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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE USBGF FALL 2020 Magriel Tourney Cup of Stars USA Defeats UK Honoring our in Founding Sponsors

U.S. BACKGAMMON FEDERATION VISIT US AT USBGF.ORG ABT Online! October 8 - 11, 2020 Columbus Day Weekend

• Sunny Florida Warm-Ups, Thursday evening October 8 • Major Jackpots - Friday afternoon October 9 • Special Jackpots: Women’s, Rookies, Super Seniors • Miami Masters (70+), FTH Board event • Orlando Open • Art Benjamin – the • Lauderdale Limited Mathemagician - seminar • Doubles – Friday evening • USBGF membership required • ABT Main divisions – starting • 100% return on entry fees Saturday, October 10 (ranging from $25 to $100) • Open/Advanced - Double elimination • $30 tournament fee • Last Chance fresh draw – • Trophies Sunday October 11 • Zoom Welcome Ceremony and Awards Ceremony

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USBGF A M E R I C A N BACKGAMMON TOUR #2020 Good Luck to Team USA in the WBIF Online Team Championship 2020 Congratulations to Wilcox Snellings, Bob Wachtel, Joe Russell (captain), Frank Raposa, Frank Talbot, and Odis Chenault for qualifying for Team USA!

Follow Team USA on the World Backgammon Federation website: https://wbgf.info/wbif-2/

California State Championship December 3–6 2020 Register now: www.GammonAssociatesWest.com

ONLINE! BACKGAMMON TOUR #2020 2 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Editor’s Note Fall 2020 Marty Storer, Executive Editor

n this issue, replete with great photos, we continue to track online backgammon in America and all over the world. The veteran American grandmaster Chris Trencher appears on our cover following a great performance in the first Magriel Cup, Ia monumental U.S. vs. U.K. challenge that America won. That big event is recapped by Marty Storer and Karen Davis in one article, with analysis of positions from Chris Trencher’s and Matt Cohn- Geier’s matches, including valuable commentary by Chris. For a U.K. perspective on this event, author and regular USBGF contributor Chris Bray, also the backgammon columnist for of , contributes an article first published on the UKBGF site.

Another major happening, the annual Tournament of Stars, which pairs Founding Sponsors with Stars in the signature doubles event, was held online this year for the first time. Karen and Marty give the retrospective, with analysis by Marty of six positions from the final.

Other tournaments include the Viking Classic, whose many events this year are covered by Jeff Spencer of the Minnesota club, complete with an entertaining “bad beat” story. The Michigan Summer Championships, this year played online, are recapped by the ever-popular and expert organizer, Carol Joy Cole. Turning abroad, Cristi Frisk of the Romanian Backgammon Federation, who competed as a Star in the Tournament of Stars, gives us the rundown on both the Mind Olympiad and the World Junior and Youth Online Championships. Candace Mayeron may cover the upcoming Cal State tournament in a later issue, but in the meantime she gives us a great profile of Kara Schultz, an up-and- coming player from Southern California.

Chris Trencher makes another contribution with a feature article: a rave review of Marc Brockmann Olsen’s recent book, Cube Like a Boss. You don’t want to miss that!

We also include reminiscences of the great Malcolm Davis, a star of stars whose recent passing is sadly lamented. Bill Robertie, Kent Goulding, Karen Davis, Hugh Sconyers, and Stevan Hammond all remember Malcolm fondly. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 3

John Pirner, USBGF President and Executive Director, looks toward the future with an eye toward growth, sharing ideas about where the Federation is, where it needs to go, and how to get there. Both the Federation and tournament organizers have adapted well to the pandemic, quickly creating value and success in online events; but there is more to be done.

In his regular column, “What’s the Ruling?”, Rich Munitz deals with the timely topic of online cheating. Art Benjamin’s “Math Overboard” column is “The Art of the Long Race”—methods to determine cube actions and estimate winning chances. With those methods, you won’t go wrong.

As usual, we list our Founding Sponsors, whose generous support makes possible all our events and membership benefits. We welcome several new high- level Sponsors! And also as usual, we give tournament results and point-race standings of all our events, including the popular USBGF Online Circuit.

Finally, check out the list of upcoming events! As I’ve Marty Storer is a member of the USBGF noted before, there will be plenty of backgammon Board of Directors and Executive Editor before live events resume again. of PrimeTime Backgammon magazine.

On the Cover For more than a few years, Grandmaster Chris Trencher has been a consistent winner in the USA as well as abroad. He performed exceedingly well in the recent Magriel Cup challenge—check out our feature article, which includes commentary from Chris along with Marty’s analysis. As an extra treat, see Chris’s review of Marc Olsen’s new book, Cube Like a Boss!

Photo Credit: Beth Diamond In this Issue: Fall 2020

Malcolm Davis Remembered 16

Book Review: Cube Like a Boss 69

Viking Classic 60 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 5 In this Issue: Magriel Cup 2020 32 2020 MAGRIEL CUP The USA wins the extravaganza vs. Great Britain Fall 2020 BY KAREN DAVIS AND MARTY STORER

36 UK VS USA – THE MAGRIEL CUP Perspective and analysis from a U.K. participant BY CHRIS BRAY

39 MAGRIEL CUP POSITION ANALYSIS Featuring three of the tourney's top performers 94 BY MARTY STORER Features

16 MALCOLM DAVIS REMEMBERED Memorials of a Giant of Giants BY BILL ROBERTIE, KENT GOULDING, KAREN DAVIS, HUGH SCONYERS, AND STEVAN HAMMOND

84 KARA SCHULTZ: SHE'S A WINNER Hard work with a top coach pays dividends BY CANDACE MAYERON

Kara Shultz: She's a Winner 84 6 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Columns Tournament Reports

10 PRESIDENT'S COLUMN: 51 USBGF TOURNAMENT OF STARS MEETING FUTURE CHALLENGES A popular event goes online­—success! A developing vision for the future BY KAREN DAVIS AND MARTY STORER BY JOHN PIRNER 58 SUMMER WINNERS IN MICHIGAN 13 FOUNDING SPONSORS Las Vegas players triumph in the Open Kudos to our contributors, old and new BY CAROL JOY COLE

69 BOOK REVIEW: 60 THE VIKING CLASSIC CUBE LIKE A BOSS Fun, and spoils for winning raiders A rave from a trustworthy source BY JEFF SPENCER BY CHRIS TRENCHER 66 UNDER-12 ONLINE 88 MATH OVERBOARD: BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS THE ART OF THE LONG RACE The kids and older youth play hard Thorough treatment of an important topic BY CRISTIAN FRISK BY ART BENJAMIN 94 MIND SPORTS OLYMPIAD 96 WHAT'S THE RULING?: Many backgammon events are now included CHEATING AND THE BY CRISTIAN FRISK USBGF STANDARDS OF ETHICAL PRACTICE How we promote high ethics and fair play BY RICH MUNITZ USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 7

Results & Leaders

100 ABT ONLINE! Help grow the TOURNAMENT RESULTS backgammon community The online tour has been well attended! one player at a time!

104 ABT ONLINE! POINTS RACE Donate via PayPal to: The competition is heating up! [email protected] 105 ABT ONLINE! STANDINGS To set up a charitable Keep track of everyone's performance! bequest to the USBGF, 106 USBGF ONLINE CIRCUIT WINNERS contact [email protected] You've got to be in it to win it!

108 TOURNAMENT CALENDAR Your tax deductible donation benefits the Mark your calendar and attend these exciting future of backgammon ABT and USBGF events taking place across through education - the the country. USBGF Foundation is a 501(c)3 8 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

publisher USBGF Spotlight John Pirner

executive editor Marty Storer

founding editor Matt Cohn-Geier

production editor Kristian Heuer

contributing photographers Robert Amador, Doris Auer Ben Friesen

Ben Friesen, Director of Tournament Support, is a member of the USBGF usbgf photographers Board of Directors, a Silver Founding Sponsor, and chair of the Tournament Karen Davis, Steve Sax, Directors Advisory Committee. He has directed numerous ABT and ABT Candace Mayeron Online! tournaments including the Cherry Blossom, California State, Denver Wild West, Los Angeles Open, Michigan, Ohio, and Sunny Florida. editorial advisory board Karen Davis (Chair), Marty Storer, Kristian Heuer, John Pirner

information PrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the U.S. Backgammon Federation.

contact us Email: [email protected] Website: usbgf.org Dan Minardi Dan MInardi, Chief Operating Officer, Treasurer and a member of the volume 11, issue 4 USBGF Board of Directors. Dan is also a Gold Founding Sponsor, Finance © 2020 U.S. Backgammon Committee Chair, a member of the Executive Committee and Tournament Federation Directors Advisory Committee as well as Director of the Wild West Shootout and Colorado Backgammon Club. notice Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the U.S. Backgammon Federation. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 9

USBGF Volunteers USBGF membership director Board of Directors Ed Corey social media director and board chairman; chair, rules and ethics committee; online circuit director executive committee; chair, hall of fame committee Cary Hoarty hall of fame committee Neil Kazaross Joseph Russell social media and website adviser chief operating officer, April Kennedy president; executive director finance committee, executive John Pirner committee, treasurer website Dan Minardi Elizabeth Liberty vice chairman; chair, governance and nominating chair, ratings and stats communication committee committee; chair, rules and Edward Onny Art Benjamin ethics committee Richard Munitz graphic design executive committee; finance Jim Sisti committee; president u.s. chief technology officer; backgammon foundation chair, technology committee usbgf ratings team Karen Davis Matt Reklaitis Patrick Gibson (Director), Doug DeWitte, Ergin Bayrak member, local club committee secretary; executive editor; Jack Edelson executive committee usbgf club committee Marty Storer Albert Steg (Chair), Ted Chee, chair, tournament directors Ben Friesen, Ross Gordon, advisory committee; chief, chair, marketing committee Joe Miller, Jeff Proctor tournament support Frank Talbot Ben Friesen usbgf finance committee special adviser to board of Dan Minardi (Chair), Jason Briggs, chair, membership committee directors Ed Corey, Karen Davis, Bruce Julius High Carol Joy Cole Farquhar, Tom Rebelo, John Pirner chief financial officer usbgf hall of fame committee Jeb Horton Joe Russell (Chair), Art Benjamin, Patrick Gibson, Kent Goulding, Neil Kazaross, Bill Robertie 10 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

President’s Column

USBGF Meeting Future Challenges

John Pirner, President and Executive Director

had hoped that this issue of PrimeTime would stipends have contributed time far below market announce the resumption of live tournament value. Incorporating the services of a new volunteer play. That good news will have to wait for a into any of our roles is not smooth or easy. The future issue. When will live tournament play customer service demands from our members Iresume? The decision will be made by the tournament are intense. Volunteers can feel that the work is directors, the hotels that we play in, and a community unremitting and they are not appreciated. Turnover consensus that we will be safe. is a problem.

COVID has had an economic impact on the We will continue to rely on volunteers and membership tournament directors, and the USBGF. Hotel space dues for the foreseeable future, but it is time to begin a must be reserved six to twelve months before the transition from a club model relying on volunteers to a tournament date. The directors sign a contract that professional organization with paid staff. Professional personally guarantees income for the hotel whether or staff can be held accountable for performance in a way not the tournament is held or canceled. Fortunately, that we cannot expect from volunteers. all of our directors were able to cancel their contracts this year given the circumstances, but the same may With the dues increase last March, we were able not be true for 2021 cancellations. Many directors to add Ben Friesen as a part-time Tournament fear having to pay thousands of dollars in cancellation Support Director and Cary Hoarty as a part-time fees. The directors still lost money on printing Education Director. Ed Corey came on board as a brochures, trophies, marketing, and many hours volunteer Membership Director and Dan Minardi as of work that came to nothing. In a good year some a volunteer Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer. directors make a little and some lose more than a As has been the case in recent years, I am a volunteer little. They manage a great deal of risk that many of Executive Director. us do not appreciate. As the next priority, I would like to hire a The USBGF is entering our second decade of professional marketing director. The mission of existence. Until now, ninety percent of USBGF the USBGF is to be a not-for-profit organization income has come from membership dues and devoted to advancing the awareness, participation, generous donations. More importantly, the USBGF education, and enjoyment of the skill-based of would not exist without thousands of hours donated backgammon. We seek growth and opportunities for by volunteers. The few people receiving monthly players at all levels. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 11

To accomplish this we would benefit from a The launch of ABT Online! was well timed. We marketing professional who can: have depended on live tournaments to sign up new memberships and renew existing memberships. • Provide continuity in customer support and Membership numbers were struggling pre-COVID. communications. The shutdown could have accelerated a steeper • Support local clubs as they build their decline. Fortunately we launched ABT Online! memberships. just as the shutdown created a demand for online • Support ABT directors to help with scheduling, tournaments. Because of ABT Online! memberships technology, marketing, staffing, and providing a have increased and are holding steady. continuity of experience across our ABT events. • Attract casual players who are not ready for With the launch of ABT Online! we required tournaments. USBGF membership and a per-player tournament • Roll out new products like ABT Online! fee to participate. We received complaints, mostly • Organize educational materials of all kinds. from equity calculators. It has bewildered me why • Ensure that our website is fresh, relevant and some players won’t play in a live tournament because modern. the rake is 10% instead of 5%. After hotel, air • Organize our social media outlets so that they are travel, meals, lost time at work, etc., the difference fresh and relevant. seems negligible, and you still have to cash! I don’t • Solicit feedback from all of our stakeholders. win enough in golf competitions to pay for my membership but my equity calculation includes an In addition to hiring staff, we need additional factor, so the decision to renew is easy. revenue sources for a new website and other initiatives that will require capital. We have been asked to justify the USBGF fees. Like any other business we have to manage risk I belong to a golf club. I pay a yearly membership or potentially experience tragedy. We commit to fee which gives me access to tee times. However, expenses with the promise to pay. Our members special events and club tournaments are an additional expect better products and services. We cannot fee. The club offers my kids youth classes for a fee. I operate and grow without a surplus. Being a not-for- can hire a pro to help me with my fade. I pay extra profit organization means that our profits remain in for a locker and club storage. Walking is included the organization and are not paid out to individuals in my membership but I can rent a cart if I want to as dividends. Our future surpluses will be invested in ride. I pay a yearly fee to track my handicap. This à la our mission and your experience. carte model is how the USBGF will raise additional revenues.

