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10/12/24: Nineteen in Monday action
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, twelve of them competitively and seven at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The twelve played out the eighth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in a DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Chris Hughes won the group, with John Curran in second place, while Nick Barham, in third, took a cut of the side pool.
Gaz Owen didn't have his best event, but still did enough to extend his leadership of the AGP table, moving twenty-one points ahead of second placed Kev Peters, although third placed Ian Anderson arguably poses a greater threat to the leadership since he has one more opportunity to add to his points tally before discards kick in.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, was a productive session, with lots of matches and learning opportunities for Simon Dicken, Titus Simen, Pete Boxer, Ceri Pierce and Kev Lee, not to mention Kate Waldron who was making her first appearance.
10/12/24: Ibis Bristol Centre hotel to host December Thursday tournaments
As the hunt for a permanent Thursday venue continues, the two remaining December Thursday events now have a host.
The Ibis Bristol Centre hotel in Explore Lane, just a stone's throw away from the now closed Rainbow Casino, will be the setting for this Thursday's final instalment of the 2024 Bristol Grand Prix event and next Thursday's fun finale to the season, Steve's Christmas Fizz tournament.
Director Ian Tarr is grateful to have received many suggestions for possible Thursday venues, this one having been proposed by Gerald Whitehouse.
06/12/24: Ian Hedges wins Premier Three title
The final of the Premier Three play-offs was played online on Friday.
And Green Division winner Ian Hedges defeated Purple Division winner Alan Joicey to take the overall Premier Three title.
04/12/24: Premier League entries flooding in
With seventeen days until the entry deadline, forty-six players have already committed themselves to the 2025 Premier League.
Director Ian Tarr is anticipating that number will rise to more than seventy for the first time ever.
03/12/24: Rainbow Casino closing at midnight, for good
Our Thursday venue, the Rainbow Casino, is closing for good at midnight on Wednesday.
While we knew it was almost inevitable, the suddenness of the announcement leaves us without a venue for our regular Thursday play a little sooner than we had envisaged, having had the privilege of playing there for almost nine years.
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr was this afternoon at the casino to retrieve the various items of equipment stored for us in their poker cupboard.
And he has today taken a few decisions:
- to postpone this Thursday's GP10 tournament until such time as a venue can be found. This final instalment of the GP10 series will be rescheduled to enable those in with a chance of taking the annual title one final stab at success;
- to endeavour to find a venue or venues for our December 12th and 19th events;
- to seek out a permanent Thursday venue for next year's events and for the future;
A new permanent venue would ideally mirror the attributes of the Rainbow.
A free of charge, dedicated playing space; unlimited playing time; free parking; central, easily accessible location; free tea, coffee and soft drinks; storage area for equipment.
If anyone can think of a venue which even comes close to offering these benefits, please contact Ian a s a p.
03/12/24: Eleven in Monday action
There were eleven players in action on Monday, seven of them competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The seven played out the seventh session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in a 3-point round robin at the Heroes website.
Ian Anderson won the group.
Second placed Gaz Owen resumed the leadership of the AGP table, moving eleven points ahead of previous leader Kev Peters.
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, saw some absorbing matches involving Simon Dicken, Chris Lewis, new player Debby Gard and the host.
01/12/24: Scott takes Feeder League title
Along with the official end of the Premier League season when November passed, the end of the Feeder League season came too.
Which signalled a maiden title for Scott Wood, whose efficient negotiation of just four matches -- all victories -- took him to the league's summit.
Simon Dicken as runner-up and Julian Tucker as third placer completed the roll call of prize winners.
But all seven participants will be invited to join next year's Premier League.
29/11/24: Premier League pyramid formats reworked for the 2025 season and beyond
The criteria for populating the various divisions of the Premier League have been upgraded in time for the 2025 league season.
When, many years ago, the conditions were instigated, the provisions for higher numbers of entries were almost an afterthought, with little likelihood of their being used in the foreseeable future.
However, the system has stood up well to the test of time, having provided for up to 91 players in three tiers.
This year's competition began with 68 players in six divisions, and it appears probable that this number will rise in 2025.
And while the focus has been primarily on divisions of twelve or thirteen players, giving 22 or 24 fixtures per year, some divisions in recent seasons have comprised fourteen or even fifteen players.
This has proved successful, so the updated criteria are henceforward focussed on the premise that thirteen or fourteen players should now be the norm.
That means that the new criteria provide for up to 98 players, a number which should see us through the next two or three years at least, or until a fourth tier might be needed.
29/11/24: Alan through to Division Three play-off final
Friday's only action was the semi-final of the Premier Three play-offs.
As there are three third tier divisions, the championship play-offs are a three way affair, with the divisional champion having the best statistical record during the regular season -- Ian Hedges of the Green Division -- earning a bye to the final.
So the Yellow Division's Dicky Biddle and the Purple Division's Alan Joicey met today for the right to play Ian, and it was Alan who prevailed 11-6.
28/11/24: Cynthia wins Handicap tournament, but Hazel takes title
There were just nine players in action at the Rainbow Casino on Thursday to contest the ninth and final instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series.
Hazel Harper went into the tournament with a 60 points lead in the HT table, and second placed Ian Tarr was given an outside chance of catching Hazel when drawn into the only first round match.
A win from there would have given Ian 100 points on top of his 25 points discarded, forcing Hazel to add to her points tally by winning two main flight matches.
Hazel was able to achieve that, although Ian's second round exit rendered that unnecessary, and her ultimate winning margin was a handsome 85 points.
With that title under her belt, Hazel will henceforward be a zero handicap player, as decreed by event sponsor Ed Turner.
While Hazel was beating Steffen Nowak and Andy Zographou en route to the main final, Cynthia Roberts was similarly eliminating Stephen Little and Steve Morris.
And Cynthia prevailed in the final.
Stephen took the consolation flight via wins over Ian and Barry Vasili.
28/11/24: Gaz is champion; Chris relegated
Is the Bristol Premier League the world's greatest league?
If not, please, somebody, provide the evidence.
The top flight reached a gripping finale on Thursday with the much anticipated double header between Simon Baker and Chris Rogers.
With both players desperate for a brace of victories -- for very different reasons -- the outcome, as foreshadowed in yesterday's article, saw both falling agonisingly short of their objectives.
The first of two extremely tight matches saw Chris's hopes of survival still alive, while Simon's title hopes were dashed.
But Simon's revenge saw Chris relegated, much to the relief of Neil Young.
So ends an astonishing campaign where so much sat in the balance with even a handful of matches remaining.
Gaz Owen has retained his title, and with five now under his belt has moved to within one of Stuart Mann's record haul.
But with just seven matches remaining Gaz had been haunted by the spectre of a maiden relegation, until a strong finish delivered him to the summit.
His triumph is a narrow one, given that second placed Jim Green, third placed Adam Sinclair and fourth placed Simon all finished level on points, separated only by points difference.
The nature of the league in this incredible season can best be illustrated by the fact that the margin between first and twelfth was just nine points, or three victories.
And the strength of the division can best be illustrated by the roll call of the relegated.
Stuart, six times a champion, will face second tier backgammon for the first time after an unbroken run of twenty-five seasons.
Chris, a UK team regular and until recently captain, was runner-up last season after two successive title wins.
Nick Barham was champion in 2017.
And Andy Boysan, who won the title with the all-time best record in 2022, completes the illustrious quartet.
In Premier Three Purple the regular league season curtain came down when Ben Crabb defeated Andrew Cobb twice in what was effectively a sixth place shoot-out.
Now only the second and third tier title play-offs, remain, and this year's Premier League is over.
With participation levels set to rise in 2025, who can wait for the new season?
But with invitations for the new season imminent, and close of entries as far away as December 21st, we will have to.
27/11/24: Jim misses out on league title
In the only Premier League match played on Wednesday, Adam Sinclair defeated Jim Green.
A win for Jim would have moved him back to the summit of Premier One.
The defeat means Gaz Owen, Jim and Adam all finish on 42 points, but in that order because of average points difference.
All that remains of the top flight season is a double header between Simon Baker and Chris Rogers.
A win apiece is of no use to either player, as Simon would fail to take the title and Chris would be relegated.
26/11/24: Tuesday's Premier League roundup
There were two Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Stuart Mann shrugged off his relegation from the top flight by defeating Tim Line in their final Premier One match.
The defeat was bad news for Tim, in that he has been ousted from the sixth and final UK Champions League place, having slipped below Natalie Singh on points difference.
And the Premier Two Blue season was brought to a close when Rosemary Whitehouse defeated Neil Edwards.
26/11/24: Andy, Stuart and Nick relegated; Gaz goes top; Nick wins Nackgammon title; Brunel goes to round eleven
There were twenty players in action on Monday, thirteen competitively and another seven at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Seven contested the eleventh and final session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in a 3-point Nackgammon round robin at the Heroes website.
Gaz Owen was the group winner, his PR being decisive over second and third placed Adam Sinclair and Nick Barham.
But Nick did just enough to hold on at the top of the NGP table, taking the annual title by a single point with Gaz in second place.
It's more than possible that the Nackgammon sessions will be discontinued next year, as numbers have been down when compared to the other Monday offerings.
Meanwhile there were other momentous issues resolved.
Andy Boysan needed a brace of emphatic wins to stand a chance of top flight survival, and this no doubt contributed to the emphatic defeat he suffered at the hands of Gaz, who now sits atop the division after completing his programme.
Andy's subsequent defeat by Neil Young at the Arnos Manor Hotel was thus more important for Neil, whose win confirmed the relegations of both Nick and Stuart Mann.
The remaining Premier One issues are now distilled into three of the four outstanding matches.
Gaz's win has now ruled Adam out of the title equation, as only Jim Green and Simon Baker can now overhaul Gaz.
Jim's task is to defeat Adam, while Simon needs a brace of wins over Chris Rogers.
Should both players achieve those objectives Jim would prevail, as his points difference cannot be matched by Simon's.
The Baker-Rogers double header is also the crucial factor at the foot of the table, where Chris needs to win both to thwart Neil's impressive escape.
In Premier Three Purple Simon Blinkhorn defeated Richard Davies, thus rounding off their debut Premier League campaigns.
The tenth round of the Brunel Trophy was played, and Miles Farren's epic undefeated run has come to an end.
Natalie Singh's win means that both she and Miles have one life remaining, so the competition moves on to an unprecedented eleventh round, where the destiny of the title will become clear at last!
Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr with the welcome assistance of James Timoney, was one of the best to date.
Three new players have passed Ian's rigorous vetting process and will be Premier League debutants next year.
Stepping up to the challenge will be Ceri Pierce, Pete Boxer and Mitch Tucker.
24/11/24: Saturday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Gaz Owen scored another Premier One win to keep the pressure on the other three title contenders.
His victim Andy Boysan now needs wins from his final two matches to stand a chance of staying up, and is even then at the mercy of other results.
The other match brought the Premier Three Yellow season to a close, Caroline Boulton defeating James Timoney.
22/11/24: Hazel wins November Speedgammon Grand Prix event, Ian takes title, Hemal promoted
There were nine players in action on Thursday, seven of them to contest the eighth and final session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The seven formed a single round robin group, thus obviating the need for a knockout phase.
Hazel Harper won five of her six matches to win the competition, Ian Tarr shading second place from Steffen Nowak on the head-to-head tie break.
As far as the annual SGP title went, there were two realistic contenders going into the event.
Barry Vasili and Ian were level on points, but Barry took precedence because he had entered one tournament fewer than Ian.
Both players had a potential discard of 40 points, so it was a matter of winning more than two matches during the event for either player to add to their points tallies.
Barry had an unhappy event, losing every match until -- ironically -- beating Ian in their final match.
By that time Ian had already won four times, so the title was his.
At least Barry had the satisfaction of preventing a tournament win for Ian.
For Ian, who also recently won the Bristol Open Speedgammon title, this was the sixth title success in the fourteen year history of the event.
Meanwhile there was an important Premier Two Blue match played online.
