At the monthly Supersunday in Rotterdam, Michel found a generous streak. By winning 4 matches in a row (3 x 11, 1 x 13) he became the winner.
Bert, after suffering elimination in the Main, was able to string 4 victories together (3 x 7, 1 x 9) to win the Consolation.
In the car, on the way back, quiet contentment became jubilant joy as Belgium triumphed over Hungary.
M
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.
M
In Brugge, 10 of the best players in the Low Countries gathered to compete in a consulting doubles contest. Each team played 4 matches (9 points) with generous time allotment : 15 seconds/move and 27 minutes in the time bank. Players had sufficient time to discuss checker plays and consider cube actions.
At the end of the day, two teams had won 3 and lost 1 : Bert Van Kerckhove/Rogier Van Gemert (NL) were declared the tournament winners because they had beaten Johan Segers/Luc Palmans in their mutual duel. Congratulations to winner and runner-up.
Full result :
1. Bert Van Kerckhove/Rogier Van Gemert (winners) : 3/4
2. Johan Segers/Luc Palmans (runner-up) : 3/4
3. Paulus Van Rooijen/Paul Van Dijke : 2/4
4. Geert Van der Stricht/Johan Huyck : 2/4
5. Walter Meuwis/Michel Lamote : 0/4
In this tournament all matches were recorded live. A prize was also set apart for the team who put down the strongest performance. Half an hour after the last dice shake, XG delivered the verdict and, lo and behold, the winners appeared to also have played best : Bert and Rogier scored a world-class 3,48 PR. It was a close affair though, since the 2nd best performance was only 0,26 off : Walter Meuwis/Michel Lamote were only marginally outplayed with 3,74 PR. Ironically, they did not manage to win a single match (0/4). Geert Van der Stricht/Johan Huyck managed to end within one of the winners with a 4,41 PR.
Full result :
1. Bert Van Kerckhove/Rogier Van Gemert : 3,48 (!)
2. Walter Meuwis/Michel Lamote : 3,74
3. Geert Van der Stricht/Johan Huyck : 4,41
4. Paulus Van Rooijen (NL)/Paul Van Dijke (NL) : 6,01
5. Johan Segers/Luc Palmans : 6,16.
The tournament was an initiative of Paulus Van Rooijen set up in cooperation with Brugge BC. A special word of thanks to Robin Bilderbeek for handcrafting the trophies and transcribing 4 matches and to Walter Meuwis for processing the data and transferring the match files to all players. Thanks also to Mireille and Pol of the Hollandse Vismijn for providing the accommodation and the professional service.
Hopefully we can look forward to a second edition somewhere in the not too distant future.
M
For the first time in Four Cubes history, an encounter between two teams was fully filmed and transcribed. Since both team captains (Michel Lamote – Brugge BC, and Geert Van der Stricht – Gent BC) agreed beforehand to have all PRs validated by BPR, the encounter became an official Four Cubes cluster.
A little more than 24 hours after the action, all players had received XG-files of all matches in their mail-box. They could find out whether certain checker plays were right or wrong, see whether they handled the cube well or not, and keep the files for further study.
An extra benefit of recording matches can be that the loser might gain some consolation from a fine performance. While Brugge BC had every reason to be doleful after losing the Four Cubes, some relief could be found in the idea that they put up a good fight or at least played according to their skill level. Here is how the current Four Cubes holders performed (9 matches to 7 points) :
As a corollary, however, the jubilant team might find its enthusiasm slightly dampened if their performance was not at par :
To illustrate this psychological effect further, here is how Paul Van Dijke (Brugge BC) performed in 3 matches to 7 (won 1, lost 2) :
This is a jaw-dropping performance of grandmaster level. While Paul experienced some extreme frustration on the night, he can surely derive satisfaction from these data. If his matches had not been recorded, he might have fallen subject to dejection or bouts of self-doubt. As it is, it looks like there is not much he could have done better or differently.
Same for me : as captain of the home team, I cannot afford to squander much equity. Having lost my 3 matches – horresco referens – I managed to find relief in my better than average PR :
Here are the other PRs :
3. Geert Van der Stricht (Gent BC) :
4. Guy Van Middelem (Brugge BC) : 7,42
5. Bert Van Kerckhove (Gent BC) : 7,53
6. Robin Bilderbeek (Gent BC) : 9,60.
BMS(BE) would like to thank all players for their willingness to participate in this challenging format and their agreement to have these data made available to the BGFed.be backgammon community.
M
Through this loss, Brugge BC has to relinquish the Four Cubes. Leuven 2 can win the coveted prize if they win at Brussels BC tonight, Friday 17 June. Admission free.
Bert Mr Four Cubes Van Kerckhove led the Gent team to victory with 3 wins. Captain Geert Little Karpov Van der Stricht won 2 encounters, and Robin Rain Bilderbeek won one.
M
In the course of 6 weeks, Paul Van Dijke (Brugge BC) and Robin Bilderbeek (Gent BC – no picture available) played six 13-point matches. Robin filmed and transcribed the action so both players could study their errors and get a footing in the BMS Grading Table. Here is how they did :
Paul routinely plays at Expert level, but appears to have missed an opportunity here to make a splash with a 5+ (or better) PR. Of course, in a MS1 series, players need to play solidly 6 matches in a row, which is quite demanding. With this result, Paul makes his entry in the BMS Grading Table and narrowly finds a M3 grading. He is thereby the 5th player in the country to post a Master grading. This grading is still provisionary, however, since Paul has not reached the required 150 EP target.
This is a more than respectable performance by Robin, who lives just across the border in Hulst. Not more than a year ago, Robin was one of many players who had obviously progressed from Beginner to Intermediate level, but showed no signs of improving to Advanced level. In the past half year, however, Robin has devoted a lot of time to the game, recording and transcribing several matches every week. Playing in the Sandeman in Gent every Tuesday does not hurt either. In this MS1 series, Robin played 2 matches below 5, but overall his performance was too fickle to deserve the label Expert. It seems Robin is just one good performance away from an Expert grading.
