On the weekend of 30th September Rowena and I had the pleasure of attending the 7th Polish Open Backgammon Championship (VII Otwarte Mistrzostwa Polski w Backgammona) in Warsaw. We have travelled extensively in Poland and the Ukraine over the years researching my family history (my father was Polish, my mother English). Some years ago, I taught myself to speak Polish enough to get by travelling around the country (that was not easy!). We have a great love of the country and the Polish people so when we found out there was a Polish Open Backgammon Championship we knew we had to go.
Let’s Go Back to the Future to Reinvigorate the Backgammon World Championships
(This article is a response to Will Cockerell’s article The Future of the Backgammon World Championships, which you can consult here)
Just as most children dream of being astronauts or firemen, most serious tournament backgammon players dream of being World Champion. More than any amount of cash, or any performance rating, it is the World Championship title alone that instantly makes the sleepless nights, the suffering of bad beats, and the memorising of take points all worthwhile. The title needs to be something that people want to put on their business cards and their tombstones — something that is easily understood by non-backgammon playing friends and family.
The main title of World Champion of Backgammon (as well as the subsidiary titles of Speed, Doubles, and Women’s World Champion) need to be universally recognised as the summits of achievement in our community. As such, the tournament that confers these titles must be the ‘flagship event’ of backgammon’s yearly calendar — epitomizing what we are about as a community. Fortunately, we are moving in this direction.
The Future of the Backgammon World Championships
A vision for the next 50 years
By Will Cockerell
The Backgammon World Championships [BGWC] should be the jewel in the crown of backgammon matchplay, with five key ideals:
- To grow and promote the oldest, greatest boardgame in the world
- To put the players first and profiteering second, and to avoid all accusations of price-gouging and opportunism
- To be more readily accessible to the world’s most serious matchplayers
- Make the host city the best possible locale for the BGWC, with less consideration given to the fame or status of the city itself.
- To vastly increase the value and challenge of reaching the last 128 of the BGWC and ensure more of the world’s top players feature in the latter stages.
WBGF World Team Championship, Venice 2022
At about 8.45 pm I took my seat for the start of a long train journey from Liverpool to Luton Airport. It was a long day culminating in losing the final of the UK Clubs Championship with my NEBA colleagues to Bristol. An early morning flight to Venice was in prospect where I was to play in the individual event and report on the UK team’s progress in the social media feed at the request of my successor as Captain, Chris Rogers.
A gin and tonic arrived, I turned on my mobile and noticed 83 WhatsApp messages were unread. These started with friendly banter as to where to meet for drinks in the Heathrow lounge to an unfurling disaster as flights were cancelled and players were unable to secure alternative flights until the next day, well after play was due to start in Venice.
UKBGF online league and events – a year in review, a year ahead
On behalf of the UKBGF as well as David Potter, Tony Lezard, and myself, a huge thanks for all your support for the UKBGF Online League, from its conception in late 2020 to today. As we have always said, this is “your” league and one to take pride in and enjoy. It is by far the largest online league in the world and now boasts nearly 400 players from all corners of the globe.
As the league’s inaugural year draws to a close, congratulations to everyone who won the coveted dice boxes kindly supplied by Katgammon.
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