Our adventure started on Wednesday when Ian Tarr, Simonetta Barone and Roland Herrera arrived at our house in High Wycombe ready for the journey to the airport in the morning. They didn't arrive until 10 p.m., but, needless to say, that didn't deter them, together with Slatts, from starting a chouette at 2 a.m.! I declined from joining in as I still had some work to do in the morning so knew I would be up early. Slatts eventually came to bed at 4.45 a.m. – I wasn't looking forward to having to wake him up at 8.30!

 

We were flying to Trieste from Stanstead where we were meeting up with John Gilbertson and Martin Barkwill. I decided to chance my luck and call the hotel to see if I could persuade them to send a mini-bus to collect us at the airport. Trieste is just over the border in Italy and the journey takes about 30 minutes. When I got through to the receptionist she sounded somewhat unsure as to whether she could help. She asked if we were staying at the hotel, and I said we were and gave my name. This didn't seem to have the right effect and then I remembered I had booked the room in Slatts name. I said “Mr Slattery” and immediately she said “Ah, John Slattery, yes, leave this with me and I will call you back.” I had obviously said the magic word, as sure enough they confirmed that there would be transport waiting for us at Trieste. We met up with Will Richardson at check-in and managed to fit him in as well. When we arrived at the very friendly Hit Park hotel and casino, we found that the transport had been provided by them ‘Gratis' which was very nice of them.

 

Martin Hemming had driven all across Europe to be at the tournament. He loves driving and had the added incentive that he was meeting up with his son who was staying with his grandparents in Slovenia.

 

John G had a good start to his tournament, going the furthest of all the Brits that entered the Warm Up, reaching the Quarter Finals. Masters player, Shino, an American Indian that lives in London, beat him. Martin H won the Texas Holdem Poker tournament, which was a nice birthday present, earning him over a thousand euros.

 

On Friday, Martin H drove Ian, John G, Simonetta and myself to the Postojnska Jama, he was on his way to visit his son. The caves are the largest in Europe and really are spectacular. Well worth a visit if you come to the tournament. The weather was glorious and we had a lot of fun.

 

At the start of the tournament, there turned out to be 13 Brits playing. Slatts, Danny Cohen, Martin Barkwill and Brian Lever had registered for the Masters. Simonetta, Roland, John G, John Broomfield, Will, Ian, Martin H and myself were in the Championship division and Gay Roberts (resident of Tenerife and Isle of Man) was in the Intermediates. There were 144 players in all from 23 different countries.

 

Martin B had a tough draw against Lars Bonding. He took a 6-0 lead. I happened to be playing at the next table and glanced across to see Lars studying the board intently and having to make a cube decision. I apologised to my opponent and asked if he minded if I wrote it down. The score was 8-6 to Martin (black) and he had offered a 4 cube in this position.

#

#

Lars takes the cube. Martin rolls 65 and after his move Lars gives the cube back to Martin on 8. According to Snowie this cube is also a No Redouble. Martin takes and loses the match. Lars goes on to win the tournament!

 

In my first round match I played an Austrian who I remembered had beaten me in a previous tournament. I got off to a good start and was winning 5-1 to 11 when he asked for a break. This was after I had just rolled a lucky double 6 when he had a checker on his 1 & 2 points and I had one on each of my 3,4,5 and 6 points! Taking a break when ahead is always fatal for me, as readers of my Rotterdam report will remember! This one was no exception! He went ahead 5-7. At 8-8 with me (black) holding a 2 cube I find myself rolling a 63 in this position:-

#

#

I decided to run to my midpoint. Which having run a truncated cubeless rollout on Snowie 4 turns out to be the correct move! He rolls 53 and hits. I come in with 51. He does leave me a shot but I miss and go 8-10 down.

 

In the next game I (black) find myself in this position and roll 21.

#

#

I decided I had nothing to lose by hitting both his blots which proved to be right as I nearly backgammoned him for match. In the end I had to settle for a gammon and DMP. Unfortunately, the last game turned out to be a running game and he rolled two double fours to win the race.

 

Slatts played a girlie, Maria Kraicheva, from Bulgaria in the first round. He freely admits that he underestimated her and took a dodgy cube in the first game, got gammoned and soon found himself 0-6 down! He did rally himself and eventually got to 9-10 but then he loses an undoubled gammon. In the Crawford game Slatts misses hitting with 1's. 2's, 8's, 9's and 12's by rolling 55. He is in a 3-1 back game but has to run with a 61 and she hits and gets a 6 prime. Slatts doesn't come in for four rolls and loses the match. He congratulates Maria and then says, “Well, that's another title down the Swanee!!”

 

Simonetta and Roland play each other for a place in the 3 rd round. (This is one reason why I like to play in a different division to Slatts.) Roland offers a 2 cube at 9-9 but Simonetta wisely drops. In the Crawford game she gets an early advantage but Roland rolls well and eventually closes his board with Simonetta on the bar. He wins the match on his 40 th birthday! We all think that she very cleverly let him win without anyone noticing!!

 

Ian Tarr meanwhile, had beaten Slatts in the semi-final of a 50-euro jackpot. This was Ian's first International and he was delighted when he went on to win. John G also had his first jackpot win; he was having a good tournament considering he has only been playing since December 2003!