And Hemal Getalal's defeat of Warner Solomon clinched the second promotion slot for him at Stephen Little's expense.
21/11/24: Wednesday's league round-up
There were nine league matches played on Wednesday.
Gaz Owen kept his hopes of claiming the Premier One title alive by defeating Simon Baker, who will now need to win both remaining matches to also have a chance.
With four results Premier Two Blue was busiest.
Champion Phil Charlton led his match with Simon Tracy only at the end to complete a season of remarkable consistency.
Chris Hughes began the day needing two wins to stand a chance of survival, but defeats at the hands of Mike Smith and Hazel Harper consigned him to the third tier.
And Jon Organ rounded off his best season yet with a narrow win over Ian Tarr, whose season was statistically his worst ever.
Paul Watts defeated Eamonn Reay, the final result of the Premier Two Red season.
James Timoney scored a Premier Three Yellow victory against already promoted Matt Sharp.
And Scott Wood, with a brace of wins over Dom Verrall, soared to the summit of the Feeder League.
19/11/24: Tuesday's Premier League round-up; Alan wins Purple Division
There were four Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Alan Joicey and Steve Pickard met for their final Premier Three Purple match, which was effectively a play-off for the divisional title.
Alan was the winner, taking the verdict on a sixteen cube, and will now enter the Premier Three play-off drama.
Otherwise the focus was on the lower half of Premier Two Blue.
Mike Smith and Robin Gunney scored valuable wins in their respective bids to escape the drop, Mike defeating Hazel Harper -- whose relegation is now confirmed -- while Robin was beating Simon Tracy.
The crucial matches now involve Chris Hughes.
With Neil Edwards, Rosemary Whitehouse and now Hazel consigned to the drop, Chris currently occupies the fourth relegation slot.
He will probably need to defeat both Mike and Hazel to reach safety.
The evening's other match saw Jon Organ beating Rosemary.
19/11/24: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in competitive action on Monday, although the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans was cancelled, thanks to an injury to the host.
Eleven contested the sixth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Ian Anderson in the group of six and Kev Peters in the group of five.
In AGP leader Gaz Owen's globe trotting absence, Kev has taken over the lead.
There were three league matches played, two of them with particular significance -- both with twists of fate at the death.
Stephen Little led 10-8 against Robin Gunney in a match where victory would have sealed his promotion from Premier Two Blue, but Robin recovered to give himself a real chance of avoiding the drop, while Stephen must now await Hemal Getalal's final match, where a Hemal win would clinch second place.
In Premier Two Red Paul Watts had the clearest of objectives -- win his final two matches to claim the second promotion place at the expense of Michael Corbett.
And he too led 10-8 against Dave Pym before the tables turned.
So Paul misses out, Michael is back in the top flight for the first time since 2009, and Dave -- just like Robin -- now has the chance of preserving his second tier status, with Eamonn Reay the threat.
Meanwhile Fred North and Simon Hughes played their final match of the Premier Three Yellow season, Fred prevailing.
18/11/24: This Monday's clinic cancelled!
This Monday's Ian's Backgammon Clinic is cancelled.
Ian has suffered a pulled calf muscle and will be resting it for a couple of days at least.
Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
17/11/24: Michael goes second at the expense of Michael!
There were two results on Sunday, both in Premier Two Red.
Ben Crowden ended his season with matches against Pearl Foster and Michael Corbett, who were also finishing their campaigns.
Pearl and Michael were the winners.
Pearl's campaign ends in the near certainty of safety in the second tier -- unless Dave Pym wins his final match 11-0, in which case Pearl's fate would depend on a comparison with the record of the fifth bottom player in Premier Two Blue.
Ben is in the bottom four, but all is not yet lost, as a defeat for Dave by a margin wider than 11-9 would elevate Ben to fifth from bottom.
For Michael it's a far more optimistic scenario, as he has pushed Michael Petrakas into third place, and will gain promotion unless Paul Watts can defeat both Dave and Eamonn Reay.
17/11/24: Big win for Jim
There was just one result from Saturday.
And Jim Green's victory over Cecilia Rogers has shortened the odds against him taking the coveted Premier One crown.
Cecilia finishes -- like most of this year's contenders, it seems -- amongst a congested mid table.
But the fourteenth win of Jim's campaign, means that only three are now in a position to overhaul him.
Simon Baker, who has three to play, has the best chance, but will need to score two more wins than Jim can manage in his only remaining match.
Adam Sinclair can surpass Jim's record, but when the two meet in their final match only a whitewash victory would be good enough for Adam, while 11-1 would see them level and facing a play-off.
The other contender is Gaz Owen, who needs to win all three of his outstanding matches while relying on Jim to lose.
Three wins for Simon, however, would eclipse all contenders, no matter what.
15/11/24: Friday's Premier League round-up
There were two Premier League matches played on Friday.
Phil Charlton may already be champion of Premier Two Blue, but there is no let up as he completes his fixtures.
His narrow victory over Ian Tarr stretches his lead to twelve points.
And Steve Pickard's defeat of Mark Dixon moved him to the top of Premier Three Purple.
Steve and second placed Alan Joicey each have one match remaining, and it's the same one.
Whoever wins will take the divisional title.
15/11/24: Steffen wins for the second Thursday running
There were ten players in action on Thursday at the Rainbow Casino, nine of them to contest the eleventh instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series.
Pre-tournament Jon Organ thwarted Stephen Little's attempt to clinch the second Premier Two Blue promotion slot.
After that narrow defeat Stephen can still confirm his elevation by winning his final match.
If he doesn't, Hemal Getalal can leapfrog him with a win in his.
In the tournament Steffen Nowak was the main flight winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Simon Tracy.
Simon had arrived there by getting past Ian Tarr and Stephen.
Steffen is currently on a roll, having won the previous week's GP10 event.
Cynthia Roberts took the consolation flight with wins over Hazel, Barry Vasili and Ian.
Ian's BGP points table lead over second placed Tim Line has reduced to 85 points, with just one tournament remaining.
Only second placed Tim can overhaul Ian, but he will need to win that final tournment to stand a chance.
Steffen must wait to find out whether or not he qualifies for the 2025 Bristol Masters.
13/11/24: Wednesday league action
There were eight league matches played on Wednesday.
In Premier One Adam Sinclair's victory over Stuart Mann kept his slim title chance alive while pushing Stuart perilously close to a first ever relegation.
Meanwhile Phil Charlton is champion of Premier Two Blue with two matches to spare after beating Neil Edwards from 0-7 in arrears.
In the same division Simon Tracy's defeat of Warner Solomon extinguished Warner's chance of claiming the second promotion slot, while Mike Smith's defeat by Rosemary Whitehouse means he is not yet safe from the drop.
In Premier Two Red Paul Watts retained his chance of overhauling second placed Michael Petrakas after his victory over Eamonn Reay while Ben Crowden beat Gerald Whitehouse.
Eamonn and Ben are in the thick of the survival battle.
Mark Dixon can no longer take the Premier Three Purple title after losing to rival Alan Joicey, who is now top.
And Scott Wood beat Dom Verrall in the Feeder League.
12/11/24: Michael beaten, so can only wait
The only result from Tuesday was an important one in Premier Two Red.
Steffen Nowak and Michael Petrakas played out their final match of the season, which had more riding on it for Michael than for Steffen.
Steffen finishes in a respectable top half berth, but the defeat was bad news for Michael, who can now only wait for the closing results of Michael Corbett and Paul Watts, each of whom has the chance to claim the second promotion slot off Michael P.
12/11/24: Nineteen in Monday action; Matt promoted
There were nineteen players in action on Monday, fifteen competitively, including two of the six at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Seven contested the fifth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in a DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Alan Joicey won the group, although Kev Peters was the side pool winner.
Kev has cut the AGP lead of the absent Gaz Owen to sixteen points.
There were five league matches played, plus yet another late reported result from Saturday.
That was Simon Hughes' narrow victory over Fred North in Premier Three Yellow.
And Simon added three more Monday victories, one over already champion Dicky Biddle and a brace against Kylie Hedges, who has just fallen short of promotion after a very creditable season.
Kylie's defeats have confirmed Matt Sharp in that third promotion place, adding to his Feeder League title win last year.
Ben Crabb defeated Simon Blinkhorn in Premier Three Purple.
And at Sportsmans Kev Lee scored a win over Titus Simen in this year's Feeder League.
Also present at Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, were three first timers.
To call Alan Papier a new player is in fact a lie, but his only previous visit came nearly twenty-three years ago!
Bristol Uni student Dan Buchanan arrived for the first time, and if the surname seems familiar, it should.
Dan's father is Blaine Buchanan -- now a Taunton resident -- who was one of the ten founder members of the Bristol Premier League.
Also there was Jacob Milner, a visitor to the area from North Wales.
The seeds have been planted in Jacob's mind regarding starting a group where he lives, something typical of the wider remit of the Clinic.
11/11/24: Matt on the brink after Saturday result revealed
Another hitherto unreported result from Saturday has emerged.
And Matt Sharp's narrow victory over Caroline Boulton has moved him to the brink of claiming the third Premier Three Yellow promotion slot.
10/11/24: Michael stays in contention
There was just one match played on Sunday.
And the result report came hand in hand with another which occurred the day before.
The matches were effectively a slightly spreadeagled Premier Two Red double header.
And Michael Corbett's brace of wins over Ismail Yilmaz ensured that he remains in contention for the division's second promotion slot.
Michael Petrakas is the current incumbent of second place, and he can go a long way towards cementing that place by winning his final match.
In that scenario only a run in of three victories by Paul Watts would threaten him.
But should he lose he would be vulnerable to the challenges of both Paul and Michael C.
10/11/24: Natalie into Brunel Trophy round ten
There were two matches played on Saturday.
The ninth round of the Brunel Trophy saw Reece Hodges pitted against Natalie Singh in the only match of the round, since the competition had only three survivors.
This was a repeat of their round eight meeting, where Natalie won.
And the result was the same this time too.
So Reece is eliminated, finishing third, leaving Natalie and Miles Farren as the last man and woman standing.
And because Miles has two lives remaining and Natalie just the one, the pair will need to meet either once or twice to decide the destiny of the title.
Meanwhile in Premier Three Purple Richard Davies scored a victory over Andrew Cobb.
08/11/24: Steffen wins GP10 tournament
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the ninth of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Steffen Nowak was the main flight winner, defeating Tim Line, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Cynthia Roberts.
Cynthia had arrived in the final via victories over Hazel Harper and Rob Clarke.
Tim took the consolation flight by beating Stephen Little and Steve Morris.
Steffen's win has reduced Ian's GP10 lead to 95 points, and with just one session remaining only a further tournament win with four victories for Steffen can wrest the title from Ian's grasp.
There was also a Premier League match played online.
Cliff Blofield rounded off his Premier Three Yellow season with a win over Caroline Boulton.
06/11/24: Jim misses chance to extend lead
There were three Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
The Pump House played host to a crucial top flight encounter.
Neil Young defeated league leader Jim Green, and while Jim is still top, second placed Simon Baker now has a match in hand.
Neil needed the victory to keep his survival chances alive.
Alan Joicey beat Simon Blinkhorn to join Premier Three Purple leader Steve Pickard on 45 points.
And in Premier Three Yellow Matt Sharp's defeat of Fred North moved him into the promotion bracket at Kylie Hedges' expense.
05/11/24: Hemal keeps slim promotion hopes alive
In the only action on Tuesday Hemal Getalal defeated Chris Hughes in Premier Two Blue.
While Stephen Little remains clear favourite to join Phil Charlton in promotion to the top flight, Hemal can still overhaul him, although he needs all three relevant outstanding results to go his way.
For Chris, however, the priorities are different.
He is still not clear of the spectre of relegation, which could happen either with a bottom four finish or a fifth bottom finish with an inferior statistical record to the equivalent player in Premier Two Red.
05/11/24: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday, thirteen competitively, including two of the four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Nine contested the fourth session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Group winners were Kev Peters in the group of five and Gaz Owen in the group of four.
