PrimeTime Backgammon - USBGF

Transcription

PrimeTime Backgammon
The Official Magazine of
the U S Backgammon
Federation
Volume 3, Issue 3
May–June, 2012
The Players’ Tournament: The Nordic Open
by Bob Wachtel
There has been one great and
glamorous tournament, over
the last thirty years, with
which the world of backgammon has been associated in
the public imagination: Monte
Carlo. Elegant dress, high
stakes gambling, fast cars careening along the narrow
mountain roads above the
Mediterranean: and we players, like James Bond himself,
effortlessly foiling the
schemes of the imposters and
villains who converge on the
tiny principality from all
around the wide world.
Bob
Wachtel
But the images of the swinging seventies have faded, and
our game is not the fantasy
today that beguiled Hugh
Hefner thirty-five years ago.
The dreamers have gone
broke, and evolution has supplanted them with precise,
equity-calculating scientists.
The premier tournament
today, both in turnout and
prestige, is the Nordic
Open—held not in the balmy
midsummer of the Cote d’Azur, but in Copenhagen, on
(Continued on page 15)
Back to the Classics: the 2012 Nevada State
Backgammon Championships
text and photos by Steve Sax
Not only has the 2012 Nevada State Backgammon
Championship returned to a
classic Las Vegas center strip
location, the Flamingo Hotel,
but two veteran backgammon players took down the
top two prizes in late April’s
annual contest.
seems to have stopped winning, yet Neil keeps on
trucking, and added a win in
the Seniors event to round
out a great weekend for the
veteran backgammon player.
He won that title over 63
others, including finalist
Tristan Bettencourt.
Chicago’s Neil Kazaross won
the 2012 Nevada State over
44 other competitors, including finalist Gary Bauer,
and in the process earned his
14th ABT event in its 20year history. Tiger Woods
has that many “majors” but
Others to place in the Nevada State include semifinalists Tom Zarrinam and
Carter Mattig, as well as
consolation winner Justin
Nunez and finalist Dorn
Bishop, and rounding out
Inside this issue:
Update on the USBGF by
Perry Gartner
2
Annual Membership Meeting of the USBGF
Starting Off Right by Mary
Hickey
BG at the University of
South Carolina
by Art Benjamin
Horton And Mattig Win Big
At CSI by Bill Davis
2
My Ohio State Backgammon Recap by Stick Rice
7
3
5
6
Harvey Mudd College wins 13
NCTC by Chuck Bower
Announcing the 2012 Inter- 27
national BG Championship
2013 Texas BG Champion- 29
ships by B Riles, T Mendicino, & P Gibson
Upcoming U.S. Events
30
An Explanation of the
31
USBGF Leader Board by
Barry Silliman
The Leading US Players by 32
Barry Silliman
Founding Sponsors
35
ABT Tournament Results
36
USBGF Volunteer Staff
40
USBGF Gear Depot by Ro- 41
chelle Hasson
USBGF Board of Directors 41
Neil Kazaross: ABT Topranked Player for 2011
See page 32
for a list of
all topranked players.
Copyright 2012 by the USBGF
Page 2
May–June, 2012
Update on the U.S. Backgammon Federation
by Perry Gartner, President & Executive Director
We’re off to a great start in 2012! We now have 610 members, up from 530 at the beginning of the year—reaching toward our goal of 670 members by the end of the year. Many
thanks to Bruce Newberg for becoming our 75th Founding
Sponsor!
Again this year, the USBGF is co-sponsoring the International
Backgammon Championship (IBC). Ten countries and twentysix players participated in the inaugural event last year, with
Japan taking the country prize, and Tsuyoshi Minakami (Japan)
winning first place in the individual competition. Register now
to compete to represent the U.S. in the IBC II. You can either
enter the U.S. Playoffs by donating $160, or enter a qualifying
bracket of eight online or through a local club for $20.
And mark your calendars for the LA Open, June 8–10, and
take advantage of the free entry into the USBGF National
Championships.
 Rest of the World” challenge match, and analyzes selected
positions from his own matches.
 Steve Sax notes that old-timers aren’t out of the game—
with the resurgence of All-Time ABT Champion Neil Kazaross, who won Las Vegas in April, and Florida in May.
 Chuck Bower reports on the 2012 National Collegiate
Team Championship and the winning team, Harvey Mudd
College, coached by USBGF Board of Directors member
and world-famous mathemagician Art Benjamin.
 Stick Rice highlights, in his own unique style, his first ABT
win at the Ohio State Championships.
This issue contains much that you will find instructive and interesting including:
 Bill Riles announces the 2013 Texas Backgammon Championship, with lots of fun events—the USBGF Tournament of
Stars for Founding Sponsors and Giants of Backgammon,
the 2013 USBGF National Championships, and a Dual Duel
with winners determined both by match score and performance ratings.
 Bob Wachtel reports on the action from the Nordic Open
in Copenhagen, including the annual “Denmark vs. The
 Chicago Point editor and ABT director Bill Davis presents
highlights and photos from his CSI tournament.
Staff and Volunteers
 Bob Wachtel—Editor
 Matt Cohn-Geier—Founding Editor
The USBGF is getting better and better, offering more and
more ways to enhance your playing experience. Don’t miss
out on the fun!
Annual Membership Meeting of
the USBGF
 Karen Davis—Managing Editor
 Gus Contos—Production Editor
 Rochelle Hasson—Director, Multi-media Marketing and
Assistant Editor
 Steve Sax—USBGF Photographer
 Barry Silliman—Rankings Editor
 Marty Storer—Feature Editor, Annotated Matches
 Editorial Advisory Board: Karen Davis (chair); Chuck
As provided by the by-laws of the U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF), an annual membership meeting will be held on
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 9 pm EST by telephone conference
call. Members will receive an email notice with details. Perry
Gartner, President and Executive Director, will update the
membership on developments in the organization. Karen
Davis, Chairman of the Board of Directors and USBGF Treasurer, will provide an update on the USBGF financial statements for 2011 and calendar year 2012 budget.
Bower; Matt Cohn-Geier; Carol Joy Cole; Gus Contos;
Mike Corbett; Perry Gartner; Rochelle Hasson; Justin
Nunez; Bob Wachtel; Kit Woolsey
Page 3
May–June, 2012
Starting Off Right
by Mary Hickey
Mary Hickey has been teaching backgammon for several years, and her students have won numerous prizes in
their divisions. She is ranked 33rd on the 2011 Giants of Backgammon list. In 2009, she came in ninth in the
American Backgammon Tour (ABT), and sixth in the 2010 ABT. She won the U.S. Open in 2010 and again in
2011. You can find her online at several sites as “mamabear”, and at Play65 as “mamabear64”.
Mary has written for most of the major backgammon publications, including GammonVillage where her 44part series on chouettes is archived. The latter is also available for sale there as a book on CD. She has recently
co-authored a book with Marty Storer, What’s Your Game Plan?, published in early 2011. For more information, contact her at thehick64@hotmail.com.
“Starting Off Right” is Mary’s regular column for PrimeTime Backgammon; her writing and analysis has appeared in every issue since November 2010.
As we noted last time, it's good to have a game plan in mind before you roll. In this case, your general strategy will be to attack
those enemy blots in your board. You don’t want to allow them to escape or form an advanced anchor. Your roll of 44 here
clearly permits you to attack, but your best tactics may not be obvious at first look.
Black will be happy to complete either of the two anchors he has slotted (started with a single checker in the hope of completing
the point). But you don’t want your opponent to be happy, do you? That means you want to minimize his chance of ending up
with either anchor.
Hitting both his blots in your board is a good way to get rid of the two slots. Is that worth the risk of getting another of your
men sent back? The answer is yes—your gain is great if you win the fight for those points, but your loss isn’t serious if you get
hit. Your opponent has no new points made in his board, so you have plenty of ways to bounce back into contention after the
setback of a hit.
Page 4
May–June, 2012
Starting Off Right
(Continued from page 3)
One way to fight for both the points is to make the 4 point and hit loose on the 5, playing 8/4*(2) 13/5*. This is better than just
making the 5 point with two checkers from the midpoint, 13/5*(2), since it puts both the enemy checkers in the air instead of
leaving him with a good anchor still slotted. It is also better than any other play that only hits one checker, or none. But did
you see a different way to hit both checkers?
A blitz is a relentless attack in your own home board, intended to close out one or more opposing checkers. Here, you can
attempt a blitz by playing 13/5*/1, 8/4*! In a blitz, low inner board points are almost as valuable as high ones, since the object is
to make all the points if possible. Making the ace point here is useful for a blitzing game plan, and it also prevents your attack
from fizzling if that blot is hit after one of the other plays.
The rollout shows blitzing would probably be the best approach even if you were playing without a cube, but at normal scores,
the blitzing play also gives you the opportunity to double your opponent out if he fails to perform. If he fans he has a huge pass,
but you might get a take from an opponent who sees how he can win, but underestimates his chance to be gammoned.
This unfavorable tradeoff of gammons versus wins makes it a marginal decision, probably slightly wrong, for him to take if he
enters a single checker on the 3 point. If instead he enters one man on the 5, re-slotting his best anchor, you still have a double
but now he can take. If he enters one man on the 2, he starts the anchor that will give him the most winning chances if he ends
up depending on a later shot, and again you have a double that he can take. If he enters both checkers on separate points, you
will be short of a double because your gammon chances will be reduced.
Blitzes frequently end with a cube turn. A familiar example is when one side plays an opening 64, 63, or 62 by splitting to the
bar point and bringing a checker down from the midpoint. The opponent then rolls a 55 and attacks with 8/3(2), 6/1*(2), after
which the first player stays out. The opponent then doubles, and the first player has to pass.
Page 5
May–June, 2012
Backgammon at the University of South Carolina
by Art Benjamin
On March 23 and 24, Art Benjamin, a member of the US Backgammon Federation Board of Directors, paid a visit to the University of South Carolina to talk about mathematics, magic, and backgammon. His visit was sponsored by the math department and
the student-run Carolina Science Outreach organization, which aims to spread the joy of mathematics and science to students
throughout the state. On the first day, Dr. Benjamin, a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in California, gave a
mathematics lecture and his famous "mathemagics" show where he demonstrates and explains the secrets of rapid mental math.
