A full house of 24 players gathered over a weekend at the Rainbow Casino to do battle.
BMAB differs from most weekend events in that all matches are clocked, recorded and analysed by Extreme Gammon with prizes awarded to the players with the most wins as well as those with the best Performance Rating (PR).
The idea is to achieve a PR as near as possible to zero by making fewer and less consequential errors.
Player PRs are then entered into a database and master titles are awarded according to thresholds, for example you can be awarded the title of Master if your ongoing PR is 6.5 or less, subject to sufficient experience points being completed. As PR is commonly judged to be the most reliable indicator of the strength of individual players, the information obtained from PR data is one of the first pieces of evidence the national team captains consider when selecting teams to compete in the World Team Championships and other international team events.
Recorded matches are also an invaluable means of identifying and eliminating recurring errors. In my chess playing days it was unthinkable to not record matches and analyse them afterwards. For many years most players didn’t bother recording their games, however with more sophisticated recording equipment that is changing as are standards. I have observed several leading players progressively lower their average PRs over the lifetime of BMAB and this may be a significant factor in the relative success of the UK team in the team events in Forges-les-Eaux, Triers and Venice since 2020.
For anyone aspiring to raise their game and possibly represent their country, I can strongly recommend the experience that BMAB offers as well as studying with books and lessons from the likes of Julian Fetterlein, Tim Cross, Simon Barget and others.
In the BMAB event held over the weekend of 18th and 19th February 2023, Emad Salib achieved a stunning six wins out of six matches defeating Richard Carter, Jon Barnes, Nick Sandqvist (runner up), Cat Bucur, Pete Heskett and Aref Alipour in the process. An impressive accomplishment against very strong players.
There were also very impressive PR results with the top prize achieved by Oliver Squire who recorded an average of 3.00 followed by Aref Alipour on 3.37 and Simon Barget 3.69 with several others achieving 5 or less. Reece Hodges, Pete Heskett and Martin Barkwill achieved Master titles and others upgraded theirs. We currently have 5 Grand Masters. UK Captain, Chris Rogers has a difficult task selecting the team for the next World Team Championship in Skopje and I for one do not envy him.
Anyone interested in playing in future BMAB events should contact Mark Adkins, email: snikda64@gmail.com or visit the website: https://bgmastersab.com/
Congratulations Emad !!! First the ‘Magnificent 7’, second ‘BMAB, what’s next? Monaco? 🙂
Well done on your result, couldn’t happen to a nicer player.
Congratulations to Emad 6/6 is spectacular going and to Oliver one of the lowest PRs ever produced in a UK BMAB event.
Great article Martin. I am a big fan of BMAB and Mark’s tournaments are well organised.
BMAB I would say is for the serious student who is looking to improve and gain recognition in doing so. It’s not for everyone of course!
Apart from Mark’s tournaments you can also gain Master level proficiency by making individual applications to BMAB. I have done a few of these myself as well as played in a few of Mark’s tournaments and have obtained the Master title.
Congrats to Emad.
Martin – am I missing something but I thought the UK had 6 GM’s: Sebastian Wilkinson, Arif Alipour, Tim Cross, Gaz Owen, Simon Barget & Julian Fetterlein.
Thank you for your kind comments, Kevin. It is I who is clearly missing something. Better still, we should have a 7th GM very soon. Congratulations on your Master title. The UK is emerging as a considerable force in backgammon!
Congratulations Victor.