Dicken, a result which sees both players moving into round four with a single life remaining.
And in Premier Three Green Fred North clinched a much needed win over Cynthia Roberts.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Simon, Penny Walters and her daughter Shams.
20/04/25: Pearl wins on Sunday
There was just one match played on Sunday.
Pearl Foster scored a Premier Two Blue victory over Matt Sharp.
20/04/25: Saturday's Blue Division results
There were two matches played on Saturday, both of them in Premier Two Blue.
Steve Pickard continued his assault on the top two positions with victory over Simon Tracy.
And Robin Gunney defeated Kylie Hedges.
20/04/25: Friday results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
The second of the third round Brunel Trophy ties saw a victory for Steve Pickard over Eamonn Reay.
As both players had a single life remaining, Eamonn is the one to dip out of the competition.
And in Premier One Adam Sinclair defeated Natalie Singh.
19/04/25: Nick and Jim to fight out Masters final
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, sixteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the twenty-fifth annual Bristol Masters tournament.
Nick Barham and Jim Green made it to the final, which will be played at another date and time.
Nick got past Stephen Little, Tim Line and Ian Hedges en route to the final, while Jim's victims were Ian Tarr, Simon Tracy and Alan Joicey.
For Nick and Jim this will be a re-run of the 2022 final, from which Jim emerged the victor.
That was Nick's only previous final, while Jim also lost the 2023 final to Gaz Owen.
In league action earlier online Ian Hedges defeated Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
16/04/25: Nick wins Wednesday online tournament
There were just twelve players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the fifteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Nick Barham, who defeated Ian Anderson, Gaz Owen and -- in the final -- Scott Wood.
Scott had arrived there via wins over John Curran and Jon Organ.
Tim Line took the consolation flight by beating John and Ian A.
Elias Hamati won the post tournament jackpot.
And Titus Simen beat Andy Zographou in Premier Three Purple.
15/04/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were three matches played on Tuesday.
The first of the third round Brunel Trophy ties saw a victory for Nick Barham over Elias Hamati.
It was one of the three pairings of thus far unbeaten players.
In Premier Two Blue Mark Dixon extended his lead by beating Robin Gunney.
And Rob Clarke beat Gerald Whitehouse in Premier Three Green.
15/04/25: Brunel Trophy third round draw made
The draw for the third round of the twelfth incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Tuesday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The field has been whittled down to forty-five, the odd number necessitating a bye, the lucky recipient of which is Simon Blinkhorn.
Seventeen still have both lives remaining, and six of those are paired together.
There are nine sudden death ties, so between twenty-six and thirty-six players will progress to round four.
Matches are to be played by May 18th.
The full draw can be found here.
15/04/25: Twenty-two in Monday action
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, sixteen of them competitively.
Ten of the sixteen formed a single DMP round robin group for the second session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
The group winner, for the second successive week, was Ian Anderson, with Jon Organ in second place.
Elias Hamati took the second prize in the side pool.
Ian has extended his SGP lead to twenty points over second placed Phil Doubtfire.
There were also two Premier League matches played, plus one belated Brunel Trophy match.
The last of the second round Brunel Trophy matches saw Andy Zographou and Jordan White granted a 24 hour dispensation to play beyond the deadline after an unfortunate communication breakdown.
Andy won what was effectively a sudden death tie, reducing the number of survivors making it to the third round to forty-five.
In the top flight of the league Phil defeated Natalie Singh, while Michael Petrakas won a Premier Two Blue encounter with Steve Pickard.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Titus Simen, David Bennetto, Penny Walters and her daughter Shams, plus debutant Lawrence Clegg.
13/04/25: Sunday results roundup
There were four matches played on Sunday.
In Premier Two Blue Matt Sharp kick-started what had thus far been an underwhelming start at the level by playing three matches and winning them all.
Mike Smith and Simon Tracy (twice) were his victims.
And Paul Watts defeated Dave Pym in Premier Two Red.
13/04/25: Saturday win for Steve
In the only action of Saturday Steve Pickard moved into third place in Premier Two Blue with a victory over Simon Tracy.
11/04/25: Friday results roundup
There were three matches played on Friday.
In Premier Two Blue Simon Tracy ended Nick Barham's recent run of league victories.
Steve Cox moved to the top of Premier Three Yellow by defeating Neil Edwards.
And in the second round of the Brunel Trophy Rosemary Whitehouse beat Tim Line, a result which leaves both players with a single life going into round three.
11/04/25: Ian wins monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the fourth instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Ian Tarr took the main flight, capitalising on a first round bye by defeating Steffen Nowak, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had got past Stephen Little, Hazel Harper and Cynthia Roberts en route to the final.
Steve Morris won the consolation flight, defeating Barry Vasili, Stephen and Andy Zographou.
Ian moves into a 45 points lead in the BGP table, with Steve in second place.
There was also Premier League action.
Gaz and Stephen met at the Marlborough Tavern, Bath, for a Premier One match, Gaz recovering from a 2-7 deficit to win.
Online Phil Charlton defeated Kev Peters.
And Titus Simen scored another Premier Three Purple win, this time beating Richard Davies.
10/04/25: Simon wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty-four players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the fourteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Simon Tracy, who came through the long side of the draw, defeating Jon Organ, Stephen Little and Tim Line before overcoming Elias Hamati in the final.
Elias had arrived there via wins over Gaz Owen and Ann Pocknell.
Nick Barham took the consolation flight by beating Jon, Hazel Harper and Gaz.
Tim Line won the post tournament jackpot for the second successive week.
There was also some second round Brunel Trophy action as well as a couple of Premier League matches.
In the Brunel Trophy the Shakespeare, Totterdown, played host to Chris Hughes' defeat of Neil Young, while The Ram, Widcombe, Bath, saw Dom Verrall beating Steve Morris.
Online there were wins for Eamonn Reay and Simon Baker over Hemal Getalal and Mitch Tucker.
Mitch and Steve are eliminated from the event, while Chris has both lives intact.
Neil, Eamonn, Simon, Hemal and Dom each carry a single life into round three.
In Premier One Natalie Singh defeated Phil Doubtfire.
And Titus Simen beat Ben Crowden in Premier Three Purple.
08/04/25: Tuesday win for Chris
In the only Tuesday action Chris Hughes defeated Photis Gittoes in Premier Three Purple.
08/04/25: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, eighteen of them competitively.
Thirteen of the eighteen formed 3-point round robin groups of seven and six for the opening session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Ian Anderson and Phil Doubtfire.
So Ian is the early leader of the SGP table, with Phil in second place.
There were also two Premier One matches played, plus one in the Brunel Trophy.
That Brunel Trophy second round tie was in effect a sudden death tie, and Robin Gunney survived to the third round while Jim Green was eliminated.
In the top flight of the league Gaz Owen defeated Hemal Getalal at another new Bristol Backgammon venue, the All In, Staple Hill Road, while Natalie Singh beat Stephen Little online.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Ceri Pierce, Simon Dicken, Titus Simen and Kate Waldron.
Efforts to introduce Kate to match-play scenarios will continue.
06/04/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier One Adam Sinclair defeated Natalie Singh.
And Frank Jones beat Warner Solomon in Premier Two Red.
05/04/25: Friday's Brunel Trophy news
There was just one match played on Friday.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Jon Organ defeated Paul Watts, a result which eliminates Paul from the tournament while leaving Jon with both lives intact.
04/04/25: Barry wins latest Handicap tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the third instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
And the winner this time was Barry Vasili, who capitalised on a first round bye by seeing off Steve Morris and Nick Barham, before edging a nail-biting final against Ian Tarr.
Ian had got past Stephen Little and Hazel Harper en route to the final.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, Marcus Evans winning the first tenner against Tim Line before succumbing to Hazel for the second.
Steffen took the consolation flight via wins over Steve and Stephen.
Previous HT leader John Rixon wasn't present, which gave Ian the chance to move into the lead.
There were four other matches played.
The Brunel Trophy second round accounted for three of those.
There were online wins for Phil Doubtfire and Warner Solomon, over Alan Joicey and Simonetta Herrera.
And Simon Hughes defeated Stuart Mann at the Pump House.
For Alan it was a second defeat, signalling his exit from the competition.
Phil has two lives remaining, while Warner, Simon, Simonetta and Stuart each carry ine life into round three.
The only league action was in Premier Two Blue where Nick's victory over Steve Pickard is establishing him as favourite for the divisional title.
