On Friday, June 16, the Brussels team went to Leuven for the annual 4 Cubes encounter. The Bxl team consisted of a Francophone and a Neerlandophone Bruxellois, a Hungarian and a Dutchman (they left the Greek at home). The home team was a Francophone Iranian, a Frenchman and two Flemish (one of whom is a prof @LLN). Great atmosphere, interesting games. Better, the result was 6-6 – a thriller.
— the Dutchman
After an absence of many years, Marc Van Damme has catapulted himself to the number 1 spot in Belgian backgammon. In his slipstream follow Geert Van der Stricht and Michel Lamote, trying to benefit from the leader’s pull.
Marc and Paul Van Dijke played, recorded and transcribed six 13-point matches (6*13) over the past weeks. Here is how they did :
PR Marc (wins 6-0)
An affirmative performance (!) by Marc. It is tempting to ascribe his results to some form of innate talent, whereas, of course, such level of play can only be the fruit of hard work and sustained study.
PR Paul (loses 0-6)
Paul at the Sandeman Club…
Paul too will surely be satisfied with his result. Although he was blasted with a numbing 6-0, he can find solace in the unmistakable progress he has made.
Geert and I played six 17-point matches in the course of the past 2 months :
PR Geert (loses 1-5)
Geert looks happy with a surprisingly good roll…
PR Michel (wins 5-1)
PR’s below 5 are both acceptable and encourageing for Geert and I, bringing us closer to the 5 PR boundary on the BMS Grading Table.
I played another Master Series of six 17-point matches against Johan Huyck :
PR Michel (draws 3-3)
PR Johan (draws 3-3)
Probably not a coincidence that my PR seems to hover around the 4,90 mark. I think I will grant myself a small psychological boost by optimistically assuming that my level of play is currently somewhere in that neighbourhood. Johan, on the other hand, surely hoped for something better than 6,80. Mitigating circumstances abound of course : it is hard to play your best after 8 stressful hours on the workfloor, to mention just one.
Robin Bilderbeek and Nick De Ruyck tried their hand at eight 9-point matches :
PR Robin (draws 4-4)
Robin pondering a backgammon position at the recent Gent Open…
In eight highly entertaining matches Robin proved that the progress he made in the past 6 months is real. With this result he has overtaken seasoned players like Luc Palmans (13) and Guy Van Middelem (12) on the BMS Grading Table and only narrowly fails to grab the number 10 spot. Only 0.02 PR separate him from Ronny Conaert (10) : 7,47 v 7,45…
PR Nick (draws 4-4)
Nick for his part knows that the road ahead is long and windy. Although his table presence is admirably composed and professional, Nick will have to be patient and determined to make the step from Intermediate to Advanced.
After winning all 7 matches at the recent Gent Open, Bert Van Kerckhove continued his winning streak by triumphing in 4 consecutive 13-point matches at the Rotterdam Open last Sunday.
Bert receives the trophy from Ed Baars (organizer).
The field of 16 players was slightly stronger than at a regular Super Sunday (held every last Sunday of the month). Two German players of some reknown (Kimon Papachristopoulos and Dirk Leinberger) had made the trip and the field was further peppered with Dutch top players (a.o. Rogier Van Gemert and Paul Van Koningshoven) as well as our own Geert Van der Stricht.
While Geert was unable to stamp his mark on proceedings, Bert seems to relish the air at the little yacht harbour adjacent to the Okay Club, where the tournament is held. He defeated the talkative German Dirk Leinberger in the semi-final and blasted away Paul Van Koningshoven in the final (13-4) thereby ensuring another fine Belgian win on Dutch soil.
Congratulations, Bert!
In Double Consultation, backgammon is played between two teams of 2 players. The teams are allowed to consult before executing a checker play or making a cube decision. This usually results in more thorough play, especially since more time is allotted on the clock (3 minutes per point and 18 seconds per move).
This tournament is open to players of all levels. Since no money is involved, even players of Beginner/Intermediate level can have a rewarding experience, since listening in on the deliberations of the opponents can be both instructive and – at times – highly amusing.
Denmark (l) playing Double Consultation against Germany (r)
Here is the practical information :
Format : 5 rounds of 7-point matches. Full tournament or truncated Round Robin depending on the number of teams.
The trophy (donated by BGFed.be) will go to the team that wins the tournament (optional sidepool available).
