Registration 4 Cubes 2024 by June 30

Posted on June 9, 2024 by Johan

As decided on BGFed.be’s General Assembly of Friday, June 7, teams that wish to register for the 4 Cubes 2024 team competition are requested to register via the following online form:

https://forms.gle/AYg1N6558ChxN3jA7

Registration deadline: June 30, 2024. Registration fee: 25 euro per team.

  • Each team consists of 5 to 8 players.
  • All players need to come from the same club affiliated to BGFed.be.
  • One player acts as captain.
  • A club can send multiple teams, but each player can only join a single team.
  • In the likely event that the competition will consist of three rounds, the calendar is as follows: Round 1 to be played by September 30; Round 2 by November 30; Round 3 by January 31, 2025. Teams commit themselves to respect these deadlines and to exhibit sufficient flexibility in finding a date and location.
  • A duel between two teams will consist of three rounds of four 7-point matches, giving 12 matches in total. In case of a 6-6 draw, a 5-point team consultation match will decide the outcome.
  • The exact tournament format will be decided once the teams are known, taking into account the results of 4 Cubes 2023 (champion: Brussels; finalist: Ghent; semi-finalist: Leuven).

Questions about the registration form: Johan Segers. Tournament director: Guy Van Middelem.

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WBIF Online Belgian Championship 2024: The Final

Posted on June 8, 2024 by Johan

Dear Players,

I have just followed the final of the WBIF Online Belgian Championship between Michel Lamote (director of the Red Beaver League) and Frédéric Libert (director of the open tournament in Lille).

In the early stages of the championship, Michel lost two matches and came dangerously close to a quick exit in this 3-lives format (report). But by keeping up a high and constant level of play (Performance Rating 4.22), he made it all the way to the final, where he faced Frédéric on Friday, June 7, to play for the trophy.

In this last and deciding match of the championship, Frédéric was strong enough to beat Michel, both players showcasing commendable performances (Frédéric PR 5.2 – Michel PR 2.8). Congratulations to Frédéric, who thereby becomes the WBIF Online Belgian Champion 2024!

Final ranking of the WBIF Online Belgian Championship 2024

Thank you to all players for their participation. I hope you all enjoyed the tournament and the new online experience.

As agreed upon, the tournament also served to select the national team representing Belgium at the WBIF Team World Cup starting in September. Based on the results, the team will consist of the following players:

  • Michel Lamote
  • Ronny Conaert
  • Daniel Rozenberg
  • Firat Tekil
  • Hubert Verstraeten (captain)

Good dice,

Hubert Verstraeten (tournament director)

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Red Beaver League Final 2024 • Video’s Final Session

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Johan

Dear RBL participants & BGFed members,

Happy to announce to you all that the conclusion of the RBL Final 2024 between Geert Van der Stricht and Marc Van Damme will be available on YouTube soon!

The Premières will be launched on:
Match 7 :  Wed 05/06/2024 at 20:30 CEST – Link: https://youtu.be/OD40aez9i6A
Match 8 :   Thu 06/06/2024 at 20:30 CEST – Link: https://youtu.be/ZVF6poDDy_E

Live-chat will be available during these premières, welcome to join! My name is Rain in the chat.

If you aren’t able to watch the premières, then you can of course watch anytime after that. The video’s will remain available on YouTube.

Big respect and thanks to Michel for his infinite efforts the whole RBL-season long.
Big thanks to Geert and Marc for their kind cooperation to make this video-production happening, so we actually all have a front row seat to witness this amazing battle!

Enjoy!

Greetings,

Rain 

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Live Backgammon in June

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Johan

Club events

  • Brugge: every Thursday evening, Sports bar Extra Time, Nijverheidsstraat 113, 8310 Assebroek. Contact: Line Vandamme, linevandamme@gmail.com
  • Brussels: every Thursday evening at 18h15, at The Black Beard — La Barbe Noire, Lakensestraat 166 Rue de Laeken, Brussels 1000
  • Ghent: every Tuesday evening, at 19h, at Union-Sandeman, Kantienberg 5, 9000 Gent
  • Leuven: Sunday, Jun 9, Sep 15, Oct 20, Nov 17, Dec 15, from 12:45, at Sport & Squash Club De Vaart, Kolonel Begaultlaan 15, 3012 Wilsele

Tournaments

Belgian Individual Championship 2024, Saturday and Sunday June 15-16, 2024, Tennis-Hockey-Bridge Club Orée, Drève des Brûlés 59, 1150 Brussels

Looking ahead

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BGFed.be 2024+ meeting, Friday June 7, 19h30, at Royal Orée

Posted on May 26, 2024 by Johan

Dear backgammon friend, BGFed.be member,

Since nearly a decade, BGFed.be has been the governing body for all backgammon activities in Belgium, from a legal nonprofit organization with statutes to a de facto association.

  • BGFed.be is member of the World Backgammon Federation, sending national teams, the Red Beavers, to international championships, with Johan Huyck as our national team coach
  • Johan Segers manages a dynamic website with a.o. a rating list
  • Michel Lamote introduced the Red Beaver League
  • Hubert Verstraeten started the WBIF online national championship
  • we organize club-, team- and individual championships (4 Cubes, Belgian Individual Championship)
  • each club has a representative volunteer (Chantal Lensen for Brussels, Bert Van Kerckhove for Ghent, Line Vandamme for Bruges, and Henri Pollet for Leuven) and captain(s)

I’ve surely forgotten some names but BGFed.be thanks all of you for what has been done during the last ten years.

In the beginning, when legal issues were a concern, BGFed.be activities were structured into commissions (BIC, treasury, 4 Cubes, rating, …). With the Covid pandemic, however, these governing bodies have been diluted. However, it’s unfair and ineffective to put all decisions on the shoulders of a few specific members.