03/04/25: Stephen wins Wednesday online tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the thirteenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Stephen Little, who made the most of a first round bye, defeating Elias Hamati and Jon Organ before overcoming Gaz Owen in the final.
Gaz had arrived there via wins over Ian Anderson, Ann Pocknell and Adam Sinclair.
Simon Tracy took the consolation flight by beating John Curran, Elias and Ian Tarr.
Tim Line won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some second round Brunel Trophy action.
Holder Natalie Singh defeated Pearl Foster.
And James Timoney got past Matt Sharp.
01/04/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were three matches played on Tuesday.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Hazel Harper defeated Reece Hodges, a result which leaves Hazel with two lives remaining and Reece one.
And in Premier One Kev Peters and Tim Line shared the spoils of a double header.
That was enough to edge Kev into the lead in the league table.
01/04/25: Ben Crabb expunged; several penalised at first checkpoint
The first checkpoint of the Premier League season passed at midnight, and several players were penalised, although all points docked can be clawed back by compliance with the terms of the May 31st checkpoint.
More seriously, an expungement has occurred in Premier Three Purple, where Ben Crabb appears to have resigned from the league.
He has opened messages but not responded to them.
This is bad news for the league, which relies on the good faith of all players to fulfil their commitments.
And it's particularly irritating for Ben Crowden and Richard Davies, who each lose a hard earned victory from their records.
The checkpoint criteria for the remainder of the Purple Division season have been amended to reflect the reduced fixure load.
As for those penalised, they are Jim Green, Natalie Singh and Phil Charlton in Premier One; Matt Sharp in Premier Two Blue; Paul Watts in Premier Two Red; Ceri Pierce in Premier Three Green; and Simon Hughes, Eamonn Reay and Mitch Tucker in Premier Three Yellow.
Nobody in Premier Three Purple has been penalised, thanks to the ramifications of the expungement.
01/04/25: Twenty-one in Monday action as absent Adam wins Winter Grand Prix
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, twenty of them competitively.
Twelve of the twenty formed two 3-point round robin groups of six for the thirteenth and final session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Jon Organ and Steve Pickard, with third placed Scott Wood taking the side pool in Jon's group.
The race for the WGP title proved anti-climactic, as none of those in with chances of overhauling leader Adam Sinclair did enough to boost their points tallies to the required level.
So Adam, not a contestant this time, held his lead of three points to take the title.
There were four other matches played.
Neil Young scored a Premier One victory over Phil Charlton.
In Premier Three Green Gerald and Rosemary Whitehouse played out a local derby in the Tamar Valley, Rosemary prevailing.
Online in the same division Kev Lee defeated Cliff Blofield.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Simon Dicken and Titus Simen, and after an 11-pointer between Ian and Simon, Simon and Titus turned their attention towards a nail biting Premier Three Purple encounter, which Simon won.
Both 11-pointers provided big cubing lessons for the Purple Division duo.
30/03/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were six matches played on Sunday.
In Premier One league leader Gaz Owen suffered defeat at the hands of Phil Doubtfire, while Simon Baker defeated Michael Corbett.
Mark Dixon and Mike Smith agreed to double up their second round Brunel Trophy match as a Premier Two Blue match.
Mike won, so got two results for the price of one.
Another Brunel match saw a win for Andy Boysan over Ian Anderson.
Mark and Ian are eliminated from the tournament, while Andy has two lives remaining and Mike one.
Ian had better luck in a Premier Two Red meeting with Ian Tarr.
And Fred North scored a much needed Premier Three Green victory over Cynthia Roberts.
30/03/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were four Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Cecilia Rogers scored a brace of wins in Premier One, overcoming Simon Baker and Hemal Getalal, while in the same division Kev Peters beat Michael Corbett.
And in Premier Two Red Stuart Mann defeated Paul Watts.
28/03/25: Friday's results roundup
There were eight matches played on Friday.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Pete Boxer defeated Kylie Hedges, a result which eliminates Kylie from the competition, while Pete still retains both lives.
Nick Barham is putting together a fine start to his Premier Two Blue campaign, scoring a potentially important win over Steve Pickard.
Winners in Premier Two Red were Alan Joicey and Ian Tarr, Ian Anderson and Richard Owsley their victims.
James Timoney and Cliff Blofield won their Premier Three Green matches, James beating Cynthia Roberts twice and Cliff overcoming Ceri Pierce.
Steve Cox and Scott Wood fought out a top end Premier Three Yellow match, Steve prevailing.
And Chris Hughes extended his Premier Three Purple lead by defeating Ben Crowden.
28/03/25: Ian wins GP10 tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the second session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
The main flight of the tournament saw Ian Tarr the victor.
He defeated Cynthia Roberts -- who was fortunate to be admitted to the tournament, having arrived after the draw -- Stephen Little, Jim Green and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had beaten Andy Zographou and Hazel Harper after receiving a first round bye.
Steve Morris took the consolation flight by beating Cynthia, Barry Vasili and Steffen Nowak.
So Ian takes over the GP10 lead with a 40 points cushion over second placed Steve, who now heads the new "non Premier One and Two" added money list by 75 points from Hazel.
There was also some pre-tournament action at the Ibis.
Ian Hedges and Ed Turner played a double header with a difference.
Their second round Brunel Trophy match came first, Ian prevailing with a whitewash, and Ian was the winner again in a Premier Two Red clash.
Stephen then beat Jim in Premier One.
Online Ian Anderson was another Red Division winner, Richard Owsley his victim.
And Dom Verrall defeated Simon Hughes in Premier Three Yellow.
27/03/25: Ann wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the twelfth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ann Pocknell, who made the most of a first round bye, defeating Stephen Little and Tim Line before overcoming Elias Hamati in the final.
Elias had arrived there via wins over Jon Organ, Ian Anderson and Alan Joicey.
Adam Sinclair took the consolation flight by beating Stephen, Gaz Owen and James Timoney.
Stephen won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League action.
Dicky Biddle scored a narrow Premier Two Blue victory over Steffen Nowak.
Eamonn Reay played three Premier Three Yellow matches, but lost them all, one to the undefeated Simon Blinkhorn and two to Steve Cox.
And Kev Lee defeated Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Green.
26/03/25: Hemal's Monday win missed out
Due to an administrative error, a Monday Premier One result was omitted from the news and statistics.
This was Hemal Getalal's defeat of Tim Line, further evidence of Hemal's emergence as a contender in his first top flight season.
25/03/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Barry Vasili defeated Scott Wood at The Canteen, a result which eliminates Scott from the competition, while Barry still retains both lives.
The Wackum Inn played host to Gaz Owen's latest Premier One victory, Neil Young his victim.
And Hemal Getalal is taking to top flight life very well, his latest success coming when visiting Michael Corbett in Fishponds.
Jon Organ got in two Premier Two Blue matches, losing to both Pearl Foster and Robin Gunney.
The Lock Keeper was the day's other live venue, Chris Hughesmoving to the top of a very close Premier Three Purple table by defeating Andrew Cobb.
Ben Crowden defeated Photis Gittoes in the same division.
And Steve Cox beat Mandy Macdonald in Premier Three Yellow.
25/03/25: Twenty-six in Monday action
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday, twenty-four of them competitively and two at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Eleven of the twenty-four formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the twelfth and penultimate session of our Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Stephen Little and Elias Hamati, with third placed Kev Peters taking the side pool in Stephen's group.
In the race for the WGP title little changed, with discards biting hard.
Adam Sinclair leads by just three points, but that is a deceptively small advantage, and although five others have at least a theoretical chance of taking the title in next week's final session, Adam remains the strong favourite.
There were seven other matches played.
Simon Blinkhorn goes into the third round draw for the Brunel Trophy with both lives intact after his defeat of James Lintell-Smith, who retains one life.
Chance and Counters was the venue for a Premier One encounter, where Gaz Owen's win over Jim Green took him to pole position.
Another live match saw a Premier Three Yellow Barry Vasili defeat of Marcel Bancroft at the Globe, Newton St Loe.
In the same division Eamonn Reay edged past Simon Hughes.
Another close finish occurred in Premier Two Blue, Mark Dixon victorious over Kylie Hedges.
In Premier Three Green Cynthia Roberts defeated Kev Lee.
And Chris Hughes emphatically defeated Ben Crowden in Premier Three Purple
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Ceri Pierce, and two matches provided some quality educational situations.
Jim, Gaz and Neil Young popped in for the social side.
24/03/25: Tim triumphs in Bradford
The weekend's West Yorkshire Open in Bradford was won by a Bristol player!
