Headed by team captain Johan Huyck, the Red Beavers Alain Chif, Michel Lamote, Johan Segers and Geert Van der Stricht drove to the Grand Casino of Forges-les-Eaux (France) to participate at the 2020 edition of the WBGF Team Championship, January 7-9. Their ambition: to do better than in Budva (Montenegro, April 2019), where Belgium was eliminated by Denmark in the quarter finals.
The Red Beavers 2020 in the playing room in the Grand Casino in Forges-les-Eaux (France), at the WBGF Team Championship, January 7-9.
There were 17 countries divided in three groups. Belgium was in group B, together with Czechia, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, and Germany. Victories against Cyprus and Russia and draws against Turkey and Germany were sufficient to reach the 2nd place in group B and a spot in the quarter final, in which Belgium met…
Belgium vs Denmark at the start of the quarter finals of the WBGF Team Championship in the Grand Casino of Forges-les-Eaux, France, January 8, 2020.
… Denmark again. Michel and Johan S. lost their matches relatively quickly, but Geert and Johan H. were close to winning theirs, raising hopes for a team consultation tie-breaker. But the Danish players, which are among the world’s strongest, proved hard to beat, and at the end, the Danes prevailed on every board. They went on to win the championship, before Greece (2nd) and France (3rd).
Belgium continued to defeat Austria but lose from the UK, ending 6th, one place better than in 2019.
The 2021 edition will take place in Trier, Germany. Can we do better still?
After valiant campaigns in Hungary (2015), Denmark (2016) and Iceland (2017), the Belgium Backgammon Team will compete in the 2018 European Backgammon TeamChampionship in Gibraltar with 6 of our best players.
Due to the fortuitous scheduling of the event in early July, the complete top-5 of the BMS Grading Table will represent Belgium at this high-level event. Only Johan Segers (ranked 6) will be absent due to an overlapping family holiday. Fortunately Guy Van Middelem was able to make himself available to complete the team, notwithstanding loads of other responsibilities and commitments.
The event consists of 7 rounds. In each round, 5 Belgian players will each play a 13-point match against 5 players from another country. After 7 rounds, the four highest ranked countries will play in a Final Four knock-out phase.
This is the Belgium Team : 1) Marc Van Damme 2) Michel Lamote 3) Geert Van derStricht 4) Johan Huyck 5) Walter Meuwis 6) Guy Van Middelem.
The playing schedule : on Tuesday 10 July four rounds will be played (11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, and 9 pm) and on Wednesday 11 July rounds 5 to 7 are scheduled (10 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm).
The Final Four will play semi-finals on Thursday 12 July at 10 am and the final at 3 pm.
Needless to say that this is an extremely demanding and challenging format staged in a prestigious international arena. Our players will have to find their best form in three to four 13-point matches a day and be able to hold their nerve under pressure-cooker conditions. Not only skill, but focus and stamina will be required to achieve success. Nobody can afford to play casually, since all 35 matches (or more…) of Belgium’s Best will be recorded and open for scrutiny.
In Reykjavik last week, the Belgium Backgammon Team played 24 matches to 13 points against 6 other countries : Greece, Norway, France, Sweden, Gibraltar and Turkey. We only won 11 of those. That’s bad, right?
Not quite. Let’s hear what Johan Huyck has to say about this. Johan is a professional math teacher and responsible for data processing in the BMS Committee.
Johan (middle), setting up his recording equipment against Norway.
Johan : We can look back on the tournament with pride. Sadly, Lady Luck was not on our side.
M : Isn’t that an easy way out? Saying the dice were against us?
Johan : No. Let’s look at it objectively : over the 24 matches we played a PR of 5,52, which is very close to the PR of 5,40 that we could expect based on the current BMS rating. Belgium was the best team in every encounter. Only France came close. This means that based on performance, we could, or should, have won every encounter. None of the encounters yielded a fair result.
M : With fair you mean that the team who played best also won?
Johan : Right. Of the 24 matches we played, 20 times the Belgian player played better than his opponent. Still we only won 11 matches. Our performance was also very consistent. Our worst PR in 24 matches was PR 7,89, whereas in 10 ( = ten) matches our opponents played an 8+ PR.