John Pirner brings extensive experience in business to his role as President and Executive Director of the USBGF.

USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 13

Photo Credit: Doris Auer

Outstanding Supporters of our Organization USBGF Founding Sponsors & Prime Benefactors

he USBGF salutes the individuals and Founding Sponsors and Prime Benefactors receive organizations who have generously supported an attractive personalized doubling cube noting their our Federation by becoming Founding Sponsors level of giving. We welcome additional Founding and Prime Benefactors. These 205 Founding Sponsors and Prime Benefactors who wish to help us Tand Corporate Sponsors and Prime Benefactors grow the game we all love! have contributed over $350,000, providing the seed capital needed for the launch and growth of the U.S. The USBGF Board of Directors has approved the launch Backgammon Federation, and/or have contributed to of a Capital Campaign in 2020 to raise funds needed the Prime Tournament Initiative. The support of our for website enhancement, educational material, modern Founding Sponsors and Prime Benefactors will be tournament equipment, and tournament sponsorship. appreciated for years to come, and includes perpetual recognition on our website and benefits not available to Thanks to our newest Gold Founding Sponsors any other class of Membership. John Barnett (NY), Roberto Litzenberger (VA), and Mario Savan (CA); Silver Founding Sponsor In appreciation of this generous support, a doubles Candace Mayeron; and Bronze Founding Sponsors event pairing Founding Sponsors and Prime Jak Civre (), Mike Jerue (VA), Benefactors with Giants of Backgammon—The Brian Lonergan (LA), Tim Mabee (IL), and Tournament of Stars—is held annually, honoring the Tom Rebelo (). Founding Sponsors and Prime Benefactors who have been instrumental in the success of the organization. More information on the benefits of becoming In 2020 the Tournament of Stars was held online. a Founding Sponsor may be found at USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits and on becoming a Prime Benefactor at USBGF Prime Tournament Initiative. 14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine Founding Sponsors corporate Richard Munitz (NY) Gary Oleson (TX) Edj Analytics Gammon Stuff Jeffrey Acierno (NJ) John Stryker (IL) Mike Costello (KS) Gammon Guys Masayuki Mochizuki () Andrew James Martinez (CA) Lloyd Sorenson (TX) Cook Travel Falafel Natanzon () Michael Flohr (IL) Scott Ward (TX) GameSite 2000 (XG, Jim Pasko (NV) Joe Potts (TX) Larry Shiller (NY) Mobile XG, GameSite) David Leibowitz (NY) Secil Baysal (CA) Matthias Vohwinkel (TX) Geoffrey Parker Jason Lee (MD) Bernard Nussbaumer (TX) Michael Valliere (PA) The Grunwald Fund Frank Talbot (MI) Kit Woolsey (CA) Karam Ashoo (CA) USBGF National Michihito Kageyama (Japan) Judy Field (MI) Eliot Tawil (NY) Championship Prize Fund Josh Racko (CA) David Kettler (TX) Shay Asraff (NV) Kevin Finch (PA) Neil Kazaross (IL) Ed Rosenblum (NM) diamond Dan Dabney (IL) William Lonergan (NY) Kirby Domingue (LA) Karen Davis (FL)- Jack Edelson (MN) Dan Wittkopp (MI) Boris Docevski (PA) Chairman’s PB Arkadiy Tsinis (FL) Ray Cifani (OH) Ted Chee (CA) Thomas Buckner (PA) Matthew Brown (MD) Stephen Deep (LA) Koray Agirbas (GA) Robert Stoller (AK) – Cloyd Laporte (NY) Stephen Kenney (NC) Rob Goodner (OK) Chairman’s PB David Klausa (CO) Anthony Anton (NV) Chris Siddall (DC) Alan and Joan Grunwald (NJ) Dennis Lutz (GA) John C. Hamlin (VT) Eva Marie Doiron (CA) Malcolm Davis (TX) Bryan Ignozzi (NV) Blake Fleetwood (NY) Christian Briggs (FL) Hugh Sconyers () Dennis Culpepper (VA) Thomas Poole (NY) Boris Dekhtyar (NY) Mike Svobodny (FL) Albert Steg (MA) Charlie Briggs (FL) Adrian Nedelcu (IL) Jason Briggs (FL) Jonah Seewald (CO) Eric Petersen (CA) Max Mowzoon (FL) Jamie Erin Rosen (NY) Ron Fash (TX) Stuart Domeshek (GA) Chris Trencher (NY) Michael Louis Rosen (NY) Marty Storer (NH) Julia T. Cooley (FL) Allen Tish (CA) John Bird (TX)- President’s PB Jason H. F. Lovelady (FL) Greg Merriman (MI) Gary Fox (Bahamas) John Pirner (MN) Dan Minardi (CO) Candace Mayeron (CA) Gary Koscielny (FL) Art Benjamin (CA)- John Barnett (NY) Ian Terry (TX) Sustaining PB Roberto Litzenberger (VA) bronze Jim Slomkoski (MI) Victor Ashkenazi (NY)- William Chibnik (IL) platinum silver Contributing PB Ken Bame (CA) Morten Holm () Kristina Vig (WA) Pat McCormick (CA) John Klein (MD) Harvey Gillis (AZ) Jake Jacobs () Michael Weinberger (LA) Elizabeth Liberty (FL) Bruce Newberg (CA) Edward Corey (CT) Preston Guidry (LA) Joseph Feldman (MI) Joseph Russell (CA) Bill Riles (TX)- Sean Cearley (WA) Vinson Blanton (VA) Julius High (KS)- Sustaining PB Play65 Backgammon (Israel) Kimberly Lewis (VA) Contributing PB Dorn Bishop (CA)- Greg Cottle (NV) Daniel Bryant (CA) Patrick & Carla Gibson (CA)- Contributing PB James G. Allen (NV) Frank Ley (CA) Sustaining PB Lynn Ehrlich (NY) Mark Gordon (MD) Dick Allen (CO) – Lloyd E Webber (LEW) (VA)- Chiva Tafazzoli () Rochelle Hasson (NY) Bronze Capital Sponsor President’s PB Alex Gerding (FL) Drew Giovanis (NV) Curtis Wilhelmsen (MO) Jeb Horton (NC) Larry Liebster (NV) James E. Roland (IL) Matt Reklaitis (MA) Ben Friesen (MI) Steve Schreiber (NY) Tim Boyd-Wilson (AUS) gold205Jim Stutz (CT) John Calcott (NM) Irina Litzenberger (VA) Saba Bejanishvili (GA)- Gus Contos (CA) Jeff Burdsall (NV) Michelle Nussbaumer (TX) Sustaining PB Dion Hogan (MI) Justin and Rynell Nunez (CA) Jim Sisti (CT ) Christopher Cavanagh (CT) Chuck Bower (IN) Arthur Stein (NY) Xavier Dufaure de Citres (OH) Alan Pruce (VA) Bill Finneran (VA) Powhatan French (TX) Thorsten Hoyer (Germany) Carol Joy Cole (MI)- Patty Geoffroy Knapp (NC) Carla Gibson (CA) Tom Rebelo (Canada) Sustaining PB Sean Williams (UK) David Rennie (CA) Tim Mabee (IL) Mario Savan (CA) Rory Pascar (IL) Phil Simborg (IL) Brian Lonergan (LA) Anna Covlin (NY) Stepan Nuniyants (WA) Ed Sawyer (AK) Jak Civre (Switzerland) Myles Covlin (NY) Scott Kelland (CT) Twain Pigott (TX) Michael Jerue (VA) Rod Covlin (NY) Kathy McGrath Weiner (FL) Jerry Godsey (GA) Perry Gartner (FL) Bob Glass (CA) Michelle Steinberg (NJ) youth Larry Taylor (GA) Steve Sax (CA) Tariq Siddiqi () Istvan Eger () Alfred Mamlet (MD) Steve Blanchard (IL) Vladimir Gudgenov (NC) Pierce Valliere (PA) Edward B. Bennett (NM) Russell Sands (FL) Jason Pack (NJ) Within each level, names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors. ADVERTISE IN PRIMETIME F  P  ½ P  ¼ P 

PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $72 annually, not including shipping. 4 issues for $18 each. Email [email protected] for details. Malcolm Davis Remembered The large life of a great and magnanimous star: reminiscences by his friends

Photo Credit: Karen Davis USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 17

Memories of Malcolm Bill Robertie

A few weeks ago Malcolm Davis sadly passed away, in his late 80s. Malcolm was one of the true giants of the game, a top player for more than 40 years, a fixture at practically every major tournament, and a member of the Backgammon Hall of Fame. The capstone of his tournament career came in 1996, when he won the fifth World Cup, defeating Kit Woolsey in a best-of-five 13-point match final.

In many respects Malcolm was well ahead of his time. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when pure play ruled the day, Malcolm was one of a few players who sought a more sensible, balanced approach to the game. His excellent tournament results were for a time dismissed as simply good luck. But when JellyFish and Snowie arrived on the scene, players began to understand that Malcolm and some other “lucky” players had been on the right track all along.

I always enjoyed running into Malcolm at tournaments. He had a wide range of interests and a ton of good stories to share. (Playing him wasn’t that much fun since he beat me like a drum.) Here are a few stories from Malcolm’s life.

Malcolm Davis won the prestigious World Cup tournament, 1996. 18 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Malcolm’s Debut In The Big Time against them — Tony Goble and Malcolm Davis. Early in his backgammon career Malcolm was a Tony Goble might be an unfamiliar name to many participant in the longest match ever played — current players, but in 1978 he was one of the kings a 65-point doubles match against of backgammon. In 1975 he accomplished a feat and Roger Low. How the match came about is a never matched before or since. He won five major story in itself. tournaments in one calendar year! Keep in mind that there weren’t nearly as many tournaments then In 1978 Harry Demetriou, owner of the Mont as now and his feat becomes even more impressive. Parnes Hotel and in Athens, decided that his Outside of Texas Malcolm was still pretty much casino needed a little more publicity. Backgammon unknown, but if Goble wanted him as a partner then was becoming hugely popular at that time and the New Yorkers assumed he must be a real player. especially so in , so what could be better than a big backgammon match? He decided to promote The warm-up match was set for late August in a doubles match between a European team and Dallas. It would be a match to 65, two points longer an American team, to settle the question of where than the upcoming match against the Europeans. The backgammon superiority really resided — with the betting line heavily favored the New Yorkers, but the elegant and distinguished European crowd or the up- Texas team had one edge — home-court advantage. and-coming American riffraff? Texas is all-fire hot in August, and perhaps the city slickers would melt a little in the heat. Picking the leaders of each team wasn’t hard — Joe Dwek was recognized as the top European player, The match got off to a rousing start in Game 1. Magriel while Paul Magriel, the current World Champion and and Low got an early edge and properly doubled, and author of his recently published Backgammon, was the Texas team made a correct take. The game took a clearly the top American. Each got to pick his playing turn in their favor, and Goble/Davis promptly shipped partner. Dwek picked Kiumars Motakhasses, originally it back to 4. The redouble was a little premature but the from and now living in Europe. Motakhasses had message was clear — the match would be a shoot-out, racked up a string of victories in European tournaments not a grinding technical affair. Goble/Davis brought it and was generally considered Dwek’s equal. Paul took a home and took a 4-0 lead. different route, going off the boards to pick Roger Low, his fast-developing 20-year old protege. Roger had The Texans were on a roll and the score kept yet to score any major tournaments wins, but Magriel mounting: 8-1, 12-3, 16-3. The New Yorkers, appreciated his brilliant mind and realized he could be brimming with confidence at the start, finally found a major asset to the team. themselves staring at the wrong end of a 22-3 deficit. A 19-point lead! Unthinkable but true. But at this During the summer of 1978 the match dates were point the luck turned around. A gammon followed announced — October 25-27 in Athens. The contest by a backgammon cut the deficit to 22-14. Finally, would be a 63-point match split over three days, the after 25 games, the New Yorkers knotted the score longest match ever played. at 28-all. The Texans opened up another 12-point lead at 48-36. Magriel and Low won 14 of the next Paul realized that a warm-up match for his team 15 games to take the lead at 53-49. Five more games might be useful since no one had any experience and the New Yorkers reached their biggest lead of in matches of such length. Some calls were made the match, 58-51 after 60 games! Was this the end? and he found a Texas team that was willing to go Not at all. The Texans kept fighting. After 69 games USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 19

the match was tied, 62-62. A three-point match now Every summer Jim Scott, a backgammon enthusiast, remained. Fittingly, after 71 games the score was 64- would host a week-long chouette and party at his all, and the players settled in for the double-match- ranch in West Texas. Invited players came from point game. The final game had its moments, but around the country, but since West Texas was a bit Paul and Roger got caught with too many checkers off the beaten path, several of them would meet in on the bar. Tony and Malcolm won a backgammon Dallas and charter a private plane to fly them to and with it the match, 65-64. Scott’s ranch.