Tim Line was the champion, defeating Anna Parker in the final.
More details when available.
23/03/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were seven matches played on Sunday.
Ceri Pierce scored a notable second round Brunel Trophy win over Kev Peters, both players progressing to round three with a single life.
She then followed that up with a brace of Premier Three Green wins at the expense of Cliff Blofield and James Timoney, while in the same division Kev Lee beat Rob Clarke.
Another new Bristol Backgammon venue materialised today when the Star, Fishponds, played host to Hemal Getalal's Premier One victory over Jim Green.
In Premier Two Red Dave Pym defeated Ann Pocknell.
And Chris Hughes beat Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Purple.
22/03/25: Awards Night so much better than last year's
The Ibis was the venue for our Annual Awards Night on Thursday.
And after last year's disappointing turnout, the contrast could hardly have been more marked this time, with a total of thirty-three in attendance.
Best of all was the appearance of Roland and Simonetta Herrera.
Roland's stroke, which he did extremely well to survive, was two and a half years ago now, and his steady improvement has been testament to his true grit, stubbornness, and determination to keep going through a very difficult and depressing time.
This was his first time back in the throng, and we will surely see more and more of him and Simonetta as time passes.
He was in great form, and addressed the gathering at the very start, setting a positive tone for what has generally been hailed as a warmly successful evening.
A chess playing couple occupied a table near the front, gradually becoming surrounded by the audience as they assembled in readiness for the presentation.
They stayed for quite a while, only departing after a brief speech from the gentleman, extolling the virtues of a community he had only just encountered minutes previously.
Ian Tarr delivered his usual address, summarising the achievements of all and sundry during 2024, his speech punctuated as always by the awarding of the majority of the 95 prizes which had been earned by 38 different players.
He was progressively more and more embarrassed by the number of prizes he himself had accumulated through the best playing year of his life.
The "routine" rewarding of achievements in our various online and live arenas through the calendar year preceded the "surprises".
It was no surprise that Gaz Owen picked up the award for year end leadership of our rankings.
There were 1,000-1 awards aplenty -- six of them this year -- and Ian scooped the best of these for two separate sequences of thirteen successive wins, which each equate to odds of 8,000-1.
The others -- all for ten wins, i.e. all 1,000-1 -- were earned by Stephen Little and the sadly absent Dicky Biddle, Chris Rogers and Adam Sinclair.
Longevity was also rewarded, following on from Stuart Mann's initial achievement of becoming the first player to register 100 Premier League match victories back in 2007.
The 28th and 29th Premier League Centurions arrived in 2024 -- Cynthia Roberts and Fred North -- while Richard Owsley became the 14th to receive a Double Centurion award.
The Most Improved Player Award went to Natalie Singh, while Rob Clarke was awarded the Rookie of the Year prize.
Oddly the success of the evening can probably best be gauged by the fact that there was precious little backgammon played during the evening, with the social side of the Bristol Backgammon community predominant through the evening.
22/03/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Andy Boysan scored a narrow win over Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
In Premier Two Blue Steffen Nowak beat Mike Smith.
And Eamonn Reay became the last of the seventy-five Premier League players to get under way, beating Mandy Macdonald in Premier Three Yellow.
22/03/25: Friday win for Rosemary
In the only action of Friday, Rosemary Whitehouse edged to a Premier Three Green victory over league leader Cliff Blofield.
21/03/25: Thursday's results roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Thursday.
Richard Owsley met at the Ibis for a Premier Two Red clash, played out before and after the Awards Night ceremony, and Richard was the victor.
Steve Pickard strengthened his Premier Two Blue promotion challenge with a narrow victory over Pearl Foster.
And Simon Hughes defeated Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Yellow.
19/03/25: Tim wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the eleventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Tim Line, who made the most of a first round bye, defeating Stephen Little and Gaz Owen before overcoming Kev Peters in the final.
Kev had arrived there via wins over John Curran, Ian Tarr and Nick Barham.
Jon Organ took the consolation flight by beating Elias Hamati and John, and followed up by winning the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Gaz Owen beat Frank Jones at the Rose and Crown, eliminating Frank from the competition while preserving both his own lives.
Online there were wins for Cecilia Rogers over Stephen Little and for Rob Clarke over Richard Owsley.
Cecilia, Stephen, Rob and Richard each have one life remaining.
Phil Charlton scored a narrow Premier One victory over Natalie Singh.
Photis Gittoes had the better of a double header with Andrew Cobb in Premier Three Purple.
And Scott Wood moved to the top of Premier Three Yellow by defeating Mandy Macdonald.
18/03/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were seven matches played on Tuesday.
In the second round of the Brunel Trophy Nick Barham retained both his lives in defeating Phil Charlton, a result which eliminates Phil from the competition.
Elias Hamati played his three remaining Premier Two Red matches, sharing the spoils of a double header with Stuart Mann, before losing narrowly to Ian Tarr.
It took Elias just 77 days to complete a campaign where he finishes with a break even record.
Steve Cox and Neil Edwards were winners in Premier Three Yellow, their victims being Barry Vasili and Mandy Macdonald.
And in Premier Three Purple Andy Zographou defeated Andrew Cobb at the Talbot, Keynsham.
18/03/25: Twenty-six in Monday action
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday, nineteen of them competitively and seven at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Thirteen of the nineteen formed 3-point round robin groups of seven and six for the eleventh of our Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Steve Pickard and Jon Organ, with Gaz Owen taking the side pool in Jon's group.
The race for the WGP title has intensified, with Adam Sinclair the latest to edge in front, while six others are still in contention in varying degrees.
There were also three Premier Three matches played.
Steve Cox and Simon Hughes were winners in Premier Three Yellow, Mandy Macdonald and Marcel Bancroft their victims.
In Premier Three Green Rosemary Whitehouse defeated Kev Lee.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was an atmospheric session attended by Ceri Pierce, Titus Simen, David Bennetto, Penny Walters and her daughter Shams, plus a late appearance from Molly Collins.
16/03/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were six matches played on Sunday.
Another of the second round Brunel Trophy ties saw James Newman defeat Steve Pickard.
James still has both of his lives, while Steve is down to one.
Tim Line scored two narrow Premier One wins, Michael Corbett and Phil Doubtfire his victims.
Elias Hamati played again, and suffered a late night defeat to Ian Tarr in Premier Two Red.
Gerald Whitehouse moved into third place in Premier Three Green by beating Kev Lee.
And in Premier Three Purple Ben Crowden beat Titus Simen.
16/03/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Saturday.
Two more second round Brunel Trophy ties were played.
Simon Dicken defeated Cynthia Roberts, a result which signalled Cynthia's exit from the competition, while Simon retains both lives.
Adam Sinclair was the other winner, beating Simon Tracy to leave both players with one life remaining.
Adam also scored a Premier One win, arresting a run of league defeats by overcoming Cecilia Rogers.
Elias Hamati has moved to within four results of completing his Premier Two Red season.
His defeat at the hands of Andy Boysan, however, means he will probably need to win all his remaining matches to stand a realistic chance of promotion.
And Cliff Blofield moved to the top of Premier Three Green by beating Fred North.
14/03/25: Hazel wins monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, just eight of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the third instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Hazel Harper took the main flight, defeating Tim Line, Steve Morris and Nick Barham.
Nick had got past Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr en route to the final.
Tim won the consolation flight, defeating Rob Clarke and Gaz.
Steve and Ian were joint leaders after the February event, and still are, although Hazel has moved to within 10 points of them.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Ben's Farm Shop, Yealmpton, Devon, is the latest venue for a Bristol Backgammon match.
The venue hosted a second round Brunel Trophy tie, Gerald Whitehouse recovering from an early deficit to eliminate Dicky Biddle from the tournament.
Gerald has one life remaining.
Tim and Gaz played a Premier One match, Gaz winning narrowly to move into second place in the league.
In Premier Two Red Richard Owsley scored a win over Elias Hamati.
And Titus Simen beat Simon Dicken in Premier Three Purple.
13/03/25: Nick wins Wednesday online tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the tenth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Nick Barham, who defeated Neil Young, Ian Tarr and Tim Line before overcoming Elias Hamati in the final.
Elias had arrived there via a first round bye and wins over Alan Joicey and Ian Anderson.
Neil took the consolation flight by beating Ann Pocknell, Adam Sinclair and Jon Organ.
Stephen Little won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League action.
Alan scored an emphatic win over Ian T in Premier Two Red, and is looking like a prime contender in the promotion race.
