Something for the movie buffs

Backgammon, a movie from 2014, has been playing on the film festival circuit and doing very well, winning several awards.  The central character is a man who makes his living playing backgammon in the park.  More info here.

Club Meeting, 7 December 2015

Despite several absentees from holiday, seven players joined us for our December meeting including two new local players, Alan Dye & Gary Bratton.

An all play all was held & the clear winner was Keith Gill who also won the November special meeting.

Keith won all six of his three point matches. No other player managed more than three wins. Keith has recorded a winning streak of nine consecutive match wins. This is very impressive. Well played Keith!

The next club meeting is on Monday 4th January 2016 from 7pm at the Royal British Legion. A Merry Christmas to all NEBA players!

Martin Barkwill (l) with winner Keith Gill.

Houston Astros devoted to backgammon as well as baseball

Baseball players in Houston spend their down time playing backgammon, full story here.

Special Meeting, Saturday 14 November

The special meeting on Saturday 14th November @ the Royal Legion, West Jesmond was attended by nine players, eight of whom played in a knock-out tournament.

The final was played by Keith, who beat Chris & Graeme on the way, & Ian C, who beat John & Ian Baker. Keith triumphed in the final. Well played Keith; a well deserved winner! 

A couple of league matches were also played & two players, Pol & I, are now on three wins. Graeme remains a clear & present danger on 2/2 as is Don on 2/3. Ian C has uploaded the league cross table on the club website here.

Our next meeting will also be at the Royal Legion, our new home, on Monday 7th December from 7pm. I look forward to seeing you there. We intend to stick to the schedule of meetings on the first Monday of each month @ the Royal Legion however if enough members demand additional events we'll do our best to lay them on.

NEW VENUE: We meet at the Royal British Legion from now on. The address is 3 West Jesmond Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 3EX. A map has been uploaded here.

 Keith (l) and Ian C, the two finalists about to commence play

The winner with his trophy and the runner-up with his prize.

Backgammon Blitz released for Steam gaming platform

Further to last months post announcing the upcoming release of Backgammon Blitz on the Steam gaming platform, the game has now been released.  A video trailer can be viewed below.

Club Meeting, Monday 2nd November

Eight players attended our November meeting & this was ideal for starting the league.

Martin, Graeme, Don & Pol all got off to a flying start with two wins.

There is still time for anyone else to enter as the season is to run until the end of April 2016. 

At the start of the evening's play a quiz was handed out with three backgammon positions.  Graeme & Keith got two answers correct & each won a book prize. Well done to both!  The quiz is reproduced at the end of this post, why not try it yourselves?

Don was also awarded a book for his outstanding achievement in winning the first two monthly tournaments whilst Alan won the better luck next time award as we wish to encourage all members to achieve future success.

Don Irving - outstanding achievement award

Keith Gill and Graeme Turner - joint quiz winners

Alan - better luck next time!

There is to be a special club meeting at 2pm on Saturday 14th November at the Royal Legion. The address is 3, West Jesmond Avenue, close to West Jesmond Metro station, leaving the station on the east side of the line. Anyone travelling by Metro north from the city centre will need to cross the footbridge (or use the foot tunnel). 

The County has served us well however there is more room & better lighting at the Royal Legion so this is a chance to view our likely new premises. All are welcome & it is an opportunity to play league matches.

Quiz

Problem 1

White on roll - cube action?

a.  No double/take

b.  Double/take

c.  Double/pass

d.  Too good to double/pass

Problem 2

White to move - 21

a.  15/13  7/6

b.  15/14  7/5

c.  15/12

d.  7/4

Problem 3

White to move - 43

a.  24/20  13/10

b.  13/10  8/4

c.  13/9  8/5

d.  8/1

Answers to follow next month.

Argument over backgammon game led to fatal stabbing

A murder trial in Ireland has been hearing that an argument over a game of backgammon between two men in Tralee, Co. Kerry led to the fatal stabbing of one of them.  Full story here.

