Wednesday December 15th 2021

We had a very good turnout on this, the last playing night of what has been a very crazy year with 19 players coming to participate.

 First order of business was to award the club Champion's prized Sydney Backgammoners Championship cap and crystal cube to David Reitzin.

 

Next was the draw for the jackpot player of the night and this time Jim Bean was the man with the target on his back, but he managed to evade those wishing to bring him down and scooped up the $103 pot – well done Jim!

 

We also welcomed two new players, hello to Martin Ohlson and Manjid Saghaft, we hope you will come back and play again in 2022.

 

The final results were;

 

1^st      Jim Bean ( plus the jackpot)

 

2^nd     David Reitzin

 

3^rd     Hammon Mans

 

4^th     Breck McCormack 

 

The two ladder bonanza winners were David Reitzin and Jim Bean.

We start the 2022 playing year on January 5 – hope to see you all then – have a safe and happy festive season.

Gary Stavrou and Sydney Backgammoners 2021 Champion David Reitzin

Breck McCormack and the normally camera shy Jim Bean.

Hammon Mans and Dilhun Akpinar ready to do battle.

Bookends ---Rafael Chattah and TD Gray Stavrou both concentrating really really hard.

Wednesday December 8th 2021

Despite being so close to Christmas we still had a respectable 15 players tonight for the penultimate playing night of what has been a very challenging year in so many ways.

The jackpot player was drawn and David Reitzin was on a mission – which proved to be mission impossible – jackpot safe till at least next week.

 

 The final placings were:

 

 1^stequal     Gary Stavrou

 

 1^stequal     John Symon

 

 3^rd              Breck McCormack

 

 4^th              Peter Voulgaris

 

Dilhun Akpinar and Jenny Saunders contemplate their options

The battle of the brothers as Angelo Voulgaris tackles brother Peter

John Symon and Rafael Chattah studying their positions in round 2

 

Wednesday December 1st 2021

A very robust group of 20 fronted up to play tonight – nice to see the numbers back to pre lockdown levels again.

The first item on the pre match agenda was to announce the lucky player of the month who gets their entry fee refunded, and this time Jim Bean got the bonus.

Next was the jackpot player, and once more Rafael Chattah got the guernsey, and once again, the cash stayed in the kitty.

 

Giant killer draw was next, and judging by his reaction, Dilhun Akpinar is relishing the opportunity to relieve David Reitzin of some of his points!

To avoid excessively long nights the Tournament Director made a small change to the way unfinished matches are handled. If the score is even, a simple roll of the dice will determine who receives Match Points.

 

After a VERY long night of play the final results were:

 

 1^st    Peter Voulgaris

 

2^nd   Gary Stavrou 

 

3^rd    Carol Wakelin

 

4^th     Breck McCormack

 

See you all next week !

Three sombre faces as Angelo Voulgaris tackles Gary Stavrou and Rafael Chattah watches from the sidlines

Dilhun Akpinar and John Symon do battle in the 2nd round.

Wednesday November 24, 2021

 Tonight saw seventeen starters.

In the absence of our resident chronicler/photographer this report is short and dry.

John Symon was the unconsummated jackpot hopeful.

1st and 2nd prize went to Ben Scarf and David Reitzin respectively.

3rd prize was shared by three players; Dilhun Akpinar, Gary Stavrou and Rafael Chattah.

Wednesday November 17, 2021

 Tonight is the “girlpower”edition of the weekly report !

 We had 15 players tonight and Dilhun Akpinar was picked as the jackpot player .

 

After early play, it did indeed look like the kitty was going to be claimed, but a late rally in the final by David Reitzin put paid to Dilhun's jackpot aspirations for the night.

 

We also welcomed yet another new player, Dennis Mercovich, who hopefully will come back and play with us again.

 

Now to the girl power! We do not often have a lady in the top spot  

(mainly because we only have a very small number of female players)  but after a charmed run of demolition Jenny Saunders ended up at the top of the tree – well done!

 

Final results were:

 

1^st       Jenny Saunders

 

2^nd      David Reitzin

 

3^rd     David Layman

 

4^th      John Symon

Rafael Chattah takes on new player Dennis Mercovich.

One more point each and they will be even - John Symon is poised to throw some killer numbers in his battle with Andrew Scarf.

Jim Bean heading for defeat at the dice of Jenny Saunders in round 2.

David Layman and Peter Koorey in tense competition.

Wednesday November 10, 2021

 Tonight saw a return to a number of players close to our pre- lockdown averages with 18 participants taking to the boards.

 We also welcomed a new player, Navid Rastegani.

