Walter Meuwis : BIC Champion 2016.
At Longchamp on Friday night, Walter became BIC champion for the second time in 4 years. He beat Sassan Kachanian in two 13-point matches.
Walter had to play 22 (twenty-two) 13-point matches to take this title. BIC titles apparently do not come easy.
Congratulations to Walter on a well-deserved title and to Sassan on a remarkable achievement and fine performance.
BIC 2017 is just around the corner. First matches are to be played in January.
I like going to these BMS (UK) tournaments in Nottingham. A plane can take you there in an hour or so and the Best Western is only a short cab drive from the airport. Moreover, the format is right up my alley : three 11-pointers on Saturday (between 11:30am and 6:00pm) and three on Sunday (between 10:30am and 5:00pm). All matches are filmed by Rick Janowski and his team. Participants can either transcribe 3 matches themselves or pay 30£ transcription fee and let others do the work. Entry into the tournament is also democratic : 30£.
In these BMS events, my approach is more academic than competitive. I aim to make the most optimal decisions, regardless of the strength of my opponents. I care less about the victory than about the performance. After all, it is the PRs that are significant (they are skill-based and incorporated in the BMAB World Ranking), not the number of match wins (corrupted by luck and, thus, trivial).
Here is how I did :
BMS (UK) December 2016 : PR Michel (wins 4/6)
This result will not win me the PR prize, but it is not depressing either. It brings me to 4,93 on the BMS GT (click in the black banner above for current standings). Question I ask myself now is : how much time and effort is needed to improve from 4,93 to 4,00 PR? Is it even possible? Can a year of dedicated practice and sustained study bridge that 0,93 point gap? I doubt it, but I’ll give it a go in 2017.
How about you?
M
Dear backgammon friends,
On Friday the 16th of December at 19.00 hours, you’re kindly invited to watch the 2016 Belgium Individual Championship final !
In ‘Les Brasseries du Longchamp’, 836, chaussée de Waterloo, 1180 Brussels.
Best-of-3 13-pointers between Sassan Kachanian (Belgium 4 Cubes champion 2014) & Walter Meuwis (Belgium 4 Cubes champion 2014 & BIC champion 2014). Match 1 was played on Saturday 10 December and won by Walter (13-8).
Enjoy ‘live’ on a big screen ; see the brilliancies & blunders of our top players; appreciate the pleasant and technical commentary from the ranked n°1 & 2 players in Belgium, Michel Lamote & Geert Van Der Stricht; learn all about flexibility & connectivity – equity – holding & priming & containment & ace-point & back games; watch XG appreciate or condemn checker plays & cube handlings. We’ll tell you everything about backgammon and will welcome you with a free drink offered by the Brussels Backgammon Club.
See you then, keep on rolling,
Guy Van Middelem
In their endeavour to become better players, Johan Huyck and Michel Lamote played, recorded and transcribed six 15-point matches in the course of 2 months. Matches were played on Tuesday afternoons in the Sandeman Club (Gent).
Notwithstanding the ever occurring, mind-boggling blunders, both players ended up with fine PR’s :
PR Michel (wins 4-2)
PR Johan (loses 2-4)
With this result, both players edge slightly closer to the 5-PR boundary. Click BMS(BE) in the black banner above to see the current standings on the BMS Grading Table.
On Tuesday 27 December, BMS(BE) organises its 2nd BMS Belgium tournament. Five 9-point matches will be played at Longchamp. All matches will be recorded and transcribed and performance ratings (PR’s) will be incorporated in the BMS Grading Table. This is another opportunity for Belgium’s most ambitious players to improve their skill level in a competitive setting.
Have already registered : Geert Van der Stricht, Johan Huyck, Johan Segers, Guy Van Middelem, Paul Van Dijke, Christian Sörensen, Johan Vervust and Michel Lamote. If you play at Advanced level or better, you are welcome to join. Contact : geert.vanderstricht@telenet.be. Start of play : 10am (clocks activated).
M
Dear backgammon friend, member of a BGFed.be backgammon club,
You’re kindly invited to the General Assembly of BGFed.be – Belgian Backgammon Federation – on Friday the 2nd of December 2016 at 18:00 in the ‘Les Brasseries du Longchamp’, Waterloosesteenweg 836 in Uccle, Brussels. The Assembly will be followed at 20:00 by the Brussels Friendly 68 tournament.
