News items from 2025 (second half)
31/12/25: 2026 sees another record Bristol Premier League entry
No fewer than seventy-eight players will toe the start line for the twenty-seventh incarnation of the Bristol Premier League.
Four of last year's finishers -- Caroline Boulton, Andrew Cobb, Matt Sharp and Simon Tracy -- have, for their various reasons, opted out this time, and all would be welcome to return in future years.
But the good news is that there are eight new players -- six of whom have played in the league before -- to boost the membership of Premier Three.
The two debutants are Freddy Doubtfire and Peter Wise.
To see the new line-ups, visit Premier One, Premier Two Blue, Premier Two Red, Premier Three Green, Premier Three Yellow and Premier Three Purple.
30/12/25: Eleven contest Greyhound tournament
There were eleven players in action on Tuesday to contest the first tournament to be held at the Greyhound, Lodge Causeway -- breaking with the tradition of no backgammon between Christmas and the New Year.
Neil Young and Derek Clew -- East Bristol locals -- fought out the main final, Neil taking the title.
Both finalists benefited from first round byes, then Neil got past Ian Tarr and Gaz Owen, while Derek was eliminating Penny Walters and James Lintell-Smith.
Jordan White won the consolation flight, beating Penny, Tim Line and Gaz.
24/12/25: Ian Anderson wins curtailed Wednesday online tournament
There were just six players in action on Wednesday to contest the fifty-first and last of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And in response to limited demand, there was just one flight of knockout played.
This week's winner was Ian Anderson, whose defeats of Stephen Little, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Ann Pocknell.
22/12/25: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, ten of them competitively.
The ten formed two 3-point round robin groups of five for the twelfth and final session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Ian Anderson and Neil Young.
Gaz Owen, already crowned AGP title winner, was once again a non-starter, but Ian A had the honour of clinching second place.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by Amarvir Singh, John Allen and Peter Wise.
20/12/24: Simon wins the Fizz event
There were twenty-four players in action at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel, bringing the curtain down on a year of Thursday competitions.
The tournament was the fourteenth incarnation of Steve's Christmas Fizz Tournament, and the event was as enjoyable as any of its predecessors.
The twenty-four tournament contestants filled the usual playing area behind the bar, and the vibe was positive, with the customary format comprising 3-point matches all the way.
The opening phase, with four round robin groups of five and one of four, proceeded at a variable pace, with two groups in particular holding up proceesings.
And one of the groups of five was reduced to four when Kev Peters had to leave early on elf and safety grounds.
Group winners -- Jim Green, Gaz Owen, Ian Hedges, Simon Blinkhorn and Neil Young -- received their £15 cash rewards.
Thirteen progressed to the main knockout, ten to the consolation.
In the main flight Simon defeated Dylan Williams (visiting from Nottingham), Neil, and Hazel Harper to reach the final, while Stephen Little was moving through the other half of the draw with victories over Cynthia Roberts, Steve Morris and Derek Clew.
Simon won the final to take the title, capping an excellent year where he not only took the Premier Three championship, but also made it to the Brunel Trophy final.
Barry Vasili was the consolation flight winner and Tim Line the runner-up.
And Steve -- the architect of this happy, traditional, seasonal event, where he provides various bottles of bubbly for the four finalists -- made the bubbly presentations to Simon, Stephen, Barry and Tim.
18/12/25: James Newman wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the fiftieth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was James Newman, a rare visitor to these events these days, who defeated Cynthia Roberts, Chris Rogers and -- in the final -- Ann Pocknell after receiving a first round bye.
This maintained James's 100% record this year, having won on both of his forays.
Ann had arrived there via wins over Kev Peters and Ian Anderson.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little and Kev.
Tim Line, having missed the tournament, joined the post tournament jackpot and won it.
16/12/25: Thirteen in Monday action
There were thirteen players in action on Monday, ten of them competitively.
The ten formed two 3-point round robin groups of five for the eleventh and penultimate session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Andrew Montgomery and Nick Barham.
Gaz Owen did not contest the session, but his points tally is already sufficient to take the AGP title.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by John Allen from Bedminster and first timer Peter Wise from Cotham.
12/12/25: Lulzim wins December Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were eleven players in action on Thursday at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the twelfth and final instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Lulzim Alla took the main flight, defeating Andy Zographou, Barry Vasili and -- in the final -- Stephen Little, after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen had got past Chris Aquilina and Gaz Owen en route to the final.
Andy took the consolation flight, defeating Chris and Hazel Harper.
The BGP title race had been all but decided beforehand, Gaz holding an 80 point lead over second placed Ian Tarr, with nobody else close to contention.
Ian needed three things to go right for him to change things: not receiving a first round bye, giving him the chance to increase his points tally by 90 points; Gaz failing to add substantially to his own tally to leave him within reach; and Ian winning the tournament.
The first two of those conditions were met, Ian avoiding the byes and Gaz adding only five points to his overall score.
It was the third condition that went out of the window quickly, thanks to Ian's first round exit to Barry.
Gaz's BGP title win is the fourth of his career, drawing him level with record holders Roland Herrera and Ian.
Lulzim became the final player to cement a place in the 2026 Bristol Masters tournament after his win.
10/12/25: Ann wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday to contest the forty-ninth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ann Pocknell, who defeated Tim Line, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Chris Hughes after receiving a first round bye.
It was Ann's fifth Wednesday tournament win this year.
Chris had arrived there via wins over Elias Hamati and Stephen Little.
Elias took the consolation flight by beating Kylie Hedges, Scott Wood and Tim.
Ian Anderson won the post tournament jackpot.
09/12/25: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, twelve of them competitively.
The twelve formed a single DMP round robin group for the tenth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winner was Ian Anderson, while fourth placed Andrew Montgomery took the second share of the optional side pool.
Gaz Owen failed to add to his points tally, but his AGP lead, although reduced by second placed Alan Joicey still stands at 50 points with just two sessions remaining.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by Simon Dicken, Penny Walters, Amarvir Singh, Jenny from Kingsdown, and first timers Eli Ratzel, Ruben Reis and John Allen.
05/12/25: Ian wins GP10 event to clinch title; Simon is Premier Three champion
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them to contest the eighth and final session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
The destiny of the GP10 title rested on the performances of Ian Tarr and Steffen Nowak, first and second in the standings, separated by 45 points.
With discards biting, Steffen needed a strong tournament to have a chance of overhauling Ian.
The duo were in the same half of the draw, and duly got past Rob Clarke and Flora von Michel (in Ian's case) and Kylie Hedges and Barry Vasili (in Steffen's case) to set up a crucial semi-final meeting.
Ian's victory settled matters, and his final win over Tim Line was merely the icing on the cake.
Tim had got past Ian Hedges, Hazel Harper and Alp Ozbas to reach the final.
Rob took the consolation flight by beating Neil Young, Stephen Little and Steve Morris.
For Ian it was the third successive week clinching a grand prix title, following his Speedgammon Grand Prix and Handicap Trophy successes.
The GP10 has this season featured a secondary prize -- a grand prix within a grand prix -- exclusive to players not in either Premier One or Premier Two.
Steve has led this from the start, and did enough to stave off the challenge of Barry to take the prize.
Elsewhere, and online, there was the Premier Three title play-off.
And Simon Blinkhorn of the Yellow Division prevailed over Chris Hughes of the Purple Division in a nail-biter.
04/12/25: Alan takes Premier Two title; Richard relegated; Tim wins Wednesday online tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the forty-eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Tim Line, who defeated Elias Hamati, Cynthia Roberts and -- in the final -- Ann Pocknell after receiving a first round bye.
Ann had arrived there via wins over Ian Tarr, Scott Wood and Stephen Little.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight by beating Ian T, Ian Anderson and Kev Peters.
Stephen won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also Premier League play-off action earlier.
Alan Joicey defeated Michael Petrakas in the Premier Two championship play-off, between the winners of the Blue Division and the Red Division.
And in the first ever survival play-off Matt Sharp was victorious over Richard Owsley, consigning Richard to the third tier.
01/12/25: Steffen becomes first ever winner of a promotion play-off
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, fifteen of them competitively.
Thirteen of the fifteen formed round robin groups of seven and six for the ninth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners -- both by virtue of PR tie-breakers -- were Gaz Owen and Chris Hughes.
AGP leader Gaz has extended his lead to 59 points, which will be difficult to peg back over the final three sessions.
There was also the first ever Premier League promotion play-off.
We have become familiar with championship play-offs over the years, but with fourteen player divisions in the top two tiers of the league we now have a need for a fifth player to be promoted from Premier Two, along with the top two from each of the Blue and Red divisions.
The players in this historic match were Ann Pocknell from Premier Two Red and Steffen Nowak from Premier Two Blue.
And it was Steffen who prevailed to earn his top flight place for 2026.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by James Lintell-Smith and first timer Jamie Weber from Bedminster.
30/11/25: What happened on day 334 of the 334-day Premier League season
There were four matches outstanding on Sunday, the final day of the 2025 Bristol Premier League season, and all were played.
In Premier One Michael Corbett played twice, defeating Hemal Getalal before succumbing to Jim Green, whose victory edged Adam Sinclair out of the fourth prize money slot.
Jon Organ and Mike Smith contested the final match of the Premier Two Blue season, where Jon's defeat means that he is relegated to the third tier, leaving Matt Sharp to contest the divisional survival play-off with Richard Owsley.
And in the Tamar Valley the domectic to end all domestics ended in emphatic victory for Gerald Whitehouse over Rosemary Whitehouse.
Gerald is promoted from Premier Three Green, and Rosemary isn't -- it was that close.
So a record of 852 regular season league results has set the seal on another exciting Bristol Premier League season.
This paves the way for a few play-off matches, the first of which played out at the Old Fish Market, Baldwin Street, where Premier Three Purple champion Chris Hughes defeated Premier Three Green champion Cliff Blofield, earning the right to play Premier Three Yellow champion Simon Blinkhorn for the outright Premier Three title.
29/11/25: Saturday's Premier League action
There were only two Premier League matches played on Saturday, which hopefully means there will be four on Sunday, which is the season's final day.
Natalie Singh defeated Hemal Getalal in Premier One.
And Rosemary Whitehouse's victory over James Timoney in Premier Three Green sets up an intriguing final match of the division.
Presumably it will be live, as neither protagonist needs to travel.
This is Rosemary's meeting with Gerald Whitehouse, which will decide which of the two gets promoted!
Of the other three matches hopefully scheduled for Sunday Michael Corbett is involved in two.
Jim Green and Hemal are Michael's top flight opponents.
Also playing are Jon Organ and Mike Smith in Premier Two Blue, where Jon needs to win to qualify for the divisional survival play-off and send Matt Sharp down.
28/11/25: Ian wins Handicap event and nicks the title from John; Alan is champion; Natalie relegated
There were twenty-three players in action on Thursday, fifteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the ninth and last instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored by Ed Turner, who we were pleased to see competing.
The winner this time was Ian Tarr, who defeated Steve Morris, Steffen Nowak and -- in the final -- Cynthia Roberts, after being the only recipient of a first round bye.
Cynthia had got past Andy Zographou, Barry Vasili and Tim Line en route.
John Rixon won the consolation flight, beating Steve, Hazel Harper and Ed.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, with George Georgiou's first round win over Alp Ozbas and Tim's quarter-final victory over George earning £10 bonuses.
Had anyone taken the obvious opportunity to assess the possibilities surrounding the destiny of the HT title, it would have added to the drama.
Unfortunately none of the protagonists had done so.
John began the event 40 points ahead of second placed Stephen Little with Ian a further 10 points back.
Considering discards, either Stephen or Ian would need a very strong finish to stand a chance of changing things.
Stephen's opening round exit took him out of the equation, while Ian, with his bye, was idle until 9:15, awaiting the outcome of the longest match of the round.
John was involved in that, succumbing narrowly to Steve.
Ian's run to main final victory was then mirrored by John's consolation run, the difference being that Ian was able to add 60 points to his tally, while John was only adding five to his, leaving Ian the winner by just five points, and John a very unlucky runner-up, given his consistency over the season.
During the evening it emerged that Ed, who has sponsored this competition for TWENTY-ONE seasons, is retiring in the new year, and his sponsorship will not be continued.
Bristol Backgammon owes Ed a massive dose of gratitude for this amazing sponsorship.
The good news is that we are likely to see more of Ed at live events, as he won't need to be up at ridicuously early hours.
There were also four Premier League matches played online.
In Premier One Natalie Singh's bid to secure a last minute reprieve from relegation foundered with an emphatic defeat at the hands of Hemal Getalal, who would have been relieved to end the streak of defeats which also accounted for his top flight status.
Premier Two Red became the second division to complete with Alan Joicey's final match defeat of Paul Watts making sure of the title, and he now faces a play-off against Michael Petrakas for the outright Premier Two championship.
Fred North rounded off his Premier Three Green season by defeating Ceri Pierce, and Mitch Tucker did likewise in Premier Three Yellow -- the third of our divisions to reach the conclusion -- at the expense of Simon Hughes.