 

 Rafael Chattah was drawn as the jackpot player, but once again the kitty was unclaimed at the end of proceedings.

 

The final results were:

 

1^st       Peter Voulgaris

 

2^nd      Dilhun Akpinar

 

3^rd       David Layman

 

4^th       Breck McCormack

 

 

See you all next week!

John Symon takes on new player Navid Rastegani in the first round.

Jenny Saunders triumphs over John Symon in the second round

Garry Byrne and Peter Koorey have all eyes on the board.

2021 NSW Open tournament report

I think we can all agree that the first post-lockdown NSW Open was a great success!

 

Thanks to all who attended, especially those who travelled from out of Sydney, with players coming from Newcastle, Canberra, Wollongong and the outer suburbs of Sydney to be part of the fun.

 

We started with a field of 28. Players who accumulated three losses were gradually eliminated from the main flight and transferred to Sunday's consolation contest .

 

The final list of winners was as follows:

 

Winner: Greg Kurrell 914 points
Runner-up: Gary Stavrou 825 points
3rd place: Amir Sohrabi 708 points
4th place: Ken Vaughan 614 points

Second Flight
Winner: Steve Clarry
Runner-up: David Reitzin

Side Pool
Winner: Greg Kurrell
Runner-up: Peter Brown

5 serious faces - Peter Brown and Greg Kurrel battle it out as Jim Bean, David  Reitzin and Mick Dyett  contemplate their positions

Jenny Saunders played Dilhun Akpinar in a groundhog day moment from last Wednesday

pairs in one shot - at rear Mick Dyett and Ken Vaughan, then Alex Ivanovski and Terry Christodolou with  Jan Spillekom and Angelo Voulgaris in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

2021 NSW Open Presentation Photos

PRESENTATION PHOTOS

2021 NSW Champion Greg Kurrell proudly displaying his crystal cube award with Tournament Director (and runner-up) Gary Stavrou

Winner of the Second Flight, Steve Clary

Third-placed Amir Sohrabi

Fourth-placed Ken Vaughan

 

An ecstatic Peter Brown accepting second prize in the Side Pool

Wednesday November 3, 2021

 A slightly larger group of 17 gathered for tonight's battle of the boards.

 Breck McCormack  was the jackpot player candidate  but was unsuccessful this time.

 

 At the end of a few hours of robust play, the winners were:

 1^{st    John Symon}

 2^{nd   Angelo Voulgaris} 

 3^{rd    Amir Sohrabi}

^{Equal 4th Jim Bean and Ben Scarf}

 

Hoping to see all of you, plus many more at the NSW Open for a  great weekend of play at the Canada Bay Club on the 6th and 7^th of November.

 

Registration is at 9am, but please arrive a bit earlier so we can get the paperwork under control early and start the fun!

And don't forget to bring a board.

David Leyman and Angelo Voulgaris with Rafael Chattah an interested observer

Dilhun Akpinar and Jenny Saunders battle it out on a VERY noisy board!

Wednesday October 27, 2021

 An exclusive little group of 14 gathered for tonight's play.

 Jennifer Saunders was picked as the jackpot player but was unsuccessful this time.

 

 At the end of a few hours of robust play, the winners were:

 

1^st    David Reitzin

 

2^{nd   Rafael Chattah}

 

3^{rd    John Symon}

^{4th    Hammon Mans}

 

Looking forward to a bigger turnout next Wednesday and a great weekend of play at the Canada Bay Club on the 6th  and 7^th of November

A six shot - from the back Hammon Mans and Rafael Chattah, Garry Byrne and Angelo Voulgaris and Kee Yio and Jenny Saunders

John Symon  and Jim Bean  go head to head with an interested Angelo Voulgaris watching from the sidelines

Wednesday October 20, 2021

 This was our 2^nd post-freedom night of play and our numbers increased to 17 players .

 

Carol Wakelin was drawn as the jackpot player but the dice were not her friends and she failed to capitalise on the opportunity.

 

The final results were:

 

1^st     Hammon Mans 

 

2^nd    Gary Stavrou

 

3^rd     David Reitzin

4th    David Layman

 

See you all next week! 

A happpy Hammon Mans battles David Layman with observers Breck McCormack and Angelo Voulgaris  watching from the sidelines.

John Symon and David Reitzin and in a very even match watched by Garry Byrne and Rafael Chattah.

Wednesday October 13 2021

 WE ARE BACK!!!

Finally, after 4 long months of lockdown, The Sydney Backgammoners resumed play at North Ryde RSL last night.

