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Gilbertson UK Finals. 1 & 2 December 2007 Once again, the Gilbertsons, Paul and Rosey, did us proud. Forty-five entrants turned out, thirty-nine of which sat down on the Saturday to see if they could qualify for one of the ten places up for grabs. It should have been only eight but John Hurst, Stuart Man, Giorgio Castellano and Adrian Jones didn't take up their places in the Last 16! To make up the extra two places is was decided that the 1st and 2nd in the Snowball (the event reserved for those that don't win their first two qualifying matches) would get a ''backdoor' chance to enter the Main.
The ten qualifiers were as follows with their pre-qualifier opponent in red (or Mick and Uldis in their pairings): Of the six pre-qualifiers, only three of them got into the second round: Jacob v Peter Christmas, Jerry Limb v Vicky Chandler and Brian Lever v Mick. They were joined by Julian v David to make up the last eight. Jacob failed to get past Peter, and Peter met Julian in the semi. In the bottom half of the draw, Jerry became the only surviving pre-qualifier, and in the semi he met Mick who was now uber confident he could do it, win back-to-back UK Finals!
Mick beat back Jerry's attempt to rob him of his back-to-back crusade and it was a Peter v Mick final. It was a scrappy match with both players being classed as Beginners by Snowie! Between them there were over 40 errors, including more than 20 blunders, more than half being Peter's. However, here's a position in which he played correctly - would you?
7 point match Having escaped one back checker, Mick just has to get his second one out, so is making the bar-point the correct move or is it the 4-point? Well a lot of inexperienced players would go for the bar-point, and they'd be wrong. Shifting off the laden 6-point, 6/4(2) is by far the better move. Making the bar-point is a huge blunder and gives away over 6% game winning chances (gwc). Peter made the correct play - but as it turned out, it wasn't that good for him. Mick rolled a 65 two rolls later and escaped. He then cubed next turn, Peter took and eventually lost 2 points! The score went up (black first): 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-4, 4-5. It was here that Mick had a 43 to play that caused some discussion afterwards.
Mick (B) 4 Peter (W) 5 Here's a few candidate moves: 6/2 5/2, making the 2-point; 8/4* 4/1, pick & pass; 8/4* 7/4, point on the blot; 10/6 10/7, clear the 10-point. Three of these are blunders, one of them a massive one @ -0.742! The correct play is to hit and cover. It returns approx. 63.3% gwc including 3.9% gammons, the remaining moves are 6/2 5/2 @-0.119, 8/4* 4/1 @ -0.280 and you already know the equity loss for clearing the 10-point! Mick's 'bold' play of hitting and covering enabled him to cube Peter out after he danced with a 41. With the score at 2-away, 2-away, Mick doubled early and Peter took; and from thereon it all went Mick's way. Peter did have a couple of chances to turn the match but he never did. Mick bore off against two on the bar; a Joker 66 later cleared a path for Peter and he rolled 64 and the match was over. Mick is the first player to win back-to-back UK Finals, and he now has his sights on a third win next year. Watch him!
There's some good news for everyone though. No one had purchased Mick in the tote so it is rolled over for Brighton and it'll start at £145. This should ensure a big payout for the year's first tote.
. Unable to take home the Main trophy, Tom settled for taking home the Consolation runner-up trophy, leaving Uldis with his second UK 1st trophy. It should be noted here that Uldis now holds the record for winning the most elements in Biba's history. This weekend's two 1sts give him a total of 13 (starting in 1998), one more than John Slattery! Well done, Uldis (see here).
Jacob qualified at the Irish Open, and because he lives in Denmark, he had quite a journey to get to Coventry, so I was very pleased to see him attend. There are thousands of backgammon players in Denmark, of which I have met relatively few; but I have to say, all those I have met have been friendly, cheerful, sporting players, and Jacob was no exception. He is a great ambassador for his game and his country, and it was a pleasure to meet him.
. The above elements were just some of the weekend's programme designed to keep everyone busy. We had 'Rosey's Rollout' for a bottle of champagne - which was won by Julian Minwalla. Julian was one of eight who matched Rosey's roll of 15, but he was the only one to equal it in the roll-offs. There was the Whiskey Galore (64) open draw for a bottle of Jameson Backgammon Whiskey, and it was gratefully won by Brian Lever. In the Team (6), Peter Christmas saw off the opposing team, and then saw of his two rivals, Richard Biddle and Sharen Crane, in the final, taking all the pot for himself! There was late night Poker (16); an event from which Tony Lee came 1st with Mick Butterfield 2nd (money to money!), and Nigel Merrigan, 3rd. Let's not forget the Friday 500 Finals (16). Giorgio and Slats didn't turn up for the final, and so their places were filled by Richard Biddle and Paul Christmas, both of whom had turned up hoping for such to happen. They both won their first match, and they then met in the 2nd Round. Richard was victorious and he went on to meet (but lose to) Myke Wignall in the semi-final. Meanwhile in the other half of the draw, Rosey Bensley was rolling hot hot hot! Paul Learmount, Gerry Enslin and Paul Watts all fell before her dice; and Myke was to become her final victim. Taking home £500, Rosey became the first ever, Friday 500 winner; and has shown us all that you can get something for nothing when you gain free entry into the Friday 500s! Because we had a big turnout on the Friday night - no doubt boosted by players hoping for a chance to get into the 500! - Caroline organised a Jackpot (12) for those that didn't make it. It was down to Tony Fawcett and Paul Gilbertson to battle it out in the final, and it was Paul who came out the winner; however, Tony had something waiting for him on the Saturday . . . .
Roxanna won the Main with Marc, runner-up; Dee Fawcett won the Consolation with Andrew Bennet, runner-up; and Martin Maynard won the 1-pointer (and the winner-takes-all pot of £22) leaving William Chandler as runner-up. Caroline reports that all entrants had a great time and it has been decided that a Beginner's event will take place in March of next year.
Right, it's over now! But before I say my thank yous I'd like to tell you of the 'table magician' we had at dinner on the Saturday evening, arranged by Rosey. I was expecting some geezer in a dress coat and cravat - instead we got a young lad with an unruly mop of hair and trainers! Disappointed? Not at all. It was none other than Andrew Bennet (from the Beginner's), son of Peter Bennet; and he was tremendous. His display of legerdemain was unbelievable. It was impossible to see how he did it - it was truly magic. My only regret was that I had to get back to work and I wanted to stay at the table and see more. Was he better than Paul Daniels? Yes, a lot! Finally
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