27/11/25: Neil relegated; Gaz wins Wednesday online tournament again
There were fifteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the forty-seventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Gaz Owen -- winning for the second successive week, and the sixth time this year -- who defeated Kev Peters, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Stephen Little after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over Ann Pocknell and Chris Hughes.
Kev took the consolation flight by beating Alan Joicey and Neil Young.
Ian Anderson won the post tournament jackpot.
There was Premier League action earlier.
In Premier One four players completed their campaigns.
Gaz defeated Neil, confirming Neil's relegation to Premier Two.
And Phil Charlton is still not quite safe after his loss to Adam Sinclair, who made sure of 2026 UK Champions League qualification.
Natalie Singh needs two emphatic wins to escape the drop at Phil's expense.
Meanwhile, with just four playing days remaining, Premier Three Purple won the race to become the first of the six divisions to be completed.
This was achieved by Caroline Boulton's whitewash of Simon Dicken.
25/11/25: Cliff wins Green Division title
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Jim Green defeated Adam Sinclair in Premier One to clinch a place in the 2026 UK Champions League.
Adam will join him there unless he suffers an emphatic defeat in his final match.
Rosemary Whitehouse's last vestige of hope for the Premier Three Green title disappeared when she lost to runner-up Gary Plant.
Cliff Blofield is confirmed as the divisional champion.
And a double header in Premier Three Yellow ended with honours exactly even, when Mitch Tucker and Mandy Macdonald swapped 11-4 wins.
24/11/25: Eighteen in Monday action
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, eight of them competitively.
Four of the eight formed a single Nackgammon round robin group for the eighth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winner, in what was probably the last ever Monday Nackgammon session, was Ian Anderson.
Neither leader Gaz Owen nor second placed Alan Joicey contested this one, but their leading AGP places were not threatened, Gaz still leading by 43 points.
There was also Premier League action.
In Premier Two Red Alan's victory over Paul Watts went close to rubber stamping his divisional title.
He can lose the return match and still prevail, as long as he scores at least two points.
And in Premier One Jim Green defeated Hemal Getalal.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by James Lintell-Smith, Penny Walters, Amarvir Singh, Jenny from Kingsdown, Jez, Juliette from Surrey, and three of her friends.
James displayed a unique style of tuition.
23/11/25: Gaz wins second Brunel title; Ann makes the play-off; Steve wins the board
There were four matches played on Sunday.
Gaz Owen's blitzes paid a handsome dividend when he encountered Simon Blinkhorn at Wiper and True for the final of the Brunel Trophy.
It took just three games, and by all accounts Simon never stood a chance.
Gaz's title win came ten years after his previous success.
Although anti-climactic for Simon, his run to the final of the sixty-two player double elimination tournament coupled with his Premier Three Yellow title win make this something of a breakthrough year for him.
Online, Ann Pocknell's victory over Paul Watts clinched a Premier Two promotion play-off place at the expense of Ian Hedges.
Finishing third in Premier Two Red, she now faces Steffen Nowak, third in Premier Two Blue, for a place in next year's top flight.
Hazel Harper rounded off her Premier Three Purple season with an emphatic victory over Ben Crowden.
The top three finishers, champion Chris Hughes, runner-up Hazel, and third placed Titus Simen all finished level on points, separated only by average points difference.
And Steve Pickard has won the Gaz's Board tournament, pipping Michael Petrakas in the final.
22/11/25: Cliff wins at the Compass
In the only action of Saturday, Cliff Blofield defeated Gary Plant at the Compass, Tormarton, in Premier Three Green.
The pair are already promoted, but this result means that Gary can no longer be champion, while Cliff almost certainly will be.
Only a trio of humungous Rosemary Whitehouse victories can thwart him.
21/11/25: George wins November Speedgammon Grand Prix event on a bittersweet evening for Ian
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, seven of them to contest the seventh and final session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel.
The seven formed a single round robin group, obviating the need for a subsequent knockout phase.
Group winner was George Georgiou, with five wins out of six, while Ian Tarr pipped Alp Ozbas on points difference for the runner-up spot.
The destination of the SGGP title was decided before the start, when it became clear that there would be insufficient points available for second placed Tim Line to dislodge leader Ian.
So Ian completed a hat-trick of SGGP titles, and his seventh in all, to add to his current tenure of Speedgammon titles at both the Bristol Open and the Three Zeros Open.
Elsewhere there was bad news for Ian, however, with the news that Richard Owsley had edged to victory over Paul Watts in Premier Two Red.
The result condemned Ian to relegation -- and also removed the last vestige of worry for Ian Anderson -- while the relegation play-off spot will go to either Richard or Paul.
That will depend on the results of Paul's three remaining matches.
Meanwhile the relegation race in Premier Two Blue took another turn when Jon Organ lost to Robin Gunney.
The division's only remaining match -- Jon versus Mike Smith -- will decide whether Jon or Matt Sharp contests the relegation play-off.
19/11/25: Gaz wins Wednesday online tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the forty-sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Gaz Owen, who defeated Chris Hughes, Alan Joicey and -- narrowly in the final -- Cynthia Roberts after receiving a first round bye.
Cynthia had arrived there via wins over Ann Pocknell, Tim Line and Scott Wood.
Elias Hamati took the consolation flight by beating Kev Peters and Nick Barham.
Stephen Little won the post tournament jackpot.
There was Premier Two Red action earlier.
Already promoted Alan Joicey beat Ian Anderson, who is still not quite safe from the drop.
And Paul Watts narrowly defeated Ian Tarr to give himself a real chance of escaping the drop, while Ian's chances of doing so are now slim.
19/11/25: Eamonn unable to complete Yellow Division season
Eamonn Reay will not be completing his remaining fixtures in Premier Three Yellow.
He is suffering mobility problems, as well as finding it extremely difficult to spend protracted amounts of time in front of a screen.
And despite this, he declared himself available to play whichever of his remaining matches might have a bearing on important issues in the division.
However, as he has played both matches against each of the top five, and as there is no relegation from Premier Three, it has been decided that he should call a halt to his season.
No penalties will be incurred in respect of the seven outstanding matches.
Based in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, Eamonn has long been a stalwart of Bristol Backgammon competition, making his first visit in 2011.
In 2013 he famously arranged to play fifteen Conference League matches during a four day visit!
18/11/25: Gaz into Brunel final; Simon wins Yellow Division title
There were seven matches played on Tuesday.
Gaz Owen weathered a strong comeback by Hazel Harper to claim a place in the final of the Brunel Trophy, where he will meet Simon Blinkhorn.
Hazel finishes third in the year-long double elimination event.
Simon was engaged in an important match of his own, taking on Steve Cox in what amounted to a Premier Three Yellow title shoot-out.
And despite trailing for a while, he came through strongly to claim the title, and book a place in the three way Premier Three title play-offs.
There were three results in Premier Two Red.
Paul Watts -- computer safely installed -- played a double header with Ian Anderson, whose brace of wins moved him to safety from the drop, barring unusual circumstances.
Richard Owsley, another under threat, suffered defeat at the hands of league leader Andy Boysan.
Paul can still escape the drop, while Richard must win his final match and hope that other results at least give him a chance of the relegation play-off.
Andrew Cobb finished his season with victory over new Premier Three Purple champion Chris Hughes.
And Pete Boxer also finished with a win, over James Timoney in Premier Three Green.
18/11/25: Michael and Steve reach Gaz's Board final
The race to win the Artgammon board won by Gaz Owen at the Three Zeros event is now all but run.
Michael Petrakas will meet Steve Pickard in the final of the Gaz's Board tournament after Michael's narrow semi-final win over James Timoney and Steve's more emphatic dismissal of Jon Organ.
18/11/25: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, seventeen of them competitively.
Twelve of the seventeen formed two 3-point round robin groups of six for the seventh session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Neil Young and Gaz Owen.
Gaz thus extends his AGP lead to 43 points, with Alan Joicey back in second place.
There was also Premier Three action.
In the Yellow Division Steve Cox played twice, losing out to Barry Vasili before registering the win he needed to clinch promotion against Marcel Bancroft.
Steve is assured of at least second place, and will leapfrog leader Simon Blinkhorn if he can defeat him by more than four points in their final match.
And Chris Hughes became Purple Division champion by beating Andy Zographou.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by Amarvir Singh and Penny Walters.
16/11/25: Sunday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier Two Red Ian Hedges defeated Warner Solomon, pushing him out of the promotion play-off spot.
Both players have finished their campaigns, and Ian must await the outcome of Ann Pocknell's final match.
If she defeats Paul Watts she will take the play-off slot, unless the margin is 11-10.
The other by-product of the result is that Alan Joicey's promotion to the top flight is confirmed.
In the same division Ed Turner and Frank Jones also completed their campaigns, Ed prevailing.
The day's other result came from Premier Three Yellow, where Simon Hughes beat Simon Blinkhorn.
16/11/25: Saturday win for Fred
In the only action of Saturday, Fred North defeated James Timoney in Premier Three Green.
14/11/25: Friday results round-up
There were two matches played on Tuesday, both involving issues in Premier Two Red.
The top of the table moved a little closer to resolution with both Ian Hedges and Warner Solomon in action.
And while Ian's position, before the matches, looked the more favourable, his defeat by Ed Turner and Warner's victory over Ian Tarr reversed things.
However, their final match is against one another, so things could be reversed again!
Alan Joicey still sits in the second promotion place, but with three to play, he only needs one favourable result to be sure of clinching automatic promotion.
The promotion play-off slot is wide open, with Ian H, Warner and Ann Pocknell all in contention.
For Ian T, however, the situation is now parlous.
Unless he wins his final match, the probability is that Premier Three beckons.
The complication in this division surrounds Paul Watts, who was given special dispensation to avoid expungement in view of his serious illness.
He returned to action in mid-September, but has not played since October 7th.
He cites being once again without a functioning computer, but with just sixteen playing days remaining, he has seven matches to play, every one of which has a bearing on the important issues at both ends of the division.
14/11/25: Alp wins November Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were twenty players in action on Thursday, fourteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the eleventh instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Alp Ozbas took the main flight, defeating Barry Vasili, Tim Line and -- in the final -- George Georgiou, after receiving a first round bye.
George had got past Hazel Harper, Steffen Nowak and Gaz Owen en route to the final.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight, defeating Barry, Cynthia Roberts and Nick Barham.
But as far as the BGP title race goes, the main story of the night surrounded the first round meeting of the only two realistic contenders -- leader Gaz and Ian.
It was the first match to finish, an eight-cube win seeing Gaz through to the quarter-finals.
And while Ian's consolation flight run just about kept him in the race, the new margin -- 80 points -- means that in the December tournament, which carries a slightly higher points tariff in line with all of the £20 entry "Lesters" events, Ian will need to win the tournament with four match wins to stand any chance of overhauling Gaz's total.
So his hopes of a BGP title hat-trick are now, at best, remote -- especially in view of the fact that these Lesters events now attract a low entry.
Alp becomes the tenth player to cement a place in the 2026 Bristol Masters tournament after his win.
Earlier there had been some Premier League action online.
Adam Sinclair made sure of a 2026 UK Champions League berth when he narrowly defeated Phil Charlton in Premier One.
Phil is still not quite safe from the drop, as he remains a tantalising target for Neil Young and Natalie Singh.
One player who is safe barring a miracle is Frank Jones in Premier Two Red, after his defeat of Ed Turner.
And in Premier Three Purple Photis Gittoes rounded off his maiden league season by beating Caroline Boulton.
12/11/25: Kev wins Wednesday online tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the forty-fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Kev Peters, who defeated Ann Pocknell, Mark Dixon, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Jon Organ.
Jon had arrived there via wins over Tim Line and Gaz Owen after receiving a first round bye.
Alan Joicey took the consolation flight by beating Ann and Stephen Little.
Tim won the post tournament jackpot which, unusually, featured eight players.
There was Premier League action earlier.
Phil Doubtfire narrowly beat Phil Charlton in Premier One, consolidating his third place while leaving his opponent still vulnerable to the escape bids of Neil Young and Natalie Singh.
And Andy Zographou emphatically defeated Simon Dicken in Premier Three Purple.
11/11/25: Tuesday results round-up
There were seven matches played on Tuesday, four in the Premier League and the last three quarter-finals in the Gaz's Board tournament.
Ian Hedges beat Ian Tarr in Premier Two Red, and moved into the play-off slot.
His margin of victory served to confirm Andy Boysan's promotion, with Alan Joicey on the brink of joining him.
Ian H is favourite to hold on to the play-off spot, but could still be overhauled by Warner Solomon or Ann Pocknell.
Ian T, meanwhile, needs some positive results from his final two matches if he is to preserve his second tier status.
The only issues outstanding in Premier Two Blue are near the foot of the table.
With the final three matches all involving Jon Organ, it was a case of what Jon could do to haul himself away from trouble.
The first of those was against Dicky Biddle, and the defeat he suffered leaves him needing one win to escape the bottom four, and two to avoid the relegation play-off at the expense of Mike Smith.
