2016 has been an incredible breakthrough year for the UK backgammon teams.
It started with us reaching the final of last year’s European online championship, and this year’s online team of Gaz “JPR” Owen, Simon “Rodin” Barget, “Sensation” Wilkinson, Charles “Freeze out” Hill and Chris “The Gem” Hamilton very nearly emulated them, finishing in fourth place out of 22 in this years event.
The undoubted highlight of the year however was the victory in the World Trophy against the might of World backgammon. Countries like Germany, Japan, USA and Denmark all fielded extremely strong, maybe even their strongest possible teams. Our team of Sebastian Wilkinson, Chris Rogers, Lawrence Powell and Leo Waters, led by Raj Jansari finished ahead of them all to take the trophy.
Then came the European Team Championship. The team of Eric McAlpine, Gaz Owen, Sebastian Wilkinson, Chris Rogers, Lawrence Powell and myself reached the final only to be pipped by Denmark in the final. It says so much about how the reputation of UK backgammon has risen on the international stage recently that finishing in second place is now seen as routine almost rather than spectacular. In the words of Sensation Wilkinson our achievements of 2016 will be ‘almost impossible’ to top – that sounds like our kind of challenge.
Should you wish to be play for the 2017 teams and you can demonstrate a playing ability sub PR5.5 please don’t have any hesitation in asking to be considered for the UK teams. “The Gem” Hamilton played his first matches for the UK this year and was a superb addition to the team. Let 2017 be another newcomers’ year!
A fantastic year for Backgammon in the UK generally and thanks are due to Tim together with all those involved at local levels in setting up and running clubs.
A suggestion regarding PRs ….
I suspect many members might not know what these are and how they are obtained.
I certainly had no idea what they were a couple of years ago.
Perhaps an explanation about them and how to get them would be useful. I apologise if this has already been done and I missed it! However, even if that is the case perhaps an occasional repeat is a good idea.
Alongside that, maybe an extra column could be added to the ratings to show PRs where they are available. This would encourage more members to go for them.
Is that possible?
Could Rick Janowski be persuaded to contribute?
Thanks David. The countries where PR competitions are most readily available are UK through BMAB and Denmark through its xg masters series. I don’t think it a total coincidence that those two countries were the finalist in the European championships; I have been told that Denmark pick their team 100% from PR information and whilst it is the most significant bit of information to me I have shown that I was prepared to select Raj Jansari, Eric McAlpine and Chris Hamilton who have never attended BMAB, so it is not the only way to get in the UK teams. In 2017 I won’t be the only selector but will share the responsibility with Peter Bennet and Lawrence Powell.
I actually think David that all players who are close to selection for the UK teams will be aware of PR and its significance in evaluating a player’s ability but if anyone is unaware I can easily put them in contact with Rick Janowski and BMAB.