Gaz has extended his lead in the AGP table to thirty points, with Kev now second.
There were two league matches played.
Steffen Nowak defeated Ismail Yilmaz in Premier Two Red, a result which rules Ismail out of the promotion race.
And at Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, there were four present, two of whom -- Simon Dicken and Titus Simen -- took advantage of the opportunity to play a Feeder League match.
Simon's win moved him to the top of the league, and the race is now on to win enough points to qualify for next year's Bristol Masters.
Ian played some friendly games with Simon Griffiths.
04/11/24: Brighton's Tim Parfitt wins Bristol Open
The eleventh Bristol Open reached its conclusion on Sunday.
Despite the attendance being a little lower than in previous years, the event was a resounding success, thanks to the outstanding Tournament Direction of Tim Line and the assistance of Hazel "Perpetual Motion" Harper. Not to mention the IT side of the operation, undertaken superbly once again by Manchester's Mark Calderbank.
The main prize, the Masters category, went to Brighton's Tim Parfitt, who defeated Julian Minwalla in a close and entertaining final.
Reigning champion Gaz Owen didn't have his best weekend, exiting early, while Bristol's highest finisher was Elias Hamati in equal sixth place.
The Intermediates category saw total domination from the home players, with Reinhold Heinlein, who lives in Fishponds but was totally unknown to our community, taking the title, Alan Joicey second, Phil Doubtfire third, and Steffen Nowak equal fourth.
The Friday Warmup was won by Italy's Walter Busato, with Dan Rovira runner-up. The two finalists had got past Stephen Little and Ian Tarr in the semis.
The Super Jackpot had just nine entrants, and saw Emad Salib defeat Neculai Axinte in the final. Adam Sinclair was a semi-finalist.
Ian won the Speedgammon, albeit with a couple of strokes of good fortune.
The schedule allowed for eight heats, with the winners of each progressing to the grand final.
However there was only time for six, so this meant byes for two of the heat winners, and Ian was one of the lucky two.
Then, having made it to the final, his opponent, Cat Bucur, had to leave for home, so the players agreed a split of the prize money, while Ian took the title by default.
The Tombstone Trophy, for those with no further interest in the two main events come Sunday morning, saw a split between Will Cockerell from the Masters and Phil Tutchings from the Intermediates.
The Consulting Doubles, with 16 pairs, featured team "Chaos", a k a Gerald and Rosemary Whitehouse, who made it to the final.
The DMP shoot out with rebuys saw Warner Solomon defeat himself in the semi-finals before moving on to win the final.
And an emotional Warner was voted "Spirit of the Event".
The winners (Bristol players are in BLOCK CAPITALS):
MASTERS (43 players):
1st: Tim Parfitt; 2nd: Julian Minwalla; 3rd: Chris Jones; 4th=: Sean Jones, Paul King.
Intermediates (30):
1st: REINHOLD HEINLEIN; 2nd: ALAN JOICEY; 3rd: PHIL DOUBTFIRE; 4th=: Aydin Kolcak, STEFFEN NOWAK.
SUPER JACKPOT (9):
1st: Emad Salib; 2nd: Neculai Axinte.
SpeedGammon (48, including rebuys):
1st: IAN TARR; 2nd: Cat Bucur (defaulted).
Friday Warm-up (43):
1st: Walter Busato; 2nd: Dan Rovira; 3rd=: STEPHEN LITTLE, IAN TARR.
Tombstone Trophy (Last Chance) (42):
1st (Masters: 26): Will Cockerell; 2nd: Cat Bucur; 1st (Intermediates: 16): Phil Tutchings; 2nd: Fraya Dravern.
DMP (64, including multiple rebuys) :
1st: WARNER SOLOMON.
"Spirit of the Event": WARNER SOLOMON.
Most match results are browseable at Mark Calderbank's excellent site.
03/11/24: Stephen and Robin closer to sealing their respective fates
Stephen Little and Robin Gunney found the time between Bristol Open involvement to fit in a Premier Two Blue encounter.
And Stephen's win moved him closer to claiming that second promotion slot, while Robin's second tier survival is now looking precarious.
03/11/24: Bristol Open continues: Saturday news
The Bristol Open got into full swing on Saturday.
Notable news from a Bristol perspective:
In the Masters there are no Bristol players in the last eight of the main bracket, but Elias Hamati and Ian Tarr still retain hopes of taking the title via the fighters bracket.
The only two players remaining in the main bracket of the Intermediates are both from Bristol -- one we have known for a long time, Steffen Nowak, and one we were unaware of, Reinhold Heinlein.
One of them will win the main bracket to fight for the title with the fighters bracket winner, where the loser will join Phil Doubtfire and Alan Joicey.
Steffen and Stephen Little are still awaiting their quarter-final of the Friday Warm-up.
The Whitehouses -- Gerald and Rosemary -- have made it to the final of the Consulting Doubles.
And Ian is one win away from reaching the final heat of the Speedgammon.
01/11/24: Bristol Open begins: Friday news
The opening events of the Bristol Open saw a few Bristol players making good progress.
The Friday Warm-up had 43 players participating, and by close of play the field had been reduced to eight.
In the quarter-finals Stephen Little must meet Steffen Nowak, so at least one of our number will get to the last four.
Ian Tarr has also made it to the last eight.
And in the nine player Super Jackpot Adam Sinclair has reached the semi-finals.
Saturday will see the main events -- for Masters and Intermediates -- get well under way.
01/11/24: Bristol Open: the fun starts today
Friday marks the beginning of this year's Bristol Open.
And there's still time, right up to Saturday morning, to get involved in Bristol's biggest event of the year.
Alongside final preparations for the event director Tim Line and his trusty assistant Hazel Harper, there will be some preliminary action on Friday afternoon, with satellites and possibly Speedgammon.
There's the complimentary buffet at 6pm, followed by the traditional warm-up tournament and the start of the Super Jackpot.
And Saturday sees the main events -- for both Masters and Intermediates -- move into full swing.
News will appear here if I get the time between sleeping, eating and playing the great game!
01/11/24: Adam wins GP20 event, Gaz takes the title
There were sixteen players in action on Thursday at the casino to contest the eighth and final instalment of the year's GP20 series.
The field, a handy sixteen, was bolstered by a few visiting players limbering up for the weekend's big event, and there were Bristol Backgammon debuts for Italy's Walter Busato, Melbourne's Pollyanna Whitehouse, Dunbar's Derek Nisbet, and Bridgwater's Rob Clarke.
Adam Sinclair was the main flight winner, defeating Steve Morris, Hazel Harper, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Rosemary Whitehouse.
Rosemary had arrived there via victories over Gerald Whitehouse, Stephen Little and Walter.
The consolation flight saw a rare occurrence in the final, when Gerald and South Molton's Jules Smith reached 5-all before deciding not only to split the prize money but also to call a halt to the match at that score.
This meant foregoing GP20 points, but since the series was drawing to a close and neither player was in contention for honours, Director Ian Tarr decided to waive tradition and not insist upon a proper conclusion.
Gaz Owen was absent -- no doubt in preparation for his title defence over the weekend -- but his GP20 lead of ninety points over second placed Ian remained intact as none of the contenders even for second place was able to alter the top standings.
29/10/24: Ten in Monday action
There were ten players in action on Monday, seven competitively and another three at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Five contested the tenth session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in a 3-point Nackgammon round robin at the Heroes website.
Since players inevitably vote with their feet, there is a distinct possibility that the equivalent November tournament will signal the end of the NGP.
Nick Barham was the group winner, and has moved 25 points ahead of the absent Gaz Owen in the NGP table.
There was just one Premier League match played, and the award for the first Premier League division to complete this season goes to Premier Three Green after Andy Zographou defeated Mandy Macdonald.
At Ian's Backgammon Clinic, hosted by Ian Tarr, Alon Shaltiel made his first visit, and played some enjoyable games with Kev Lee and Ian.
27/10/24: Sunday results round-up
There were three matches played on Sunday, including two in Premier Two Red.
Phil Doubtfire and Ed Turner rounded off their respective campaigns in contrasting styles.
While Phil's late surge has propelled him from mid table to the divisional title, Ed's season has petered out after a very strong start to the season.
And today's results served only to emphasise those trends.
Phil scored his seventh successive victory, denting Ben Crowden's efforts to pull out of relegation trouble.
Whereas Ed was suffering a whitewash in his vital meeting with Michael Petrakas, who has moved into the second promotion slot.
Ed can no longer win the automatic promotion that had seemed even a probability not too long ago, although Michael is still catchable by any of Ismail Yilmaz, Paul Watts or Michael Corbett.
The other match saw the completion of the eighth round of the Brunel Trophy, with Reece Hodges falling to his first defeat in this year's competition against Natalie Singh.
This leaves three players progressing to round nine -- Reece and Natalie with one life apiece, while Miles Farren still retains both of his.
Since all three players have received a single bye, the ninth round bye goes to the player with the best record, so Miles will progress to round ten to face the winner of the Reece-Natalie rematch.
25/10/24: Ian wins October Speedgammon Grand Prix event, but Barry still heads the table
There were just seven players in action on Thursday to contest the seventh session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The seven formed a single round robin group, thus obviating the need for a knockout phase.
Ian Tarr and Tim Line each won five of their six matches, Ian taking first place by virtue of a marginally superior points difference to claim his ninth Thursday tournament win of the year.
But he may well have cause to regret his single match loss.
He and Barry Vasili have been dominating the SGGP season from the start, and only Tim has the slenderest of chances to break into the top two places.
And when Ian lost to Barry by timing out, he effectively forewent the opportunity to take a 30 points lead into November's SGGP finale.
As things now stand, however, the two are level on points, but Barry holds the significant tie-break advantage of having contested one tournament fewer than Ian.
23/10/24: Bristol Open registrations up to eighty
Registrations for this year's Bristol Open have reached eighty.
And with just over a week to go there must be a chance that entries will move into three figures.
23/10/24: Gerald defeats Pearl
The only match reported on Wednesday was a Premier Two Red meeting between Pearl Foster and Gerald Whitehouse.
Gerald, already consigned to relegation, scored the win, which sucks Pearl deeper into the battle to escape the drop.
22/10/24: Eleven in Monday action
There were eleven players in action on Monday.
Nine of those contested the third session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Ian Anderson won the group of five while Gaz Owen did likewise in the group of four.
And Gaz's AGP lead is now up to twenty points.
Meanwhile the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic was quieter than the previous week, with Titus Simen playing some friendly matches against Director Ian Tarr.
20/10/24: Neil wins Irish Open
Four Bristol Premier League players ventured across the water to Dun Laoghaire for the 32nd Irish Open at the weekend.
It's another of those tournaments which professes to be "open", but in fact is only open to the first sixty-four players to sign up.
Nevertheless it holds a proud place as one of the highlights of the backgammon year in these islands.
The main event saw the 64 whittled down by means of a Swiss Format eliminator to Sunday's last sixteen, and all four of our representatives made it that far.
Dicky Biddle and Kev Peters got no further, while Warner Solomon made it to the last eight.
But Neil Young made it all the way to the final where he triumphed over Daniel Lynch to score the greatest title win of his career.
Bristol's successes didn't end there, however.
The Friday Warmup competition saw Kev and Warner reach the final, where Kev prevailed.
Neil follows in the footsteps of two previous Bristol representatives who won the Irish Open title -- John Slattery in 2004, and Stuart Mann in 2020.
19/10/24: Ben can still escape
Things were looking bleak for Ben Crowden in terms of Premier Two Red survival, when he lost twelve of his first sixteen matches.
But Saturday's victory over Pearl Foster was his fourth in succession, and he now has a realistic chance of staying up.
Whereas Pearl, who has been comfortably in mid table for most of the season, has slipped uncomfortably close to the dotted lines.