But on the second day, he ran a three-hour workshop on backgammon for a group of twenty students, mostly undergraduate
math and science majors, from USC. Mathematics professor Douglas Meade had the idea of organizing the workshop after attending a backgammon tournament last summer sponsored by the USBGF at the Mathematical Association of America's MathFest.
Many of the students in attendance
had never played the game before,
with one notable exception, backgammon enthusiast Michael Edge, a
"finishing student" who has been
playing the game much longer than
most of the students have been
alive. Edge brought his deluxe
Brahma board and he and Benjamin
played a three-point match, taking
care to explain the logic behind
every move that they played. The
students asked many questions, and
Benjamin went off on many mathematical tangents to talk about
counting shots, counting pips, and
taking small risks to make big improvements.
Above: Michael Edge (left) and Art Benjamin
about to begin their demonstration match.
Left: Edge has the edge—or does he?
After about an hour, the group took a break when
the pizzas arrived. "I realized that students were
enjoying the game when they all came back to watch
the match after the break," said Benjamin. A petition
was created, and enough student and faculty signatures were obtained to form an official backgammon
club. The club plans to meet every week, with
weekly lessons given by Edge, and occasional visits
from local backgammon giant Petko Kostadinov, who
himself has a masters degree in statistics from USC.
Edge also coaches a team from Clemson University.
The previous week, Benjamin played with a group of
students at Davidson College in North Carolina, which had participated in last year's USBGF Collegiate TeamTournament. Benjamin, who is a member of the Education Committee of the USBGF, and coaches a backgammon team from Harvey Mudd College,
noted "My hope is that we will see each of these schools play in this year's event"—then he spontaneously broke into song:
"Nothing could be finer than three teams from Carolina in the tourney!"
Page 6
May–June, 2012
Horton And Mattig Win Big At CSI
by Bill Davis
A stylish Jeb Horton (see page 36) won a thrilling double-match-point victory over Bill Calton to capture the ABT 2012 Central
States Invitational. CSI, one of the world’s last major backgammon events to enforce a dress code, was held March 9–11 at the
all-suites Sheraton Chicago O’Hare hotel. Amy Trudeau and Bill Davis directed the 100+ players in attendance.
The purpose of the dress code (collared shirts required. No T-shirts, sweatshirts, or shorts) was to remind today’s players why
backgammon was so popular in the 1930s and then again in the 1970s. It had nothing to do with clocks, cameras, baffle boxes,
and all the other techie tools of the day. It had much to do with class, style, and elegance.
“Technophiles are into match equity and take
points. Wearing a dress shirt and tie doesn’t
compute in their minds, and many of them stay
away for that reason,” said CSI co-director Bill
Davis. “We are unable to capture the grungy
crowds that poker is attracting, so we might as
well separate ourselves and look good.”
Carter Mattig had a terrific tournament, edging
Harvey Gillis in the Grand Crystal Beaver Masters event and then besting England’s Rachel
Rhodes in the Championship Consolation finals.
The American Backgammon Tour Facebook
page put up $600 in added money to be divided
among main event winners who wore a minimum dress shirt and tie for all of their matches
(ladies needed only to dress appropriately). Jeb
Horton was awarded $300 for his Championship
victory, Oleg Raygorodsky earned a bonus $200
in the Advanced division, and Steven O’Connor Grand Crystal Beaver Masters champ Carter Mattig (center), with
picked up $100 in the Limited division.
director Amy Trudeau and runner-up Harvey Gillis (photo by Bill Davis)
Congratulations to Steve Blanchard and Nora Luna Righter, who dressed to the nines every day and were awarded with special
style trophies. All in all, a very social event, with $2000 raised for the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago.
Best-dressed winners Steve
Blanchard and Nora Luna
Righter, with Amy Trudeau
and Bill Davis. ( photo by Mark
King)
Page 7
May–June, 2012
My Ohio State Backgammon Recap
by Stick Rice
Editor’s Note: Stick Rice had a reputation going into the 18th Ohio State Backgammon Championship of being the best Performance Rating player never to have won an American Backgammon Tour championship. All that changed in Cleveland in March when Stick won the
Open Championships, as well as capturing the doubles title with Mary Hickey. Stick, a member of the USBGF Board of Directors, developed and runs the bgonline forum, from which this article is adapted with permission. Thanks to Dmitriy Obukhov for sharing positions.
Karen Davis shot the photos.
It's always easier to do a write up of a tournament when you win something. It's not so much fun when you get to report: “'I
went two and five, and got to watch a lot of BG.”
I played tennis in Columbus in the morning and then again in the afternoon, arriving in time for the doubles event Friday evening
with Mary Hickey. I told Mary I'd be sure to get there in time for doubles, but if not, she could just carry us. Friday night, we
squeezed in quite a few doubles matches. It was a weird distribution of matches. In one match Mary and I had a lot of disagreements on plays, a good deal of which ended up being just small errors, and then the next match we'd play, we wouldn't disagree
on anything.
From left: Phil Simborg; Dmitriy
Obukhov; Stick Rice; Mary Hickey
I can't remember all the doubles teams we played, but other than Dale Berlin and Mike Rezai, whom we played in the finals (an
all Columbus, Ohio final, by the way), we played Bill Davis and Carol Joy Cole, Phil Simborg and Dmitriy Obukhov. Phil and I
had made a bet at the beginning of the tournament: who would last longer in doubles. Once Mary and I were paired against him
(in the third round I think), I offered to let him out for
$49—but he wouldn't take it. That'll teach him. I was
rolling like a phenom on Friday and if I continued rolling
that way all weekend I could probably win the tournament even if I played like trash.
Phil and Stick give
their Saturdaymorning lecture.
I woke up early on Saturday for Phil's lecture, and it
was a hit. I saw somewhere people thanking me or telling me how well the lecture was done. Don't get the
wrong idea, I did nothing other than wake up. Phil put
in all the work and did all the entertainment. His lectures are always a great combination of fun and learning.
Page 8
May–June, 2012
Now the Ohio State Championship tournament, as long as I've known it, has never been a big event. I was hoping to get thirtytwo players in the Main, but that didn't happen. I was paired with David Rockwell in my Calcutta grouping, and Linda bought us
for the same price as a lot of other groups. I considered David one of the top five players there, and I thought our grouping was
the strongest. I was sitting with David and Linda during the Calcutta and once Linda bought our team, I joked that was the sure
fire way to assure that I drew David in the first round. We all know what happened next ...
In my first round match with David, we made an agreement that if either of us made a second roll error we would forfeit the
match! It didn’t happen, so we played out the entire match with it getting to virtual DMP at four-away, four-away, I believe. I
rolled better than David, and the Stick snowball continued to build its weekend momentum. Ask anyone I played all weekend
and they will tell you they were just shaking their head at my dice at some point. I remember two specific times with Dmitriy
and Bill Davis.
From left: Stick Rice; Bill Davis; Dmitriy Obukhov
Fast forward to Saturday night. I had two finals matches to play the next day, but didn't have to play until 2 pm. That left plenty
of time for drinking Saturday night since I finished my matches by 11 pm. I was rooming with Jason Lee and Ben Friesen. Jason,
not having the hottest weekend, didn't feel like going, but Ben and I stumbled to the bar area.
We ended up at an Irish pub called PJ Mcintyre's. There was a long bar in the center and enough people there, as it was a Saturday night. We heard Michael Jackson and saw people on the dance floor. We made our trip to the other end of the bar, got
drinks, and were checking out the rest of the place. Some other song had since come on, I forget what, and then we saw it...a
band was playing!?
It wasn't MJ playing on the jukebox as we thought when we came in: it was a band. The second song, same thing. It continued
like this on down the line—from Lady Gaga to Journey, Joan Jett to Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson to Pat Benatar. The band was
Velvet Shake, and you can check out a few of their covers if you want on their Youtube account. I know what you're thinking:
it's just because the singer is hot. That didn't hurt, but her voice was sweet and the band could play.
Page 9
May–June, 2012
We did the usual, bar, late night McDonald's, back to the playing room and ... nobody. That's something that happens when
there isn't a big turnout—not a lot of late night action. So Ben and I broke into the BG playing room and played some backgammon to lose and other self-invented variants. While I'm at it, I would recommend never leaving anything valuable in the playing
room even if they're going to 'lock it'. At the last three tournaments I have attended, I have gone into the playing room after it
was 'locked' in the middle of the night.
The tournament was structured with a fighter’s bracket, so you could lose once and still win. So when I was undefeated in the
finals, Dmitriy (who had lost a match) would have had to beat me twice to win the tournament. I didn't know this until Saturday
night. I forget how it even came up. People are surprised I don't know something like this, but it doesn't matter one bit, does it?
My job is to show up and win every match. I don't know the format, and as far as I am concerned it doesn’t make a bit of difference whether it is Swiss or double elimination or standard. Anyway, having played Phil and Dmitriy in doubles, we got into a
discussion about a position I thought was 100% must-recube for them versus us. It turned out to be no redouble, but I knew
there must be some PR difference between me and the Hickster and Dmitriy and the Simborginator.
I was overjoyed not to see the cube at the
time. I talked to Dmitriy about it later, mentioning the skill differences. Going into the
tournament, I didn't have much of an idea
how he played, only having played him (as far
as I remember) some late-night, drunken
DMP matches. So I asked him what he
played on average PR-wise, but he never
answered.
Page 10
May–June, 2012
Now the first game of our finals match and this position comes up:
He doubles me and I think for a few. I get to my conclusion and start laughing and say "You never did tell me how you play,"