The complication is the Mike is one of his opponents.
Fred North defeat at the hands of Gerald Whitehouse in Premier Three Green has ended Fred's promtion quest.
Accompanying Cliff Blofield and Gary Plant on the way up to the second tier will be either Gerald or Rosemary Whitehouse, with Rosemary the favourite.
And Richard Davies hauled himself off the bottom of Premier Three Purple by defeating Photis Gittoes.
The race to win the Artgammon board won by Gaz at the Three Zeros event is now well under way, with the field of eight hopefuls now reduced to four semi-finalists.
James Timoney will play Michael Petrakas, and Jon meets Steve Pickard.
11/11/25: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday, thirteen of them competitively.
Eleven of the thirteen formed a single DMP round robin group for the sixth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters won the group, with Nick Barham the runner-up.
Gaz Owen retains his 32 point AGP lead, although Kev has replaced Alan Joicey in second place.
There was also Premier Two Blue action, Mark Dixon and Pearl Foster rounding off their campaigns with a narrow win for Mark.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by Amarvir Singh.
09/11/25: Steffen makes it to the play-off
There was just one match played on Sunday, and it settled an outstanding issue in Premier Two Blue.
Steffen Nowak's victory over Matt Sharp in their final match of the season moved him into third place in the league table.
And that means he has pipped Steve Pickard to have a tilt at promotion to the top flight in the play-off match between the third placed players in the two Premier Two divisions.
Meanwhile Matt may face a play-off at the other end of the table, where those finishing fifth from bottom of the two divisions fight for their second tier survival.
That is dependent on how Jon Organ fares in his final three matches.
Should he win just one of those, he would move above both Matt and Kylie Hedges, and either he or Mike Smith would be the play-off contender.
09/11/25: Gaz completes unique hat-trick and equals Stuart's record
There were two matches played on Saturday, both of them in Premier One.
And the one with more significance, with all due respect to Cecilia Rogers's emphatic defeat of Neil Young, was Gaz Owen's defeat of Michael Corbett.
This clinched the Premier League title, Gaz becoming the first player to win three in a row, while he has also equalled Stuart Mann's record of six league title wins.
As a yardstick, bear in mind that, in the twenty-six season history of the competition, no other player has won the coveted title more than twice.
For Cecilia the win was important for her UK Champions League aspirations.
She sits in the fourth of the six qualifying slots, although strong finishes by Adam Sinclair, Jim Green and Phil Charlton can change things.
Neil's top flight survival hopes hang by a thread -- as do Natalie Singh's -- while one win from his last three matches for Phil will seal the deal, no matter what Neil or Natalie can muster.
07/11/25: Kev finishes second
In the only action of Friday, Kev Peters beat Cecilia Rogers.
Kev's best Premier One season so far means he will finish no lower than second.
He can still be champion, but only if leader Gaz Owen is whitewashed in both his final matches.
Or there would be a championship play-off should Gaz lose 0-11 and 1-11.
Realistically Cecilia needs to win her final match to stand any chance of finishing in one of the six UK Champions League places.
07/11/25: Something for everyone at the inaugural Recycling Tournament
The initiative to spice up our Thursday programme of events at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel with occasional themed events continued on Thursday.
The Recycling Tournament attracted a field of thirteen players, and everyone -- apart from Tim Line and non-playing Director Ian Tarr -- had a bag of backgammon related goodies to take home.
With the last four of the main flight and the last two of the consolation qualifying for further tangible benefits, the competition was intense.
Main semi-final pairings were Steve Morris versus George Georgiou and Hazel Harper versus Alp Ozbas, while the consolation finalists were Nick Barham and Mandy Macdonald.
Steve and Alp made it to the final, where Steve prevailed.
The star prize reserved for the winner -- Endgame Strategies by Michihito Kageyama and Roland Herrera -- would have gone to the tournament winner, but since Steve already had a copy, he did a swap with Alp.
Nick beat Mandy in the consolation, and all in all three books and three t-shirts were dispensed.
Ian and Steffen Nowak took advantage of Steffen's earlyish elimination from the tournament to tidy up a loose end -- the held over final of the October GP10 tournament.
Ian won this, so the apparent two horse race for the title tilted to Ian's advantage.
Taking into account discards, Ian's 45 points lead means that Steffen will need to go deep into the final event of the series to stand a chance of leapfrogging Ian.
06/11/25: Nick wins Wednesday online tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the forty-fourth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Nick Barham, who defeated Tim Line, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Stephen Little after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over Kev Peters and Gaz Owen.
Tim took the consolation flight by beating Ian Tarr and Ian Anderson.
Nick became the first player to register five of these wins this year.
Elias won the post tournament jackpot.
Robin Gunney edged a Premier Two Blue encounter with Simon Tracy.
And the first match of the "Gaz's Board Tournament" matches was played, Michael Petrakas defeating Cliff Blofield.
This event -- created to reassign ownership of the Artgammon board Gaz won at the weekend -- features eight players, and will be completed within three weeks.
04/11/25: Scott defeated but promoted
There were two Premier Three Yellow matches played on Tuesday.
Scott Wood and Dom Verrall met for their final match of the season, Scott looking for the win which would seal his elevation to Premier Two along with Simon Blinkhorn, Dom seeking the win which would keep him in promotion contention, albeit tenuous.
And it was Dom who prevailed.
Meanwhile in Brentry Barry Vasili was defeating Simon Hughes.
That defeat meant Simon can no longer trouble the top three, so Scott goes up anyway.
Simon's slim chance of pipping Steve Cox to third place has now disappeared, but bizarrely Dom -- in fourth place, having completed his fixtures -- could rise to the third promotion slot if Steve were to lose his final three matches.
04/11/25: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, twelve of them competitively.
Ten of the twelve formed 3-point round robin groups of five for the fifth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters and Gaz Owen were the group winners, Gaz stretching his AGP lead to 32 points, with Alan Joicey still in second place.
There was also Premier Three Purple action, Andy Zographou defeating Ben Crowden.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by Simon Dicken, Penny Walters and Amarvir Singh.
02/11/25: Sean Clennell of St Albans wins the Three Zeros Open
The inaugural Three Zeros Backgammon Tournament was held at the Five Zeros Car Barn in Bradford-on-Avon at the weekend.
The event, which has effectively replaced the Bristol Open in the UK calendar, was enjoyed by all present, although the attendance was a little way down on that of last year's Bristol Open.
Twenty-one of the sixty-four players who participated in the various events and side events were Bristol players.
The energetic Tournament Direction duo of Tim Line and Hazel Harper, aided once again by Manchester's Mark Calderbank on the IT side, are all to be commended on the success of the event.
The venue, an unusual one in backgammon terms, features a display of numerous classic and hugely valuable cars, which even non-car enthusiasts found impressive, served its purpose very well, and it is hoped that the event will be repeated annually.
The main prize, the Masters category, went to Sean Clennell, who defeated Andrew Darby in the final.
Bristol's best performers were Gaz Owen and Cecilia Rogers, who finished in equal sixth place out of a field of 32.
The Intermediates category, twenty-eight players strong, was won by Brazil's Fabricio Cardoso.
Our own Phil Doubtfire was equal fourth, with Cynthia Roberts and Chris Aquilina equal sixth.
Others of our number who recorded successes were Gaz Owen, who won the Friday Warmup, winning an Artgammon board, Mark Dixon who won the Super Jackpot, Consulting Doubles champions Dom Verrall and Sophie Line, and Speedgammon champion Ian Tarr, who followed up his success in the equivalent 2024 Bristol Open event.
The Tombstone Trophy, for those with no further interest in the two main events come Sunday morning, saw Anna Parker take the Masters section, and Pat Brooks the Intermediates, Pat winning the play-off between the two.
The DMP shoot out with rebuys saw CJ Uttley victorious.
And Hazel won a landslide vote as "Spirit of the Event".
The winners (Bristol players are in BLOCK CAPITALS):
MASTERS (32 players):
1st: Sean Clennell; 2nd: Andy Darby; 3rd: Melanie Hughes; 4th=: Rachel Rhodes, Dan Rovira.
INTERMEDIATES (28):
1st: Fabricio Cardoso; 2nd: Aniel Ciobanu; 3rd: Becca Sweetman; 4th=: PHIL DOUBTFIRE, Fraya Dravern.
SUPER JACKPOT (8):
1st: MARK DIXON; 2nd: Sean Clennell.
SPEEDGAMMON (32, including rebuys):
1st: IAN TARR; 2nd: STEVE PICKARD.
Friday Warm-up (35):
1st: GAZ OWEN; 2nd: Michele de Havilland; 3rd=: Julia Hayward, Emad Salib.
Tombstone Trophy (Last Chance) (37):
1st (Masters: 18): Anna Parker; 2nd: Emad Salib; 1st (Intermediates: 19): Pat Brooks; 2nd: CJ Uttley; Pat beat Anna in the overall final.
DMP (16, including rebuys) :
1st: CJ Uttley; 2nd: Fraya Dravern.
"Spirit of the Event": HAZEL HARPER.
Consulting Doubles: 1st: DOM VERRALL and SOPHIE LINE.
Most match results are browseable at Mark Calderbank's excellent site.
02/11/25: Sunday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches on Sunday, and some more issues were settled.
In Premier Two Blue Kylie Hedges and Mike Smith shared the spoils of a double header.
This wasn't enough to keep Kylie's Premier Two survival hopes alive, but Mike can avoid the drop.
And in Premier Three Purple Chris Hughes's emphatic defeat of Simon Dicken was enough to ensure that he joins Titus Simen and Hazel Harper in promotion to the second tier.
31/10/25: Stephen wins held over GP20 consolation final
Stephen Little won the held over final of Thursday's GP20 event on Friday afternoon.
The match was played at the Five Zeros Car Barn in Bradford-on-Avon.
31/10/25: Tim takes GP20 title in style
There were twelve players in action on Thursday at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the seventh and final instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Tim Line went into the event with a more than handy GP20 lead, meaning that he needed to have a modest tournament while one of his challengers was going all the way for the title to be wrested from his grasp.
But his victories over second placed Hazel Harper, Chris Rogers and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen made all of that academic.
Gaz, who has not contested many of these events this year, beat Steve Morris, Barry Vasili and Mark Dixon en route to the final.
The consolation flight final -- between Hazel and Stephen Little -- was adjourned until another time, although the outcome will not affect the final table positionally, with Hazel assured of the runner-up spot.
So the fifth incarnation of this series became the first not to have been won by either Gaz or Ian Tarr, who have each won it twice.
30/10/25: Michael clinches Blue Division title; Simon relegated; Phil wins Wednesday online tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the forty-third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Phil Doubtfire, who defeated Scott Wood, Ann Pocknell and -- in the final -- Gaz Owen.
Gaz had arrived there via wins over Kev Peters and Elias Hamati.
Kev took the consolation flight by beating Bristol Backgammon debutant Freddy Doubtfire (son of Phil), Scott and Tim Line.
Stephen Little and Ian Tarr joined the fray in the post tournament jackpot, and Ian won it.
Meanwhile important issues were resolved in a pair of Premier Two Blue encounters.
Michael Petrakas scored an emphatic win over Mark Dixon -- a victory which wins him the divisional title, accompanying second placed Chris Rogers into the top flight.
And Simon Tracy's narrow defeat to Steffen Nowak means he can no longer escape the drop to Premier Three.
For Steffen, however, the equation is simple.
A victory over Matt Sharp in his final match would see him into a promotion play-off against the third placed finisher in Premier Two Red.
Steve Pickard, the current incumbent of third place, will be hoping for the other outcome, of course.
28/10/25: Nick falls just short of promotion
There was just one match on Tuesday, in Premier Two Blue.
And Nick Barham's final match of the season saw him fall to defeat at the hands of Matt Sharp.
Nick needed a win to edge ahead of third placed Steve Pickard, and an emphatic one to put pressure on second placed Michael Petrakas's final match of the season.
Only Steffen Nowak is now in a position to disrupt the top places.
And after a lean spell the win keeps Matt in with a chance to stay clear of relegation trouble.
28/10/25: Eighteen in Monday action
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, fifteen of them competitively.
Eleven of the fifteen formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the fourth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Alan Joicey and Neil Young were the group winners, neither of them investing in the side pools, which were won by Cynthia Roberts and Kev Peters.
Gaz Owen stretched his AGP lead to 24 points, with Alan now in second place.
There was also Premier Three action.
If Simon Blinkhorn is to take the Yellow Division title, he will need to wait a little longer after an emphatic defeat by Barry Vasili.
And in the Purple Division Andy Zographou retained his slim hope of a top three finish with a narrow win over Ben Crowden.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended by Penny Walters, who left early to repair a toilet, and Amarvir Singh, who had some interesting games with the host.
26/10/25: Sunday win for Andrew
There was just one Premier Three Purple match played on Sunday.
Andrew Cobb was the victor over Richard Davies.
25/10/25: Nick and Steffen stay in the picture
There were two Premier Two Blue matches played on Saturday.