Simon Blinkhorn moved to the top of Premier Three Yellow by defeating Mandy Macdonald, and is still unbeaten.
And Titus Simen scored his first Premier League win against Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Purple.
11/03/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were nine matches played on Tuesday.
The first two of the thirty-one second round Brunel Trophy ties saw Ian Tarr and Elias Hamati win, each preserving both of their lives.
However their victims -- Chris Rogers and Steffen Nowak -- are the first to have been eliminated from the event, having lost both of theirs.
Simon Baker played twice in Premier One, losing to Gaz Owen before beating Phil Charlton.
Dicky Biddle of Premier Two Blue was another to get two matches played, losing to Nick Barham before defeating Simon Tracy.
The other winner in that division was Steve Pickard, who beat Kylie Hedges.
Elias won a Premier Two Red match against Ed Turner, and with just six matches to play, he is in a position to set an interesting promotion target for those who prefer more conservative time scales for their campaigns.
And in Premier Three Purple Titus Simen kicked off his campaign with defeat at the hands of Photis Gittoes.
11/03/25: Twenty-four in Monday action as Gaz celebrates
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, twenty-one of them competitively and three at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Fifteen of the twenty-one formed a single DMP round robin group for the tenth of our Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions at the Heroes website.
And there was a surprise sponsorship attached to the DMP group, when Gaz Owen paid for side pool entry for all fifteen contestants as a celebration of his achievement in reaching GM1 status.
There are only 21 players worldwide with this status or above.
WGP table toppers Kev Peters and Ian Anderson finished first and second to maintain the status quo.
There were also five Premier League matches played.
Simon Baker suffered a brace of defeats in Premier One, succumbing to both Neil Young and Hemal Getalal.
In Premier Three Green there were victories for Ceri Pierce -- her first in league competition -- and Gerald Whitehouse.
Their respective victims were James Timoney and Cynthia Roberts.
And at the Talbot, Bath Road, Keynsham, Andy Zographou defeated Andrew Cobb in Premier Three Purple.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Titus Simen and Chris Lewis, with plenty of five point match action for all.
09/03/25: Brunel Trophy second round draw made
The draw for the second round of the twelfth 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 field of sixty-two players remains intact, although of course half of them now have only one life remaining.
Six ties this time are effectively sudden death affairs, while six involve players who both have their two lives left.
Matches are to be played by April 13th.
The full draw can be found here.
09/03/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Sunday.
The last of the thirty-one first round Brunel Trophy ties saw Simon Blinkhorn victorious over Eamonn Reay.
Simon Baker kicked off his Premier One campaign with a narrow win over Phil Doubtfire.
Frank Jones and Elias Hamati scored Premier Two Red wins, Paul Watts and Dave Pym their victims.
And in Premier Three Yellow Neil Edwards defeated Steve Cox.
09/03/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Warner Solomon suffered a Premier Two Red setback, losing to Paul Watts.
Scott Wood beat Neil Edwards in Premier Three Yellow.
And in what seems to be becoming the tightest of this year's divisions -- Premier Three Purple -- Ben Crowden defeated Richard Davies.
07/03/25: Warner wins again
In the only action of Friday Warner Solomon defeated Ed Turner in Premier Two Red.
Warner is fast becoming a favourite for promotion.
07/03/25: Nick also won the GP20 event
Before Thursday's Speedgammon event Nick Barham and Tim Line found the time to play the held over final of last week's GP20 event.
Nick was the victor, and takes the GP20 lead, with Tim and Barry Vasili 20 points behind.
It's comparatively rare for a player to clinch two tournament victories in a single session.
07/03/25: Nick wins low key Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, just five of them to contest the second session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel.
The low turnout meant a single round robin group with no subsequent knockout phase.
Nick Barham won the group with a superior points difference to second placed Ian Tarr.
Ian assumes leadership of the SGGP, with January winner Phil Doubtfire in second place.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Pete Boxer and Reece Hodges were first round Brunel Trophy winners, their opponents Andy Zographou and Steve Morris.
Reece and Steve played at another new Bristol Backgammon venue -- the Lamb, Newport.
There were four Premier One matches, involving just three players.
Stephen Little succumbed to Kev Peters and Natalie Singh.
Then Kev and Natalie met online for the latest of late double headers, Kev winning both to go top of the league.
Elias Hamati and Warner Solomon scored Premier Two Red victories, over Richard Owsley and Ed Turner.
And in Premier Three Purple Simon Dicken defeated Ben Crowden.
05/03/25: Elias wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty-three players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the ninth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner, Elias Hamati has become the first player to win two of these events this year.
Given his efforts in attempting to stimulate interest in Wednesday events, few would begrudge him that success.
Elias made the most of a first round bye, going on to defeat Stephen Little, Jon Organ and, in the final, Ian Tarr.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Ian Anderson, Nick Barham and Tim Line.
Alan Joicey took the consolation flight by beating John Curran, Adam Sinclair and Ian Anderson.
Ian Tarr won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
First round Brunel Trophy winners were Gaz Owen and Pearl Foster.
Pearl defeated Jim Green online, while Gaz overcame Jordan White at the Rose and Crown, Kingswood.
There was a Premier One double header at the Harvester Crown, Longwell Green, where Neil Young and Kev Peters won one apiece.
In Premier Two Red Stuart Mann suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Warner Solomon.
Cliff Blofield kept up the pressure on Premier Three Green leader Gary Plant by beating Gerald Whitehouse.
And Andy Zographou edged to victory over Premier Three Purple leader Hazel Harper.
04/03/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were ten matches played on Tuesday, in the Brunel Trophy and all six divisions of the Premier League.
First round winners in the Brunel Trophy were Neil Young, Jon Organ and Stuart Mann -- their victims Scott Wood, Gerald Whitehouse and Simon Baker.
Phil Charlton narrowly defeated Hemal Getalal in Premier One.
Nick Barham maintained his recent run of good form by defeating Dicky Biddle in Premier Two Blue.
Premier Two Red leader Elias Hamati beat Ed Turner.
Cynthia Roberts played twice in Premier Three Green, defeating Rosemary Whitehouse before succumbing to Rob Clarke.
Dom Verrall moved to the top of Premier Three Yellow by defeating Marcel Bancroft.
And Simon Dicken whitewashed Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple.
04/03/25: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty-one of them competitively and two at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Sixteen of the twenty-one formed two eight player 3-point round robin groups for the ninth of our Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions at the Heroes website.
One player had to be excluded for failing to adhere to guidelines, and in the same group one match was not played for some obscure reason.
Group winners were Adam Sinclair and Kev Peters.
Kev has edged ahead of Ian Anderson at the head of the WGP table.
There were also five Premier League matches played.
Nick Barham scored a brace of victories over Robin Gunney in Premier Two Blue, where Steffen Nowak was also a winner over Mark Dixon.
And Hazel Harper was another double winner, against Simon Dicken in Premier Three Purple.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended only by Titus Simen, who was eager to get some practice in for an upcoming trip to a tournament in the North East.
02/03/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were four results to report from Sunday.
Tim Line and title holder Natalie Singh are the latest winners of first round Brunel Trophy ties, at the expense of Cecilia Rogers and Mark Dixon.
Mark had earlier lost a Premier Two Blue match, narrowly to Mike Smith.
And Scott Wood defeated Mitch Tucker in Premier Three Yellow.
02/03/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were three results to report from Saturday.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Mark Dixon and Steve Pickard, over Pearl Foster and Mike Smith.
And Simon Blinkhorn continued his winning Premier Three Yellow sequence against Steve Cox.
02/03/25: Dom went top on Wednesday
One result omitted from regular reports came from the Ram, Widcombe, Bath, on Wednesday.
And Dom Verrall's defeat of Barry Vasili moved him to the top of the Premier Three Yellow table.
28/02/25: One in and one out of the Yellow Division
Julian Tucker has resigned from Premier Three Yellow for pressing personal reasons.
This necessitates the expungement of his only completed match, unfortunately for Mitch Tucker, who was the victor.
As this has occurred this early in the season, it gave Director Ian Tarr the opportunity to fill the vacancy with a player -- Steve Cox -- who wanted to return to the league, but missed the December 21st entry deadline.
28/02/25: Friday's results roundup
There were three results to report from Friday.
Warner Solomon was on the wrong end of two of them.
A Premier Two Red defeat at the hands of Ian Tarr was followed by a first round Brunel Trophy loss to James Newman.
