The Columbus Backgammon Club

With the turning of the new year, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the creation of a Code of Conduct for the Columbus Backgammon Club that will take effect with the first tournament of the year. Our club exists not only as a place for the existing members to play, but also as an agent for the growth of the game. This means that we should take active steps to ensure that our club is as welcoming and as enjoyable a place to play as we can make it. If you recall, the switch to Legal Moves at the beginning of 2014 was made to help foster that kind of atmosphere.

To this end, I have taken the liberty to formalize this set of guidelines so that we have something in writing that we can commonly reference for any situations that arise as our club grows in size and matures within the backgammon community.  I believe that everything in the code is common sense, and should really not be a surprise to anyone.

Players attending Columbus Backgammon Club events will be expected to comply with the code, with the club director being the final authority on interpretation and any penalties for violations. Printed copies of the code will be available at any of our events, and it is also available on our website here.

All that being said, I would like to encourage dialog about this code, and I am always open to suggestions/changes/rewordings! The club belongs to everyone – I’m just the guy at the steering wheel at the moment!

Thanks, and I hope to see everyone at the tournament tomorrow to start the year off strong!

Jason

2015 was a very strong year for the Columbus Backgammon Club, due entirely to all the members who come out to support our events of all types. Our monthly tournaments and chouettes saw increases in attendance.

Here are some comparisons to last year, which illustrate this very well:

• Our average monthly tournament attendance increased this year to 10.25 – an astounding gain of 2.25 people over last year!
• The highest monthly tournament attendance this year was 14 – up 3 from last year
• We had only 19 unique participants this year at our monthly tournaments this year (down 4 from last year), but coupling with the fact that we had a significantly higher average attendance leads me to the conclusion that our core membership is attending more regularly.
• Our attendance is chouettes went up this year to an average of 4.5 for each event, which was up from 4 last year.
• Our average attendance at the 9 social/open play events was 4.2, which is down from 5 per event last year. We only had 4 of these events in 2014, so this year’s number is more significant.

Our club also had a notable win this year by taking the trophy at the Ohio Valley Club Challenge – a feat that I hope that we can repeat in 2016 and defend the title!

I’m very proud to be a part of this club and its growth, and I hope that we can continue to set records in 2016!

Now that the final tournament of the year is in the books, we can crown the Columbus Backgammon Club Player of the Year for 2015. With a grand total of 404 Masters Points, and a club-leading 4 top-2 finishes, Jeff Boester has earned both the title as well as a custom doubling cube to commemorate his successful campaign.

In a year where it looked like no one was going to run away with things, Jeff finished strong in the last quarter of the year to pull ahead by over 100 points. His results are a testament to the effort he has put into improving his game since he joined us last year.

Chris Yep takes the overall second place position, and currently has 277 points, though his final points total are dependent on a final match to be played next month. Jon Stephens – the first player to win 2 tournaments this year – take third overall with a final score of 259.

Congratualtions to Jeff on a successful year and a well earned victory!

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, 8 players found the time to come and play in the final tournament of the year and try to improve their positions in the final Master Points rankings for the year. This month’s winner is Trevor Dierkes, who defeated Jason Marshall in the main bracket final. This win marks Trevor’s second tournament win of the year.

The consolation final has been delayed until next month, due to time constraints. Chris Yep, who has locked up second place in this year’s points race, will face off against Edwin Jones, who is looking for his first top-3 finish in the club. The winner will earn an additional 27 Masters Points.

The Masters Points totals are complete, aside from that last match, and can be found here.

Thank you so much to every one who participated today, as well as to EVERYONE who has participated throughout the year. I consider this to be another very successful year, with growth the participation levels in all of our various kinds of events. I’ll be sending out some statistics in a couple of weeks.

The next monthly tournament, and the first of the new year, will be held on January 10th! See you then!

We had 12 players show up on Sunday for the tournament, which was only 2 off of our record. Current points leader Jeff Boester won his second tournament of the year by defeating Jason Marshall in the main bracket final. Jim Weitthoff took third place with a win over Trevor Dierkes in the consolation bracket final.