And victories for Nick Barham (over Mike Smith) and Steffen Nowak (over Kylie Hedges) kept their promotion hopes alive.
The defeats did nothing to help Mike or Kylie in their efforts to avoiod the drop.
25/10/25: Friday Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.
Neil Young is clinging on to his Premier One status against the odds.
His defeat of Cecilia Rogers gives him a target of winning both his remaining matches, in the hope that Phil Charlton wins no more than one of his three.
There is even the possibility that someone could get relegated with a 50:50 record!
Meanwhile in Premier Two Blue Steve Pickard rounded off his season by beating Matt Sharp.
Steve is in the playoff spot, and must hope that neither Nick Barham nor Steffen Nowak can overhaul him.
Second placed Michael Petrakas can also be caught by that duo, although Michael can stop that scenario by winning his final match.
24/10/25: Steffen and Ian to meet in GP10 final
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them to contest the seventh session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
Steffen Nowak and Ian Tarr reached the main flight final, and adjourned until another time.
Steffen defeated Tim Line, Simon Tracy and Barry Vasili en route, while Ian made the most of a first round bye, getting past Hazel Harper and Stephen Little.
Alp Ozbas took the consolation flight by beating Rob Clarke and Steve Morris.
Ian and Steffen have dominated the GP20 season to the extent that its unlikely that anyone else will take the title.
Ian leads by 10 points, but the 35 point haul for the final victor will change that, one way or another.
In the race for the added money list for "non Premier One and Two" players, Steve remains in pole position, with Barry -- and possibly Hazel Harper -- within striking distance.
There was also some Premier Three action, with three matches played.
Scott Wood and Neil Edwards scored Yellow Division wins -- Barry and Dom Verrall their victims.
Scott has nearly made sure of accompanying Simon Blinkhorn into next season's Premier Two.
Winning his sole remaining match would clinch it, or alternatively one false step on the part of Simon Hughes.
Dom's chances took a big hit, although a win in his final match might yet yield the desired outcome.
Neil has finished his matches, and sits comfortably in mid-table.
And Simon Dicken defeated Photis Gittoes in the Purple Division.
23/10/25: Jon wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the forty-second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Jon Organ, who defeated Chris Rogers, Gaz Owen and -- in the final -- Elias Hamati.
Elias had arrived there via wins over Stephen Little and Ann Pocknell.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight by beating Kev Peters and Tim Line.
And Elias took the post tournament jackpot.
Meanwhile Caroline Boulton hauled herself off the bottom of the Premier Three Purple table by defeating Hazel Harper.
21/10/25: Simon simultaneously into Brunel last three and last two!
The outstanding match from the eighth round of the twelfth incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was played on Tuesday.
And Simon Blinkhorn defeated Jon Organ to progress to the ninth round, along with Hazel Harper and Gaz Owen.
The odd number once again necessitates a bye, and as all three have received a bye each, the countback system comes into play.
This is where players' opponents throughout the competition have their total wins tallied.
With the scores reading Simon 25, Hazel 22, and Gaz 19, this gives Simon the coveted easy route through to the tenth round, while Hazel and Gaz will meet in the only ninth round match, to be completed by November 23rd.
21/10/25: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, twelve of them competitively.
The twelve formed two 3-point round robin groups for the third session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Stephen Little and Gaz Owen were the group winners, while Kev Peters took the side pool in Stephen's group.
Gaz has increased his AGP lead to 18 points from second placed Andrew Montgomery.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, was attended only by Penny Walters.
19/10/25: Andy up, barring a miracle of unprecedented proportions
There was just one Premier League match played on Sunday.
And Andy Boysan's whitewashing of Richard Owsley in Premier Two Red makes him sure of promotion, barring a ridiculous series of results.
Second placed Alan Joicey can overhaul him, but the only other "threat" to him is Ian Hedges.
Ian could finish dead level with Andy, but only if Andy loses his final match 11-0 and Ian wins all three of his by the same score.
Meanwhile Richard's late season run of defeats is threatening to send him down to Premier Three.
18/10/25: Gaz one step away
There was just one Premier League match played on Saturday.
And despite trailing 1-7 to Natalie Singh at Arbor Ales, Easton, Gaz Owen recovered to win 11-7.
His sixth Premier One title is now one step away, as he can now only be overhauled by Kev Peters.
Gaz would need to lose both of his remaining matches, while Kev was winning his final match and at the same time bridging a points difference gap of 23.
Meanwhile Natalie needs two emphatic wins to stand any chance of top flight survival.
17/10/25: George wins Handicap event
There were fifteen players in action on Thursday, thirteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the eighth and penultimate instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
And the winner this time was George Georgiou, who defeated Ceri Pierce, Stephen Little and Tim Line before overcoming Steffen Nowak in the final.
Steffen had got past John Rixon, Andy Zographou and Steve Morris en route.
John won the consolation flight, beating Ian Tarr, Andy and Alp Ozbas.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, with Stephen's first round win over Alp and George's quarter-final victory over Stephen earning £10 bonuses.
John's HT lead has diminished slightly to 40 points, with Stephen now second and Ian a further 10 behind.
But with Stephen and Ian due to discard 20 and 25 points respectively in November's final leg, they will need at least 60 and 80 points to even stand a chance of overhauling John for the title.
There was also Premier One action online.
And Simon Baker's final match of the season -- a victory over Phil Doubtfire -- made it more likely that Gaz Owen will retain his title.
Just one win from his final three matches would guarantee Gaz second place, while two would guarantee top spot.
15/10/25: Gaz wins Wednesday online tournament
There were just nine players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the forty-first of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Gaz Owen, who defeated Jon Organ, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there via wins over Stephen Little and Scott Wood.
Phil Doubtfire took the consolation flight by beating Stephen and Chris Hughes.
Ian Tarr then joined the fray to win the post tournament jackpot.
14/10/25: Hazel into Brunel Trophy round nine
In the only action of Tuesday, Hazel Harper defeated Phil Doubtfire to progress to the ninth round of the Brunel Trophy.
Phil finishes in equal fourth place.
13/10/25: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, eight of them competitively.
The eight formed a single DMP round robin group for the second session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Gaz Owen was the group winner, beating Simon Tracy and Andrew Montgomery on PR, and takes over leadership of the AGP from Andrew.
Meanwhile six were at Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr.
In attendance were Kev Lee, Penny Walters, Amarvir Singh, Jaz, and first timer Trevor from Bishopsworth.
13/10/25: Sunday win for Andrew
There was just one Premier League match played on Sunday.
Andrew Cobb narrowly defeated Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple.
10/10/25: Steffen wins October Bristol Grand Prix tournament; Phil deals Kev title blow
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, twelve of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the tenth instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Steffen Nowak took the main flight, defeating Hazel Harper, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Tim Line, after receiving a first round bye.
Tim had got past Steve Morris, Stephen Little and George Georgiou en route to the final.
Marcus Evans took the consolation flight, defeating Cynthia Roberts and Steve.
BGP leader Gaz Owen was absent, but his 72 point BGP lead remained intact, as his closest challenger Ian Tarr failed to make inroads.
Ian had arguably been close to quarter-final victory over Savas Christodoulou, but only progressed after Savas absented himself, having found it difficult to accept standard playing rules and etiquette.
Steffen is assured of a place in the 2026 Bristol Masters tournament after his win, as will all of this year's BGP tournament winners.
Earlier there had been a crucial Premier One match played online.
League leader Gaz is a step closer to the title after his two closest challengers met, Phil Doubtfire inflicting a heavy blow on Kev Peters' chances while retaining his own slim title hopes.
08/10/25: Ann wins Wednesday online tournament
There were just nine players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the fortieth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ann Pocknell, who defeated Gaz Owen, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Elias Hamati and Scott Wood.
Gaz took the consolation flight by beating Elias and Jon Organ.
Elias won the post tournament jackpot.
07/10/25: Tuesday Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Ann Pocknell defeated Paul Watts in Premier Two Red, to keep alive her minute chance of automatic promotion.
And in Premier Three Purple Ben Crowden's defeat of Richard Davies achieved the same effect for him.
07/10/25: Eighteen in Monday action
There were eighteen players in action on Monday, eleven of them competitively.
The eleven formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the opening session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Andrew Montgomery won the larger group, Gaz Owen the smaller one, so Andrew is the early AGP leader.
Meanwhile there was another fun evening at Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr.
In attendance were Simon Dicken, Titus Simen, Andrea from oop north, Penny Walters, Amarvir Singh and Jaz.
05/10/25: Sunday win for Paul
In the only action on Sunday Paul Watts defeated Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
05/10/25: Saturday win for Neil
In the only action on Saturday Neil Edwards scored a Premier Three Yellow victory over Mitch Tucker.
03/10/25: One of the Doms wins the inaugural Reunion Tournament
The initiative to spice up our Thursday programme of events at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel with occasional themed events gathered a little pace this week.
The Reunion Tournament was graced by a field of fourteen players, four of whom had their £10 entry sponsored -- either because they were returning to live Thursday action for the first time this year or (in the case of Savas Christodoulou) because they were making their Thursday debut.
The three returnees were Dom Cybulski in his first appearance since 2023, and league players Richard Owsley and Dom Verrall, whose last appearance coincided at December's Steve's Christmas Fizz event.
And on the night the sponsored players all shared the distinction of being undefeated by the remainder of the field!
Richard lost his quarter-final to Savas, Dom V lost his semi-final to Dom C, who then defeated Savas in a final which -- on agreement -- was curtailed to a 1-pointer.
George Georgiou took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little and Ian Tarr.
All in all a worthwhile exercise, which is intended as an annual feature in our calendar.
01/10/25: Jon wins Wednesday online tournament
There were just twelve players in action on Wednesday to contest the thirty-ninth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Jon Organ, who defeated Stephen Little, James Timoney and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr, after receiving a first round bye.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Scott Wood, Elias Hamati and Gaz Owen.
Scott took the consolation flight by beating Gerald Whitehouse, Stephen and Tim Line.
Tim won the post tournament jackpot.
01/10/25: Ten penalised at September Premier League checkpoint; Yellow Division in disarray
The September 30th Premier League penalty and expungement checkpoint passed at midnight.
Premier Three Green passed the test in exemplary fashion, with no issues at all, and only eight matches to be played out during the two closing months of the season.
But there were issues in all of the other five divisions.
"Normal" penalty points were incurred by Hemal Getalal (one point in Premier One), Mike Smith (one point in Premier Two Blue), and four Premier Three Purple players (Ben Crowden, Richard Davies, Simon Dicken and Andy Zographou one point apiece).
Simon also failed to claw back the single penalty point he incurred in July.
Paul Watts has avoided six "normal" penalty points in Premier Two Red, as some allowance had been made for his absence due to serious illness.
But the situation in Premier Three Yellow is unprecedented, with three players eligible for expungement.
It could be argued that all three deserve expungement in the normal way, but wiping out 39 results would have had a catastrophic effect on the league's other players.
So expungement will not occur, while the three -- none of whom are in contention for honours -- are penalised to the tune of three points apiece (Barry Vasili and Mitch Tucker) and four points in the case of Eamonn Reay.
Furthermore all ten players (who will claw back the "normal" penalties incurred this time if they complete the season on time) are further hit by the unique extra September penalty, where multiples of 5 points are added to their points against column (one multiple for each match in arrears).
29/09/25: Twenty-five in Monday action
There were twenty-five players in action on Monday, sixteen of them competitively.
Eight of the sixteen formed a single 3-point round robin group for the thirteenth and final session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Ian Anderson and Kev Peters were the only two in contention for the SGP title, going into the tournament level on points, while Ian had the advantage of having 7 points to discard, as opposed to Kev's 11.
However it was Kev who won the group, with Ian second, and the eight points differential was enough for Kev to take the title.
There was also Premier League action, with five results reported.
Simon Tracy played two Premier Two Blue matches, in dire need of victories.
But defeats to Pearl Foster and Robin Gunney have left him with only a slim chance of an escape.
Rosemary Whitehouse took another step towards promotion from Premier Three Green, when she defeated second placed Gary Plant.
The top two are already up, and Rosemary's third place is under threat only from Gerald Whitehouse and Fred North.
Dom Verrall played twice in Premier Three Yellow.
Defeat by league leader Simon Blinkhorn was followed by victory over Eamonn Reay.
Simon is now assured of promotion, as either Dom or Scott Wood will lose at least once on the run in.
Meanwhile at Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, there was another healthy attendance.
He was helped by both Alp Ozbas and Simon Dicken, with Ceri Pierce, Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy and Amarvir Singh being joined by first timers Sarah Lyne and Jaz.
29/09/25: Dave relegated
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Andy Boysan scored a brace of emphatic victories over Paul Wattsin Premier Two Red.
And in the same division leader Alan Joicey defeated Dave Pym, whose last hope of tier two survival disappeared as he wound up his season.
Alan and Andy now stand first and second, as strong favourites to stay there and return to the top flight.
