… but two stars survive, and Rogers in Main Semi.
On the face of it, our seven intrepid warriors finding just four wins yesterday [and 7 losses] is an ugly day, but we still have two shots at the World title. A big one, and his bridesmaid “Mini me.”
World Championships, Day 2: Oh Captain, My Captain! Britain’s dream day
When the boys stand on their desks to salute to recently fired Robin Williams’ character in the rousing climax of Dead Poets Society, one can’t help but wonder if we have our very own John Keating in Dan Rovira. Philosophical, dreamy, lost in a world of theory, imagination and a thousand thoughts, all happening at roughly the same time. His blog is a kaleidoscope of Kerouac, Hemingway, Camus and Hunter S. Thomson. It is no accident that backgammon has stolen his heart. The intrigue, the organized chaos, the endless poetry. It captivates his mind and sense of wonder. He is a man who always looks mildy whamboozled. His A-Level English students at Worthing College must be taken for a wonderful ride each time he brandishes his chalk.
UK Runs Hot at Bombastic Opening Day of the Monte Carlo World Championships
Perhaps the BGWC social media put it best, when it – somewhat brutally – listed players who fell on the first day in the field of 198 at Monte Carlo:
Michy, Mochy, Akiko, Azuki, Petko, Russell, O’Hagan, Wells, Tenland, Granstedt, Lylloff, Dogan, Snarheim, Pedersen, Royset, Zizka, Belene.
Uprising Peasants! A Review of the UK Club Championships
A fine day out for the BG community with a great mix of BG and drama on offer.
There is no question that club life plays a vital, intangible role in growing backgammon. Coming from an athletic background, club competition was the bedrock of my career and vastly enriched my experience and enjoyment of the sport. As an individual, I was not good enough to really shine, but as part of a team I was deluged in medals at regional and national level, as I could just play the George Harrison Beatles’ role: “neither baby-faced beauty, nor arrogant sex symbol, George was just the quiet one in the middle, in the space left by the two giant egos.”
The Cube That Was Heard Around The World
A few of us silver foxes are old enough to recall, the “shot that was heard around the world” – Gene Sarazen’s epic double eagle to the 15th at Augusta in 1935. Well, now we have the backgammon equivalent: “the cube that was heard around the world.”
I have gotten wonderful feedback on it from many of the greatest players in history, and it goes right to the very heart about what makes backgammon, and in particular matchplay, such an absorbing, fascinating and challenging paradox.
Initially, I was chided in some quarters by those saying the cube is not as complex as I was making out, but subsequent investigations have blown that theory out the water – in fact the play by young star Ollie Squire has dramatically risen in my estimations, not declined.
The cube is “a play, within a play, within a play”, Shakespeare would have purred:
Recent Comments