It was a pity that we didn't get an entry of 50, it would have made the weekend perfect. As it turned out, 41 players turned up to help Wayne Felton and Dod Davies celebrate the fiftieth birthdays. Thanks to their generous sponsorship we had some very elegant trophies and £500 added prize money - which was distributed among the five elements. It was also an event that had a Winner-Takes-All Rollover of £195, so quite a bit of cash to be won.

The trophies, and a close-up view . . . featuring me!

The Main (43) got off to a bad start for Dod when he lost in his first match to Arthur Wright; and Wayne faired no better, going out in his first match to Adrian Jones. By the Sunday morning we had a very strange draw in which the acknowledged 'better' players were at the top and the bottom of the drawsheet and the 'not so better' players (on paper) squashed in between. The draw was: Chris Ternel vs Julian Fetterlein; Chris Purchase vs Arthur Wright; Gheorghe Filipas vs Myke Wignall and Martin Barkwill vs Lawrence Powell. From these fixtures the latter won in each pairing and the semi-final draw was: Julian vs Arthur and Myke vs Lawrence. Julian triumphed over Arthur and Myke trounced Lawrence 11-0!

So, here we were, a battle between two very different players; Julian. a master tactician of the game, and Myke, the master of Dynamic Backgammon - who would prevail? Most of the games were cubed and below I have shown each of them.

It got off to a good start for Myke (black) as he took the first point when in this position. NB: I have refrained from any comments (well, almost) and just let XG2++ tell it like he sees it.

Game 1	Game 2
Black 0 White 0 Black Cube Action Actual: Double/Pass XG: Double/Take MC: Myke was quick in giving the cube and Julian took 1m-10s to pass.	Black 1 White 0 White Cube Action Actual: Double/Take XG: Too good to double/Pass MC: Both of them doubled and took without any thought, it was almost instantaneous!
Game 3	Game 4
Black 1 White 2 Black Cube Action Actual: Double/Take XG: No double/Take MC: Myke cubed as soon as he was on roll. Julian was heard to say, "I wish you would stop cubing at the right time!"	Black 3 White 2 White Cube Action Actual: Double/Pass XG: Double/Pass MC: Julian took a little time thinking about the cube, Myke dropped it immediately.
Game 5	Game 6
Black 3 White 3 Black Cube Action Actual: Double/Take XG: No double/Take MC: Myke shipped the cube across in no time at all, whereas Julian took 1m-18s	Black 5 White 3 Black Cube Action Actual: Double/Pass XG: Double/Pass MC: Easy one, this one. The match is being played with clocks, 12s per move plus 22m reserve; by now Julian is down to 15m-5s while Myke has more than 20m left. I will add a Time for each Game start.
Game 7	Game 8
Black 6 White 3 White Cube Action Time: 20m; 14m-38s Actual: Double/Pass XG: Double/Pass MC: Both players took a no time at all over their decisions.	Black 6 White 4 Black Cube Action Time: 20m; 14m-01s Actual: Double/Pass XG: Double/Take MC: Myke shipped across the cube very quickly whereas Julian took 34s to pass.
Game 9	Game 10
Black 7 White 4 Black Cube Action Time: 20m; 13m-12s Actual: Double/Take XG: No Double/Take MC: Myke shipped across the cube very quickly again and this time Julian took 1m-43s to take.	Black 9 White 4 Black Cube Action Time: 19m-55s; 10m-21s Actual: Double/Pass XG: Too good to double/Pass MC: Too quick decisions. Myke was hoping for a gammon, but he didn't get one.

The score moved to 10-4 Crawford to Myke and he eventually saw Julian off with a cracking 44 leaving Julian on his 4-point and all the black checkers safely on the 2-, 3- and 4-points! Julian's only 'consolation' is that Myke wasn't in the WTA and he left a Double Rollover of £585 to be played for at the October, Sandy Osborne - an event Julian will most certainly be attending!

For those that are interested, the times on the clocks at the end of the match were Myke: 19m-5s; Julian: 4m-53s!

This match is available in Snowie or XG2 formats. Email your preference to info@backgammon-biba.co.uk

Main: Myke & Julian

Main Semi-Finalists: Lawrence & Arthur

Meanwhile, in the Consolation (39), John Hurst beat Rachel Rhodes on the non-prog side, and Mike Heard beat Chris Purchase on the prog side. In the final, John took 1st place despite being 6-0 down in the 7 point match! In the Last Chance (32), Rosey Bensley beat Al Hogg; and in the 3-point, Book 'em Doddo (16), Andy Darby beat Kevin Stebbing.

Consolation: John & Mike	Last Chance: Rosey & Al
Book 'em Doddo: Kevin & Andy	Wipeout: Peter & Dod

Dod ended up winning one of his own trophies when he came 2nd in the 1-point Wipeout (43) after losing to Peter Christmas in the fina;. Mind you, he could have done a lot better had he only won just one more point per game - he lost all his matches (bar the Wipeout) at DMP!

As usual the weekend started with the Friday 500 (16), and it was Rachel Rhodes who won beating a shell-shocked John Hurst, 5-0 in the Final. The Poker (18) saw Wayne Felton taking something home for his sponsorship as he left Andy Darby and Lawrence Powell 2nd and 3rd. In the Doubles (8), Cottagewebs were triumphant for the second month in a row - they are hoping for a hattrick next month - if they can afford the Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Ale to help them do it!

Finally. I'd like to thank Wayne and Dod for their generous sponsorship and all their friends who turned out to help them celebrate. It was a very good tournament and I can't wait for their joint 60th in 2021. Also, ta very much to my little helper, Deana Fawcett for pointing me in the right direction each time I stray.

And really finally: DOUBLE WTA ROLLOVER OF £585 AT THE OCTOBER EVENT . . . . IN DAVENTRY!