And in Premier Three Green Gerald Whitehouse beat Fred North to stay in promotion contention, while simultaneously denting Fred's chances.
28/09/25: Brunel Trophy eighth round draw made
The draw for the eighth 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 is now down to just five, all of whom are now guaranteed to cash.
A bye was needed, the lucky recipient of which was Gaz Owen.
All five players have a single life remaining, so the ninth round will be the penultimate one.
Matches are to be played by November 2nd.
The full draw can be found here.
28/09/25: Saturday results round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Robin Gunney and Mike Smith shared the spoils of a Premier Two Blue double header.
In Premier Three Green Kev Lee completed a satisfactory first Premier League season, when he was defeated for the first time in six matches (by Fred North).
And Scott Wood closed the gap between second and third in Premier Three Yellow by overcoming Steve Cox.
26/09/25: Friday results round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.
Natalie Singh kept her Premier One survival hopes alive with an emphatic victory over Michael Corbett.
Mike Smith defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Two Blue, and thought he had another win later, but had already played Matt Sharp twice.
In Premier Three Green Kev Lee scored another win, this time at the expense of Ceri Pierce.
And Simon Hughes's Premier Three Yellow promotion chances are receding after his defeat by Neil Edwards.
26/09/25: Michael relegated; Ian wins September Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were twenty-one players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the sixth and penultimate 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 George Georgiou -- returning to live action for the first time since June 2024 -- and Ian Tarr, with runners-up Alp Ozbas and Steve Morris also progressing.
Alp and Penny Walters were making their Thursday Bristol Backgammon debuts, while another new player, Nesta Chinn, came along on a fact finding mission, and will be back.
Ian and Steve won their semi-finals, then Ian clinched the final.
He has moved into a 115 points lead in the SGGP table, and with discards beginning to bite, there will need to be a mega turnout in the seventh and final session for there to be enough points available to prevent Ian winning his seventh annual SGGP title.
There was plenty of league action online.
In Premier One Jim Green played twice, succumbing to Kev Peters before defeating Michael Corbett.
Kev moves level on points with league leader Gaz Owen, but Gaz has a match in hand.
And Michael's defeat means he is relegated back to Premier Two.
Pearl Foster narrowly beat Kylie Hedges in Premier Two Blue.
Promotion chasing Rosemary Whitehouse and Gerald Whitehouse were both on the wrong end of Premier Three Green results.
Rob Clarke beat Rosemary, while Gerald was defeated by Kev Lee.
Assuming the top two, Cliff Blofield and Gary Plant, eventually go up, Rosemary is best placed to secure the third slot, while Gerald and Fred North could still have a say.
Photis Gittoes beat Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Purple, while in Premier Three Yellow Neil Edwards edged past Eamonn Reay
25/09/25: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty-one players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the thirty-eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ian Anderson, who defeated Elias Hamati, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Jon Organ, after receiving a first round bye.
Jon had arrived there via wins over Ann Pocknell, Chris Hughes and Nick Barham.
Elias took the consolation flight by beating Scott Wood and Ian Tarr.
Stephen won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League action.
Michael Corbett kept his Premier One survival hopes tenuously alive by defeating Phil Charlton.
Stuart Mann suffered his fourth successive defeat in Premier Two Red, rounding off his season by losing to Frank Jones, a result which seems to have wiped out any chance of promotion for Stuart.
Beating Jon Organ in Premier Two Blue means that Michael Petrakas now knows that a victory in his final match -- against Mark Dixon -- will secure promotion to the top flight for the first time.
Kev Lee continued his recent surge from the foot of Premier Three Green by beating James Timoney.
And Simon Blinkhorn's defeat by Mandy Macdonald is likely to be only a temporary blip in his quest to get promoted from Premier Three Yellow.
23/09/25: Hazel back in Premier Two
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Tim Line played his final three Premier One matches, succumbing to Phil Charlton, defeating Jim Green, and finally losing to Adam Sinclair.
Jim had earlier beaten Simon Baker.
Tim stands fourth in the table, and must hope that no more than two of the five players immediately below him can overhaul him to deprive him of a UK Champions league spot.
Nick Barham kept himself in contention for promotion back to the top flight with a Premier Two Blue defeat of Jon Organ.
In Premier Three Purple Hazel Harper met Chris Hughes in a meeting which would secure one or the other promotion back to Premier Two.
Hazel won by the narrowest of margins, but Chris will surely follow her, as only a remarkable sequence of results will oust him from the top three.
22/09/25: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, fourteen of them competitively.
Seven of the fourteen formed a single 3-point round robin group for the twelfth and penultimate session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Ian Anderson won the group, and edges ahead of Kev Peters in the SGP points table race, on the first level of tie-break, which is the total number of tournaments entered.
Ian and Kev are now the only ones who can take the title, while Ian has the advantage of having 7 points to discard next week, while Kev has 11.
There was also Premier League action, with four results reported.
Cecilia Rogers scored a Premier One victory over Tim Line.
Paul Watts inflicted a blow to Stuart Mann's Premier Two Red promotion chances.
Titus Simen, already assured of promotion from Premier Three Purple, rounded off his season by defeating Caroline Boulton.
And Kev Lee hauled himself off the bottom of Premier Three Green when he beat Rob Clarke.
Meanwhile at Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, hosted by Director Ian Tarr, there was a healthy attendance, with Simon Dicken, Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy and Susanne Taylor being joined by first timers Alp Ozbas and Amarvir Singh.
Alp is definitely tournament ready, and is likely to make his Thursday debut this week.
21/09/25: Sunday's Premier League action
There were eight Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Four title hopefuls played Premier One matches.
Simon Baker and Kev Peters shared the spoils of a double header, and Simon later defeated Adam Sinclair.
Phil Doubtfire beat Hemal Getalal twice, continuing Hemal's damaging run of defeats, which leave him facing the proverbial mountain to climb if he is to survive in the top flight.
The upshot of the results at the sharp end of the table is that Adam is now reduced to a rank outsider in the title race, while Simon and Phil -- despite their good results -- still have little margin for error.
Kev finds himself still in second place, a win behind leader Gaz Owen, with a points difference deficit which is problematic but not insurmountable.
In Premier Two Red Andy Boysan fell to defeat against Ian Hedges, leaving all of the top six in with a chance of making the leap into the top flight -- Alan Joicey being in pole position.
Chris Hughes's narrow defeat of Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple brought what appears inevitable promotion one step closer.
And in Premier Three Green Kev Lee defeated Pete Boxer.
20/09/25: Saturday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Stuart Mann's second defeat in successive days has hit his Premier Two Red promotion chances, especially as this one was against promotion rival Andy Boysan, who now appears to be a favourite to finish in the top two.
And in Premier Three Green Pete Boxer defeated Kev Lee.
20/09/25: Friday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.
Michael Corbett won a "must win" Premier One encounter with Neil Young to keep his hopes of avoiding relegation still hanging by the flimsiest of threads.
And Neil will also need to reverse his recent run of results to avoid the drop.
Stuart Mann's place in the Premier Two Red promotion bracket became a little less secure when he was defeated by Frank Jones, who moves out of the relegation bracket.
Frank's win means that the best either Dave Pym or Ed Turner can now hope for is a relegation play-off spot.
19/09/25: Hazel wins GP10 tournament
There were fifteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the sixth session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
Hazel Harper got a belated reward for directing the previous GP10 tournament, winning the main flight by defeating Steve Morris, Andy Zographou and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there via victories over Cynthia Roberts and Stephen Little.
Simon Tracy took the consolation flight by beating Steve and Ian Tarr.
Despite a poor tournament Ian's GP10 lead over Steffen Nowak increased to 25 points.
Steve, third overall, remains 35 points ahead of Barry Vasili in the "non Premier One and Two" added money list.
There was also some Premier League action, with five matches played.
Tim met Neil Young earlier to pick up their adjourned Premier One match, which Tim won to move into third place.
Simon Hughes and Mandy Macdonald played a Premier Three Yellow double header alongside the tournament, and were still playing when the GP10 action was done and dusted.
Each player had an 11-10 victory to celebrate.
In the same division Steve Cox edged to victory over Mitch Tucker.
And Richard Davies beat Simon Dicken in Premier Three Purple.
18/09/25: Stephen relegated; Titus promoted; Ian wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty-seven players in action on Wednesday, just ten of them to contest the thirty-seventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ian Tarr, who defeated Chris Rogers, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Tim Line, after receiving a first round bye.
Tim had arrived there via wins over Phil Doubtfire, Ian Anderson and Alan Joicey.
Chris took the consolation flight by beating Phil and Elias Hamati.
Scott Wood joined the fray late to win the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
The last of the four seventh round Brunel Trophy ties took place, Simon Blinkhorn defeating Hazel Harper, a result which sees both players through to round eight.
In Premier One league leader Gaz Owen recovered from a 0-8 deficit to pip Simon Baker, a vital result in terms of continuing his title chasing momentum.
And Stephen Little ended his season with a defeat at the hands of Phil Charlton, a result which consigns Stephen to Premier Two.
Paul Watts and Ed Turner scored Premier Two Red wins, Richard Owsley and Dave Pym their victims.
Ed retains his minute chance of avoiding the drop, and Dave has now joined him in that precarious state.
Titus Simen's Premier Three Purple win over fellow contender Chris Hughes has clinched promotion for him, something he would have had to wait for, but for Simon Dicken's double header defeats by Andrew Cobb.
Gerald Whitehouse remained in contention for promotion from Premier Three Green by beating James Timoney.
And Simon Hughes, in defeating Neil Edwards, did likewise in Premier Three Yellow.
17/09/25: Chris returns to Premier One
There were three matches played on Tuesday.
Pearl Foster became the latest player to exit the Brunel Trophy, losing her seventh round tie to Jon Organ, who is now guaranteed to cash.
And opportunities to extricate himself from the clutches of relegation from Premier One are running out for Stephen Little after his defeat at the hands of Phil Charlton.
He must win his only remaining match -- also against Phil -- to stand any chance of surviving the drop.
But the first issue in this year's Premier League has been decided.
Steffen Nowak's defeat of Nick Barham means that Chris Rogers is confirmed as promoted back to the top flight, a scenario which looked less than certain before Chris won his final seven Premier Two Blue matches.
Only Michael Petrakas can now overhaul him, but anyone in the top eight still has a chance of second or third place.
16/09/25: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in competitive action on Monday.
Eight of the fourteen formed a single 3-point round robin group for the eleventh session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters won the group to forge ahead in the SGP points table race, with Gaz Owen and Ian Anderson in pursuit.
There was also Premier League action, with three results reported.
Tim Line scored a Premier One victory over Cecilia Rogers.
Paul Watts defeated Dave Pym in Premier Two Red.
And Simon Blinkhorn got back to winning ways, defeating Marcel Bancroft in Premier Three Yellow.
Meanwhile there were no drop-ins to Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans, the first such occurrence since last year.
14/09/25: Alan and Stuart move ahead
There were three matches played on Sunday, all of them affecting the Premier Two Red promotion race.
It was a good day for Stuart Mann, who defeated both Ann Pocknell and Alan Joicey.
Alan had earlier defeated Warner Solomon, and now heads Stuart on average points difference, as the pair have moved ahead of the other contenders.
Warner is also on 45 points but has played two matches more, while fifth placed Andy Boysan can move into the thick of it if he wins his matches in hand.
14/09/25: Saturday results roundup
There were three Premier League matches played on Saturday.
In Premier One Gaz Owen defeated Natalie Singh at the Windmill Hill City Farm.
The result moves Gaz three points clear at the top of the league, while Natalie's hopes of surviving in the top flight are diminishing.
And there were wins for Ian Hedges and Andy Boysan in Premier Two Red, Alan Joicey and Stuart Mann their victims.
12/09/25: Friday results roundup
There were four matches played on Friday.
Ian Hedges was eliminated from the Brunel Trophy, losing his seventh round tie to Phil Doubtfire, who is now guaranteed to be amongst the prize money winners.
Robin Gunney won two Premier Two Blue matches, overcoming both Pearl Foster and Matt Sharp.
And in Premier Two Red Dave Pym beat Ed Turner.
12/09/25: Stephen wins September Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, just seven of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the ninth instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Stephen Little took the main flight, defeating Hazel Harper, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Safi Tracy.
Safi had got past debutant Ed Collinge and Ian Tarr en route to the final.
Hazel won the consolation flight, defeating Tim and Ed.
BGP leader Gaz Owen was absent, possibly thinking he has already done enough to take the title after his four successive tournament wins had moved him 77 points ahead of second placed Ian.
With discards beginning to bite for some players, Ian was only able to reduce that deficit by five points, and with Hazel now a further 95 points further back, maybe he has a point.
There was also Premier League action.
In Premier One Tim defeated Neil Young at the Pump House, with the return match adjourned half way through, while Jim Green beat Adam Sinclair online.
Alan Joicey moved closer to what appears an inevitable promotion from Premier Two Red by narrowly defeating Richard Owsley.
And Titus Simen did likewise in Premier Three Purple by edging to victory over Photis Gittoes, whose challenge has faded over recent matches.