The latest BGFed.be meeting took place in September 2022. With nearly 100 individual members, it’s about time to meet again. We need more organizational structure, fresh blood and new ideas. And we count on you !

To brainstorm about our future (administration control, website, championships, online, etc…), an evening together is a priority, some sort of General Assembly. I propose Friday the 7th of June at Royal Orée (Drève des Brûlés 59, 1150 Brussels) at 19.30 hours. Sandwiches will be provided but, please, tell us your highly appreciated presence or pitiful absence.

Possibility to play some friendly encounters afterwards.

Keep on rolling, for BGFed.be, Guy Van Middelem

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Attacking game instructive video

Posted on May 26, 2024 by Johan

Attacking is surely one of the more difficult aspects in the game of backgammon. In the following instructive video, Itzhak Solsky guides us through a complex training game with the computer.

Posted in Solsky StrataGems | Leave a comment

1st Lille Backgammon tournament: France, Belgium, and a bit of the Netherlands

Posted on May 22, 2024 by Johan
Participants of the 1st Lille Backgammon Tournament, on Sunday May 19, 2024.

Podium of the 1st Lille Backgammon Tournament on Sunday, May 19, 2024 (23 participants):

  1. Nick De Ruyck (5/5)
  2. Bernard Bailleul (4/5)
  3. Kristoffer De Weert (4/5)

Report by Inge Van den Dorpel:

On Sunday, May 19, 2024, a backgammon tournament took place in Lille, to which the Belgian players were kindly invited by their French friends. The Belgian players were present in large numbers: Guy, Johan B., Nick, Kristoffer and his dad Albert, Chantal and Vincent, Csaba, Daniel an myself, Inge.

The Belgians even won some prizes. Nick won all five matches and came in first. Kristoffer was third and Johan was fourth. They also won a nice prize.

Our French friends will be numerous at the Belgian Individual Championship which takes place on June 15-16 at Royal Orée in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe (Brussels).

Report by organizer Catherine Bogaert:

Chères amies et amis 🙂 

Quelle belle journée nous avons passé ensemble ! Fred et moi vous remercions toutes et tous d’avoir fait le déplacement jusqu’à notre QG lillois pour la première édition de notre tournoi qui, nous l’espérons, deviendra un rendez-vous annuel.

Voici le lien vers le tableau des matchs et le classement final : https://challonge.com/fr/ffdrwbqf

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Red Beaver League 2024 final: videos matches 4 to 6

Posted on May 18, 2024 by Johan

Hereby presenting you my video’s of the 2nd session of the RBL Final 2024
between the RBL 2023 Champ Geert Van der Stricht and the Challenger Marc Van Damme.

The ‘Premières’ of these 3 new video’s will be going live at:

Sat 18/05/2024 at 20:22 CEST – Match 4 – Link: https://youtu.be/5FMSZhDdft8
Sun 19/05/2024 at 20:22 CEST – Match 5 – Link: https://youtu.be/CCb252DpQ0I
Sun 19/05/2024 at 21:36 CEST – Match 6 – Link: https://youtu.be/bQEgrcX36gA

After each of these ‘Première’-broadcasts, naturally the video’s will remain available anytime on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Greetings,

Rain 

Posted in Red Beaver League | Tagged | Leave a comment

Red Beaver League Final: All to Play for in the Last Session

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Johan

In the RBL 2024 Final between Geert Van der Stricht and Marc Van Damme the score after the second session, played on Tuesday May 7 in the Union Sandeman in Ghent, is 6-6.

Being 2-4 down after the first three matches in the first session (report), Marc had to come up with something special …, and he did. Although he lost Match 4 narrowly (6-7) his Performance Rating of 2,96 (!) made sure the score gap remained the same as Geert paid a heavy equity price for some less than accurate cube decisions: 3-5.

Match 5 was riddled with complicated positions and found its apotheosis in Game 5 (5-away 3-away): Geert made a fatal cube decision by taking a Too Good position and Marc showed no mercy. He scored two points and leveled the duel: 5-5.

Geert did not crumble though. He showed enormous drive in Match 6 where he stood his ground under pressure. He lost 7-1, but meticulous play and a PR of 1,84 (!) resulted in a 6-6 score.

In this second session, Marc closed the gap and overturned his Overall PR deficit. He now has the momentum and a slight, but significant OPR advantage going into the third and final session: 3,63 (Marc) vs 4,23 (Geert).

No reason for Marc to be exultant as yet. He has the wind in his sails, but Geert’s intense focus may be hard to match. All to play for in the final session…

Coverage of this second session in the form of Rain’s videos will be made available in a week or two. Make sure to watch every move and cube decision as Robin walks and talks you through the action.

Michel Lamote (RBL tournament director)

Posted in Red Beaver League | Leave a comment

Red Beaver League Final: First Session Videos

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Johan

Transcribing a backgammon match on XG is not just a chore, but a great way to learn.
Watch how Robin Bilderbeek, aka Rain, enjoys transcribing the first three matches of the RBL Final and provides commentary while doing so. Do not miss the introduction (Video 1) and the Results and Stats at the end of each video.

Match 1: https://youtu.be/Gb7gxkqGT6E
Match 2: https://youtu.be/8goanvAC7t8
Match 3: https://youtu.be/PnmxgTZeFbk

For RBL to have a future it is important that interested players and students of the game learn how to transcribe backgammon matches on XG and how to pick things up while doing so. 

In the meantime, have fun watching Geert Van der Stricht and Marc Vandamme lock horns in the 2023-24 RBL Final.

A heap of thanks to Robin for making all this possible. And, rest assured, the videos will get even better as the duel continues.

Michel Lamote, RBL tournament director

Posted in Red Beaver League | Tagged | Leave a comment