Backgammon Club Leuven

Fourteen participants gathered for the last leg of the 2015 Club Championship, lured by the chance of witnessing an exciting finale (with three players having a realistic chance to win the title) and enjoying a pre-tournament dinner.

One week after winning the Belgian Individual Championship (BIC), Michel Lamote honoured us with his company. He quickly made it clear that he is the number-one in Belgium for a reason: in the first two rounds he defeated Johan and Guy, the two favorites to win the championship. Thereby he did a big favour to Zsolt who, benefiting from an easier draw, registered two wins.

After two rounds, the championship was thus still completely open but both Johan and Zsolt had to win the remaining matches to secure the title. However, both of them lost to their fellow club members in the third round: Johan was beaten by Henri while Zsolt lost to Leonidas. As a result, independently from the outcome of his last two matches, Guy became champion. By winning his last match, Zsolt secured the second place while tournament director Johan finished third. Congratulations! [Full results]

In five years, Guy became the fifth club champion. Overall, 39 players participated in at least one of the 12 tournaments of the 2015 championship. The competition was very tight throughout the year: no single player had an advantage of more than 4 points at any point in time. We hope to see similar excitement next year.

The December tournament was won by Leonidas who managed to stop Michel in the final.

A checker play dilemma

Michel Lamote (White, 0/5) vs Johan Segers (Black, 3/5). Black to play 31.

This position is from the match of Johan and Michel. Michel had to fight back from 0:3. At the score of 3:3, Johan doubled at the first opportunity but soon found himself behind a 6-prime. Both players played at world class level but in the end, under time pressure, some mistakes occured. At this position, Johan could not resist making his 5-point (8/5* 6/5) although it is more important to anchor (note that Johan is leading in the race so he can have some racing chances once the prime is broken) and to let Michel enter as soon as possible and thereby preserve timing. According to computer analysis, the best play is 23/22 7/4.

— ZT

Eight participants gathered for November’s Fourth Friday tournament (Nov 27), including the first six players of the championship ranking and new player Nikos Halkias.

As we are getting close to the end of this year’s championship, each match is of particular importance. The high stakes didn’t bother Guy who was the only undefeated player after 2 rounds and we suddenly realized he can win the championship already in November. However, it wasn’t meant to be that way: he was defeated by Johan in the 3rd round so the title will be decided in December.

Guy Van Middelem (White) vs Zsolt Tasnadi (Black), 2-3 in a 5-point match. Guy to play 33.

In the last round, Guy played Zsolt and, after loosing an unlucky backgammon, he was trailing 2:3. In the attached position, Guy (playing white) rolled 33. It is tempting to play 13/10(3) 6/3 but white has to realize that even after playing this roll, he is behind in the race. Therefore, it is better to clear the 8-point and wait for a shot while black is likely to destroy his board. Guy took his time but played correctly.

This was a crucial match; if Zsolt had won, there would be a triple tie between Guy, Johan and Zsolt. However, Guy prevailed which means that he continues to lead the championship ranking, 4 points ahead of Johan and 8 points ahead of Zsolt.

This sets the stage for an exciting finale. Guy has the advantage and he is in a good shape: he won 10 of his last 12 matches in the championship and had a good run in the Leuven Open. Johan is not much behind and he will be desperate to keep the cup in Leuven. Zsolt needs to win all four matches to defend his title, a feat he achieved 3 times in 2014 but not once this year. In fact, we cannot exclude a tie in the final ranking in which case the number of matches won over the year will (hopefully) decide the championship.

If you want to witness (and of course play in) round 12 of the club championsip, please note that it will take place on 23 December, Wednesday!

– ZT