And Ceri Pierce made her league debut in Premier Three Green, losing to Cynthia Roberts.
28/02/25: GP20 final deferred
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the second instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Among the field there was a welcome competitive debut for Klajdi Deda.
The main flight was not completed on the night, as Nick Barham needed to catch his bus back to Weston-super-Mare, so this is likely to be played next Thursday.
Nick's route to the final took him past Jordan White, Stephen Little and Kian Sabet, while his final opponent Tim Line defeated Ian Tarr, Gaz Owen and Barry Vasili.
Hazel Harper took the consolation flight with wins over Andy Zographou, Jordan and Neil Young.
Tim and Barry jointly head the GP20 table, with Nick in third place.
Whoever wins the final will have an outright lead.
There was also Premier League action, all of it in Premier Two Red.
Ian Hedges experienced two emphatic score-lines, losing to Alan Joicey before beating Ian Tarr.
And Ed Turner defeated Richard Owsley.
27/02/25: Nick is the latest Wednesday tournament winner
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was the eighth of the year -- Nick Barham, who made the most of a first round bye to defeat Stephen Little, Ian Anderson and, in the final, Gerald Whitehouse.
Gerald had arrived there via wins over Elias Hamati and Adam Sinclair.
Stephen took the consolation flight by beating Elias and Tim Line, who won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
First round Brunel Trophy winners were Hemal Getalal (over Rosemary Whitehouse) and Simon Tracy (over Dicky Biddle).
Tournament winner Nick had earlier notched his first Premier Two Blue victory of the season, defeating Michael Petrakas.
Warner Solomon was once again the less than perfect host in Totnes, beating Ian A in Premier Two Red.
And Cliff Blofield was back to winning ways in Premier Three Green at Rob Clarke's expense.
25/02/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.
Chris Hughes and Phil Doubtfire were first round Brunel Trophy winners over, respectively, Cynthia Roberts and Frank Jones.
Cecilia Rogers, already top of the Premier One table, defeated Phil Charlton.
There were three matches in Premier Two Red, where Frank had mixed fortunes, losing to Ian Hedges before defeating Elias Hamati.
Richard Owsley was the other Red Division winner, over Ann Pocknell.
In Premier Three Purple Richard Davies beat Hazel Harper.
And Cliff Blofield's winning Premier Three Green sequence came to an end, whitewashed by James Timoney.
25/02/25: Twenty-two in Monday action
There were twenty-two players in action on Monday, seventeen of them competitively and five at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Eight of the seventeen formed two four player Nackgammon round robin groups for the eighth of our Monday Winter Grand Prix sessions at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Nick Barham and Kev Peters.
Ian Anderson still heads the WGP table, but Kev has now slashed his lead to just two points.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Ian A was in Totnes, where he lost to host Warner Solomon in Premier Two Red.
Online in the same division league leader Elias Hamati was defeated by Alan Joicey.
And in Premier Three Green Rob Clarke notched his first league win of the season at the expense of James Timoney.
The Brunel Trophy ties featured a win for Hazel Harper over Steffen Nowak online.
While Barry Vasili and Simon Hughes boosted the backgammon presence at Sportsmans, Barry narrowly depriving Simon of one of his two lives.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Simon Dicken, Ceri Pierce, Penny Walters and Penny's daughter Shams, a promising beginner.
24/02/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Michael Corbett scored his first Premier One win since his re-emergence into the top flight, Adam Sinclair his victim.
In Premier Two Red Paul Watts was another to register his first league win of the season, beating Elias Hamati.
Maintaining the theme, Chris Hughes' first win of the Premier Three Purple season came at the expense of Caroline Boulton.
And Simon Blinkhorn continued his unbeaten start to the Premier Three Yellow season, defeating Neil Edwards.
21/02/25: Friday's results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
The top two in Premier Two Blue -- albeit partly by virtue of having played a large number of matches -- met, Chris Rogers defeating Mark Dixon.
And although both retain high hopes of filling the two promotion slots at the end of the season, it will be interesting to see what kind of targets they can set the remainder of the field, as they adhere to more traditional timescales.
Meanwhile players are getting around to playing their first round Brunel Trophy ties, the latest being Ed Turner and Dom Verrall, Ed prevailing narrowly.
21/02/25: Kian's flying visit yields dividends
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the second instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
Kian Sabet was the star of the show.
Now living in Dubai, we can now expect to see him on his occasional visits to the UK.
After a first round bye, he saw off John Rixon and Ian Tarr, before despatching reigning Handicap Trophy holder Hazel Harper in the final.
Hazel had got past Steffen Nowak and Stephen Little en route to the final.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship worked well for Ian, who grabbed both £10 spot prizes.
John took the consolation flight via wins over Steffen and Steve Morris, a run which ensured that he retains the HT lead he gained in January's opening instalment.
There were five other matches played.
The Brunel Trophy first round is gathering pace.
Ian Hedges, Richard Owsley and Nick Barham all moved to the second round with both lives intact, while their victims -- Paul Watts, Robin Gunney and Kylie Hedges respectively -- are reduced to single life status.
In Premier Three Green Cliff Blofield extended his winning league sequence to seven when he edged past Kev Lee.
And in Premier Three Yellow Barry Vasili's second trip to Windmill Hill had a better outcome than last time with his defeat of Mandy Macdonald.
20/02/25: Steve's good Wednesday
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the seventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
This week it was Steve Pickard who won the main flight, making the most of a first round bye to defeat Ian Anderson, Kev Peters and Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived in the final via wins over Ian Tarr, John Curran and Gerald Whitehouse.
Adam Sinclair took the consolation flight by beating the two aforementioned Ians.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
The prelude to Steve's tournament win was a narrow Premier Two Blue victory over Mark Dixon.
And in the first round of the Brunel Trophy there was a win for Simonetta Herrera over Phil Charlton.
19/02/25: Awards Night put back to March 20th
The Bristol Backgammon Awards Night, originally scheduled for March 6th, has been put back a fortnight to March 20th.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr offers his whole-hearted apologies for this change, and regrets any inconvenience caused.
The reason for the change is that the order to the trophy supplier was not submitted in an acceptable time frame.
The Speedgammon Grand Prix event previously scheduled for the 20th has been brought forward to the 6th.
18/02/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Tuesday.
Two first round Brunel Trophy ties were played, Elias Hamati defeating Alan Joicey, and James Timoney beating Mitch Tucker.
Stuart Mann won a Premier Two Red meeting with Richard Owsley.
And in Premier Three Purple there were victories for Andy Zographou and Caroline Boulton, their victims being Photis Gittoes and Simon Dicken.
18/02/25: Twenty-five in Monday action
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, twenty of them competitively and five at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Sixteen of the twenty formed two eight player round robin groups with 3-point matches the theme of the session -- the seventh of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Dom Verrall and Stephen Little, neither of whom invested in the optional side pools, which was to the benefit of Kev Peters, Adam Sinclair and Ian Anderson.
Ian A still heads the WGP table, but Kev has now cut his lead to 10 points.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Steve Pickard won his first round Brunel Trophy tie against Rob Clarke, but also suffered a Premier Two Blue defeat at the hands of Dicky Biddle.
Dicky, however, was another to suffer mixed fortunes on the day, when he lost to Mark Dixon.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Ceri Pierce, Hannes on a flying visit from Germany, and later on -- after a concert visit -- Ian and Kylie Hedges.
16/02/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were six matches played on Sunday.
In the Brunel Trophy Ian Tarr defeated Adam Sinclair in their first round tie.
Premier Two Red was the busiest of the leagues with three matches.
Warner Solomon was involved in two of those, defeating Ann Pocknell before suffering a whitewash at the hands of Frank Jones.
League leader Elias Hamati pipped Paul Watts in the other.
Jon Organ beat Matt Sharp in Premier Two Blue.
And in Premier Three Green Cliff Blofield won his sixth successive match, Rob Clarke his victim.
15/02/25: Saturday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Saturday.
Another first round Brunel Trophy tie saw Simon Dicken defeating Mike Smith.
A Premier Two Red double header resulted in Andy Boysan and Alan Joicey sharing the spoils.
Scott Wood beat Neil Edwards in Premier Three Yellow.
And in Premier Three Purple there was a victory for Richard Davies over Caroline Boulton.
14/02/25: Friday's results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
The latest of the first round Brunel Trophy ties saw Stephen Little register a win at the expense of Ian Anderson.
And in Premier Two Red Warner Solomon defeated Paul Watts.