Well done both players!
M
(The upgraded BMS Grading Table can be found by clicking on BMS(BE) in the black banner above)
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.
Luc Palmans and Guy Van Middelem played six 15-point matches. They each won 3.
Michel Lamote and Johan Huyck also played six 15-pointers. Johan won 4-2.
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).
M
The 2nd Brugge Backgammon Day opened innocently enough with an introduction of all players (click on photos to enlarge) :
In the first round, defending champion Johan Segers’ streak of 5 consecutive wins ended at the hands of Leonidas, ranked n° 4 on the BGFed Rating list :
After 2 rounds, players took a break for lunch :
The 3rd round match between Alain Chif and Eddy Cabooter was a close affair. The exciting climax was watched by 10 kibitzers (!) : (left to right : Johan, Sassan, Zsolt, Dan, Leonidas, Michel, Geert, Kristoffer, Maurits and Marc)
The 4th round saw some players shifting their focus to more rewarding matters :
After 4 rounds of play, two players were still unbeaten : Geert and Johan Huyck, both professional mathematicians :
The thrilling final went all the way to DMP in which Geert was able to bust Johan’s well-timed 5-1 backgame after surviving a double shot while bearing in. Congratulations to a deserving winner!
Since the match was recorded, we know that Geert and Johan both put down a worthy performance :
(Geert plays 3,53. Johan plays 2,87)
Johan ended up sharing 2nd place with Maurits Pino, Luc Palmans and Marc Steyvers.
Here is the final ranking :
Sofie Brisaert received a BBD2 memento as youngest participant :
Hope to see you all at the 11th Gent Open on Saturday March 19.
M
If you want to compete at the highest level, it is absolutely necessary to familiarize yourself with the dynamics of long matches. Certain cube decisions can be pretty plain at a normal score, but can become quite sophisticated at scores like 12-away 5-away. A player with no schooling in long matches will be like a 17th-century mariner on a nocturnal ocean without a compass. Of course, if the skies are clear, he can navigate by the stars, but what if it’s cloudy? Experience with long matches is the compass without which you will be – and I weigh my words – completely helpless when faced with (re-)cube-decisions in, say, a 15-point match.
To become more acquainted with this subject matter, Geert and I have played another set of ten 15-point matches. Here is how we did :
Once again we see that playing the checkers is not the issue. Checker-plays do not differ much depending on score. You can practise that aspect of the game as well in a 3-point match as in a 15-point match. The cube is a different story, however. Both Geert and I made some skilled cube decisions in our ten matches, but also messed it up way too often. Since cube blunders tend to be costly as far as equity goes, this has an extremely detrimental effect on our respective PRs.
En forgeant on devient forgeron, my father used to say. It is now up to Geert and myself to review the matches we played, study our errors and blunders and hopefully gain some insight from that.
You can see these performances reflected on the BMS Grading Table. Just click on BMS(BE) in the black banner above.
M
Pairing of round 1 of BBD2 (100% random) :
1 Paulus Van Rooijen ( 0 ) – Johan Swyngedouw ( 0 )
2 Fakhri Salasi ( 0 ) – Geert Van der Stricht ( 0 )
3 Alain Chif ( 0 ) – Henri Pollet ( 0 )
4 Sassan Kachanian ( 0 ) – Bert Van Kerckhove ( 0 )
5 Marc Steyvers ( 0 ) – Akbar Soltani ( 0 )
6 Zsolt Tasnadi ( 0 ) – Luc Palmans ( 0 )
7 Paul Van Dijke ( 0 ) – Johan Brisaert ( 0 )
8 Nigel Vergaerde ( 0 ) – Dan Pascu ( 0 )
9 Johan Huyck ( 0 ) – Kristoffer De Weert ( 0 )
10 Leonidas Sotiriadis ( 0 ) – Johan Segers ( 0 )
11 Line Vandamme ( 0 ) – Eddy Cabooter ( 0 )
12 Isabelle Goeman ( 0 ) – Sofie Brisaert ( 0 )
13 Ronny Lecomte ( 0 ) – Maurits Pino ( 0 )
Note : the player mentioned first will have the clock on his/her right. Bear-off is always towards the clock.
See you all on Saturday!
M
Hi everyone,
thank you all for joining BBD2. We are looking forward to a fun day of competitve backgammon. Here are some practicalities :
9 – 10 : arrival : you will be welcomed by Line/Isabelle, who will give you 2 drankbonnen. Upstairs in the playing room are 2 boterkoeken per person.
10 – 10.15 : seating at designated tables.
10.15 – 10.40 : player presentation.
10.45 : round 1. Clocks are started.
18.45 : prize giving.
Please, be on time. All matches start at the set times.
Do not bring your own board to the venue. You will not be able to use it.
Venue : De Hollandse Vismijn, Vismarkt, Brugge.
Coming by train is very convenient. Buses will take you from the train station to the Vismarkt every 5 minutes. You can also walk : from the station it takes about 20 minutes.
If you come by car, be aware that Saturday is market day in Brugge and that public parkings fill up quickly. Allow for at least 45 minutes to get from the E40 (exit Oostkamp) to the venue. Your best bet is Parking Pandreitje (8,70€/day). From there it is a 5 minute walk to the Hollandse Vismijn. Cheaper is the parking at the train station : 3,50€/day.
Players who will submit their matches as BPR clusters, need to announce their intention to do so beforehand. To facilitate match filming, they will be given a fixed playing table where they can play all their matches. They are urged to show up well before start of the tournament, so there is plenty of time to set up the recording equipment.
The draw will be done on Wednesday 24 February, at 18.00. It will be posted on this website later that evening, together with the designated table seating.
