Sunday 27 August 2000
Before I get to the Main and Consolation updates I'll first of all deal with:
Last Chance (40)
For those players unfortunate enough to be out of the Main and Consolation, the Last Chance is not their last chance; this is a misnomer as on Monday the real last chance will be the Suicide!, but more of that on Monday.
The 5-pointer, Last Chance got underway after I'd sorted out the Main and Consolation players and it progressed to the finals. 'Foxy Lady' Corinne Sellens played her way from Round 1 into the semis against Leslie Singleton and she was determined that no-one was going to stop her assault on the finals. Leslie Manly tried to prevent this, wanting to get there himself but he was unable to do so. In the other semi, Fellow 'Fox' Gerry Carolan swept Helen Helm-Sagar aside to make it an 'all Fox' Final.
What is this Fox? I'm referring to the Fox Reformed Backgammon Club, playing out of Stoke Newington, North London. The Fox and their rivals among the London clubs, The Bell at Hampton, have fielded several players each as their rivalry spills over into the Minds Sports Olympiad.
So, come Monday afternoon, 3:30pm, Corinne and Gerry (enemies over the board - friends away from it) will battle it out for the Last Chance Trophy. Watch this space.
Main (85)
The battle continues . . .
Rachel Rhodes beat Mike Grabsky and then went on to meet James Vogl (a 'Bell Boy' who beat Paul Arnott) in the 1/4 finals. Here, at double match point Rachel astounded James and onlookers with a couple of moves that would have given the race away had James rolled the numbers he wanted, but, backgammon being backgammon, James only got the numbers he'd been seeking too late and the race and the match went to Rachel.
Paul Lamford lost to David Robbins who then went on to meet Dod Davies (Fox) who dispatched the top-hatted Chris Andrescu. In the picture below, Dod, undeterred by the overpowering presence of the Top Hat, knocks Chris out of the Main and into the Consolation.
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| Dod Davies (left) and Sir Chris do battle in the Main. |
Chris has recently undergone a change of persona and is now asking to be known as Sir Chris Andrescu. It's hard to refuse as his credit cards, bank statements and cheque books all refer to him thus. What clinched it for me was his UB40 also reveals him to be Sir Chris - can't argue with that! When pressed as to the veracity of his knighthood, Chris is not too forthcoming with information; I think it's a question of knighthood or knightmare; take your pick.
Meanwhile, back at the Main; Felix Vink despatched Salvador Leong and then made magician Jac Arama disappear (Jac had previously beaten 'Foxy' Will Richardson). Stavros Elia came back from being 6 points down against George Stefanopolous ('Bell Boy') to face Steve Pickard (who had beaten Gavin Anderson). Steve (ex World Champion - see Bibafax magazine August 2000) played like a world champion and Stavros was consigned to the Consolation.
So, down to the semi-finals:
- Rachel Rhodes v David Robbins
- Felix Vink v Steve Pickard
Unfortunately, one of these four will go home without a medal . . . tune in later to find out who.
During the match between Dod Davies and David Robbins, the following position arose in the bearoff:
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11-point match
Davies (white) 6 Robbins (black) 7
Black on roll - Cube action? |
Black, leading 7-6 and only 4 away from victory redoubles to 4. Is this correct? Well, at this score if it's a take it's an immediate re-cube as 4 points gives black the match. White dropped.
According to JellyFish Evaluation this is a double/take giving black 71.9%, however, black's equity is 0.437 but the volatility is high at almost the same, 0.430. The percentages alter slightly to 71.4% after a 1296 rollout but in my opinion Dod was right to drop, looking to come back in the next game. Paul Lamford also took a note of this position and I hope to get his opinion sometime on the correct play.
Progressive Consolation (81)
Of the previous 'leaders', Tom Townsend and Garreth Bell face each other in the Monday, non-progressive semi-final where the winner will meet either George Stefanopolous or Michael Damaniou from the progressive side. George despatched Paul Arnott, Mike Grabsky, Gavin Anderson and James Vogl; whilst (joining from the Main last 8) James cut through Jac Arama and Dod Davies.
On his way to the semis, Garreth beat Peter Wisniewski and Roy Hollands, and Tom knocked out Ed Rogers and Brian Lever.
Last night, some of the Fox members took Sharen and I out to a fantastic Tapas Bar for a relaxing, noisy, hilarious, filling, drunken get-together. The wine flowed all evening and the conversation criss-crossed the table like a giant slalom. Dod, the organiser and Mine Host kept us all entertained and ensured that the delicious food kept coming; as one plate was emptied another arrived to take its place. Finally, at chucking out time Sharen and I returned to our hotel whilst some of the others repaired to the Fox for further imbibing - how do they do it?
BRITISH OPEN ARCHIVES