14/02/25: Steve wins again
There were twenty players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the second instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Steve Morris took the main flight -- having done the same at last week's GP10 event -- defeating Jim Green, Rob Clarke and Simon Tracy before overcoming Andy Zographou in the final.
Andy had made the most of a first round bye, beating Tim Line and Steffen Nowak en route.
Nick Barham won the consolation flight, getting past Tim, Hazel Harper and Cynthia Roberts.
Steve has drawn level with January winner Ian Tarr at the head of the BGP standings.
There was also Premier League action.
Jim and Tim had met at the Rendezvous Cafe for a pre-tournament Premier One meeting, which Jim won.
Richard Owsley scored a Premier Two Red win over Ann Pocknell.
Kev Lee gained his first Premier League victory at the expense of Rosemary Whitehouse in Premier Three Green.
And a battle of the two Ben C's in Premier Three Purple ended with Ben Crowden defeating Ben Crabb.
13/02/25: Elias cleans up
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
This week it was Elias Hamati's turn to take the honours, winning both the main tournament and the post-tournament jackpot.
In the tournament main flight Elias defeated Nick Barham, Ann Pocknell and Jon Organ, before beating Ian Tarr in the final.
Ian's victims were John Curran, Gaz Owen and Kev Peters.
Alan Joicey took the consolation flight by beating Ian Anderson and Nick.
There was also some Premier League action.
Michael Petrakas defeated Dicky Biddle in Premier Two Blue.
In Premier Two Red Richard Owsley beat Ian Hedges.
And Cliff Blofield continued his good start to the Premier Three Green season by overcoming Fred North.
12/02/25: Tuesday's results roundup
There were five matches played on Sunday.
Another first round Brunel Trophy tie saw James Lintell-Smith defeat Chris Rogers.
The Wackum Inn was the latest new venue for a Bristol Backgammon match, and Hemal Getalal celebrated his Premier One debut with a narrow victory over Neil Young.
Jon Organ won a Premier Two Blue match against Steffen Nowak.
And in Premier Three Yellow there were wins for Simon Blinkhorn over Scott Wood and Dom Verrall over Neil Edwards.
11/02/25: Twenty-four in Monday action
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, twenty-one of them competitively and three at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Twelve of the twenty-one formed a single round robin group with DMP matches the theme of the session -- the sixth of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Nick Barham was the group winner, pipping Kev Peters on the PR tie-break.
The absent Ian Anderson still heads the WGP table, although Kev has now reduced his lead to 15 points.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Kev won his first round Brunel Trophy tie against Matt Sharp.
In Premier Two Blue Dicky Biddle defeated Steffen Nowak.
Barry Vasili visited Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Yellow and notched an away win.
Richard Davies and Simon Dicken were winners in Premier Three Purple, Ben Crabb and Ben Crowden their victims.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Chris Lewis and first time visitor David in what was a productive session.
09/02/25: Sunday's results roundup
There were three matches played on Sunday.
The first of this year's Brunel Trophy first round matches saw a win for Andy Boysan over Ceri Pierce.
Steffen Nowak defeated Simon Tracy in Premier Two Blue.
And at the Post Office Tavern Caroline Boulton beat Andy Zographou in Premier Three Purple.
09/02/25: Saturday's Premier League action
There were seven Premier League matches played on Saturday.
And Adam Sinclair's promising start to the Premier One season has apparently stalled.
Three emphatic wins have been followed by four defeats, two of which occurred on Saturday, both 2-11 reverses, first to Cecilia Rogers and then to Phil Doubtfire, who had earlier been beaten by Gaz Owen.
Chris Rogers registered his twentieth Premier Two Blue result of the season, beating Pearl Foster, while second placed Mark Dixon suffered a setback against Simon Tracy.
Elias Hamati edged home against Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
And Marcel Bancroft had the honour of being the first player to inflict a league defeat on Scott Wood, whose four Feeder League victories last year had been followed by two more in Premier Three Yellow.
08/02/25: Neil's win passed me by
A Premier Three Yellow result from February 1st somehow slipped through Director Ian Tarr's net.
Neil Edwards defeated Marcel Bancroft.
The league table page has now been updated accordingly.
07/02/25: Robin kick starts his league season in style; Simon wins held over final
There were three matches played on Friday.
Having lost his two opening Premier Two Blue matches, Robin Gunney reversed those fortunes in the best possible way by inflicting two defeats on Chris Rogers, conceding only a single point in the process.
Meanwhile the main flight of Wednesday's online tournament was completed when Simon Tracy defeated Gaz Owen in the final.
The five Wednesday tournaments so far this year have featured ten different players in the main flight finals.
07/02/25: Steve wins opening GP10 tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the opening session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
The main flight of the tournament saw Steve Morris triumphant.
Making the most of a first round bye, he defeated Cynthia Roberts and Stephen Little before overcoming Ian Tarr in the final.
Ian had beaten Steffen Nowak, Hazel Harper and Simon Tracy en route.
Rob Clarketook the consolation flight by beating Andy Zographou and Steffen.
So Steve takes a 20 point GP10 lead into the next event in the series, and he also heads the new "intermediates" added money list by 50 points from Rob.
There was also a Premier Two Blue match played earlier online, where Michael Petrakas beat Robin Gunney.
06/02/25: GP10 prize boost for "intermediates"
The GP10 series of Thursday tournaments is being given a boost for new and improving players in the form of year end cash prizes.
Players in the top two tiers of the Bristol Premier League, and those non-league players identified by Director Ian Tarr, are exempt from this.
The Thursday calendar features five year long grand prix series, which are all being given more distinct identities, with a view to enabling occasional players to target those which particularly appeal to them.
The GP10's, the first of which is this evening at the Ibis, are being portrayed as more "intermediate friendly" as a part of this strategy.
05/02/25: Simon and Gaz adjourn Wednesday final
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Once again Elias Hamati generously added a nice amount (again £60) to the tournament prize pot, and entries are considerably ahead of last year's Wednesday average.
This week the final was adjourned, as Elias's efforts to spark some life into the post tournament jackpot made it a busy evening.
Simon Tracy and Gaz Owen will contest that final another day.
Gaz had got past John Curran, Nick Barham and Adam Sinclair to get there, while Simon's victims were Chris Hughes, Tim Line and Elias.
Chris H took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little, Scott Wood and Neil Young.
The post-tournament jackpot, with entry at £25, attracted eight entries, and Simon took the honours.
There was also some Premier League action.
Adam and Stephen finished off a Premier One match, recently adjourned at 8-8 at the Ibis, by playing a 3-point decider on Heroes, Stephen winning for the first time in this season's league.
Earlier Mark Dixon beat Matt Sharp in Premier Two Blue.
04/02/25: Tuesday Premier League roundup
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Adam Sinclair lost for the first time this season in Premier One, edged out by Kev Peters.
Mark Dixon defeated Michael Petrakas in Premier Two Blue, where Simon Tracy was also a winner, at the expense of Jon Organ.
Alan Joicey beat Stuart Mann in Premier Two Red.
Marcel Bancroft moved back to the top of Premier Three Yellow by defeating Mitch Tucker.
And Photis Gittoes marked his Premier League debut with a victory, Chris Hughes being his victim in Premier Three Purple.
04/02/25: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, twelve of them competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The twelve were split into two round robin groups of six with 3-point matches the theme of the session -- the fifth of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
And Gaz Owen and Nick Barham were the group winners.
The absent Ian Anderson still heads the WGP table, although Adam Sinclair has reduced his lead to 17 points.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Mathew Nicholls, Ceri Pierce and Stelian from Romania.
Stelian arrived with good checker play but no knowledge of the cube. By the time he left, he was proficient with that implement. One to watch.
03/02/25: Sunday Premier League roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Adam Sinclair continued his bright start to the Premier One season by defeating Michael Corbett.
Two of the early Premier Two Blue front runners met, Mark Dixon beating Dicky Biddle.
And Gary Plant scored his ninth successive Premier Three Green victory, at the expense of Rob Clarke.
02/02/25: Brunel Trophy first round draw made
The draw for the first round of the twelfth 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 entry has surpassed the previous record, with sixty-two toeing the start line this time.
Matches are to be played by March 9th.
The full draw can be found here.
02/02/25: Mark wins on Saturday
In the only Saturday Premier League action, Mark Dixon defeated Nick Barham in Premier Two Blue.
01/02/25: Another win for Gary
In the only Friday Premier League action, Gary Plant scored his eighth successive Premier Three Green victory, his victim this time being Rob Clarke.