See you on Saturday!
M
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,
And treat those two impostors just the same…
To kick off the 2016 Four Cubes competition, Brussels sent its elite troups to Gent. Alain Chif (c), Maurits Pino and Zsolt Tasnadi arrived well on time to face the ambitious Ghent team : Geert Van der Stricht (c), Bert Van Kerckhove and Johan Huyck.
After 2 rounds of play, the score was tied : 3-3. Then Maurits beat Johan and Bert beat Zsolt : 4-4. All eyes now turned to the feature table, where the two captains had to fight it out. It had all looked very promising for Ghent when Geert took a 6-3 lead. Alain, however, was able to win the Crawford game and with the cube turned in the post-Crawford game, it looked as if it was all over :
What can possibly go wrong here? Have a look at the numbers :
Alain will only lose this game 2 times in 1000 and will win a gammon (and the complete Four Cubes encounter for his team) 989 times in a 1000. Many people would feel comfortable with these numbers on their side. Not Alain though. He had had a bad premonition in the morning, and this had been confirmed in his earlier matches against Bert and Johan, where almost-sure wins went awry. If Geert comes in, the victory is assured, but … Geert rolls 32 and stays on the bar. Alain then rolled 62, clearing the 3-point. For Geert to dance, he would now have to roll 11,22 or 21. He rolls 11. Ok, this sequence is nasty (the chance is about 1 in 40), but that happens in backgammon. Now, however, with 3 men on the 2-point, Alain finds his 3rd consecutive 62, leaving a blot on the deuce… which Geert hits with a 32. Gasps all around. Alain is thrown back to enemy territory and has to try and scramble his way home through a mine-field. He tries, but is hit several times and ends up being closed out. Ok, the gammon is gone, but with 10 men off, Alain is still favourite to win the game (67%). But Alain dances a couple of times and is suddenly a huge underdog. Geert has about 81% chance here to win the encounter for Ghent :
For those of you who do not know what a swing is, well, this is one. Alain went from 99,8% favourite to 19% underdog. I am sure he experienced a sense of doom here, but, to his credit, he did not betray it. At least not in histrionic fashion. Experienced backgammon players know these things can and will happen and they can keep their composure. And, lo and behold, see what happens next :
In his time of deepest despair, Alain is blessed with this affectionate caress by Lady Fortune. It came so unexpected that Alain could hardly believe he could take 3 checkers off. He did though, meticulously, and so was catapulted back from 23% to 83%! Geert needed a double to win, but could not produce it and so the score was 6-6.
It is hard to describe the nerve-shredding effect these swings can have on a player’s psyche. We should not forget that Geert too had to undergo a horrific swing : he went from giant underdog (0,2%) to big favourite, only to see victory slip away. Both captains kept their cool in exemplary fashion here.
Of course, everything remained to be played for in the DMP-game. An unfortunate dance by Geert on a two-point board allowed Alain to convert a pretty hopeless blitz-attempt into a winning game-plan and so gain a precious victory for Brussels. A decisive battle or a skirmish? Only the future will tell…
… you’ll be a Man… (R. Kipling)
M
On 30 October 2015, in an office building in Brussels, Maurits and Zsolt played the first of a series of ten 9-point matches. They did so during the lunch break at their job, in a cramped room where cleaning products, plastic buckets and dust brooms are stored. Hardly a worthy sporting arena, but adequate enough to play backgammon. In their eagerness to learn and improve, they recorded and transcribed the match and kept this up till they finished their Master Series (10 x 9) early February 2016.
Had they played for money, Zsolt would have made a nice profit, comfortably winning the Series 7-3. In this quasi academic format, however, where no pecuniary gain can be expected, players need not worry about the caprice of Lady Fortune, but instead can invest all their attention and mental energy in finding the optimal play.
Let us have a look at how they performed :
Both played at Advanced level. This, undeniably, is an achievement. It takes hundreds of hours of study and practice to achieve this. One can imagine though that they will both be slightly disappointed by these data. I imagine they would have secretly hoped for PRs in the range of 6,50-8,00. The playing conditions can certainly count as extenuating factor. It is hard to focus on the game if you have just stepped away from your desk and know that you will be heading back to your paperwork once the match is finished. Still, I would evaluate this performance as below par for players of their level.
As always, the performance gap lies in the cube actions. Maurits did astonishingly well in this respect. A PR below 10 is almost unmatched in Belgium. It would be too rash to conclude that we have a cube magus in our midst, but the feat is definitely praiseworthy. Zsolt, on the other hand, seems to have suffered significantly from the strained playing conditions. I am in no position to speculate further on the cause of this débâcle, but I will certainly be excused for stating that Zsolt under-achieved here. The positive side-effect is that any improvement in that area will boost Zsolt’s overall PR enormously. His checker-play is close to Expert-level, so any normal cube performance should lift Zsolt’s game to the 6,50-8,00 Performance level.
By playing this Master Series, Maurits and Zsolt have gained a spot on the BMS Grading Table. Kudos to both players!
You can find the BMS GT by clicking on BMS(BE) in the black banner above and scrolling down to Backgammon Master Series.
M
In the course of a little under 3 months, Geert Van der Stricht and Johan Huyck played, recorded and transcribed ten 15-point matches. These long matches are notoriously difficult as cube decisions can become very counter-intuitive at lopsided scores. How did both players perform in this challenging format?
Well, honour where honour is due, let us start with Geert :
There can be no doubt that Geert is dexterous at checker-play : he played 8 matches at World Class level and the other 2 at Expert level. However, whereas checker plays seldom deviate according to score, the cube decisions will alter dramatically once there is a 3- to 4-point gap in the score. Mastering this aspect of the game requires in-depth knowledge of match equity tables, doubling-windows, gammon values, market-loss theory, and more of that fun stuff. Here, Geert has work to do : in only 1 match was his cube play better than Advanced level. Still, an admirable performance by one of Belgium’s best.
