34th MonteCarlo Backgammon World Championships 2009
"The Herrera Story"
UK Husband and Wife (Rowley & Simo) team reach last 16 in MonteCarlo

by Roland Herrera 26 July & updated 20 Aug 2009

    Early in 2009, a close Backgammon friend of ours surprised us by kindly offering to sponsor us to play in the World Championships in Monte Carlo. I suppose it may have helped that in 2007, my wife Simonetta performed amazingly well in MonteCarlo and was awarded a Courtesy Trophy for reaching the last 16. Anyway, our friend had kept an eye on our Backgammon progress over the past 5 years, and though I argued that there were better players "out there" he seemed perfectly confident in his wish to sponsor us our entry fee 100%. This gave us both the perfect opportunity to play in the Championship division, and it would certainly be good experience coming up against the best players in the World. In 2008 we couldn't make it to Monte Carlo in time to participate; however, we rushed down to Monte half way through the tournament, to watch some matches, feel the buzz and, of course, to support the very same good friend who was now sponsoring us. Our "friend" went on to win and become 2008 World Champion; his name Lars Trabolt (Trabi). Not only was his fan club leader, Simonetta called up on stage, but the sponsorship offer was first suggested that evening... "I want to win back to back with Simo in the field"...

    Fast track to July 2009;  our recent tournament performances were fair; Simonetta was reigning Bristol Open Champion, I was a Doubles Finalist at the 2009 Nordic playing with Michi, (I count it a personal success as I had to play 50% of my matches on my own) and back home I had just won the Bristol Masters 2009... (I didn't play in Portugal, though I did have the honour of playing doubles with Falafel) and a lot of fun with my friends... Anyway, my greatest initial worry was to "get through" the first round, not to disappoint our esteemed sponsor. At that stage at least I would have my water colouring set with me; (rule n.1 when I go to a BG tournament; always have a good contingency plan to keep myself busy for the rest of the week.) Well, 173 participants meant there were quite a few first round "byes" and surely enough we both received byes. But the typical tense, electric atmosphere you get at the start of a big competition would not die down; we had to find our table number and sit down right away and play our second match to 17 points.... possibly my first match of such length, and certainly my first World Championship match ever ! Well, I quickly won 17-6 mostly point by point... and quite a bit later Simo came through a close match. Phew... Mission accomplished for day One & I knew I would sleep well that night.

Left : Roland (O) trails 6-8 to 19. He has the cube on 4, and everyone watching thinks it is one roll too early for O to redouble. As O, I tried to contain myself, and refrain from redoubling, but just couldn't, and before I knew I had thrown the 8 cube across the table. Surprisingly, rollouts suggest X should drop. The redouble to 8 is mandatory at this score.. (not for money of course). My opponent understandably took, neither side threw doubles and the score became 14-8 to 19. A terrifying bearoff for me none-the-less!

    Fast track to Round of last 16. It was proving a good year for UK; we had 4 players in the last 32.. which was something John Clark commented on as never remembering seeing before in Monte Carlo. Besides ourselves, the other two players were Martin Barkwill and John Broomfield. Unfortunately they both lost their matches, and I felt for John in particular, as having banked a 17-1 lead, he then went on and lost 17-19. John then remarked to his excited opponent (in typical Broomfield humour) "This match obviously means a great deal to you !". Anyway Simo and I, last two from UK, were left still standing in the last 16; Simo to play ....would you believe it...  Trabi (!), and I against Italian Giorgio Castellano. So I couldn't watch Simo's match but amazingly she raced ahead 16-4 to 21. Trabi caught up though and narrowed her lead to 19-18 but Trabi thwarted a 2-cube from Simo to take the lead 20-19. However, on the Crawford Simo was going for gammon and for match before two sets of double 4s crunched her board !! .... miraculously she recovered from being hit and was bearing off to equalise the score when.... another 44 exposed a shot ! Trabi picked up the blot to eventually clinch the tight match which had lasted more than 6 hours.  Simo had certainly impressed Trabi, and when his next round proved just as long and hard a Battle against Najib Salamzy he prevailed yet again but was pretty exhausted at 2:30am. ! We all burst out laughing as an announcement came out for Salamzy to play his consolation match ! Amazingly I sailed through my last 16 round and my quarter final round quite easily; the respective scores being 21-11 and 21-10. Trabi and I were given the choice of playing the next day or on Saturday... and Trabi decided to take the next day off for a rest!