Ambitious teams also have the option to compete for a PR based sidepool whereby the winner will be the team with the best overall PR. Only teams that are able to annotate/film their matches and will transcribe their matches within 7 days after the tournament, can compete in this secondary sidepool.
Schedule :
9.15 – 9.45 : arrival (registration, coffee, orange juice, ontbijtkoeken, …)
10.00 : Round 1
12.00 : sandwiches, croque monsieur and soup available all day
12.30 : Round 2
14.45 : Round 3
17.00 : Round 4
19.15 : Round 5
21.30 : Prize giving (no prize money)
Clock : 21′ + 18″ per move
Entry fee : 30€ per player (registration, food, …).
This tournament is open to all players, also non-BGFed.be members. Note that only an even number of teams will be allowed to enter. The order of pre-registration will be respected.
Pre-registration is required. Send an e-mail to : johan.huyck@wiskin.be (before Sunday 18 June).
Draw : Tuesday 20 June at the Sandeman Club (Gent).
Hope to see you on Sunday 2 July in Gent!
The Sandeman, home of Gent Backgammon Club.
In the more rarefied regions of Belgian backgammon, persistent efforts are being made to notch up the level of play. Marc Van Damme and Geert Van der Stricht, the current numbers 1 and 2 in the BMS realm, scored ringing PR’s in their respective Master Series.
Marc played eight 11-point matches against top-5 player Johan Huyck :
PR Marc (wins 5-3)
This strong performance was sufficient for Marc to break the symbolic 5-PR barrier and comfortably land on 4,94 on the Grading Table. With an EP of 173 behind his name, Marc has now achieved official Master Class 2 status.
Geert, in full preparation for the 2017 World Championship to be held in Monte Carlo (1-6 August), confidently equalled Marc’s performance in a tough 6 x 17 Master Series (also against Johan Huyck) :
PR Geert (wins 5-1)
Geert is now only a breath away from below-5 status. His current PR on the BMS Grading Table is 5,06.
The opponent of both players was Johan Huyck, trailing the two pack leaders by about 1 PR (currently 6,02 on the BMS GT). Against Marc (8 x 11) Johan let things slip a little,
PR Johan (loses 3-5)
but he did better against Geert (6 x 17) :
PR Johan (loses 1-5)
Johan is showing great tenacity in his efforts to raise his game and his sustained diligence should soon bear fruit.
M
If you play a pre-designated number of medium-length matches, say eight matches to 9 points, you can be pretty sure that your overall PR will give a reliable idea of your true playing strength. That is, if you make an honest attempt to play your best game.
This is what Alain Chif and Guy Van Middelem did over the past month. Both are seasoned bridge players with a subsidiary intrest in backgammon. They play frequently, go through their matches to learn from their mistakes, struggle through the occasional backgammon book, etc. In short, they are competitve players with a keen intrest to improve their level of play.
Guy Van Middelem
Alain Chif
Here is how they did :
PR Guy (wins 5-3)
PR Alain (loses 3-5)
These performances will certainly earn both players appreciative nods in the BMS community. Both Guy and Alain scored PR’s below-7 in five of the 8 matches, which is great. Guy even played 2 matches below-4 (!).
Unfortunately, these heartening PR’s are polluted by some disturbing slip ups. In this demanding and mentally challenging format, consistency is key. You cannot allow a couple of PR’s of 10-plus to mar your overall result. Sure, backgammon matches can have widely varying levels of difficulty, but PR discrepancies of 6 or more (i.e. the difference between PR 4 and PR 10) do not occur in the Master category, where performances are significantly more solid.
In this Master Series, Guy and Alain have displayed unmistakable signs of expertise. If both players put their mind to it, they could lift their game to Expert level ( PR < 7,50) in a matter of months. Progress, however, is not like manna. It does not miraculously appear out of nowhere. Continued study and dedicated practice are vital ingredients of a backgammon player’s regimen, without which no steps forward can possibly be made.
M
In Budapest (2015) and Helsingor (2016) Belgium competed with grit and determination. In both campaigns the qualification for the Final Four was missed by the smallest margin.
Belgium’s Best in Helsingor (left to right : Maurits, Walter, Johan Huyck, Johan Segers, Geert and Alain. Bottom : Michel.
This year the EUBTC will take place in the capital city of Iceland, Reykjavik (5-6 October 2017). This team event is prestigious because it reflects the current standard of a country’s backgammon community. Achievements in previous European Team Championships have earned Belgium a good reputation (prestige). This is what is at stake in Reykjavik. Therefore, BGFed.be hopes to be represented once again by a motivated and competitive team (4-7 players) : Belgium’s Best.