hoping to get an answer. In other words, I thought the decision was close. As close as I thought it might be, I have to pass
against almost everyone anyway so I let it go. Dmitriy never answered me.
We had a couple other interesting positions. Dmitriy had a 63 to play in the following position:
Page 11
May–June, 2012
My gut feeling was that he needed to hit something, but he didn't. He spent some real time on the problem though, and I didn't
waste my energy giving it any real consideration.
We were playing with a clock, and at the start of this next play I had 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining leading 10–3 Crawford.
Knowing that, how much time do you think is acceptable to spend on this?
Page 12
May–June, 2012
I spent around 40 seconds on it and ended up making the two point and leaving the 53 shot, playing the last ace 8/7.
Guess what tumbled out of Dmitriy's cup? Wouldn't be backgammon without some joker excitement. It didn't faze me at all
though. I shook, I rolled my ace, and after he danced immediately rolled a six. That's how the weekend was going for me: even
when things went badly, they went well.
Page 13
May–June, 2012
Harvey Mudd College wins USBGF National Collegiate Team
Championships
by Chuck Bower
The second annual USBGF National Collegiate Team Championship tournament was conducted on the SafeHarborGames website on Saturday, 21 April 2012. Joe Russell, Alex Eshaghian, Phil Simborg, and Karen Davis organized and directed this event.
Nine teams of 2–4 players (an increase of one team over 2011) from six colleges and universities participated. Clemson, Indiana,
and UCLA fielded two teams each; Harvey Mudd, Northwestern, and Texas A&M entered one apiece. The format was a singleelimination knockout, with two wins out of three matches qualifying a team to move on to the next round.
With school (and conference) pride on the line, 21
spirited matches were contested over 4 ½ hours. Harvey Mudd College, Northwestern University, and both
teams from the University of California at Los Angeles
made it to the semifinals. Harvey Mudd then defeated
UCLA-I (Joe Roth, Ashim Ahuja, and Matt Hecht) in
the finals to take home the $690 prize and the title of
National Collegiate Team Champions of Backgammon.
The winning team members are senior Louis Ryan,
junior Jonathan Schwartz, and freshman Nathan Hall.
They answered a short questionnaire, and their responses are found below. Harvey Mudd is coached by
Mathematics Professor, “mathemagician”, and 1997
American Backgammon Tour Champion Arthur Benjamin. Art’s book Secrets of Mental Math, coauthored by
Scientific American contributor and renowned skeptic
Michael Shermer, can be found (dog-eared) on the
shelves of many calculating-style backgammon players.
This past August, Art conducted a seminar, quiz, and
competition at the annual summer meeting of the
Mathematics Association of America. This free event
was sponsored by the USBGF; Karen Davis, Frank
Frigo, Phil Simborg, and I answered participants’ ques- The winning team (left to right) Jonathan Schwartz, Nathan Hall,
tions and helped direct the tournament.
Louis Ryan and Coach Art Benjamin.
Get to know the winning team members
Louis Ryan
Academic status:
Senior, majoring in mathematics
Backgammon background:
I learned the game one year ago from Professor Benjamin after telling him of my interest in board games. I play face-to-face with
friends and Prof. Benjamin, and also on the computer, versus GNU Backgammon.
Other game or sports interests and what carries over from those to backgammon:
I participate in chess, bridge, go, ping pong, basketball, golf, and soccer. There are some common themes that pertain to backgammon, such as the importance of position, and evaluating risk vs. reward. Also, the psychological aspect from chess on how
going on the attack can be advantageous and force your opponent into mistakes applies to backgammon.
Page 14
May–June, 2012
Championships
Occurrences or experiences from this competition worth noting:
The USBGF collegiate competition was a lot of fun, so I would recommend that more people participate in this tournament. It
was my second time playing in this event and I noticed I was a lot less nervous with my actions, especially handling the doubling
cube.
Jonathan Schwartz
Academic status:
Junior, majoring in engineering
I learned backgammon from my father as a young child. I got involved at HMC when Professor Benjamin sent out e-mails seeking individuals interested in the game. I play face-to-face backgammon with my family when I’m home and with friends at Mudd.
I’ve played hockey my entire life, but obviously that game is very different from backgammon―strength and agility being key
skills of hockey. Backgammon involves more strategy and considerably more luck.
A couple times I made risky doubles. They happened to work in my favor resulting in victories, but I realize different dice could
have led to the opposite outcomes.
Nathan Hall
Academic status:
Freshman, joint major in mathematics and computer science
I first learned backgammon several years ago from my dad and was reacquainted with the game this year by teammate Louis
Ryan. Louis is responsible for getting me involved with the HMC backgammon team. I don’t play much online backgammon, just
face-to-face with Louis here and with my dad when I’m back home.
I played competitive chess for several years, but not since arriving at college. Also I’m a member of Claremont College’s ultimate Frisbee team. I see definite similarities between backgammon and chess, although the role of luck in the former is obviously a big difference.
I am very grateful to Louis Ryan, who taught me a lot of strategy this year and is always encouraging me to make the move my
analytical mind tells me is best, even when it’s very risky. In several situations during our championship run I made aggressive
plays that went against my initial instincts and eventually resulted in gammon wins.
Afterword
The existence of this competition and of backgammon clubs at these participating universities is directly the result of efforts by
USBGF members. Phil Simborg reports that currently over 100 college students are involved in the USBGF college program.
Many have received free lessons and are playing on boards loaned through the USBGF Education Fund supported by generous
donations of our members.
Page 15
May–June, 2012
the shores of the North Sea, over an Easter weekend which is, more often than not, cold and dreary.
This is not to say that the
event is a cheerless one.
The various clans of Scandinavians in attendance
regard even a few hours of
sleep per night as somewhat of an extravagance,
and pursue their favorite
pastimes of smoking and
drinking with a relentless
joie de vivre. But the Nordic is a player’s tournament.
What I mean by this, first
of all, is that you encounter here almost none of
the posing and flamboyance which were immeSankt Jørgens Sø (Saint George's Lake), an artificial lake adjacent
morial elements of backto the Scandic Hotel, site of the 2012 Nordic Open.
gammon’s European legacy. People dress plainly
and soberly, and let their checker play and cube action do the talking for them. And that, as the visitor soon discovers, they do
very well.
What we might call “the Danish problem” did not get much public recognition until a few years ago, when the President of the
Danish federation, Steen Groenbeck, proposed a challenge match between Denmark and “the Rest of the World.” Those of us
who compete internationally knew better than to scoff at the idea, for we had been aware for years that a disproportionate
share of the planet’s top players hailed from the tiny Scandinavian land. But why?
Matt Cohn-Geier (left) versus Karsten
Bredahl in a speed-gammon match.
I used to believe that most of the credit ought to go to
Denmark’s vaunted network of backgammon leagues.
Local teams, based in and sponsored by cafes or pubs,
actively crisscross the country, taking on rivals from
other districts in day-long matches. This structure provides an environment in which rising players, supported
and taught by their teammates, get plenty of practice
against first-rate competition.
But experience has persuaded that another factor is
more important. Backgammon, as Barclay Cooke memorably said, really is “the cruelest game.” The dice are perverse, arbitrary, outrageous imps, snatching from our
grasp prizes to which we feel ever so entitled; and much
as we may testify that we love the game, very few of us
are endowed with nervous systems tough enough to
negotiate its turbulence. At some point (and often it is a
very crucial point) we succumb to rage, self-pity or self(Continued on page 16)
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May–June, 2012
doubt—and make decisions at which, in our saner moments, we can only marvel. The instinctive hormonal response to stress—
a rush of adrenaline—is absolutely counterproductive in backgammon combat.
It follows that a backgammon expert ought to
be a kind of imperturbable Zen master: and
indeed the Japanese, possessed of their wonderful equanimity, have produced a crop of
rising stars over the last decade. But it is the
Danes, with ice water in their veins, who are
the coolest. And that, since they attend it en
masse, makes the Nordic the world’s toughest
tournament. As a result, quite a few European
pros, especially those (the “equity-chasers”)
who take their jobs seriously, avoid the Nordic like the plague.
Run concurrently with the Nordic is the
aforementioned Denmark vs. Rest of the
World match. Led by their backgammonturned-poker superstar Gus Hansen, the
Danes defeated the World team in 2010. The
World, by the thinnest of margins, took its
revenge in 2011. The rubber match would
take place this year. And since I was lucky
enough to have been chosen as a member of
the World team, I sacrificed lucre to honor Atmospheric Training Session—(from left): David Wells, Falafel, Matt
and showed my face in Copenhagen.
Cohn-Geier, Mochy and Michy in a training session the evening before the
big match. None of us were smoking, so that haze in the air must have
I should take this occasion to state for the been cerebrally generated …
record something that is certainly on the
minds of many: given the incompletely organized state of contemporary backgammon, people get picked for a team like this
one—just as they do for a place on the Giant’s list—on the basis of criteria which are not 100% objective. The process is not
quite, as I have heard it described, a popularity contest; but I think the backgammon community would feel better about conferring such honors if they were earned in fair and open competition.
From left: Morten Holm; Thomas
Kristensen; Lars Trabolt
Our team of seven, organized by the Japanese star Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki and captained by last year’s Giant #1, the Israeli-American Matvey “Falafel”
Natanzon, was (see above) not very nationally diverse: it included three more
Americans (Matt Cohn-Geier, David Wells, and your correspondent), another
Japanese (Michihito “Michy” Kageyama) and a lone German (the veteran Ralf