Left : Giorgio (X) recubes to 8. He has a checker on 3 and one on his 4 point. O has a checker on the 3 and 5 points. O trails 2-5 to 21. The problem I had, as O taking, was that I did not want to re cube to 16 (looks so efficient for my opponent !). Of course I thought a long time, and in an aggressive mood (because my opponent had thrown a 55 to catch up on the bear off) I took. The 16 cube was mandatory after he threw a 1, but I held on (after a long pause).. and threw 66 ! From 10-5 up to 21, I then doubled the score to 20-10, with normal games, point by point, apart from a couple of cubes I turned around. Nobody watching considered this to be anything like a take, (and it isn't a take for money of course) but luckily I knew a little bit about my take point and match equity ! Correct to take, redouble to 16 mandatory.

   Fast track to the Semi Final.  Well I didn't know what to expect... but support from UK was good.. there was cheering as I walked the streets of Monte Carlo and a continuous stream of good luck emails and texts were coming in......  we had even been mentioned on BBC Radio 2. I was also really thankful for the support back home at Bristol BG Club; Ian Tarr had given up his weekend to keep the site updates going ! I even looked it up, and smiled when I read my scores.. "bye, 17-6, 19-10, 19-6, 21-11, 21-10" indicating that I had not yet "been stretched". Had I had it easy so far or was I playing well ? Maybe I was in form suggested my third round Danish opponent as I accidentally bumped into him (he had played a very solid game) and he told me all my cube decisions had been correct from our match... (he photographed and checked every cube decision). I also knew that the two eight cubes I had dealt with in the tournament (the two positions you can see above; the first I gave... the second I took) had been confirmed as correct by computer rollouts.... (much to the unanimous initial disagreement of my audiences). So the time came to start the Semi Final on Saturday @ 3pm. Perhaps we started a little late, around 3:30pm, but it was a little incredible that the match finished @ 2:30am ! We had 2 minutes per point and a 15 second delay on our clock. Our match did include a 2.5 hour Dinner break, called by Trabi, but no one could have predicted I would be leading 20-12 to 23 before the break! Was everything going too well to be true ? Certainly many thoughts were going through my mind during the break... With 90% match equity, was I going to be playing Mochy in the final ? or would Trabi mount another come back to win and get a shot at his personal target: Back to back World Champion? There were those wishing for the "best final ever", between 2 pros who "belonged there", and those who wanted the dream to come true... an outsider, an amateur competing in the World Championships for the first time... Certainly I felt the pressure during the break... who wouldn't ?

    Well back into action after the break. I was in good shape with 10 minutes on my clock... but only 6 for Trabi. He would be doubling early, I would be dropping early. I wanted stable, holding games... simple games where I could anchor early and "always be in the picture" and pick up those last 3 points. The crowds starting gathering, people stood on chairs to watch; it was soon all "oooos" and "aaahs", but I was not aware of them.... I was aware that everything I ever wanted was not happening, and my match equity slipped to 50% at 21-21 to 23. I almost turned the cube, then Trabi did and this was it... DMP with no time on the clock... our 29th and last game was practically Trabi territory all the way through.  Surely enough Trabi chipped away to demolish every asset I had....except for the first time in the competition I was playing a back game.... not my favourite one but nevertheless, a 1,2,5 back game featuring timing, checker recycling, forcing moves, outer field coverage.... the whole repertoire.... while Trabi was bearing in I hit two of his checkers, crunched his board and built mine up to a 5 point board (gap on my 3 point).... I had completely turned the game around and was doing brilliantly, except for one thing... I had 1 second left on my clock... unless I made a move before my delay time was up I would lose the match.... cock your dice twice or three times... and you have only a couple of seconds to make the most important plays of the match; it was panic time, and I was barely in control.... anyway fate decided that Trabi's unfortunate 2 checkers miraculously entered quickly, and escaped my (what seemed to me) complete outer field coverage. In only 5 moves my match equity fell from 90% to 10%.. after which I knew I was never going to listen to another hard luck story ever again! I had lost, but continued to bear off just to warm down a little.... We shook and I acknowledged Trabi's win, but the audience were left in respectful silence... or just stunned. Though coming close to blackout during the excitement, I was at least still alive...  after our epic match containing 1080 moves I slowly moved away from the table.. the audience gave me breathing space and eventually slowly came over to pat me on the back... and in a little less than a minute I was cracking jokes and laughing.... another hand shake with Lars; he had played well, unfazed by any zany opening I could throw at him! ... and the dream was over for me. He would get his final tomorrow, and it would be up to him.....

