BGFed

Author: Zsolt

  • Souvenirs from Budapest

    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.

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    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.
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    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.
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    Luc Palmans (left) playing Tore Frederiksen (Norway) in the first round. After losing this match, Luc had to continue in the fighter bracket.
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    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.
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    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 (on the right).
    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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…
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    … 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).
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    The final, played by Croatia (left) and Germany. Croatia prevailed by winning the deciding 7-point consultation match.
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    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.

  • Guy van Middelem wins the Leuven Club Championship

    The Leuven Backgammon Club organized its championship for the fifth time. The championship consisted of 12 monthly tournaments, each with 4 rounds of 5-point matches, played in the Swiss system. Overall, 39 players participated in at least one of the tournaments. The ranking has been very tight throughout the year but in the end Guy van Middelem collected the most championship points, ahead of last year’s champion Zsolt Tasnadi and tournament director Johan Segers. Congratulations!

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    Guy van Middelem (left) playing Akbar Soltani in the December tournament of the Leuven Club Championship

    At the website of the Leuven club you can find detailed reports of all rounds, with each report containing an interesting position.

  • Croatia is European champion, Belgium finishes 6th

    In the 7th round: Belgium-Italy 2-2

    Belgium was on shared 4th-5th place after 6 rounds but, because of the other results, the team would have needed to win all four matches in order to qualify for the final 4.

    Semi-finals:

    Croatia beats Italy

    Denmark-Germany 2-2, Germany wins the deciding 7-point team consultation match

    For the 3rd place: Denmark-Italy 3-1

    Final: Germany-Croatia 2-2, Croatia wins the deciding 7-point team consultation match

    Belgium finished on shared 6th-7th place. Details results are available here.

  • Today in Budapest

    4th round: Belgium-Hungary 2-2

    5th round: Belgium-Croatia 2-2

    In the 6th round, starting at 22:30, Belgium takes on tournament leader Denmark. Geert’s match is webstreamed at www.twitch.TV/etbc2015

    Ranking after 5 rounds:

    1. Denmark 15

    2. Italy 14

    3. Croatia 12

    4. Belgium 12

    5. Germany 11

    6. Hungary 11

    7. Norway 11

    8. Greece 10

    9. Austria 9

    10. France 9

    11. Russia 9

    12. Czech Republic 8

    13. United Kingdom 8

    14. Iceland 8

    15. Romania 8

    UPDATE: Belgium-Denmark 1-3

     

     

  • Budapest hosts European Team Championship 2015

    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.

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