Everybody welcome to watch this clash between two of Belgium’s finest backgammon players. Michel Lamote and Luc Palmans, who won against Alain Chif in the play-off, will play a series of best-of-three 13-point matches. One match will take place earlier that day, and one or two matches will take place in the evening, starting from 19:00. Venue: the Brasseries du Longchamp, chaussée de Waterloo 836, 1180 Brussels (Uccle), +32 (0)2 375 28 40.
For the evening matches, Walter Meuwis will give live commentary, sharing not only his insights in the game but also in the psychology of the two contenders, whom he knows very well personally.
Insofar technically possible, the moves and cube decisions will be analysed live by computer.
Alain Chif (3rd place Division 1) and Geert Dooms (1st place Division 2) had to play a best-of-three contest. After two matches, it was 1-1, and the deciding match was won by Alain. He now faces Luc Palmans (2nd place Division 1). The winner, finally, will face Michel Lamote (1st place Division 1) in the final of BIC 2015 that will take place on Friday, December 18, in the Brasseries de Longchamp (Uccle).
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 (right)) shares 1st prize at Brugge Backgammon Day. On the left, Michel.Sassan (left) wins Ghent Open 2013. On the right, TD Bert.
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.
Alain (left) at Brugge Backgammon Day. On the right Marc Steyvers.
Promoting to D1 2016: Geert Dooms, Sassan Kachanian, and Leonidas Sotiriadis.
Demoting to D2 2016: Maurits Pino, Paul van Dijke, and Guy Van Middelem.
Still in the running to become Champion BIC 2015: Michel Lamote, Luc Palmans, Alain Chif, and Geert Dooms.
Play-off A between ranked n°2 in both D2 groups to qualify for D1 2016: Sotiriadis Leonidas wins vs Hasdenteufel Annick
Play-off B between ranked n°1 in both D2 groups to become the Champion of D2: Dooms Geert wins vs Kachanian Sassan
Play-off C between both players ranked 5th in D1 to determine who will be 5th and 6th (the loser will go to D2 2016): Meuwis Walter wins vs Van Middelem Guy
Play-off D between both players ranked n°3 in D1 to determine who will be 3rd and 4th: Chif Alain wins vs Tasnadi Zsolt
The round-robins of BIC 2015 are finished: please see results.
In D2 group A : Peter Allemeersch forfeited 4 matches (out of 7). The BIC committee decided to cancel all his results (3 encounters) only to provide a new standing; then, in case of a tie, all results would count. Consequently, Geert Dooms emerged on top of the group with Annick Hasdenteufel as runner-up.
In D2 group B : Sassan Kachanian emerged, tying with Leonidas Sotiriadis, but Sassan won their mutual encounter. Consequently, Sassan is 1st and Leonidas 2nd.
Geert Dooms and Sassan Kachanian move to BIC D1 2016. Congratulations!
Play-offs to be played :
Final of D2 (to determine the Belgian champion of D2 : Sassan Kachanian (home player) against Geert Dooms, deadline 16th of October (the winner will continue against the 3rd ranked of D1 2015). Best of 3 11-point matches (2-0 or 2-1).
Play-off between Annick Hasdenteufel & Leonidas Sotiriadis (in Brussels): the winner will move to D1 2016. Best of 3 11-point matches (2-0 or 2-1).
Thanks to all participants to have respected the schedule.
The final, nocturnal game of my second BIC match against Eric Aries was marked by some interesting high cubes. We’re playing at my place on a Friday night (August 14, 2015) and we are keeping ourselves awake with coffee, dark chocolate, and dried fruits. A jazz music TV channel fills the room. The score is equal, 4-4, in a 11-point match.
Pos. 1: Johan (Blue) vs Eric (White), 4-4 in an 11-point match. Johan to play: redouble to 4? Take/Pass?
In Position 1, I (playing blue) am pondering a redouble to 4. After some reflection, I decide to go for it: the prospect of closing my board in the next move or two is too hard to resist.
The temptation is a treacherous one, however: according to a rollout by GNU Backgammon, the redouble is way too early (0,144 blunder). Eric correctly takes. I fail to cover and Eric fails to hit.