Above: Top left shows my match winning chances, move by move / Top right shows my equity during the DMP or last game only
Below; The DMP turnaround; Trabi on bar & on roll to enter, escape and bring round his two red checkers. My equity was 90% at this stage.

    Well the story doesn't end there. Obviously Trabi was in form; in our last DMP game 29 (which contained about 100 positions) his checker play error rate was 1.3 on Snowie 3ply. Trabi and Mochy played the 1st half of the final brilliantly; low error rates etc....but the second half was a bit strange; Trabi unable to find an angle or weak spot in Mochy's play. I audio recorded Falafels commentary from after the break at 13-12 to Mochy. Mochy pulled away to go 20-14 up until finally Trabi made another great comeback to go 22-20 down, but the next game Trabi cubes but instead of converting his 50% gammons, gets hit himself by a surprise 31; the game turns and Mochy made a gammon play himself hitting with a 21 and eventually went on to roll a couple of doubles to gammon Trabi for the match. An exciting final and certainly a respectable match from two of the World's best Professional Players.. After Rollouts, Mochy around 3 and Trabi 5 overall Snowie Rating..... Of course I was still rooting for our friend Trabi (the "Double Pony Killer")....  and not just because our deal would have won me more money..... anyway, just in case he didn't win I had myself covered....(although on a much lower scale than Trabi had himself covered in the Semis)...  I had made a deal with Mochy in the Semis; if I won I would come to Japan Open... if Mochy won, he would come to Bristol Open (& so he is !) !! Tada....

Additional material ;

Review of the match by Carsten Simonsen, a respected Danish Championship player :

"The most exciting match I have ever seen !"

Review : Backgammon World Championship Semi final 2009: Roland Herrera – Lars Trabolt.

The semi final between the World Champion from 2008, Lars Trabolt (from now on Trabi) and Roland Herrera attracted a lot of interest. Trabi is a very experienced tournament player but had already played several tough matches in the tournament and was therefore perhaps a bit tired. Roland is not nearly as experienced but had won his matches without any big problems.

The match was played to 23 points with clocks. Each player had 46 minutes and a 15 seconds delay every move.

Most people considered Trabi as a small favourite, but Roland was optimistic and the beginning of the match proved that he was right. Roland was ahead, 2-0, 6-2 and 14-6: At the Dinner break the score was 20-12 to Roland; a nearly hopeless position for Trabi but he is not an easy quitter and had certainly not given up hope to regain his title. When the match resumed there were only 5-6 spectators following but that changed very quickly as the match turned into a drama.

Trabi got a nice position in the first game after the break and doubled. Roland grabbed the cube confidently but his position soon collapsed and Trabi scored a gammon. The score was now 20-16; half of Roland’s lead already gone. Trabi looked like a wolf smelling blood and Roland, visibly shaken, should have asked for 5 minutes break on any excuse: “I have to go to the bathroom, call my stock broker, phone my family”, any excuse, but Roland continued playing.

Trabi also won the next two games and the score was now 20–18. What seemed like a nearly certain victory for Roland was now a close match. Roland took a break.