Jonas, last year’s Nordic winner). We convened in Copenhagen a few days before the tournament to train. Since we were all experienced, active players who
had no need to shake off any rust, this preparation consisted mainly in adapting
ourselves to the peculiarities of the Denmark vs. Rest of the World format.
That format divides the competition into five parts: singles (ordinary backgammon matches); doubles (ordinary consulting doubles); DMPs (one point
matches—DMP being the acronym for “double match point”); speed gammon,
and a final 7 vs 7 consulting match. The speed gammon, of course, was the most
fun to practice, and so got most of the team’s attention. As in previous years,
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May–June, 2012
our fearless captain Falafel warned
the speed players that losing on
time was “unacceptable.” And
none of them did.
The Danish team consisted of Gus
Hansen, Morten Holm, Thomas
Kristensen, Michael K. (MIK) Larsen, soccer star Marc Olsen, Tue
Rex, and Monte Carlo champion
and runner-up (in successive
years) Lars (Trabi) Trabolt.
Above—Serious Danes: (from left) Sander Lyloff;
Mads Andersen; Gus Hansen; Tue Rex; Thomas
Christiansen. Standing behind Hansen is Kathrine
Langjord.
Right—Smiling Danes: Seated upper left is Norwegian ace Kathrine Langjord. Standing, from left:
Karsten Bredahl, Morten Holm and Thomas Kristensen. Seated lower left: Gus Hansen, Tue Rex.
Below—Michihito “Michy” Kageyama
We actually played slightly better than this formidable crew, if you subscribe
to silly measures like performance rating (PR), or the more sophisticated
match-winning chance (MWC), which penalizes mistakes made towards the
end of a match more severely than those made at its beginning. But we got
trounced. The Danish backgammon federation displays a whole lot of this
information rather neatly on their website.
My original plan in composing this report was to present a few of the challenging decisions which arose when the combined teams met in their final
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May–June, 2012
consulting match. Our results up to that point had
left us with an almost insurmountable deficit: down
30–19 in a 37-point match. But that does not mean
that our death struggle was uninteresting: lopsided
scores like this are extremely difficult, demanding
from the players judgments of a type that they are
required to make only rarely. Unfortunately, due
to some rather exasperating technical snafus, no
record of the finale has to date been produced. I
am still hopeful that it may be, and will surely follow through on my original plan if it becomes available. But for now, I’ll have to make do by simply
presenting the Nordic tournament results—and
for technical content, I’ll examine a few instructive
situations that came up in my own matches.
Now then: Thomas Myhr, a relatively unknown
Dane, won the 111-player Nordic championship
flight. I met Thomas in 2009, when I visited my
friend Morten Holm in Copenhagen and was invited to play for his team, Nemoland, against a
local rival. I had never heard of my opponent, Mr.
Myhr, and neither, it seemed, had my teammates.
We played a 17-point match, and I was quite
pleased to have made it through the complications Members of the World team fight to stay alive in the challenge
with a 3.0 PR. But Thomas, despite his lack of match against the Danes. From left: Bob Wachtel; David Wells; Matt
name recognition, did better. At least he got some Cohn-Geier; Ralf Jonas; Matvey “Falafel” Natanzon.
love last year, when he was
named a member of the Danish
team that faced off against the
Rest of the World. But he was,
for some reason, off the team
this year. Relieved of that civic
duty, he was able, with dire consequences for the rest of us, to
pay a little more attention to the
Nordic itself.
Myhr’s opponent in the final was
the zany Persian-Norwegian, Shahab Ghodsi. A non-stop talker,
up for any adventure, argument
or prank, Shahab definitely belies
the stereotype I proposed at the
beginning of this report. He is a
throwback, a fish out of water: a
colorful Monte Carlo type perOverview of the Seven vs. Seven Challenge Match between Denmark and The Rest of forming before a (largely) unappreciative Northern audience.
the World
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May–June, 2012
But Shahab is not just empty calories. He has lots of game. He has been away from the tournament circuit for a few years now,
living the easy life in exotic Asian lands, but the last time he was around, in 2009, he was a finalist at the big WSOB tournament
in Prague, virtually talking winner Jan Jacobowitz’s ears off on his way out. In this event Shahab worked his way, with an untold
number of disputes and squabbles, all the way through the fighter’s bracket, and then won two more rounds to get to the final.
But after all that, Myrh bested him, winning a best-two-out-of-three 7-point match duel in straight sets.
Third and fourth places were taken by two Danes who seem to always be in the money: Pia Jeppesen, the female representative of the
Danish team in 2010; and Tage Mellgren, a musician who lives on the
next island over from Copenhagen, in the lovely town of Odense.
Other results:
The Advanced division (86 players) was won by Rasmus G. Hansen.
Peter Berg of Germany was runner-up. The Last Chance winner was
Jakob Andersen, with Sweden’s Sara Utku second.
The 89-player Intermediate division was topped by Torben Rasmussen. Lasse Ljungstrøm was second. Gisele Ardisson of France won
the Last Chance, with Emma Axling of Sweden finishing second.
“I want to pass.”—From left: David
Wells; Bob Wachtel; Matt Cohn-Geier
The organizers implemented an ingenious policy in their handling of
the Beginners division. That competition was held just prior to the
main tournament, with some of the winners seeded into the Intermediate flight. I don’t know all the details, but I like the idea: the beginners get their feet wet; and the best of them, after their initiation, are
plunged straightaway into the arena.
The Beginners drew 36 players. Casper Rheder won it. Theis Rasmussen was second.
The Speedgammon event (field of 128) was won by France’s Franck
Stepler. Carter Mattig (USA) was the runner-up. In my opinion, this
was a very normal result. Both of these guys, besides being strong
players, are borderline hyperactive. Their unusual metabolisms are
excellently adapted for the speed event.
The Superjackpot (16 players) was won by World Team member Matt Cohn-Geier (USA). Nevzat Dogan, also from the Odense
area, was second.
Norbert Wiebusch (Gemany) won the 46-player Warm-Up tournament.
There was a Lady’s Tournament as well. It drew 44 entrants, and was won by Inge Christoffersen. Sweden’s Linda Sjorin was the
runner-up.
There were two consulting doubles events offered by the organizers: ordinary and mixed.
The ordinary doubles, which drew 55 teams, was won by Danes Sabrina Milling and Jørgen Mohr, who beat me and my good
friend Kathrine Langjord in the finals.
Continued on page 20)
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May–June, 2012
As for the “Mixed Doubles,” which drew 39 teams, the final result was rather surprising. It was won by the Danish prodigy
Christian Sørensen and his father (!) Jimmy Sørensen. I never had a chance to ask the organizers what sort of mixtures they had
in mind when conceiving this event, but no one seemed to mind that Christian and his father were of the same sex. Christian,
who is, I think, only 18, is a true phenom. He has been playing backgammon since age four or so; and last year, at 17, he placed
second in the Nordic, losing (because of the “fighter’s bracket” structure)in the main event twice (!) to World Team stalwart
Ralf Jonas. Second place in the Mixed went to a conventional male-female duo: England’s George Hall and Dorothy Lee.
The Team Event (35 three-player teams) was won by the elegant and gracious Team Japan, consisting of Yuri Nakamura, Kenji
Shimodaira, and Akiko Yazawa. A Swedish trio, team Barhang, consisting of Håkan Åkerstrand, Emma Axling, and Zhina
Bergström, was second.
Now, after all that news, let’s look at a little backgammon.
Position 1: Avoid pushing wood.
My dad was an amateur chess player. He loved the game, but his rating never rose much above 1900: a comfortable “A” level—
but far, of course, from world class. Under no illusions, and well aware of his limitations, he used to self-deprecatingly refer to
himself as a “woodpusher.” He was not far off; but this description, like it or not, applies to most of us backgammon players
most of the time. We do all right in the routine sorts of positions that we have studied; but we have trouble shutting down our
autopilot. This position, taken from the first game of my first-round Nordic match against Brit Julian Midwalla, illustrates the
point.
My double five is clearly a fine roll. It immediately appealed to two of my instincts: (1) defensive: to escape from the opponent’s
22 point; and (2) offensive: to make my own 8 point, five-priming his three checkers on the 21 point. But it did not escape my
notice that I had a blot on my 12 point, and that Mr. Midwalla had a very strong board. I concluded, without thinking a whole lot,
that I could not accomplish both of my objectives. I played 22/12(2), making everything safe, uniting my checkers, and preparing
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May–June, 2012
to make blocking points at a more opportune moment. This looks like a nice, sound, compromise play; but it is, unfortunately,
just woodpushing. A little more study of the position shows that it’s not necessary to compromise: with 22/12, 13/8(2), you can
have it all. The blot you leave behind on the 22 point is not worth worrying about: it isn’t under immediate attack and is only 3primed. XG++ makes my play a 0.08 error (true, there is another “have it all” play that is about as good as 22/12, 13/8(2): leaving a direct 3 shot with 22/17(2), 13/8(2)—but I would not expect anyone but a bot to find it). The difficulty here is not in appreciating the virtues of 22/12, 13/8(2), but in not seeing the play at all.
Position 2: Make the constructive play.
It’s very difficult, when some ugly roll forces you to leave multiple shots, to remember that you do not always get hit. One’s instinct is to assume a fetal position, simply concentrating on leaving the least numbers for the opponent—or perhaps to choose a
play that leaves us the most return shots. But it is often far more important to think about the situation in which you will find
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May–June, 2012
yourself if you are missed. In this position, from the first game of one of the doubles matches I played with partner Kathrine
Langjord, White must make the 21 point with the three, and is left with a not-too-attractive four to play. 8/4, which leaves the
least shots, rips a big hole in White’s position and can be discarded on aesthetic grounds alone. This leaves the two other fours,
13/9 and 11/7. Each leaves Black 22 hitters. Which is best?
My partner and I came to
the wrong conclusion on
this one. We selected
13/9, reasoning that hits
on the 13 point were not