In the Masters Points race, the relative positions of the top 5 didn’t change, but Jeff’s win puts him just over 100 points in front of second place holder Jon Stephens. There is still room for someone to make a late push, should Jeff falter in the last 2 tournaments of year, but the challenge has been thrown down.

The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Congratulations to Jeff, Jason, and Jim W for their results this month!

Thank you to all those who attended. The next monthly tournament will be held on November 8th. See you then!

A total of eight players competed in this month’s tournament. Those that remained until the end saw Trevor Dierkes defeat Bob Hickey in the Main Bracket final to win his first tournament of the year. In the Consolation Bracket, Jon Stephens won in the final over Dawn Counts to take third place.

Owing to the fact that the top 2 players in the Masters Points race were not in attendance, things have tightened up further at the top. Less than 50 points separate the top 4 places, so any month has the opportunity to see a new leader. With only 3 tournaments left for the year, the result is far from certain.

The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Congratulations to Trevor, Bob, and Jon for their results this month!

Thank you to all those who attended. The next monthly tournament will be held on October 11th. See you then!

Congratulations to Jim Weitthoff for winning his first monthly tournament, besting a field of 9 players. Jim won the Main bracket final over Trevor Dierkes, who took second place. Howard Shirey placed third with a Consolation bracket win over Bob Hickey.

The Masters Points race for the year continues to be a tight contest. Jim’s victory this month makes the seventh different winner in eight tournaments. Howard’s fifth top-3 finish of the year (out of five tournaments) catapults him to second place in the standings, and within striking distance of Jeff Boester, who currently remains in the top spot.

The current masters points standings can be found here.

Congratulations again to Jim, Trevor, and Howard, and thank you to all who attended this month tournament. The next monthly tournament will be held on September 13th. See you then!

Congratulations to Jon Stephens  who became the first 2-time winner in 2015 by winning in the Main bracket final over 2nd place winner, Dale Berlin! A total of 11 players showed up for the tournament this month, including one first-time player with our club – Carl Herold from Centerville.

Points leader Jeff Boester extended his lead over everyone except Jon with a 3rd place victory over Bob Hickey in the Consolation final. This has set up quite a logjam in the Masters Points race for the year, with 2-5th place all separated by only 12 points. This could set up quite a competition for the top spots by the end of the year.

The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Congratulations again to Jon, Dale, and Jeff, and welcome to Carl! Thank you to all who attended today and make the tournament a success. The next monthly tournament will be on August 9th. See you there!

A strong showing of 10 players made it out this month to play in our June tournament, including our previous club director, Trevor Dierkes! This month Chris Yep took first place for his first win over the year. His opponent in the final was Howard Shirey, who is earning the title of “Mr. Consistent” by not placing worse than third in all 4 of his tournament appearances this year. Third place this month went to current points leader Jeff Boester, who extended his lead against everyone except Chris by finishing with a record of 4-1.

The consolation final from last month was also completed, and Bob Hickey won against Dawn Counts to add another 27 Masters Points to his total for the year.

The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Congratulations to Chris, Howard, and Jeff for their results this month, and welcome back to Trevor!

Thank you to all those who attended. The next monthly tournament will be held on July 12th. See you then!

A club record-setting crowd of 14 people, including 2 first-time players (Dawn Counts and Jim Bougor), showed up this month for the tournament, in which we had our 5th different winner in 5 months as Dale Berlin bested Howard Shirey in the Main bracket final. Due to time constraints, the 3rd place match between Dawn Counts and Bob Hickey has been postponed to next month. As a result, the Master’s Points standings for the month are not final, with the winner of the 3rd place match earning an additional 27 points.

The current Masters Points standings can be found here.
The increase in the number of players is truly great, and I appreciate all who made it out this month. It also underscores the need for me to be more aggressive about clocking matches that are threatening to run long, as more players mean more rounds of play.

Congratulations to Dale, Howard, Dawn and Bob for their results this month, and welcome again to Dawn and Jim!

Thank you to all those who attended. The next monthly tournament will be held on June 14th, with the location to soon be determined. See you then!