Johan is not known to many. He studied and played the game intensively at the start of the 21st century, but then took a sabbatical break. Now he’s back, encouraged and stimulated by the recent initiatives within the Belgian backgammon community, where the focus of attention has shifted from winning to playing well.
Although Johan’s game is still a bit rusty, he still achieved a level of performance many will find hard to emulate :
Johan played 2 matches at an astonishing level : PRs of 3,39 and 3,34 serve to illustrate his potential. However, these promising performances were sadly offset by matches where PRs rose above 8. It cannot be a coincidence that these were the matches where Johan’s cube play was at its worst. Although his checker play was consistently Expert or better, his cube decisions were frequently wide of the mark. Like all of us, Johan has room for improvement here. But, hey, would we play this game if it were easy?
With this result, Johan gains a spot on the BMS GT. There has been some high-intensity jockeying for position on both the BMS and BPR tables. You can check what is going on by clicking on BMS(BE) in the black banner above, and chosing either table in the scroll-down menu.
Congrats to both players for a commendable effort!
See you soon.
M
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 :
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.
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.
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.
M
Brugge BC is happy to announce that the 26-player field for BBD2 is now complete. The following players registered : Henri Pollet, Geert Van der Stricht, Johan Segers, Bert Van Kerckhove, Johan Huyck, Johan Swyngedouw, Sassan Kachanian, Luc Palmans, Isabelle Goeman, Line Vandamme, Peter Allemeersch, Zsolt Tasnadi, Marc Steyvers, Paul van Dijke, Paulus van Rooijen, Akbar Soltani, Fakhri Soltani, Johan Brisaert, Sofie Brisaert, Kristoffer De Weert, Alain Chif, Leonidas Sotiriadis, Dan Pascu, Eddy Cabooter, Ronny Lecomte en Maurits Pino.
In case you are not on this list, but would still be interested in taking part, you can send me an e-mail (kynos8000@gmail.com). I will contact you should there be a drop-out.
Thanks to all players for registering so promptly. More detailed information will appear on this website on Friday 12 February 2016 at noon.
Line, Peter and Michel
As I have written before, playing a Master Series (MS1) is a good way to play longer backgammon matches without the pressure of win-or-lose. Players can focus solely on the objective correctness of their decisions and need not worry about trivial things like prestige and/or money at stake.
In the last week of 2015, Guy Van Middelem and myself played six 15-point matches, which we filmed and transcribed. Here is how we performed :
How significant are these data? Well, it is most likely that they are pretty reliable. Since my official BMAB-grading is Master Class 2 (between 4,75 and 5,50 PR), it looks like my performance was average. As for Guy, although the sample is on the small side (only 90 EP), it is pretty likely that his PR here is also average, which means somewhere in the ballpark of his true playing strength. Is it a coincidence that Guy’s PR on the BPR Rating Table (which reflects performances in predominantly shorter matches) is … 8,98 (50 EP)? I do not think so. Until further data become available, it is probably fair to assume that Guy’s playing strength is Advanced Class 3 (between 8,50 and 10,00 PR). It is now up to Guy to prove that this provisionary grading is off the mark. He can do so only by submitting more transcribed matches to BMS (by playing a MS or a BPR cluster) and, most importantly, by … playing better.
What is your level of play? Are you just a Beginner? Can you call yourself an Intermediate player? Or have you reached Advanced level?
One thing is sure : your own assessment is untrustworthy. We all over-estimate our own skill level. For some time I lived in a rosy world where I thought myself a World Class player. I now know this was nothing less than self-delusion. As for you, you can ask a good player what his estimate is of your level of play, or, better still, you can try and play the best you can when you are playing a match against someone who is filming. That way you can gather some reliable info as to your skill level and get a pretty accurate indication of your playing strength.
See you soon.
M
Brugge Backgammon Club would like to invite all BGFed.be-members to the 2nd Brugge Backgammon Day. The event will take place on Saturday 27 February 2016, from 10am to 19pm.
Last year’s format is retained : after the Player Presentation (10:15am), 5 rounds of 7-point matches will be played.
Entry fee : 25€. This includes : 2 drankbonnen, boterkoeken, soup and sandwiches, cake and pie.
Due to limited space, only 26 players can be admitted.
How to enter? Send an e-mail to : kynos8000@gmail.com.
More detailed information will be made available soon.
Hope to see you on 27 February!
BMS(BE) is proud to announce that the BIC competition has received official BMAB validation for 2016. That makes it the first European national competition to be acknowledged as official BMS tournament. Before, only Denmark could boast a similar achievement with their very ambitious and high-level XG Masters Event (35 players this year, ALL matches filmed!).
What does this mean for our BIC players?
All BIC competitors (24 players registered for 2016) can have their performances recognised by the international backgammon community if they so desire. No need to travel abroad and pay large entry fees and expensive hotel rooms. Just complete the 2016 BIC competition and you can receive an official BMAB Grading. This comes on top of the BMSB Grading (which only has national relevance).
Since all applications need to be submitted to BMS(BE), the procedure to follow is similar to playing a MS2 :
1) send an e-mail to me ( kynos8000@gmail.com) to have your BIC Series pre-designated.
2) film ALL your 2016 BIC matches (including play-offs and final rounds). Matches notated manually or on tablet are not valid for BMAB, but can be submitted as a MS2.
3) the video files need to be submitted to BMS(BE) within 8 days after completion of a match. This can be done either by e-mail or by uploading the video on YouTube.
4) the same holds for the XG-files. Applicants can either do the transcription work themselves or have it done by BMS(BE). In the latter case, a transcription fee of 20€ will be charged for 11- and 13-point matches.
5) players need to adhere to the BMSB Conditions of Play and the BMAB Consideration of Individual Applications for Awards (see : www.bgmastersab.com).