M : I agree. I saw it happening on the boards with my own eyes. You cannot lose a match against a player who plays worse without having some brutal swings against you.
Johan : It is of course not unusual to lose matches against weaker players, but the frequency in Iceland bordered on the bizarre. Have a look at 5 of our losses :
Walter Meuwis (PR 6,87) loses to George Lazaris (PR 11,33)
Marc Van Damme (PR 5,72) loses to Nikos Dikaros (PR 7,98)
Johan Huyck (PR 6,16) loses to Johan Bynell (PR 9,01)
Johan Segers (PR 6,73) loses to Steve Blake (PR 15,32) (!)
Marc Van Damme (PR 3,64) loses to Kasuto Mahir (PR 7,10)
Losing these 5 matches is “very unlucky”, I would say.
M : Sure. Do you think we were among the best teams?
Johan : I think there is a fair chance that only Denmark and Germany performed better as a team than we did. Maybe France also deserved a place in the Final Four. But of Norway I am not so sure.
M : Hm… The UK maybe? And I think you are a bit harsh on Norway. A batch of 52 EP ( = four 13-point matches) is not really big enough to base a final evaluation on, right? And let us not forget that one of their very best players, Elias Kritikos, did not play against us.
Johan : OK, you have a point there. But let’s look at it in another way : if we were to award points based on performance and we agree that 2-2 would be a fair result if PR’s are within 1, we would be expected to have scored 19 victories out of 24. If a draw would be fair with PR’s within 2, we would have scored 18/24 and if we agree on a draw with PR’s within 3, we would still be expected to reach 16,5/24. In short, there is no doubt in my mind that 13 losses and 11 wins is a very unfortunate outcome, especially knowing that 14/24 would always have ensured a ticket for the Final Four.
M : I see. Anything else you want to highlight?
Johan : Well, Marc’s performance was really outstanding of course. His overall PR of 4,28 (!) surely ranks among the 10 best performances of the whole championship.
Marc (middle) before the Belgium v Turkey encounter.
And you did well too, of course, with a PR of 3,25 (3 x 13) on Day 2. Walter also played within his skill window, which is something of a feat if you know that his luggage had stayed behind in Brussels Airport. It is not easy to play well if your mind is burdened by worry. Me and Johan (Segers) feel we could have done better. We played slightly worse than our acknowledged skill level. All in all, I think we did very well as a team and have lots of positive things to take with us to the next EUBTC.
M : Any idea when and where that will be?
Johan : It was decided that Gibraltar will host the 2018 European Backgammon Team Championships in the first weeks of July 2018. We can be sure that the organisation will be excellent, as the organisers are quite experienced. Let’s hope we can send a strong team and play as well as we did in Reykjavik, maybe even a bit better.
M : How can we ensure this?
Johan : By keeping up the study and dedicated practice. And the good spirits. I feel that we stand a fair chance of reaching the Final Four, if we can only be spared some extreme bad luck.
M : I agree, although next year more strong teams may show up because the venue is more attractive. I’m thinking countries like Croatia, Italy, Russia, …
Johan : That’s true. We’ll see…
Ok, let’s conclude with a quote about ‘success’. Sadly, most have something to do with “overcoming failure” and I think it is clear that we did not fail in Iceland. Maybe Pele sums it up best : “Success is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all love of what you are doing or learning to do”.
Some unfortunate swings of fortune left Belgium needing a 4-0 victory against Turkey to qualify for the Final Four. Chances of this happening are small, but stranger things have happened in backgammon…
Sadly, despite being the better player on every board, we only managed a draw : 2-2.
Here are the team PR’s :
PR Belgium v Turkey (4 x 13)
Every player excelled in this team effort and this resulted in a high-class performance, our best of the tournament. Sadly, outplaying your opponent is never a guarantee for victory in this fickle game, as was amply demonstrated in the 6 encounters we played in Iceland.
PR Turkey v Belgium (4 x 13)
Michel Lamote (PR 3,60) wins against Arda Findikoglu (PR 7,52)
Marc Van Damme (PR 3,64) loses to Mahir Kasuto (PR 7,10)
Johan Huyck (PR 6,19) loses to Cumhur Bekture (PR 7,15)
Walter Meuwis (PR 4,82) wins against Gokhan Kazandag (PR 12,91)
What conclusions can be drawn from this event? Come back to this website tomorrow and find an interview with Johan Huyck, who will shed his light on the data.