Selection of players will be based predominantly on empirical data, i.e. conglomerate PR’s as reflected in both the BMS GT (Grading Table) and the BPR RT (Ranking Table).
Since (a) skill in backgammon dominates as match length increases and (b) the BMS GT reflects PR’s obtained in longer matches, a higher weight will be given to BMS gradings than to BPR gradings.
In the case that Candidate Players have no official BMS or BPR grading, selection may be considered based on data available in the BMS(BE) archive.
Should the difference between two players be too close to call (0,15 PR), factors like international experience with longer matches will be taken into account.
Candidacies must be submitted by e-mail (kynos8000@gmail.com) at the latest on 30 June 2017.
Candidate players should :
a) be BGFed.be member
b) have the Belgian nationality or be bona fide resident in Belgium
c) demonstrably play at Advanced level or better
d) have an official BMS or BPR grading or be BIC player.
A first list of Candidate Players will be published on the BGFed.be website on 15 July 2017.
On 22-23 July 2017 a BMS tournament will be played to ensure Candidate Players an ultimate opportunity to improve their BMS grading. This tournament will be played in Brugge and will consist of six 13-point matches.
The final selection for Reykjavik 2017 will be made once the performances (PR’s) in this event have been incorporated in the BMS GT.
M
Seven victories in a row guaranteed success for Bert Van Kerckhove at this year’s Gent Open. This is quite a feat since Bert organised the event and had to take care of all kinds of practicalities in between and during matches :
Bert (l) stoically shuffling checkers. Wife and son in full admiration. Maurits Pino (r) undergoing the onslaught.
As always, the event was held at the Sandeman Club in Gent. Amid the medieval brickwork, 25 players signed up to play seven 7-point matches with only 12 minutes on the clock :
The playing area at the Sandeman Club.
Kristoffer De Weert in deep thought
When the dust settled, Bert was the last man standing with 7/7. Closest on his heels was Johan Huyck (6/7). Marc Van Damme, Paulus Van Rooijen and Ronny Conaert scored 5/7 :
Johan Huyck (l) congratulating Bert (r)
This edition of the Gent Open was a success. Sandwiches kept coming all day through and quite a lot of players stayed on till long after the prize giving ceremony discussing the future of Belgian backgammon, the bad luck they suffered, the merits of Leffe blond, and plenty of other banalities.
In short, it was a fine backgammon tournament.
Results of Round 2 of the 4 Cubes 2017, played in April:
Brussels vs Leuven I : 9-3
Gent vs Brugge : 7-5
Leuven II : Bye
For detailed results and standings, please check the tournament book (link in the menu).
Round 3 will take place in June : Leuven II vs Brussels and Gent vs Leuven I.
The four team captains are kindly asked to fix the dates and the line-ups are quickly as possible.
The Nordic Open attracted about 270 players who competed in 3 divisions. 95 of them appeared in the Advanced Flight. If there is one tournament Walter Meuwis (current 5,67 PR) desperately likes to win, it is this one.
After winning three 15-point matches in the Main Flight, Walter lost. In the Fighters bracket, however, Walter won three hard-fought 9-point matches in a row before losing to the Danish champion (!) Lars Nielsen, a player one would expect in the Champions Division. This defeat beat Walter up hard but he can find solace in what follows.
Walter filmed all his matches. I recommend all BGFed.be members to click on one of the YouTube links below to witness one of Belgium’s best players compete in high-pressure surroundings.
https://youtu.be/tLG_yLb4kq8
https://youtu.be/CferaJzjVMM
https://youtu.be/knVDJh5ccwg
https://youtu.be/9O33VyKPVC4
https://youtu.be/gLVhG5HU_uc
https://youtu.be/5IxLMU5EnWo
https://youtu.be/AeBQgFoom_k
https://youtu.be/KqUbzkazYs4
Walter also transcribed his matches. Here is how he did :
Stunning! For some reason (determination, focus) Walter played at stellar level. His checker play (3,73 PR) proves accuracy and consideration, and his cube actions (7,37 PR) have a remarkably high level of timing and efficiency.
It looks like only the fewest of Belgium’s top players can realistically hope to better this MS2 result (Master Series Type 2. See: Conditions of Play) in the near future.
