At BBD1 next Saturday in Brugge, a decorative canister with Brugse Zot beer will go to every player of the club which wins most matches. Can anybody but the Brugge team win this challenge? We asked celebrated backgammon writer John Squeeze for his opinion :
– “With 12 players the home club is of course well represented. True, half of their players are recreational players or at least players who cannot claim to have reached a playing level beyond Beginner. Still, they should be good for an occasional win and will probably collect at least 6 points for the team. Add to that the presence of the complete Four Cubes team plus an experienced veteran like Mark Steyvers, and it is already starting to look like mission impossible for the other clubs. If you throw an extra handful of Intermediates in the mix (Peter, Line, Nigel) it is truly starting to look bleak for the other clubs”
– “Is Leuven BC the only challenger?”
– “At least with 7 delegates, they represent a good chunk of equity. If it had not been for the absence of Toon, who is, as you know, currently ranked number two on the national ranking, I would have given them a 40% chance to grab the trophy. As it is, their best players will really have to come up with their A-game to stand a chance”.
– “What about the other clubs?”
– “Brussels of course has a strong, but small team. Their Four Cubes team is present, which on a good day could be good for 9 wins, but I do not see them play a significant role in the contest. Ghent has top player Bert in their ranks, but their chances are of course seriously crippled by the absence of 2013 BIC winner Geert, who acts as wedstrijdleider. They cannot have more than 5% chance to grab the Brugse Zotten”
Thank you, John, for this lucid preview to the 6 Brugse Zotten Challenge.
M