as deadly as hits on the 7
point, which escape the
opponent’s back checkers
as well. But this logic,
while not invalid, is too
fatalistic. When the 11/7
play is not hit, White is left
with his bar point prettily
slotted, in a far superior
position than he would be
after 13/9 and a miss. True, there are a few other small considerations (such as the duplication of fours that hit White’s blot on
the 22 point) which also may also favor 11/7: but the point is that that move is far more constructive than its rival.
Position 3: Leave the bar.
No, I am not looking to put the kibosh on your drinking. It’s not the hotel bar I am referring to: it’s the bar point.
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May–June, 2012
Experienced backgammon players are very familiar with the fact that your choices, in many, many situations, are among evils.
When you are at a disadvantage, you simply have to face that fact and try to make the play that leaves you a smaller underdog
than its competitors. And one of the most common disadvantageous situations that we find ourselves in is the bar-point holding
game. When the race is about equal and your opponent is on roll, you are approximately a 60–40 underdog these positions. This
is a very important number to keep in mind, for our natural tendency is to maintain contact when we are behind in the race.
This was a problem I faced in my fourthround last-chance match against the excellent French player, Alain Babillon.
Down 4–2 Crawford, I was 14 pips down
in this bar-point holding position when I
shot a 4-4. My choice was to run, 18/14
(3), 14/10, or make some other play that
kept me on Mr. Babillon’s bar point.
Knowing full well that that I would still be
a small underdog after running (I am two
pips ahead, but it is his roll), I elected to
maximize the contact. This was very
wrong, because in these holding games,
the owner of the bar point gradually loses
both his racing equity and shot equity if
the structure is maintained and the race stays close. His board crunches first; and not only does he waste pips more quickly than
his opponent, but his trap begins to spring leaks. The crossover point comes about three pips away from the situation I faced. If
White were down 17 pips, leaving him down 1 pip after the double four has been played, the stay or go choice is a toss-up.
Position 4: Learn the DMP tricks.
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May–June, 2012
If you play a lot of matches (as opposed to money games), you will frequently encounter double-match point situations, or oneaway scenarios like this one, where gammons mean nothing to the leader. We all know that you have to play your checkers a
little differently in these situations, but few of us adjust enough. A case in point occurred in this match from the Mixed Doubles
event. My partner and I were up 4–0 to 5 (Crawford), and had just managed to clear a few outfield points against the opponent’s
20-point holding game, becoming huge favorites. They ran off that point, and we shot a dream number, one that cinched our
victory: double aces. We pointed on them with the first two aces, and then got into one of those debates, so annoying to the
other side, about how to squeeze the last drops of life from their dying body. I favored taking two checkers off, making the race
unwinnable for them. My partner liked 6/5(2), making sure that we did not leave a shot. I don’t remember what we finally did,
but when I went home and fed the position to my pet bot, it told me that we should have simply ripped four checkers off the
ace. The pointing play is right in a money game or at normal match score (and then it is right to take off the two checkers from
the ace), for White does gain a few gammons: but when gammons don’t count, taking four checkers off simply wins the game.
Position 5: Beware the market-loser fallacy.
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May–June, 2012
Sometimes I wish I had never learned to count pips. Earlier in my match against Mr. Babillon, I reached this position. Should I
double?
True, I am up 2–0 to 5, which means that I may face a nasty recube if the game turns around. But I am 52 pips ahead! My opponent has virtually no racing chances. For all practical purposes, he must hit me to win. And once I clear the ten point, whether by
leaving a shot and being missed, or simply by rolling a good number, I have lost my market. It seems that I have to double.
That is what I did, but it is a bad mistake, almost a blunder. I simply don’t have enough clean point-clearing numbers: only 3-2, 42, 4-3, and a few doubles. And as for my idea that I will lose my market if I leave a shot and get missed: well, that was true, but it
would have been a good thing. Look at what happens if I double and then (as will happen often) I leave that same shot.
Within a few rolls we reached this unlucky position:
Position 6: An Ugly Redouble
The minute I left a shot, Mr. Babillon refuted my sophistry—with the cube. True, he is an underdog in the game and match, but
Page 26
May–June, 2012
what was I thinking when I enabled him to do this? Oh yes, something about market losers. He hit me, won the game, and then
won the Crawford game when I misplayed my double fours.
Both teams pose at the end of the Challenge Match between Denmark and The Rest of the World
Photos courtesy of Karsten Bredahl, Kathrine Langjord, and Bob Wachtel.
Robert Wachtel was born in New York City. He has a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Science
from the University of Toronto. He won the 2001 Nevada State Championship, and has
won the national backgammon championships of the U.K., Finland, Norway, Sweden, and
Italy. He finshed 2nd in Monte Carlo, 2004, and 2nd in the Crown's Cup, Berlin, 2007. He
is the author of In the Game Until the End: Winning in Ace-Point Endgames.
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May–June, 2012
Announcing the 2012 International Backgammon Championship
T
he U.S. Backgammon Federation is co-sponsoring the 2012 International Backgammon Championship with the Japanese
Backgammon League. It will give players across the globe the chance to compete in a worldwide competition at a very low
cost. Sign up now and join in the fun!
In the inaugural international event in 2011, 26 players from ten nations competed. Chuck Bower, Ray Fogerlund, David Kettler,
and Joe Russell represented the U.S., as the top four semi-finalists in the 2011 U.S. IBC Playoffs. In the IBC, Tsuyoshi Minakami
(Japan) won first place in the individual competition, defeating finalist Simon Bargot (UK) in an exciting concluding match. Third
and fourth place winners were Thomas Ronn (Sweden) and Lorenzo Rinaldo (Italy).
Japan captured the country prize with 17 points, based on a point for each match-win within a series, followed by Italy with 10,
UK with eight, Sweden with seven, Denmark with six, Germany and U.S. with four, Australia with three, and Turkey and the
Netherlands with one each.
As in 2011, the entry fee of 1000 Euros will be paid by the U.S. Backgammon Federation for up to four U.S. entrants, as well as
the 100 Euro registration fee. 100% of the entry fees will be dedicated to the prize pool (see details below).
Selection of U.S. Representatives
U.S. citizens wishing to compete to represent the U.S. may:
1) Directly enter the U.S. Playoffs by making a donation of $160 via PayPal to the USBGF account: payments@usbgf.org and
complete the online registration form. Alternatively, a check for $160 payable to the U.S. Backgammon Federation may be
mailed c/o Karen Davis, Treasurer, U.S. Backgammon Federation, 4838 Laurel Hill Place, Toledo, Ohio 43614.
2) Win a qualifying bracket of eight players in online competition on GridGammon playing site. Donate $20 to www.PayPal.com
USBGF account: payments@usbgf.org and complete the online registration form. Alternatively, a check for $20 payable to
the U.S. Backgammon Federation may be mailed c/o Karen Davis, Treasurer, U.S. Backgammon Federation, 4838 Laurel Hill
Place, Toledo, Ohio 43614. All matches in the qualifying brackets of eight will be single-elimination nine-point
matches. Players may enter as often as they choose, and winners may qualify twice for the U.S. Playoffs.
3) USBGF affiliated local clubs and other live events may also hold eight-person qualifying brackets. The format is at the discretion of the club or tournament director.
4) In addition, the winner of the USBGF National Championship at the NY Metropolitan Open held in January 2012 (Ed
O’Laughlin) and the winner of the USBGF National Championship at the LA Open (to be held June 8–10, 2012) will be included in the U.S. Playoffs.
The U.S. Playoffs field with a maximum of 64 players will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, and will be closed no later
than September 5. Entry fees to the IBC will be paid by USBGF for the top four winners of the field of 64. (If there are 32 or
fewer registrants, the number of entrants to the IBC by the USBGF will be reduced. Last year 56 positions were filled, and it is
anticipated that this will be exceeded in 2012.)
Entrants to qualifying events and the U.S. IBC Playoffs must be USBGF Premium members.
US Playoffs Format
U.S. IBC Playoffs will be played on-line on GridGammon between September 5 and October 10 with matches recorded and
submitted for review. The round of 16 and lower will be proctored as well as recorded. Winners will be selected by best two
of three 9-point matches.
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May–June, 2012
Announcing the 2012 International Backgammon Championship
The Tournament Director for the U.S. Playoffs and the online qualifying brackets of eight is Tara Mendicino, e-mail:
tara@usbgf.org.
International Backgammon Championship
The international competition will begin October 12 and complete the opening rounds by the end of December 2012 by proctored online competition. The USBGF will pay the entry fees of up to four US representatives of 1000 Euros and 100 Euro registration fee.
This tournament gives backgammon players in any of the participating federations and organizations the opportunity to play in a
world-wide championship with very low cost. The inter-country competition will be online, except for the semi-finals and finals,
which will be live. The venue for the semi’s and finals will be determined by the Tournament Committee. There will be ample
opportunities for players and spectators to watch intra-country and inter-country matches online.
The entries will be paid in Euros in the amount of 1000 euro per contestant plus a 100 euro registration fee. The return will be
100% with the exception of the registration fee. Half of the registration fee (50 euros per entrant) will go toward the expenses
of the web-site and tournament directors. Half (50 euros per entrant) will be dedicated towards travel expenses.
The IBC format:
Single elimination based upon the best two of 3 eleven-point matches. Semi’s and Finals are the best two of 3 thirteen-point
matches.
The draw for each round will be managed so that opponents are not from the same country until no other choice is possible.
