The Columbus Backgammon Club

12 players played in this month’s tournament. Chris Yep won four matches in a row to win his second tournament of the year, defeating second place finisher Trevor Dierkes in the Main Bracket final. In the Consolation final Edwin Jones defeated Mike Rezai to win third place.

In the annual standings Trevor Dierkes, with three top-3 finishes in 2018, leads the field with 202 Masters Points, but six players are within 80 Masters Points (which can be made up in a single tournament), so there’s still a lot of play left for Player of the Year!

The full tournament bracket for June can be found here. The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Thank you again to all who came out to play and congratulations to our winners:

1st – Chris Yep
2nd – Trevor Dierkes
3rd – Edwin Jones

The next tournament will be held on July 1, a week earlier than usual, in order to avoid conflicting with the popular Michigan Summer Championships held over the July 5-8 weekend.

We had a nice turnout of 13 players at this month’s tournament. Mike Rezai won four matches in a row to win his first tournament of the year, defeating second place finisher Stu Cohen in the Main Bracket final. In the Consolation final Jason Marshall defeated David Rearick to win third place.

In the annual standings Trevor Dierkes continues to lead the field with 152 Masters Points, but it’s a tight race at the top. The next 10 players are all within 80 Masters Points! In our five tournaments this year we’ve had five different winners. It’s still a wide open race for Player of the Year!

The full tournament bracket for May can be found here. The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Thank you again to all who came out to play and congratulations to our winners:

1st – Mike Rezai
2nd – Stu Cohen
3rd – Jason Marshall

The next tournament will be held on June 10 (the usual 2nd Sunday of the month), a short three weeks after the May 20 tournament. The next tournament after that will also be a short three weeks later on July 1 in order to avoid conflicting with the popular Michigan Summer Championships held over the July 4th weekend (July 5-8 this year).

On April 29 our Columbus team of 7 players traveled to the Dayton area and won the Ohio Valley Challenge Cup (OVCC). Congratulations to the winning team members: Mike Rezai, Edwin Jones, Trevor Dierkes, Maron Cury, Joe Calvaruso, Dale Berlin, and David Rearick. Special congratulations to Edwin Jones who finished with a 4-1 record and Joe Calvaruso who finished with a 5-0 record, though as we won by a single point over 3 other teams, every match victory was crucial to our team win!

Final team standings:

Front: Chris Yep (non-playing), Joe Calvaruso, David Rearick
Back: Mike Rezai, Dale Berlin, Maron Cury, Trevor Dierkes, Edwin Jones

The Ohio Valley Challenge Cup (OVCC), hosted by the Miami Valley (Dayton) Backgammon Club this year, will be held April 28-29 in Huber Heights, OH (near Dayton). For full information, including hotel reservations (reserve by April 12 for the “backgammon” rate), see the OVCC page. You can also look at the Miami Valley Backgammon Club website.

Eleven players competed in this month’s tournament. We welcomed back John Schraufnagel, who played in his first regular monthly tournament (he also played in the “special” USBGF added money February tournament). Dale Berlin won the event, defeating Joe Calvaruso in the Main Bracket final. In the Consolation final Maron Cury defeated Jon Stephens to win third place.

After four tournaments Trevor Dierkes leads the annual standings with 150 Masters Points, but it’s a tight race at the top. Jon Stephens (120), Joe Calvaruso (113), and Maron Cury (106) are all within 50 points of Trevor. Amazingly eight different players (the maximum possible number) have a Top 2 finish this year!

The full tournament bracket for April can be found here. The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Thank you again to all who came out to play, welcome back John Schraufnagel, and congratulations to our winners:

1st – Dale Berlin
2nd – Joe Calvaruso
3rd – Maron Cury

The next monthly tournament will be held on May 20 (the 3rd Sunday of the month) to avoid conflicts with Mother’s Day the previous Sunday. See you then!

Eleven players competed in this month’s tournament, including one new player, Jersey, who may become a regular player. Chris Yep came out on top, winning the Main Bracket final over second place finisher, Edwin Jones. In the Consolation final Joe Calvaruso defeated Maron Cury to win third place.

Wrapping up the final Consolation match from the February tournament, Trevor Dierkes defeated Edwin Jones to finish in third place for February. As a result, Trevor gained an additional 27 Masters Points for February.

In the annual standings Trevor (148 points) maintains a 49-point lead over Jon Stephens (99 points), though many players are still within striking distance since it’s still early in the year.

The full tournament bracket for March can be found here. The current Masters Points standings can be found here.

Thank you again to all who came out to play, welcome again to Jersey, and congratulations to our winners:

1st – Chris Yep
2nd – Edwin Jones
3rd – Joe Calvaruso

The next monthly tournament will be held on April 8. See you then!

Mike Rezai has announced a change to the weekly Saturday backgammon schedule:

Dates: Every Saturday at 1:00 pm
Format: Single-elimination Knockout/Jackpot, 9-point matches (11-point final)
Entry Fee: $20, 100% return (a small donation is possible; ask Mike for details)

Note that the Saturday start time (1:00 pm) is an hour later than the traditional 12:00 pm start time (for Sunday tournaments).

The new events have been added to the upcoming events calendar on the website.

Attendance:

2/17/2018: 7 players
2/24/2018: 4 players
3/3/2018: 4 players
3/10/2018: 3 players
3/17/2018
3/24/2018
3/31/2018

This month the US Backgammon Federation (USBGF) donated a side pool for current USBGF members.  The added money attracted a record 15 players, breaking the previous record (14 players) for a monthly tournament.  Two new players attended: John Baron and John Schraufnagel.  Jon Stephens won first place in the Main bracket final over second place finisher, David Steinberg.  The Consolation final, Trevor Dierkes vs. Edwin Jones, was suspended (at the score 2-2 to 7) due to time constraints.  The match will resume next month.

