Scoresheet Paul vs Geert
Last Saturday, 14 March 2015, a 49-point match was played at the Royal Sandeman Club in Ghent. Only a few spectators witnessed the match, among them Ghent player Johan Vervust, who could not believe his ears when I told him about the lenght of the match.
I have had this idea for a couple of months and eventually found Dutch player Paul Van Dijke, never shy of a real challenge, prepared to take up the gauntlet. Play started at 1:30pm and finished just before 8:30pm, when Paul got gammoned in the last game of the match, which ultimately finished 50-33 in my favour.
The match was clocked, each player starting with 1 hour and 38 minutes in the time bank, with a 12 seconds increment each move. Only 7 or 8 small 2-minute breaks were taken, in order to be sure we could finish the match that same day before the Sandeman closed its doors.
In the match we saw two 16-cubes, which both had to be passed (either player won one). The match was fully recorded and the full transcription in Extreme Gammon will follow in about a week. For the moment, only the score sheet is available (see picture above).
Geert Van der Stricht