All IBC matches with the exception of the semi’s and finals will be online, although if any opponents agree to play live, that would
be acceptable as well.
Players agree on date, time, and place, and have a time of two weeks for each round. Planned matches must be announced at
least three days before the match is played. All matches will be recorded on eXtreme Gammon online and submitted to the
Tournament Committee by the proctor exporting it, immediately after play is completed. All matches against an opponent must
be completed in the same session.
All IBC online matches will be supervised by a proctor selected by each contestant’s federation or organization. Any cheating
that is discovered will disqualify the contestant. Any accusations of cheating will be resolved by a committee to be formed to
investigate and adjudicate such allegations.
Playing rules are listed on the site, bgchampionship.com.
Spectators will be permitted to be present at all matches.
The finals will be in March 2013 or later, depending on when the draw reaches the semis, and the selection of the venue.
Prize money:
16 players: 70% to the winner. 30% to the finalist.
32 players or more: 50% to winner, 25% to the finalist, 12.5% to the semi-finalists.
Page 29
May–June, 2012
2013 Texas Backgammon Championships
by Bill Riles, Tara Mendicino, and Patrick Gibson
W
e want to extend a personal invitation to you to attend the 2013 Texas Backgammon Championships in
San Antonio on January 31–February 3, 2013, at the historic
Menger Hotel.
The tournament includes many fun events packed into four
days! It will include a U.S. Backgammon Federation Tournament of Stars doubles event, pairing USBGF Founding Sponsors with Giants of Backgammon; ABT Championship, Advanced, and Limited divisions; Masters and Limited Jackpots;
USBGF National Championship, with free entry for USBGF
Premium and Youth members; and a unique side event, the
Dual Duel.
on score, matches based solely on PR, and matches wherein
both PR and score are important (in the first round advancing based on either and in the championship playoff having to
win both). How will the players alter their strategies based
on the need for a PR-based win, a score-based win, or in the
attempt to win by both measures? As with the score in score
-based matches, will the game and match strategies change
with the cumulative PR in PR-based matches? Will we begin
to resolve the longstanding argument of who is the best
overall player? Let’s find out. May the Giants and the master
technicians of the game step forward!
The ABT Championship, Advanced, and Limited divisions will
start on Saturday, February 2. Free entry into the USBGF
National Championship for USBGF Premium/Youth members will be open continuously, beginning at noon on Friday,
February 1 and closing Saturday evening, February 2. Reentry is available for $50 throughout the period. There will
be lots of backgammon play for players at all levels. Come
when you like, stay as long as you like, and have lots of action and loads of fun.
The Dual Duel, we think, will be particularly attractive to
some of the prominent technicians of the game and should
be exciting for spectators at all levels. This event will start on
the afternoon of January 31. The Dual-Duel is envisioned as a
sixteen player, high entry fee event—possibly $1,000, with
two optional $500 side pools (one applicable to each side of
the bracket— see below), but final decisions will be based
upon interest. All matches will be to eleven points—except
in the possibility of a playoff. Those who win based on match
score will advance on the right hand side, those who win
based on Performance Rating (PR) will advance on the left
side of the bracket. If the same person does not win both
sides of the bracket, a playoff will determine the champion.
From the prize pool, the PR-based and the score-based winners will each win 25%. The PR-based and score-based finalists will each win 12.5%. The playoff winner will win the remaining 25%. Thus, if one player wins both sides of the
bracket, the champion will receive a total of 75% of the prize
pool. If a playoff is required, the champion will receive a total
of 50% of the prize pool.
We think this will be a most entertaining and interesting
event. We intend to stream many of the key matches—
certainly including the finals—for the enjoyment, interest,
and benefit of the global backgammon community. Within a
single event, a player can experience matches based totally
Bill Riles wears his Texas Tourney badge.
San Antonio should appeal to players at all levels as well as
families. It is one of the largest tourist and convention destinations in the country. The Menger Hotel is a charming
venue. The ballroom suite includes the large playing area; a
large, social pre-function area overlooking the pool; and private restroom facilities—all independent of the hotel’s public
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May–June, 2012
2013 Texas Backgammon Championships
spaces. The renowned Colonial Room restaurant and the most historic Menger Bar complement the hotel amenities.
Proximate attractions provide many optional activities—the world-famous Alamo is across the street; the Alamo Plaza park
fronts both the Alamo and the Menger Hotel; the River Walk with its ambiance and a myriad of restaurants, shops, and bars is a
block away; the large Rivercenter mall, including an IMAX theater and a large number of stores and restaurants, is next door;
Brackenridge Park and the famous San Antonio zoo are nearby; trolleys and horsedrawn carriages await at the Menger Hotel
curb to show you the city; and boat tours of the River Walk, including dinner and cocktail group tours, are readily available and
easily accessible.
San Antonio has a large, international airport only ten miles from the downtown area. Multiple airlines provide direct service to
and from most major American cities. San Antonio is also a major stop on the Southwest Airlines network. The comparatively
mild Texas “winter” weather should be attractive to all.
We anticipate many will want to stay an extra day or more before or after the tournament to experience San Antonio. Our
attractive hotel rate of $89 per night is also applicable for dates before and after the tournament. This link will take you directly
to the Menger Hotel website with the BG group information already filled in. You may also go to the Menger Hotel website and
click on Reservations; select GROUP, enter the Attendee Code, 0113BGT, and the travel dates to check availability. Early feedback indicates a number of players intend to bring spouses, families, friends, and others to enjoy not only the tournament but
also the city.
We will also host a post-tournament Super Bowl-watching event in the pre-function area of the ballroom suite on Sunday evening. Players can enjoy the Super Bowl while socializing with their backgammon friends. Details are being worked out currently.
Overall, we plan to make the 2013 Texas Backgammon Championships in San Antonio the U. S. backgammon event of the year.
We hope you join us to be a part of this occasion.
Upcoming U.S. Backgammon Scheduled Events
JUN 8–10: LOS ANGELES OPEN, Four Points LAX, Los Angeles, CA; Patrick Gibson; (818) 901-0464
JUL 5–8: MICHIGAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS, Sheraton, Novi, MI; Carol Joy Cole; (810) 232-9731
JUL 20–22: 17th MINNESOTA OPEN, Marriott, Bloomington, MN; (612) 718-2613
AUG 10–12: WISCONSIN CHAMPIONSHIPS, Radisson, Madison, WI; (608) 467-0013
AUG 16–I9: 2ND GOLDEN GATE OPEN, South San Francisco, CA; Chiva Tafazzoli
AUG 30–SEP 3: PITTSBURGH LABOR DAY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Four Points, Pittsburgh, PA; (304) 685-3214
OCT 5–7: ILLINOIS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS, Grand, Peoria, IL; (847) 677-6852
Page 31
May–June, 2012
An Explanation of the USBGF Leader Board
by Barry Silliman, Rankings Editor
The Leader Board shows three tables for the ABT 2012 Point Race leaders, separated by division—Open, Advanced and Novice. These tables simply separate the ABT points amongst the three divisions, whereas in the original source of the data, Bill
Davis' ChicagoPoint website, all of the players are listed in one table. Bill's ABT point calculations do weigh the divisions so that
Advanced players will earn twice the points as Novice players, and Open players will earn twice the points as Advanced players,
and these weightings are maintained in the three tables presented in the Leader Board. One area that can differ is if a player
moved among divisions during the year and earned ABT points in more than one division. The ChicagoPoint website will show
the total ABT points earned in all divisions, but those ABT points have been broken out by division for the purpose of compiling
these three Top Ten tables.
The Leader board also shows three tables for USBGF “All-Time” ratings, broken out by division—Open, Advanced and Novice.
For the purpose of calculating these tables, every tournament entered for the USBGF club in the backgames.org database has
been classified as either Open level, Advanced level, or Novice level. In other words, side events such as master's jackpots and
amateur jackpots are included in these ratings calculations, if they have been entered at backgames.org.
Unlike what appears on the backgames.org site, each level is separated. For example, suppose a player plays in the Novice and
does well, perhaps accumulating a 1650 rating. For the purposes of these calculations, when that player moves up to the Advanced level, they will have a separate Advanced rating, starting again at 1500. Similarly for players who move from Advanced to
Open, they will start their Open level play at a 1500 rating, not whatever (probably higher) rating they might have earned in
Advanced competition. (Note that players will still maintain whatever rating they earned at the previous level when they move
levels, so if they come back to that previous level they do not start over from scratch).
Because of this segregation of levels, the ratings shown on these tables will differ slightly from what is shown in backgames.org.
Here's an example of why this is the case: In the backgames.org database, if a player is rated at 1750 in Advanced and moves to
the Open division and loses his first match, the Open player who beat him gets a bigger boost for having beaten a 1750-rated
player. In the calculations presented here, the player new to Open would be at 1500 upon his move to Open, so if a player beat
him that player would get less of a boost.
The formula used for these calculations is the standard FIBS formula, which is explained in this Backgammon Galore! article.
Championships
Although six schools and nine teams is a decent start, it would be a shame if the potential hotbed of backgammon talent and
interest that exists at all universities around the country were to remain primarily untapped. One of the major reasons for the
founding of the USBGF has been to increase participation and enjoyment of this exciting and challenging game. I encourage each
of you to consider contacting a nearby college or university with the offer of starting a club.