Cubeful equities:
1. No double +0,512
2. Double, pass +1,000 ( +0,488)
3. Double, take +0,367 ( -0,144)
Proper cube action: No redouble, take (22,8%)
Pos. 2: Johan (Blue) vs Eric (white), 4-4 in an 11-point match. Eric on roll: redouble to 8? Take/Pass?
A few moves later, Position 2 arises, with Eric, playing White, on roll. The tide has turned and a redouble to 8 is in the air. Eric wants to go home (it’s after midnight already, it’s a one-hour drive from my place to his, and on Saturday morning he needs to get up early) and he turns the cube.
If I pass, I’m trailing 4-8 to 11 points: 7-away 3-away amounts to about 25% match winning chances, so my memory tells me after some effort. I guess that my chances to win the game are higher than that, so I take.
Both the redouble and the take turn out to be correct. My game winning chances with the cube frozen at 8 are about 29%.
Cubeful equities:
1. Double, take +0,812
2. Double, pass +1,000 ( +0,188)
3. No double +0,722 ( -0,090)
Proper cube action: Redouble, take
Despite some heroic attempts, my straggler does not make it home safely and gets closed out. A few minutes later, Eric wraps up the game and the match. The weekend can start.
In an entertaining final on Friday, December 19, Walter won the best-out-of-three-11-pointers confrontation with 2-1. The final two sets were played in the evening in front of a live audience and with commentary by Michel Lamote, assisted by Luc Palmans, who entered the moves in a computer. The players were sitting in a separate room while the audience could see the players and the computer analysis on two screens. (more…)
BIC 2015 has 2 divisions, with 8 players in the BIC D1 2015: Alain Chif, Michel Lamote, Luc Palmans, Walter Meuwis, Maurits Pino, Zsolt Tasnadi, Paul van Dijke and Guy Van Middelem.
To subscribe a player in D2, registration is needed before the 15th of December 2014 and the following information needs to be provided:
* Name of player, e-mail, home phone or cell, address
Please register by email to Guy Van Middelem (guy.van.middelem@telenet.be).
The entry fee for 2015 is 10,- € per player. All players must be member of BGFed.be (10,- € for 1 year in 2015).
Final: Walter Meuwis vs Maurits Pino. Will be played on Friday, December 19, 2014, 19:30, in Café Sport 13, Martelarenplein, 3000 Leuven. With live commentary by Michel Lamote.
To Division 2 in 2015: Geert Van der Stricht (winner BIC 2013), Johan Segers and Paulus van Rooijen.
Division 2, Group A
Luc Palmans wins the group and promotes to 1st Division in 2015. Alain Chif is runner-up. After beating the runner-up of Group B, Line Vandamme, Alain will promote to Division 1 too.
Division 2, Group B
Three players ended on top: Marius Hentea, Zsolt Tasnadi, Line Vandamme. Marius forfeits for 2015, so Zsolt and Line had to fight a tie-break encounter to decide the first place; Zsolt won and promotes to Division 1 in 2015. Line then also lost to Alain Chif, the runner-up in Group A, so she stays in Division 2.
Leading 2-0, Geert needed only to win a single set to 11 points in order to beat Guy Van Middelem and grab the title. The match was played on Friday evening, December 20, in front of a live audience in Café Sport in Leuven. The players were sitting in one room and the audience in another room, where they could follow the match which was projected on the wall. (more…)
The BIC 2013 final facing Geert Van der Stricht and Guy Van Middelem started on Tuesday, November 26, in Ghent with Geert winning two 11-point matches. The matches have been recorded and you can download the game records.
The final will be continued on Friday, December 20, in Café Sport, Martelarenplein 13, 3000 Leuven, at 8 PM. Geert needs to win only one more 11-point match to earn the title. Guy, on the other hand, will need to win 3 such matches in a row.
The round-robin of BIC 2013 has finished in time, at the end of September, as planned. You can find all results in ‘BIC results 2013‘ or on the online spreadsheet. I thank all the participants for their fair-play (I noted 0 rule problem) and enthousiasm to make appointments and meet each other for 5 best-of-five 11-point matches. (more…)
The first matches of the Belgian Individual Championship 2013 were played on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th of December, 2012, in Leuven and in Hasselt. Detailed results are available in an on-line spreadsheet. (more…)
