December saw the final two events on the 2019 Tour. First of all there was the BMAB Christmas tournament – normally BMAB events are truncated round robins where your opponents are known from the start; because this was a special one for the tour the format changed somewhat to be a five-round Swiss with room for 32 players, matches lengthened to 13 points to give the same amount of play as a normal BMAB weekend, essentially guaranteeing a straight knockout for the top place and a final against one other undefeated player in the fifth round. [Read more…]
Cork Backgammon Club v Worcester Backgammon Club – a “first”
Garry Jones writes:
Two players, late into the night, playing backgammon for a few quid. Playing despite having far too many Guinness. The love of the game gets too extreme as they battle their ongoing grudge match. The conversation widens to include their respective clubs. “We have some really good players developing at Worcester, how are you doing in Cork?” “We’re not too shoddy ourselves!” “Shall we pit them against each other in a Cork v Worcester competition?” “Great Idea!!!” And so it began. A late night conversation. Vic and Sean have come up with an idea. Over a few beers it was bound to be slow in gestating.
Announcing: The Worcester Charity Christmas Turkey Tourney
There’s a number of tournament announcements coming up – I had thought of putting them all together as the Three W’s but that doesn’t really do them justice, so it’s one post each… and first up it’s over to Sean Jones with news from Worcester:
Worcester Backgammon Club is pleased to announce that it is repeating its Christmas Turkey Tournament this year. The focus is on raising a few pounds for the charity Mind.
This will be our last practice run before we officially enter the UKBGF Tour in 2017.
This one day event will be held on the 28th December, which for most is perfect as it is in the lull between Christmas and New Year, nothing better during this time than to have a few competitive matches.
To register, send an email to Sean Jones. Paying in advance will secure your place.
- £25 Entry (incl. £5 for Buffet & £4 Charity Donation)
- Side Pools available
- Maximum 32 Players
- Registration begins at 10:30am. Play starts at 11:00am.
- Venue is the Barbourne Ex-Servicemens Club
- Chosen charity is Mind the Mental Health Charity
- Irritating Christmas music all day
Visit http://www.worcesterbgc.co.uk/ for further details
We’re really looking forward to descending on Worcester in late 2017 and who knows, the Tour may well be decided there. It’s also great to support a good cause and spread some Christmas cheer about, so do sign up for this year in good time and have a great day!
League Backgammon still on the up in the UK
While it’s true to say that backgammon leagues are not everybody’s cup of tea, the rise and rise in popularity of these competitions in the UK is surely justification in itself that leagues play their role – and a major one at that – in involving more and more players in competitive backgammon. And as the primary motivation for the UKBGF is to do just that, the existence of leagues undeniably dovetails nicely with the achievement of that objective.

A New Clubs Grant – 1 year on
One of the early initiatives by the UKBGF board was to start awarding grants to new clubs that had taken their first steps, in order to help them get established. There were no specific pre-conditions on how to spend the £100, so each club could decide what they needed most and simply get on with it! A follow-up £50 is due after a year if the club is still going – and the first of these are now on the way out. So, we thought we’d catch up with one of our most successful recipients, over in Worcester…

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