At this moment, 8 players have officially applied for their BIC 2016 matches to be BMAB validated : Walter M., Luc P., Paul Van D., Maurits P., Guy Van M., Johan S., Geert VdS. and myself.
Applications can be submitted till 10 January 2016.
Why not take up the gauntlet?
M
In just under 2 months, Bert Van Kerckhove and Robin Bilderbeek completed a series of ten 7-point matches. They played these matches during the weekly club evening at the Sandeman, the home of Ghent BC. This series of matches is known as a Master Series and it grants both players a spot on the BMSB GT (Grading Table). This GT is meant to reflect players’ performances in longer matches – as opposed to the BPR RT (Ranking Table), which also includes matches of shorter length.
Here are the numbers which quantify both players’ performances :
As was to be expected, Bert outplayed his opponent by some margin. It is not illogical that he won 7-3. However, his overall PR of 7,78 might raise an eyebrow here and there. The relaxed atmosphere at the Sandeman is of course an extenuating factor, but insiders nevertheless expected a better performance by this experienced player.
Robin has worked hard in previous months to improve his game. He records almost every match he plays and analyses them attentively. As we can see from the info above, his checker play is expert. It is – as for most of us – the cube handling that needs more careful attention.
Below is the updated BMSB GT : (enlarge by double-clicking)
Other Master Series currently underway :
Winter Series Michel Lamote v Geert Van der Stricht (10 x 15) : 0-3.
Winter Series Geert Van der Stricht v Johan Huyck (10 x 15) : 0-2.
Autumn Series Maurits Pino v Zsolt Tasnadi (8 x 9) : 2-3.
MS1 2016 Walter Meuwis v Ronny Connaert (10 x 15) : … (?)
If you feel like playing a Master Series, send an e-mail to kynos8000@gmail.com.
M.
Like I said before, I enjoy participating at BMS(UK) events. Since all matches are recorded, transcribed and analysed by the tournament organiser, you can get a pretty accurate idea of your playing performance without the hassle of having to record and transcribe your matches yourself. Win or lose, you know if you played well or badly.
This was my second participation at Castle Donington. This time, I flew cheaply to Manchester, rented a car for four days and enjoyed the scenery of the Peak District on my way to and from the venue, which is situated just south-west of Nottingham.
The event takes place at the Holiday Inn Express, close to East Midlands Airport. The hotel is great : it is compact, sound-proof (at least to noise from outside), reasonably cheap (45£ / night), has friendly staff and serves good food. Free coffee and water all day through. Comfortable playing conditions. Entry fee : 75£. I especially like the playing schedule which involves no play after dinner. On Saturday, play starts at 11:30am. Every player plays three 11-point matches, which takes till about 6 or 7pm. Then there is dinner and time off. On Sunday, play starts at 10:30am and again all players play three 11-point matches. This guarantees a prize awarding ceremony at 6pm at the latest.
All playing and recording equipment is provided by Rick Janowski, the TD and mastermind behind BMAB and BMS events. So there is no need to bring anything along, except toothpaste and some fresh clothes.
Last time I participated, I won 2/6 (or 3 – who cares), but this time I had a good run with 5/6. Ok, that’s nice (it takes care of the expenses), but most important are the PRs of course, which will be made public in a week or two. Last time I felt I under-performed with a PR of 5,3. I hope I did better this time, but one can never be sure.
Below is a picture and the final leaderboard :
M.
Although losing to Ghent 5-4, Brugge was able to take the Four Cubes home. Losing to Ghent meant that three clubs were tied at first place with 3 encounters won and one lost. To break the tie, the ancient Four Cubes codex had to be consulted. It revealed that in this case, the number of matches won in the 3 encounters between the equally ranked teams would break the tie. Brugge, who won 9-0 to Brussels and lost 4-5 to Ghent, ended up with 13 matches won, 4 more than Gent and 8 more than Brussels.
Ghent was seriously handicapped by the absence of Bert Van Kerckhove (the Scourge of the Lowlands). However, the team was led by a highly motivated Geert Van der Stricht, who set the example by winning his three matches (best score of the evening with 3/3). Johan Huyck and Robin Bilderbeek both won one match and sadly lost one each through clock violation. Johan, who was leading 6-4 against Guy and in the process of bearing in against a 4-point anchor, somehow forgot to keep track of his remaining seconds and lost on time. The same happened to Robin, who had brutally gambled on a 4-cube at 3-away 4-away against Michel Lamote, suddenly had real winning chances, but also allowed the time flag to drop on him. These two points proved to be extremely valuable to Brugge, who might otherwise have lost 7-2… What a thrill!
Brugge appeared in their strongest formation, with Guy Van Middelem and Paul Van Dijke completing the team led by captain Michel (2/3 on the night). Although probably the strongest club team in Belgium, Brugge looks quite vulnerable with only three players available for the team. Gent and Brussels appear to be the strongest challengers for the 2016 Four Cubes contest, with more players of Advanced level ready to complete the team.
Thanks to all teams and players for competing well in this prestigious competition.
M
As I mentioned in a previous article (Bragging Rights), the idea to record matches and use the achieved PR’s to list players according to playing strength comes from Rick Janowski. He founded the BMAB some years ago and this body has now gained recognition all over the world. I suggest you visit their website to learn more: www.bgmastersab.com.
On the most recent International Ranking List (November 2015) the two Japanese top players Mochi and Michi occupy spots 1 and 2 with amazing PRs of 2,85 and 2,95 respectively. They are followed by 17 players, mostly Americans and Danes, who can boast PRs below 4. Here is the current Top 10 (click on the table to enlarge):
I met Rick a couple of weeks ago in England and he very much supported our idea to set up a similar initiative in Belgium. By inviting (challenging?) players to play predesignated head-to-head encounters (called Series), record their matches and submit the XG-files, it is hoped that players will find an incentive to focus more on improving their game rather than on winning.