11/09/25: Ann wins Wednesday online tournament
There were eighteen players in action on Wednesday, just eight of them to contest the thirty-sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ann Pocknell, who defeated Ian Tarr, Scott Wood and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian A had arrived there via wins over Elias Hamati and Jon Organ.
Stephen Little took the consolation flight by beating Elias and Ian T.
Tim Line won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
The first of the four seventh round Brunel Trophy ties took place, Gaz Owen securing his eighth round place by eliminating Nick Barham.
In Premier One Phil Doubtfire defeated Cecilia Rogers.
Stuart Mann improved his Premier Two Red promotion chances with an emphatic win over Dave Pym.
In Premier Two Blue Steffen Nowak kept his outside chance alive by defeating Matt Sharp.
And Cliff Blofield edged ahead of Gary Plant at the top of Premier Three Green by beating him, although Gary does have two matches in hand.
09/09/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were nine Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Jon Organ played twice in Premier Two Blue, defeating Kylie Hedges before going down to Nick Barham.
In Premier Two Red Ian Anderson beat Ed Turner.
Four results were reported in Premier Three Green.
Pete Boxer scored a brace of wins, first over Ceri Pierce and then over Gerald Whitehouse.
James Timoney beat league leader Gary Plant, and Rob Clarke defeated Rosemary Whitehouse.
Chris Hughes lost his first Premier Three Purple match in eleven, succumbing to Andy Zographou.
And Simon Hughes defeated Simon Blinkhorn in Premier Three Yellow.
09/09/25: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday, seventeen of them competitively.
Six of the seventeen formed a single DMP round robin group for the tenth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
According to the rules, however, this should not have been the case.
These decree that when a DMP session attracts fewer than seven players, the format should switch to a 3-point round robin.
Possibly because this was the first time such an occurrence had happened, Director Ian Tarr neglected to apply the rule, which subsequently forced him to apply an ad hoc points tariff in line with the official ones.
Gaz Owen won the group, and edged ahead of the absent Kev Peters at the head of the SGP points table, with Stephen Little and Ian Anderson in close attendance.
There was also Premier League action, with seven results reported.
Gaz moved to the top of Premier One by defeating Tim Line, who later beat Phil Doubtfire.
Michael Petrakas leaped into second place in Premier Two Blue, scoring victories over Pearl Foster and Steffen Nowak, the latter match lasting twenty games!
Hazel Harper remains top of Premier Three Purple after her victory over Photis Gittoes.
And Pete Boxer played twice in Premier Three Green, losing tight matches to Ceri Pierce and James Timoney.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Daniel Miles, Penny Walters and Shams El Sawy.
07/09/25: Sunday win for Titus
There was just one matchs played on Sunday, a Premier Three Purple meeting between Titus Simenand Andy Zographou.
Titus prevailed, and along with Hazel Harper and Chris Hughes, is one of the promotion favourites.
Only Photis Gittoes would appear to have a strong chance to crash the promotion party.
06/09/25: Friday results roundup
There were three matches played on Friday, all of them in Premier Two Blue.
Kylie Hedges played twice, defeating Pearl Foster before succumbing to Simon Tracy.
And, with the race to avoid relegation intensifying, Mike Smith scored a vital win over Nick Barham.
That defeat for Nick has brought confirmation of promotion for Chris Rogers one step closer.
Nobody can now surpass his total of 51 points, while Nick, Michael Petrakas and Steffen Nowak can equal it.
Since Michael and Steffen have one remaining meeting, one more false step for either Nick or the winner of that match would seal Chris's return to the top flight.
05/09/25: Tournament wins for Hazel and Stephen
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday, ten of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the seventh instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
And the winner this time was Stephen Little, who defeated Steve Morris and Andy Zographou before overcoming Steffen Nowak in the final, having received a first round bye.
Steffen had got past John Rixon and Ian Tarr en route.
John won the consolation flight, beating Hazel Harper and Nick Barham.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, with Andy's first round win over Hazel and his quarter-final victory over Tim Line earning him two £10 bonuses.
John has increased his HT lead over second placed Ian to 45 points, with Stephen now a further 15 behind.
Before the tournament, Stephen and Hazel fought out the held over main final of last week's GP20 tournament.
And Hazel's win moved her into second place, 40 points behind leader Tim.
There was also Premier League action online.
Premier One leader Kev Peters suffered a heavy defeat to Adam Sinclair, leaving the title race wide open.
And after a lull of five weeks without a match, Premier Three Green sprang back into action with three results.
Rosemary Whitehouse's defeat of Ceri Pierce consolidated her promotion push, while Ceri was also a victim of Rob Clarke.
Rob later succumbed to Fred North.
04/09/25: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday, just eight of them to contest the thirty-fifth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ian Anderson, who defeated Hazel Harper, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Jon Organ.
Jon had arrived there via wins over Elias Hamati and Ian Tarr.
Hazel took the consolation flight by beating Elias and Scott Wood.
Tim won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier Two action.
A Blue Division double header saw Simon Tracy scoring a brace of victories over Michael Petrakas.
This constituted a serious blow to Michael's promotion hopes, while Simon's slim chance of second tier survival has been revived a tad.
And in the Red Division Warner Solomon moved to the summit after his win over Ian Hedges.
02/09/25: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, sixteen of them competitively.
Eleven of the sixteen formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the ninth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Stephen Little and Steve Pickard were the group winners, Stephen scoring a clean sweep of five victories.
Neil Young took the side pool in Stephen's group despite finishing second.
Kev Peters retains the leadership of the SGP, with Gaz, Stephen and Ian Anderson all within 20 points.
There was also Premier League action.
Before his group win Stephen emphatically defeated Hemal Getalal in a Premier One encounter.
Stephen has only two matches remaining, and will probably need to win both to stand a chance of staying up, while Hemal, who began his maiden top flight season well, is on a worrying sequence of defeats, and will need to turn a corner very soon.
Ian Hedges remained in contention for promotion from Premier Two Red after beating Paul Watts.
And Scott Wood remains on course for promotion from Premier Three Yellow, having narrowly defeated Barry Vasili.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, and assisted by Simon Dicken, was also attended by Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy, Nil Karadag, Susanne Taylor and Tina.
31/08/25: UK Open, Bristol summary
The nation's top annual event, the UK Open, took place at Woodland Grange, Leamington Spa, from Thursday to Sunday, and a handful of intrepid Bristol players made the trip.
There was an exhibition match on the Thursday between Pete Heskett and our very own Gaz Owen.
The central events, main (94 players) and intermediates (85 players), got under way on Friday, accompanied by a full programme of side events.
Best performer in the main, for the UK Open title, was Kev Peters, who ended up ranked in ninth place.
Gaz was runner-up in the second Super Jackpot, from 32 players.
Neil Young won the second Artgammon Freeroll flight, out of a field of 55, winning a board.
And two of the eight Speedgammon heats were won by Michael Petrakas and Tim Line, earning them places in the final Speedgammon heat of eight.
The pair met in the quarter-finals, where Tim prevailed, only to lose out in the semis.
Full results can be found at Mark Calderbank's excellent site.
31/08/25: Sunday league action
There was just one match played on Sunday.
Ian Anderson narrowly defeated Ed Turner in Premier Two Red.
29/08/25: Friday results roundup
There were three matches played on Friday.
Natalie Singh beat Jim Green in Premier One.
In Premier Two Blue Steffen Nowak defeated Kylie Hedges.
And Ian Anderson scored a much needed Premier Two Red victory over Frank Jones.
29/08/25: Hazel and Stephen to contest August GP20 tournament final
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, nine of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the sixth and penultimate instalment of the year's GP20 series.
The main flight final was held over, probably to be played next Thursday.
It will feature Hazel Harper -- who defeated Lulzim Alla and Ian Tarr -- and Stephen Little -- whose victims were Rob Clarke and Tim Line.
Steffen Nowak took the consolation flight with wins over Lulzim and Steve Morris.
With just one tournament remaining, Tim has opened up a very useful 45 point lead, although that could be reduced to 40 if Hazel wins the final.
Should Tim falter in the October finale, there are six players who might sneak ahead of him for the title.
There was also Premier Three Yellow action at the Globe, Newton St Loe, where Mandy Macdonald ended an unfortunate series of defeats at the expense of Marcel Bancroft.
28/08/25: Gaz wins Wednesday online tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the thirty-fourth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Gaz Owen, who defeated Nick Barham, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Tim Line, after receiving a first round bye.
Tim had arrived there via wins over Ian Tarr, Chris Hughes and Elias Hamati.
Jon Organ took the consolation flight by beating Scott Wood, Nick and Ian.
Elias Hamati won the post tournament jackpot.
There was Premier One action earlier, when Cecilia Rogers defeated Natalie Singh to maintain her title challenge.
And Hazel Harper moved to the top of Premier Three Purple by beating Photis Gittoes.
26/08/25: Paul back in action
Paul Watts has had health problems recently, which have curtailed his availability to continue his Premier Two Red campaign.
In conversation with Director Ian Tarr this afternoon, however, he confirmed his desire to complete the season, even inviting Ian to play one of their outstanding league matches.
Ian prevailed after a sequence of five league defeats.
26/08/25: Ten in Bank Holiday Monday action
There were just ten players in action on Monday, eight of them competitively.
The eight formed a single Nackgammon 3-point round robin group for the eighth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
SGP leader Ian Anderson decided, after playing four of his seven matches, that the potential timespan of the event was unacceptable, and proceeded to resign his final three matches.
While this was regrettable, the situation was in part the fault of Director Ian Tarr, who went against the rules of the competition, which limits the group size for Nackgammon events to seven players.
He should have set up two groups of four.
The ruling was that all of Ian A's matches should be discarded from the results, and that the remaining seven players would be in the same finishing order.
Gaz Owen was the clear group winner, with Kev Peters in second place.
Kev has taken over the lead from Ian A in the SGP points table, with Gaz close behind in third place.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended only by Nil Karadag, who experienced some absorbing match play.
24/08/25: Brunel Trophy seventh round draw made a week early
The draw for the seventh 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.
This was brought forward a week, as all sixth round matches were completed well within the five week time allowance.
The original field of sixty-two has been whittled down to just eight, so no bye was needed for this round.
Only Hazel Harper still has both lives remaining, so either four or five players will progress to round eight.
Matches are to be played by September 28th.
The full draw can be found here.
23/08/25: Saturday results roundup
There were two matches played on Saturday.
Neil Young beat Michael Corbett in Premier One.
And Hazel Harper beat Caroline Boulton to move into second place in Premier Three Purple.
Meanwhile, for the second time in four days, a match was played -- this time supposedly in the top flight -- where the protagonists had already played both their allotted matches.
22/08/25: Ian wins August Speedgammon Grand Prix event
There were just ten players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the fifth 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 Ian Tarr and Simon Tracy, with runners-up Rob Clarke and Lulzim Alla also progressing.
While Ian had a clean sweep in his group, the other was a lot closer, with a three way race for the lead decided on points difference, the unfortunate Tim Line missing out on the knockout phase.
Ian and Rob won their semi-finals, then Ian clinched the final.
Ian has established a 60 points lead in the SGGP table, with Tim now in second place.
There was action earlier online, when Frank Jones pipped Richard Owsley in Premier Two Red.
21/08/25: Scott wins Wednesday online tournament
There were sixteen players in competitive action on Wednesday -- plus two others who thought they were -- as fourteen of them contested the thirty-third of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Scott Wood -- for the third time this year -- who defeated Rob Clarke, Ann Pocknell, Chris Rogers and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there via wins over Gaz Owen, Simon Blinkhorn and Chris Hughes.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little, Elias Hamati and Ian Anderson, who went on to win the post tournament jackpot.
Steve Pickard whitewashed Matt Sharp in Premier Two Blue, and still has a chance to gain promotion.
Meanwhile, two Red Division players contested what they thought was a league match, not noticing that they had already played their two matches.
19/08/25: Thirteen in Monday action
There were thirteen players in action on Monday, ten of them competitively -- in our Monday Summer Grand Prix session at the Heroes website.
The ten were split into 3-point round robin groups of five.
Group winners were Chris Hughes and Ian Anderson.
Ian A's SGP table lead is up to 20 points, with Kev Peters still in second place.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Director Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Shams El Sawy, who completed her first match using the doubling cube, and Penny Walters.
17/08/25: Sunday Brunel Trophy and League roundup
There were two matches played on Sunday.
Hazel Harper beat Tim Line in Shepton Mallet in the sixth round of the Brunel Trophy, eliminating Tim from the competition.
Hazel will be the only player in round seven with both lives intact.
And Natalie Singh beat Jim Green in Premier One.
15/08/25: Friday Brunel Trophy and League roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
Gaz Owen defeated Ian Hedges in the sixth round of the Brunel Trophy, leaving both players with a single life to take into round seven.
And Ann Pocknell moved to the top of Premier Two Red after a narrow victory over Ian Tarr.