18/10/24: Ian wins Handicap tournament, but Hazel closes on title
There were just six players in action on Thursday to contest the eighth and penultimate instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
The low turnout prompted a switch to round robin format for the second time this season, although interestingly Director Ian Tarr was the only player to contest both.
And Ian was the tournament winner with four wins from his five matches, edging out Hazel Harper on the points difference tie-break.
Hazel's points tally was enough to extend her HT lead to 60 points, with Ian now in second place.
Taking into account discards, it will take something extraordinary to stop Hazel winning the title.
16/10/24: Gerald defeats Ed
There was just one match played on Wednesday.
And Ed Turner's defeat by Gerald Whitehouse leaves the Premier Two Red promotion door open for four of Ed's pursuers.
One of Ed, Michael Petrakas, Ismail Yilmaz, Paul Watts and just possibly Michael Corbett will be accompanying divisional champion Phil Doubtfire into the top flight.
Meanwhile Gerald's recent run of form has come a little too late to give him a chance of second tier survival.
15/10/24: Tuesday results roundup; Frank promoted
There were three matches played on Tuesday.
Kev Peters suffered defeat in the eighth round of the Brunel Trophy at the hands of the unbeaten Miles Farren.
Miles proceeds to the ninth round, while Kev is eliminated with both lives lost.
Warner Solomon whitewashed Hazel Harper in Premier Two Blue, leaving Hazel with the slimmest of chances to escape relegation.
Warner and Hemal Getalal are now the only players with a realistic chance of overhauling Stephen Little for the second promotion slot, although Stephen can put matters beyond doubt with two wins from his final three matches.
And the exciting finale of the Premier Three Green promotion race ended when Barry Vasili's last ditch effort to overtake Frank Jones for the third place foundered on defeat by the already promoted Ian Anderson.
15/10/24: Twenty-one in Monday action
There were twenty-one players in action on Monday.
Ten of those contested the second session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in a single DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Gaz Owen and Nick Barham finished first and second, separated only by PR.
And Gaz has opened up a twelve point lead in the AGP table.
Meanwhile the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic was the busiest yet, with eleven players enjoying some action, which included two Feeder League matches -- Dom Verrall winning both, at the expense of Aditya Narayanan and Titus Simen.
And there was a crucial Premier Two Blue meeting online, where Warner Solomon's defeat of Hemal Getalal keeps Warner in promotion contention while denting Hemal's chances.
11/10/24: Chris wins October BGP event
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday, eleven of them to contest the tenth instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series at the Rainbow Casino.
Chris Rogers was the main flight winner, defeating Steffen Nowak, Steve Morris and -- in the final -- Yuri Cherkasenko.
Yuri had arrived there by getting past Gaz Owen and Tim Line.
Ian Tarr took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia Roberts, Hazel Harper and Steffen.
Ian's BGP points table lead over second placed Tim Line holds firm at exactly 100 points, with two tournaments remaining.
One Premier League match was played.
In Premier Two Blue Warner Solomon defeated Neil Edwards.
09/10/24: Barry sets up dramatic finale
There were two Premier League match played on Tuesday.
Ben Crowden defeated Dave Pym in Premier Two Red, and can still escape the drop.
Dave, however, now needs to win his final match to stand a chance of staying up.
Frank Jones had the opportunity to clinch the third promotion place in Premier Three Green.
Victory over Barry Vasili or even a narrow defeat would have done it for him.
Barry's 11-5 success, however, has given him the chance to overtake Frank at the death.
A win by 11-9 or better over the already promoted Ian Anderson in their final match would see Barry take that vital third place.
08/10/24: Seventeen in Monday action
There were seventeen players in action on Monday.
Twelve of those contested the opening session of our Monday Autumn Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into two groups of six, the winners were Gaz Owen and Adam Sinclair, who jointly take the early lead in the AGP table.
And the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic was attended by five players, who enjoyed some thought provoking action.
04/10/24: Ian wins GP10 tournament
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, nine of them to contest the eighth of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Ian Tarr was the main flight winner, defeating Cynthia Roberts, Barry Vasili and Steve Morris, who had arrived in the final via victories over Nick Barham and Steffen Nowak.
Tim Line took the consolation flight by beating Yashar Habibi and Cynthia.
Ian's GP10 lead has increased to 115 points, with Tim in second place.
There was also a Premier League match played online.
Richard Owsley rounded off his Premier Two Blue season with a win against Neil Edwards.
02/10/24: Matt still on track
In the only Premier League match played on Wednesday, Matt Sharp defeated Cliff Blofield.
The result keeps Matt on course for promotion from Premier Three Yellow.
01/10/24: Adam clings on to outside chance
In the only Premier League match played on Tuesday, Adam Sinclair defeated Natalie Singh.
The result keeps Adam in the Premier One title race, albeit with only an outside chance.
For Natalie it was the end of her first season in the top flight, which she has come through well with a mid table finish.
01/10/24: Five penalised at the September 30th checkpoint
The September 30th Premier League checkpoint has passed and there were five players penalised.
This particular checkpoint is the last at which a player can be expunged from the league, and thankfully all players avoided that fate.
In Premier Three Yellow Simon Hughes failed to claw back the three penalty points he incurred at the July checkpoint and incurred two more this time.
Matt Sharp incurred a single point penalty.
Others to incur fresh penalties -- all of which can be clawed back by finishing the season on time -- were Ben Crowden (three points in Premier Two Red), Warner Solomon and Neil Edwards (two and one points respectively in Premier Two Blue).
All five players have incurred permanent penalties to their points difference, a special feature of this final checkpoint of the season.
01/10/24: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, seven competitively and another seven at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Five contested the ninth session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in a 3-point Nackgammon round robin at the Heroes website.
Nick Barham was the group winner, gaining enough points to edge ahead of the absent Gaz Owen in the NGP table.
There was just one Premier League match played, a Premier Two Red encounter between Steffen Nowak and Paul Watts.
Steffen's promotion challenge has evaporated in recent weeks, but his win has diminished Paul's chances of elevation to the top flight.
At Ian's Backgammon Clinic hosted by Ian Tarr, Ceri Pierce and Alex made their first visits, while Ben Crabb, Titus Simen, Kev Lee and Chris Lewis also enjoyed some friendly action.
29/09/24: Sunday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Mike Smith defeated Simon Tracy in Premier Two Blue.
That result diminished Simon's slim promotion chances, but also condemned Rosemary Whitehouse and Neil Edwards to relegation.
Alan Joicey's win against Richard Davies keeps him well and truly in contention for the Premier Three Purple championship, especially as he still has to meet the other two contenders.
And in Premier Three Yellow Caroline Boulton played twice, beating James Timoney before succumbing to Fred North.
29/07/24: Brunel Trophy eighth round draw made
The draw for the eighth round of the eleventh incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Tuesday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The initial field of fifty-eight is now down to just four after four fell by the wayside during round seven.
Both ties match unbeaten players with "single lifers", so there could be two, three or four players surviving to round nine.
Matches are to be played by November 3rd.
The full draw can be found here.
28/09/24: Nick's defeat means he must sit and wait
In the only match on Saturday Andy Boysan defeated Nick Barham in Premier One.
It was the final match of Nick's campaign, and as he has lost thirteen times he is in danger of being sucked into the bottom four as the remaining results come in.
Andy remains bottom of the league, and is in similar peril, needing a minimum of two victories from his three outstanding matches to stay up.
28/09/24: Hemal's double success omitted and Phil's promotion overlooked
A clerical error at Bristol Backgammon HQ resulted in the omission of two results from last Monday.
Hemal Getalal and Mike Smith played a Premier Two Blue double header, and Hemal prevailed twice.
This news makes the promotion battle in that division a little clearer, and apart from slim chances for Simon Tracy, Warner Solomon and Jon Organ, it looks like a two horse race for the second promotion slot between Stephen Little and Hemal.
At which point it should have been noted that Mike's defeats finally rubber stamped what has appeared inevitable for months -- Phil Charlton's elevation to the top flight after an absence of four seasons.
27/09/24: Friday's Premier League action
There were five Premier League matches played on Friday.
Jim Green caught up on a couple of Premier One fixtures with a defeat at the hands of Natalie Singh followed by victory over Neil Young.
Neil thus hits what must -- in this most closely contested season -- be regarded as the danger zone of thirteen defeats, leaving him needing nothing less than a winning run in to have a chance of survival.
In contrast Natalie's win sees her into the "safe haven" of twelve wins.
Jim goes top and, barring something extraordinary, it now looks like a straight fight between him and Simon Baker for the title.
Jon Organ dented Simon Tracy's Premier Two Blue promotion charge.
Alan Joicey has finally clinched a return to the second tier with his Premier Three Purple win over Cynthia Roberts.
And in Premier Three Yellow Simon Hughes avenged the previous day's defeat by James Timoney.
27/08/24: Dicky, en route to Italy, wins GP20 event
There were eighteen players in action last Thursday at the casino to contest the seventh and penultimate instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Among the field were Dicky Biddle, en route to a backgammon holiday in Italy, and welcome debut player Yashar Habibi.
And Dicky was the main flight winner, defeating Hazel Harper, Stephen Little and -- in the final -- Steffen Nowak, after receiving a first round bye.
Steffen had arrived there via victories over Steve Morris and Tim Line.
Steve took the consolation flight by beating Barry Vasili and Ian Tarr.
The absent Gaz Owen had his GP20 lead cut to 90 points by Ian who, with just one session remaining, is the only player within striking distance, albeit remotely.
There was also Premier League action, with six matches played.
Stephen defeated Ian pre-tournament, and is now close to claiming the second Premier Two Blue promotion slot.
Hemal Getalal, now arguably Stephen's greatest rival for that slot, beat Richard Owsley, improving his already impressive points difference in the process.
Robin Gunney enhanced his chances of avoiding the drop with a double over Mike Smith.
In Premier Two Red Michael Petrakas suffered a whitewash at the hands of promotion rival Paul Watts.
And James Timoney beat Simon Hughes in Premier Three Yellow.
25/09/24: Wednesday's results round-up
There were eight matches played on Wednesday.
The fourth and last of the seventh round Brunel Trophy ties saw a narrow victory for Natalie Singh over Neil Young.
Neil is eliminated, while Natalie joins Miles Farren, Reece Hodges and Kev Peters in round eight, where Miles and Reece hold the advantage of having both of their lives intact.
Jim Green met Kev in a Premier One double header at the Globe.
Kev cancelled out Jim's opening win and has a great chance of avoiding the drop, something which looked like a tall order early in the season when he suffered eight successive defeats.
Jim's title chances remain good as he closes on leader Simon Baker.
Michael Petrakas's Premier Two Red promotion campaign was boosted by defeating Steffen Nowak.
He is three points behind second placed Ed Turner with a match in hand and a superior points difference.
The two also have an outstanding encounter on the run in.
In the same division Mathew Nicholls, already relegated, ended the season in defeat to Eamonn Reay, having undergone a traumatic end of season run of defeats.
Gerald Whitehouse had his relegation rubber-stamped by Dave Pym's Monday win, while Eamonn can still escape the drop.
Matt Sharp's bid to oust Kylie Hedges from the third promotion slot in Premier Three Yellow was dented by a loss to Simon Hughes.
And in Premier Three Purple Simon Blinkhorn preserved his minuscule chance of beating Alan Joicey to the third promotion slot by scoring a double success over Andrew Cobb.
24/09/24: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Jim Green's Premier One title campaign hit a snag when he was defeated by Cecilia Rogers, although he still has his fate in his own hands.
And in Premier Three Purple there were wins for Alan Joicey and Cynthia Roberts over Andrew Cobb and Richard Davies.
Alan is close to confirming promotion, as only a miraculous run of results in favour of Simon Blinkhorn can thwart him.
24/09/24: Twenty-seven in Monday action
There were at least twenty-seven players in action on Monday.
Thirteen of those contested the tenth and final session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters won the group of seven, while Chris Hughes took the honours in the group of six.
Kev had already won the SGP, so this latest success only served to emphasise his dominance.