Talking to Paul years later, he remarked that he On this particular flight, the plane was pretty and Roger knew that Tony Goble would be a tough full. Malcolm squeezed in next to the pilot, while opponent, but they were very surprised at how well the other players sat in the rear seats. During the this Malcolm Davis played, and how often his flight Malcolm regaled the pilot with a host of suggestions were the very moves they were fearing. good stories. The pilot listened intently. As they approached the airstrip near Scott’s ranch the pilot Oh, and the match in Athens? It also reached double divided his attention between catching the last of match point, but this time Paul and Roger prevailed. one of Malcolm’s stories and preparing the plane for landing. The pilot did a pretty good job under the Chateau Texas circumstances. He remembered to do everything Malcolm was a man of many parts. During the 1990s except — lower the wheels. he became a vintner, opening a vineyard near Dallas that he called Chateau Texas. The specialty was their When the passengers heard the plane scraping cabernet sauvignon, and many of Malcolm’s friends along the runway, they became understandably were favored with a bottles of the wine, which was alarmed. The pilot reacted quickly and lifted the actually quite good. plane back into the air, and they circled the field and landed again, this time with the wheels down. The Malcolm The Raconteur passengers breathed a sigh of relief, and Malcolm had Malcolm loved to tell stories, which were always another story for his repertoire! entertaining and compelling. And sometimes a little too entertaining. Kent Goulding recalls a memorable incident from the late 1990s.

Photo Credit: Joanne Goulding Malcolm Davis (R) safe on the ground—with Kent Goulding, who was not on the flight. 20 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

M’Boy Kent Goulding

I don’t remember exactly when I first met Malcolm Davis; somehow it feels like he was always there in the backgammon world I inhabited for most of my adult life. It may have been 1976 when, as a young aspiring backgammon player, I took the “vacation of a lifetime” to ’s Gold Coast to play in my first, big, international backgammon tournaments. I took up digs in Nice for the entire time, first driving to Cannes for a tournament; then, a week or so later, going the other direction to Monte Carlo. I was barely twenty-four years old and had never been to Europe at all, much less such exotic, glamorous, storied locales. I scraped up my pennies and purchased a tuxedo (it might as well have been a Rolls-Royce or a ticket to the moon — it was so far out of any experience or need I had ever had or expected to have). The invitation to the European Championship (Monte Carlo) clearly stated the auction dinner was black tie. While the Cannes Hugh Sconyers, Malcolm Davis, and Kent Goulding, tournament also had a fancy auction dinner, it said Monte Carlo, 2001. nothing about “black tie.” The family I was traveling with and I all wore business suits, saving our tuxes for on the other side of where Paul had been. That is the . We were the only gentlemen in attendance earliest picture of Malcolm Davis in my collection not wearing formal garb. and possibly the earliest I have ever seen.

Later, properly tuxedoed, I was in a star-struck trance Malcolm really, really liked backgammon and worked in the storied Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. Prince hard at it – perhaps harder than any other player I Alexis Obolensky conducted the auction. I watched, have ever known. Two related things happened in the perhaps thinking this was a glimpse of Heaven, and early 1980s: First, I embarked upon the monumental took a few pictures to prove I was actually there. I project of designing, maintaining, and publishing was, by that time, already acquainted with many top an “International Backgammon Rating List,” backgammon players. Seeing a seated row including modeled after the system used in . Second, also Tony Goble, Lyn Goldsmith (be still my heart!) and mimicking chess, I set out to organize the first U.S. Paul Magriel, I snapped a couple of photos. Magriel Invitational Backgammon Championship. Mainly left the table as I watched but I noticed an attractive relying on my own experience and opinion, I made couple sitting opposite and was admiring the young a list of the top twenty or so players of the time. woman’s “dress” so much that I took another quick I’m sure I got input and feedback from several other shot, capturing my target nicely. Years later, looking backgammon experts which resulted in a solid core back, I continued to admire both Lyn and the lady group of potential invitees. Most of these players opposite, but noticed a dapper young(ish) man sitting had excellent ratings, but the system wasn’t fully USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 21

populated with tournament results and was by no Boston [actually Cambridge] with a hotel owned by means a final arbiter of talent. I set about going down a pair of backgammon playing brothers as hosts.” the list, from the top, and plucking out some “dark Harvey was insistent, “Come to Dallas, my treat, horses” who, while not crowned kings and princes, where I’ll show you what I have to offer. Then make might be considered worthy of inclusion. Among your decision.” Back in the states Bill Robertie and I those who ultimately received invites was Malcolm took him up on his offer. Davis. I sent out only twenty invitations. The first sixteen deposits received would get to play. Within The rest is history. The remaining World Cup days I had seventeen checks! Malcolm was one of tournaments, through 1998, were played first at the them. (Every match from that double-elimination Harvey Bristol Suites then at the Harvey Hotel, event was recorded by hand. I still have almost all of Addison. In the background, never credited in any them!) formal way, was Malcolm Davis. We supplied and used chess clocks for every match. Malcolm’s input Several years later I was back in Heaven where I on time controls and rules was critical (and, frankly, had taken up the position of Official Ante-Post hard to ignore – it was almost like he was in charge Fixed-Odds Book at the Backgammon World and we were confused children). Trying for the Championships. (Those several weeks over several ultimate test of backgammon skill, Bill had advocated years were among the most interesting and exciting (and we had earlier adopted) playing single long of my backgammon life.) During a quiet interlude matches. Malcolm would have none of that. Multiple, Malcolm approached me with a gray-haired shorter, matches would be a far better test of skill gentleman with what seemed like a permanent in addition to being much more fun for spectators. impish grin on his face. I was introduced to Harvey Malcolm got his way, which resulted in a best-of-five Huie. As he reached up to shake my hand he cut thirteen-point match format. right to the chase and stated, “You are moving the World Cup to Dallas.” I was somewhat taken aback, but was polite, saying, “We’re perfectly happy in

Photo Credit: Kent Goulding Photo Credit: Kent Goulding Malcolm Davis at Monte Carlo, 1976. Malcolm Davis at U.S. Invitational, 1984. 22 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Malcolm liked the pomp and circumstance of the multi-day drive back east, Malcolm came running backgammon’s glory days and was not only in favor of up holding a big bag. With a huge grin on his face he a big, semi-formal auction dinner but he wanted the exclaimed, “M’boys, I’m glad I caught you in time. proper live entertainment to go with it. Working with I’ve got a special treat for you to eat on the road: a a somewhat limited entertainment budget (i.e., pretty big bag of juicy muscadine grapes! You’ll love ‘em!” I close to zero) I explained to Malcolm I’d be happy thanked him politely and quickly stored them in the to hire a band, but it had to be one that would work big cooler wedged between our seats. My plan was for peanuts. He insisted we needed Ronnie Dawson simple: somewhere along the road in northeastern (a friend of Malcolm’s, of course) who happened to Texas or western Arkansas, I’d surreptitiously deposit be “The greatest rockabilly musician on the planet.” them in a roadside ditch (helping to keep down the Ronnie, I learned, would show up with his band local armadillo population). Prior to carrying out that and perform for several hours for whatever we could plan I did Malcolm the honor of tasting one. Then afford. I believe we scraped up a total of $600 and, another. Then . . . the armadillos were not only safe after seeing and hearing Ronnie play, got value easily but missed a great treat – they truly were the best ten times what we paid, likely much more. They were grapes I’d ever tasted! Thank you, Malcolm. fantastic! (I had never heard of “rockabilly” but it sounded great and somehow fit perfectly.) Thank you both, Ronnie and Malcolm. (Several years after the last World Cup I got a call from Malcolm letting me know Ronnie had died – I was surprised that had the effect on me it did. He was an absolute sweetheart of a guy in addition to his musical skills.)

Then there was Chateau Texas. When Malcolm first told me about his venture into grapes and wine I was more than a little surprised. (What, exactly, Malcolm did for a living was always a sort of “don’t-ask-don’t- tell” kind of thing as far as I was concerned.) When I heard “Chateau Texas” I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. He would go on and on about how his “Muscadine grapes” were the best in the world. Not only were they producing an excellent wine, but they were also bottling a non-alcoholic grape juice. I readily admit to being an absolute duffer concerning wine. While I found the grape juice rather tasty (it was strong, so watering it down about 50% made it much more palatable), the wine, Malcolm’s pride and joy, was something altogether different. I saved one bottle for memory’s sake. The others were mostly used around the house for either rodent control or engine degreasing. At the conclusion of one World Cup, after Bill and I had loaded up our cargo van, Photo Credit: Kent Goulding said our goodbyes, and were about to hit the road for Wine from the Malcolm Davis Vineyard: Chateau Texas. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 23

Somewhere back in history the “Harvey Chouette” Let us not forget the great John Henry vs. the Steam started. Harvey Huie took as much delight in playing Drill challenge. Malcolm was the leading proponent, backgammon as anyone I’ve ever known. He much advocate, backer, worshipper, and true believer of preferred chouettes to tournament play, but would the early backgammon “bots.” More than willing play whatever was available. That traveling chouette to put his money where his mouth was, he invited toured all the big tournaments of the world. While one and all to come to Dallas to play fifty games for some players would come and go, there was a core serious stakes against JellyFish. “Ha!” scoffed I, “You group including Harvey, Malcolm, Talmadge can have your mindless automaton, I’ll take human Tinsley, Nack Ballard, Mike Senkiewicz and me. brain power any day.” I enlisted the tag-team duo Harvey really liked playing with us. It may sound of Ballard-Senkiewicz to come to Dallas and “enter silly but we began to feel more like family than the pit” agreeing to play fifty games each against the competitors. We played together, we watched and soulless bot. I forget the stakes (probably the usual cheered for each other at tournaments, we traveled $200 per point). My money was with the humans. together, we dined together, we toured together Malcolm confidently and gleefully backed the (Harvey would invariably hire a private car/bus and machine. Harvey sat around and heckled both sides, guide whether in Istanbul, , Copenhagen, Rio, eventually getting fidgety and trying to speed things or wherever else the backgammon winds blew us). As up so we could both eat and, more importantly, play much fun as the chouettes were, extra delight came some serious backgammon. from watching Malcolm interact with Harvey. They were equally cartoonish in their baiting, badgering, It took two or three days to complete the challenge. insulting, and laughing at each other. Malcolm, Senk went first and, in an effort to get JellyFish always with a straight face and a monotone, “M’boys, into deep cube trouble, tended to play for confusing you’ll all regret this. . .” would take an eight-cube positions with lots of checkers hit. That’s the strategy from Harvey while the rest of us dropped and paid I had employed playing JellyFish at home and I knew “extras,” then we watched in horror as he somehow it could work, though it was dangerous. It turns out confused and confounded his opponent and shipped this was not a good strategy, or at least this time it the cube back on sixteen a short time later. didn’t work. Senk lost something like thirty points. When play resumed with Nack in the hot seat, he Malcolm played “stodgier” backgammon than most adopted an “In your face” strategy and attempted of us played back then, leaning a little more toward to out-JellyFish JellyFish, playing more or less the safety, making deep points, and stacking rather than same style as the bot, only better. (Nack, I’ve long slotting. He was fearless with the cube. Perhaps he suspected, isn’t entirely human; he’s more likely some was on to something. While there was no running sort of cyborg or hybrid space alien.) He was like sand tally or accounting of those thousands of hours of in the gears of JellyFish and systematically ground the backgammon, I’m certain Malcolm came out well bot down to the tune of the exact number of points it in the black. For me, that chouette and the close had won playing Michael. With no clear winner but contact, for high stakes, with Malcolm, Nack, and also no clear loser (I admit I sure felt like a loser – Senk truly was a trial-by-fire which helped forge me I’d been counting my chickens for weeks in advance) into a better player. The social experience and the the final result was a bit anticlimactic. Of course bonds of friendship which developed were even more Harvey then got his wish and we were grappling into valuable. Thank you, Malcolm. the wee hours in the all-human chouette, a good time being had by all. Thank you, Malcolm. 24 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Jim Scott, a good friend of Malcolm’s, was a big gaining altitude and circling around, the wheels were backgammon enthusiast and, I dare say, a superb properly lowered and the passengers safely deposited host. Jim had a ranch in Texas (maybe a small town on terra firma. Mr. Scott, himself a pilot, later told is a better description) and set up one of the best me that was the absolute wrong decision and while private, invitational, doubles tournaments I was the plane was certainly saved the passengers were ever fortunate enough to play in. I, along with most lucky to be alive. other invitees, flew in to the nearest major airport (Austin, maybe? I really can’t remember) and were The first time I was in Denmark for the “Nordic transported by bus/limo out to the ranch. Mixed World Open” my then-wife, Joanne, and I proposed in with all the fun activities were a couple of hair- setting out on a self-guided walking tour of raising experiences (I’m not counting watching Tino Copenhagen, in search of “The Perfect Pastry.” I Lechich trying to ride a horse for the first time.) We was surprised that none of my buddies wanted to tag all were provided motor scooters to get from place along; except Malcolm. Even more surprising was that to place. At one point, puttering along a rural road, Malcolm was somewhat hobbled – recovering from an the way was blocked by a small herd of Texas long- injury or fighting some ailment or other. “Don’t worry horned cattle. We stopped prior to trying to move about me, I’ll keep up. . .” so off we went. through them and waited. They were huge. “Long- horned” is a gross understatement. And they weren’t It must have been a Sunday, or perhaps a holiday, exactly clearing the road. Mostly they stood there, since there was little traffic. We did find plenty stationary. One or two appeared to glare at us with of cafes or patisseries and thus plenty of pastries a, “You lookin’ at me?!” sort of challenge. I proposed to sample (none, or perhaps all, won the “perfect” searching for an alternate route, possibly even going award.) While Malcolm was happy to help judge off-road, to gingerly work around the blockade. pastries, he was at least equally interested in deciding Malcolm would have none of it. With a dismissive, whether the Danes were the world’s best brewers. “They’re just cows,” he throttled up and led the way, Fortified as needed, he soldiered on. We saw The weaving through the herd of behemoths as if they Little Mermaid (Malcolm fell in love) along with were inanimate stuffed toys. Tivoli Gardens (closed that day so we couldn’t go in) and lots of bicycles. We learned a little Danish. On that day Malcolm could afford to scoff at death; There were streets for automobiles, sidewalks for he had done exactly that as he arrived on the day pedestrians, and marked lanes for bicycles. We prior. Malcolm, along with a few other Dallas quickly found out that if you strayed from the notables, had chartered a plane to fly them to a sidewalk it was safer to walk down the middle of the small airstrip near the ranch (it may well have been street than to spend ten seconds in a “cycles only” “Scott Field” – I saw no formal name or marking). lane. Pretty much every time one of us distractedly He so charmed the pilot with assorted stories and stepped into the bike lane we were nearly run down adventures that as they came in to land the pilot while being yelled at in Danish. We learned to neglected to lower the landing gear. This resulted in recognize some of the more common words and a literal “touch-and-go” exercise as the belly of the phrases. Upon returning to our hotel and proudly plane (and perhaps the tips of the propellers) actually practicing our newly absorbed language we found started scraping the tarmac. Faced with an instant out the cyclists had not been saying, “Welcome to decision, the pilot chose to accelerate and attempt to Copenhagen, friendly people.” get back in the air rather than continue to land the plane with no wheels. That gamble paid off; after USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 25

