Tournaments 2012Bright 'n' Breezy January 13-15, 2012
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The Winners |
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1998 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 |
Willy Stanton Mark Heidenfeld Mike Grabsky John Hurst John Hurst Mark Heidenfeld John Hurst John Hurst Bob Young Marcus Wrinch |
Main (90) |
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1 2 3/4 3/4 5/8 5/8 5/8 5/8 |
Marcus Wrinch |
Consolation (84) |
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1 2 3/4 3/4 5/8 5/8 5/8 5/8 |
Peter Christmas |
Last Chance (64) |
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1 2 3/4 3/4 5/8 5/8 5/8 5/8 |
Mike Heard |
Tidal Wave (32) |
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1 2 3/4 3/4 5/8 5/8 5/8 5/8 |
Phil Tutchings |
Friday 500 (46) |
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1 2 3/4 3/4 5/8 5/8 5/8 5/8 |
Peter Christmas |
BBT Finals 2010 (8) |
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1 2 |
Dan Tutchings |
Poker (26) |
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1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 |
David Horner Ali Farzan Dan Tutchings Clive Martin-Ross Mo Vafaei Roy Hollands Marcus Wrinch Andrew Gibson |
Doubles (12) |
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1 Joint 2 |
Plump Prob Cottagewebs & Old Polish |
For latest Championship table click here (to be updated) |
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Grand Prix points for this tournament |
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Players in red below are Temporary members and their points do not count towards the Grand Prix Championship (see here for reference) |
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62.00
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Marcus Wrinch
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Biba Backgammon Tour points for this tournament |
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Players in red below are Temporary members and their points do not count towards the Biba Backgammon Tour (see here for reference) |
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19.95
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Marcus Wrinch Raj Jansari Malcolm Robertson Vicki Pemberton Kevin Jones Dave McNair Barry McAdam Nigel Buchan Alan Beckerson Gary Broker |
Bright 'n' Breezy January 2012 Report by Michael Crane
Finally, an event in Brighton without snow or bad weather, and it was due to that and the new, temporary membership, that resulted in a turnout of 90, our first such entry since 2008. It would have been 91 but for an unfortunate accident. Roy Hollands had a nasty fall in the car park outside the hotel, a fall during which he managed to hurt his face and the back of his head. He was taken to hospital and the tournament had to start without him. But, it takes more than a fall to keep an old ex-boxer like Roy down, and late in the afternoon he re-emerged sporting a few plasters and bandages to display his injuries. Too late for the backgammon he settled for the poker, of which there will be more later. Back to the Main. Many-times winner, John Hurst was once again knocked out in the first round for the second year running, this time by Nicky Check. Defending champion, Bob Young, fared better getting to the QF where he was beaten by Marcus Wrinch. Mark Heidenfeld, the 2004 & 2008 winner went one further than Bob and made it to the semis where he was finally stopped by Raj Jansari. Raj's opponent in the final was Marcus who had a very tough match against Malcolm Robertson in the semis, a player who knows his way around a backgammon board very well indeed. The final was a very good match (though I have yet to put it into XG for a full analysis), and one cube decision and it's consequences was remarked on by onlookers. We join the match at 5-2 to Marcus (who had led 5-1) who is playing as black in the 11 point match. It all began with this cube:
Prior to this Raj had dropped in similar positions so it was a surprize when he took here; especially when XG is shouting, "Too good to double, pass!" The game progressed to a point where Raj was in sore need of a shot if he was to avoid the gammon to go 9-2 down. He got it here:
Main: Marcus
Consolation: Peter and Eric In the Consolation, non-prog side, Peter Christmas knocked out Paul Plumptre to go into the Final to face whomever emerges from the prog-side. New member (and one to watch) Eric McAlpine battled his way to the 'final' beating everyone in his wake. Meanwhile, battling just as valiantly to meet him is Vicki Pemberton. They sit down to contest who will play Peter and it is Eric who gets the honour. Peter isn't fazed by the parvenu and he takes home the Consolation trophy leaving Eric as the Runner-up. In the Last Chance, Mike Heard beat Mark Calderbank; and in the Tidal Wave, Phil Tutchings got the better of Ann Pocknell. Both players were intrigued to encounter the Brighton Crab, a 'mascot' that is passed from Round 1 to each winner until it reaches the final. During its route it is devalued by £5 each time its owner loses it. By the time to got to Phil it was worth £20 . . . and it all went to Phil.
During the weekend we also had the Finals of the Biba Backgammon Tour. Sponsored by bwin.com/wsob it is the culmination of a series of regional and local tournaments from which the top eight players (from a grand total of 192 players) play off for the title and £250. Dan Tutchings made into the final after beating Myke Wignall and his dad, Phil; and Brian Lever got there by beating Alastair Woods and Kevin Jones. In the final it was Dan who came out the latest Biba Backgammon Tour Champion.
Biba Backgammon Tour: Dan and Brian Of course, as usual the weekend began Friday night with the Friday 500, and a cracking 46 entry. Peter Christmas got a good start to the year with his win over Barry McAdam in the final. Peter's points count towards the £500 1st prize in December, but Barry's won't for he is a Temporary member! Temporary members do not qualify for any of the Biba 'championships' (including any official Biba BBT events excepting Scotland) but they can opt-in to full membership before 1 April to take advantage of their points/awards. For this reason the listings are separated into two halves, the temps being available for 'upgrade' until the end of March when they will be deleted on 1 April. In the Poker Grand Prix David Horner got off to a good start, so good that that he changed his Temporary membership to Full in order to have his score (and all other backgammon scores and awards) count towards the Championships! Considering that Roy Hollands slipped and fell prior to the weekend starting, causing damage to his face and head that required hospital attention, he did very well in the poker. It'll take more than a blow to head to keep ex-boxer, Roy down for long, even if he is fast approaching 90 years old! Again, some members who opted for temporary membership will not benefit from their score unless they opt-in to full membership - at least winner, David Horner saw the light! And, in the Doubles, Plump Prob came out victorious in the Round Robin final after beating Old Polish and Cottagewebs, both of whom came joint 2nd.
Beginner's: Tina Mullins Before we leave Brighton it's time to report on the Beginner's Event. This was for complete beginners and was a Round Robin tournament from which Tina Mullins came out with a 100% record. Tina, girlfriend of Jerry Limb, took home a book and a tenner donated by yours truly. Finally I'd like to thank Mark Calderbank for running the poker and to Deana Fawcett for being my Assistant Director, without whom the 91 players would have been impossible to handle; and to Sharen Crane for her support throughout the weekend.
And really finally to Andy Bell of bwin.co/wsob and playwsob.com for the sponsorship of the Biba Backgammon Tour and the Bright 'n' Breezy. The trophies and backgammon clock prizes were well received by their recipients. Andy has been a staunch supporter of Biba for a while now and it is very much appreciated. NB: I hope to have the final between Marcus and Raj into XG in the next few days.
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