Wednesday December 13th

Tonight, being the last meeting of the year, saw the challenge for 2023 Club Champion. The four highest placed in our ladder, David Reitzin, Gary Stavrou, Jim Bean and Aram Amirghan battled fiercely for the top spot which Aram eventually claimed.

David Reitzin was the Ladder Leader for the year.

By contrast, the Wooden Spooner for the year was Nick Macoun.

Nick apparently wears this honour with great pride as he provided his own Wooden Spoon Prize.

21 players entered the regular tournament and those results are shown in the table below.

FINAL	TOT
R3 RANKING	PTS
John Symon	314
Ryan Brown	311
Vazgen Panosian	311
James Lyons	209
Adam Makda	208
Angelo Voulgaris	203
Sean Ghodsi	203
Jenny Saunders	200
Pejman Golshahi	199
Mahnaz Rostami	198
Amir Tehrani	197
Mozhgan Miveh	101
Ben Anderson	99
Mackenzie Little	98
Negin Hedayatian	98
Rafael Chattah	96
Nick Macoun	90
Simon Morad	89
Andrew Mowbray	88
Michael Raptis	-9
Mohammad Nejati	-9

Gary Stavrou holding court, but no one seems to be listening

Nick Macoun, Wooden Spooner for 2023.
Can he repeat this feat in 2024?

Jim Bean, having lost his tilt at the club championship, consoling himself with cake. 

Mahnaz seems to have hypnotised Ryan. Is this the secret of her success?

Colour-coordinated PJ expresses his approval 

James and Mohammad

What is Mackenzie embarrassed at?
I'll let you muse on the possibilities

No wonder Sean is upbeat and Andrew is wistful, considering the score.

A happy John Symon won the tournament tonight

The four contenders for the club championship: Jim, Gary, Aram and David

2023 Club Champion Aram Amirghan

Adam Makda praying to the backgammon gods for inspiration

Wednesday December 6th 2023

 We welcomed two new players tonight, Simon Morad and Nourish Monaghan which brought the total players to 23.

Next week will be our last club meeting of the year. The top four players in our ladder, David, Gary, Jim and Aram will battle it out for the Club Champion title and crystal cube.

FINAL	TOT
R3 RANKING	PTS
David Reitzin	312
Gary Stavrou	308
Steve Clarry	307
Breck McCormack	210
Vazgen Panosian	208
Ben Anderson	208
Carol Wakelin	208
Sean Ghodsi	207
Adam Makda	203
Mackenzie Little	201
James Lyons	199
Jenny Saunders	195
Mahnaz Rostami	98
Simon Morad	98
Rafael Chattah	97
Aram Amirghan	97
Peter Voulgaris	94
Angelo Voulgaris	94
Jim Bean	93
Andrew Mowbray	92
Nourigh Minasghan	90
Nick Macoun	-9
Michael Raptis	-10

Ben looking to see if there are dice-controlling magnets under the table top Steve's protestations

Mackenzie's tongue reminds me of a cute puppy I once had

"You've got to be kidding me" is Steve's reaction to his opponent's roll

What happy little crappies we are at Sydney Backgammoners

Vazgen Panosian

Wednesday November 29th 2023

 Tonight we had 20 players including four newcomers.

We welcomed Jano Toussomian, Michael raptors, Ryan Brown and Amanda Pooley.

Nick Macoun drew the jackpot but fell short of the prize.

We thank Andrew Mowbray for donating nine books to our backgammon library. The backgammon gods rewarded Andrew's generosity with a winning place tonight.

FINAL	TOT
R3 RANKING	PTS
Andrew Mowbray	312
David Reitzin	312
Rafael Chattah	309
Mohammad Nejati	209
Jim Bean	208
Peter Voulgaris	207
Vazgen Panosian	205
Ryan Brown	204
Michael Raptis	200
Jenny Saunders	102
Breck McCormack	100
Angelo Voulgaris	97
Steve Clarry	95
Aram Amirghan	94
Mackenzie Little	94
John Symon	88
Gary Stavrou	-11
Nick Macoun	-15

Newcomer Ryan Brown playing with, and beating, Gary in Round 2

Breck and Andrew attract a bunch of onlookers

Wednesday November 22nd 2023

 17 players tonight.