To take the bull by the horns, Geert Van der Stricht and I started a pilot series of 10 matches of 11 points (abbr. 10 x 11) when we got back from Budapest. We called it Autumn Series (AS). Our example was followed by Maurits Pino and Zsolt Tasnadi (AS 10 x 9) and by Bert Van Kerckhove and Robin Bilderbeek (AS 10 x 7). Maurits and Zsolt play one 9-point match every week and Bert and Robin play one or two 7-point matches at the weekly club evening in Gent.
Geert and I wrapped up our AS last Tuesday. We did not really care who won and who lost, but focused mainly on playing as well as we could, i.e. on making the decisions that maximised our winning chances. Winning was not completely irrelevant of course (there are after all BGFed.be ranking points and 15€ at stake…), so a bluff double or a slight adjustment in a no-skill position was sometimes considered. We filmed all 10 matches and saved the XG-files in a separate folder. An average PR was then calculated taking the number of decisions into account (we do this conform the regulations stipulated by BMAB). Here are the results:
Although both of us were disappointed by our PRs (we would like to think that we play around 4,6 or so), we evaluate the overall experience as quite positive. For one, it shows that we may have a slightly inflated idea of what our true playing strength is. True, we both played some high-standard matches with PRs around or below 3, but these excellent performances were uncomfortably counter-balanced by maverick results like 8 or 10 PR. These were of course matches where complex positions came up and our skills were insufficient to cope with the challenges posed. Still, amidst the blunders and serious miscalculations, there was a lot to be satisfied about. Seriously reviewing our matches also showed where we got it right. This is a valuable learning experience. Determined to improve our aggreagte PRs, we will now start a Winter Series on Tuesday 24 November (WS 10 x 15). Walter Meuwis and Ronny Conaert will take up the gauntlet and also start a Series early December.
So, why not play a Series yourself? Just provide the necessary information (opponent, number of matches, match length, time-frame) to BMS(BE) (kynos8000@gmail.com), adhere to the Conditions of Play, and you can get going. All you need is your laptop, a simple webcam (Logitech) and a cam-stand. At the Leuven Open on Sunday 29 November, you will be able to see several recording kits in use. If you want one hand-made, contact Robin Bilderbeek (rain@zeelandnet.nl) for more info. He makes beautifully crafted wooden cam-stands for 50€ or so.
At the recent Brussels Friendly Day and BF55 we saw Johan Seghers transcribing his matches live on a tablet and some of you may have seen Paul Van Dijke transcribe his matches manually. For BMAB, these matches would not be taken into consideration since all videos need to be uploaded on YouTube. For BMS(BE), however, matches transcribed in this fashion may be submitted, but PRs can only be validated after discretionary approval by BMS(BE).
Below is the BMS(BE) Grading Table of 15 November 2015. Results achieved in international BMAB events are of course incorporated (click on the table to enlarge):
M
| The following was posted by Rick Janowski on Facebook :BREAKING NEWS: GRANDMASTER AND MASTER TITLE UPGRADES
Thomas Kristensen (Denmark) and Walter Meuwis (Belgium) achieved upgrades to Grandmaster (Class 2) and Master (Class 3) respectively, by virtue of their performances at the EuBGF European Team Championships held in Budapest in September. Thomas achieved an astonishing PR of 2.95 over six 15 point matches (90 EP), achieving an overall aggregate PR and earns the upgrade from Grandmaster (Class 3) which he held previously. Walter, with his PR of 6.29 achieved from five 15 point matches (70 EP), consolidated his previous provisional Master (Class 3) grading.  Elsewhere across the Atlantic, in Connecticut, Marty Storer continued his remarkable run of consistency over his streamed matches with a PR of 2.83, giving him an overall aggregate PR of 3.03 and 157 experience points, earning him the title of Grandmaster Class (2) and overall third place in the BMAB International Ranking List, behind Mochy and Michy. If he can maintain this astonishing level of play over the next 4 or 5 matches he should be able to achieve the highest grade of Grandmaster, joining Mochy and Michy and vying for top place in the Rankings! |
||||
|
Note : Michel Lamote (Belgium) currently holds a Master (Class 2) title with a PR of 4,96 (13 matches, EP 143).
With four consecutive wins in 11-point matches Bert Van Kerckhove won the Nederlands Kampioenschap. This result is that more amazing since Bert also won the Rotterdam Super Sunday the previous weekend. Two tournament wins on Dutch soil in less than 8 days surely is an achievement worth mentioning. It may well be unprecedented, but as I have no access to the Dutch backgammon archives, I mention this with some caution.
Bert started with a bang by eliminating last year’s Dutch champion Nouri and then had to face the Dutch chess player and commentator Hans Böhm. The match went to DMP and had a thrilling climax. Bert was hit in the bear-off and needed some luck to get his checker around the board. Hans most probably did not execute the containment tactics perfectly, but could nevertheless be considered unfortunate not to be able to close Bert’s straggler out.
Now Bert faced Arthur Braackx in the semi-final. Arthur is an adventurous money-game player, but knows his way around match-play as well. Bert, however, was in no mood to hand out presents. With astonishing resolve (and good dice of course) he steamrolled Arthur off the board in no time. Arthur was so dazed after this impressive display of power backgammon, that he looked in danger of quitting backgammon altogether and take up knitting.
In the final Bert showed no signs of slowing down. His opponent was the experienced Dutch player Paul Van Koningshoven, a man of many battles. Bert courageously took some scary-looking doubles early in the match and was rewarded for this bravery when a couple of well-timed jokers turned the tables. Whenever Paul got a glimmer of a chance, Bert responded with crushing high-equity rolls which left his opponent numb. Paul took it in good stride though and was visibly relieved when this ordeal was over. That left Bert with another prestigious title under his belt, that of Dutch Champion 2015. Congratulations!