We needed a 4-0 victory against this dwarfish backgammon nation, but failed in our mission. Sometimes even an 8+ PR difference is not enough to guarantee victory, as Johan S. experienced in a gruelling match against his sympathetic, but endearingly incompetent opponent.
Here are the PR’s of both teams :
PR Belgium v Gibraltar (4 x 13)
PR Gibraltar v Belgium (4 x 13)
Michel Lamote (PR 3,36) wins against Gilbert Licudi (PR 13,52)
Marc Van Damme (PR 4,63) wins against David Frier (PR 10,92)
Johan Segers (PR 6,73) loses to Steven Blake (15,32)
Walter Meuwis (PR 6,83) wins against Michael Pitaluga (PR 14,40)
We now need a 4-0 victory against Turkey in the last round. Unlikely, but not impossible…
After losing to France on Thursday night, we badly needed to score some points against Sweden. It was imperative not to squander equity in this encounter and I can say that we all appeared at the boards very focused. This resulted in a very fine team performance :
PR Belgium v Sweden (4 x 13)
PR Sweden v Belgium (4 x 13)
This is the best team performance by Belgium so far. Marc and I were the better of two of Sweden’s top players and both Johans kept a cool head in high-pressure conditions :
Michel Lamote (PR 2,71) loses against Kare Aronsson (PR 3,88)
Marc Van Damme (PR 3,67) wins against Thomas Tenland (PR 5,18)
Johan Huyck (PR 6,16) loses against Johan Bynell (PR 9,01)
Johan Segers (PR 6,49) loses against Aron Tendler (PR 7,87)
This undeserved defeat leaves Belgium with 6/16. We can still qualify for the Final Four, but will have to score heavily in R5. Our opponents are Gibraltar, the weakest participant in this tournament. Surely a 4-0 victory is possible?
With two draws under our belt, Belgium badly needed a win against France. Unfortunately, things turned out sour for us as we were beaten 1-3. Both teams came up with similar PR’s :
PR France v Belgium (4 x 13)
PR Belgium v France (4 x 13)
Marc Van Damme made his maiden appearance on Board 1 and did not disappoint. He won his match and scored an excellent PR :
Marc Van Damme (PR 3,66) wins against Vincent Nardi (PR 5,80)
Johan Huyck (PR 5,61) loses against Olivier Croisille (PR 5,26)
Johan Segers (PR 7,69) loses against Eric Maillebiau (PR 8,45)
Walter Meuwis (PR 5,77) loses against Aurélien Bionnet (PR 3,27)
After this defeat, Belgium was left with 5/12. We needed to score heavily on Day 2 if we wanted to qualify for the Final Four. Will we be able to lift our game a notch or two?
After drawing 2-2 against Greece in Round 1, we faced Norway in Round 2. Norway is a strong backgammon country, but amateurish selection procedures prevent some of the very best players to be part of the team. Hence their slightly disappointing performance against us :
PR Norway v Belgium (4 x 13)
The Belgium Team did slightly better :
PR Belgium v Norway (4 x 13)
I seldom perform well during siesta hours, and my PR certainly hurt the team performance. Walter, however, got rolling and also Johan Huyck outplayed his opponent :
All PR’s :
Michel Lamote (PR 6,40) loses to Dagfinn Snarheim (PR 4,78)
Johan Huyck (PR 4,71) wins against Jostein Flood (PR 9,19)
Johan Segers (PR 7,40) loses to Rune Hallvorsen (PR 8,15)
Walter Meuwis (PR 2,99) wins against Beate Siglem (PR 5,20)
Can we keep this up in R3 (or even do better?). Check this website and you’ll soon know.
The European Backgammon Team Championship was won by Norway after a thrilling finish. In the semi finals, Norway drew against Denmark (2-2), but won a team consultation match to 7 points. They repeated that feat against Germany in the final by first winning two encounters and losing two and then winning a team consultation tie-breaking match to 7. Congratulations to our Norwegian friends on behalf of BGFed.be!