We had spent hours on our casual walk, chatting On Malcolm Davis away and enjoying the sights. I don’t think Stevan Hammond backgammon was ever mentioned. Thanks, Malcolm. My favorite nicknames for Malcolm were Magician, Wizard, One last little remembrance which, to me, captures and Luckbox! In the end, I had to accept the fact that he Malcolm’s love of backgammon. I think it was in Las wasn’t all that lucky; he was just better than me! Vegas, but it could have been anywhere. We were on a scheduled dinner break, or maybe it was the end of PrimeTime Backgammon the day, and a group of us were heading out to dine Contributions and relax. Malcolm, of course, was invited. The high- stakes “Queen Bee” games we played to see who paid “Mortal Combat in Michigan,” PrimeTime for dinner (possibly several times over) were a favorite Backgammon, September-October 2010. of Malcolm’s. But this night, Malcolm begged off. “No thanks, M’boy – I’m going back to my room to “Cube Decision in Florida,” PrimeTime Backgammon, make love to Snowie.” September-October 2011.

With So Many Fond Memories I’ll Never Forget, “The Dallas Backgammon League,” PrimeTime Backgammon, July-August 2015. Thanks, Malcolm. “My Candidate for the Best Backgammon Redouble Ever,” PrimeTime Backgammon, Fall 2016. Malcolm Davis Interviews “Quiz: Part 1,” PrimeTime Backgammon, Fall 2017. USBGF Historian Robert Stoller’s “Abridged Interview with Malcolm Davis,” PrimeTime “The Great Jim Scott,” PrimeTime Backgammon, Backgammon, July-August 2015. Winter 2017.

Randee Simborg, “Malcolm Davis: Backgammon “Quiz: Part II,” PrimeTime Backgammon, Winter 2018. Pioneer,” PrimeTime Backgammon, November- December 2010. For listing of Malcolm’s 75 first and second place finishes visit usbgf.org Martha Ghio YouTube interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_OaP-xbt-0

Photo Credit: Mid-America Backgammon Photo Credit: Carol Joy Cole Malcolm Davis, Hugh Sconyers, and director, Dallas, 1976 Malcolm Davis, Texas Champion, San Antonio, 2013. 26 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Malcolm Davis: Master Player and Master Story Teller Karen Davis

I started playing backgammon in 1981 after four by his initials KG) was working on backgammon intense years as a political appointee for President publications like Backgammon with the Champions. Jimmy Carter directing health policy. Playing It was a heady time reading his analyses of recorded backgammon in the evenings was a welcome break matches of top-level players. from days spent writing a book at home. I quickly found the Dupont Circle Club where I spent nights Malcolm Davis and Dallas, of course, were listening to Kent Goulding, Kit Woolsey, Ed synonymous in the world of backgammon. Malcolm O’Laughlin, John Klein, and other notable chouette was one of the first payers to videotape his matches, players debate cube decisions and checker plays. and go over them carefully to improve his play. When KG and Robertie moved the World Cup/U.S. Open Even then, the Washington, DC Beltway considered to Dallas, I didn’t miss a chance to go, managing itself a backgammon powerhouse willing to take to win the Consolation of the 1998 U.S. Open and on New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh, come in as finalist in the 1998 Texas Open. The real Boston, South Florida, and Dallas for bragging attraction, though, was sitting for hours watching rights. We loved it when visitors such as Michael Malcolm play in a high-stakes chouette with Harvey Senkiewicz or the Zaltash brothers came to town Huie, Talmadge Tinsley, Senkiewicz, and KG, to check out the action. Kent (whom we all called among others.

Photo Credit: Kent Goulding Mike Corbett (bottom left) and Talmadge Tinsley playing, July 17, 1994, as Malcolm watches. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 27

It was the beginning of an enduring friendship with Malcolm. He kindly included me as he and his buddies – Ernest McCombs, Curtis Lucas, and Ed Bennett – went to gourmet dinners at fine restaurants in cities on the American Backgammon Tour. They would never let me help with the tab so I was determined to repay their hospitality by giving a dinner for them at my newly built condo in Fort Lauderdale during the Florida State Championship in September 2005. The condo came “decorator ready” which meant it had no light fixtures, flooring, baseboards, or paint, so I had spent August whipping it into shape. The condo in downtown Fort Lauderdale was 20 minutes from the tournament site so we really only had little more than an hour left for the dinner break. I saw I needed help, sized Photo Credit: Mary Hickey up the company, and put Ernie in charge of making Two Davis pals: Karen and Malcolm, August 2010. the steaks. I focused on preparing the luscious ripe Florida tomatoes and burrata salad and other side He went on to write a number of articles for the dishes. Danielle Bastarche, Mike Corbett’s partner, magazine, mostly focused on cube decisions. One of pitched in – shocked to find that the new unused my favorites of his expressions was “My arm wouldn’t dishwasher still needed assembling. Dessert was a let me roll.” He hated to miss a cube and instinctively bit rushed and as Curtis was relishing his cheesecake knew when it was time to double! she whipped his plate to the kitchen and announced that we had to go! It wasn’t the most leisurely dinner Other Malcolm quotes include: “As anyone who but sitting out on the high-rise terrace looking out knows me will tell you, I am a huge advocate of to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by warm friends doubling on time. I abhor ‘missing my market,’ and lively conversation remains one of my most that is, losing equity by missing an opportunity to memorable of our times together. correctly double or redouble.”

When I launched PrimeTime Backgammon magazine “An aphorism (you may wish to call it a backgammon in September-October 2010 as managing editor, I proverb) I originated in Monte Carlo in July 2000 enlisted Malcolm to write for the publication. He may be noteworthy: ‘If your take-pass cube decisions didn’t really like writing – so it was a favor to me. are consistently accurate, your opponents will respect He agreed to write up our 2010 Michigan match you – If your doubles and redoubles are precise (on (see Malcolm Davis, “Mortal Combat in Michigan,” time), your opponents will fear you.’” PrimeTime Backgammon, September-October 2010). Like the gracious gentleman he was, he focused on “Most players, even world-class players, are acutely his own errors even though he played a 3.0 PR to my aware of their errors in deciding whether to take or 6.5 PR. He later told me that the single best thing I pass, but very few give sufficient consideration to could do to improve my game was to double earlier. equity lost because of their doubling and redoubling errors.” 28 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

“I have been known to take a few passes over the years, but I would lose sleep if I passed a take. Label it courage, bad judgment, whatever – the end result has been encouraging. Missing a double (or especially a redouble) is at least equally distressing.” (Randee Simborg interview, PrimeTime Backgammon, November-December 2010.)

“Never think about winning or losing. I think about the right play. You can’t control the outcome, but you can control what you do.”

Malcolm particularly loved chouette play. He said, Malcolm Davis with Akiko Yazawa, 2014. “I consider chouette play to be the most demanding, the most fun, and the most skillful of all forms of Malcolm was one of the inaugural inductees into the backgammon.” Chouette play is often fast-paced and American Backgammon Hall of Fame in 2015. His Malcolm was an outstanding visual-spatial player. He award said: “The epitome of a gracious gentleman, didn’t like explaining why he made certain moves – he Malcolm Davis is one of only seven players to have said people just argued about it. Although he majored been voted onto every Giants of Backgammon listing in aeronautical engineering at the University of Texas, since its inception. One of the first to videotape and took an elective in probability theory, and qualified analyze his matches, he has been a consistent winner and practiced as an actuary for a period of time, my of Championship and Masters Jackpot events. own view is that he wasn’t a mathematical-analytical player. After years of chouette play, he recognized What an honor it was to spend time with Malcolm. patterns and how the game was likely to evolve. He I spoke with him by phone a week before his unerringly found the right play, particularly the right death, and he was as full of life as ever, brimming cube decision, by quickly assessing the structure of the with stories and recollections. He was a gracious position and its future evolution. gentleman, great storyteller, and connoisseur of fine wine and food – in short, great fun to be around. Malcolm was one of the first Diamond Founding His zest for life, wonderful memory, and keen sense Sponsors of the U.S. Backgammon Federation. of humor were always in evidence. He was a Texas In an interview with Randee Simborg, she noted, Giant and will be deeply missed. “Malcolm says he became a Diamond supporter of the USBGF ‘because he could.’ He felt like at the very least he owed his support to the game. In Malcolm’s words, ‘I seem to usually be somewhat of an extremist – I seem to tend to go all out if I go at all. I believe the USBGF is backgammon’s best shot for significant recognition and expansion for many years to come. I will be instrumental in perhaps gaining more Diamond supporters.’” Photo Credit: Patrick Gibson Cal State 2010 winners: Ralf Jonas (Super Jackpot), Malcolm Davis (Open), and Joe Russell (Open Consolation). USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 29

Remembering Malcolm Davis Hugh Sconyers

One of the world's greatest backgammon players and a great gentleman has passed away.

Malcolm Davis was a dear friend of mine for over 44 years. I met Malcolm in October of 1976 when we played each other in the finals of the Mid-America Backgammon tournament in Dallas. It was my very first tournament and one of Malcolm’s first finals. It was an exciting match, which I somehow managed to win. The match was even recorded, and Paul Magriel was the commentator. Right after the match finished, Malcolm invited me to dine with him. Later that night we enjoyed Malcolm and Hugh, having dinner at Caesar’s Palace, an amazing steak dinner, which was one of Malcolm's Las Vegas, 1998. favorite meals. Little did I know then that this was the start of an exciting adventure and great friendship. Malcolm had a broad horizon of interests beyond backgammon. He was always looking for the truth Seems like I could write a book about the adventures and the right answers. He inspired me to do some of I had with Malcolm. On a quick mental count, I the computer analyses I did. He pursued backgammon can remember being in over 20 different countries with a dedication and passion like no one else I know. with Malcolm. One time stands out in my mind. His other interests included: reading, writing poetry, I was in Monte Carlo on a business trip on a cold classical and country music, fine dining and wine, January day. I was walking to the Tip-Top Café, owning and cultivating a wine grape vineyard, , which was one of our favorite places to eat, and I sports betting, traveling, mathematics, computer game was amazed to run into Malcolm who coincidentally development, and much more. was headed to the very same place at the very same time. We ate together and talked into the wee hours Malcolm was a very private person and never talked of the morning. Another time, I randomly ran into much about himself. He started life in a small Texas Malcolm in Prague, and again neither of us knew town during difficult times. His family had limited that the other would be there. In Prague we were able resources and his early education opportunities to add to our amazing list of dining experiences. were limited. As a child he excelled in math. He later entered the University of Texas at Austin. He Over the many years of our friendship, we spoke graduated with honors. over the phone almost every day. I fondly remember a common opening line to our phone calls: “My boy, It was always easy to spot Malcolm in the you know computers don’t like me and they love you. backgammon room because he was so tall and had Can you help me with a computer problem?” I usually white hair. Malcolm always seemed to have kind was able to solve his problem and it seemed like he words and a good-natured smile for everyone. always had unusual problems. I and the Backgammon community will forever miss Malcolm. American Backgammon Online! Tour We are excited to announce live match streaming of the American Backgammon Online! Tour sponsored by the U.S. Backgammon Federation. Streaming may be viewed on: USBGF YouTube channel. Announcements of streamed matches may be found on the ABT Facebook page. Expert Commentary Expert commentary is provided by USBGF Board members, grandmasters, Giants of Backgammon and American Backgammon Hall of Fame honorees including: Neil Kazaross, Steve Sax, Chris Trencher, Roberto Litzenberger, and Ben Friesen. Make a Donation to the Streaming Fund and Show Your Support! Show your appreciation of our live broadcast by donating to the U.S. Backgammon Foundation Streaming Fund PayPal account at [email protected], and/or by joining or renewing your U.S. Backgammon Federation membership. Purchase an Ad Purchase a Notice or Ad of your organization or event. Contact Dan Minardi at [email protected].

LIVE STREAMING ON Live Streaming Sponsor American Backgammon Online! Tour We are excited to announce live match streaming of the American Backgammon Online! Tour sponsored by the U.S. Backgammon Federation. Streaming may be viewed on: USBGF YouTube channel. Announcements of streamed matches may be found on the ABT Facebook page. Expert Commentary Expert commentary is provided by USBGF Board members, grandmasters, Giants of Backgammon and American Backgammon Hall of Fame honorees including: Neil Kazaross, Steve Sax, Chris Trencher, Roberto Litzenberger, and Ben Friesen. Make a Donation to the Streaming Fund and Show Your Support! Show your appreciation of our live broadcast by donating to the U.S. Backgammon Foundation Streaming Fund PayPal account at [email protected], and/or by joining or renewing your U.S. Backgammon Federation membership. Purchase an Ad Purchase a Notice or Ad of your organization or event. Contact Dan Minardi at [email protected].

