Thursday January 24

Just one intrepid player from our club, Gary Stavrou, braved the trip to Melbourne for the major backgammon tournaments run by the Melbourne Backgammon Club.

Unfortunately, he was trounced at every turn and returned to Sydney with his tail between his legs.

There was one bright note though when Gary beat Michy (world's No. 2) in a head-to-head.
Michy was gracious enough to inscribe (hyperbolically) the $20 that changed hands.

To Gary, the better player, Michy

Wednesday January 23

Tonight saw nine players front up for the battle of the boards under the stewardship of novice tournament director Carol Wakelin.

Carol was also drawn as the jackpot player but she was dispatched in short order by Richard Jedrychowski in the first round – the jackpot lives for another week!!

Final results were:

Richard Jedrychowski took line honours

Eva Bitel came a close second

Giancarlo Yannoulis,  just one lonely little point behind Eva, took third.

Well done all – see you all next week!!

Acting tournament director Carol

Mohammed and David Layman

How the evening progressed 23 Jan

Giancarlo and Arthur in a tussle with Eva an interested observer

Garry and Razmik

Razmik and Richard

Wednesday January 16

Last night saw a very healthy 12 players turn up for the challenge, including yet more new members – welcome to Sebouh Khatchadourian and Henrik Aghajanian.

David Layman was drawn as the jackpot player, but a loss to Arthur put paid to his claims on the booty – it is now a healthy $40 for the next week's competition.

New players learning about playing with a cube for the first time meant that just about all matches went close to full time, with at least one almost reaching a penalty situation.

With only 60 minutes with which to play a 5 point match we all need to be mindful of the time taken for each move.

Richard Jedreychowski, returning for the first time after the holiday break, won the night in a hard-fought 5-4 match with Carol Wakelin who took 2^nd place, and Arthur Ramer claimed the final prize for the night.

Gary has revised the rules for matches that go over time:

If a match has not finished in 60 minutes, the game-in-play is allowed to conclude. If a player reaches 5 points, he or she is the winner and the scoring is as usual.

If, on conclusion, neither player has reached 5 points and the score is uneven, the higher scorer is awarded Score Points plus 96 Match Points.

If, on conclusion, neither player has reached 5 points and the score is even, one further game is played and the higher scorer is awarded Score Points plus 96 match Points. 

Hopefully we will not have to implement these too often.

Time is running out for entry to our club’s External Challenge.
You must register by January 25 if you wish to play.
Full details are attached.

Arthur Ramer and new member Henrik Aghajanian

Eva Bitel and new member Garry Sayadian

Gary Stavrou and John Symon in serious competition