UKBGF

The UK Backgammon Federation

Beware the Ides of March…

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In recent times the tournament world seems to have settled largely on knockouts, either plain or double-elimination, with reasonably length matches of odd numbers of points, as the format of choice. One year ago, the inaugural Ides of March Cambridge Invitational tournament broke this mould with an innovative approach. A select group of 8 leading players – Peter Bennet, Julian Fetterlein, John Hurst, Jason Pack, Lawrence Powell, Tariq Siddiqi, and Sean Williams, together with eXtremeGammon – played out a round robin of increasing-length matches, starting with a 2-pointer and progressing up to an 8-pointer.

At the end of this process, the top two played a final 11-pointer, with a twist – bringing home more victories in the round robin, and a victory against the other finalist, would earn head-start points in the final. Ultimately Sean would triumph and claim not only a substantial cash prize but also a backgammon-themed painting – an unusual and delightful alternative to a trophy. (I can’t help wondering what eXtremeGammon would have done with a cash prize, perhaps we shall never know!)
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In memoriam: Mick Vacarey

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It is with great sadness that we report that one of the most colourful and much loved characters on the UK backgammon scene, Mick Vacarey, has passed away leaving a loving wife and daughter to whom we offer our most sincere condolences.

Mick was a very jolly person and backgammon player and most often seen with dice in one hand and a drink in the other.

He will be sadly missed and although he has gone, he will not be forgotten.

Mick Vacarey – RIP

We invite people with their own memories of Mick to post them below.

“But I played well… didn’t I?”

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Backgammon can be a cruel game, and live tournament play is probably the most cruel. You can sit down for your first round all hopeful, take an early double, get blitzed and find yourself first to get unceremoniously knocked out, with plenty of time to twiddle thumbs until consolations start. You can play your heart out, grind away one point at a time to get to a tense final, establish a decent lead in the double-match-point game, then watch helplessly in dismay as your opponent rolls double after double to just squeak home.  But I played so well… didn’t I? Didn’t I deserve to win?

To tournament novices: don’t let that put you off trying – the euphoria of, say, pulling off a tough backgame to whip a trophy from under your adversary’s nose makes up for many hard-luck stories!

For some time there’s been a growing trend among top players to record games and take them home to pick over, looking for lessons to learn. This has been helped along by video camera technology becoming cheaper, and camera stands evolving from something that would make Rube Goldberg proud to unobtrusive purpose-built kit. Running the game past your favourite bot can at least help answer the question of how badly the dice treated you.
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Getting Backgammon on the Map

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My name’s Julia, and I’m a club backgammon addict. There, I said it.

It all really started at university; I arrived as a fresh-faced novice who imagined that having won repeatedly against a very exploitable Atari console made me a good player. That illusion was soon dispelled by a few sessions at the university’s backgammon club, and after finishing the first term near the bottom of the ladder the desire to master this infuriating game kicked in hard. I might as well have tattooed “future committee member” on my forehead at the same time, the club being quick to spot the insanity enthusiasm which would in future keep things running.

University couldn’t last forever, despite my attempts to string it out. In time, the needs of a growing family and career got in the way of club play, and my usual fix has been online; from the early days of FIBS through a brief experiment with Party and then on to DailyGammon. It’s not the same, though. It’s not just the infamous droppers and suspiciously supernatural online players; the backgammon I love is a very social game. The best times I’ve had involved alcohol-fuelled bickering over dubious chouette cube decisions, the gentle teasing over jokers and blunders, the attempts at sympathy-garnering over a good hard-luck story. And who doesn’t feel that little extra buzz of slamming enemy men down on the bar with a flourish? Not a feeling you can get from a mouse click. It’s for that reason I’m convinced that our local clubs will be the bedrock of any development of the game, bringing people together regularly to enjoy the game at its best without the rather daunting financial outlay of the tournament circuit.
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UKBGF – The Future

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Sean Williams at the 2014 UK Open
Sean Williams at the 2014 UK Open (Photo: David Startin)

Dear Backgammon Player,

The newly elected board of the UKBGF (the “Board”)  has agreed a set of objectives that we want to achieve over the next two years. These are reproduced at the bottom of this post.

We will not be able to achieve these objectives without your support.
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