15/08/25: Gaz wins fourth successive monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, thirteen of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the eighth instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Gaz Owen took the main flight, just as he did in May, June and July, defeating Stephen Little, Steffen Nowak and Steve Morris before despatching John Rixon in the final.
Nobody has ever won four successive BGP tournaments before.
John had got past Ian Tarr and Ian Hedges en route to the final after receiving a first round bye.
Tim Line won the consolation flight, defeating Kylie Hedges, Stephen and Hazel Harper.
Gaz has forged his way to a 77 points BGP lead over second placed Ian Tarr, who had a blank evening.
There was also Premier One action at the Ibis before the tournament, when Phil Doubtfire beat Stephen.
14/08/25: Bradford-on-Avon fills the Bristol Open gap
The loss of our long standing venue, the Rainbow Casino, late last year meant that not only did we need to find a regular new venue for our Thursday meets, but the Bristol Open -- run in recent years by Tim Line and Hazel Harper -- was also minus a prime venue.
With no other Bristol venue apparently ticking all the boxes, Tim was motivated to look for a replacement elsewhere, and his attention finally settled on the Five Zeros Supercar Barn in Bradford-on-Avon.
So the slot on the UKBGF Tour usually occupied by the Bristol Open is filled, and the signs are that it will work really well.
The new event, entitled the Three Zeros Backgammon Tournament, will run from October 31st and November 2nd.
Tim and Hazel will again be in charge, and registrations are now being sought.
13/08/25: Chris wins Wednesday online tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Wednesday, twelve of them to contest the thirty-second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Chris Rogers, who defeated Scott Wood, Elias Hamati and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr, after receiving a first round bye.
Ian had arrived there via wins over John Curran, Jon Organ and Nick Barham.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight by beating John and Adam Sinclair.
Jon won the post tournament jackpot.
Gaz had earlier played a Premier One match against Phil Charlton.
Phil's win prevented Gaz from taking over from Kev Peters at the top.
12/08/25: Tuesday Brunel Trophy and League roundup
There were four matches played on Tuesday.
Simonetta Herrera and James Timoney are out of the Brunel Trophy after losing their sixth round ties to Jon Organ and Simon Blinkhorn.
And Nick Barham scored a brace of Premier Two Blue wins, first over Simon Tracy and then against Matt Sharp.
12/08/25: Sixteen in Monday action
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, nine of them competitively -- in our Monday Summer Grand Prix session at the Heroes website.
The nine formed a single DMP round robin group.
Group winner was Andrew Montgomery, with Gaz Owen in second place.
Ian Anderson still holds a seven point lead of the SGP table, with Kev Peters still in second place.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Director Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Neil Young, Nil Karadag and four members of Nil's family, visiting from Turkey.
Nil's father Ugur challenged Ian to a 5-point non-cube match for a pint, and afterwards, with Nil acting as interpreter, he enthusiastically received an introduction to the doubling cube, which he had never before encountered.
10/08/25: Saturday wins for Nick and Frank
There were two Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Nick Barham defeated Pearl Foster in Premier Two Blue.
And in Premier Two Red Frank Jones beat Ian Anderson.
08/08/25: Bristol players' exploits on their travels
The past couple of weeks have seen some notable achievements away from home.
The 2025 World Championships in Monte Carlo featured strong showings from two of our own.
Chris Rogers made it to the quarter-finals of the main event, from a field of 226 players.
And although Gaz Owen didn't get that far, he did win a big side event -- Super Jackpot #2, from a field of 64.
Closer to home was the Worcestershire Open, where Neil Young was runner-up in the consolation flight, while Hazel harper did likewise in the last chance flight.
08/08/25: Barry takes the sartorial elegance prize
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, nine of them to contest the inaugural Summer Shirt tournament at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
As part of a change of emphasis to add a little more variety to Thursday events, this new -- hopefully annual -- tournament is an attempt to mirror the atmosphere and format of the popular Steve's Christmas Fizz tournament, albeit in a more summery setting.
And an important feature was giving every player a vote for the best shirt, blouse or top, with a nice cash prize for the winner, Barry Vasili (pictured left, courtesy of Cynthia Roberts).
Barry polled 55.5% of the popular vote to win convincingly.
Across the board, however, Barry was devoid of wins!
With all matches throughout the evening played to three points, the opening round robin groups of five and four were won by Stephen Little and Tim Line, both of whom recorded clean sweeps.
The second phase, main and consolation knockouts, based on group finishing positions, saw Ian Tarr take the main prize by defeating Steffen Nowak and -- in the final -- Tim.
Ian Anderson took the consolation honours with victories over Hazel Harper and Cynthia.
There was also Premier Two Red action, where Warner Solomon moved to the top of the league by defeating Richard Owsley.
07/08/25: Tim wins Wednesday online tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the thirty-first of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Tim Line, who defeated John Curran, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Ian Tarr, after receiving a first round bye.
Ian had arrived there via wins over Jon Organ, Chris Rogers and Gaz Owen.
Mark Dixon took the consolation flight by beating John Curran and Jon Organ.
Elias Hamati won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action online.
James Newman exited the Brunel Trophy at the sixth round stage, losing narrowly to Phil Doubtfire in what was effectively a sudden death tie.
And Richard Owsley defeated Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
06/08/25: Pearl gets two for the price of one
Nick Barham and Pearl Foster met online on Tuesday, having agreed to double up their sixth round Brunel Trophy encounter with a Premier Two Blue match.
Pearl won, so gets two wins to her name.
Both players progress to round seven of the Brunel with a single life remaining, while the league points give Pearl renewed hope of second tier survival.
06/08/25: Ten in Monday action
There were just ten players in action on Monday, seven of them competitively -- in our Monday Summer Grand Prix session at the Heroes website.
The seven formed a single 3-point round robin group, expertly guided by Jon Organ in Ian Tarr's absence.
Group winner was Ian Anderson, who won five of his six matches.
Ian A is back into the lead of the SGP table, with Kev Peters now in second place.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, nobly hosted by Daniel Miles at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters and Shams El Sawy.
06/08/25: Andy won on Sunday
Andy Boysan defeated Frank Jones in a Premier Two Red match on Sunday.
05/08/25: Eleven penalised at July 31st checkpoint
The third Premier League checkpoint passed at midnight on July 31st, and eleven players were penalised.
All penalties can be clawed back by meeting the September 30th criteria.
Premier Three Green took pride of place, having no penalties docked at all.
05/08/25: Steffen wins GP10 tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday July 31st, ten of them to contest the fifth session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
In Director Ian Tarr's absence Hazel Harper nobly stepped in to fill the breach.
Steffen Nowak was the victor, shrugging off the disappointment of not receiving a first round bye when he beat Tim Line, Cynthia Roberts, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Steve Morris.
Steve had arrived there via victories over Barry Vasili and Mandy Macdonald.
John Rixon took the consolation flight by beating Tim and Andy Zographou.
Ian's GP10 lead is down to just five points, with Steffen moving into second place.
Steve, third overall, has opened up a 35 point lead over Barry in the new "non Premier One and Two" added money list.
There was also some Premier League action.
Cecilia Rogers moved into third place in Premier One by defeating league leader Kev Peters and Phil Charlton.
Steve Cox's unbeaten run in Premier Three Yellow is over, his sequence of eleven victories terminated by Simon Hughes.
And Gerald Whitehouse beat Ceri Pierce in Premier Three Green.
30/07/25: News blackout from now until Tuesday morning
Apologies to all readers of the site.
I am away until late on Monday evening, so there will be no news updates between now and then.
When I return I will get things back on track a s a p.
30/07/25: Scott wins Wednesday online tournament
There were twenty players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the thirtieth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Scott Wood, who defeated Tim Line, Chris Hughes and -- in the final -- John Curran.
John had arrived there via wins over Hazel Harper and Stephen Little after receiving a first round bye.
Ian Anderson took the consolation flight by beating Hazel and Jon Organ.
Stephen won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also league action online, with six matches played.
Andy Boysan played three Premier Two Red matches, defeating Warner Solomon before losing twice to Ed Turner.
In Premier Three Green Rosemary Whitehouse lost her first league match in ten, against Fred North.
And in Premier Three Yellow Simon Blinkhorn's Premier Three all time record sequence of wins stopped at thirteen when beaten by Marcel Bancroft.
In the same division Dom Verrall beat Mandy Macdonald.
29/07/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were eleven Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Premier One leaders Kev Peters and Gaz Owen maintained their pace with victories, although Kev gained ground in the points difference stakes by whitewashing Phil Charlton, while Gaz was edging home against Cecilia Rogers.
Cecilia later defeated Hemal Getalal, while Simon Baker was beating Michael Corbett.
Winners in Premier Two Red were Dave Pym, Andy Boysan and Alan Joicey, their victims >Ian Hedges, Ann Pocknell and Ed Turner.
Alan's win moved him to the top of the table at Ann's expense.
Premier Three Purple leader Chris Hughes beat Richard Davies.
In the same division Simon Dicken played two close matches, succumbing to Photis Gittoes before beating Andy Zographou.
And Dom Verrall ended a run of 10-11 defeats by scoring a Premier Three Yellow victory over Mitch Tucker.
29/07/25: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty of them competitively, of whom ten featured in our Monday Summer Grand Prix session at the Heroes website.
The ten were split into 3-point round robin groups of five.
Group winners were Kev Peters, who won all five of his matches, and Phil Doubtfire.
Kev has overtaken previous leader Ian Anderson, who wasn't involved this time, at the head of the SGP table, with Gaz Owen in second place.
There was also action in the Premier League, with six matches played.
Kev and Stephen Little met at The George, Norton St Philip, for a Premier One encounter, with Kev prevailing to edge ahead of Gaz at the top of the league.
In the same division Phil Charlton beat Hemal Getalal.
Winners in Premier Two Red were Ian Hedges and Ann Pocknell, Andy Boysan and Frank Jones their victims.
Ann's win catapulted her to the summit of the table.
In Premier Two Blue Pearl Foster defeated Simon Tracy.
And Rob Clarke beat Pete Boxer in Premier Three Green.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Daniel Miles and Marcus Evans, with much discussion around the matches played.
27/07/25: Sunday results roundup
There were six Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Stephen Little defeated Hemal Getalal in Premier One.
Andy Boysan scored a brace of quick-fire victories over Ian Tarr in Premier Two Red.
Rob Clarke played twice in Premier Three Green, losing to Fred North before overcoming James Timoney.
And Chris Hughes won a meeting of Premier Three Purple promotion chasers against Hazel Harper.
27/07/25: Brunel Trophy sixth round draw made
The draw for the sixth 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 twelve, so no bye was needed for this round.
Three still have both lives remaining, so between six and nine players will progress to round seven.
Matches are to be played by August 31st.
The full draw can be found here.
25/07/25: Friday results roundup
There were four Premier League matches played on Friday.
The two main contenders thus far in Premier One -- Gaz Owen and Kev Peters -- met, and Kev was the winner.
It's far too early to call it a two horse race for the title, though, with Adam Sinclair, Simon Baker, Jim Green and more handily placed to join the battle.
Frank Jones defeated Dave Pym in Premier Two Red.
In Premier Three Yellow Neil Edwards overcame Mandy Macdonald.
And Richard Davies beat Andy Zographou in Premier Three Purple.
25/07/25: Neil wins July Handicap tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Thursday, nine of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the sixth instalment of our 2025 Handicap Trophy series, sponsored as ever by Ed Turner.
And the winner this time was Neil Young, who defeated John Rixon and Tim Line before overcoming Ian Tarr in the final.
Ian had got past Steffen Nowak, Stephen Little and Cynthia Roberts en route.
John won the consolation flight, beating Hazel Harper, Steffen and Stephen.
Ed's "Golden Zone" sponsorship was again an interesting feature of the tournament, Cynthia's quarter-final victory over Hazel and Ian's semi-final win over Cynthia taking the tenner bonuses.
John still leads the HT standings, but Ian has reduced his lead to 25 points.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Reece Hodges is out of the Brunel Trophy after losing his fifth round tie to James Timoney, who retains a single life.
The original field of 62 players has now been whittled down to the twelve who remain for the sixth round draw.
In Premier One there were wins for Simon Baker, Natalie Singh and Jim Green.
Jim defeated Neil Young at V-Shed, while Simon and Natalie triumphed online against Phil Charlton and Michael Corbett
Alan Joicey and Michael Petrakas enhanced their Premier Two promotion claims.
Alan won his Red Division match against Ian, while Michael was beating Jon Organ in the parallel Blue Division
24/07/25: Ian Anderson wins Wednesday online tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the twenty-ninth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Ian Anderson, who defeated Stephen Little, Phil Doubtfire and -- in the final -- Jon Organ.
Jon had arrived there via wins over Natalie Singh and Scott Wood.
Stephen took the consolation flight by beating Gaz Owen and Natalie.
Ian Tarr won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also league action online, five matches being played.
Alan Joicey beat Ed Turner in Premier Two Red.
In Premier Two Blue Mike Smith overcame Steffen Nowak.