There was also league action, with nine matches played.
Michael Petrakas and Paul Watts, both in with a chance of claiming the second promotion slot in Premier Two Red, met.
And Paul prevailed, leaving Ed Turner as the new favourite to move up with the already promoted Phil Doubtfire.
In the same division Dave Pym scored a much needed win over Steffen Nowak.
Dicky Biddle's Premier Three Yellow win over Simon Hughes sees him on the brink of claiming the divisional title, as only a miraculous set of results could see Matt Sharp depriving him of the honour.
And Marcel Bancroft completed her Premier Three Green season with a double success over Mandy Macdonald at the Globe, Newton St Loe.
And the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, was dominated by a plethora of Feeder League matches, although there was other "educative" action.
Leader Julian Tucker and second placed Simon Dicken consolidated their positions with wins, while Titus Simen and Kev Lee suffered mixed fortunes, as Aditya Narayanan fell to two defeats.
24/09/24: Ben beat Dave on September 16th
A previously unreported Premier Two Red result from September 16th has come to light.
This was a win for Ben Crowden over Dave Pym.
22/09/24: Phil clinches promotion
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.
And Phil Doubtfire's Premier Two Red victory over Michael Corbett means he will be playing Premier One backgammon next year.
The three points have moved him out of range for all bar Michael Petrakas and Paul Watts, but since they still have to meet twice only one of them can do it.
Meanwhile Cecilia Rogers has moved closer to safety in the top flight with her win over Andy Boysan, whose position now looks precarious.
And in Premier Three Green Barry Vasili kept his chance of overhauling third placed Frank Jones alive with a narrow victory over Flora von Michel.
22/09/24: Simon and Jim converting possibilities into reality
There were six Premier League matches played on Saturday, five of them in the top flight.
The Premier One season has thus far been the closest ever, with all contenders beating one another to the extent that the various issues at the top and bottom of the table are in an exciting state of flux.
Two players, however, have been so far behind with their fixtures that they were threatening to take the league by the scruff of the neck, assuming they could catch up and avoid penalty points.
Jim Green and Simon Baker have had -- percentage wise -- the best records of all.
But matches in hand cannot be counted as points won, especially in the cauldron of possibly the most competitive league in the world.
Yesterday, however, both players began to convert those possibilities into reality, especially Simon.
He played two double headers and registered three wins to storm to the top of the table, sharing the spoils with Cecilia Rogers before getting the double over Nick Barham.
He can now put the title out of reach of all bar one of the other contenders by winning his final three matches.
That one, of course, is Jim, whose victory yesterday over Andy Boysan kept him well on track, standing two wins behind Simon with five matches in hand and a superior points difference.
Simon's surge has now ruled the title out for at least five others, but the situation at the foot of the table is just as intriguing.
As things stand, the bottom four positions are filled by a mind-blowing array of talent, and you just know that the run in will provide more twists and turns.
Not forgetting, of course, that the top six places in the division are qualification slots for the 2025 UK Champions League, so for all players there's plenty to play for.
The other match played yesterday was between two major contenders for promotion from Premier Two Red.
And Michael Petrakas's emphatic victory over Ed Turner moves him right into contention, although not quite as much as he might have expected, as the modest Ed has just reported a Friday win over Steffen Nowak.
Please, PLEASE, everyone: report results before bedtime on the same day..... Thank you ;-)
20/09/24: Kylie exits Brunel Trophy
There were two matches played on Friday.
Kylie Hedges' outstanding run in the Brunel Trophy is over.
Her defeat by Kev Peters means she finishes equal fifth in a competition which began with 58 players.
Kev, with one life remaining, progresses to the eighth round as one of just four survivors.
And in Premier Three Yellow Fred North defeated James Timoney.
20/09/24: Barry retakes Speedgammon Grand Prix lead
There were nineteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them taking part in the sixth session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The eight formed two round robin groups of four, which saw group wins for Ian Tarr and Hazel Harper.
Ian and Hazel progressed to the knock-out phase, along with group second placers Simon Tracy and Barry Vasili.
Ian and Barry won their semi-finals, and it was Barry who won the final.
All season long Ian and Barry have been leapfrogging one another at the top of the SGGP table, and now it's Barry's turn, with a fifteen points lead plus a more advantageous next discard.
There was also Premier League action in Premier Two and Premier Three, with eight results reported.
Stephen's pre-tournament win over consolidates his second place in Premier Two Blue, where there were online victories for Richard Owsley, Ian and Hemal Getalal, their respective victims being Neil Edwards, Richard and Rosemary Whitehouse/
For Neil and Rosemary their tier two survival is now looking tenuous at best.
In Premier Two Red Ed Turner arrested his recent run of defeats against Eamonn Reay and is still well placed for promotion, Michael Petrakas being arguably his greatest threat.
Simon Hughes is back in Premier Three Yellow action, playing a double header against Cliff Blofield.
Cliff won both, however, and Simon's slim chance of affecting the promotion race has now disappeared.
And in Premier Three Purple Ben Crabb scored his third successive win, Andrew Cobb his victim.
18/09/24: Wednesday's league results round-up
Twenty-one players were in league action on Wednesday, playing a total of thirteen matches.
Contenders for the honours in Premier One keep pegging one another back.
Jim Green and Simon Baker are behind with their matches, but both have a big chance to stake their title claims on the run in.
Today's match saw Nick Barham defeat Gaz Owen.
The busiest division was Premier Two Blue, where six results were recorded.
Leader Phil Charlton is close to guaranteeing not only a return to the top flight after a gap of four seasons, but also the divisional title after his latest success, against Simon Tracy.
Only second placed Stephen Little and ninth placed Mike Smith have a mathematical chance of catching Phil.
The defeat was a blow to Simon's promotion hopes, but he remains well in contention.
Robin Gunney and Chris Hughes sharing the spoils of their double header left both wanting, with Chris's promotion chances dwindling, along with Robin's survival hopes.
Another to win one and lose one was Rosemary Whitehouse who, along with bottom placed Neil Edwards, is running out of matches to secure her Premier Two status.
Hazel Harper is similarly challenged, after losing to Ian Tarr.
Ian, along with Rosemary's victim Warner Solomon, is struggling to stay with the promotion contenders.
In the parallel Red Division Gerald Whitehouse's win over Steffen Nowak at least kept his survival hopes hanging by a mere thread, while Steffen now has a lot to do to challenge the promotion contenders.
Frank Jones scored what may be a crucial win over Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green, as only Barry Vasili can now deprive him of the third promotion slot.
Fred North's chance of automatic promotion from Premier Three Yellow disappeared when he was whitewashed by Matt Sharp, who can now be considered the favourite to pip Kylie Hedges for the crucial third spot.
Meanwhile Ben Crabb had his best league day yet, when he scored a brace of Premier Three Purple wins, at the expense of Richard Davies and Simon Blinkhorn.
And the Feeder League has a new leader after Julian Tucker's victory over Dom Verrall.
18/09/24: The Bristol Open is on!
The Bristol Backgammon Open is back!
Directed again by Tim Line, you are urged to visit the link in the previous sentence on a regular basis, as the full details will emerge over the coming days/weeks.
Meanwhile, Friday November 1st, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd are dates for your diary.
It's your chance to experience a top international tournament on your very own doorstep.
17/09/24: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Andy Boysan continued his bid to extricate himself from Premier One relegation trouble by beating Chris Rogers at the Lock Keeper.
And Rosemary Whitehouse suffered mixed fortunes in Premier Two Blue, losing to Chris Hughes before defeating Ian Tarr.
17/09/24: At least twenty-four in Monday action; Kev takes Summer Grand Prix title
There were at least twenty-four players in action on Monday, although it was hard to keep count.
Eight of those contested the ninth and penultimate session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in a 3-point round robin at the Heroes website.
Ian Anderson was the group winner, while second placed Kev Peters, already well ahead in the SGP table, garnered enough points to make sure of the title with one session to spare.
There was also league action, with seven matches played.
Andy Boysan defeated Stuart Mann in Premier One, where it's likely that all issues at top and bottom will go to the wire, the way the table appears at the moment.
Stephen Little moved into second place in Premier Two Blue with a victory over Rosemary Whitehouse.
In Premier Three Green the top two, the already promoted Ian Hedges and Ian Anderson, shared the spoils of a double header, Ian H finishing his season with a very creditable 21:3 win:loss ratio.
In the same division Barry Vasili kept alive his slim chance of grabbing the third promotion slot, when he visited Marcel Bancroft, whose even slimmer chance has now disappeared with that defeat.
Barry's subsequent visit to Mandy Macdonald, however, was not so successful, and he now needs nothing less than three wins from his three remaining matches.
And at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, Director Ian Tarr had a busy evening.
As well as hosting visiting Sydney player Steve Clarry, pictured here with Ian and a few of Simon Dicken's MeetUp friends, there were several others present, some more interested in the backgammon than others.
Two of them -- Simon and Titus Simen -- played a Feeder League match, Titus gaining his first league win at the expense of the leader.
15/09/24: Sunday's Premier Three round-up
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday, both of them in the third tier.
Marcel Bancroft defeated Andy Zographou in Premier Three Green.
And Richard Davies pipped Ben Crabb in Premier Three Purple.
14/09/24: Saturday win for Caroline
There was just one Premier League match played on Saturday.
And Caroline Boulton made it three wins in five days when she defeated Matt Sharp in Premier Three Yellow.
14/09/24: Friday's Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier Three Green Ian Hedges, already confirmed as champion, defeated Mandy Macdonald and is now sure of a bye to the final of the three way Premier Three championship play-offs.
Ben Crowden beat Paul Watts in Premier Two Red.
And Caroline Boulton overcame Cliff Blofield in Premier Three Yellow.
13/09/24: Dicky and Ann promoted; Ian wins September BGP event
There were fourteen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the ninth instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series at the Rainbow Casino.
Ian Tarr -- for the third time in four months -- was the main flight winner, defeating Stephen Little, Hazel Harper and -- in the final -- Dom Verrall.
Dom had arrived there by getting past Nick Barham and Steve Morris.
Nick took the consolation flight with wins over Stephen and Barry Vasili.
Ian's BGP points table lead over second placed Tim Line has increased to exactly 100 points.
Four Premier League matches were played.
And two promotions from Premier Three Yellow were confirmed.
Kylie Hedges was the unwilling catalyst for both.
Her defeat at the hands of Dicky Biddle ensured that Dicky could not finish below Ann Pocknell.
And her next defeat -- by Fred North -- made it impossible for Kylie to pass Ann.
Kylie still sits third, but Matt Sharp, threatening in fourth fourth place, is now favourite to overhaul her for the final promotion place, although both Fred and the distant Simon Hughes also have the slimmest of chances to intervene.
Meanwhile, in the closest and most enthralling Premier One race ever, there were wins for Natalie Singh over Neil Young and Stuart Mann over Nick.
11/09/24: Wednesday's Premier League round-up
There were four Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
The various races in Premier One are no closer to resolution after the bottom two scored much needed wins.
Neil Young beat Adam Sinclair and Andy Boysan beat Stuart Mann.
Richard Owsley won his Premier Two Blue match with Hemal Getalal.
And Mark Dixon moved closer to Premier Three Purple leader Steve Pickard when he defeated Simon Blinkhorn.
Mark thus joins Steve in next season's Premier Two.
10/09/24: Tuesday's Premier League round-up
There were seven Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
In Premier One leader Tim Line lost narrowly to Nick Barham, and effectively saw his slim title chance disappear, while Andy Boysan and Adam Sinclair shared the spoils of a double header.
Hazel Harper defeated Neil Edwards in Premier Two Blue, a result which gives Hazel hope of survival while leaving Neil's chances hanging by a thread.
Gary Plant played his final match of the season in Premier Three Green, losing to already promoted Ian Anderson.
Gary can only sit and wait to find out whether he can hang on to the third promotion slot.
Frank Jones has given himself a great opportunity to overhaul Gary, having beaten Mandy Macdonald.
