Three Belgians and Three Dutchmen in Nordic Open 2012

The week after the tournament, Nardy told me that there was actually a fourth Dutchman in the tournament: Christian Sørensen, finalist of the Nordic Open 2011. Please see the quote of Nardy’s message below. Apologies for the mistake!

The Nordic Open in Copenhagen is one of the most prestigious backgammon tournaments in the world. It traditionally takes place in the Easter weekend. In 2012, (at least) three Belgians and three Dutchmen take their chances:

• Championship (Entry fee 700 €):
  • Rogier van Gemert (NL)
  • Michel Lamote (BE)
  • Luc Palmans (BE)
  • Philip Vischjager (NL)
• Advanced (Entry fee 240 €):
  • Walter Meuwis (BE)
  • Paulus van Rooijen (NL)

Many of the best players in the world participate as well, and the road to the final victory is long, very long…

Via this post, let us collect the results of our countrymen. Please help me in keeping this page up-to-date! When you have news, please send me a message at +32 (0)494 294460 or bgleuven@gmail.com, or use the `Leave a reply’ feature below this post. To avoid spammers, I will first have to approve your comment, so it might take a while before your comment becomes visible.

Good luck to our countrymen!

Updates: Check the latest results on the Nordic Open website.

• Championship: main, fighters, final rounds, last chance.
• Advanced: main, fighters, final rounds, last chance.

Mon, April 9: Yesterday night, Michel and Walter made it to the quarter finals of the Championship and the Advanced flights. Michel then lost from Pia Jeppesen (DK) and Walter from Saban Simsek (DK).

10:00 – Today, the others will compete in the Last Chance, starting at 12:00. Tournament format is single elimination, 5-point matches. No byes for our countrymen. Just 7 matches to win…

22:00 – Returning home after a long day, I check the results on the Nordic Open website: nobody survived even the first round… Philip lost from Lars Chr. Bentzon (DK), Luc from Vincent Alexis (FR), Rogier from Soren Betak (DK), and, in the Advanced, Paulus from Douglas Andersson (SE). Bad luck, they surely deserved better.

Sun, April 8: Merry Easter!

10:00 – Only Michel (Championship) and Walter (Advanced) are still in the tournament. Just three consecutive 11-point matches separate them from joining the final eight on Monday. At 50% winning chances per match, there is a probability of 1-(1-0.5*0.5*0.5)^2 = 23.4375% that at least one of them will make Belgium proud. Good luck, Walter and Michel!

13:00 – Start of the matches.

14:30 – Walter defeats Caltalin Bucur (RO)! Next hurdle: Tor Magne Undeland (NO).

14:50 – Michel defeats Julian Minwalla (UK) 11-1!

18:30 – Michel keeps on rolling and wins from Håkan Åkerstran (SE). One match away from quarter finals main!!

23:30 – Michel continues his winning streak and defeats Michael K. Larssen (DK). Michel is with the last eight and is in the money. Congratulations, Michel! The quarter finals start right away: format is best of three 7-pointers. Opponent is Pia Jeppesen (DK). Michel: “Waar gaat dit eindigen? Ben blij!!”

23:50 – The Nordic Open website mentions that Walter is paired to Saban Simsek (DK) in the quarter final of the Advanced. So he must have beaten Undeland (NO) and some others too, although the website doesn’t say so. Michel and Walter reaching the final rounds of the Nordic Open 2012, what a performance for Belgium!

01:30 – Walter’s adventure ends in the quarter finals of the Advanced, losing to Saban Simsek (DK) in the quarter finals of the Advanced. Congratulations, Walter, for making it so far in the tournament!

02:25 – Michel is defeated in the quarter finals of the Championship by Pia Jeppesen (DK). Bravo, Michel and Walter, what a day for Belgian backgammon!

Sat, April 7: Play starts at 13h.

• Championship: All Belgians and Dutchmen start Saturday afternoon in the Fighters bracket. Rogier defeats Jan Petersen but is ousted by Norbert Wiebusch. Luc and Philip meet each other for a clash between Belgium and the Netherlands: Luc wins, exit Philip. In the next round, Luc faces the winner of the match between Michel against Chris Ternel (UK), which is Michel. In the only Belgian clash at the Nordic Open, Michel defeats Luc, 11-8. As a consequence, the only Belgian/Dutch survivor in the Championship division is Michel. Michel continues to win his third match on Saturday, sending Hans Liby back home. Come on, Michel!!
• Advanced: Walter and Paulus meet in the 3rd round for another clash of the Low Lands. After trailing 3-9 and 4-11, Walter manages to come back and finally win from Paulus 15-12, sending Paulus to the fighters bracket. No luck for Paulus, who loses his first match in the fighters too, to Linda Sjörin (SE), exit Paulus. In the main, Walter loses in the next round to Vladimir Stokic (DK) and goes to the fighters bracket too. By beating Pia Sevelin (SE), Walter survives the day and can look forward to continue to play on Sunday.

Fri, April 6: Play starts at 17h.

• Championship: A bad start… Only Rogier can win in the first round: he defeats Olivier Lafon; however, he loses a double match point from Jon Kristian Røyset in the second round. Michel loses 17-8 from Konrad Fröschl. Luc loses a double match point from Alain Babillon. Philip loses from Kenji Shimodaira. On Saturday, all Belgians and Dutchmen will start in the fighters’ bracket…
• Advanced: Here, things go better. Walter is bye in the first round and beats Johnny R. Pedersen in the second. Paulus is bye in the first round too and beats Alexander Veshkurtsev in the second. Saturday they’ll meet in the third round.

Thu, April 5:

• Advanced: Walter loses final of 8-player qualifier
• Doubles: Walter and Kimon lose in 2nd round