First Backgammon game on Steam gaming platform is in the works

Nomad Games is to release "Backgammon Blitz" onto the Steam platform in November, following it's successful run on the Playstation 3 and 4 systems.  Full story here.

Club Night at the County, Monday 5th October

We had 10 players present on Monday 5th October including siblings, Rosey Bensley & Paul Gilbertson as well as Anthony Crerar who played in the parks event & this was his first appearance at a club evening. Paul had flown in from Monaco to be with us.

I (Martin) experimented with a new format where we had two groups of five players with the winner of each group to meet in the final. Unfortunately the format with 5 point matches did not work as well as I'd have liked. Whilst all matches were completed in the first group, in the second group a couple of matches were prolonged, as can happen & it was necessary to ask for the last matches to be played for one point so we would be able to finish by kicking out time. I would like to reassure everyone that the lessons have been learned & this format will only be tried if there are no more than eight players present.

Graeme Turner beat Paul Gilbertson in a play off in the first group. In the second group Keith was in great form & beat Chris, Anthony & Rosey in five point matches but was clearly disadvantaged by having to play his remaining games for one point including the group play-off with Rosey. Graeme beat Rosey in the final to record his first club tournament win. Well played, Graeme!

The next club evening will be on Monday 2nd November & will be the start of the league. There will be an announcement shortly with details of the format & I shall invite everyone to enter.

The hotly contested final

Martin Barkwill (L) with finalists Rosey Bensley and Graeme Turner

Club night at the County, Monday 7th September

In spite of one or two members being forced to miss this month's meeting due to prior commitments, we had another well-attended session at the County.  It was especially gratifying to see our numbers swelled by several new faces.

 

At the end of the night, victory was shared between Ian Baker and Pol Lapidakis, who won £20 each and generously left £5 towards club funds.  Congratulations to both!

 

Ian Baker (l) and Pol Lapidakis, who ended the evening as joint winners.

Thinking of redecorating?

Now there's an easy way to avoid that sinking "my house just isn't backgammon-y enough" feeling.  More details here.

Club night at the County, Gosforth, Monday 3rd August

11 members attended an evening of play at the County in Gosforth.  Once again, Don Irving finished the evening victorious, having won 6 of his 7 matches.  John North was a close second, winning 3 out of 4.

Backgammon in the Park, Exhibition Park, Sunday 19th July

Exhibition Park in Newcastle was the venue for backgammon play in the open air, part of a national day of backgammon organised by the UK Backgammon Federation.  The winner, Ian Hesketh, qualified for entry into an online tournament against the other winners from around the country, with the eventual prize being hotel accommodation and entry into the UK Open Backgammon Championships.  Results are shown below (click for larger view):

Chris Humble (r) congratulates the eventual winner, Ian Hesketh.

Club night at the Dolphin, Tynemouth, Monday 6th July

6 members attended an evening of friendly backgammon competition in the Dolphin pub in Tynemouth.  Club member Don Irving rounded out the evening as the victor, having won 4 out of 5 matches.

Martin Barkwill (r) congratulates Don Irving on his successful evening's play.

Gibraltar to host international tournament

Following their acceptance into the European Backgammon Federation in July, Gibraltar is to host it's first international backgammon tournament in February 2016.  More details here.

Backgammon World Champion Crowned

Full details here.

Corian backgammon set for $16,000

If you're feeling flush this month, why not invest in a backgammon set made from Dupont Corian?  More details here.

Iran's backgammon makers play delicate game

6 minute video documentary about woodwork crafstmen in Iran who make backgammon sets (subtitled).  Find it here.

Alexandra Llewellyn Design

Brief profile of Alexandra Llewellyn, who designs unique backgammon boards from sustainable and unusual materials.  Find it here.

Double sixes: What Backgammon and My Daughter Taught Me About How to Lighten Up

Interesting article from the Huffington Post about how the author learned backgammon from her mother and then went on to teach her daughter to play, learning more about herself in the process.  Find it here.

Nordic Open

The Nordic Open has been hailed as the toughest in the world. Full article here.