Barry Vasili has a slim chance to claim third place, while Marcel Bancroft will need a miracle.
And Caroline Boulton ended a debilitating run of defeats against Cliff Blofield in Premier Three Yellow.
10/09/24: Twenty-six in Monday action
There were twenty-six players in action on Monday.
Nine of those contested the eighth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in a DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters was the group winner, as he has been five times in seven SGP outings, and with just two sessions remaining, it's difficult to imagine how anyone can bridge the gap of thirty-nine points to his leading pursuers.
There was also Premier League action, with six matches played online.
Stuart Mann grabbed a much needed Premier One win over Natalie Singh.
Winners in Premier Two Blue were Ian Tarr, Robin Gunney and Jon Organ, their respective victims Simon Tracy, Neil Edwards and Hemal Getalal.
Premier Three Purple leader Steve Pickard defeated Ben Crabb, a win which conforms his promotion to Premier Two.
And in Premier Three Yellow Fred North beat James Timoney.
And at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, Director Ian Tarr hosted four players of varying standards.
08/09/24: Sunday's Premier League action
There were six matches played on Sunday.
Neil Young visited Cecilia Rogers in Chippenham and came away with a much needed Premier One victory.
Premier Two Red saw the lion's share of the action, with four matches completed.
Phil Doubtfire's win against Dave Pym and Ed Turner's defeat to Eamonn Reay have established Phil as the title favourite.
But the day's biggest mover was Ismail Yilmaz, whose wins over Pearl Foster and Gerald Whitehouse have elevated him to third place.
Gerald almost certainly needs to win his final four matches to avoid relegation.
And Dicky Biddle closed to within three points of Premier Three Yellow leader Ann Pocknell when he defeated James Timoney.
07/09/24: Cecilia out of bottom four
The only action on Saturday was in Premier One.
And Cecilia Rogers' victory over Adam Sinclair moved her out of the bottom four.
For Adam, the defeat means it's an ever growing mystery how the top of the league will pan out this season, with so many players still in contention, even some of those currently in the bottom half of the table.
06/09/24: Friday's Premier Three round-up
The only two Premier League matches played on Friday were in Premier Three.
In Premier Three Green Ian Anderson has finally clinched the runner-up spot, having beaten Gary Plant.
Gary is still favourite to hang on to the third promotion slot, however.
Although there are four players who have a mathematical chance to overhaul him, two of those would be thwarted if Gary were to win his final match.
Ben Crabb scored a Premier Three Purple victory over Alan Joicey.
Alan remains odds on to clinch one of the promotion slots, however.
06/09/24: Tom wins Handicap tournament; Ian Hedges is Green Division champion
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, ten of them to contest the seventh instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
And Tom Chapman was the tournament winner, defeating Steve Morris, Ian Tarr and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Tom's first appearance at one of our events was just over thirteen years ago, but this was the first time, being a "semi-regular" player, that he had taken a tournament main flight title, a true demonstration of the value of handicap events in particular.
Nick Barham took the consolation flight by getting past the respective challenges of Barry Vasili, Steve and Cynthia Roberts.
HT leader Hazel Harper managed to extend her lead to 30 points despite having a disappointing evening.
There were also six Premier League matches played.
At the Pump House Premier One leader Tim Line shared the spoils of a double header with Neil Young, while Gaz Owen was beating Jim Green at the Naval Volunteer.
In the top flight's most open season for a very long time Jim, with matches in hand over his rivals, still has things in his own hands despite faltering a little recently.
Of the rest of the field Adam Sinclair and Simon Baker are well placed, as are Tim and Gaz.
Pre-tournament Stephen defeated Hazel to move into second place in Premier Two Blue, while online Richard Owsley edged out Chris Hughes.
And Ian Anderson's defeat at the hands of Gary Plant meant that Ian Hedges is confirmed as Premier Three Green champion.
Ian A will surely soon be confirmed as runner-up, while Gary is in pole position to claim the third promotion slot.
04/09/24: Wednesday's league round-up
There were two Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Premier Two Red leader Phil Doubtfire defeated Eamonn Reay to consolidate his ascendancy.
And Gary Plant defeated Flora von Michel in Premier Three Green to go third.
Flora now needs to win her final match to stand any chance of automatic promotion.
Gary has just a trio of matches against second placed Ian Anderson remaining.
03/09/24: Tuesday's results round-up
There were six matches played on Tuesday.
Miles Farren has dubbed himself "Harry Houdini" after his latest Brunel Trophy triumph.
After a succession of last ditch fightbacks he remains unbeaten in this year's competition.
His latest victim was Mark Dixon who had led 10-5 before the inevitable happened.
Miles joins Reece Hodges in round eight, where both players have two lives remaining.
The other two seventh round encounters will be sudden death affairs, which will leave just four players in the round eight draw.
In Premier One Stuart Mann suffered a rare whitewash against Nick Barham, as the race for top flight survival hots up.
No such worries for Phil Charlton, whose serene Premier Two Blue progress continued with victory over Hazel Harper.
Nothing is decided yet in that division, but Phil's eighteen points lead should stand him in good stead as the race unfolds.
And Ian Anderson, who defeated Andy Zographou today, needs just one more win to be absolutely sure of promotion from Premier Three Green.
Two of those who have a mathematical chance to overhaul Ian -- Flora von Michel and Gary Plant -- shared the spoils of a double header.
On the assumption that Ian will join the already promoted Ian Hedges in Premier Two, the race for third place is wide open.
Although Gary, Flora and Frank Jones are best placed to succeed, they are not the only ones in with a ghost of a chance.
03/09/24: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday.
Nine of those contested the seventh session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into groups of five and four, Simon Tracy and Kev Peters were the group winners, although Nick Barham won the optional side pool in Simon's group.
With three sessions remaining, Kev has stretched his already imposing SGP lead to 32 points.
There was also Premier League action, with two matches played online.
Chris Rogers moved a step closer to securing his top flight status for another season when he defeated Natalie Singh.
Ismail Yilmaz beat Eamonn Reay in Premier Two Red.
And at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, Director Ian Tarr played some friendly matches with the steadily improving Simon Dicken.
01/09/24: Phil tops Red Division
In Sunday's only Premier League action Phil Doubtfire defeated Ed Turner to go top of Premier Two Red at Ed's expense.
31/08/24: Dicky out of Brunel Trophy
Saturday's only action was an online seventh round Brunel Trophy match.
Reece Hodges defeated Dicky Biddle and retains both of his lives, while Dicky's Brunel run is over.
30/08/24: Ian one step from Green Division championship
Friday's only Premier League action was a Premier Three Green match at Grounded, Bedminster.
And Ian Hedges' win over Mandy Macdonald means that if any of the eight remaining matches involving either Ian or Ian Anderson or both should go in favour of Ian H or to the detriment of Ian A, Ian H will be Green Division champion.
30/08/24: Stephen wins GP10 tournament
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, six of them to contest the seventh of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
The low turnout dictated a switch to round robin format, with each player playing five 5-point matches.
Stephen Little took the honours with a clean sweep of five victories, with Nick Barham in second place.
Stephen has reduced Ian Tarr's GP10 lead to 60 points.
Online there was some Premier League action.
Phil Charlton took another step towards the top flight with a whitewash win over Richard Owsley in Premier Two Blue.
In Premier Two Red Michael Petrakas stepped up his promotion bid by defeating Dave Pym.
And Matt Sharp stayed in contention for promotion from Premier Three Yellow by beating Cliff Blofield.
28/08/24: Hemal wins on Wednesday
There was just one Premier League match played on Wednesday.
Hemal Getalal defeated Hazel Harper in Premier Two Blue.
27/08/24: Tuesday win for Nick
There was just one Premier League match played on Tuesday.
Nick Barham defeated Premier One leader Tim Line.
27/07/24: Brunel Trophy seventh round draw made
The draw for the seventh round of the eleventh incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Tuesday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The initial field of fifty-eight is now down to just eight after five fell by the wayside during round six.
Two of the ties match unbeaten players with "single lifers", while the other two will effectively be sudden death affairs.
Matches are to be played by September 29th.
The full draw can be found here.
27/08/24: Chris won Thursday's GP20 event
There were fourteen players in action last Thursday at the casino to contest the sixth instalment of the year's GP20 series.
Hazel Harper stood in for Director Ian Tarr to ensure that things went smoothly.
The field included two Bristol Backgammon debut players -- Irem Azak, in her first ever tournament, and Damon Dennis, accompanying the Whitehouses en route from the deep South West towards the weekend's UK Open.
And Chris Rogers was the main flight winner, defeating Nick Barham, Umut Bilge, Gerald Whitehouse and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had arrived there via victories over Gaz Owen, Steffen Nowak and Irem.
Rosemary Whitehouse took the consolation flight by beating Damon, Ian Hedges and Tom Chapman.
While Gaz drew a total blank on the night, he still managed to extend his GP20 lead by ten points in the absence of second placed Ian Tarr.
26/08/24: Monday's Nackgammon cancelled due to lack of support
The eighth session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix failed to attract the necessary numbers for a viable tournament, so had to be cancelled.
Nackgammon is often a little less well supported than our other Monday offerings, and the absence of some likely participants at the UK Open undoubtedly exacerbated the situation.
Only Cynthia Roberts and Kev Peters put their names forward, so Director Ian Tarr had little alternative but to cancel the session.
He was occupied at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, however, where two potential new players -- Chris Lewis and Will Chadwick -- got some games in.
26/08/24: Last Thursday's league round-up
There were three matches played last Thursday.
Premier One leader Tim Line was defeated by Gaz Owen in a match which began at the Watershed before being completed at the casino.
Phil Charlton's Premier Two Blue victory over Warner Solomon ensured that one of his closest promotion rivals was kept securely at bay.
And in the Feeder League Scott Wood got his campaign under way by beating Julian Tucker.
21/08/24: Wednesday Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Premier Two Red leader Ed Turner succumbed to Gerald Whitehouse.
Richard Owsley scored a Premier Two Blue win over Ian Tarr.
And in Premier Three Green Frank Jones defeated Andy Zographou.
20/08/24: Tuesday win for Marcel
There was just one Premier League match played on Tuesday.
Marcel Bancroft defeated Flora von Michel in Premier Three Green.
20/08/24: Twelve in Monday action
There were twelve players in action on Monday.
Nine of those contested the sixth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into groups of five and four, Gaz Owen and Kev Peters were the group winners.
With Ian Anderson absent, Kev has stretched his SGP lead to 22 points.
And at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, Director Ian Tarr hosted Scott Wood and a welcome first-timer, Sylvain Drouhot.
18/08/24: Saturday's results round-up
There were two matches played on Saturday.
Adam Sinclair moved up to second place in Premier One by defeating Neil Young.
And Mark Dixon completed the seventh round line-up for the Brunel Trophy by eliminating Warner Solomon.
16/08/24: Pearl's double relegates Mathew
Friday's action was in Premier Two Red.
A brace of wins for Pearl Foster over Mathew Nicholls has consigned Mathew to a relegation slot, as he only has one match remaining and cannot escape the bottom four.
16/08/24: Umut wins again
There were nine players in action on Thursday, eight of them taking part in the fifth session of the year's Speedgammon Grand Prix at the Rainbow Casino.
The eight formed two round robin groups of four, which saw group wins for Umut Bilge and Cynthia Roberts.
Umut and Cynthia progressed to the knock-out phase, along with group second placers Andy Zographou and Tim Line, who pipped Ian Tarr on points difference.
Umut and Tim each won their semi-final at DMP, and it was Umut who won the final.
He has now contested eight Thursday tournaments, winning the three most recent and being runner-up in four of the other five!
Ian has moved ahead of the absent Barry Vasili at the head of the SGGP table, but third placed Umut looks a threat, having only contested three of the five tournaments so far this year.
There was also Premier League action online, where Nick Barham won a Premier One clash againt Natalie Singh.