Page 32
May–June, 2012
The Leading U.S.Tournament Players
by Barry Silliman, Rankings Editor
Top-Ranked Players in USBGF-Rated Events
(As of May 1, 2012)
Novice Division
Advanced/Intermediate
1.
Open Division
Neil Kazaross 1725.88
1.
Prince Barlow 1747.11
1.
Glenn Chee 1719.08
2.
Mike Corbett 1708.81
2.
Rick Wolf 1736.02
2.
Joan Grunwald 1690.39
3.
Joe Russell 1704.12
3.
Arthur Sutton 1733.17
3.
Erik Sawyer 1671.59
4.
Arkadiy Tsinis 1701.59
4.
Greg Cottle 1702.36
4.
Kathy Weiner 1667.02
5.
Dorn Bishop 1700.72
5.
Josh Racko 1692.02
5.
Lyle Rubin 1653.43
6.
Grant Schneider 1694.47
6.
Lucas Bauer 1690.01
6.
Dan Burke 1629.42
7.
Falafel Natazon 1693.24
7.
Vadim Nuniyants 1680.04
7.
Garrett Smith 1628.26
8.
David Rubin 1687.37
8.
Tom Duggan 1674.72
8.
Steven O’Connor 1621.96
9.
Rachel Rhodes 1676.43
Gary Domenickine 1612.72
Ralf Jonas 1676.27
Charles Raichle 1676.33
Mel Rappaport 1676.18
9.
10.
9.
10.
10.
Erwin Hom 1597.87
The numbers following the player names show their Elo ratings, cumulative since 2009. Open and Advanced player listings are restricted to
USBGF members.
American Backgammon Tour Top-Ranked Players of 2012
(As of May 1, 2012)
Open Division
Advanced/Intermediate
1.
Neil Kazaross 20.20
1.
Arthur Sutton 9.10
2.
Grant Schneider 17.82
2.
David Escoffery 7.20
3.
Victor Ashkenazi 17.41
3.
Oleg Raygorodsky 7.17
4.
Jeb Horton 16.33
4.
Phyllis Shapiro 6.77
5.
Ted Chee 15.60
5.
Chen Fu Yu 6.67
6.
Ed O’Laughlin 12.51
6.
Marv Porten 5.80
7.
Carter Mattig 11.77
7.
Judy Field 4.00
8.
Frank Talbot 11.60
8.
Abby Biss 3.80
9.
Stick Rice 10.67
9.
Cloyd Laporte 3.70
10.
Matt Cohn-Geier 10.38
10.
Keith Gershenson 3.70
Novice Division
1.
Dan Burke 2.20
2.
Joan Grunwald 1.75
3.
Erwin Hom 1.42
4.
Steven O’Connor 1.25
5.
Pam Dodsworth 1.11
6.
Gina Hartwick 1.10
7.
Erik Sawyer 1.10
8.
Stephen Collins 1.06
9.
Brian DeMatt 1.00
10.
Nick Retzkin 0.88
11.
Julia Sommer 0.88
The numbers following the player names show the total ABT Points earned in 2012 competing in the specified division.
Page 33
May–June, 2012
Back to the Classics: the 2012 Nevada State Backgammon Championships
the “cashers list” was Last-Chance winner Ed O’Laughlin and the “Grand Poobah” of backgammon, Larry Liebster, who came in
2nd in that event.
Kit Woolsey (left) and Neil Kazaross
Another “golden oldie” to claim serious hardware was Alabama’s Paul Weaver, who defeated Drew Giovanis in the finals
of the Super Jackpot, as well as Kit Woolsey in the round of
eight before defeating me in the semi-finals. Paul reminded me
before our match that he has known me for 28 years, which is
more than half my lifetime ago, as I was 23 when we met.
The Intermediate event, which also drew 45 entrants, was won
by Bay Area backgammon veteran David Escoffery, who defeated Texan Richard Weaver in the finals. David has waited a
long time to post his first major win, but he finally accomplished
that feat on Sunday, April 22nd.
Claudia Immat and Richard Presser were semi-finalists, while
Robert Tansi defeated Larry Arnold in the finals of the consolation. And finally, in the last chance, Patty Geoffroy was finalist,
while New Zealand’s Abby Biss made her long trip from the
Southern Ocean worthwhile as she captured first place in that event.
And in a refreshing turn of events, ten-year-old Max Crosner won the beginner
event over Erwin Hom, while his dad Todd Crosner took home first place honors in the Doubles event with partner Harvey Gillis. Finalists in the doubles were
Bob Glass and Alan Grunwald.
The limited jackpot saw Art Moore take first place over Damon Singer, while
Tom Elgas won the 128-player Blitz tournament over France’s Nicole Taboury,
and finally, none other than Ted Chee (who else?) took the “mini-match” event!
Justin Nunez
The numbers were
down from past April, but those in attendance had a good
time at tournament coordinator Howard Markowitz’s biannual event. Tournament director Troy Longman informed us that we would be back at the Flamingo in the
near future, and in a banquet hall closer than the nearly
ten-minute walk from my hotel room. That is good news
for some, but I’ll miss my morning walk with sand in my
eyes as I try to stave off penalty points by arriving in the
tournament room before the hourglass is empty.
One nice perk the Flamingo offers is a garden where you
can view exotic birds, including the beautiful pink Chilean
Flamingos, who politely pose for pictures while enjoying
the pond behind this iconic Vegas landmark.
Todd Crosner (left) and
Harvey Gillis
Page 34
May–June, 2012
Back to the Classics: the 2012 Nevada State Backgammon Championships
Backgammon competition will resume at the Flamingo during the week of November 14th through the 18th at the 2012 Las
Vegas Open, so we’ll have to wait and see whether the winner will be a surprise newcomer or another “Classic” backgammon
player from the golden era of the game.
Todd Crosner
with son Max
Art Moore
Flamingo Hotel representatives
David Escoffery
Page 35
May–June, 2012
Founding Sponsors
T
he U.S. Backgammon Federation’s Founding Sponsors initiative has attracted 75 donors who
share its vision of drawing thousands
of people throughout the country to
the exciting, skill-based game of backgammon through a rich array of activities appealing to all players, young
and young-at-heart alike. The support
of our Founding Sponsors during this
critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on our website in
perpetuity and benefits not available
to any other class of Membership.
Founders Cubes by Lawrence Sonné of Backgammon Elegance
The Federation salutes the individuals and organizations who have generously supported our organization by becoming a Founder. We hope you will join this elite group by going to our website usbgf.org or contacting Perry Gartner at perry@usbgf.org
for more information. To date, the 75 individuals listed below have become Founding Sponsors. (Within each level, names are
presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors.)
DIAMOND
Malcolm Davis
Alan and Joan Grunwald
Hugh Sconyers
Mike Svobodny
PLATINUM
Karen Davis
Morten Holm
GOLD
Anna Covlin
Myles Covlin
Rod Covlin
Patrick and Carla Gibson
Harvey Gillis
Perry Gartner
Larry Taylor
Alfred Mamlet
Edward B. Bennett
Richard Munitz
Ray Fogerlund
Joseph Russell
Jeffrey Acierno
Masayuki Mochizuki
Falafel Natanzon
Jim Pasko
David Leibowitz
Jason Lee
Michael Louis Rosen
Jamie Erin Rosen
SILVER
Lynn Ehrlich
Chiva Tafazzoli
Art Benjamin
Lloyd E. Webber (LEW)
Alex Gerding
Bruce Newberg
BRONZE
Pat McCormick
Carol Joy Cole
Neal and Kathy Weiner
Neil Kazaross
Kit Woolsey
Michael Weinberger
Chuck Bower
Preston Guidry
Jake Jacobs
Sean Cearley
Kristina Vig
Play65 Backgammon
Judy Field
Rory Pascar
Greg Cottle
Bill Finneran
James G. Allen
Sean Williams
Pat Geoffroy
Mark Gordon
Rochelle Hasson
Dennis Culpepper
Andrew Martinez
Larry Liebster
Drew Giovanis
James E. Roland
Bill Riles
Josh Racko
Russell Sands
Steve Schreiber
Bob Glass
John Calcott
Jeff Burdsall
Justin and Rynell Nunez
Steve Sax
Dorn Bishop
Scott Kelland
Arthur Stein
Stepan Nuniyants
Powhatan French
Robert E. Stoller
Joe Potts
Arkadiy Tsinis
Page 36
May–June, 2012
ABT Tournament Results (March–April, 2012)
The following partial results are from the Chicago Point. Complete results can be found at www.chicagopoint.com.
CENTRAL STATES INVITATIONAL (Rosemont, Illinois, March 9–11, 2012)
CHAMPIONSHIP: (49): 1—Jeb Horton (NC), 2—Bill Calton (MI), 3/4—Matt Cohn-Geier (NV)/Keene Marin (WI); 1C—
Carter Mattig (IL), 2C—Rachel Rhodes (England); 1LC—Tobias Hellwag (Germany)
ADVANCED (43): 1—Oleg Raygorodsky (IL), 2—Rob Farmer (IL), 3/4—Dan Cramer (MN)/Sue Will (IL); 1C—Vadim Nuniyants (WI), 2C—Jim Opre (IL); 1LC—Don Marek (IL)
LIMITED (10): 1—Steven O’Connor (IL), 2—Rich Hallbeck (IL); 1LC—Ken Brown (MO) GRAND CRYSTAL BEAVER
XIV (16): 1—Carter Mattig (IL), 2—Harvey Gillis (WA)
ADVANCED JACKPOT (10): 1—Prince Barlow (MI), 2—Ed Zell (IL)
From left: JebHorton; Bill Davis; Bill Calton (Mark King photo courtesy of the ABT)
11th BATTLE OF THE SEXES: (32 Men & 8 Women): 1—Steve Hast (PA), 2—Claudia Brown (TX), 3/4—Nora Luna
Righter (IL)/Jim Opre (IL)
MICROBLITZ (32): 1—Steve Brown (MN)
LIAR’S DICE: 1—Ray Fogerlund (NV)
DIRECTOR’S TROPHY FOR BEST-DRESSED WOMAN: Nora Luna Righter (IL)
DIRECTOR’S TROPHY FOR BEST-DRESSED MAN: Steve Blanchard (IL)
MIKE WEINBERGER BOARD FUNDRAISER (8): 1—Don Marek (IL)
TAKI BAKELITE BOARD FUNDRAISER (16): 1—Efim Liberman (IL), 2—Nora Luna Righter (IL).
Continued next page
Page 37
May–June, 2012
18th Annual OHIO STATE BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS (Cleveland, Ohio, March 23–25,
2012)
OPEN: (24): 1—Stick Rice (OH), 2—Dmitriy Obukhov (MI); 1C—Emil Mortuk (MI), 2C—Carol Joy Cole (MI)
ADVANCED: (280: 1—Chen-Fu Yu (MD), 2—Robert Lessard (Canada); 1C—Lorenzo Morales (MI), 2C—Steve Grund (PA)
NOVICE: (6): 1—Brian DiMatt (OH), 2—Stephen Collins (OH)
OHIO MASTERS: (4): 1—Dmitriy Obukhov (MI)
AMATEUR JACKPOT: (16): 1—Prince Barlow (MI), 2—Ben Friesen (MI)
DOUBLES: (15 teams): 1—Mary Hickey (OH) & Stick Rice (OH), 2—Dale Berlin (OH) & Mike Rezai (OH)
2-POINT QUICKIES: (16): 1—Carol Joy Cole (MI), 2—Cengiz Yakut (PA)
MINI-BLITZ: (8): 1—Mike Rezai (OH)
Dmitriy Obukhov (left); Stick Rice
Continued next page
Page 38
May–June, 2012
NEVADA STATE BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT (Las Vegas, Nevada, April 18–22, 2012)
CHAMPIONSHIP (45+13 rebuys): 1—Neil Kazaross (IL), 2—Gary Bauer (NJ), 3/4—Carter Mattig (IL)/Tom Zarrinnam (CA);
1C—Justin Nunez (CA), 2C—Dorn Bishop; 1LC—Ed O’Laughlin, 2LC—Larry Liebster.
INTERMEDIATE (45+19 rebuys): 1—David Escoffery (CA). 2—Richard
Weaver (TX); 3/4—Claudia Imatt (CA)/David Presser (IL); 1C—Robert Tansi
(MA), 2C—Larry Arnold (MN); 1LC—Abby Biss, 2LC—Patty Geoffroy.
BEGINNER (5): 1—Max Crosner (CA), 2—Erwin Hom (CA).
SUPER JACKPOT (13 at $2000): 1—Paul Weaver (AL), 2—Drew Giovanis
(NV).
LIMITED JACKPOT (9 at $1000): 1—Art Moore (CA), 2—Damon Singer
(NV).
SENIORS TOURNAMENT (64): 1—Neil Kazaross (IL), 2—Tristan Bettencourt (CA).
DOUBLES TOURNAMENT (8 teams): 1—Todd Crosner (AZ) & Harvey
Gillis (WA), 2—Bob Glass (CA) & Alan Grunwald (NJ).
All photos by
Steve Sax
Above: Neil Kazaross
Below: Paul Weaver
Todd Crosner (left) and Harvey Gillis
Continued next page
Page 39
May–June, 2012
4th ATLANTA SPRING CLASSIC BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT (Atlanta, Georgia, April 27–29, 2012)
CHAMPIONSHIP (22): 1—Stacy Turner (FL); 2—Lee Genud (FL); 1C—Stuart Thomson (GA), 2C—Barry Silliman; 1LC—Bill
Riles (TX).
ADVANCED (27): 1—Alan Epstein (GA), 2—Ben Elliott; 1C—
Sandra Sha, 2C—LEW Webber; 1LC—Craig Anderson
NOVICE (2): 1—Katherine Hochberg (GA)
GEORGIA MASTERS (11): 1—Stuart Thomson (GA), 2—Bill
Robertie (MA)
ATLANTA CUP JACKPOT (11): 1—Joe Nolan (TN), 2—Marv
Porten (CA)
DOUBLES (15 teams): 1—Jerry Godsey (GA) & Harry Georgio,
2—Carol Joy Cole (MI) & Lee Genud (FL)
MINI-MATCH (64): Finals: Neal Weiner (FL) vs. Craig Anderson
THURSDAY WARM-UP (20): 1—Ed O’Laughlin (VA), 2—Tim
Brown; 1C—LEW Webber
Above: Brian Ross (left); Stacy Turner
Below: Alan Epstein
Stuart Thomson
Page 40
May–June, 2012
USBGF VOLUNTEER STAFF