LIVE STREAMING ON Live Streaming Sponsor 32 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Tournament Recap 2020 Magriel Cup

Marty Storer & Karen Davis

Graphic Credit: Kris Heuer

he inaugural Magriel Cup, a team challenge between the USA and the U.K., was held on the Backgammon Galaxy server, August 7-9, 2020. Points were awarded in each of four events: Speedgammon, DMP, Team, and Individual. The USA won by Ta score of 235-133, but most of the matches were close with superb PRs all around. The event, patterned on the golf Ryder Cup, was conceived by Martin Barkwill and Simon Barget of the U.K. Simon partnered with Joe Russell, chairman of the U.S. Backgammon Federation Board of Directors, in organizing and directing the event. Martin kept the spreadsheet updated during the event, and Karen Davis periodically updated results on the American Backgammon Tour Facebook page.

Marc Brockmann Olsen, CEO of Backgammon Galaxy, announced streaming of the event on the Backgammon Galaxy Facebook page, hosted the event on the Backgammon Galaxy server, and, along with Justin Nowell, provided colorful and insightful commentary on key matches throughout the event.

The U.K. Backgammon Federation and the U.S. Backgammon Federation provided added money prizes, and marketed the event through their communication outlets. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 33

Players Table 1: Player Backgammon Galaxy Rating Both countries’ federations assembled first-rate teams for Name Galaxy Rating Giants BMAB the event. Twelve players were on each team; the U.K. also designated two alternates who played when team members had Victor Ashkenazi 2701 #3 G1 conflicts or Internet connection Dennis Culpepper 2377 issues. Included on the teams Karen Davis 2282 M2 were eight players in the Giants Matt Cohn-Geier 2522 #20 G2 of Backgammon 2019 list of top Neil Kazaross 2515 #7 G2 32 players, and another three Roberto Litzenberger 2511 #39 M1 from the top 33-64 Giants. In Dmitriy Obukhov 2763 #34 G2 their midst were 11 Grandmasters Joe Russell 2350 #32 certified by the Backgammon Steve Sax 2481 #14 G2 Masters Awarding Body, and Marty Storer 1950 #23 G2 an additional eight with Master Chris Trencher 2709 G3 designations. Five players had Bob Wachtel 2481 #24 G2 Backgammon Galaxy ratings of 2700+, putting them in the crème United Kingdom de la crème top 0.1 percent of Galaxy online players from around Aref Alipour 2754 the world (see Table 1). Jon Barnes 2232 M1 Simon Barget 2288 The U.K. team included: Simon Lawrence Powell 2085 M1 Barget, captain; Aref Alipour, Jon Oliver Squire 2504 M2 Barnes, Chris Bray, Tim Cross, Tim Cross 2966 G3 Charles Hill, Raj Jansari, Brian Brian Lever 2076 M2 Lever, Gaz Owen, Lawrence Raj Jansari 2565 #51 Powell, Chris Rogers, Oliver Gaz Owen 2498 G3 Squire, and alternates Sebastian Chris Bray 1769 Wilkinson and Alastair Woods. Chris Rogers 2226 Charles Hill 2163 M2 The U.S. team included: Sebastian Wilkinson 2472 #18 G2 Joe Russell, captain; Victor Alastair Woods 2405 M2 Ashkenazi, Matt Cohn-Geier, Dennis Culpepper, Karen Davis, Roberto Litzenberger, Neil Kazaross, Dmitriy Obukhov, Steve Sax, Marty Storer, and Chris Trencher. 34 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Results: Overall U.S. Points Table 2: U.S. Total Points Players earned distinction on many Name Speed DMP1 DMP2 DMP3 Team Ind. Total fronts: best eXtreme Gammon performance ratings (PRs), both Ashkenazi 4 1 1 3 5 2 16 overall and for section events; win- Culpepper 1 3 3 0 6 0 13 loss ratios, both overall and for Davis 2 0 0 3 3 7 15 section events; and overall points Cohn-Geier 9 2 1 1 3 5 21 accumulated for the team, among Kazaross 5 3 0 0 3 1 12 others. Points were awarded for Litzenberger 3 2 3 0 5 7 20 score and for PRs in the various Obukhov 3 0 0 2 4 7 16 sections (Speedgammon; DMP; Russell 1 0 3 1 5 6 16 Team; Individual events) – details Sax 7 3 3 2 8 1 22 are provided below. Storer 3 3 3 1 6 7 23 Trencher 6 0 3 3 6 6 24 Of the U.S. players, highest Wachtel 4 0 2 2 4 7 19 points accumulated went to Chris Team Points 16 16 Trencher with 24 points, followed Team Points 48 17 22 18 72 56 235 closely by Marty Storer (23), Steve Sax (22), Matt Cohn-Geier (21), and Roberto Litzenberger (20) Table 3: U.S. Win-Loss Ratios and Win Percentages (see Table 2). Name Speed DMP Team Ind. W-L Win %

Bob Wachtel achieved the best Ashkenazi 1-2 1-2 3-0 0-2 5-6 45% winning percentage of the U.S. Culpepper 0-1 2-0 1-1 0-1 3-3 50% players, winning 7 out of his 8 Davis 1-0 1-1 1-1 2-0 5-2 71% matches for 88%, followed by Cohn-Geier 3-0 1-2 1-1 1-1 6-4 60% Roberto Litzenberger who won Kazaross 2-1 1-0 0-3 0-2 3-6 33% 6 of his 7 matches for 86%, and Litzenberger 1-0 2-0 1-1 2-0 6-1 86% Chris Trencher who won 7 of 9 Obukhov 1-2 1-1 1-1 2-0 5-4 56% matches for 78% (see Table 3). Russell 0-1 1-1 2-0 2-1 5-3 63% Sax 2-1 2-1 2-0 0-2 6-4 60% Storer 1-2 2-1 2-1 2-0 7-4 64% Trencher 2-1 2-0 1-1 2-0 7-2 78% Wachtel 1-1 2-0 2-0 2-0 7-1 88% USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 35

Speedgammon Event The best overall USA performance for the DMP The Magriel Cup started on Friday, August 7 with event was turned in by Chris Trencher who had the Speedgammon event. Speedgammon consisted of a 2-0 Win-Loss ratio and an overall 1.630 PR three rounds of 7-point matches. Nine team members (Marty Storer was second with 1.633). The best U.K. played each round and everyone played at least one performance went to Aref Alipour with a 3-0 Win- round. A player got two points for winning the Loss ratio and a 2.73 PR. Charles Hill had the lowest match, and one point for winning on performance average U.K. PR at 1.57. rating (PR). Final PRs were calculated by eXtreme Gammon (XG) using BMAB settings. There were 27 Team Event total Speedgammon matches with 81 points at stake. The Team event was held on Saturday, August 8. Each side had three teams of four players, called Matt Cohn-Geier achieved the best overall Team A, Team B, and Team C. One team member performance for a U.S. team member in the played all three rounds and the other members sat Speedgammon event. Matt won all three rounds with out one round. Each team played three rounds, one an average PR of 1.59. For the U.K., Gaz Owen took against each of the three opposing teams. best performance with two wins and no losses, and an average PR of 2.47. Each round consisted of three 11-point matches. All matches were individual with no consulting. To DMP Event win a round, a team had to win a majority of the The Double Match Point (DMP) event immediately individual matches (two or more). All matches were followed the Speedgammon event on Friday. It played to conclusion, as there were points awarded for consisted of three rounds of best-three-of-five DMP individual wins as well as individual PR wins. games. Nine U.S. team members played each round and everyone on the team played at least two rounds. The score for each round consisted of 3 points for a Once a player won or lost three DMP games, they team win, 2 points for an individual match win, and were judged to have won or lost the round. 1 point for winning an individual match PR. PR was determined by XG using BMAB settings. In The score for each round consisted of 2 points for all, there were nine team matches composed of 27 winning three of the DMP games, and 1 point for individual matches, with 108 points available. the best PR, which was determined by XG analysis using BMAB settings. Individual game PRs for the For the U.S., the best overall performance was round were added, with the lowest total winning achieved by Team A: Victor Ashkenazi, Karen Davis, (for PR, lower is better). For each DMP round, a Chris Trencher, and Steve Sax. They won three player could get from 0 points (0 for losing the round rounds, lost none, and had an average PR of 3.75. The and 0 for losing on PR) to 3 points (2 for winning U.K.’s top-performing team was Team C, consisting the round and 1 for winning on PR). There were 17 of Aref Alipour, Gaz Owen, and Oliver Squire, with matches in all, with 81 points available. a 2-1 win-loss ratio and 3.06 PR. For the U.S., the lowest average PR went to Team B, consisting of Neil Kazaross, Matt Cohn-Geier, Joe Russell, and Dennis Culpepper, with 3.00. For the U.K., Team C’s 3.06 PR was the lowest. 36 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

In this Team event, the overall individual For the U.S. team, the best overall performance in performance award for a U.S. team member went to the Individual Event went to Matt Cohn-Geier, Victor Ashkenazi with a 3-0 win-loss ratio and 2.34 who had a 1-1 win-loss ratio and an overall PR of PR. For the U.K., that award went to Aref Alipour 1.64. For the U.K., Lawrence Powell had the best with a 2-1 win-loss ratio and a 2.42 PR. Dennis performance with a 1-1 win-loss ratio and 2.89 PR. Culpepper had the lowest overall PR for the U.S. Aref Alipour had the best PR for the U.K. at 2.87. with 1.99, and Raj Jansari’s 1.73 was lowest for the U.K. Magriel Cup Players of the Match The tournament directors, Simon Barget and Joe Individual Event Russell, bestowed a Player of the Match award to one The grand finale on Sunday, August 9 was the member of each team. The award was based on the Individual event. (It had been planned for three best overall performance, including all four events, rounds of 11-point matches, but the event was win-loss records, and PR. The Magriel Cup Player of truncated to two rounds when the U.S. reached an the Match for the U.S. was judged by the directors insurmountable lead.) All 12 team members played to be Matt Cohn-Geier, and Aref Alipour won the each round. award for the U.K.

The scoring per round consisted of 3 points for Conclusion winning a match and one point for winning the PR. It was an extraordinary, high-level performance all Again, the final PR was from XG using BMAB around. While the USA won the event points tally settings. 235 – 133, most of the matches were close with many superb PRs for both teams. Chris Bray of the U.K. team paraphrased The Terminator: "We will be back.”

UK vs USA – The Magriel Cup Chris Bray

This article has been reprinted, with ack at the start of August the UK took on the USA in an permission, from https://ukbgf. online backgammon match. There were twelve players on com/uk-vs-usa-the-magriel-cup each team and four different formats were used over three on September 1, 2020. A large part days of very competitive play. However, before we look at the of the section about the 1973 U.S. B2020 match, we need to use a Tardis to step back forty-seven years to vs. U.K. match has been omitted for 1973 to find the origins of the match. considerations of space. The Awards section is omitted because the results The 1973 Match are listed in the Storer-Davis article In October 1973 the Clermont Club in London’s West End hosted a this issue (with corrections, of which match between the UK and the USA. Joe Dwek and Philip Martyn a minor one appears here). The list (who passed away earlier this year) represented England, while Barclay of team members is omitted for the Cooke and his son, Walter, played for the USA. After forty games of same reason. U.S. spellings have been head-to-head play (the pairings were changed after twenty games) the adopted. USA emerged victorious by the score of 73-64. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 37

I decided to enter the moves of the games into XG I would like to report that the match was close for analysis. Remember that the four players were but sadly not. The USA looked stronger on paper considered to be amongst the best in the world at the and so it proved in real life. They romped home by time of the match. Their PRs were as follows: the somewhat embarrassing scoreline of 235-133. [previously reported as 233-133 –Ed.] However, nearly • Barclay Cooke 7.79 all the matches were close, and it is fair to say that • Joe Dwek 9.02 the USA had the rub of the green. • Walter Cooke 11.60 • Phillip Martyn 13.15 The Performance Ratings (PR) of both teams were extremely low and a credit to the game. There were Quite staggering – they wouldn’t even be able to hold several instances of PRs below 2, where 2.5 is deemed their own in a modern intermediates tournament! to be level. Overall the USA average PR was better than that of the UK, so their The 2020 Match victory was well-deserved. I am indebted to Joe Russell Martin Barkwill, the UK captain, has been a busy for putting this together. Many congratulations to Matt man since taking office. Earlier this year he was in Cohn-Geier and Aref Alipour [Players of the Match for discussions with Joe Russell, former world champion each side –Ed.] for their overall performances. and chairman of the US Backgammon Federation, to reprise the UK vs USA match of 1973. Unfortunately, I have not yet had time to analyze the matches Covid-19 intervened and the event had to be played in great depth so I will content myself with just a online. It is hoped that the next match, probably in couple of positions from my own matches by way of 2022, will be played over the board. examples. In one round I had the pleasure of playing Matt Cohn-Geier (MCG) who is currently ranked The UK team was selected by a mixture of qualifying number 20 in the list of Backgammon Giants. [MCG by right (Tim Cross and Gaz Owen) and a number of was #4 on the 2017 list –Ed.] play-off matches where the winner of each contest had to beat his opponent both in the match score and by having In our eleven-point match of 223 moves MCG made the lower PR. The pre-qualification process and much of precisely three significant errors (blunders). I made the actual match was organized by Simon Barget who four. Backgammon is a strange game insomuch as we captained the team over the three days. [See the Storer- focus on errors, rather than great moves, to assist our Davis article for the list of players on each team. –Ed.] learning process.

