ࡱ> HJG@ _3bjbjצצ .F_+2222222F,F#$R+2:::22:22:22 pUQP 0#ZZFF22222 & FFdFFTHE BRISTOL WIDE OPEN WEDDING TOURNAMENT, AUGUST 2005 One players perspective By Peter Bennet Mister Barkers, I want you in bed early tonight!! These were not the words of some sex-starved nymphette, but the immortal line uttered by Julian Minwalla, one of a large group of backgammon players who were dining at an Indian restaurant in Clifton on the last Saturday in August. Mister Barkers (aka Martin Barkwill, or just Barkers) was one of eight players remaining in the Professional Flight of the Bristol Wide Open Wedding Tournament, who were going to slug it out the next day. Barkers happened to be in the Saturday auction group purchased by Julian, which explained the latters rather unfortunately worded outburst. To find out whether Barkers got lucky, read on. The extravaganza began with Roland and Simonettas wedding on Friday afternoon at Bristol Zoo Pavilion, followed by a delightful concert (given by the couple and their music students and friends), tours of the zoo, group photos, cutting of the cake, ceilidh dancing, dinner, and finally, to round off the evening, warm-up backgammon and poker tournaments (of course!) Against more than one opponent in the warm-up I managed, by feats of which Houdini would have been proud, to turn round lost positions, thereby ending up in the final against Steve Ferrer whose dice were no match for mine. Martin Hemming won the freezeout poker, with Brian Kenny, Mark Dixon and Rosey Bensley taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots respectively. From a backgammon players point of view, the whole weekend seemed to run very smoothly, ably coordinated by Ian Tarr and his staff, including Jo Curl and Alison Lee, following meticulous preparation by the bride and groom themselves. The action seemed to shift effortlessly (Im sure it wasnt!): from the zoo to the main tournaments, doubles and jackpots at the Gentlemens Club (Saturday and Sunday); to Burwalls for the World Team Event and the Last Chance (on Bank Holiday Monday). Burwalls was a Victorian country mansion - now a university building - set in acres of grounds and right next to Clifton Suspension Bridge. Forgive my digression as I express my profound admiration for this bridge (it is quite beautiful), its designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel (obviously a genius), and the teams of men who risked (and in some cases lost) their lives to complete it in the 1860s, without the benefit of modern machinery or technology. Unfortunately I missed the Bridge Tour every day. A guided tour of Clifton Suspension Bridge may not be number one on your list of things to do during a backgammon weekend in Bristol, but your guide apparently walks you across while telling you all about the bridges history, construction and maintenance. At the same time you get the magnificent views all for free! Back to the venues. The zoo not an obvious place for a wedding you may think, but the Pavilion was perfect for both the wedding and the subsequent entertainment. The upper floor seated the 100+ guests for dinner, and was then transformed to accommodate the backgammon and poker tournaments. The Gentlemens Club in Clifton was spacious and provided playing areas for poker as well as backgammon (separate smoking and non-smoking rooms). Tea and coffee were continuously available while the bar catered for those who needed something stronger. A television in the bar enabled cricket fans to follow Englands progress against Australia. Dod Davies, as master of ceremonies, played out his role to great effect both at the Wedding and as auctioneer during the tournament, raising more money (it was claimed) than at any previous UK tournament auction. The presence of so many strong overseas players obviously helped in fact there were so many Danes present that on several occasions I had to remind myself that we were still in the UK. Buoyed up by my success in the warm-up, I got through two rounds of the Main before losing to the eventual winners of both the Main and the Consolation, Mochy and Roland. After losing to the Groom (having been up 7-0 to 9 at one stage) it was good to see him go on to win the Consolation. Concurrent with the backgammon action, poker tournaments were happening in the smoke-filled back room of the club. The biggest of these was a 20 re-buy on Saturday night, or more accurately Sunday morning it didnt finish until 5.30am. The first prize of the 1860 pot was eventually split between Lars Bonding and Rosey Bensley. Two 100 freezout tournaments were held on Sunday afternoon and evening, the first prize honours going to Paul Gilbertson and Lawrence Powell respectively. The doubles was a fun event at least in the early rounds before it got more serious. I teamed up with Cynthia Roberts and the fact that we were usually thinking along similar lines helped us to despatch two other mixed teams, Gay Roberts/John Broomfield and Fanika Petkovska/Myke Wignall. After that we hit a brick wall in the shape of Lars Trabolt/Torben Hasseriis. Here is a tricky position which was the start of our downfall (I think Ive remembered it correctly): (Position 1) I expected to get the cube after playing our 4-1 but thought we should take because of our counter-priming chances. Cynthia favoured 13/9 10/9 but I felt we should play bigger and eventually over-ruled Cynthia with 13/9 13/12, giving us lots of point-making numbers if they missed. They didnt. After cubing they hit with 6-5, and after winning the match Torben and Lars said they thought Cynthias play was better. Well they were right, and 13/8 is about equal - more