Please note:
Kind regards & keep on rolling,
Guy van Middelem, President BGFed.be
guy.van.middelem@pandora.be
Over the past 6 weeks, Johan Huyck (Gent BC) and Paul Van Dijke (Brugge BC) played, recorded and transcribed six 15-point matches. As the data show, both players performed slightly below par :
PR Johan Huyck (wins 4-2)
PR Paul Van Dijke (loses 2-4)
With an average PR of 5,87 Johan is one of 3 players who can boast a below-6 PR on the BMS Grading Table. Johan plans to have crossed the 5,50 threshold by New Year.
Paul’s ambitions are only slightly more modest. Since he is currently playing another Master Series against Geert Van der Stricht, he should be able to dip below 6,50 any day now. He currently stands at 6,61 PR.
M
Brugge Backgammon Club heeft een nieuw lokaal vanaf 1 december 2016:
Cultuurcafé de Biekorf
Naaldenstraat 4
8000 Brugge
Onze speelavond blijft donderdagavond vanaf 19.30 uur.
Allen welkom !
Groetjes,
Line
Left to right : Maurits, Walter, Johan Huyck, Johan Segers, Geert and Alain. Bottom : Michel.
With one victory (3-1 against France) and draws against Norway, the UK, Greece, Iceland and Turkey, Belgium performed well in Denmark. Narrowly missing the Final Four was of course a huge disappointment, but luck just was not on our side in the crucial phase of the championship.
I would like to thank all the players for their good-humoured competitiveness. Belgium was undoubtedly one of the most determined and motivated teams in the field. All players played to the best of their abilities and there was not a whiff of discord in the team. Maurits and Alain (1st and 2nd substitute) were unfailing in their support and their presence gave the team the required robustness and peace of mind.
Next year’s European Team Championship Backgammon will take place in Reykjavik (Iceland). BGFed.be intends to send a team.
M
The Belgian team: Michel Lamote, Geert Van der Stricht, Walter Meuwis, Johan Huyck, Johan Segers, Alain Chif, Maurits Pino.
http://eurobackgammon2016.weebly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EuroBackgammon2016/
Live stream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmHwa16H8IutExiH8P30FWQ
Results: https://www.drawboss.com/Event/Show/7303aabb-cd33-46ff-9824-7d9c9ac61524
Michel Lamote (PR: 4.4) vs Dagfinn Snarheim (PR: 4.6) 1-0
Johan Huyck vs Rune Færevåg 0-1
Johan Segers vs Hall Skåra 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Tore Fredriksson 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Gaz Owen 1-0
Johan Huyck vs Sebastian Wilkinson 0-1
Johan Segers vs Lawrence Powell 0-1
Walter Meuwis vs Eric McAlpine 1-0
Michel Lamote vs Olivier Decultot 0-1
Johan Huyck vs Raphaël Rosalba 1-0
Johan Segers vs Stéphane Chenevière 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Gildas Racape 1-0
Geert Van der Stricht vs Nikos Dikaros 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Athanasios Katsios 1-0
Johan Segers vs Haris Christidis 0-1
Walter Meuwis vs Michalis Manolios 1-0
Geert Van der Stricht vs Hallur Jon Saevarsson 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Stefan Gudmundsson 0-1
Johan Huyck vs Ingi Tandri Traustason 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Fjalarr Páll Mánason 1-0
Geert Van der Stricht vs Mahir Kasuto 0-1
Michel Lamote vs Murat Hazır 1-1
Johan Segers vs Gokhan Kazandag 1-0
Walter Meuwis vs Zafer Önder 1-0
We missed the final 4 by a hair. It all ended with an exciting double match point by Michel in extreme time pressure. Just a little bit more luck and we would have made it. Next time perhaps!
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.
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.
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.
Luc Palmans (left) playing Tore Frederiksen (Norway) in the first round. After losing this match, Luc had to continue in the fighter bracket.
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.
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 (right). Occasionally he palpates the checkers but in general he keeps the position of all the 30 checkers in mind.
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.
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.
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…
… 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The final, played by Croatia (left) and Germany. Croatia prevailed by winning the deciding 7-point consultation match.
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.