Also worth mentioning is the Consolation win in Group B by Nick De Ruyck (Ghent BC) and the victory of Robin Bilderbeek (Ghent BC) over … me. Also Archil Katamadze (Ghent BC) was able to string a couple of wins together in Group A. With four players, the backgammon club of Gent was well represented and certainly left an impression in Den Bosch.
M
M : Hallo Geert. Proficiat met je overwinning in BIC D2. Je streed op de Brugge Backgammon Day in februari ook tot op het laatste moment mee voor de overwinning. Toch twee opmerkelijke resultaten in 1 jaar tijd. Bovendien sta je momenteel 5de op de BGFed.be ranking. De kans dat deze successen op toeval berusten is klein. We zijn benieuwd hoe je dat de voorbije jaren hebt aangepakt.
GD : Ik ben een tiental jaren geleden begonnen met sporadisch te spelen op een website met allerhande games die je online kon spelen, van schaken, bridge en backgammon, over poker tot meer ludieke spelletjes. Ik had toen nog geen duidelijk idee hoe het spel deftig gespeeld moest worden en ik vermoed dat mijn gemiddelde PR in die tijd hoge toppen scheerde. En met hoog bedoel ik : bestaande uit hoge cijfers.
Het is maar sinds begin 2012, toen ik samen met Steven Steeno voor het eerst de deuren van de Backgammon Club Leuven doorwandelde dat ik het spel pas écht leerde kennen. Eindelijk begon ik de logica en strategie achter het spel te begrijpen, met termen als primes, backgames en blitzes.
M : Hoe frequent speel je?
GD : Mijn speelfrequentie vertoont regelmatig ups en downs. Er zijn – zoals misschien ook bij anderen – periodes geweest waarbij ik het echt gehad had met het spel om dan toch later met hernieuwde interesse en passie de teerlingen weer op te nemen en elk vrijdagtornooi present te tekenen. Dezer dagen is het eerder een teveel aan andere bezigheden dat mij belet om nog regelmatig te spelen. Als ik de BIC matches en af en toe ook een tornooi kan spelen is het al veel.
M : Studeer je? Zo ja, hoe?
GD : Ik heb de afgelopen jaren af en toe gestudeerd, vooral met behulp van enkele boeken zoals 501 Essential Backgammon Problems van Bill Robertie of zelfs aanvankelijk de klassieker Backgammon van Paul Magriel. Verder lees ik ook artikels die op sites als www.bkgm.org te vinden zijn. Ook eXtremeGammon staat hier geïnstalleerd, inclusief de smartphone- en tabletversie, maar ik gebruik het lang niet zo “extreem” als de echte Belgische topspelers. Eerder als sparring partner of om specifieke posities te analyseren die zich tijdens matches voorgedaan hebben en dan vooral cube decisions. Een heel groot deel heb ik echter geleerd uit observatie en vooral door zelf te spelen en onnoemelijk veel fouten en blunders te maken. Uit ondervinding leert men immers vaak het beste 🙂
M : Is backgammon je hoofdhobby of slechts een perifere bezigheid?
GD : Momenteel zal ik backgammon jammer genoeg eerder als perifere bezigheid moeten catalogeren, alhoewel ik vind dat die beschrijving het spel wat oneer aandoet. Ik neem nog altijd graag de dobbelstenen ter hand voor een wat langere partij zoals in de BIC, maar ik kan nog moeilijk tijd vinden voor de maandelijkse tornooien. Tegenwoordig kruipt er meer tijd in het bijschaven van mijn bescheiden snookerkunsten.
M : Ook een nobele bezigheid natuurlijk. Wat zijn je doelstellingen voor 2016?
GD : Een goed resultaat in de hoogste regionen van het Belgische backgammon 🙂
M : Point taken! Bedankt Geert.
GD : Ik zou graag nog alle betrokkenen bedanken om o.a. met BGFed en de verscheidene clubactiviteiten backgammon in België op de kaart te zetten en onze eer te verdedigen op de internationale tornooien. Hopelijk tot in de BIC finale!
M : 🙂
With the new format of BIC 2015, competitors in both second divisions also have a chance to become BIC champion. For that they have to win their division, win a tie against the other winner and then eliminate two players from D1 to make it to the final.
This year, Geert Dooms is fighting hard to achieve this feat. He won his division, then beat Sassan Kachanian, the winner of the other 2nd division. We see both players below at award ceremonies :
Geert now plays Alain Chif in a best-of-three encounter (13-point matches). The winner will play Luc Palmans and the victor of that match will play the final. Geert and Alain are currently tied 1-1. The tie-breaker promises to be a hard-fought contest.
M
In many sports, the player who consistently wins will be considered the best player. Few will dispute that Ronnie O’Sullivan is a better snooker player than Marco Fu or that Magnus Carlsen is a better chess player than … eh … Geert Van der Stricht. In backgammon, victories and results are not so trustworthy.
Backgammon is a game of probabilities. It is well possible – and statistically perfectly normal – for an intermediate player to win from a world class player. In Norway, a couple of weeks ago, I lost three consecutive matches from weak intermediates. I can say that I played much stronger than my opponents. “Oh yeah?”, somebody might argue, “how can you be so sure?” Well, easy, I filmed my matches, transcribed them into XG and saw the analysis done by the computer. My opponents played an average PR of 11,9 (two guys beat me with PR’s of 15 and more…) and I played an average PR of 4,6.
This in itself would not be enough for me to assume that my playing level is 4,6. It is well likely that over the course of seven 7-point matches, I was not confronted with many difficult decisions or I just happened to pick the right play by chance, without being really sure. The sample is too small, statisticians would say. But, in Prague, a month ago, I played seven 11-point matches which were also filmed, and I had an average of … 4,6. And in the summer, over a series of eight 15-point matches with Geert VdS, I also averaged 4,6. So I do no think that anybody in his/her right mind would contest my assessment that I play below 5.
