7/8/9 April 2000 Hilton National, Coventry
What a fantastic turnout. Over one hundred players turned out to enter the tenth Biba birthday tournament. Held in the larger Minster Suite the Hilton National, Coventry, it was a great tournament held in a party atmosphere.
| It was a bumper weekend with lots of action; not only did we play the tournament, we also played Hot Pots, and we also had a sweep-stake on the Grand National and on the Sunday morning before the start of play we had a free prize draw for over 20 prizes. And if that wasn't enough we also scoffed a large birthday cake with our dinner on the Saturday evening - so, all in all, it was celebration to remember.
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| The Cake.
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Main (113 players)
They might have Ladies Day at Ascot but they don't have the monopoly on Ladies Day, over the weekend in the Main we had four lady players that where all threatening to go all the way, (nod. nod, wink, wink). Daphne Smith knocked out Derek Matheson in the 1st round and then demolished Jim Johnson in the 2nd and was only halted by John Slattery in the 3rd. Monica Beckerson stormed into the last eight but despite a lead of 9-5 against John Slattery She couldn't quite finish him off. New member Francine Brandler also made it into the last eight but was stopped by Salvador Leong; And finally Stefanie Rohan made it through to the last 16 but was also knocked out by Salvador.
Having knocked out two lady players Salvador found himself in the Final against John Hurst who was Runner-up in Scotland last month. Not to be outdone this time, John rolled and played his way to victory. Well done John and hard luck Salvador.
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Winner John Hurst (left)
and Runner-up Salvador Leong. |
Progressive Consolation (109 players)
Thanks to Danny Cohen knocking him out in the 1st round of the Main, George Stephanopoulos found himself in the 'finals' of the non-progressive draw against Steve Hallett who had been despatched there by Jim Pennington, also from the Main 1st round. George emerged victorious but not without incident, unfortunately. During a crucial stage of the game an onlooker reminded George they he had just missed a doubling opportunity, much to the dismay and disgust of Steve. Steve told him to 'go away' but by this time the damage was done and Steve was feeling rather annoyed by it - and rightly so. The onlooker knows the rules on passing comments during matches and this was completely out of order.
From here George met David Levy in the final of the Consolation. David had fought off strong challenges from John Clark, Matthew Fisher, Brian Busfield and Mardi Ohannessian to meet with Stefanie Rohan in the Progressive 'final', but, he wasn't going to be stopped by anyone and so Stefanie also fell to him.
Will David prevail over George? I'll let David himself tell you what happened:
"Having waited an average of 2 hours between matches (must blame something) and eager to be heading south I flung the cube early and caught the rebound soon after. Couple of rolls later saw me (White) on the bar against a 3456-point board with opposition closing in for the kill, but with a Black blot to shoot at and 3 others in the outfield. Reckoned if I fan it's all over, so crossed fingers, eyes and legs and lobbed over an 8; sure-fire cure for anyone worried about being gammoned.
Entered and hit, baddie fanned, got the Dyson out for 2 more blots (another was wearing Kevlar). Never mind, 3 on the bar against a 1245-point board is enough for the single game and match, or so fools are heard to speculate.
'Roll over', I brayed over the baise, and chuckled as he prayed for the miracle that would one day entertain his grand-kiddies. I closed my 3-point with a 51, now with builders in place to pick off any checkers daring to enter my 5-point board. By now the lobby echoed with chanting in a foreign tongue, followed by the waft of pale incense.
The orbiting spacecraft responded with lethal precision, first turning my dice into 33 to send my 5-point reeling down the corridors of oblivion. Still, 3 black checkers watched from the bar as my 2 stragglers limped home, unable to pick up the 4th blot, but by this time the fat lady was already practising her chords, and I almost risked a gloat.
Not quite sure what happened next, but woke up facing what looked like every Black checker north of Watford.
Managed to anchor on the ace-point, out with a 6, hit, hit back, was hit, escaped, captured, retaliated; each roll a lifesaver, and each needing to be a joker just to stay alive. He sneered as I whispered sweet goodbyes to my 4-point, and when a blank space appeared where my 3-point used to be, he looked over with not a rumour of guilt or sympathy.
Still, roll after roll he slashed away at me, now bloodied and weakening and unaware that resistance was futile, still mindlessly believing in good over evil as I sank to the dirt, with barely strength enough to unfurl the white flag in the face of more and heavier artillery being uncovered by the maniac.
It finally came; my release from further suffering in the form of a single unproductive roll, and the Jammysodopolous gurgle could no longer be constrained. A brute, and not one to be treated with anything less than utmost respect.
Well done, George, and for the record there's only one way you could ever be forgiven for stealing this unwinnable game: have a full and unreserved apology inscribed on your tombstone!
Nice weekend, Mike, and (ahem) looks like London scooped just about everything. Looking forward to the next."
So, there it is. George made it, David didn't!
Last Chance (64 players)
Any player no longer in the Main or Consolation always starts off the Sunday morning with the Last Chance 5-point knockout. John Clark cut a swathe through a thicket of tough players, Paul Lamford, Michael Damianou, Al Hogg, John Broomfield and Steve John until he met Paul Turnbull in the Final. John wasn't going to be stopped now, and, with dice rolling like a chain saw he felled poor Paul to take the trophy...but not the pool money! John was too late to enter; I had closed the pool at 10:28 (after several announcements over the microphone) just 2 minutes before the free prize draw and so all he collected was the added prize money and the trophy itself. Today's lesson is: If you want to enter the pools be there before they close!
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Suicide! (64 open draw)
Mark Oram, playing in his first ever Biba final (albeit the Suicide!) sat down against Ray Kershaw in the finals having beaten Tim Wilkins in the semis. Tim had just received a cheque for £191 for being the top panellist in the 1999 Backgammon Quiz and was perhaps not too concerned about the loss! Ray was fresh from beating a couple of Liverpudlians, John Wright and then Simon K Jones so he was primed for another victory. However, Mark wouldn't let him and he instead took first place leaving ray the Runner-up. Well done, Mark.
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| Mark Oram |
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Friday KO (34 players)
Doing his best to set new records, John Broomfield sat down once again in the finals of the Friday night knockout. This time it was down to Dod Davies to stop him...but how? Once JB gets into his stride he's unstoppable; as Dod discovered. JB first, Dod second! Another weekend break prize to add to the many others.
Doubles (28 pairs)
So, what were the funny names this time? Well we had, 'Birthday Boys', 'The Velvet Underpants','Too Stupid To Think Of A Name', 'Rhodes 2 Hell', 'Socks & Gloves' and 'Sheikh Hada & Count De Meuny'. 'Socks & Gloves' met 'The Midlanders' in the final in which it was decided to play for the entire pot (£600), winner-takes-all. And 'The Midlanders' took it all!
- Click here for the full Birthday Party results tables.
- To see the latest statistics regarding Biba tournaments click here.
How many birthday tournaments can we have? The last was five years ago. Do we have to wait another five years for the next? I suppose so. At least it's something to look forward to. And; we almost signed up member number 1000, falling just two short at 998 - however, as I write this report (Monday 10 April) I am sure that by the time you read this article we'll have broken through the 1000 barrier. Thank you, all of you.