ABT Ratings Team—Patrick Gibson; Doug DeWitte; Paul Berg; Rich Munitz

ABT Tournament Directors Liaison—Patrick Gibson

“Ask the Pro!”—Phil Simborg

Boards for Kids—Rochelle Hasson

Chief Technology Officer—Richard Munitz

Club directors liaison—Justin Nunez

College Program—Phil Simborg

Director of Communications—Tara Mendicino

Facebook Editor—Phil Simborg

Gear Depot Manager—Rochelle Hasson

International Backgammon Championship U.S. Playoffs—Tara Mendicino

Facebook Tournament Reporting—Rynell Nunez; Rochelle Hasson; Karen Davis

Streaming Tournament Matches—Rynell Nunez; Ben Friesen

Marketing Ads, Brochures, and Certificates—Rochelle Hasson

Online Match Series Editor—Jason Lee

“Online Match with a Pro” Manager—Rochelle Hasson

Online tournament directors—Joe Russell; Justin Nunez; Tara Mendicino

Director, Multi-media Marketing and Assistant Editor—Rochelle Hasson

Photographer—Steve Sax

PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine—Karen Davis, Bob Wachtel, Gus Contos

Recorded Matches & Annotated Matches—Justin Nunez

Social Media Director—Susan Keyloun

Support Technician—Julia Sommer

Tournament lectures and quizzes—Phil Simborg

USBGF Monthly Lecture Series—Phil Simborg

Webmaster—Gus Contos
Page 41
USBGF Gear Depot
by Rochelle Hasson
Leather backgammon boards now available for $50! CHH
18”x18” $75 boards, used once at the Mathematical Association of America 2011 SummerFest, on sale for $50—
good as new for a bargain price.
 Leather backgammon boards 18”x18”, used once: $50
plus $3.75 shipping
 Precision dice: $15 per pair plus $0.95 shipping
 Leather dice cups: $45 per pair plus $3.95 shipping
 USBGF Tee shirt: $20 plus $3.75 shipping
 USBGF Sweat shirt: $30 plus $3.75 shipping
 USBGF 15-oz white coffee mug: $20 plus $3.75 shipping
 USBGF 16 oz cobalt blue coffee mug: $20 plus $3.75
shipping
 USBGF canvas boater tote bag: $34 plus $3.75 shipping
 USBGF baseball cap: $20 plus $2.95 shipping
 USBGF sun visor: $20 plus $2.95 shipping
 USBGF score card: $10 plus $2.95 shipping
 Pens sporting the USBGF logo: $1.50 and $2.00 plus
$0.95 shipping

Hugh Sconyers 12-DVD set: $50 plus $5 shipping.

Spiral-bound copies of PrimeTime Backgammon: $25
for one issue, plus $2.50 shipping; $20 per issue for two or
more issues, plus $5 shipping (Available issues: Vol 1, Nos.
1 and 2; Vol 2, Nos. 1–6, Vol 3, Nos. 1–3)
To purchase items from the USBGF Gear Depot, go to the
PayPal website and “Send Money” to Payments@usbgf.org. While on the Send Money page, scroll
down past the Send Money button to the EMAIL TO RECIPIENT box. In the subject line, write: “Gear Depot Purchase”. In the box below, describe the items you are purchasing, and, if appropriate, size. Then click on SEND
MONEY.
After you pay for your purchase, please send questions and
orders to: rochelle@usbgf.org, with shipping address,
item/quantity, and shirt size requested. Happy Shopping!
May–June, 2012
USBGF Board of Directors
Perry Gartner—President/Executive Director
Art Benjamin
Karen Davis—Board Chair, Treasurer, and Co-Chair, Membership and Marketing Committee
Lynn Ehrlich—Vice-Chair, Membership and Marketing Committee
Patrick Gibson—Executive Committee and Chair, Tournament Directors Advisory Committee
Jeb Horton
Alfred Mamlet—Chair, Legislative Committee
Steve Mellen—Secretary
Richard Munitz—Chief Technology Officer, Executive Committee, and Chair, Ratings and Stats Committee
Justin Nunez
Stick Rice—Co-Chair, Membership and Marketing Committee
Joseph Russell—Executive Committee and Chair, Education
Committee
Carol Joy Cole—Special Advisor to Board of Directors
Neil Kazaross—Special Advisor to Board of Directors
Phil Simborg—Education Advisor
Derrick Freeman—Accounting Manager
Rochelle Hasson—Gear Depot Manager
Susan Keyloun—Social Media Director
Tara Mendicino—Director of Communications

PrimeTime Backgammon - USBGF

Transcription

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