The English Open, 6, 7, 8 June, 2008

Report by Michael Crane

The English Open (59)
A great turnout for the inaugural tournament of this new, national title. I think the combination of the title and the sponsorship of PartoucheGammon had a major effect on attendance - and for their part, I'd like to thank PartoucheGammon's Eric Guedj, Hugo de Fenyi Rouviére and Nathalie Guez for all they did to help. The trophies were magnificent, the tee-shirts went down very well indeed, and the free seat in Cannes for the winner of the English Open was very generous.

Friday 500 (24)

The weekend got off to a great start when twenty-four players battled it out for the weekend break and the 500 points. Nicky Check managed to make it to the semi's and this was enough for him to gain 12 points and place himself firmly at the top of the list with 68 points. His nearest rival, Mardi Ohannessian is 14 points behind him thanks to a 20 point boost after beating Ed Turner in the final. The full list can be seen here.

Main (59)
The 1st Round saw a plethora of fancied players tumble out of the title chase. Here's a few of the better known/better ranked players: Andy Darby. David Nathan. Eamon Keogh. Gerry Enslin. Jeff Barber. John Reddington. Julian Fetterlein. Mardi Ohannessian. Mark Heidenfeld. Paul Gilbertson. Raymond Kershaw. Rosey Bensley. Sean Williams. Tom Duggan.

It didn't leave too many top players in the Main, the most notable were Chris Ternel (out in Round 3), Nicky Check (out in Round 3), Brian Lever (out in Round 2), Adrian Jones (out in Round 2), Jon Barnes (out in Round 2), Ray Tannen (out in Round 2), Rachel Rhodes (out in Round 2), Kevin Stebbing (out in Round 2). So, who did it leave? Well, the Quarter-Finalists were:

The ladies have did very well this weekend, three of them got into the last 8, but that was as far as any of them went! Of all the players above, Mike Heard and Peter Bennet were the favourites; however, Mike fell to David Motley in the semi. Peter faired better, he prevailed over Stewart Pemberton to meet with David in the Final. I have yet to push the match through Snowie, but it was Peter who emerged on top to take the newest, Biba national title and he was duly crowned, English Champion 2008.

Peter and David

Consolation (55)
Entering into the 2nd Round via the Main 2nd Round, Uldis Lapikens and Roland Hererra met each other in the non-prog side 'final'. In their match, Roland won and he then went into the Final to meet Chris Ternel who had entered the prog-side after losing his Round 3 match (see above). If the power of thought was enough to bring about a victory, then Roland would have been the winner - his wife, Simonetta was willing him on all the way. Chris was impervious to Simonetta's thought-wave bombardment and it was he that came out the winner.

Chris and Roland

Last Chance (32)
There were too few players available to enable a 64 open draw, so the Last Chance was kept to 32 entrants. Two of our 'top' Main 1st Round losers had gradually fallen victim throughout the Consolation to end up in the Final of the Last Chance, Mardi and Brian (Lever). Mardi had entered in the top of the draw and was waiting in the Final for Brian who was one of the last to enter. The long wait must have weakened Mardi for it was Brian who took the winner's trophy.

Brian and Mardi

The Grammy (32)
This element was named in memory of Grahame Powell who died last July. I promised him I'd do something to remember him by - and this was it.

	I commemorated the occasion by wearing a tee-shirt dedicated to him - and I am pleased to say it was in very poor taste . . . . Grahame would have loved it! It raised a few eyebrows and laughs from the backgammon players - and loads of frowns and looks of puzzlement among the 'normal' hotel guests.
The Lousy Tee-shirt!	Peter and Gerry

Vying for the first ever, Grammy, Jon Barnes & Peter Edwards, and Gerry Enslin & Mike Main, met in the semis - encounters from which Peter and Gerry came out to meet each other. This was Peter's first Biba tournament (and I think it was his first backgammon tournament), so it was very fair of Gerry to let him take home the winner's trophy!

Poker (15)
Vicki Pemberton is at it again! She won the Poker and elevated herself into 2nd place in the Poker Grand Prix, Kevin Stebbing came 2nd, and his 23 points pushed him into the 'unofficial' 7th place. Simonetta Hererra came 3rd, but her points total is only equal to the 21 points she has from this win so her position is too low to mention at the moment. Myke Wignal came 4th and Tony Fawcett 5th, the result of which was Myke is now 4th in the Grand Prix and Tony is 3rd. Rosey Bensley is 5th in the Grand Prix - she went out first and gained only one point.

OK, I know what you're asking - Why is Kevin's 7th position, 'unofficial'? Well, to qualify for the Grand Prix, players must enter a minimum of five events, and the only ones to actually do this so far are Paul Gilbertson, Vicky, Tony, Myke and Rosey. Several non-qualifying players can make the Top Five, all they need to do is attend a few more events before the last one in November. Take a look here to see who's close to qualifying.

Team (14)
As always, this was a raucous, noisy, rowdy affair . . . which is how we like it! My team, with me as Captain, made it into the 2nd Round, but then we came to a halt and went no further. The last four were Sue Keeble & Mark Heidenfeld vs Dave Moon and David Phillips. The Dave's failed in their bid to topple Mark & Sue, and from the Mark and Sue encounter, Mark came out victorious.

Finally Nathalie Guez worked very hard over the days prior to the tournament getting the trophies together and shipping them to the hotel, and for that I am very grateful. I mention her here because she and Grahame met in the final of the 2003 Irish Open. Although she lost the match, she never forgot Grahame, and when he died last year she said a few words about him in Cannes, and this weekend she will be thinking of him again. Once again, many thanks to the PartoucheGammon team; and may Peter Bennet make good use of his free entry into the Cannes tournament and return a winner.

This is a Partouche Gammon Satellite event