Problems continued for Roland after the break. Trabi reached a nice position but Roland rolled a wonderful 55, moved his anchor from the 23 point to the bar point, and turned the cube: A very good double. Trabi did not like the position and dropped. Now it was 21 – 18. I would have taken the cube. That is probably one of the reasons I am not World Champion.

Trabi won the next two games and the score was now 23-23. The crowd around the table had grown steadily and we were now 40 to 50 backgammon enthusiasts following the exciting match. Trabi doubled early so it would the last game of the match.

Roland got into a difficult position; a back game with bad timing. Trabi did his best to make Roland’s position crunch, but Roland played well, did not crunch, and managed to hit two checkers. Roland was now a big favourite but both players were short of time.

In this position (position will be posted soon !), Roland just had to hit either the checker in the outfield or the checker on the three point. He is a big favourite to win the game and qualify to the final but out of the cup rolled 4-2! An air ball! A backgammon audience is usually silent but that was not possibly any longer. There was no shouting but we were not silent. Roland used all his time except for 1 second to find a move and in the end moved two checkers to the 11-point. The best move is to make the 9-point. Roland was still a big favourite but had no luck. Trabi won the game and qualified for his second World Championship final.

Both players can be proud of the match, probably the most exciting match I have ever seen. A pity it was not broadcast live on television. It would have been great promotion for backgammon.

Carsten Simonsen, Aug. 2009

A selection of good luck emails, texts & Comments from Players on Backgammon World Championships 2009 MonteCarlo; ty fans !

Hello! Short mail from Norway since I am at work now.
I just noticed that both you and Roland were in the last 16!
Well done, and good luck in the rest of your matches for both of you!
Ivar Roenstrand
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Hi friends
I can see you are both doing well in Monte. Congratulations so far, and good luck for the rest of the matches.
Next match: Simo-Trabi. Exciting match for you guys. Go for it, Simonetta.
Send my regards to Trabi as well, of course. I have no favourites in this match.
Best wishes, Mikael Jensen
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Subject: go you!
Shame Simo met Trabi but good luck to you all - already a stonking result!
lv Jo & Dod Davis
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Karsten Bredahl commented on your status:
"I hope one of you guys go all the way - good luck!"
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Simonetta & Roland,
Been following MC at Gammonvillage and see that Simonetta won a few matches before losing to Trabi and
that Roland is now leading Trabi 20-12 in the semis.
Congrats to you both! John O'Hagan
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Hi Roland and Simonetta
As I write, Roland is 20-12 in the semi according to Gammon Villlage...
I could not be more pleased and am rooting for you. Play well...give it both barrels...
Love, Jules Minwalla
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Hi Both,
Nice showing by both of you. No shame in losing to the reigning World Champion and he's a fantastic player.
I was certainly rooting for "Team Herrera".
Have fun, Steve Sax
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Katja Sophie Spillum Svendsen commented on your status:
"Congratulations on being a semifinalist. What a thriller !"
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Gaz Owen commented on your status:
"Unlucky mate. You've made Bristol proud!"
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Henrik Bodholdt commented on your status:
"Roland - it must have been an agonizing experience, although you are a great player,
you were up against probably one of the 3 toughest opponents in the world.
I feel with you while at the same time wishing Trabi good luck in the final,
and still congrats to you for a great accomplishment"
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Congratulations to both of you for you wonderful performance at Monte Carlo
especially Roland who I was convinced (as I followed the scores on Daily Gammon) was going to make the final.
So unlucky! Brian Lever
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You deserve to be the World Champion but reaching the semis is no mean feat.
Well done.. will phone you tonight for a chat
Simon Fahoury
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I didn't have a chance for this in Monaco....but congratulations to you both!! :)
You guys deserved it, given your dedication to the game for so many years!
That was the best story of MC; much better than the 2 top pros in finale!
it's much better (and everyone thought so in MC) to see 2 strong 'amateurs' to go that far
and even better they are a couple! anyway, well done Roland
send my best to Simonetta please
Eric Guedj

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