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5th February 2008
70 Entries, 10 Tournaments, 47 Players, £1061 Prize Fund,
Raj Jansari wins Jackpot. |
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We had a large variety of Bg things going on this evening. Play
kicked off at 6.00 pm with Simon Barget giving Tristan a lesson.
Both had answered my call of last week for lessons and teachers to
be available. Next in the door was John Reddington who has offered
to get the ratings system going and up to date and bought along
the first few entries. After just the first 4 Bg in Camden events
entered into the data base interesting results are already
developing but we’re not yet ready to publish them. Check the
ratings page over the next few weeks and you’ll see as we publish.
Two other players came along to try for the “Win Two, Win a
Board.” They commenced play in the £5 optional pool tournament
without putting any money in the pot to see how they went. No bad
but they didn’t burn the house down either. Later they would play
for a board. The £10 Tournaments got kicked off just before 7.00
pm so those players were not waiting for the BMPs to get started.
In the Auction we had 10 players interested in playing for £50 or
more and this became 8 players at £60. Then we had a £25
tournament. By 7.15 this had 8 players in it. Simon Barget had
also bought along a quiz – 4 positions and a drink for the winner.
It was Shove Tuesday so pancakes were on the menu as well this
evening. Sean gave a lesson on the use of GNUBG to beginner
players. In T9 Zoe was drawn against beginner Joanna so I added
the “Win Two, Win a Board” clause to the match but Joanna couldn’t
win the required two on the trot. Chrissi took over the T.D. desk
a number of times while I had meetings with people about future
events - news of those later. Sean and Zoe played a doubles match
against Joanna and Mark with the “Win Two, Win a Board” clause
involved but the best the pupils could do was one win at a time.
For the first time in ages I had a tournament Director decision to
rule on. Shino was in great form rounding up players to get
another 8 player Tournament going but Shino lost in Round 1 of
that so be played and taught Solly in a friendly. In T1 we were
joined this evening by John Hurst who had won the WSOB UK Masters
in November – could he win here in Camden? He won though to the
Final but this is where he met Raj Jansari and Raj sent him the
same way as he has 3 other T1 finalists in the last 6 weeks. The
BMPs that had been knocked out of T1 got a chouette going which
was watched by others and doubtless tips were picked up. The Quiz
was completed and new to Bg in London player (but certainly not
new to bg) Murray Sharp proved his knowledge of the game by being
joint winner with a since departed Nicky Check who had earlier
complained to me that he’d won nothing since November when he’s
won (with Lawrence Powell) The Doubles at the WSOB UK Masters, the
Singles at Bg Live in London as well as a Satellite to the WSOB UK
Masters. With a board still up for grabs Joanna played Mark in a
single game – one of them had to win a board but it just wasn’t
Joanna’s night. In between all that we had 10 Tournaments
comprised of 70 entries.
Some bad news. Neil Davidson’s Festival of Backgammon and Games in
Spain in June has been postponed. I gather all those that have
expressed an interest in it have already been informed. You can
read Neil’s press release about it here.
One T.D. decision for me to rule on. During a match a player was
not happy with the dice and requested that he and his opponent
change the dice they were using for another set. I was called
over. They were already using precision dice but one was
requesting that a set on non-precision dice to be used. I listened
to both sides for a good deal of time partly because I wanted them
both to blow off the steam that they had both already gathered
over this topic. When I deemed that they had fulfilled that need
within them I explained our rules namely that; precision dice
(over any others) are to be used if available. Given that player A
was still not happy with the precision dice I then checked them by
holding them to a light to see if there were any air bubbles in
them (which would alter their even weight) and by checking all
faces to see of the spots were still in good order. They were. But
player A was still not happy and wanted to use another set of
larger precision dice. Was this all just gamesmanship or genuine
reasoned complaint? Player B agreed to this and back they went to
play.
For me there are two items that this incident raises. Firstly Bg
in London is about being a social event first. I expect every
person that comes along to play within the spirit of the game and
to do their bit to make the evening as enjoyable as possible for
others. I don’t care how much money people play for, that’s got
nothing to do with it and besides there’s plenty of choice in this
department so everybody is catered for in this respect. But 99% of
the people that come to events we run come expecting and hoping
for a pleasant evening out. If somebody comes along and time after
time and makes for problems – my policy is simple and
straightforward – they’ll be asked not to return again. I’ve only
had to use this “red card” policy once and there have been 330
people play in Bg in London events. I hated doing it the time I
felt I had to and I’m sure I’ll hate doing it again but if I feel
I need to – please be certain, for the sake of others, I will.
The other item this raises is the use and availability of
precision dice. In Camden we bring along 8 PartyGammon Hector-Saxe
Tournament size backgammon boards and have another 5 or so other
boards that are kept in The Lockside Lounge (you may use them
anytime – just ask behind the bar.) As a result not all players
need to carry a heavy backgammon board around Town all day long. I
used to keep 4 sets of precision dice in the cash tin which I
would hand out on request on the proviso that they be returned to
me as soon as the match was finished. However in the last 3 months
this has cost me not 1, not 2 but 3 sets (4 dice each) of
precision dice. I’m not pointing any fingers but enough is enough
and enough has been reached. So if you would like to play with
precision dice it’s down to you to bring them along. They’ll
hardly weigh you down as you go about your business in London
during your day. You can purchase precision dice from either Chris
Ternel at
bgshop.com of Carol Joy Cole at
Backgammon a la carte. Buy from Chris, pay via paypal (prices
from £19.20 per set including shipping) and Chris gets them to you
within a working day or two. 13mm dice work better than the 14.2
mm or 16mm dice with the Hector Saxe cups that the PartyGammon
Tournament boards come equipped with.
We’ll be back with Bg in The City on Monday 11th Feb. Once again
we’ll be there from 6.00 pm when early dinner is served, new
players are of course welcome and “Win Two, Win a Board” will be
on offer, £10ers and Optional £5ers will kick off at 6.30 and
Auctions at 7.00. If you’ve not been before please allow yourself
an extra five minutes to find the venue because it’s a tucked away
little gem of a venue but slightly tricky to find first time
round.
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