The four formats used were: Therefore, I hope MCG will not mind my featuring one of his errors as it is instructive. • Speed play • Double match point (best of five) • Teams of three (non-consulting) • Individual 38 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Position 1 In one of my DMP games against Steve Sax the following position arose. I was Black and had Score Pips just run my last rear checker out with a 64 played 5-Away White (Aref Alipour) 132 24/14. Things looked grim. Thirty-five numbers hit. 10-Away Black (Matt Cohn-Geier) 109 Naturally Steve rolled double fives. C’est la vie!! Black to play 21 Position 2 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 1-Away White (Steve Sax) 105 1-Away Black (Chris Bray) 45

White to play 55

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

13/12 3/1 +0.288 4/1 +0.264 (-0.024) 13/12 4/2 +0.263 (-0.025) 3/1 2/1 +0.268 (-0.030) 6 3/2 3/1 +0.232 (-0.056) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ü 13/11 12/11 +0.208 (-0.079) White rolled 55, the only number to miss!

MCG (Black) elected to play 13/11, 12/11 in order to Summary block my sixes from his 5-pt. The question of whether The whole match was played on Backgammon Black needs that point when he is twenty-six pips in Galaxy and live commentary was provided by Marc the race is moot. It is a short-term asset, but he may Brockmann Olsen, Justin Nowell and guests. Thanks have trouble clearing it later. The other problem is that to Marc and his friends for all their efforts. The event it leaves White four potentially game-winning shots. was great fun, if somewhat tiring. XG hates leaving game-winning shots and much prefers 13/12, 3/1 with this 21. A simple but, I hope Online backgammon has its place, but nothing you will agree, informative position. MCG went on to can compare with live play and everyone is looking win this game and then match by the score 11-9. forward to the next match being fought out over the board. Hopefully there will also be time for fine wine Backgammon is nothing without its ludicrous and food! turnarounds which brings us all back for more! USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 39

Analysis of Positions from Magriel Cup Marty Storer

here were quite a few outstanding games, matches, and PRs US Player Profile in the Magriel Cup. Chris Trencher of New York, New York, Victor Ashkenazi USA, featured on this issue’s cover, is a BMAB grandmaster and long-time national and international winner. He had the Tbest overall performance in total points, and had the best performance of any U.S. player in the DMP event, including a 1.63 PR. Matt Cohn-Geier was the Player of the Match for the U.S., indicating best overall performance; his average PR was astoundingly low, as would be • Originally from , expected by those familiar with his play. I will analyze 10 positions from • BMAB Grandmaster Class 1 the Magriel Cup matches of Chris and Matt. Chris has kindly provided • #3 Giant of Backgammon, 2019 several positions, along with comments. • Winner of two NY Open, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Michigan and Vegas Masters, North In the third round of the Team event, Chris faced off against Aref Speed Online and Alipour, the U.K.’s Player of the Match. Leading 4 – 1 to 11, Aref had many smaller tournaments. a redoubling decision in the following position: • Average PR in 2020 Magriel Cup (8 US-UK matches) - 2.3. Position 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Score Pips 7-Away White (Aref Alipour) 94 10-Away Black (Chris Trencher) 108

White on roll. Cube action? ND Winning Chances: 75.30% (G:15.25% B:0.23%) ND Winning Chances: 24.70% (G:3.78% B:0.05%) D/T Winning Chances: 75.51% (G:15.09% B:0.25%) D/T Winning Chances: 24.49% (G:3.84% B:0.10%)

Best choice: Redouble / Take No Double +0.815 (-0.022) Redouble/Take +0.837 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ü Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.163) 40 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Chris: Aref redoubled and gave me a very tough decision. I passed and he US Player Profile immediately agreed. Aref has nine numbers that make the 4 or 5 point, 42 Matt Cohn-Geier and 62 to clear his 12 point, and double 1 to create more threats next roll. His remaining 23 numbers require him to bury a checker or leave a blot on his 9 or 11, which will be exposed to 5 or 6 numbers. If I hit and he fans, I will cube him out, so I will win 6-7% on the next two shakes. Against that, he can gammon me for the match and if he leaves a shot and I miss, he will have additional numbers to make his 4 or 5 point and if he has cleared his 12 point, • #20 Giant of Backgammon, 2019 my 18 point brings little contact value. I correctly assessed this as a clear-cut #4 Giant of Backgammon, 2017 pass for cash or in a score-neutral situation in a match, but XG calculates my • BMAB Grandmaster Class 2 live-cube take point at a paltry 18.35% and for that, I have enough. • 2020 Magriel Cup, USA Player of the Match • First Place, American With six checkers low in his board, and seven outside, Aref may well Backgammon Tour, 2017 have trouble getting home safely. Not only that, a few rolls give him • Winner, Las Vegas 2017 (both a chance to misplay: 43, 61, and 52 stand out, and there may be other tournaments), Las Vegas 2011, Minnesota 2010 troublesome choices later. But the bottom line is that once the score in • Super Jackpot Winner, Las an 11-pointer gets lopsided and 4-cubes start flying around, the universe Vegas 2016, Japan Open 2012, starts to look different than it does at normal scores. In particular, when L.A. 2012, Nordic Open 2011 and 2012, U.S. Open 2012, the trailer is doubled in a bad position, the trailer's winning chances Minnesota 2010, Las Vegas 2009, tend to matter most (see our Summer 2020 issue’s analysis of Cross vs. Illinois 2009 • Winner, Dual-Duel Tournament, Contos, Position 3, pp. 72-73; and of T. Rebelo vs. R. Rebelo, Position San Antonio 2015 9, pp. 57-58). That's why the basic take point has to be low (though tough to calculate exactly, over the board: you have to remember the match equity table and do the arithmetic accurately, while the clock is ticking). And when the cube gets to 4 at a lopsided score, the leader's gammon value (the relative value of a gammon compared to a normal US Player Profile Dennis Culpepper win) tends to go way down; here XG says it's only 0.299 on a 4-cube, as compared to the norm of 0.5. The diagrammed position is a pass if Aref is doubling to 2 at the score, because in that case his gammon value is higher.

In this position, the value of Chris’s cube ownership may not be greatly elevated as compared to a normal match score (though often it will be • Winner of 2018 Atlanta greatly elevated at a score like this), but it’s still pretty good considering Spring Classic that Chris will sometimes have a play-on (for example after Aref rolls 53 • 1996 ABT Player of the Year and makes 5 point, Chris hits with 44: bar/17* 18/14(2), and then Aref • 14th all-time ABT Points Leader fans; and also in some other hitting variations). • Member of Team USA vs UK in 2020 Magriel Cup; 1.99 PR in Team event and 3.3 in DMP event In the next game, with Chris behind 10-away to 5-away and Aref owning a 2-cube, Chris had a tough decision with 33: USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 41

Position 2 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 5-Away White (Aref Alipour) 127 10-Away Black (Chris Trencher) 159

Black to play 33

23/17 6/3(2) -0.238 ü 23/17(2) -0.259 (-0.021) 23/20 23/17 6/3 -0.299 (-0.061) 23/20(2) 6/3(2) -0.319 (-0.081) 20/17(2) 6/3(2) -0.399 (-0.162) 13/10(2) 6/3(2) -0.414 (-0.177) 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

US Player Profile Chris: I struggled to find the concept here. I quickly rejected 13/10(2) 6/3(2); Karen Davis I don’t have the timing to try to preserve the back game structure, as I don't have a good follow-through next roll. I also rejected 23/20(2) 6/3(2) because my position falls apart next turn if I can't play my entire roll with a spare from the 20 point. I rejected the correct play, 23/17 6/3(2), because I was afraid of entering awkwardly after being hit on the 17, perhaps breaking my good structure soon afterward. However, it appears that maintaining the 13 and 20 points with a blot on the 23 point is the best defense here. My play of 23/17 (2) takes too much • President and Executive Director, U.S. Backgammon pressure off of Aref by allowing him a "safe zone" behind my anchor. Federation (2017-2020), member Board of Directors That’s right, though the move Chris made is not far wrong. But he wants (2009-2020),Chairman and President of U.S. Backgammon to keep maximum contact overall, and ideally he wants to make his 3 Foundation point quickly. The best play of 23/17 6/3(2) does both of those things. • Organizer of the Cherry Blossom and Sunny Florida ABT It makes the 3 point, keeps the midpoint to oppose Aref’s checkers Backgammon Championships on Chris’s bar point, and keeps some control of Aref’s 2 point as well • BMAB Master Class 2 as pressuring his outside checkers both directly and indirectly. Then if • #6 in USBGF Lifetime National Chris gets an immediate hit he has a nice inner board; and if not, either Master Points, and #2 in USBGF Lifetime Online Master Points. he’s been hit and his timing has been adjusted at least somewhat in his • 2019 – 1st Super Jackpot, NY favor, or else he has not been hit and can move the 17-point spare or Metropolitan Open; 1st in BMAB- USA at the Cherry Blossom perhaps do something else useful. In any case it’s critical to keep the • Member, Team USA in 2020 midpoint, and it's unlikely Chris will be hurting too badly after being Magriel Cup, winning 5 of her 7 hit. matches 42 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Things went well for Chris in that game, and he won 2 points when his board stood up after he hit in the outfield. But by the seventh game, Aref led by 6 points, 2-away to 8-away. Aref’s back checkers had escaped to the 14 point, and Chris was defending with five checkers back. His roll of 61 presented a dilemma. Position 3 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 2-Away White (Aref Alipour) 129 8-Away Black (Chris Trencher) 197

Black to play 61

13/7 6/5 -0.145 13/7 8/7 -0.196 (-0.051) ü 24/18 6/5 -0.209 (-0.064)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Chris: Do I or don't I have time for a 1-3 back game? It was a big mistake to US Player Profile make the 18 point to challenge for control of Aref ’s outer board. Dmitriy Obukhov

Chris might well have time for a 1-3 back game. At a similar pip deficit, many 1-3 back games will be takable. Also, if Chris does not cover his 18 point, Aref will often hit the blot and give Chris a bit more timing. But Chris’s defensive structure is not yet decided even if he does not make the 18 point this turn. He may make that point later, he may be able to go forward quickly, or he may get a viable holding game or back • From Riga, ; lives in Michigan, USA game based on the two low anchors. • BMAB Grandmaster Class 2 • #34 Giant of Backgammon, 2019 The problem with Chris’s move is twofold. First, by giving up the 24 • 1st, Ohio State Championship, 2018; Chicago Open Doubles, point Chris gives Aref 5s to use an overstacked 6-point checker to hit 2013 (with Stepan Nuniyants); on his 1 point (a new and often desirable destination for those possibly Ohio Masters, 2012; two IIBGF frustrated spares), which is not too risky for Aref because Chris does ranking events; Russian Premier League, 2013 and 2014; perfect not yet have a strong inner board or blockade. Second, 24/18 somewhat score, 2014 EBIF European neglects Chris’s inner board, whereas 13/7 6/5 both slots two key points Championship (for Latvia); ranked in top 5 of EBIF and brings another checker to the Zone. The bottom line is that keeping • 2nd, Ohio Open, 2012; Chicago the 24 point gives better long-term shot equity, while making the 18 Open, 2018; Texas, 2019; L.A. point is too committal. Super Jackpot, 2019. • Numerous 1st- and 2nd-place finishes in Flint, MI events USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 43

Aref’s reply was 52. He misplayed with the safe 13/8 6/4, instead of the more enterprising 6/1* 13/11 which puts Chris on the bar, unstacks the 6 point, starts the ace point, and adds a builder for the open 5.

Chris hit a checker two turns later and Aref came back with a joker double 3. Later in the game, Aref was a big favorite, but Chris rolled a joker of his own that hit two checkers. He then had an interesting 52 to play in this position: Position 4 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 2-Away White (Aref Alipour) 155 8-Away Black (Chris Trencher) 149

Black to play 52

16/11 10/8 +1.000 18/11 +0.985 (-0.015) 18/16 11/6 +0.963 (-0.038) 18/16 10/5 +0.958 (-0.043) ü 18/16 13/8 +0.917 (-0.083)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

US Player Profile Chris: First, I correctly played on. Then, I rolled my worst. The decision to Chris Trencher leave the blot on the 10 point was interesting. I chose to take the risk of Aref rolling a catastrophic 11, 22, or 44 from the roof, but this turned out to be incorrect. After he entered both checkers with 41, I doubled, thinking he likely had a small pass due to the number of gammons I could win, particularly when I could make my bar with a combination of 1s, 3s, and 6s. But to Aref's credit, he found the small take.

