BGFed.be

In preparation for the WBGF World Team Championship (8-10 April), Belgium’s four highest ranked players sparred in the Montenegro Challenge. Marc Van Damme, Geert Van der Stricht, Johan Huyck and Michel Lamote played six 13-pointers against each other in a round robin for a total of eighteen matches each. Here is how they did:

Geert Van der Stricht won the Montenegro Challenge in convincing fashion with this excellent performance.

After years of persistent study, weekly practice and in-depth analysing, Geert has made it to the top of the BMS Grading Table with a PR of 4,34 (600 EP). Fantastic achievement!

Marc Van Damme won most matches, but came in second for the PR prize (which was what this Montenegro Challenge was all about). Still, this is a solid performance, more than good enough to compete confidently with the best in the world.

Coming out of hibernation, I could not find my best form and have to be satisfied with this average PR… Hopefully I can lift my game a bit in Montenegro…

Johan would have loved to play below-5, but made just one or two errors too many. Looks like Belgium will soon have a confident quartet of below-5 players.

We had set it as our goal to play collectively below 4,5 PR, but narrowly missed the mark.

The WBGF World Team Championship starts on Monday 8 April and will be played over three days in Budva, Montenegro. 27 countries have entered, with Japan, Denmark, Germany and the USA as the teams to beat. Belgium will be represented by a team of six “Red Beavers”: the four players mentioned above together with Johan Segers and Guy Van Middelem. Also Paulus Van Rooijen and Paul Van Dijke will be present, but sadly they could not find enough teammates to form a team for the Netherlands. They will compete in the 4th Merit Open Montenegro Grand Prix, however, which starts on Wednesday 10 April and finishes on Sunday 14 April.

Over the past weeks, Geert Van der Stricht and Robin Bilderbeek played, recorded and transcribed eight 9-point matches. Here is how they did:

A very strong statement by Robin, whose diligent work with XG are bearing fruit. Robin’s sometimes virtuoso checkerplays combine imagination with accuracy, but his cube-handling is still erratic. All in all an encourageing performance.

Geert could not find his best form in this Master Series and as a consequence fails to improve his standings on the BMS GT.

The BMS Committee (Geert Van der Stricht, Johan Huyck, Paulus Van Rooijen) announce that two major changes will be implemented. Johan Huyck, who is responsible for the BMS Grading Table (registering applications, re-analysing XG-files, processing the data, updating the GT, etc.) explains :

Johan: On 1 February 2019 , the Rolling EP was reduced from 750 to 600. This means that the published overall PR of a player is now based on his performances in the most recent 600 matchpoints.

M: Why this adjustment?

Johan: Well, 600 is still a lot of course. It is the equivalent of forty-seven 13-point matches. This relatively high number is needed to reduce volatility and maximise reliability. On the other hand, it gives players the opportunity to shed a bad PR a little more quickly than before. With 750 EP, it could take a player one or two years to leave a bad result behind, a prospect which could potentially have a demotivating effect. With 600 EP a moderately active BMS player should be able to shed a horrendous PR within 10 to 12 months.

M: Makes sense. Has this adjustment caused major changes on the BMS GT?

Johan: Not at all. The impact of this recalibration has been fractional. The maximum deviation has been 0,10 PR.

M: OK. What is the second change?

Johan: Well, as of 1 April 2019 the BMS Committee will charge a processing fee for BMS GT matches.

M: Fair enough. How will that work?

Johan: First of all, there will be no fee for BIC and Four Cubes matches, nor for matches played for the national team at international team events. For other matches, there will be a 2€ fee, regardless of match length. If both players are applicants they would each have to pay 1€ per match.

M: Sounds very reasonable. So, if I play a Master Series of six 11-point matches against Geert, we would each have to pay a 6€ processing fee?

Johan: Correct. Let me give a couple of other examples. Let us say that Player A plays a tournament abroad and applies for BMS validation [known as a Master Series 2]. If he then plays four 13-pointers in the Main, three 9-pointers in the Consolation, and two 5-pointers in the Last Chance, his fee would be 18€.

Sometimes, however, there can be duplication. If players A, B and C apply for BMS validation for the Gent Open (seven 7-point matches), this does not automatically mean that each player has to pay 14€. If, for instance, A has a bye, and A and B have a mutual encounter (= duplication), then the fees would be: A 11€, B 13€ and C 14€.

In case of a BMS event, the Xmas Trophy for instance, ALL matches are duplicated since ALL the participants are BMS applicants. This would mean that the fee would be 1€ per player per match or 5€ , since the event consists of five 9-point matches.

M: And what with BMS GT players who encounter a BMS applicant during an event, but have not filed an application themselves?

Johan: They do not have to pay, of course. Only the applicants have to cough up the fee.

M: Right. And how are players supposed to know what they owe and when to pay?

Johan: To keep it simple, players will not be charged per event, but over a 6-month period. I will send them a mail with an overview of the costs and expect them to pay one way or another within a reasonable timeframe.

M: Sounds good. Thanks for the information, Johan. And for the all the time and effort you put into this.

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.