potential with only minimal risk. However the best plan by far is to go after the 5-point right now with 13/9 6/5! This gives four more shots than my play but, if missed, we are big favourites to make the 5. In between, and after, our doubles matches I caught some of the Professional semi-final action. The line-up here was Mochy v Mike havent you Heard and Martin Barkers Barkwill v Mikael Jesus Jensen. Both matches ended in photo finishes. Mochy reached 14-11 against Mike who, in the Crawford game, was forced into a precarious 1-2 back game which started to bust. However when Mochy left a shot after bearing off 9 men Mike hit and, in spite of several buried checkers, managed to keep Mochy on the bar and remake his 6-point. With aggressive bearing off, Mike was able to win what had appeared to be a lost position to take the score to 14-12. In the next game Mochy ended up with six men back holding Mikes 4- and 5- points, while Mike was trying to clear several stripped outfield points. Rolling a critical 3-1 he declined the hit (see position 2) instead playing 14/13 6/3. Snowie likes hitting with 12/8* much better, leaving indirect shots now before Mochys board is even stronger, preparing to make a useful point for his outfield men to land on, and retaining the valuable 6-point spare instead of burying it. In spite of his next roll of double threes (12/9(2) 11/8(2)) Mike subsequently had to leave a blot on the 13 which Mochy hit. Mike was unable to recover from this, and eventually Mochy closed out two of Mikes checkers to take the game and match 15-12. In the other semi-final, Barkers built up a comfortable 12-5 lead. After the next couple of games the score was 13-7 but Jesus started working some miracles to jump ahead 14-13 Crawford. Barkers then won the nail-biting Crawford game by bringing home an awkward position with buried checkers against Mikaels 5-point holding game. At DMP it was Barkers turn to play a holding game. Camped on Mikaels 4-point he waited patiently for a shot while Mikael tried to clear his mid-point. Eventually Mikael broke the mid with a 51, bringing one man to the safety of his bar point. Barkers missed the 9-shot but Mikael rolled a 3-2 failing to safety the remaining blot. Out popped a hitting 5-4 from Barkers who had constructed a reception committee consisting of a 5 point board. Fortunately for Barkers, Mikael danced twice while the acepoint blot remained uncovered. Finally rolling a covering number (4-2) Barkers, with great relief, played 5/1 and then 6/4 (see position 3). Obviously the correct play here is 21/17 3/1 which Martin, under the pressure of the occasion, overlooked. He then rolled 22, breaking his board, and his British supporters were silently tearing their hair out. Mikael, however, cooperated by continuing to dance while Barkers escaped and brought his last man home to become the second finalist. The first half of the final was close, until at 8-8 Mochy offered Barkers a cube in the following critical position: (Position 4) Obviously there are quite a few gammons to be won by Mochy here and Barkers entering skills will be put to the test (or putting it another way: the position is quite volatile). Barkers took the cube, got gammoned, and was criticised for his poor take. With the benefit of a Snowie rollout it becomes easier to see that the take is actually quite correct. Fives and sevens are very good for Mochy, but the sevens are duplicated as hitting or covering numbers. Failure to cover (17 rolls) leaves Barkers a favourite to enter, and if he finds a two he will be eyeing the cube himself. Also important is the fact that Martin is ahead in the race, so an early non-hitting entry will give him plenty of winning chances. This game proved to be the turning point of the match as Mochy pulled further ahead to lead 14-8. The Crawford game was a close race until Mochys double six secured his place as Wedding Tournament Champion. The awards ceremony on Sunday night was a happy occasion for everyone the presentation of Rolands Consolation trophy nearly brought the house down! However it was of course just a pause for breath as there was still much unfinished business with both the World Team Event and the individual Last Chance on Monday at Burwalls. Ian Tarr managed both to direct and play in these events the clever progressive format of the Last Chance seemed to proceed like clockwork. Those who were out of both tournaments (or who were waiting for their next match) dropped in and out of a light-hearted low-stakes chouette in which Mochy rarely seemed to be out of the box! Meanwhile the Bride and Her Vikings conquered the world and Blaine Buchanan made his Last Chance count. The rest of us gradually drifted home to all parts of the globe. I set off for London while Mochy, Barkers, Mark Dixon, Tony Walters and a few others were still chouetting. Hadnt they had enough backgammon for one weekend? Lets hope this event becomes an annual (anniversary?) fixture. What better way for Roland and Simonetta to celebrate and remember what was, I am sure, such a joyous occasion for them and an amazing and unparalleled weekend for British backgammon. If this does happen, and you attend one year, dont forget the Bridge Tour. Its at 3pm every day during the summer. If Im not there you can let me know what I missed. (56_ ) 2 | } f v _ o x y " # ' K T y  h1'h1'H*h,Q,T,U,W,z,,,,,,,-*-9-F-N-v---|........𹽹hh9HhJxh1xbh,-hBB*phh//////k0l0m0z000001,121A1l1w111111222223+3;3D3P3_3h&Uh,h7h=Jh9Hh@ABCDEFIRoot Entry FPQKData $1Table,WordDocument.FSummaryInformation(7DocumentSummaryInformation8?CompObjj  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q