Playing the usual Swiss-Format qualifier we all played 5, 7-point matches with the top 16 going through to the Main Knockout, the deciding criteria being matches won and point difference.

After Round One the last 8 were:

• Paul Barwick vs John Slattery
• Steve Hallet vs Uldis Lapikens
• Kristin Bradbury vs Brendan Burgess
• John Wright vs Brian Lever

In each fixture the latter went through. John Slattery, (not so) fresh from Monte Carlo and Nice played his way into his second (Biba) tournament final after beating Uldis in the semis and Brendan Burgess beat Brian Lever to meet him there. According to Brian, "Brendan wiped the floor with me" in the Crawford game and came out on top 11-3.

Prior to losing this match Brian was trailing 3-6 when he took a double from Brendan. Later, in an almost 'no-contact' position (see below), he considered a re-cube to 4.

11 Point Match Black 3 White 6 Brian (black) on roll. Cube Action?

Is it, isn't it? Well the pip count is 53 black, 52 white, so black leads by one pip but is on roll - worth on average 8 pips and he has a hit with 1s (30.55%). According to JellyFish this is, 'no double/take' with black on 55%. Wisely Brian decides to hold back and the game continues. It goes right down to the last man and white wins . . . . by one pip!

In the final John Slattery stormed through, his kilt swinging to and fro so much you could see his sgian-dhu! He went one down in the first game then bolted into the lead with a 2-cube gammon to 6-1, followed this by winning 4 points in the next game: 10-1, Crawford already! and finished it off in the 4th game: 11-1 . . . .Poor Brendan couldn't do a thing about it.

(from l to r) John Wright: Tournament Director, Monica Beckerson: Consolation Runner-up, Brendan Burgess: Main Runner-up, John Slattery: Main Winner, Jeremy Limb: Shootout Winner.

Consolation (38)
Backgammon playing Granny, Monica Beckerson (who apparently reminds John Wright of his mum) whupped me in the 1st round after I made an unforgivable mistake on handling the cube and I exited 5-0 down. I was just one of several more that were, 'Beckersoned' (coined by Jim Johnson many years ago after being defeated by her) along her way to the final where she was stopped in her tracks by Steve Malins who fought back for us men, humiliated by this little backgammon dynamo.

Consolation Winner, Steve Malins towers above the Runner-up, Monica Beckerson

Last Chance (64 open entry)
Once again, the 'open entry' format, blatantly stolen by me and used unashamedly at Biba tournaments, proved very popular. Taking (almost) full advantage of the re-entry policy, Rachel Rhodes only made it into the 2nd round on her fourth attempt, but, after passing that hurdle she went all the way to the semis . . . to be stopped by Paul Barwick. After spending a fortune on re-entry fees poor Rachel went out without a bean. One man who knows a thing or two about spending a fortune on re-entries in this particular event is Steve Hallett - but not this time. Steve made the final against Paul on his first entry and ended up the winner; winning back all those past re-entry fees!

One-Point Shootout (56) Like it or not everyone is entered into this tournament. Happily everyone likes it so that's no problem. It's become a tradition at the Liverpool Open that the final of this event is 'overseen' by a small furry animal (some of you will remember last year it looked like Dod Davies) and, furthermore, the controller of this furry animal has also become a tradition: Steve Hallett. It is often hard to see where the small furry animal (this year a hedgehog) stops and Steve (a large furry animal) starts as they blur into one image!

Last Chance Winner, Steve Hallett (l) and Runner-up, Paul Barwick (r)

However, this blurring of images did not distract Jeremy Limb who, in the final, paid less attention to the back and forth movement of Steve's alter-ego and more to the game. Off came his shoes and socks (Jeremy doesn't have any arms and so plays with his left foot) and he ended up beating Darren Kerrigan to take home the furry animal (no, not Steve!).

Click here for the Liverpool Open quick results.

Once again, Liverpool BG Club have put on a great tournament and everyone involved should be congratulated on another success. Oh, and what more could one ask for? A Chinese meal to round off the day, that's what! Jeff Ellis and I did the 'chip shop' run and discovered that they would be more than happy to deliver delicious Chinese meals for our consumption - What a perfect ending to a perfect day!

• To see the latest statistics regarding Biba tournaments click here.