.

.

Townharbour Trophy, 5, 6, 7 November, 2010
Report by Michael Crane

By Sunday afternoon we had just one player out of the 32 starters on 5-5, Neil Everitt. His next opponent, a 4-5 would come from the match between Bob Bruce and Chris Ternel, and although he didn't say so, I reckon Neil would prefer to play against Bob than Chris! For a good time it looked as if Bob was going to make it, but, not for the first time this weekend, Chris came from behind to clinch his place on the recording table and a shot at Neil.

On paper, and with reference to the rankings, Chris was favourite. Neil got off to a good start, 2-0, and he led all the way with Chris occasionally catching up: 2-1, 2-2, 4-2, 4-3, 6-3, 7-3, 7-5, 7-6, 8-6, 8-8; and it was at this match score where we learn a lesson. Beginners are (nearly) always advised to make their 5-point or bar-point whenever possible, but Chris Ternel is not a beginner! Here he is as white failing to make either point!

	x
Neil starts off with a good 42: 8/4, 6/4		Chris replies with 52: 13/8, 13/11
Neil compliments his previous play by rolling a great 31: 8/5, 6/5, the textbook play!		Chris rolls the perfect numbers to make his 5- or bar-point but doesn't. Instead he plays 24/17*. This is the correct play, according to XG, to make his 5-point would be an error and to make his bar-point a blunder.
Neil comes in with 22: 25/21, 13/11(2)		Chris rolls another 5- or bar-point maker, and instead of making one of them plays the same move as last time: 61: 24/17. The other two plays are blunders.

So, what have we learnt from this? We've learnt that in backgammon what you should do isn't what you always do! Circumstances dictate what moves are best even when it comes to deciding whether or not to make a very good point.

The match progressed and despite playing the correct opening rolls of this game, it was Neil that won the point: 9-8. In the next game, with Neil 2-away, 3-away and whilst trailing by 7 pips, and bearing in against a 4-point anchor with a spare checker, Neil cubes!

Neil ships across a 2-cube

Chris thinks for some time over this and he can be seen on the video calculating his chances. At Neil 2-away, 3-away, Chris has a 40% chance of winning the game - or if he takes, then after the inevitable recube, he'll be 40% to win the match. If he drops, at 1-away, 3-away Chris drops to 25%. After some consideration he correctly takes. He gets a shot a few rolls later but misses, and then a little after that he tries to race when the pipcount places him just 2 pips behind; however, it was just a tad too late and after Neil rolls a 44 it's over for Chris. XG STATS

Neil Everitt

This was a happy outcome for me for it gave me an outright winner on 6-6 and two on 5-6, Andy Darby and Uldis Lapikens. The initial tie-breaker of head-to-head failed to position them, as did shared opponents (they both beat Gerry Enslin), so it was left to the average ranking score of the opponents, and Uldis came out as Runner-up.

In the Consolation element, Brian Lever (eventually) got the better of Lawrence Powell in the 5th Round, and Mardi Ohannessian got the better of Peter Finnimore. The same tie-breaker was applied; they never met, they both beat George Hall and the average ranking favoured Brian and it was he that took home the winner's trophy.

Brian Lever and Mardi Ohanessian

In the Poker (11), Paul Gilbertson finished 1st, with Tony Fawcett 2nd and new-member, Ary Nogueira 3rd. Unfortunately for Paul and Tony, none of this made any difference to the listings. With just one more event to go, The Christmas UK Finals in December, Andy Darby remains at #1. Simon K Jones and Vicki Pemberton share 3rd place and Rosey Bensley and Mark Calderbank remain unchanged at #4 and #5. Simon and Rosey have the best chance to move upward, they both have a low score of 8 to replace, and it is possible that in the final event of the year, Andy could lose his #1 slot.  LISTINGS

The Team (11) saw Uldis Lapikens going it alone in the final against Phil Tutchings and Brian Metcalf, an encounter from which he emerged victorious.

The Friday 500 (16) saw Paul Gilbertson win his third consecutive 500 following his victory over Peter Christmas. This was a shame for Peter for victory would have placed him in the Last 16 and a shot at the £500! After leading for most of the year (with Nicky Check close on his heels), Andy Darby remained #1 over the weekend and took home a £100 bonus. Of those in danger of being knocked out of the Top 16 Qualifiers, all survived. Andreas Sophocleous clung on to #16 with just one point ahead of Peter Christmas! However, should any of the 16 qualifiers not attend the UK Finals in December, Peter Christmas downwards will take their places. LISTINGS

This weekend saw the conclusion of the Grand Prix and Ranking Championships. Click HERE to see who won what.

Finally
It was a good weekend and a 32 draw made it an easy-to-run event. It all went smoothly and now we all look forward to the Christmas UK Finals.

TOP