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Shortly after
the 2009 Event I was invited to lunch by Lady Trudi Seely who has
been the Chair of this annual event for the last few years. Trudi
explained that she had other priorities in her life now, felt that
it was time for her to hand on the mantle of the Chair to another
though she would remain on the committee and would like to know
who I thought should take over the Chair. My first thought was
that I was glad that it evidently was not to be me – just running
the backgammon tournament is a role big enough for one person.
However I suggested a few names that I thought might be suitable.
A little while later one of those names was selected and
announced. Mr Peter Bennet has been a stalwart of the British
Backgammon circuit for many a year now though it has been a long
while since he has organised an event due to his preference of
playing. But this wealth of experience has left him with a vast
knowledge of what works and what does not work – so he was ripe
for putting that knowledge into action.
An event doesn’t run for 10 consecutive years without it being
extremely good. However after such a period it can be in danger of
becoming a little stale with the passage of time and the trick is
to hand it over before that happens. Lady Trudi Seely got this
absolutely right. Peter launched himself into his new project with
great gusto and not a few emails and meetings around London Town.
With the considerable aid of his re-vitalised committee he looked in detail at every single aspect of the event with fresh
eyes and applied his very able management skills to it.
Backgammon has changed over the last decade. Due to the
advancement of computer programs that have increased our knowledge
of the game it has been a while since backgammon has been the sole
preserve of the rich. There are a number of annual charity
backgammon events on the calendar in London but they have been
increasingly won by known backgammon players rather than those
that have pockets that are able to donate to good causes. This
factor has worried me for some time now because I’ve notice
dwindling revenues to those charities via backgammon events. Peter
and I knocked about various strategies to redress this balance and
to keep the event not only feasible but also vibrant.
A Committee member hatched a plan of having a Masters Flight as well as the
traditional Championship Flight – don’t move the big boys out,
just move them upstairs. Peter and I discussed the plan, I liked
it and we plotted away. We
would create a limited to 16 players Masters Flight having decided
who should be classified as a Masters player and who should be a
Championship player. To do this as fairly as possible (even though
it would have to be subjective) we both did this independently of
each other then compared notes. Our conclusions were on the whole
very similar though there were a few classifications that we
debated at length. And no, no, no – I do not feel the need to list
those here!
It’s a good thing that Peter had sold his business a year or two
ago because he then found out just what it takes to lay on a
professional standard event. But he left no stone unturned and the
diligence he gave to his role was remarkable. Lady Trudi Seely
remained on the committee to handle the auction side of things
with her usual gusto, other committee members played their roles
well too and the ever tireless Sue Dorrington was once again our
very capable Events Manager.
The event was, having been in The Reform Club for the last 3
years, back in The RAC Club a few doors further down Pall Mall. I
had been very clear about one matter; if we were to move back to
the RAC the backgammon tournament should once again be in The
Great Gallery rather than any of the well appointed but smaller
rooms in the RAC. This caused quite a few of negotiations but the
RAC Club have a strong Backgammon Circle who are not afraid to
make their views known within the Club and the talks proved
positive. Even so The Great Gallery has been refurbished in the
last couple of years and squeezing in 48 tables for backgammon was
going to be a problem so we had the use of The Mall Room as well.
On the day we had 53 registered for the Championship Flight
(requiring 26 tables in the Great Gallery) and a full 16 in the
Masters (requiring 8 tables in The Mall Room) as well as about 30
in the Bridge Tournament in The Committee Room. Just to make sure
we had plenty of space in the RAC we also had the use of the
Mountbatten Room for Brunch.
With an increased population of backgammon players in two
different rooms (on two different floors) I also needed a highly
capable Assistant Tournament Director. This was of course Richard
Biddle who, being the best there is these days, would also be the
Backgammon Auctioneer. I ran the Championship Flight while Richard
ran the Masters.
The Masters Flight would feature a unique prize to the winner – a
custom made silver dice box made by the Mayfair jeweller Stephen
Webster. The Championship flight winner would receive a Geoffrey
Parker Backgammon set. Trophies for winners and finalists as well
as bottles of champagne and credits on Casinorip.com. This event
was certainly well worth playing in for those reasons alone as
well as it being a wonderful Sunday out in London.
The day kicked off at 11.00am with a Champagne Reception, magic
tricks by
Drummond Money-Coutts and a raffle. The raffle is very worthwhile entering due to
the calibre of prizes available; jewellery, bath boxes, books,
dinners in some of London’s best restaurants, ballet, theatre and
cinema tickets, clothing, train tickets and haircuts to name but
some and all washed down with champagne as you win!
Brunch is traditional English fare held in the sumptuous
Mountbatten Room and including kippers and kedgeree as well as
bacon, eggs and sausages accompanied by orange juice, wines and
coffee.
There were also two silent auctions; one for the Championship
Flight and another for tickets to the World Snooker Championships,
Luigi’s Delicatessen and Selfridges hampers, Bridge lessons with
Andrew Robson, West Ham and Wimbledon tickets, Backgammon by Paul Magriel, a tour of Clerkenwell churches, a Cocktail Master class
at The Cinnamon Club, a Gladstone bag and dinner for 4 at The RAC.
