The 7th Polish Open

On the weekend of 30^th September Rowena and I had the pleasure of attending the 7^th Polish Open Backgammon Championship (VII Otwarte Mistrzostwa Polski w Backgammona) in Warsaw. We have travelled extensively in Poland and the Ukraine over the years researching my family history (my father was Polish, my mother English). Some years ago, I taught myself to speak Polish enough to get by travelling around the country (that was not easy!). We have a great love of the country and the Polish people so when we found out there was a Polish Open Backgammon Championship we knew we had to go.

Held in the centre of Warsaw in the Gromada Hotel it was also a fantastic base for exploring the city in our spare time. Our hotel room turned out to be a 4-room suite with 2 bathrooms, living room and bedroom. With the Backgammon room discount the price was significantly less than even a Premier Inn here in the UK. We spent the Friday exploring the city centre and had an excellent meal in the hotel’s traditional Polish restaurant.

Saturday morning after breakfast we registered for the tournament. I had been in contact with Jacek Wojciechowski, the Tournament Director, on Facebook for months so he knew of our attendance. After we registered, we mingled with the other players who were all very friendly and welcoming. We played a few warm-up games and they particularly liked our lovely backgammon boards and carry bags.

The first rounds were a series of 7-point matches where you had 3 lives. Once these were gone you dropped into the consolation tournament and were eligible to play in the Super Jackpot which started on the Saturday evening. Because of the time constraints players still in the main could not also play in the Super Jackpot.

My day did not start very well as I lost my first match 7-0. Rowena had a good start and won her first 4 matches. I continued fighting and won the next 4 matches, before losing my 6^th match. I had 4 wins and 2 losses and one life left. Rowena also ended up on the same 2 losses. After a very long days play neither of us lost our last life. We went to bed both congratulating each other on our promotion to the last 16 knockout stage.

On Sunday play started at 10:30. The matches were now 11-pointers. I managed to prevail in my first match however Rowena was knocked out in hers. In my second 11-pointer (the QF) I had the most amazing dice and won again, proceeding to the 13-point semi-final. I was playing Joanna Chorebala – who gave me a very hard-fought match where, at 10-10, I edged ahead and eventually won again to get to the final. My other opponents for the final were still battling it out so I decided to go and have a cold shower to help keep me alert. It appeared to work as I sat down feeling totally refreshed. The final was another grueling match against a challenging opponent from Lithuania. At 2A 3A I had a big enough lead playing against a 5-point holding game to ship the cube. It was either going to be dropped or come straight back. My opponent didn’t hesitate to take the cube for the match and I managed to bring the game home to win the title.

To keep everyone playing they had an interesting side event called “Chicken Soup”. The idea was to win the most DMP matches up until the end of the final. You could play anyone but only once; this led to some very intense competition towards the end of the second day.

Backgammon is not as big in Poland as it is in other countries and there are few large clubs outside of Warsaw. Many of the players are spread few and far between so they don’t have as much opportunity to play in real life as we do here in the UK. I hope we have encouraged some of the players to start up their own local clubs. In 2016 the 1^st Polish Open was a one-day tournament that was attended by 19 players. This year there were a record 55 players in attendance from five different countries. I’m very sure that under the steady guidance of Jacek and his co-directors at Backgammon Polska the attendance records will be steadily broken every year into the foreseeable future.

The players were friendly, very welcoming and amongst some of the most enthusiastic opponents we have come across. We made some great friendships that we know will endure for years. I was obviously very pleased to be the winner of The 7^th Polish Open as, because of my family history, this trophy has special significance for me. We would like to express our hearty thanks to Jacek Wojciechowski and his tournament team for running such a great tournament and we’ll be sure to go back to that beautiful country next year to meet all our good new friends again.