Fourteen keen players fronted up with boards and masks in hand to play face to face. 

Unfortunately , one player was turned away at the door as he only had a photo copy of his covid vaccination certificate , not a digital record.

John Symon was drawn as the fist jackpot player of the new season but was not able to take advantage of the situation .

Gary commented that, in spite of the lockdown, our club will have met more than half the year (34 out of 49 meetings). Therefore the Ladder would continue as usual and the ladder leader at the end of the year would be declared 2021 Club Champion. However, since our kitty collected only half the annual takings, the end-of-year Bonanza winners would have their prizes halved.

 

The winners were:

 1^st    Angelo Voulgaris

 2^nd   Carol Wakelin

 3^rd    Ben Scarf 

 4th   Dilhun Akpinar

More smiling players - Angeo Voulgaris and Dilhun Akpinar on the first night back

Four semi covid-compliant players, John symon and Hammon Mans at the rear and Pouya Azizi and Rafael Chattah in the foreground

Two happy chappies pleased to be back on the boards; Hammon Mans and David Leyman

Monday August 16 2021

Peter Kalyvas looks like a formidable opponent across the board when wearing the coveted Sydney Backgammoners Champion cap.

Peter was the winner of the club’s marathon 48-week tournament league.

Wednesday June 23 2021

 A very depleted turn-up tonight courtesy of yet another Covid outbreak in Sydney. 

Fifteen players took to the boards, mostly masked up, hand sanitised to the max  and ready to win.

 

The first order of business was to draw the jackpot player, and tonight Steve Clarry got the Guernsey but lucked out and left the pot intact.

 

The final results were :

 

1^st  Kee Yio Wan

 

2^ndJohn Symon

 

3^rdHammon Mans

 

4^thDavid Stubbs

 

Wooden spooner Jenny Sauders cleaned up off the board and scooped up the donated pork chop meat tray, courtesy of Andre Marootians who keeps winning things he does not want and adding a little extra joy and laughter to the prize giving!

 

Here's hoping next week is a little more normal!

JENNY SAUNDERS MAY HAVE COME LAST ON THE NIGHT BUT SHE STILL WENT HOME WITH GOODIES IN THE SHAPE OF A VERY NICE PORK MEAT TRAY COURTESY OF A VERY GENEROUS ANDRE MAROOTIANS

TWO MASKED ANTAGONISTS, JENNY SAUNDERS AND JOHN SYMON IN THE FIRST ROUND

GARY STAVROU AND ANDREW SCARF IN DESIGNER FACE WEAR.
COULD THIS BECOME A THING?

Wednesday June 16 2021

Tonight we had 23 players including out of town visitor Hossein Haydari who is also competing in the Sydney Open this Sunday and hoping to take the trophy interstate to Adelaide.

 The first item was to draw the weekly jackpot hopeful who was Carol Wakelin .  

 

A really really silly “Take” in the 2^nd round put paid to that so we start to build the pot again.

 

The final placegetters, with equal seconds, were:

 

 

1^st     John Symon

 

2^nd     David Stubbs 

  

2^nd     Jim Bean

 

4^th     Andre Marootians 

 

Well done all and good luck to all who are participating on 

Sunday!

 

Please set your alarms – no latecomers allowed

A perplexed Dilhun Akpinar faces off against eventual winner John Symon who looks pretty happy with the state of play

 And the battle continues between Jenny Saunders and Breck McCormack - tonight was Breck's night

The boys' club - foregound is Parviz Sheidal against David Reitzin with Kee Yio Wan and Raffael Chattah more interested in another table in the in background

I think Ned Marootians (R) is in trouble in his match with Jim Bean.

Wednesday June 9 2021

There were 20 players on this verrry chilly Wednesday night eager to start the night's games.

 

First order  of the night was to remind all players  of the big tournament at The Canada Bay Club on the 20^th of the month.

 

The jackpot player was drawn and it was Hammon Mans, fresh from his win in the last SBOT on line tourney.

 

As the night progressed, it became very obvious that the jackpot was possibly/probably going to go off tonight – which was the end result, after many many months! Congratulations to Hammon!

 

The final results were :

 

1st   Hammon Mans

 

2^nd    Andrew Scarf

 

3^rd    David Reitzin

 

4^th    Mohammad Nejati

 

See you all next week!

Jenny Sauders and Garry Byrne in an early match

A bunch of very serious players. Parviz Sheidal plays David Mcdonald in the foreground next to Mohammad Nejati then Hammon Mans  with Kee Yio Wan an interested observer

Jackpot winner Hammon Mans with TD Gary Stavrou