Keren Di Bona Memorial Trophy 2008
Report by Michael Crane

The weekend got off to a decent start with the Friday 500 (10). Ten players sat down to battle it out for the weekend prize, and by midnight we were down to two, Gerry Enslin and Ray Tannen. They had beaten back challenges from Myke Wignall and Julian Fetterlein respectively and in the final (played Saturday morning) it was Ray that came out the victor.

On the Saturday the Main (22) got underway without the sponsor, Emmanuel Di Bona, being present, which was a bit of a shame for I am sure he'd have enjoyed himself. Twenty-two might appear low, but it was an improvement on last year's twenty-one! We got down to the Last 8 on Saturday afternoon where the fixtures were:

Nicky Check vs Martin Barkwill: Martin won.
Phillip Tutchings vs Tom Duggan: Phillip won and played Martin.
Myke Wignall vs Paul Gilbertson: Myke won.
Peter Bennet vs David Motley: Peter won and played Myke.

From these pairing, Martin triumphed over Phil by virtue of a poor cube decision on Phil's part. With the score at 8-7 to Phil (black) to 11 points, he shipped across a 4-cube in this position ...

This is a clear take for Martin and he should have snatched it up; however, Martin being Martin, thought about it for a good while . . . and then snatched it up! This isn't a re-cube, and giving it away for DMP is a big mistake.

Peter got the better of his old doubles partner, Myke, and he was into his second consecutive final (having won last month's English Open), and was now on 9 x 11-point wins in a row; hoping to make it 10 and getting his second 1000-to-1 trophy, his first being November 2000. He looked as if he wasn't going to make it when Martin went into a 6-0 lead but then Martin stalled, unable to win another point as Peter pulled back and then ahead winning 6-11. So, two wins in a row and now the first to win two 1000-to-1 trophies! Well done, Peter. Let's hope you can win a third final with your free entry at Cannes (see English Open report). Good luck.

Peter with Deena Fawcett - Assistant Director	Martin

In the Progressive Consolation (18) Julian Fetterlein tore through Mike Barret (new member), Steve Rimmer, Nicky Check and Tom Duggan (defending Main winner from 2007), to secure a place in the final against Paul Gilbertson who entered from the progressive side (Last 8 of the Main). Julian's momentum couldn't be stopped, however, and it was he that came out the winner.

Julian and Paul

Richard and Steve	Marcus and Myke

With such a small field of players to draw from the Last Chance (16) was an open draw. Taking advantage of re-entries, Steve Rimmer and Richard Holness battled it out for 1st place, an encounter that Steve won. The Bona of Contention (16) was another open draw, but this time the finalists, Marcus Wrinch and Myke Wignall didn't avail themselves of re-entering, each playing from their 1st try. It was Marcus that got the upper hand and he took home the 'bigger' trophy leaving Myke with a tiny, tiny little trophy!

The Poker (5) was very slow getting entrants, and by close of Registration just three, Paul Gilbertson, Myke Wignall and Tony Fawcett (director) were the only ones down to play! But, over dinner - and after many pints of lager - these three tipsy players managed to entice John Hedge (who claimed he didn't know how to play!) and Martin Barkwill into their fold. As it turned out, being 'sober' made a big difference in that 1st and 2nd were John and Martin, with the drunkards bringing up the rear: Tony, Myke and Paul. The moral is, if you want to get ahead in the poker - keep a clear one!

There was a magnificent entry for the first ever Biba Piphit (4) event! Me, Cedric Lytton, Gerry Enslin and Richard Holness! Richard and I were Piphit virgins whereas Cedric and Gerry had been practicing all day. This proved to be very effective for we virgins were well and truly deflowered, (me by Gerry, Richard by Cedric) and the Final was a pitched battle against the two from Norfolk, an encounter from which Cedric (who has written a very technical paper on Piphit - to be published via Biba later) emerged the first Piphit Champion.

I'm not sure about Piphit. It relies too much on luck in my opinion and it was this luck element that put off a lot of potential entrants. I suppose it's OK for a bit of fun but I can't see it taking off seriously. Also, games take a good bit longer to complete, which, as a TD, I see as a bad thing.

Finally
Well, despite the absence of its sponsor, the event went along well and (most of) those that turned out enjoyed themselves. If it was marred by anything it was by some players moaning, and groaning and tutting throughout their matches - even when they won! I had a couple of emails after the weekend bringing this sort of behaviour to my attention, which is a tad too late, really. If I had been made aware of the off-putting behaviour as and when it happened I could have dealt with it. As it is, dealing with it retrospectively is difficult. If you are annoyed by an opponent's behaviour, report it and I'll do something about it - don't wait until the event is over to tell me.