Mahnaz was the unsuccessful jackpot.

FINAL	TOT
R3 RANKING	PTS
Ben Anderson	315
Aram Amirghan	312
Jim Bean	206
Matt Bridges	204
Mahnaz Rostami	204
Peter Voulgaris	203
Jenny Saunders	203
David Reitzin	197
Adam Makda	102
Breck McCormack	100
Carol Wakelin	97
Rafael Chattah	93
Gary Stavrou	92
John Symon	86
Vazgen Panosian	-5
Nick Macoun	-12

Wednesday November 15th 2023

18 players tonight.

Gary was the drawn jackpot and went on to claim the prize. Cheers and expressions of adulation reverberated throughout the club.

R3 RANKING	PTS
Gary Stavrou	311
Adam Makda	304
Andrew Mowbray	206
Sean Ghodsi	206
Mohammad Nejati	205
David Reitzin	203
Angelo Voulgaris	203
Rafael Chattah	202
Carol Wakelin	201
Amir Tehrani	103
James Lyons	102
Vazgen Panosian	99
Mahnaz Rostami	97
Peter Voulgaris	96
Mackenzie Little	96
Jim Bean	89
Jenny Saunders	-10
Nick Macoun	-13

Even at a stretch Jenny could not beat Vazgen

"Congratulations" or "commiserations". Hard to tell the difference with Andrew and Rafael

Mackenzie celebrates her lead oner Nick

Mohammad is happy as a pig in **** and a very subdued David

Adam is bemused as Peter points to the heavens for guidance

One of our strongest players, Jim Bean

Wednesday November 8th 2023

 21 players tonight.

Rafael Chattah was the jackpot but failed to collect.

Two of Sydney Backgammoners lady players, Jenny Saunders and Mahnaz Rostami, came 1st and 2nd respectively in the Queen of the Board tournament. Well done, ladies, you did us proud.

Gary explained that although going by time is the default position, there are advantages to using clocks. Time does not run out for the match, therefore the winner gets the full 100 match points rather than the 97 if the match times out.

FINAL	TOT
R3 RANKING	PTS
Mohammad Nejati	310
David Reitzin	310
Gary Stavrou	309
Aslin Sagnaklar	207
Vazgen Panosian	206
Sean Ghodsi	206
Angelo Voulgaris	204
Dennis Mercovich	203
Steve Clarry	202
Rafael Chattah	196
Malcolm Stradwick	101
Matt Bridges	100
Jenny Saunders	99
Aram Amirghan	98
Amir Tehrani	97
Breck McCormack	96
Adam Makda	93
Nick Macoun	91
Peter Voulgaris	90
Jim Bean	88
Mahnaz Rostami	-9

Vazgen reacting to a difficult cube decision

Nick and, eventual top scorer, Mohammad

"Get me out of here" says Amir as Dennis seems pleased with the situation

Angelo and Aslin

David quashing Rafael's chances at the jackpot

Queen of the Board, Jenny Saunders, still not able to wipe the smile from her face

"You've no idea what I just rolled", says Sean
"You've no idea what he just rolled", says Aram

Wednesday November 1st 2023

 18 players met tonight.

Rafael Chattah was the drawn jackpot but missed out.

David Reitzin was declared October's Player of the Month. Matt Bridges was the chosen Giantslayer to relieve David of 438 ladder points.

Our club library got underway tonight and our books are already keenly sought.

FINAL	TOT
R3 RANKING	PTS
Vazgen Panosian	315
Matt Bridges	310
Peter Voulgaris	208
David Reitzin	205
Malcolm Stradwick	205
Koosha Hedjripour	204
Angelo Voulgaris	202
Gary Stavrou	202
Jim Bean	200
Mohammad Nejati	105
Dennis Mercovich	99
Nick Macoun	98
Sean Ghodsi	97
Mahnaz Rostami	93
Rafael Chattah	92
Amir Tehrani	90
Jenny Saunders	-11
Carol Wakelin	-14