14/08/24: Gaz out of bottom four
Wednesday's only action was at Loaf Bakery, Wells, where Gaz Owen whitewashed Natalie Singh.
The result lifted Gaz out of the bottom four of Premier One at Stuart Mann's expense.
13/08/24: Tuesday's results round-up
There were four matches played on Tuesday.
Kev Peters won a sixth round Brunel Trophy encounter with Richard Owsley, eliminating Richard while moving on to round seven with a single life remaining.
Winners in Premier Two Red were Gerald Whitehouse and Paul Watts, over Dave Pym and Michael Corbett.
And in Premier Three Green Flora von Michel moved back into the top three by defeating Marcel Bancroft.
13/08/24: Fifteen in Monday action
There were fifteen players in action on Monday.
Nine of those contested the fifth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in a DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Andrew Montgomery, with seven wins out of eight, was the group winner.
Kev Peters has edged ahead of Ian Anderson at the top of the SGP.
There was also a Premier Two Red match played, Dave Pym defeating Michael Corbett.
And at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic three players dropped in, Simon Dicken and Julian Tucker playing a Feeder League match, which Simon won, while Scott Wood played some friendly matches with Ian Tarr.
11/08/24: Wednesday tournaments discontinued
After the recent dwindling of numbers of participants at our Wednesday Heroes tournaments, it has been decided that they should be discontinued with immediate effect.
The online scene -- which is still essential for our Monday short format tournaments and our leagues -- kept Bristol Backgammon alive during the pandemic, with Wednesday numbers often in the high twenties and low thirties.
Numbers have gradually declined in the meantime, and it is felt that these paricular events have outlived their usefulness.
The task for Director Ian Tarr is now to find ways of encouraging more face-to-face backgammon, as well as using those online events which are still a successful part of our offering.
09/08/24: Umut wins for the second successive Thursday
There were thirteen players in action on Thursday to contest the eighth instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series at the Rainbow Casino.
Among the field was octogenarian Steve Ferrer, returning to live action after a gap of more than eleven years, barring one fleeting Monday appearance in 2010.
Umut Bilge -- who also won the previous week's Handicap event -- was this week's tournament winner, defeating Ian Hedges, Steve Morris, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Tim Line.
Tim had arrived there, after a first round bye, by getting past Stephen Little and Ian Tarr.
Gaz Owen took the consolation flight with wins over Safi Tracy and Simon Tracy.
Tim has closed the gap behind BGP points table leader Ian T to just twenty points.
08/08/24: Nine in Wednesday action
There were just nine players in action on Wednesday, six of them to contest the thirty-second of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Six was un upgrade on the turnout for the previous two weeks, but the simple fact is that when we have insufficient players to trigger the previously habitual knock-out format for the third week running, it is time to reconsider the viability of these Wednesday events.
An announcement is imminent.
Six entrants meant a 5-point match round robin, and Chris Rogers was this week's winner with a clean sweep of five victories, while Ian Anderson pipped Simon Tracy on PR to take second place.
Tim Line won the post-tournament jackpot.
Earlier there was a Premier One encounter at the Rose and Crown, Kingswood, Neil Young scoring an important victory over Gaz Owen -- a result which plunges Gaz into the bottom four.
07/08/24: Tuesday's Premier League round-up
There were three Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Natalie Singh defeated Nick Barham in Premier One.
Premier Two Blue leader Phil Charlton suffered a reverse against Stephen Little.
And in Premier Three Green Ian Anderson whitewashed Flora von Michel, a result which move Ian a step nearer to promotion while moving Flora down two places on points difference, as the apparent race for the third promotion slot gets ever closer.
06/08/24: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday.
Twelve of those contested the fourth session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into groups of six, Steve Pickard and Kev Peters were the group winners.
Ian Anderson's leadership of the SGP is now a little more tenuous, as Kev has closed to within a single point.
There was also a Premier Two Blue match played, Robin Gunney defeating Rosemary Whitehouse.
And at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, nobody dropped in.
04/08/24: Sunday's action
There were two matches played on Sunday.
Kylie Hedges lost for the first time in this year's Brunel Trophy, so both she and the victor Neil Young move into round seven with a single life remaining.
And in Premier Two Blue Mike Smith defeated Jon Organ.
02/08/24: Umut wins his second Handicap tournament
There were eleven players in action on Thursday, six of them to contest the sixth instalment of our 2024 Handicap Trophy series at the Rainbow Casino.
The low turnout, attributable to holidays, concerts and anniversaries among other things, meant switching to a gruelling round robin.
In other competitions a six player round robin would typically encompass matches to five points, but here -- to preserve the effect of the handicaps -- the matches were to seven.
And Umut Bilge -- having won the previous Handicap event in June -- was the tournament winner, with a clean sweep of five victories.
Stephen Little took the runner-up prize by virtue of his superior points difference to that of Cynthia Roberts -- both players having won three times.
The top four players in the HT table were all absent, giving the remainder of the field the opportunity to make inroads.
Umut has moved into fourth place, but Hazel Harper's twenty points lead remains intact.
There was also Premier League action online.
Michael Petrakas played twice in Premier Two Red, succumbing to in-form Eamonn Reay before despatching Gerald Whitehouse.
And Ann Pocknell played her twenty-fourth and last Premier Three Yellow match, a whitewash of Cliff Blofield.
Ann can only wait and see whether or not her tally of 51 points is enough to guarantee promotion.
Although she can be overhauled by three others, the smart money is still with her.
01/08/23: Bristol allocated six Champions League places once again
Dicky Biddle, director of the UK Champions League, has announced the qualification criteria for the 2025 competition.
Top players from nine leagues around the UK are invited to take part, and the number of places allocated to each is dependent on their respective numerical strengths.
This year the Bristol leagues were allocated six places, while Stuart Mann boosted that to seven as reigning champion.
For next year there are six Bristol slots among the total of thirty-two, while there is still a chance of a seventh, dependent on Gaz Owen, our sole remaining knock-out representative, bringing it home.
01/08/24: Eleven penalised at the July 31st checkpoint
The July 31st Premier League checkpoint passed at midnight on Wednesday, and eleven players were penalised.
In Premier Three Purple Ben Crabb failed to claw back the point he incurred on May 31st and incurred two more this time.
Four each from Premier One and Premier Two Blue incurred penalties this time, along with one each from Premier Two Red and Premier Three Yellow.
Premier Three Green was the only division to come through with a clean bill of health.
01/08/24: Seventeen in Wednesday action
There were seventeen players in action on Wednesday, only four of them to contest the thirty-first of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
So for the second successive week a 7-point match round robin was staged, and Gaz Owen was this week's winner, with Ian Anderson taking second place.
Ian Tarr won the post-tournament jackpot.
There was also some Premier League action.
Andy Boysan ensured that there would be no expungements at the July 31st checkpoint, defeating Premier One leader Jim Green.
Rosemary Whitehouse narrowly beat Robin Gunney in Premier Two Blue, while Eamonn Reay was the victor in a Premier Two Red clash with Ben Crowden.
Andy Zographou visited Mandy Macdonald in Windmill Hill for the second successive Wednesday, but came away with another Premier Three Green defeat.
And the winners in Premier Three Yellow were James Timoney (over Dicky Biddle) and Kylie Hedges (over Matt Sharp).
31/07/24: Tuesday's Brunel Trophy and Premier League action
There were six matches played on Tuesday.
James Newman and Ian Tarr were the latest casualties in the sixth round of the Brunel Trophy.
James fell to Dicky Biddle, while Ian lost the tightest of matches against Miles Farren, who moves on to round seven with both lives still intact.
In Premier One title favourite Jim Green completed two matches, defeating Stuart Mann at the Pump House before succumbing to Simon Baker online.
Phil Charlton remains on course for promotion from Premier Two Blue after his latest success against Chris Hughes.
And Mathew Nicholls' damaging run of Premier Two Red defeats leaves him with an uphill task to avoid eligibility for relegation, his latest reverse coming at the hands of Eamonn Reay.
30/07/24: Twenty-three in Monday action
There were twenty-three players in action on Monday, twenty-one competitively and two at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
Six contested the seventh session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in a 3-point Nackgammon round robin at the Heroes website.
And Kev Peters was the group winner.
Once again some of the prime title contenders were absent, so although Gaz Owen had an uncharacteristically unsuccessful event, his NGP lead was only fractionally reduced.
There were nine Premier League matches played.
Tim Line is the new leader of Premier One after he shared the spoils of a double header with Simon Baker.
There were Premier Two Red wins for Eamonn Reay and Steffen Nowak, over Gerald Whitehouse and Pearl Foster.
Robin Gunney arrested Hemal Getalal's mini-surge with a close fought win in Premier Two Blue.
James Timoney got in two matches in Premier Three Yellow, defeating Simon Hughes before succumbing to Fred North.
In the same division Kylie Hedges ensured that the promotion race remains very much three from four by beating Caroline Boulton.
And Flora von Michel moved back into the top three in Premier Three Green with a victory over Andy Zographou.
At Ian's Backgammon Clinic Titus Simen and Ian Tarr played some friendly matches.
28/07/24: Sunday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier Two Blue Chris Hughes and Stephen Little met at the Lock Keeper, where Chris prevailed narrowly.
Online in the same division Mike Smith defeated Ian Tarr.
Gary Plant visited Andy Zographou in Westbury-on-Trym, where Andy scored a narrow Premier Three Green victory.
And Andrew Cobb beat Richard Davies in Premier Three Purple.
27/07/24: Saturday's Premier League action
There were four Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Cecilia Rogers eased her Premier One relegation concerns with victories over Stuart Mann and Neil Young.
Hemal Getalal scored his second Premier Two Blue 11-3 win in successive days, this time defeating Neil Edwards.
And Paul Watts beat Pearl Foster in Premier Two Red.
26/07/24: Friday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier One Simon Baker defeated Gaz Owen.
Hemal Getalal beat Ian Tarr in Premier Two Blue,
And Richard Davies scored a much needed Premier Three Purple win against Andrew Cobb.
25/07/24: Tim and Hazel take annual doubles title
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the annual Consulting Doubles Championship.
With a title at stake the turnout was a tad disappointing, but the eight contestants at least made the format simple -- four pairs making instant main flight semi-finals.
Tim Line and Hazel Harper were this year's winners, defeating Ian and Kylie Hedges, before a lightning final success against Nick Barham and Pearl Foster.
Ian and Kylie won the single consolation flight match, against Stephen Little and Simon Tracy.
There was also some Premier League action, plus the first of the sixth round Brunel Trophy ties.
And Natalie Singh was the driver of half of that action.
After a speedy brace of Premier One victories over Simon Baker, she followed that up by eliminating Adam Sinclair from the Brunel Trophy.
In Premier Two Blue Mike Smith defeated Richard Owsley.
Paul Watts beat Mathew Nicholls in Premier Two Red.
And Simon Hughes overcame Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Yellow.
24/07/24: Another low turnout for Wednesday's online tournament
There were twelve players in action on Wednesday, only four of them to contest the thirtieth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Because there were only four entrants, a 7-point match round robin was staged, and Ian Tarr was this week's winner, with Gaz Owen taking second place with a superior PR to the other two contestants.
There was also some Premier League action.
Andy Zographou visited Mandy Macdonald in Windmill Hill, but came away with an emphatic Premier Three Green defeat.
In Premier Two Blue there were victories for Richard Owsley and Jon Organ, who beat Rosemary Whitehouse and Chris Hughes.
And Ismail Yilmaz defeated Ben Crowden in Premier Two Red.
23/07/24: Tuesday's Premier League action
There were six Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
In Premier One Stuart Mann played twice, defeating Natalie Singh before succumbing to Tim Line.
Phil Charlton consolidated his leadership of Premier Two Blue by beating Jon Organ, while in the same division Hazel Harper was scoring a win over Chris Hughes.
In Premier Two Red Steffen Nowak was continuing his rise from the nether regions of the table, pipping Paul Watts, while the division's other winner was Dave Pym, who beat Pearl Foster.