• Lives in New York with his wife and two teenage sons The blot on the 10 point is a builder for Chris’s bar point and a slot for • BMAB Grandmaster Class 3 his 10. The main benefit of Chris’s play is that it maximizes chances for • Currently ranked 25th globally him to make his bar point next turn; that point would be a great asset, on Backgammon Galaxy quite desirable both for winning the game and winning a gammon. • Has several NY Liberty Cup Masters wins and a runner-up Maybe Chris can play on for gammon if he makes his bar, but he is not finish in the 2018 Monte Carlo an immediate favorite to do so after the play he made. Super Jackpot • Member Team USA 2020 Magriel Cup with composite PR of 3.37; first in overall points won; won 6 of 7 DMP matches and led U.S. team with 1.630 PR in DMP event 44 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Outside blots often require consolidation. Chris has access to the cube, US Player Profile and at the score Aref will often have to pass a double for fear of being Joseph Russell gammoned. The reason 16/11 10/8 is best is that it's minimally risky (leaving no blot in direct range of Aref's anchor), and therefore reduces Chris’s consolidation responsibilities. It cuts both immediate risk (44 22 11 for Aref) and long-term risk (future parlays where Aref either gets a lucky hit or can otherwise take a cube). Thus 16/11 10/8 does the most to allow Chris to cash the game at some point, while maintaining some • For over thirty years, Joe Russell chance to play for the gammon. That move also maintains fairly secure has been an outstanding player, control of Chris’s outfield and gives him 10 numbers to make his bar an international ambassador right away. of the game, and a significant contributor and promoter of backgammon through his work Second best is 18/11; although it leaves a blot on the 10 point, it gives with the U.S. Backgammon Federation. 10 ways to make the bar. It also makes a third outfield point and leaves • 1989 World Champion and only two blots, so that Chris can consolidate pretty easily from there. 2016 World Championshp finalist • American Backgammon Hall of Fame, 2016 Chris won a four-point gammon, getting to 4-away, 2-away, a score • 1995 ABT Player of the Year where the trailer must be aggressive with the cube. Chris was aggressive, • #32 Giant of Backgammon, 2019 correctly doubling after Aref’s principled splitting reply of 52 to the • Chairman, Board of Directors, opening 31. Aref properly took the cube, and Chris won the match with U.S. Backgammon Federation. • Voted to the top 32 Giants of a gammon! Backgammon nine times; won over 25 regional, national, and In the Individual event, Chris faced Aref again. In the seventh game, international events. • Ranked 29th all-time in American with the score tied 6-all in the 11-point match, Chris had to play 43 in Backgammon Tour points. this position: US Player Profile Steve Sax Position of the Week Renowned British columnist and author Chris Bray posts a position each Monday on

the facebook.com/USBGF • 2019 American Backgammon page. Post a comment with Hall of Fame inductee your preferred play and • 2011 Giants of Backgammon see the answer on Tuesday. tournament winner • 2002 ABT Player of the Year • Instructor for Backgammon Members may visit usbgf. Learning Center org website for a complete • Many times a Giant of Backgammon, including #14 for explanation in Chris’s 2019. The Learning Curve column. • BMAB Grandmaster • Has won 24 titles over the years USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 45

Position 5 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 5-Away White (Aref Alipour) 132 5-Away Black (Chris Trencher) 109

Black to play 43

10/7 10/6 +0.642 ü 17/10 +0.561 (-0.081) 6/2 5/2 +0.547 (-0.095)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

US Player Profile Chris: This is a tough pay now / pay later position. I did not want to break Neil Kazaross my 10 point as I believed that I would eventually leave a shot clearing the 17. The 10 point would be a valuable asset if I had to break the 17, got hit, and then needed to scamper home. I did not seriously consider 6/2 5/2, which is too inflexible. So I decided to pay now with 17/10. XG evaluates this as the proper move on 4 ply, but clearing the 10 point comes first according to both XGR++ and a rollout.

• American Backgammon Hall of Fame, inaugural cohort, 2015. It is actually quite good to keep the 17 point and maximize outside • #7 Giants of Backgammon, 2019 contact. Thereafter, the timing is not necessarily in Aref’s favor; he will • Noted for his brilliant analytical probably have some difficulty moving freely, with only one spare each mind, Neil Kazaross is famous for inventing Neil’s Numbers, on 13 and 4. He will not necessarily be able to improve his weaker inner an easy method of calculating board, and he figures to have a hard time breaking the 21 point safely. match equities over the board, and co-authoring the Rockwell/ Kazaross MET (Match Equity Now look at things from Chris’s perspective after he plays 17/10. It may Table). be hard for him to escape his blot from the 17 point even if Aref misses • He has been voted onto every Giants of Backgammon list since (26 numbers hit). Most of Aref's hitting numbers leave a direct shot, but its inception, including top ten if Chris hits back he may not be able to cover the blot on his 2 point. ratings since 1995. • The #1 all-time leader on the American Backgammon Tour Finally, even if Chris succeeds in escaping the blot from his 17 point, in numerous categories – the 10 point represents a further clearing problem. Clearing the 10 point career points, #1 six times, top three eight times, 17 career now not only gets rid of a problem point but also gives Chris playability tournament victories, and for a long time, and makes it easy for him to build his board. much more. • Inaugural USBGF National Championship winner (2011). This position is somewhat similar in concept to Problem 13 from Bill Robertie’s 2017 Boston Open Quiz, analyzed by Robertie here: https:// thegammonpress.com/2017-boston-quiz-contest-part-3/. 46 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Matt Cohn-Geier, known as MCG, played impressively for many reasons. I was struck by his consistency in technical decisions. In the Individual event he first played Gaz Owen, quite a tough opponent. The second game found MCG ahead 1-0 to 11, owning the cube at 2 and an underdog in what would usually turn into a pure 24-anchor game. His roll was 64: Position 6 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 11-Away White (Gaz Owen) 94 10-Away Black (Matt Cohn-Geier) 169

Black to play 64

ü 13/7 8/4 -0.890 13/3 -0.915 (-0.026) 8/2 6/2 -0.918 (-0.028) 13/7 6/2 -0.922 (-0.032) 24/14 -0.935 (-0.046)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MCG had enough timing that he could afford not to spring his spare US Player Profile back checker and leave a direct shot in the outfield. Instead he tried Marty Storer for quick improvement up front, slotting both his bar and 4 points. Gaz may still have some trouble getting his five outside checkers home safely, so MCG's plan makes perfect sense. He would hate to get hit and languish on the bar while Gaz bore in safely! His play beats the tempting 24/14 by 0.046 money-equivalent points per game (PPG) in • BMAB Grandmaster Class 2 XG’s rollout. • Three-time Giant of Backgammon; #23 for 2019 • American Backgammon Tour Two moves later, he had a similar choice: champion, 1993 • Winner, Michigan Summer Classic, 2015; USBGF National Championship East, 2015, Boston Masters, 2019 • Member, Team USA, 2020 Magriel Cup; 1.633 PR in DMP event and 2.44 in Team event • Finalist (with David Kettler), 2020 USBGF Tournament of Stars • Thrice NEBC champion • Author of Backgammon Praxis • Co-author of What’s Your Game Plan? with Mary Hickey USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 47

Position 7 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 11-Away White (Gaz Owen) 83 10-Away Black (Matt Cohn-Geier) 151

Black to play 62

ü 13/7 6/4 -0.923 8/2 6/4 -0.932 (-0.009) 13/11 13/7 -0.937 (-0.013) 13/7 8/6 -0.946 (-0.022) 24/1 8 6/4 -0.949 (-0.026) 8/2 7/5 -0.953 (-0.030) 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Again MCG declined to jump out with the spare back checker, and again that was the right idea. He has enough time to wait for a better opportunity. It would not have been a big error to come out and make the 4 point, but MCG nailed the decision, making his bar point along with his 4.

Two turns later, MCG rolled another 6: Position 8 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 11-Away White (Gaz Owen) 72 10-Away Black (Matt Cohn-Geier) 137

Black to play 62

ü 24/18 9/7 -0.865 24/1 8 6/4 -0.869 (-0.003) 24/18 7/5 -0.886 (-0.021) 24/18 4/2 -0.897 (-0.032) 9/1 -0.994 (-0.129)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Now MCG exited Gaz's board at just the right moment. He is running out of time, so it would be a big mistake to stay back. After 24/18 9/7, he gets a bonus direct shot if Gaz rolls 61 or 51, and a 17-to-1 shot after being hit with 62. Matt points out that the checker on the 18 point also prevents Gaz from bearing in with a roll of 31 or 41. 48 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Gaz hit with 62 and won a four-point gammon, then won another the following game, reaching 3-away to 10-away, a tough situation for MCG to cope with. In the next game, MCG doubled at his third turn after rolling 55 and 44, and Gaz ventured a take that XG says was an error of 0.037 PPG. But things worked out well for Gaz; later he was on the blitz and Matt was on the ropes. Gaz had 32 to play here: Position 9 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Score Pips 3-Away White (Gaz Owen) 119 10-Away Black (Matt Cohn-Geier) 192

White to play 32

4/2 4/1* +0.480 ü 23/20 8/6 +0.396 (-0.084) 23/20 10/8 +0.368 (-0.111) 10/7 8/6 +0.367 (-0.113) 23/20 4/2 +0.357 (-0.123)

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Gaz made the pure play of 23/20 8/6, defending his back checkers and US Player Profile hoping to make his 2 point next turn. But with two of MCG’s checkers Bob Wachtel already on the bar, the first priority is to keep MCG from getting a second anchor. To that end, the best move by far is to give up the attractive 4 point in order to switch to the 2 point and hit loose on the 1; defense is much less important. Such moves can be hard to see, but often come up in practice.

MCG hit on Gaz’s 2 point, but Gaz hit again with 54, then made the • #24 Giant of Backgammon, 2019 • BMAB Grandmaster Class 2 2 and 1 points, and was sitting pretty with a five-point board against • Born in NYC; was top junior in MCG’s five checkers on the 20 point and one on the bar. But Gaz was chess and currently a master; forced to leave a 17-to-1 shot, which MCG hit! Gaz had no checkers off holds B.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science and was the underdog with a blot in his inner board and MCG to play • One of the world’s elite players double 5 in the following position: for the last 30 years. • Acclaimed author of many books and articles over the past 30 years • 1st place, 2015 L.A. Open Super 32 Jackpot, and 2001 State singles and doubles; has been champion of U.K., , , , and . 2nd place, Monte Carlo, 2004, and Crown's Cup, Berlin, 2007. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 49

Position 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 3-Away White (Gaz Owen) 62 10-Away Black (Matt Cohn-Geier) 149

Black to play 55

20/10 18/13 6/1* +0.553 18/13 15/10 14/9 6/1* +0.530 (-0.023) 20/10 15/10 6/1* +0.523 (-0.030) 20/15 18/13 14/9 6/1* +0.522 (-0.031) ü 20/10 18/13 15/10 +0.513 (-0.040)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

US Player Profile Now it was MCG’s turn for a pure play. He made the 10 point with three Roberto Litzenberger of his 5s and played the fourth 18/13, increasing control of his outfield and incidentally forcing Gaz to break his board with most throws not including a 6. Matt notes that 20/10 18/13 14/9, adding another builder for his bar point instead of making his 10, would be weak primarily because of the huge swing against him on Gaz’s 62 and 63.

A 0.040 error according to XG’s rollout, this was MCG’s worst mistake • Winner, 2018 Cherry Blossom Backgammon Championship; of the match! We should all play so well. Based on rollouts and XGR++ 2019 Pro-Am Doubles in addition to 4-ply evaluations, his PR for this match was 0.86, slightly (with Jonah Seewald); 2017 Tournament of Stars (with Patty better than the XG analysis result with BMAB settings. Knapp); 2018 Viking Longship Super Jackpot; Paskogammon MCG should hit loose on the ace point, with 20/10 and 18/13 to Cup at 2018 LA Open • #39 Giant of Backgammon, 2019 maximize outfield coverage. The hit stops Gaz from running with 6s, • BMAB Master and also prevents him from clearing his 6 point safely, except with • #6 in Backgammon World double 2. Also importantly, the hit may give MCG a shot at Gaz’s Ranking; #4 for 2018-19 inner-board blot if Gaz hits back. And indeed, Gaz’s replies of 15, 14, • #12 USBGF Lifetime Master Point leader and 24 break the 6 point and leave a third blot for MCG to shoot at, • Member of Team USA in 2020 compared to only the 14 anti-joker Gaz had after MCG’s actual play. Magriel Cup, winning 6 of his 7 If Matt had looked at this one a bit longer, he probably would have matches • Finished second in 2018 found the hit. As it was, Gaz won the game and match after starting American Backgammon Tour with double 2 to clear his 6 point, hitting after MCG hit loose on the with 45.99 points 2 point, then escaping with a joker and bearing in and off safely. That’s • Known for his calm demeanor, Roberto imagines gazing upon backgammon! the clouds from a mountaintop when playing a match The inaugural Magriel Cup was a fine event. See Chris Bray’s report on page 36 of this issue, originally published on the U.K. Backgammon Federation site and redacted in this issue for length. P i c k - A - P r o

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Tournament Recap Inaugural USBGF Tournament of Stars Online! Marty Storer and Karen Davis

he USBGF Tournament of Stars Online!, the first online version of the USBGF Tournament of Stars, was held August 14-16 on BackgammonGalaxy.com. It drew 24 doubles teams, each consisting of a Backgammon Star and a U.S. Backgammon TFederation (USBGF) Founding Sponsor. The Tournament of Stars was initiated in 2011 as a benefit for Founding Sponsors, giving them an opportunity to play doubles with a Backgammon Star – defined this year as a Backgammon Masters Awarding Body (BMAB) Grandmaster or Master Class 1; a Top 64 Giant of Backgammon for 2019; an American Backgammon Hall of Fame Inductee; one of the top 20 All- time American Backgammon Tour (ABT) Point Leaders or the top 50 on the Backgammon World Ranking List; or any elite international player. Perry Gartner

This year, for the first time, the event was held online, making it the first online doubles event sponsored by the U.S. Backgammon Federation. It tied the previous in-person record of 24 teams competing. Another 16 USBGF members came for the side events, for a total of 64 players. It was particularly nice to welcome participants from , , Canada, England, Germany, , Switzerland, and .

