BGFed

Tag: BMAB

  • Marc Van Damme wins PR prize in Aachen

    Twenty ambitious players showed up in Aachen to compete in a BMAB tournament. In these kinds of tournaments, all matches are recorded and transcribed by the organization and the players’ performance ratings (PRs) are tabulated to designate a specific title, such as Grandmaster (GM), Master, Expert, etc.

    Belgium’s most proficient player and top Red Beaver, Marc Van Damme, stunned the global backgammon community with a stellar overall performance rating (OPR) of 3,51 (nine 9-point matches). This won him the PR prize, leaving a couple of certified GM’s slightly bemused. Marc is now edging closer and closer to a GM title.

    Geert Van der Stricht also started off very well with a handful of SGM (= Super GM) PR’s, but sadly he could not sustain this high level of play ending with an OPR of 4,32 (4th place). Still a very solid performance by our undisputed number two.

    Johan Huyck also excelled. He strung together 7 victories winning this tournament for the second time in a row. A remarkable back-to-back triumph embellished by a confidence-boosting 4,96 OPR.

    Johan Huyck and Marc Van Damme, champion and PR champion, respectively, of the BMAB backgammon tournament in Aachen, Germany, October 2024

    My personal performance pales in comparison. Although I shared second prize with Geert and two others (6/9) I could not be happy with a mediocre 5,56 OPR.

    All-in all, this was a well-run tournament in a comfortable venue. Snacks and drinks were offered at player-friendly prices and the atmosphere was cordial and relaxed. The star of the show was Marc Van Damme, whose performance cannot have escaped the attention of the world’s established GM’s.

    — Michel Lamote

  • Michel wins BMS Prague

    On our way to Budapest for the European Backgammon Team Championship, Walter (Meuwis)  and I spent a weekend in Prague to compete in our first Backgammon Master Series event.

    In tournaments of this kind, all matches are recorded and afterwards transcribed in XG.  That way, players can earn Master or even Grandmaster status if they perform consistently well.  This initiative was taken by Rick Janowski and more information can be found on the website of the BMAB (www.bgmastersab.com)

    The organizer of the Prague event is Honza Cerny.  He is the motivating force behind backgammon in the Czech Republic. He made sure 8 players showed up, armed with recording equipment. As we all know, recording your matches, feeding them into XG and then analyzing them is one of the best ways to seriously study the game.  In Belgium, only Walter, Luc Palmans and myself seem to have picked up this idea.  Let us hope that more players will pick up this habit in the future.

    On Friday night, Honza treated all players to a fine dinner in a local restaurant (see picture below) :

    dinner in Prague

    Then, on Saturday and Sunday, 7 rounds of 11-point matches were played.  After losing my first match, I was able to win 3 in a row, so on Sunday I was very much in contention for the first prize.  Walter on the other hand was not blessed with good dice and was soon out of the running.

     

    On Sunday I had to play a 17-year-old Czech talent, Zdenek Zizka.  I won the match and we both played at Grandmaster level (Michel : 2,93, Zdenek 2,61).  Later I lost to his mother (Eva Zizkova) so I had to beat Honza to win the tournament.  It was a tense fight, which I managed to win under extreme time pressure (7 seconds left at 3-away 3-away).  PR’s in that match were : Michel : 3,29, Honza : 4,79.

    Honza (left) against Michel (right)
    Honza (left) against Michel (right)

    So Zdenek and I both had 5 wins out of 7, but I was declared the winner based on our mutual result.

    Michel, Zdenek and Honza.
    Michel, Zdenek and Honza.

    On Tuesday morning, all matches had been transcribed (these Czech players know their business) and my average PR over the 7 matches was 4,28…  If it had not been for one “bad match” (PR of 7,22 …) I would have scored a Grandmaster result.  It was not to be.  My next attempt will be the BMS event in Nottingham in October.

    M