23/07/24: Twenty-seven in Monday action
There were twenty-seven players in action on Monday in various areas of competition.
At the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic, Ian had an easy time.
The four players who dropped in had all been signed up for this year's Feeder League, so took the opportunity to kick-start the competition.
Simon Dicken and Julian Tucker scored victories over Kev Lee and Titus Simen.
Seventeen were in Premier League action.
Premier Two Blue leader Phil Charlton suffered a rare reverse, being pipped by Robin Gunney.
Winners in Premier Two Red were Dave Pym, Michael Petrakas, Ismail Yilmaz and Steffen Nowak, while their victims were Mathew Nicholls, Pearl Foster, Gerald Whitehouse and Michael Corbett.
And Dicky Biddle moved closer to confirming promotion from Premier Three Yellow by defeating Matt Sharp and Fred North.
Meanwhile ten contested the third session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into groups of five, Simon Tracy and Ian Anderson were the group winners, while Kev Peters took the side pool in Simon's group.
Ian A takes over the SGP table leadership, with a ten point cushion over second placed Stephen Little.
21/07/24: Sunday's Premier League action
There were two Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier One Gaz Owen defeated Cecilia Rogers.
And Fred North scored an emphatic Premier Three Yellow victory over Cliff Blofield.
21/07/24: Brunel Trophy sixth round draw made
The draw for the sixth round of the eleventh incarnation of the year-long Brunel Trophy double elimination tournament was made on Sunday, using the regular practice of matching two sequences of random numbers.
The initial field of fifty-eight is now down to just thirteen after six fell by the wayside during round five.
Given the odd number there has to be one bye, and the lucky recipient this time is Reece Hodges.
Two of the ties match unbeaten players with "single lifers", while the other four will effectively be sudden death affairs.
Matches are to be played by August 25th.
The full draw can be found here.
21/07/24: Bristol represented in York at the UK Clubs Championship
The annual UK Clubs Championship was held at Derwent College, University of York, on Sunday.
And while the one Bristol team present failed to make much of an impact, our thanks should go to the five members of the team who put themselves forward to represent us.
Take a bow, Gary Owston, Hazel Harper, Phil Doubtfire, Stephen Little and Tim Line.
20/07/24: Cynthia's Saturday win
There was just one Premier League match played on Saturday.
In Premier Three Purple Cynthia Roberts defeated Richard Davies.
19/07/24: Friday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Friday.
In Premier Two Red Steffen Nowak narrowly beat Dave Pym.
Ian Hedges, having avoided confrontation with the more experienced members of Premier Three Green until recently, should maybe ponder on the necessity of that policy, having defeated Ian Anderson and moved a step closer to the divisional title.
Kylie Hedges was the day's other victor, Caroline Boulton her victim in their Premier Three Yellow encounter.
18/07/24: Hazel wins GP10 tournament
There were seventeen players in action on Thursday, thirteen of them to contest the sixth of the year's ten GP10 tournaments at the casino.
Hazel Harper took the honours in the main flight, defeating Ian Tarr, Kylie Hedges, Tim Line and -- in the final -- Ian Hedges.
Ian H made the final by eliminating Steffen Nowak, Steve Morris and Simon Tracy.
The consolation flight was won by Ian Tarr with victories over Cynthia Roberts, Steve and Nick Barham.
Ian T did enough to extend his GP10 points table lead, and is now 65 points ahead of second placed Tim.
And online there was fifth round Brunel Trophy action, with Simon Baker and Simon Hughes suffering elimination at the hands of Mark Dixon and Adam Sinclair.
18/07/24: Gaz wins Wednesday tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the twenty-eighth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
Gaz Owen was this week's winner, defeating Ian Tarr, Ian Anderson and -- in the final -- Stephen Little.
Stephen had got past Adam Sinclair and Kev Peters en route to the final.
Ian Tarr won the consolation flight by beating Simon Tracy and Adam.
There was also online Premier League action.
Phil Doubtfire narrowly defeated Steffen Nowak in Premier Two Red.
And in Premier Three Yellow Ann Pocknell and Matt Sharp did their respective promotion chances some good with wins over fellow contender Dicky Biddle and James Timoney.
16/07/24: Phil consolidates Blue Division lead
There was just one Premier League match played on Tuesday.
And in Premier Two Blue Phil Charlton's victory over Neil Edwards consolidated Phil's league leadership.
16/07/24: Fourteen in Monday action
There were fourteen players in action on Monday, eleven competitively and three at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic.
Ten of the eleven contested the second session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in a single DMP round robin at the Heroes website.
Kev Peters was the victor with Steve Pickard pipping Cynthia Roberts for second place.
Stephen Little scored enough points to move into the lead of the SGP table on his own, albeit by just five points from Nick Barham.
There was also one Premier League match played.
Steve defeated Ben Crabb in Premier Three Purple, and stands just one win away from clinching promotion.
14/07/24: Sunday's Premier League action
There were three Premier League matches played on Sunday.
In Premier One there were wins for Natalie Singh over Neil Young and Cecilia Rogers over Andy Boysan.
And Ann Pocknell scored another Premier Three Yellow victory, beating Fred North.
13/07/24: Friday's Premier League action
There were seven Premier League matches played on Friday.
Neil Edwards, back in Bristol for the weekend, had mixed fortunes in his two Premier Two Blue encounters.
A defeat to Ian Tarr at the Old Stillage was followed by victory over Simon Tracy at the Beehive.
In the same division Mike Smith narrowly defeated Jon Organ online.
Ian Hedges' run of Premier Three Green victories was ended at the Hedges family home in Bowerhill, Melksham.
He extended it to ten by beating Gary Plant, but Gary had his revenge later.
In the nine season history of Premier Three only two winning sequences have lasted longer.
And Ben Crabb suffered a brace of Premier Three Purple defeats, succumbing to Cynthia Roberts and Simon Blinkhorn.
11/07/24: Ian wins July Bristol Grand Prix tournament
There were just ten players in action on Thursday, eight of them to contest the seventh instalment of our 2024 monthly Bristol Grand Prix series at the Rainbow Casino.
Ian Tarr -- who also won in June -- was the tournament winner, defeating Cynthia Roberts, Kylie Hedges and -- in the final -- Barry Vasili.
Barry had arrived there by getting past Ian Hedges and Stephen Little.
Andy Zographou took the consolation flight with wins over Cynthia and Steve Morris.
Tim Line was absent, allowing Ian T to move 60 points clear in the BGP points table.
There was just one match played in Premier Two Blue, Simon Tracy moving closer to the leaders by defeating Richard Owsley.
10/07/24: Matt wins on Wednesday
There was just one match played on Wednesday.
Matt Sharp defeated Kylie Hedges to close in on a top three place in Premier Three Yellow.
09/07/24: Tournament cancelled, but ten in Tuesday action
Director Ian Tarr's ploy of bringing the weekly Wednesday online tournament forward a day to avoid a clash with the England versus Netherlands Euros semi-final backfired when only two players put themselves forward to play.
So the event was cancelled, although there were ten players in Brunel Trophy or Premier League action.
In the Brunel Trophy two fifth round ties were played, both of them effectively sudden death encounters.
Neil Young beat Ian Anderson, while Warner Solomon progressed at the expense of Phil Charlton.
In Premier Two Blue Simon Tracy and Jon Organ pressed their promotion claims by defeating Hazel Harper and Chris Hughes.
And Simon Blinkhorn scored a brace of Premier Three Purple wins over Cynthia Roberts.
09/07/24: Twenty in Monday action
There were twenty players in action on Monday, sixteen competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic.
Ten of the sixteen contested the opening session of our Monday Summer Grand Prix in 3-point round robins at the Heroes website.
Split into groups of five, Nick Barham and Stephen Little were the group winners, while Adam Sinclair took the side pool in Stephen's group.
Nick and Stephen are the first leaders of the SGP table.
There were also three Premier League matches played.
Hazel Harper defeated Robin Gunney in Premier Two Blue.
In Premier Three Purple Steve Pickard moved into pole position by beating Richard Davies.
And Fred North beat Caroline Boulton in Premier Three Yellow.
08/07/24: Summer Grand Prix, beginning today, has modified points tariffs
The quarterly Monday Grand Prix competitions now have modified points tariffs, beginning with the Monday Summer Grand Prix, which starts this evening.
There has been a school of thought that the DMP sessions have been undervalued points wise and, in acknowledgment of that feeling, the points available for the DMP round robins have been revised upwards, and are considerably closer in value to those of the 3-point round robins.
Each quarterly competition consists of ten sessions -- seven of them comprising 3-point round robins and three comprising DMPs.
The first session to be affected will be next Monday's.
07/07/24: Sunday Premier Three action
There were two matches played on Sunday, both of them in Premier Three.
Brookhouse Farm, Swindon, was the venue for Gary Plant's Premier Three Green victory over Andy Zographou.
And online Matt Sharp exhanced his Premier Three Yellow promotion chances by defeating Dicky Biddle.
07/07/24: Wednesday tournament brought forward by one day
This Wednesday's weekly online tournament has been brought forward to Tuesday to avoid a clash with the England versus Netherlands match at the Euros.
Tuesday's clash with the Spain versus France match is expected to have less impact on starting numbers.
06/07/24: Steffen wins on Saturday
The only action on Saturday was in Premier Two Red, where Steffen Nowak defeated Ben Crowden after being 0-7 behind.
05/07/24: Red Division wins for Gerald and Steffen
The only action on Friday was in Premier Two Red, where a couple of matches were played online.
Michael Corbett suffered his first defeat in ten league matches, succumbing to Gerald Whitehouse.
In the twenty-two year history of Premier Two only seven winning sequences have been longer.
And Steffen Nowak defeated Mathew Nicholls.
The win was the 250th of a league career which stretches back to his first season in the Conference League in 2002.
05/07/24: Ian wins GP20 tournament
There were twelve players in action on Thursday, eight of them at the casino to contest the fifth instalment of the year's GP20 series.
And Ian Tarr was the main flight winner, defeating Ian Hedges, Steffen Nowak and -- in the final -- Steve Morris.
Steve had arrived there via victories over Hazel Harper and Tim Line.
Stephen Little took the consolation flight by beating Ian Hedges and Hazel.
Gaz Owen was absent, and his imposing GP20 lead has been cut to 95 points by Ian Tarr.
Online there were two Premier League matches played, both in Premier Two Red.
Michael Corbett continued his winning run against Michael Petrakas, while Phil Doubtfire defeated Ismail Yilmaz.
03/07/24: Ian Anderson wins second successive Wednesday tournament
There were fourteen players in action on Wednesday, eight of them to contest the twenty-sixth of the year's series of stand-alone Wednesday online tournaments.
For the second week running Ian Anderson was the week's winner, defeating Steve Pickard, Nick Barham and -- in the final -- Chris Rogers.
Chris had got past John Curran and Tim Line en route to the final.
Steve won the consolation flight by beating John and Natalie Singh.
There was also Premier League action.
Gerald Whitehouse scored a much needed Premier Two Red win over Phil Doubtfire.
And in Windmill Hill Barry Vasili defeated Mandy Macdonald in Premier Three Green, while the Fox Den was the venue for Andy Zographou's defeat of Frank Jones in the same division.
02/07/24: Blue Division win for Ian
The only action on Tuesday was in Premier Two Blue, where Ian Tarr defeated Hazel Harper.
02/07/24: Nine in Monday action
There were just nine players in action on Monday, five competitively and four at the latest session of Ian's Backgammon Clinic at Sportsmans.
The five contested the sixth session of our Monday Nackgammon Grand Prix in a 3-point Nackgammon round robin at the Heroes website.
And George Georgiou was the group winner.
The top contenders for the NGP title sat this one out, so Gaz Owen still leads the table by 24 points from Adam Sinclair.
The drop-ins to Ian's Backgammon Clinic included two very competent debut players -- Kev Lee and Titus Simen -- who have both signed up to play in this season's Feeder League.
News items from 2024 (first)
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