 

On Saturday, Slatts found himself playing against Vetsch in the first round of the Masters Consolation. Last year they faced each other here in the final of the European Championship. When I started to watch, Slatts was 9-5 ahead to 11 but he struggled to get ahead in any of the next 4 games and Vetsch went ahead 9-10. Slatts won the Crawford game and the final game swung backwards and forwards until Vetsch hit Slatts on his 2 point when all other points were closed in his home board. Slatts rolled the 2, hit, and went onto win the match.

 

In his next game against Lorince of Romania, Slatts (black) was again 9-10 down. He managed to win the Crawford game by rolling a double 3 on his last roll, and looked like a goner in the last game when he found himself in this position:-

  #

#

His poor opponent rolled a one every roll for about 7 rolls with the exception being a double 2! This meant that he failed to get past Slatts' two men on his 6 point. Slatts meanwhile had managed to build his board leaving only his one point open. Lorince ended up with all of his men on his 1 & 2 points apart from the two on his 8-point. His luck was really out when he rolled a 21, left the shot, Slatts hit it and went on to win the match. Lorince was absolutely shattered!

 

On Saturday evening 27 of us were going out to a local restaurant to celebrate Roland and Martin's birthdays. Roland, was holding the proceedings up when he was playing in the semi-final of the Championship consolation. We started watching when the score was 9-9 to 11. Roland had a difficult 6 to play and chose to hit his opponent on his one-point in the hope he would dance and that he could then close him out and get a gammon for match. Unfortunately, his opponent hit and a long game ensued. We all had to leave for the meal, which had been pre-arranged, and waited for Roland's arrival to find out the outcome. We obviously wanted Roland to be the victor especially as it was his birthday! Unfortunately, he came a close second but the restaurant turned up trumps! The meal was very well presented, tasty and cheap at 15 euros (£10) per head, which included wine. They made an excellent birthday cake with lots of candles on for the two birthday boys to blow out! Then it was back to play more backgammon!

 

Slatts won his 3 rd round against the Norwegian, Liby 11-9.

 

In his quarter final against Stegenborg of Denmark, Slatts was 17 down to 13 when he asked for a break. He came back, relaxed and determined to do some damage! Sure enough he got to 9-7 when there was one particularly exciting game. Playing as black he was offered a 2 cube in this position:-

  #

#

Now me being a mere beginner would have dropped it like a brick as all I could see was that he had 4's and 3's to hit, but Slatts snatched it! Stegenborg throws 42 , hits, Slatts throws 23 hits back and says “ didn't you see the gammons against you when you offered the cube?!” and what does he proceed to do – gammon him for match, of course!

 

The time is now 2.35 a.m. and Slatts sits down to play the semi-final, already assured of a trophy. He won 13-6 against Georgiev of Bulgaria. So he had made it into yet another International final and was in the money – 3,600 euros to the winner and 1,800 euros to the loser. We ended up going to bed at just past 5 o'clock in the morning!

 

In the meantime, knowing I was the BIBA Roving reporter, Brian Lever had come to me with a couple of positions in his Quarter-final Consolation match against Houseman. He has forgotten to write down what the score was so I have assumed 0-0. As Snowie says this is a No double, beaver for money I assume the re-cube was a big error whatever the score!

  #

#

Brian now had the comfort of owning a 4 cube and saw his opportunity of winning the match when he got to this position and re-cubed to 8. He went on to win the game and the match 11-5.

  #

#

On Sunday, Slatts sat down to play his final against Moretti of Italy. A local favourite. The match was to 15 and at 7-1 down Moretti asked for a break. He was gone for 20 minutes. When he reappeared he pointed out that he had changed into his lucky red shirt (the question is “why didn't he start to play in it?!”). The first game after the break turned into a real drama, there was a crowd watching and it ended up lasting 35 minutes! Slatts (black) offered the 2 cube in this position:-

  #

#

Moretti took and the marathon began. Slatts throws 21 and chooses not to hit. Moretti continuously hits the loose checker and gets into a position where he offers Slatts a 4 cube, which was a take as he was off the gammon with 3 pieces off. Slatts came very close to getting the last checker home but Moretti keeps hitting until eventually he closes his board and wins the game. Score now 7-5. Was the lucky shirt going to change the course of the match? Unfortunately, for Moretti, no! Slatts wins a backgammon on the next game and goes on to win the match 15-6. Moretti did achieve the status of now being the Italian Champion.

 

An interesting point to mention is that in 2002 Katya Spillum of Denmark won the European Championship, and the Mitteleuropa Championship and the following year won the consolation. Slatts won the title in 2003 and also won the consolation the following year. If this trend is to follow then Lars Bonding of Denmark, who won a resounding victory in the final of the Masters this year will have to come back and sacrifice himself in the Main to win the consolation next year!

 

As I was too busy following Slatts' match I didn't watch any of the final of the Main but I consider Lars to be a good friend and was pleased he won. My next report will be on the tournament he is running in Scandinavia in October. Luckily for the players Lars won't be playing!

 

John G, Martin B, Martin H, Slatts and I delayed our departure until Tuesday. We had a very relaxing lunch with Simonetta, Roland, Ian and Brian who were flying home late Monday, in a lovely, picturesque seaside town called Duino. It was probably referred to as a sleepy place until we descended on it! In the afternoon the BG board came out and a 4 man chouette ensued. John G ended up the only winner!

 

For those of you Brits who haven't yet put your toe in the water and ventured abroad for a tournament I think Ian Tarr will endorse the fact that Slovenia is a wonderful place to start. It is still definitely one of my favourites even though I only won one match the whole time I was here. Then again, if I had been winning, this report would be a lot shorter!!

 

 

#

#

#