I bring this up because it depresses me to keep hearing players claim how good they are or how bad their opponents play. People gratuitously point out blunders of others without any ground. In backgammon, the best play is the play which guarantees the most equity, even if that play happens to lose the match. Somebody makes a 0,250 mistake, but survives against the odds, and he justifies that choice by claiming that, well, he won, didn’t he? This in itself is in my opinion an indication of moderate playing strength…
As everybody will agree, neither is the BGFed ranking a completely true reflection of the players’ strengths. We cannot deduct from the current ranking that Nigel Vergaerde is Belgium’s 6th strongest player, or that Walter Meuwis is Belgium’s 32nd best player. In that sense the ranking is flawed. Some players have had a lucky/unlucky streak, others play too infrequently, others play only the same opposition, etc. It would be foolish to base our assessment of who is the strongest player merely on the BGFed ranking.
Maybe international experience is an indicator? In a way, it may be. Competing on the highest level and booking results is simply not possible without the required skill levels. It is highly unlikely, though not impossible, to reach the quarter finals of the World Championship in Monaco (Geert VdS) or to win the Advanced flight with 107 players at the Nordic in Copenhagen (Walter M) as a mere amateur. Still, international experience in itself is not sufficient as an indicator. Some people have enough money to play all over the world and they may once in a while reach the latter stages of a tournament, but that does not cut it.
So, as a tool to determine one’s playing strength, analysis by XG stands beyond discussion. Moreover, recording one’s matches and analysing them attentively is a great way to improve. When you see new players in local or international tournaments set up their recording equipment, you can safely bet money on the odds that they will make significant improvements in the not too distant future. That is why I suggest that more of you make this investment. Buy a GoPro camera, find a way to attach it to some device, and go ahead and start recording your matches. Then, if you announce beforehand you will play a series of matches within a set time frame, your PR will have a validity which will be accepted by all, providing the sample is large enough. It is generally agreed that an experience of 200 matchpoints (let us say twenty 11-point matches or thirty 7-point matches) should give a pretty accurate idea of your playing strength.
An added benefit of making this step is that BGFed’s selection committee will be able to select the best players to compete in prestigious international events like the European Team Championship, without suspicion of bias. By the way, the next EBTC will be held in Denmark next year, Europe’s pioneering backgammon country. Just announce a series of matches you will play (this can be in your local club against any opponent) within a given time frame, submit them to the selection committee, and your playing strength will be acknowledged by all.
To set the example, Geert VdS and I have begun our Autumn Series. We will play ten 11-point matches over a period of 6 weeks or so and make our PR’s public. That should set the standard to beat. If you do the same and are able to come up with better PR’s, your status as the better player will be criticism-proof. An added benefit is that this will help you shift your focus away from … winning. Winning backgammon matches is a side effect of playing well. You can be unlucky some of the time, but a better PR is surely to guarantee more wins over a period of time. Emotions like disappointment, frustration and anger, dissipate in the light of the more rewarding satisfaction of … making progress.
Just saying…
M
As I mentioned in my first report, Friday morning I visited the new playing room. It’s a very nice place, well suited for the occasion. I repeat that the hotel is an excellent venue for such a tournament and the organisers made some good deals with the management.
Guy lost his match in the fighters bracket against Italian Fabrizio Lo Surdo. Guy doubled correctly at 2-away/-3-away, but was sadly punished for his decision after a hit in the bear off.
I will not cover the Intermediate tournament, because I would plagiarize the book Catch 22. In short: after the 7th round, the director decided to stop the tournament. Zsolt and Maurits finished equal third with a 5-2 score. Maybe the interested reader can contact Zsolt and Maurits for more information, because maybe they know and understand what happened. I don’t.
Before the start of the official program, the Belgium team had a photo session. Dressed to kill in their outfit generously provided by the Brugse Zot brewery, we gathered in the garden of the hotel. I suspect that the 8 players are considered by their environment as “sensible”, but when a camera appears, panic strikes. On the photographs you see smiling faces, but you can never imagine the fierce struggles and discussions that lead to these innocent pictures. Personal note to myself: if incarnation exists, never become a photographer of models or actresses in a next life.
The team tournament started half an hour later as scheduled. Again, I will refrain from any comments on the openings procedures. At the moment as we speak, our president Guy is participating at the general assembly of the European Federation where these matters will be discussed. He surely will inform you later about everything.
The team competition is a Swiss System tournament with 15 teams and 7 rounds. The top 4 qualifies for the play-offs. It is still not clear if match points or board points takes preference. In every round a team will have a bye, which can lead to very annoying situations in the final round. The team with a bye wins the match 3-1. Playing time for the 15-point matches is 40 minutes + 12 seconds but breaks are included in the players‘ time. This system was also used at the first Brugge Backgammon Day, and we were convinced that this was not a good idea. In Budapest I see the same tendency: people hardly take a break and use their time playing, which of course delays procedures.
I don’t know how much detailed information about the results is distributed on the internet. But it seems that the most important results are already known by now. Belgium received the bye in the first round. This gave some accidental bypassers the opportunity to watch proceedings.
In the second round we had four close matches against Austria, of which we won 3 (Michel, Geert and Walter) and lost 1 (Zsolt in DMP).
Although scheduled for 10 o’clock, the third round only started around midnight. Michel took the sensible decision to go to bed, and to have a fresh start tomorrow. Again, all four matches were very close. Walter en Maurits lost, but around 3 o’clock, things went our way. First Geert won his match, and shortly before half past 3, I scrambled home with my last checkers. Final score: 2-2. Belgium has not missed the start of the tournament.
1st round : Belgium – … 3-1 (bye)
2nd round : Belgium – Austria 3-1
3rd round : Belgium – Greece : 2-2
With 8/12 we have a 66% result. An excellent start!