You can see pictures of the jubilant winners here :
The Belgium Team recorded all its matches. In the upcoming days, BMS Belgium will publish the Performance Ratings of all our matches. Here is how we did in the opening round against Greece :
This is not good. Everybody played at least one PR-point above their skill level, with myself ending up with an uncharacteristic 7+. Remarkably, the Greek GM Konstantinos Mitrellis scored an even more shocking PR, at least 3 PR points above his acknowledged skill level. These PR’s are surely an indication of the complexity of the match.
Check this website for our results in R 2 versus Norway.
Left to right : Maurits, Walter, Johan Huyck, Johan Segers, Geert and Alain. Bottom : Michel.
With one victory (3-1 against France) and draws against Norway, the UK, Greece, Iceland and Turkey, Belgium performed well in Denmark. Narrowly missing the Final Four was of course a huge disappointment, but luck just was not on our side in the crucial phase of the championship.
I would like to thank all the players for their good-humoured competitiveness. Belgium was undoubtedly one of the most determined and motivated teams in the field. All players played to the best of their abilities and there was not a whiff of discord in the team. Maurits and Alain (1st and 2nd substitute) were unfailing in their support and their presence gave the team the required robustness and peace of mind.
Next year’s European Team Championship Backgammon will take place in Reykjavik (Iceland). BGFed.be intends to send a team.
Michel Lamote (PR: 4.4) vs Dagfinn Snarheim (PR: 4.6) 1-0
Johan Huyck vs Rune Færevåg 0-1
Johan Segers vs Hall Skåra 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Tore Fredriksson 0-1
Round 2: Belgium – UK 2-2
Michel Lamote vs Gaz Owen 1-0
Johan Huyck vs Sebastian Wilkinson 0-1
Johan Segers vs Lawrence Powell 0-1
Walter Meuwis vs Eric McAlpine 1-0
Round 3: Belgium – France 3-1
Michel Lamote vs Olivier Decultot 0-1
Johan Huyck vs Raphaël Rosalba 1-0
Johan Segers vs Stéphane Chenevière 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Gildas Racape 1-0
Round 4: Belgium – Greece 2-2
Geert Van der Stricht vs Nikos Dikaros 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Athanasios Katsios 1-0
Johan Segers vs Haris Christidis 0-1
Walter Meuwis vs Michalis Manolios 1-0
Round 5: Belgium – Iceland 2-2
Geert Van der Stricht vs Hallur Jon Saevarsson 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Stefan Gudmundsson 0-1
Johan Huyck vs Ingi Tandri Traustason 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Fjalarr Páll Mánason 1-0
Round 6: Belgium – Turkey 2-2
Geert Van der Stricht vs Mahir Kasuto 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Murat Hazır 1-1
Johan Segers vs Gokhan Kazandag 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Zafer Önder 1-0
Team ranking after the Swiss stage
Hungary 18
Croatia 16
Denmark 15
United Kingdom 14
Greece, Belgium, Sweden, Turkey 13
France, Austria 11
Gibraltar 7
Cyprus 6
We missed the final 4 by a hair. It all ended with an exciting double match point by Michel in extreme time pressure. Just a little bit more luck and we would have made it. Next time perhaps!
As the countdown to the European Team Championship starts, I picked some of the photos taken during last year’s edition in Budapest to share with you.
The European Championship was preceded by the Budapest Open. The masters division was played in the Panorama room. The shutters had to be closed because of the scorching sun; outside temperatures reached 35°C.
Guy Van Middelem (right) preferred to play in the more spacious lobby; Michel Lamote and Alain Chif are watching. Guy had a good start, winning the first two matches but lost to a Norwegian player in the third round.
Luc Palmans (left) playing Tore Frederiksen (Norway) in the first round. After losing this match, Luc had to continue in the fighter bracket.
After an easy win in the first round, Walter Meuwis (left) was leading 10:7 (in an 11-point match) against top Danish player Thomas Kristensen. Michel Lamote keeps his fingers crossed but finally Walter had to surrender.
Players of the intermediate division in the Venus room, including Maurits Pino and Alain Chif. The lady on the left, Laurence Sinitzky-Billard went on to win the tournament without loosing a match.