The USBGF side pool was split between Stu Cohen and Edwin Jones with Edwin also earning the right to represent Columbus in the USBGF Inter-Club Championships, an online tournament with an estimated 22 entrants (one entrant per qualifying USBGF Prime Club) beginning on March 1.  Jason Marshall was presented with a cake and a gift certificate to Carol Joy Cole’s Backgammon Boutique as recognition for his work in growing the club to Prime Club status over the last six years.  Thanks, Jason!

Here is a list of the Inter-Club Championships entrants:

You can see the USBGF report (including a picture of Edwin) of our tournament here: http://usbgf.org/edwin-jones-brings-home-the-added-money-in-columbus-prime-local-club-initiative/

You can follow Edwin’s progress in the Inter-Club Championships at this link: http://usbgf.org/trny/drawsheets/?trny=411

Wrapping up the final Consolation match from the January tournament, Mike Rezai defeated Maron Cury to finish in third place for January. As a result, Mike gained an additional 27 Masters Points for January.

The full tournament bracket for February can be found here.  The current Masters Points standings can be found here.  Additionally, the winner of the suspended Trevor Dierkes vs. Edwin Jones match will gain an extra 27 Masters Points when the Masters Points are updated next month.

Thank you to all who came out to play, welcome again to John Baron and John Schraufnagel, and congratulations to our winners:

1st – Jon Stephens
2nd – David Steinberg
3rd – Trevor Dierkes or Edwin Jones
USBGF Added Money: Stu Cohen and Edwin Jones
USBGF Inter-Club Championships Entrant: Edwin Jones

The next monthly tournament will be held on March 11.  See you then!

The February 11 tournament will be a special tournament. While it’s one of the 12 regularly scheduled monthly tournaments this year, it’s also a unique tournament (see below).

February 11 Tournament Details

Entry fee: $20 (all players)
Registration: 11:30-12:00, play begins at 12:00
Three optional side pools available: $10, $20, USBGF added money side pool (approximately $100, depending on exact membership levels on February 11)

“Last Chance” event: As an experiment to try to provide additional playing opportunities for those who are eliminated early, I will try (if we have enough players) to arrange an experimental round-robin tournament ($12 entry fee, 100% return, prizes proportional to how many matches you win) for players who are eliminated from the main tournament before 3:00 pm. These extra matches don’t count toward Masters Points.

Now, for the unique aspect of this tournament:

The February 2018 tournament will have an additional added money pool (approximately $100, depending on exact membership levels on February 11) donated by the US Backgammon Federation (USBGF). This added money will be given to the USBGF member who advances farthest in the Main bracket (the Consolation bracket won’t be considered). Note that a split/tie side pool, while rare, is possible; in that case the money will still be split as normal. You are eliminated from contention for the added money after your first loss. Note that you must be a current USBGF member on February 11 to be eligible for the added money pool.

Additionally, the winner of the USBGF added money pool will also win an entry into the online USBGF Inter-Club Championships in March 2018. Since this entry to the Inter-Club Championships is a unique entry (each club can only submit one entry), if necessary we’ll use progression in the Consolation (whoever advances farthest in the Consolation bracket) as the first tiebreaker and a 1-point playoff match as the second tiebreaker in order to select Columbus’ Inter-Club Championships entrant. If the tied players wish, they can instead flip a coin or roll dice instead of using this second tiebreaker. The winner of the Inter-Club Championshps will win an entry into the ABT event of their choice (typical value: $200-500 if you play at the Open level). They will also be featured in an article in the USBGF PrimeTime magazine and have the finals match analyzed by an expert. Currently we expect the Inter-Club Championships to be a 21-player tournament (21 clubs, one player per club). See the end of this post for a listing of Inter-Club Championships entrants from each club.

If you wish, you may qualify for the added money USBGF side pool by signing up for a new USBGF membership or renewing an expired membership at the February tournament itself (before 12:00 noon)! I will collect money and entry forms and forward everything to the USBGF at the end of the tournament. I’ll bring blank USBGF membership forms with me to the tournament. If you wish to pay USBGF membership fees by check make checks payable to the “U.S. Backgammon Federation.”

Additional USBGF membership information

General USBGF membership details: http://usbgf.org/membership/
USBGF membership brochure: http://usbgf.org/members/brochure.pdf
USBGF’s “Getting the Most Out of Your New USBGF Membership” document: http://usbgf.org/members/benefits.pdf

Membership prices (annual):

Youth (age 25 or under): $15
Novice (less than 3 years of competitive play): $15
Basic: $35
Premium: $60 (or $150 for 3 years)

Here is the current list of entrants to the Inter-Club Championships (21 clubs):

See everyone on February 11!

Despite the cold weather, 12 players attended the first tournament of the year, including one new player, Nick Cosentino.  When the dust settled, Trevor Dierkes came out on top, winning in the Main Bracket final over second place finisher, Stu Cohen.  Due to time constraints, the Consolation final was suspended with Mike Rezai leading Maron Cury 5-4 (to 7).  Their match will resume next month.

The full tournament bracket for January can be found here.  The current Masters Points standings can be found here.  Additionally, the winner of the suspended Mike Rezai vs. Maron Cury match will gain an extra 27 Masters Points when the Masters Points are updated next month.

Thank you again to all who came out to play, welcome again to Nick Cosentino, and congratulations to our top 3:

1st – Trevor Dierkes
2nd – Stu Cohen
3rd – Mike Rezai or Maron Cury

The next monthly tournament will be held on February 11th.  This is a special tournament with an extra side pool donated by the US Backgammon Federation (USBGF) exclusively for USBGF members.  Check back here for more details soon!