BGFed.be

On Saturday 29 December 2018, fourteen players competed in the Sandeman Club in Gent for the 3rd BMS Xmas Trophy. Almost the complete top-12 of the BMS  Grading Table was present to try and play as best they could.

After 5 rounds of play (9-point matches), Ronny Conaert was the last man standing with 5 victories, followed by Geert Van der Stricht and Johan Huyck with 4 wins:

Ronny with the Xmas Trophy (l) is congratulated by organiser Geert (r) (photo : Robin Bilderbeek)

Ronny has been a dedicated backgammon student and expert player  for years. Recently he has upped his efforts to improve by playing challenging Master Series against strong opposition. On Saturday, he proved his mettle by winning five medium-length matches in a row, showing stamina and will to win. Congratulations, Ronny!

The Xmas Trophy is also a BMS event. All 35 matches are recorded and XG-transcribed.  In this contest, Michel Lamote came out on top. Geert Van der Stricht and Marc Van Damme also managed to play below-5:

PR 1. Michel (5 x 9). Scores 2/5.

PR  2. Geert (5 x 9). Scores 4/5.

PR  3. Marc (5 x 9). Scores 2/5.

A good PR not only depends on skill, but also on circumstantial luck. There are easy matches and difficult ones, matches with a high DD (= degree of difficulty) and with a low DD. If you have the bad luck of finding yourself in backgames or notoriously difficult prime-vs-prime positions, you may well see your PR deteriorate quickly. This may explain  the reverse order of this top-3, where Michel played 0,5 PR better  and Marc 0,5 PR worse than their true PR.

Just behind this trio come 4. Misja Alma (N) (PR 5,06) and 5. Tilman Söhnchen (GER) (PR 5,16).

Then we find the four players who occupy places 4 to 7 on the BMS GT: 6. Paulus Van Rooijen (N) (PR 5,65), 7. Johan Segers (PR 5,70), 8. Paul Van Dijke (N) (PR 5,90) and 9. Johan Huyck (PR 5,91). These are excellent PRs by all four, indicative of significant progress and sustained focus on the day.

Also 10. Luc Palmans (PR 6,53) and 11. Ronny Conaert (PR 6,96) did not disappoint and can be proud of their performance. 12. Guy Van Middelem (PR 7,92) comfortably played at par, but somehow seems to have missed an opportunity to excel.

13. Robin Bilderbeek (N) (PR 8,70) appears to be the only player in the field who  failed to impress. Robin certainly made progress in recent months, but could not find his best form.

14. Steven Hoeylaerts (PR 9,39) certainly deserves praise for this performance. Having picked up the game less than a year ago, his learning curve has been steep and this below-10 PR is proof of that.

All in all, this field of ambitious students of the game played extremely well, achieving an average PR of 6,16 (35 x 13). Belgium’s top-3 were able to stave off a valiant assault by two accomplished Dutch and German competitors as well as by their four closest pursuers on the BMS GT. Below them, Luc, Ronny and the others confidently consolidated their top-10 status. Check the BMS GT in the black banner above to see the current standings.

The event was a great success. Guy Van Middelem, President of BgFed.be, thanked Geert, Johan Huyck and Paulus Van Rooijen for the hard work and magnanimously called the organsition “perfect”. That was the sign for all present to move from the  playing room to the more dyonisian bar area, where many a word was said in jest and otherwise…

The 2018 BIC Final between Johan Huyck and Paul Van Dijke (Brugge BC) started punctually at 6 PM. Johan won the first 13-pointer quite easily with a 7+ luck rate and an astonishing below-3 PR, but Paul managed to win the second match to draw level. The  third and decisive 13-pointer was again a one-sided affair with Johan coming out on top.

Johan (l) and Paul (r) before start of play. XG transcriber Robin can be detected in the background.

The encounter was filmed and transmitted on a screen in the adjoining bridge playing room, with commentaries by Geert Van der Stricht, Marc Van Damme, Paulus Van Rooijen and myself. Robin Bilderbeek transcribed live so the spectators (all five of them…) could enjoy immediate feedback by the computer programme Xtreme Gammon. To everybody’s astonishment, both players rose to the occasion and found their best playing skills. Here are their excellent PR’s :

PR Johan (3 x 13). Johan wins 2-1.

PR Paul (3 x 13). Paul loses 1-2.

Congrats to both for a well-played, high-level match. A video of the complete final (with XG and commentary) will soon be made available on YouTube thanks to the dedication and efforts of Robin Bilderbeek.

Johan presenting the 2018 BIC trophy.

(Image made by: Robin Bilderbeek)

For the second time in two years, Johan Huyck (Gent BC) has reached the final of the BIC competition. Last year he lost to current BIC Champion Metin Ates, but he gets a second chance to take the title this year. His opponent is Paul Van Dijke (Brugge BC), who made it to the final after a long campaign which started in Division II.

The match will be played on Friday 21 December at the Sandeman in Gent. The first player to win two 13-point matches will be crowned BIC Champion 2018. Start of play is   6 PM. The players will play in the bar area and the match will be transmitted on a semi-large screen in the bridge area. Robin Bilderbeek will do live XG transcribing and the action will be commentated on by Michel Lamote, with Geert Van  der Stricht and Marc Van Damme as guest commentators.

Everybody is welcome to come and witness the climax of this prestigious competition. All spectators will have to take a seat in the bridge area, as no kibitzers will be allowed in the playing area. Income is free.

In a continued effort to improve their game, Geert Van der Stricht, Johan Huyck, Robin Bilderbeek and Michel Lamote played, recorded and transcribed ten 13-point matches. Over the past years it has become clear that PR’s achieved in Master Series of that length do not deviate much from the players’ actual playing strengths and thus provide a good indication of where they stand as far as intrinsic skill is concerned :

PR Geert (10*13). MS1 0064 is drawn 5-5.

PR Johan (10*13). MS1 0064 is drawn 5-5.

PR Robin (10*13). MS1 0062 is drawn 5-5.

PR Michel (10*13). MS1 0062 is drawn 5-5.

Encourageing PR’s by all four players. Geert (3), Johan (4) and Michel (2) solidify their BMS ranking, while Robin (9) is edging closer to below-7 status.