Spectators admiring the skills of the blind British player, Yan Kit Chan (right). Occasionally he palpates the checkers but in general he keeps the position of all the 30 checkers in mind.
After several changes of the rules and some discussion with the tournament director, Maurits Pino (left) and Zsolt Tasnádi won a shared third price in the intermediate division – in fact shared with three other players.
Walter Meuwis (right) received the 2014 Belgian Individual Championship (BIC) trophy from BGFed.be president Guy Van Middelem in Budapest. He won the title in December 2014, defeating Maurits Pino in the final.
The start of the team championship was delayed because we had to wait for the EUBGF president Steen Grønbech (opposite) to finish his match in the masters division…
… but finally it started, although without Belgium who was bye. Zdeněk Žižka, the 17-year-old Czech talent is on the right playing Bjørnar Bugge (Norway).
In the second round, Belgium played Austria. Geert Van der Stricht (left) faces Mario Lazzer; German top player Tobias Hellwag stands on the right. Geert won 15:11, making the score Belgium 3 – Austria 1.
Walter Meuwis, Luc Palmans, Maurits Pino and Geert van der Stricht (from left to right) starts the night shift facing Greece in the third round. Luc was the last to finish at around half past 3, the final score was 2-2.
Next day, in the 4th round, Belgium played host nation Hungary. In the foreground, Belgian champion Walter Meuwis (left) faces the Hungarian champion Attila Kenéz. Walter won 15:7.
Michel Lamote (left) playing the Crawford game against János Baranyai (Hungary). Nothing went right for Michel in this match. His opponent finished the tournament with an impressive 7/7 result.
After two draws (against Hungary and Croatia), Belgium faced tournament leader and top favourite Denmark. Luc Palmans (left) contemplates an 8-cube against Mik Larsen. Doble/take, well played by both players. Luc won this game but sadly he lost the match 15:13.
Michel Lamote (right) faces Thomas Kristensen (Denmark), deploying two chairs to get a better view of the board. In the background, captain Guy van Middelem is joking with his Danish colleague. At this time we were confident, with all four Belgian players leading.
Geert van der Stricht plays Steen Grønbech (right). Geert was very close to winning but Steen rolled a 44 to enter his 2 checkers in a 5-point board, turning the game and the match around. This match was live streamed on the website of the Danish federation.
Kristensen redoubled at this position. If Michel takes and redoubles to 8, he can play for the (15-point) match. Tough decision, he preferred to start a new game.
Belgium lost 1:3 to Denmark (Walter Meuwis won his match) but, before the last round, still had a realistic chance to make the final four.
In the last round, we played Italy who already secured their place in the semifinal. Because of the other results, in particular Germany’s surprise 4:0 win against Denmark, the team would have needed to win all four matches in order to qualify for the final four. Alain Chif (right) won his match but the final result was Belgium 2 – Italy 2.
Denmark and Germany met again in the semifinal. After a 2-2 draw, the encounter was decided by a 7-point team consultation match. Germany made it to the final.
The final, played by Croatia (left) and Germany. Croatia prevailed by winning the deciding 7-point consultation match.
An interesting position from the final. Looks simple but in fact white has several options to play the 2:1. Some good players among the spectators could not agree what the best move is.
The European Championship starts on 20 October in Helsingør, Denmark. Good luck to the Belgian team! Read the introduction of the team members here.
The European Backgammon Team Championship will take place in Helsingor (Denmark) in October this year. As announced, selection for the team is solely based on playing strength as indicated by the assembled data in the 2 BMS tables : the BMS Grading Table (predominantly longer matches) and the BPR Ranking Table (mostly shorter matches).
After 8 months of play (hundreds of matches) the BMS BE data have yielded the following ranking :
Therefore, the selection for Helsingor is as follows : 1. Michel Lamote 2. Geert Van der Stricht 3. Walter Meuwis 4. Johan Segers 5. Johan Huyck 6. Guy Van Middelem 7. Alain Chif. Substitute : Maurits Pino.
BGFed.be is happy to send this robust team to Denmark. Of course, with no player who plays solidly below 5, we cannot count ourselves among the favourites. However, the team’s skill level and international experience is high enough to warrant some hope for at least an outside chance of success.
