Main (114)
Neil had a fairly easy passage on the Saturday in as much as he had a first round bye but on the Sunday things were not so straightforward. His first three matches were close wins and they could have gone either way. His first opponent, Phil Charlton, the 1998 Runner-up looked as though he might be the one to beat him but Neil managed to turn the game round and win 11 - 10.

His next opponent, Mardi Ohannessian (1998 Ranking Champion), didn’t really play his normal game. Although Mardi took an early 5 - 0 lead it was only due to the fact that he doubled well after he had lost his market and Neil had easy drops. The problem with this strategy is that it doesn’t last and to prove this Neil clawed his way back into the match. Eventually he emerged victorious over Mardi, another 11 - 10.

It is interesting to note that during this match Mardi often changed his mind about some of his moves; which is something he has never been seen to do before! He is a natural instinctive player and for some reason he didn’t play his natural game this time. Neil’s next opponent, in the semi-final, Emmanuel Di Bona put up a magnificent fight during which the following position appeared:

11 Point Match Black 5 White 8 Black (Emmanuel) to play Redoubles to 4

Neil thought a few minutes before dropping this redouble, which, according to JF3.5 is a, 'No Double / Take' giving Emmanuel 66.7% winning chances with an equity of 0.333, but a volatility of 0.525. At the very worst Neil would go 8 – 9 down but would have won outright if he won the game.

White (Neil) on roll Double Match Point

Emmanuel managed to put Neil on the bar and held him there with a full prime; all he had to do was bear off safely to win. On each of his last three rolls, Emmanuel left a forced blot for Neil to hit off the bar and each time Neil rolled a dancing number . . . until now; Neil rolls 62, hits, manages to blot Emmanuel out and begins to bear off himself. Emmanuel continually rolls dancing numbers, following Neil’s prime as it got smaller and smaller. Neil goes on to win, against odds of 94.2% to Emmanuel with a negative equity of –1.728!

1999 British Open Winner, Neil Kazaross.

The eventual final was between Neil and our own, Jerry Smith who beat Dave Coyne from Eire in his semi-final. Jerry put up a great fight but in the end, Neil triumphed to take the title back to the States – he has promised to return next year to defend it! Progressive Consolation (110) One hundred and ten, a good entry! Eighty two Main first and second round losers went into the first consolation draw and this continued uneventfully until the semi-finals on this sheet when Neil Clarke wrongly played Dod Davies in the semi-final. In actual fact Dod had to beat Julian Fetterlein, and Neil had to beat Murray Henderson; which they both did and they then sat down in the final of this draw sheet and Dod emerged victorious over Neil for the second time! He then met Richard Granville from the Progressive side who had beaten Julian Hayhurst in his final on that sheet. Dod’s winning streak didn’t quite last and Richard emerged the victor.

Last Chance (52)
Starting on the Sunday morning this 5-point tournament saw the welcome return of Stefan Paliwoda to competition playing. On his return after several months away he sat down in the final against David Nathan, a new member but by no means a new player. Unfortunately for Stefan, David came out the winner. Cato Fordham and Dave Motley where the losing semi-finalists.

Suicide! (64)
This horrible little 3-point element always gets people going. The best way to view this low-point competition is to imagine the score is 8 all in an eleven point match, something we all end up doing time after time. Viewed this way it isn’t too bad! Liverpool player, Mike Waxman knocked out Chris Evans in the semi-final will to meet Bill Pope in the final; Bill having knocked out local player, Conrad Cooper in the other semi-final. Bill triumphed this time to win his first ever Biba trophy, leaving Mike the runner-up.

Friday Knockout (30)
With a bigger field than the Scottish Open this was a great turnout for a Friday night tournament. New member and Last Chance winner, David Nathan beat Walter Jarc from Spain in the final to win the weekend break prize.

Super Jackpot (8)
Never having got off the ground in Scotland, this time the Super Jackpot started with eight players paying an entry fee of £250 each. It was a very tough field; in the first round Julian Fetterlein beat Neil Kazaross, Dave McNair beat John Slattery, Murray Henderson beat Walter Jarc and John Gale (the 1999 British Open sponsor) beat John Clark. In the semis, Julian beat Dave and Murray beat John; and in the final, Julian took the first prize. The Super Jackpot will be a regular ranked feature subject to demand.

Doubles (15 teams) Both teams in the final used a corruption of their names as their team name, Christmas Crackers and Dod Willing being the protagonists. Guess who they were! Christmas Crackers emerged, tired but victorious having beaten a far superior team, Dice Station Zebra (guess who they were!) in the 2nd round! All in all it was an excellent tournament marred only by the arrival of fire engines and the evacuation of the hotel due to a ‘false alarm’ set off by smokers congregating in the corridor outside the playing room!

Some of the 114 entrants.