31/01/25: Phil wins January Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, nine of them to contest the opening session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel.
The nine formed round robin groups of five and four.
Group winners Ian Tarr and Jordan White scored clean sweeps to progress to the knockout phase with ease.
Ironically both players lost their initial knockout matches to players they had defeated in the round robins.
Phil Doubtfire and Tim Line made it to the final, where Phil was the victor.
So Phil takes a handy 45 point lead into the next event.
There was also some Premier League action.
Phil and Neil Young fitted in a Premier One match before the tournament, which Neil won narrowly.
And Gary Plant continued his winning streak in Premier Three Green by beating Fred North -- also narrowly -- at Brookmans Farm, Swindon.
30/01/25: Stephen arrests bad run of results to win Wednesday event
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday to contest the fourth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
For the third successive week Elias Hamati generously added a nice amount (again £60) to the tournament prize pot, and the added money continues to attract greater participation.
This week Stephen Little took the main flight honours, which would have been a welcome relief after beginning the year with a string of defeats.
He defeated Simon Tracy, Chris Hughes, Hazel Harper and, in the final, Neil Young.
Neil had arrived there via victories over Kev Peters, Phil Doubtfire and Ian Anderson.
Nick Barham took the consolation flight by beating Alan Joicey, Ian Tarr and Adam Sinclair.
Elias won the post-tournament jackpot.
28/01/25: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were five Premier League match played on Tuesday.
In Premier Two Red Alan Joicey defeated Ann Pocknell.
Gary Plant won another in Premier Three Green, this time against Kev Lee, while in the same division Cliff Blofield defeated Gerald Whitehouse.
Scott Wood overcame Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Yellow.
And in Premier Three Purple Hazel Harper narrowly beat Andy Zographou
28/01/25: Twenty-four in Monday action
There were twenty-four players in action on Monday, twenty of them competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Fifteen of the twenty formed round robin groups of eight and seven with 3-point matches the theme of the session -- the fourth of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
And Ian Anderson and Stephen Little were the group winners, with Neil Young scooping the side pool in Stephen's group.
Ian A has stretched his lead in the WGP table to 27 points, with Kev Peters now in second place.
There were three Premier League matches played.
Premier Two Red was the most active, with a brace of results.
Winners were Alan Joicey, over Dave Pym, and Warner Solomon over Elias Hamati.
And Premier Three Purple finally got under way, Hazel Harper defeating Richard Davies.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by Simon Dicken, Dan Buchanan and Chris Lewis, with lots of friendly matches and lots of talking points.
26/01/25: Mixed fortunes for Cecilia
There were two Premier One matches played on Saturday.
Both featured Cecilia Rogers, who lost to Phil Doubtfire before defeating Stephen Little.
25/01/25: Saturday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League match played on Saturday.
In Premier Two Red Ann Pocknell defeated Elias Hamati.
Gary Plant made it five wins out of five in Premier Three Green by beating Pete Boxer.
And Marcel Bancroft overcame Neil Edwards in Premier Three Yellow.
24/01/25: Friday's Premier Two Red action
There was just one Premier League match played on Friday, a Premier Two Red encounter between Ian Anderson and Ann Pocknell.
Ian was the victor.
24/01/25: Adam wins opening GP20 event
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the opening instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Among The field there was a welcome competitive debut for Dan Buchanan, who forms the third generation of an eminent Bristol Backgammon family.
His father Blaine Buchanan was a founder member of the Bristol Premier League back in 2000, and he also introduced his mother Anne Buchanan to us later that decade.
The main flight was won by Adam Sinclair, who won the last of last year's series.
Adam made the most of a first round bye, then defeating Hazel Harper and John Rixon before despatching Barry Vasili in the final.
Barry had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr, Steve Morris and Tim Line.
Ian took the consolation flight with wins over Rob Clarke and Stephen Little.
So Adam has a 20 points lead in the opening GP20 table, with Barry in second place.
There was also Premier League action.
Adam scored a Premier One victory over Stephen before the tournement, and a return match was tantalisingly adjourned at 8-8.
Premier Two Red leader Elias Hamati scored a win over Alan Joicey.
And Gary Plant continued his unbeaten run in Premier Three Green at the expense of Kev Lee.
A half reported result in this division also came to light. Gerald Whitehouse apparently won 11-8 last Friday, but didn't mention who his opponent was.
Rob owned up last night.
23/01/25: Sixteen in Wednesday action; James returns to good effect
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
For the third successive week Elias Hamati generously added a nice amount (£60 this time) to the tournament prize pot, and the added money has proved effective in stimulating interest.
This week James Newman -- an infrequent participant in our events these days -- took the main flight honours with victories over Ann Pocknell, Ian Anderson, Nick Barham and, in the final, Gerald Whitehouse.
Gerald had arrived there via a first round bye and victories over John Curran and Simon Tracy.
John took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little, Elias and Chris Rogers.
The post-tournament jackpot, with stakes raised to £20 on Elias' suggestion, saw a win for Stephen, bringing some respite after a forlorn string of results since the new year arrived.
There was also some Premier League action online.
In Premier Two Blue Mark Dixon defeated Jon Organ.
And Simon Blinkhorn beat Mitch Tucker in Premier Three Yellow.
21/01/25: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Simon Tracy suffered a brace of Premier Two Blue defeats, going down to Chris Rogers and Mark Dixon.
In Premier Three Yellow Dom Verrall made an early move to the top of the league by pipping Mandy Macdonald.
And the Lamb Inn, Wantage, was the venue for Gary Plant's equally narrow win over Fred North.
21/01/25: Twenty-six in Monday action
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday, twenty-two of them competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Thirteen of the twenty-two formed round robin groups of seven and six with 3-point matches the theme of the session -- the third of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
And Adam Sinclair and Chris Hughes were the group winners.
Ian Anderson's lead in the WGP table is reduced to three points by Adam.
There were five Premier League matches played.
Premier Two Blue was the most active, as it has been for most of the first twenty days of the competition, and every player in that division has played at least one match.
One of them -- Chris Rogers -- has played sixteen!
Chris narrowly defeated Jon Organ, while the division's other two winners were Kylie Hedges and Mark Dixon, with Simon Tracy and Robin Gunney their victims.
Pete Boxer is another eager to play his matches at the earliest opportunity, and he moved back to the top of Premier Three Green by beating Rob Clarke.
And Dom Verrall beat Mitch Tucker in Premier Three Yellow.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by three.
New players Oliver Smith and Ciara McGreavy played some thought provoking friendly matches, Ian getting welcome assistance on this occasion from Chris Lewis.
20/01/25: Sunday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Mark Dixon and Simon Tracy were winners in Premier Two Blue, over Matt Sharp and Chris Rogers.
In the parallel Red Division Dave Pym defeated Elias Hamati.
And Cliff Blofield moved to the top of Premier Three Green at the expense of his victim Pete Boxer.
19/01/25: Saturday's Premier League action
There were seven Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Chris Rogers won two Premier Two Blue encounters for the second successive day.
This time it was a double header against Mike Smith.
Jon Organ was also a Blue Division winner, narrowly defeating Simon Tracy.
In the parallel Red Division Andy Boysan and Ian Anderson shared the spoils of their double header.
And Gary Plant got his Premier Three Green campaign nicely under way by defeating both Cynthia Roberts and Pete Boxer.
19/01/25: Friday's Premier League action
Four Premier League matches were played on Friday.
Chris Rogers scored a brace of victories in Premier Two Blue, overcoming Kylie Hedges and Mark Dixon.
In the same division Steve Pickard beat Pearl Foster.
And Pete Boxer suffered his first Premier Three Green defeat, at the hands of Cliff Blofield.
19/01/25: John Rixon wins opening Handicap tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the opening instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
John Rixon, who we had met for the first time a week previously, made the most of a 4 handicap which made him more than dangerous, given his level of competence.
And after a first round bye, he saw off Tim Line and Barry Vasili, before despatching Ian Tarr in the final.
His first two wins also netted him a pair of £10 bonuses.
Ed's determination to add a different slant to his sponsorship has resulted in the "Golden Zone".
At each Handicap Trophy event an opening match is drawn at random to be the subject of a £10 bonus for the winner, and the winner's next match attracts a similar bonus.
The two matches are highlighted on the draw sheet in gold (or a colour as close to gold as possible!).
Ian had come through the long part of the draw, defeating Jim Green, Steffen Nowak and Nick Barham.
Steffen took the consolation flight via wins over Rob Clarke and Jim.
