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Cambridge Open, 29-30 June 2024

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Scintillating drama as Paul Moulton Takes the Crown

Carlsberg don’t do backgammon tournaments, but if they did…  Easy to get to for most, venue next to the station, tremendous playing room and facilities, free George Clooney coffee, free bottled water, and the most impeccable tournament direction you could wish for, from someone with “delusions of expertness since 1985.”

We can compare and contrast the Swiss format here to Blackpool [which was still outstanding, don’t get me wrong].  The absolute key one is that the Sunday can now breathe and lost the feel of the day being a really tough grind.  By 13:30 hours the quarter-finals were well developed.  Goodness – were we going to be done by 5?!  Of course not.  Most of the quarters, both semis and the final ran very deep, but that’s why it’s too much to ask four souls to play five times on the Sunday, and why the day will run so long.

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Eric the Eel wriggles to glory

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Blackpool Imperial Cup, June 7-9, 2024

It is a tad disingenuous to compare Eric McAlpine to Eric the Eel of 2000 Olympic fame whose alarming 1:52 for the 100 metres freestyle captured global hearts.  But this masterful matchplayer, formerly placing a solo 3rd at the Worlds, still negotiated some choppy waters of his own.  Eric has been largely absent from the scene post-Covid but it was great to see him, and his presence made the tournament that much tougher.  His errant hip afforded him prime real estate in the playing room, and by far the best light in an environ where those pesky Halogen bulbs are dropping like flies to give off less than optimum light.  A ticklish problem as mending a bulb requires a dolly, but there’s never a dolly around when you need one.

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West Yorkshire Open – Field Flayed by a Tommy Gun

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Another superb festival of our beloved sport went down in Clayton, directed with insouciant charm by Steve Lee and a well-oiled machine of assistants.  Interactions at the desk were rarely required, with the draws so well published on our phones and the big screen, with the added flourish of each match being presented with their ticket during play which they then just have to place in the box. Not a common concept, but very clever.  Most players get at least 10 matches in the event which really is a lot, and some a whole lot more – 13 for one I heard.

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London Masters – One Fine Day

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30 March 2024, Clissold Arms

This was one of the best backgammon days out one could imagine, with glorious Spring weather and outside play for the hardy; a draw of 64 and a great mix of people from the old to the young; a broad range of ability; and a startling surprise for the winner.

On a day of shocks and drama aplenty, there was a fascinating four cube by David Lazarus [black 2-1, match to seven] vs Sara Sathyanandha.  Take or pass?  Or is it even a cube?  Answer at the end (with a Brucie bonus lesson to boot).

The third round saw a tense clash with David Brown having to let spouse Lady Seely down gently, whilst I drew Tim Line, just like last year.   We’re boxing at the same weight and enjoy complex middle games.  Both times I’ve squeaked through.  Tim has seen a lot in his career and has some remarkable stories, one of which is possibly holding the record for the quickest first round win at the World Championships at 24 minutes.  I am not going to claim Tim takes everything, but I’ve never had a pass from him.  He laps up the volatile, action doubles like they’re Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey and frequently turns the game.  All rather disconcerting.  And what great one-liners.  In one game soon found himself with three on the 24 and three on the 23, with no points made by me. “Nackgammon with knobs on,” he observed quick as a flash.

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Oh Captain, My Captain strikes again – Brighton Breezy Report Jan 5-8, 2024

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At the World Championships last summer I likened Dan Rovira’s hue, demeanour and poetic command of all things English language and prose with John Keating, his fellow English teacher, so memorably portrayed by the late Robin Williams in Dead Poet’s Society.

What news of Dan since? Well he’s continued to make waves and a relentless march forward in the game. More on him later but starting at the top, this was my debut at Brighton as it usually clashed with cross-country meets. It did here too, but I let my son take the strain at the County Championships at Denbies Vinyard, Dorking. At the second huge climb, nausea overwhelmed him and he had to stop to redecorate the vines. Alas, my tournament saw me redecorate the furniture [metaphorically in my case], with a 1-5 return. All my matches were terrific though and I lost one at 99.3% and another at 93%, with all the rest very close. Just what you want from a backgammon tourney!

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