I can’t remember when I first met George Sulimirski.  He was certainly on the London backgammon scene before I started playing (from the late 1970s) at several London venues, including the Water Rat pub, the Grosvenor Backgammon and Bridge Club, and later at Stocks Club in the Kings Road, Chelsea.  Back then he was probably the player I feared the most, and I got the impression that he understood the game better than most players of that era….certainly far better than I did.  Even in those days George came across as the ‘elder statesman’ of backgammon, and that impression of him stayed with me though the years.  Sadly this elder statesman left us on Wednesday 28th April, aged 83. Several players who knew George better than I did have submitted tributes and anecdotes….

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Anthony Wilson (1948-2020)

The London Clubs Backgammon League lost one of its founders last week, Anthony Wilson of the Hurlingham Club has passed away at the age of 71. [Read more…]

UK Backgammon sadly lost one of its much-loved characters to Coronavirus this week. Over several decades, George Devlin played backgammon in many parts of the world including the RAC and other London clubs and, more recently, at the 2019 Bristol Open, where he was the Warm-Up finalist. He passed away, aged 78, on Monday 20th April in Nyon, Switzerland. An online service for his family (including his nine children and nine grandchildren) is being held in Nyon today (St George’s Day!!). Once the world ‘opens back up’ there will be a memorial celebration of George’s life for all his friends.

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I cannot remember where or when I first met Wayne Felton. It would have been at a backgammon tournament in the UK; possibly over the board, more likely at a table of friends sharing a meal.

Some people are like that. They don’t make a huge first impression but you just feel good when they are around. I don’t know how it happened but very soon Wayne would become the first face I would look for at every tournament I attended.

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