Next up was Lord Jeffrey Archer to run the Auction. 7 lots in
this: an evening tuition on how to cheat at cards by Drummond
Money-Coutts, a private portrait sitting with Pattie Boyd, a 2
hour lesson with the current World Backgammon Champion Mochy, a
pair of Foster and Son bespoke shoes, a ski package for 2 at Ferme
de Montagne in Les Gets, a pair of topaz and diamond earrings and
a cruise for 6 in the Greek Islands. Lord Archer is something of a
Master Auctioneer and is certainly not adverse to fining people
who do not pay attention or speak out of turn which makes these
quite hilarious affairs.
Richard Biddle is by common consensus nowadays the best Backgammon
Auctioneer around and he swung into action after Lord Archer to
sell off the 16 Master players in 8 Groups and thus raise even
more for the worthy charity – Scope.
We were suffering a slight overrun time wise but nobody seems
particularly bothered simply because they were all enjoying
themselves so it was not until 2.30pm that Championship players
came downstairs to play. The draw had been done and I was
stationed at the door of the Great Gallery to direct them to their
tables where they would find their opponents. In previous years
the random draw has been cruel to friends and partners by drawing
them against each other in Round 1 but I’m pleased to report that
it was generally kinder this year though it did manage to draw
Andy Kindler and Mick Vacarey of The Fox Reformed against each
other – c'est la vie.
With 53 registered players we had 11 skip
through to Round 2 but should they lose there they would still go
into the non-progression Consolation. For those of you who have
studied the Main chart you might have noticed a bye in Round 2 of
the Main. How so? Our only unpaired 1st Round player was missing,
registered and paid up but missing and not coming. So for the
first time ever in a Bg in London event bye is recorded as having
won a match!
Upstairs in the Master Flight Richard Biddle had everything under
control and all 8 1st Round matches got underway in good time.
Seeing as this had been billed as a “professional standard”
tournament they were quite rightly playing on clocks for the first
time in a London Charity Tournament. 15 seconds per move and 2
minutes per point were the time controls used. The matches were
all being played on the RAC Geoffrey Parker boards which made the
room look as professional as the players were. Paul Gilbertson,
Zoe Cunningham, Richard Olsen, Tony Lee, Ray Kershaw, Wayne
Felton, Julian Wilson and Raj Jansari progressed to Round 2 of the
Main thus relegating Sean Williams, Lawrence Powell, Edward
Leighton, Chris Bray, Miles Farren, John Hurst, Peter Bennet and
Uli Koch to battle it out in the Consolation.
Downstairs we were continuing to run behind schedule. This was I
think in part due to the fact that we had kicked off late and
players were, by the time they came downstairs to play, in a
relaxed mood. However it was exasperated by a couple of slow
matches. Should I, as I had the right to do, reduce match lengths
to get back on schedule? I decided against doing this on the basis
that nobody seems overly bothered and the Championship Flight is
after all mostly a social event. A wonderful English Tea was
served and there was a bar available for those that wished it –
you just can’t rush a social event and should let it take its,
even if meandering,
course.
Quarter-Finalist in the Championship Main became: Mick Vacarey,
Mike Williams, William Blunt, Michael Flesch, Martin King, Nuzhet
Cubukcu, Jeremy Entwistle and Henrietta Royle while
Quarter-Finalist in the Consolation became Brenda Rosen, Ray Fard,
Salliya Tui, Stephen Morris, Brian Markovitz, David Garofalo, Gill
Brayand Mo Vafaei.
Upstairs we were down to 8 active players and a growing crowd of
spectators many of whom were Championship players who were
fascinated to watch some of the top players in the country play.
In the Main Semi-Finals Ray Kershaw, a player of many years
standing, battled and won against the often winner of events Raj
Jansari. This was followed by the elegantly dressed Zoe Cunningham
playing and winning against last years winner Richard Olsen.
Meanwhile in the Consolation Semi-Finals Sean Williams had won
over Chris Bray and Miles Farren had knocked out Peter Bennet.
Downstairs another 2 Round completed leaving Bristol player
Stephen Morris to play Bg in London player Mo Vafaei in the
Consolation Final and Isle of Man player William Blunt to play
Florida based player Martin King to battle it out on and for the
Geoffrey Parker board. Time was pressing on and Stephen had a
coach to catch but he managed to despatch Mo, have his photograph
taken with his trophy and skip into a taxi to Victoria in time to
be home before midnight. In an now much emptier Great Gallery
William and Martin played and it was Martin that won, had his
photograph taken, was presented with his new board and declared
the Champion of 2010.
Upstairs Sean Williams had won the Consolation. Could Zoe, his
wife, make it a really great day for this wonderful couple and win
the Main? The crowd of watchers seemed to want this result but Ray
Kershaw wasn’t interested in that and took the lead. Zoe did her
very best to claw back the points and at 7-9 (to 11) down she had
doubled and looked like winning a gammon. But Ray threw some
magical rolls and the game swung back his way for him to win and
thus become the 1st player to be recorded as the Master of this
annual event.
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