So John has a 20 points lead in the first Handicap Trophy table.
There were also four Premier League matches played.
Dave Pym defeated Richard Owsley in Premier Two Blue.
In Premier Three Green there was a win for Cynthia Roberts over Rosemary Whitehouse.
And Premier Three Yellow saw two results, Scott Wood beating Dom Verrall, while Barry Vasili's trip to Windmill Hill resulted in defeat by Mandy Macdonald.
15/01/25: Twenty-two in action as John Curran wins the latest Wednesday event
There were twenty-two players in action on Wednesday, sixteen of them to contest the second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Once again Elias Hamati generously adding a nice amount (£70 this time) to the tournament prize pot, and the added money is proving effective in stimulating interest.
The event once again featured a full draw of sixteen.
This week John Curran took the main flight honours with victories over Stephen Little, Elias Hamati, Kev Peters and, in the final, Ian Tarr.
Ian had begun to feel invincible in seven point knockout matches -- always a dangerous sentiment -- having won his last three such live tournaments.
And victories over Gaz Owen, Chris Hughes and Tim Line continued the run.
John proved to be a step too far for him in the final, however.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight by beating Gaz, Nick Barham and Chris Rogers, and followed this by taking the post-tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League action online.
In Premier Two Blue there were wins for Michael Petrakas over Kylie Hedges and Jon Organ over Matt Sharp.
And Mitch Tucker scored his first competitive victory, defeating namesake Julian Tucker in Premier Three Yellow.
14/01/25: Tuesday's Premier Two action
There were five Premier Two matches played on Tuesday.
Chris Rogers continued his rapid start to the Blue Division season, losing to Kylie Hedges and Michael Petrakas before defeating Jon Organ.
And the Red Division saw Ann Pocknell score a brace of victories, over Alan Joicey and Ian Anderson.
13/01/25: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, fifteen of them competitively and two at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Thirteen of the fifteen formed a single robin groups with DMP matches the theme of the session -- the second of our Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
And Ian Anderson took the honours, winning eleven out of twelve games, with Andrew Montgomery just one behind in second place.
Ian A moves into the lead in the WGP table, with Tim Line five points behind in second place.
One Premier Two Red match was played, leader Elias Hamati defeating Ian Hedges.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by just Kate Waldron, who was introduced to match play cubing.
12/01/25: Premier League weekend action
There were nine Premier League matches played over the weekend.
Michael Corbett began his first top flight campaign since 2009, taking on two of the division's previous champions, losing to Gaz Owen on Saturday and Cecilia Rogers on Sunday.
Premier Two Blue was the busiest division, Mark Dixon playing twice, defeating Nick Barham before losing to Jon Organ.
Dicky Biddle (over Chris Rogers at the Dumb Post) and Mike Smith (over Pearl Foster) were the division's other winners.
Two Premier Two Red pace setters met, Andy Boysan defeating Elias Hamati.
And Cynthia Roberts fitted in two Premier Three Green matches, succumbing to Cliff Blofield and Pete Boxer, who has started his maiden season really well.
11/01/25: Friday's Premier League round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier Two Red Elias Hamati continued his promising start to the season with victory over Ian Hedges.
Michael Petrakas began his Premier Two Blue campaign by beating Chris Rogers.
Pete Boxer won again in Premier Three Green, Fred North his victim this time.
And the first match of the Premier Three Yellow season saw Marcel Bancroft beating Mitch Tucker.
10/01/25: Ian begins BGP title defence with a win
There were twelve players in action on Thursday at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the opening instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
The field of twelve included John Rixon, who appeared out of the blue to make a welcome competitive debut.
Ian Tarr took the main flight, defeating Steffen Nowak, Gaz Owen and Tim Line before overcoming Rob Clarke in the final.
Rob, a new Premier Three player, had beaten Hazel Harper and Steve Morris en route.
Hazel won the consolation flight, getting past Elias Hamati and Cynthia Roberts.
Having won the BGP title twice in succession, this was the ideal start to Ian's title defence, and he has a handy 50 point lead over Rob as this year's series gets under way.
09/01/25: Nineteen in Wednesday action as Elias boosts the online event
There were nineteen players in action on Wednesday, sixteen of them to contest the first of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
The decision to reinstate these events -- they were suspended back in August -- was due in no small measure to Elias Hamati's generosity in adding £80 to the tournament prize pot, and this is only the beginning of his plan.
Added money was proven to work, as a nicely symmetrical full draw of sixteen saw Kev Peters taking the main flight honours with victories over John Curran, Tim Line, Chris Rogers and, in the final, Ian Anderson.
Ian had arrived there by getting past Simon Tracy, Elias Hamati and Adam Sinclair.
Hazel Harper took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little, Simon and Gerald Whitehouse.
Ian Tarr won a post-tournament jackpot.
The only other action was a significant one in Premier Two Red.
It was Stuart Mann's first taste of second tier Bristol league competition, after his previous 552 league matches had all been at the highest level.
And he began the season with a win over Ian Hedges.
07/01/25: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
In Premier One Gaz Owen defeated Stephen Little.
And in Premier Three Green Pete Boxer celebrated his league debut by beating Cynthia Roberts.
07/01/25: Twenty-six in action on the year's opening Monday
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday, seventeen of them competitively and nine at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The seventeen formed three round robin groups with 3-point matches the theme of the session -- the first of our slightly revamped Monday Winter Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Split into two groups of six and one of five, the group winners were Cynthia Roberts and Tim Line -- who each managed a clean sweep of wins in the larger groups -- and Ian Anderson in the group of five.
So Cynthia and Tim are the initial WGP leaders.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was attended by eight others, including promising return visits by Isidoro Sorbello and Kate Waldron, and an equally promising debut appearance by Nicola A.
05/01/25: Sunday's Premier Two action
There were six matches played on Sunday, all in Premier Two.
In the Blue Division Chris Rogers suffered mixed fortunes in close matches, losing to Pearl Foster before defeating Steffen Nowak.
Steve Pickard and Dicky Biddle were also victors in that division, Mike Smith and Kylie Hedges their victims.
And Andy Boysan scored a brace of wins over Dave Pym in the Red Division.
05/01/25: Saturday's Premier Two action
There were three matches played on Saturday, all in Premier Two.
In the Red Division there were wins for Ann Pocknell (over Andy Boysan) and Elias Hamati (over Warner Solomon).
And Steve Pickard defeated Mark Dixon in the Blue Division.
03/01/25: Friday win for Cynthia
In the only action from Friday Cynthia Roberts scored a Premier Three Green victory over Cliff Blofield.
03/01/25: Ian wins last year's GP10 series
There were eighteen players in action on Thursday, nine of them to contest the tenth and last of last year's GP10 tournaments at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
The tournament had been postponed on the closure of our long-time casino venue, and was rearranged for Thursday to enable a fair conclusion to the series.
Ian Tarr went into the tournament with a near decisive lead over the only player in with a chance of overhauling him, Steffen Nowak.
However, as soon as the draw was made that possibility disappeared, as Steffen's bye deprived him of the possibility of gaining the 100 points he needed.
Ian and Steve Morris were the only two to avoid byes, and Ian's win was followed by further victories over Umut Bilge, Steffen and -- in the final -- Barry Vasili.
Barry had arrived in the final by defeating Hazel Harper and Tim Line.
Nick Barham took the consolation flight by beating Umut and Stephen Little.
So Ian's 95 point GP10 lead was stretched to to 130, having won three of the series.
Meanwhile, the 2025 Premier League sprung into action.
Gaz Owen's Premier One title defence didn't begin well when he suffered a whitewash at the hands of Adam Sinclair.
But Adam's early divisional lead didn't last long, as Tim scored a double success over Stephen at the Globe.
Chris Rogers lost no time in getting his Premier Two Blue season up and running, fitting in three matches.
Two narrow wins over Steve Pickard were followed by an emphatic loss to Dicky Biddle.
Elias Hamati beat Ann Pocknell in Premier Two Red.
And Gerald Whitehouse defeated Cynthia Roberts in Premier Three Green.
01/01/25: The first event of 2025 wraps up our 2024 competitions
After the customary seasonal break, Bristol Backgammon springs back into action on Thursday with the opening event of the year.
It's actually the final event of 2024, the postponed final leg of the GP10 series.
When we were between venues the December 5th event was a casualty, so this is to tie up the final loose end of 2024.
Thursdays will continue for the foreseeable future at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel, which served us well in December after the casino's closure.
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