Hazel Harper scored a brace of wins over Andrew Cobb in Premier Three Purple
And in Premier Three Green Rosemary Whitehouse scored another victory, this time against Pete Boxer.
22/07/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were eight matches played on Tuesday.
In Premier One Simon Baker scored a brace of wins over Stephen Little.
In the same division Jim Green beat Neil Young at the Pump House.
Stuart Mann took another step towards an immediate return to the top flight with an emphatic Premier Two Red win over Ian Tarr.
Premier Two Blue saw wins for Michael Petrakas and Jon Organ over Pearl Foster and Mike Smith.
And Rosemary Whitehouse maintained her push towards tier two with a Premier Three Green victory over Fred North.
Another fifth round Brunel Trophy tie ended in a win for Simonetta Herrera over Simon Blinkhorn, so both players move on to round six with a single life.
22/07/25: Twenty-nine in Monday action
There were twenty-nine players in action on Monday, twenty-five of them competitively, of whom eleven featured in our Monday Summer Grand Prix session at the Heroes website.
The eleven formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five.
Group winners were Ian Anderson and Stephen Little, while Andrew Montgomery won the side pool in Stephen's group.
Ian A has opened up an early lead in the SGP table, with Stephen in second place.
There was online action in the Premier League, with nine matches played.
Simon Baker and Natalie Singh scored Premier One wins over Neil Young and Tim Line.
An unusual double header occurred in Premier Two Blue, where two new venues formed the backdrop for Mike Smith's and Simon Tracy's sharing of spoils.
Edna's-Kitchen hosted Mike's win, while Simon won his home leg at the Second Page bookshop.
In the same division Robin Gunney defeated Dicky Biddle.
Simon Blinkhorn is now the outright holder of the record winning sequence in Premier Three after his Yellow Division victory over Mitch Tucker.
He still has has some work to do if he wants to threaten Chris Rogers' overall Premier League all time sequence of twenty-two, achieved in Premier One during 2020 and 2021, however.
In the parallel Purple Division Ben Crowden suffered mixed fortunes, defeating Caroline Boulton before succumbing to Hazel Harper.
And Photis Gittoes was also a winner, against Richard Davies.
Meanwhile Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters, Shams El Sawy and new player Nil, who learned the game in her native Turkey.
20/07/25: Sunday results roundup
There were ten matches played on Sunday.
In Premier One there were wins for Adam Sinclair and Stephen Little over Neil Young and Michael Corbett.
Adam's victory moved him into second place.
Dicky Biddle also moved into second place in his division -- Premier Two Blue -- by defeating Simon Tracy, while Kylie Hedges beat Jon Organ.
Ian Tarr overcame Dave Pym in Premier Two Red.
For the second successive day Ceri Pierce had mixed fortunes in Premier Three Green, succumbing again to Gary Plant before emphatically defeating Fred North.
Rosemary Whitehouse also registered a win, over James Timoney, and is now third at the expense of Gerald Whitehouse.
Finally Andrew Cobb and Ben Crowden shared the spoils of a double header in Premier Three Purple.
19/07/25: Saturday results roundup
There were seven matches played on Saturday.
In Premier One Hemal Getalal played twice, suffering defeats to both Kev Peters and Adam Sinclair.
Winners in Premier Two Blue were Jon Organ and Matt Sharp, at the expense of Steve Pickard and Michael Petrakas.
Ian Tarr beat Frank Jones in Premier Two Red.
And Ceri Pierce had mixed fortunes in Premier Three Green, succumbing to Gary Plant before defeating Cynthia Roberts, who has now completed her season.
19/07/25: Friday results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
Neil Young defeated Phil Charlton in Premier One.
And Mitch Tucker saw off Neil Edwards in a Premier Three Yellow match.
18/07/25: Simon equalled a record on Wednesday
In yet another previously unreported result, from Wednesday this time, Simon Blinkhorn did something special in Premier Three Yellow.
Playing on Heroes 3, Simon defeated Barry Vasili.
Simon is unbeaten in the league this season, having scored eleven straight wins.
And when you add the victory from his final league match in 2024, this overall sequence of twelve equals the all time Premier Three record, established by Chas Perry in 2019.
This has been quite a season for winning sequences in the Premier Three divisions.
Gary Plant began his season with eleven straight wins before a couple of recent defeats, Steve Cox had a slow start to his campaign but is currently on a winning sequence of eleven, and Chris Hughes is also unbeaten in eight.
This page carries details of all Bristol Backgammon League records and sequences, right back to the year 2000, when it all began.
18/07/25: Andy wins July GP20 tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre Hotel to contest the fifth instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Andy Zographou was the main flight winner, getting through three gruellingly close encounters against Stephen Little, Tim Line and Hazel Harper.
Hazel got past Steffen Nowak and Barry Vasili en route to the final.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight with wins over Steffen and Stephen.
Tim Line still heads the GP20 table, his lead extended slightly to 25 points, with Barry now in second place and Steve Morris and Nick Barham all within 40 points of the summit.
There was also Premier League and Brunel Trophy action.
Stephen dropped in at the Lodekka before the tournament and pipped Neil Young in a Premier One encounter.
When Ian Hedges and Jon Organ -- both undefeated in their Brunel Trophy campaigns -- met at Sportsmans, it was Ian who prevailed, leaving Jon to take a single life into round six.
And in Premier Two Red Stuart Mann beat Ed Turner.
18/07/25: Barry won on Monday
There was a Premier Three Yellow match played at the Avon Gorge Hotel on Monday.
It was a narrow victory for Barry Vasili over Dom Verrall.
16/07/25: Gaz wins second successive Wednesday online tournament
There were nineteen players in action on Wednesday, fourteen of them to contest the twenty-eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Gaz Owen, whose last eight days have encompassed three Bristol tournament wins.
He defeated Nick Barham, Jon Organ, Adam Sinclair and -- in the final -- Cecilia Rogers.
Cecilia had arrived there via wins over Steve Pickard and Kev Peters after receiving a first round bye.
Scott Wood took the consolation flight by beating Chris Rogers and Neil Young.
Elias Hamati won the post tournament jackpot.
There was also league action online.
Stuart Mann beat Richard Owsley in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Green Fred North beat James Timoney.
15/07/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were four matches played on Tuesday, all of them in Premier Three.
Ben Crowden scored a brace of Premier Three Purple wins, Photis Gittoes and Caroline Boulton on the receiving end.
Simon Blinkhorn is still unbeaten in Premier Three Yellow after pipping Dom Verrall.
And Gerald Whitehouse defeated Gary Plant in Premier Three Green.
15/07/25: Just seven in Monday action after DMP event cancellation
There were seven players in action on Monday, four of them competitively, after the cancellation of our Monday Summer Grand Prix session at the Heroes website.
The cancellation occurred as Director Ian Tarr stupidly left his laptop at home!
There was online action in the Premier League.
Adam Sinclair defeated Neil Young in Premier One, while in Premier Two Blue Robin Gunney beat Dicky Biddle.
And Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters and Simon Dicken.
Penny had her first experience of cubing in a matchplay scenario.
13/07/25: Saturday results roundup
There were four matches played on Saturday.
Stephen Little and Phil Doubtfire were winners in Premier One, Cecilia Rogers and Michael Corbett their victims.
And Steve Pickard played twice in Premier Two Blue, edging home against Steffen Nowak before suffering a whitewash at the hands of Jon Organ.
11/07/25: Friday results roundup
There were two matches played on Friday.
Nick Barham defeated Pete Boxer in a fifth round Brunel Trophy tie, a result which eliminates Pete while Nick has both lives still intact.
And Robin Gunney defeated Kylie Hedges in Premier Two Blue.
11/07/25: Gaz wins third successive monthly Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were fourteen players in meaningful action on Thursday, ten of them at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to contest the seventh instalment of our 2025 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Gaz Owen took the main flight, just as he did in May and June, defeating Andy Zographou and Ian Tarr before despatching Nick Barham in the final.
Nick had got past Stephen Little and Steve Morris en route to the final.
Steffen Nowak won the consolation flight, defeating Andy Zographou and Stephen.
Ian's BGP lead is down to 23 points, with Gaz closing in and having the advantage of having played one event less than Ian.
There was also Premier League action online.
Michael Petrakas defeated Mike Smith in Premier Two Blue, while in Premier Two Red Ian Hedges beat Stuart Mann.
Natalie Singh and Neil Young thought they were in Premier One action, but failed to check their previous meetings.
A shame for Natalie, who won this "non match" 11-0!
10/07/25: Gaz wins Wednesday online tournament
There were eleven players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the twenty-seventh of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner was Gaz Owen, who defeated Scott Wood, Alan Joicey, Jon Organ and -- in the final -- Ian Anderson.
Ian A had arrived there via wins over Ann Pocknell and Elias Hamati after receiving a first round bye.
It was Gaz's first Wednesday success in twenty-two attempts.
Ann took the consolation flight by beating Ian Tarr and Scott.
Ian T won the post tournament jackpot.
08/07/25: Steve wins again
Premier Three has been the place for long unbeaten runs this year, and Tuesday's only result maintained one such sequence.
Steve Cox's narrow defeat of promotion rival Dom Verrall sees him well placed for promotion from the Yellow Division.
08/07/25: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in action on Monday, thirteen of them competitively.
Eleven of the thirteen formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the opening session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
It would have been two groups of six, but for internet connectivity problems which ruled one player out.
Group winners were Kev Peters and Ian Anderson, who are thus first and second in the embryonic SGP table.
There was also action in Premier Two Blue, where Steffen Nowak extended his sequence of victories at the expense of Michael Petrakas.
And Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Penny Walters, Roger Selway and first timer Jane Westhead, who was on a fact finding mission for a forthcoming drama project on Charles Darwin!
06/07/25: Sunday results roundup
There were four matches played on Sunday.
Phil Doubtfire defeated Stuart Mann, in a sudden death fifth round Brunel Trophy tie.
Michael Corbett played twice in Premier One, defeating Stephen Little before succumbing to Kev Peters.
And Gary Plant's Premier Three Green winning sequence was ended by James Timoney, his run of eleven wins leaving him just one short of Chas Perry's all-time Premier Three record.
04/07/25: Barry wins GP10 tournament
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the fourth session of this year's GP10 series at the Ibis Bristol Centre hotel.
Barry Vasili was the victor, defeating Steve Morris, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Rob Clarke.
Rob had arrived there via victories over Nick Barham and Stephen Little.
Cynthia Roberts took the consolation flight by beating Steve and Steffen Nowak.
Ian's GP10 lead is up to 75 points, while Steve's lead in the new "non Premier One and Two" added money list has now been totally wiped out by Barry as they share second place overall.
There was also some Premier League action.
The Lodekka was the venue for Neil Young's Premier One victory over Stephen.
Online Ian Hedges beat Dave Pym in Premier Two Red, while in Premier Two Blue Matt Sharp overcame Robin Gunney.
03/07/25: Elias wins Wednesday online tournament
There were sixteen players in action on Wednesday, ten of them to contest the twenty-sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
And this week's winner -- for the fourth time this year -- was Elias Hamati, who defeated Phil Doubtfire, Jon Organ and -- in the final -- Stephen Little, after receiving a first round bye.
Stephen had arrived there via wins over Kev Peters, Chris Hughes and Ian Anderson.
Chris Rogers took the consolation flight by beating Phil, Kev and Gaz Owen.
Phil won the post tournament jackpot.
Three other matches were played.
Ian Tarr and Richard Owsley exited the Brunel Trophy at the fifth round stage, Pearl Foster and James Newman each taking a single life into round six.
And Andy Zographou moved into third place in Premier Three Purple, defeating Caroline Boulton at the Post Office Tavern.
01/07/25: Tuesday results roundup
There were five matches played on Tuesday.
Gaz Owen defeated Robin Gunney, in a sudden death fifth round Brunel Trophy tie.
Chris Rogers was Nick Barham's birthday party pooper, whitewashing him in their Premier Two Blue encounter.
It was Chris's final league match of the season, and his unbroken run of seven victories has turned around what looked likely to be a problematic season.
From a potential mid-table berth he is now top, with a very strong chance of remaining in the top two.
One player who stands a chance of overhauling him is Michael Petrakas, who registered a victory at the expense of Mike Smith.
In Premier Two Red Dave Pym defeated Ian Anderson.
And Cliff Blofield's Premier Three Green defeat of James Timoney moved him a step closer to clinching promotion.
01/07/25: Gaz clinches Spring Grand Prix title
There were sixteen players in action on Monday, twelve of them competitively.
Eleven of the twelve formed 3-point round robin groups of six and five for the thirteenth and final session of our Monday Spring Grand Prix at the Heroes website.
Group winners, fittingly, were Gaz Owen and Elias Hamati, the top two in the SGP table.
Gaz had the considerable advantage of not having to discard a low score, and tus clinched the title.
He had earlier extended his Premier One lead by defeating Hemal Getalal at the Jolly Sailor, Hanham.
And Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr at Sportsmans, was attended by Ceri Pierce, Penny Walters and Shams El Sawy.
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