As Team Captain I hope that in the coming months all selected players will conscientiously prepare for this event. Any improvement in whatever aspect of the game can make a difference when crunch time comes.
The 8 candidate players for the European Backgammon Team Championship in Helsingor later this year (20-23 October) are (alphabetically by first name) : Alain Chif, Geert Van der Stricht, Guy Van Middelem, Johan Huyck, Johan Segers, Maurits Pino, Michel Lamote and Walter Meuwis.
I would like to remind all aspiring candidate players that the deadline for candidacies is 30 June 2016. Click on European Team Championship (under Tags (right) to find the Selection Procedure and Selection Criteria in the article Kopenhagen 2016 : BGFed.be plans to send strong team.
In an attempt to improve their BMS gradings, 6 players invested time and effort in a series of 15-point matches. Here is how they did :
Walter Meuwis and Ronny Conaert played ten 15-point matches. The score was 5-5.
Walter’s performance rating
Ronny’s performance rating
Luc Palmans and Guy Van Middelem played six 15-point matches. They each won 3.
Luc’s performance rating
Guy’s performance rating
Michel Lamote and Johan Huyck also played six 15-pointers. Johan won 4-2.
Michel’s performance rating
Johan’s performance rating
The general sentiment among all 6 players was that they can do better. Unfortunately, reality proves that there is a significant gap between potential ability and actual performance. Still, these players should be applauded for their respectable performances and their willingness to compete in the public arena. Hopefully, they will find the time to study their errors and learn from them.
These results have been incorporated in the BMS Grading Table (click on BMS(BE) in the black banner to find the complete table). There is fierce jockeying going on for a top-4 spot, which will probably guarantee a place in the team which will represent Belgium in the upcoming European Backgammon Team Championships in Denmark (October 2016).
In September of last year, Belgium more than stood its ground in the European Backgammon Team Championship in Budapest. Chances to qualify for the Final Four were real till the last encounter (versus Italy), but evaporated as Germany gained a freaky 4-0 victory over Denmark. Below is a picture of the team that valiantly represented Belgium :
(from top left) Maurits, Walter, Alain, Guy and Luc. (from bottom left) Zsolt, Geert and Michel.
This year, the EBTC will be hosted by Denmark. It will take place in Kopenhagen. At the most recent board meeting of BGFed.be, it was unanimously decided that Belgium will attend this prestigious event. It was also agreed upon that, like last year, efforts should be made to delegate the strongest team possible. The responsibility of implementing this policy was accorded to M.
1. Selection criteria.
Selection of players will be based predominantly on empirical data, i.e. conglomerate PR’s as reflected in both the BMSB GT and the BPR RT.
Since (a) skill in backgammon dominates as the match length increases and (b) the BMSB GT reflects PR’s obtained in longer matches, a higher weight will be given to BMSB gradings than to BPR gradings.
In the case that Candidate Players have no official BMSB or BPR grading, selection may be considered based on data available in the BMS Archive.
Should the difference in PR between two players be too close to call, factors like international experience with longer matches will be taken into account.
2. Selection procedure.
Candidacies must be submitted by e-mail (kynos8000@gmail.com) at the latest on 30 June 2016.
Candidate Players should :
a) be BGFed.be member and reside in Belgium,
b) demonstrably play at Advanced level or better,
c) have an official BMSB or BPR grading or be BIC-player.
A first list of Candidate Players will be posted on the BGFed.be website on 15 June 2016.
On 23 and 24 July 2016, a BMS tournament will be played to give Candidate Players an ultimate opportunity to improve their BMSB grading. This tournament will be played in Brugge and will consist of six 13-point matches.
The final selection will be made once the performances in this event have been incorporated in the BMSB GT.
From five candidate cities, the Executive Board of the European Backgammon Federation (EUBGF) selected Budapest to host the 2nd European Backgammon Team Championship in 2015. The event will be held from 18 to 20 September, together with a Budapest Open tournament for individual players.
As a full member of EUBGF, BGFed.be is of course invited to send a team.
Mark your calendars, we’ll let you know if more details become available.