It’s fitting that Perry Gartner (FL) was the Backgammon Star on this year’s winning duo as well as a member of the winning team in the inaugural Tournament of Stars held in 2011. Perry is President Emeritus of the USBGF, and co-director of the Backgammon Learning Center. He partnered with Christian Briggs, another South Florida player, who is a generous supporter of the USBGF along with his son Jason. A list of Christian Briggs all Tournament of Stars champions is shown below. 52 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Tournament Of Stars Champions The Saturday Evening Formal Dance, also a single 2020 Perry Gartner (FL) & Christian Briggs (FL) elimination jackpot of 9-point matches, drew 25 2019 Boris Dekhtyar (NY) & entrants. Michael Neagu from Canada won the event Kimon Papachristopoulos (Germany) with Bill Finneran (MD) placing second, and Rudy 2018 (1/2 split) Art Benjamin (CA) & Christian Langenback (TX) and Steve Sax (CA) finishing Briggs (FL) / Joe Russell (CA) & Chris third/fourth. Trencher (NY) 2017 Patty Knapp (MA) & Roberto Litzenberger (VA) 2016 Harvey Gillis (AZ) & Petko Kostadinov (SC) 2015 Richard Munitz (NY) & Justin Nunez (CA) 2014 Saba Bejanishvili (GA) & Petko Kostadinov (SC) 2013 Scotty Kelland (CT) & Bob Koca (MD) 2012 not held 2011 Bob Koca (MD) & Perry Gartner (FL)

Marty Storer (NH), BMAB Grandmaster and Executive Editor of PrimeTime Backgammon, partnered with David Kettler (TX) to take second place, while Tim Cross, a BMAB Grandmaster from the U.K. and winner of the 2020 LA Open ABT Online!, claimed third prize with his partner Ed Corey, Michael Neagu USBGF Membership Director. Tim is the third- ranked Backgammon Galaxy player out of over 30,000 The tournament wrapped up with a 16-player registered players on the popular backgammon server. Sunday Evening Finale of 7-point matches in the Main and 5-point matches in the Fighters bracket. Side events were held daily for interested USBGF Chris Trencher (NY) finished in first place. Dan members. Jonah Seewald (CO) won the Friday Warm Minardi (CO), USBGF Chief Operating Officer Up, a 16-player single elimination jackpot of 9-point and Treasurer, finished second, while Ronald Loero matches. Gary Zelmanovics (NJ) finished second, while (Venezuela) finished third. Ray Fogerlund (NV) and USBGF Board of Directors Chairman Joe Russell (CA) came in third/fourth.

Photo Credit: Beth Diamond Chris Trencher Jonah Seewald USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 53

Analysis of Positions from Briggs & Gartner vs. Kettler & Storer Marty Storer

David Kettler and I played Christian Briggs and We won our first three matches in the main flight, Perry Gartner twice in the 2020 Tournament of against Mario Savan and Jonah Seewald; Steve Stars — losing both times! Nobody else beat us, but Kenney and Tobias Hellwag; and Scotty Kelland Christian and Perry were up to the task. It was a and Frank Raposa. We faced Christian and Perry in small to nonexistent consolation that we had a lower the fourth round. They had bested John Pirner and PR in each match. I will analyze six positions from Stepan Nuniyants; Chuck Bower and Art Benjamin; these two matches. and Jak Civre and Ted Chee. All matches in the tournament were 9 points.

We were behind 3-away to 2-away when Christian and Perry had the following cube decision: Position 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Score Pips 2-Away White (Briggs & Gartner) 119 3-Away Black (Kettler & Storer) 129

White on roll. Cube action? ND Winning Chances: 73.31% (G:10.81% B:0.91%) ND Winning Chances: 26.69% (G:6.33% B:0.31%) D/T Winning Chances: 73.98% (G:18.68% B:1.29%) D/T Winning Chances: 26.02% (G:6.19% B:0.35%)

Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.839 (-0.073) Double/Take +0.912 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ü Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.088)

We had misplayed 54 last turn, opting for 13/4 our back checkers one by one, or make a low anchor instead of 24/20 13/8. Christian and Perry properly and hit later. When in doubt, take; but unfortunately turned the cube. Now it's a tough choice whether we weren’t in enough doubt. to accept and redouble for match, or pass and retain a 24.92% chance to win the match from 3-away to After passing, we won a point and then they used a 1-away, Crawford. free drop. We lost the DMP game and went down to Round 4 of the Fighters Bracket. Christian and Perry We can take with a 24.92% chance to win the game, defeated Dennis Lutz and Steve Sax in the main and we thought we didn't have enough. XG tells us flight to reach the final round. The last two teams we misjudged the winning chances by over 1%. An from the Fighters would play off, the loser taking important factor is that the race is close, and we have third place and the winner to play Christian and a reasonable chance to hit over the next few turns. Perry one match for the title. We had to win twice to Failing that, we may anchor on the 20 point, escape get to the semifinal. 54 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

We prevailed against Boris Dekhtyar and Frank benefit of staying on the 20 is to increase hitting Talbot, followed by Dennis Lutz and Steve Sax. The chances beyond the following roll, and to prevent semifinal against Ed Corey and Tim Cross was tough, them from moving to the 5 point with 53. Note that but we won in the end. Ed and Tim finished third if we break our midpoint immediately, they must play and we had to play Christian and Perry once more. 13/6 with 61, thus giving them less time to move in the outer board before getting into serious shot In the first game of the final, Christian and Perry danger. escaped their back checkers, but we had a pretty good holding game. Our roll was 64 in this position: After we misplayed the 64, Christian and Perry considered doubling: Position 2 Position 3 Score Pips 9-Away White (Briggs & Gartner) 100 Score Pips 9-Away Black (Kettler & Storer) 129 17-Away White (Briggs & Gartner) 144 17-Away Black (Kettler & Storer) 144 Black to play 64

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 White on roll. Cube Action?

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

13/9 13/7 -0.481 ND Winning Chances: 68.42% (G:2.00% B:0.03%) 20/14 6/2 -0.493 (-0.012) ND Winning Chances: 31.58% (G:1.86% B:0.06%) 13/7 6/2 -0.516 (-0.035) D/T Winning Chances: 68.57% (G:1.95% B:0.04%) D/T Winning Chances: 31.43% (G:1.91% B:0.05%) 20/14 5/1 -0.552 (-0.071) ü 20/10 -0.555 (-0.075) Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.547 (-0.035) ü Double/Take +0.582 We ran, 20/10, which was a bad idea; XG prefers Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.418) 13/9 13/7. Though staying on the 20 point gives them joker 11 and mini-joker 31 to hit and improve their board, it also forces a double blot on their reply of 62; Though we have a viable two-way game plan of stopping on the 14 point, a close choice compared hitting and racing, Christian and Perry doubled to 2. to XG’s favored play, would do the same. Another XG’s rollout backs up this fine choice. They have no USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 55

immediate blot numbers and may not have any for By the ninth game of the match, we trailed 5-away several turns, while they also have four extremely to 4-away. The cube was in the middle and we had strong throws (double 2 through double 5). They are an advanced anchor, but it was blocked by their four- far enough ahead in the pip count that our racing point prime and we were ahead in the race. We had chances alone are slim. Our take is easy, but if we a five-point board against their one-point board with eventually get a shot we will likely have broken our a blot, and we were ready to run if the opportunity midpoint and thus have no more than 17 ways to hit. presented itself. We rolled 62, but playing it was After we took, they soon rolled 33 and easily won the problematic. game from there. Position 4 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 4-Away White (Briggs & Gartner) 114 5-Away Black (Kettler & Storer) 101

Black to play 62

ü 20/14 13/11 -0.060 13/11 13/7 -0.072 (-0.013) 13/5 -0.156 (-0.097) 20/14 6/4 -0.375 (-0.315)

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

We did not want to weaken our strong board with a We finally decided to make that fourth play: 20/14 play like 20/14 6/4. The main alternative seems to be 13/11, leaving a blot in their board and two exposed the simple 13/7 13/11, leaving no targets and hoping in their outfield, but also keeping our five-point either to run later or hit a four-number fly shot at an board and attempting to race by linking on the 14 outside checker. But if we play safe, we risk having to point with a 6 or 51, or on the 13 point with 52. This run later against an improved board. is a risky attempt, but XG’s rollout puts it on top by a small amount. The time for such an aggressive There is a third choice: 13/5, keeping the five-point running attempt is now, while their hit-cover board and giving momentary pressure against the numbers give us significantly many return shots. If opposing midpoint. The trouble with that move is we are hit and miss the return, we may re-anchor that it gives them a few ways to hit and cover, and and fight on from there. does not force them to leave a direct shot next turn. Our real choice was between clearing the midpoint This was the resulting position, with 31 to play for entirely, and a fourth alternative. Christian and Perry: 56 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Position 5 Position 6

Score Pips Score Pips 4-Away White (Briggs & Gartner) 114 4-Away White (Briggs & Gartner) 117 5-Away Black (Kettler & Storer) 93 5-Away Black (Kettler & Storer) 104

Black to play 31 Black on roll. Cube Action?

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 52.26% (G:26.82% B:0.50%) ü 13/12* 6/3 +0.104 ND Winning Chances: 47.74% (G:11.47% B:0.83%) 6/3 6/5* +0.071 (-0.033) D/T Winning Chances: 52.78% (G:27.20% B:0.44%) D/T Winning Chances: 47.22% (G:11.87% B:1.24%) 8/5* 6/5 -0.068 (-0.171) 7/3 -0.306 (-0.410) Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.092 (-0.021) ü Double/Take +0.113 They correctly hit outside with the ace and covered Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.887) their 3 point with the 3. Hitting on the 5 point is weaker, leaving more return shots and failing to put a second checker back behind the four-prime. It would We mulled over this one for a long time. Although be terrible not to hit at all, because that would give us we had missed a couple of strong doubles this game, a free chance to win by escaping our back checker. we did turn the cube here, and XG approves.

With only 12 return shots after Christian and Perry’s That decision is close, but probably right. The position move, we could not double. But we were happy to roll is volatile due to our five-point board and consequent 42 to hit! However, they promptly entered with 41 edge in gammons won. We have 22 ways to hit in and hit loose on their 5 point, a good play that gave their board or on our 4 point (double 4 hits loose, us a cube decision here: double 2 switches points, and 42 is played boldly, bar/21 6/4*). Of course they may still win the game after we hit, but we may win the game after missing. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 57

We missed with 61 (bar/24 21/15) and they covered Participating teams (Stars in CAPS) their 5 point with 43. They eventually redoubled Davis, Karen GOULDING, KENT us out. We fought back to 2-away apiece, and they Rosen, Michael ASHKENAZI, VICTOR doubled early as is customary and correct at that Pirner, John NUNIYANTS, STEPAN score. We lost after making what turned out to Bower, Chuck BENJAMIN, ART be a fatal error, and the team of Christian Briggs Fusco, Patrick RUSSELL, JOSEPH and Perry Gartner had deservedly won the 2020 Savan, Mario SEEWALD, JONAH Tournament of Stars. Minardi, Dan RAICHLE, CHARLIE Litzenberger, Irina LITZENBERGER, ROBERTO Backgammon Star bios may be found at: Briggs, Christian GARTNER, PERRY http://usbgf.org/trny/abt-online/bios-of- Leibowitz, David SIMBORG, PHIL tournament-of-stars-online-backgammon-stars/ Dekhtyar, Boris TALBOT, FRANK Lutz, Dennis SAX, STEVE The Main Bracket is at: Finneran, Bill CULPEPPER, DENNIS https://challonge.com/USBGFToS Kettler, David STORER, MARTY Barnett, John NEAGU, MICHAEL The Fighters Bracket is at: Corey, Ed CROSS, TIM https://challonge.com/USBGFToSFighter Kelland, Scotty RAPOSA, FRANK Kenney, Steve HELLWAG, TOBIAS Merriman, Greg FRISK, CRISTIAN Mayeron, Candace SENKIEWICZ, MICHAEL Koscielny, Gary ANDERSON, CRAIG Nedelcu, Adrian FOGERLUND, RAY Lonergan, Brian WACHTEL, BOB Civre, Jak CHEE, TED

It was an important fund-raiser for the U.S. Backgammon Federation. Eight players became Founding Sponsors or upgraded their Founding rd 3 place team Ed Corey (above) and Tim Cross (bottom Sponsor level to participate in the event. left). 2nd Place finisher, David Kettler (bottom right). Trophies were presented to the winning team. A personalized commemorative doubling cube was available for purchase for those interested. 58 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Tournament Recap Summer Winners In Michigan Carol Joy Cole

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Nadine Shaabana

e have celebrated the 4th of July for decades with the Michigan Summer Backgammon Championships. It is historically one of the largest backgammon events in the U.S. In 2019, 200 players competed at the Novi WSheraton, with 176 of them in the three main events. We were planning this year’s 45th annual event early in 2020, when things got wobbly. As COVID-19 spread, ABT tournaments began to fall in March like bowling pins in slow motion. Three more live ABT events canceled in April, and it looked grim for summer tournaments. I conferred with the Sheraton, and we reluctantly agreed to cancel this year’s July tournament Michigan ABT Online! Open winner at no penalty. We rebooked for July 2021. Ray Fogerlund (L) with finalist Howard Markowitz. Meanwhile, the USBGF devised the ABT Online! Tour to satisfy our hunger for tournaments. Board member Ben Friesen, Michigan’s own technology wizard, helped organize online events for the Cherry Blossom (97 players), Chicago Open (124), Los Angeles Open (89) and Buffalo/Niagara Championship (46).

Next up was Michigan, but instead of our usual five-day holiday weekend event, we kept the Summer Championships simple: two main divisions of Open and Intermediate, played over two days (July 5-6), with modest entry fees. We drew 120 players: 46 Intermediates and 76 in the largest Open field of the ABT Online! Tour. We welcomed ten players from foreign countries. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 59

Ben was our awesome Tournament Director, with Cary Hoarty of Cincinnati as his able assistant in the Intermediate. Our comfortable platform was GridGammon, with brackets on Challonge and communication through Zoom, phones, and GridGammon chat. The format was a Main Flight with a Progressive Consolation. Ben streamed matches with audience appeal, and with XG handy for consultation. We had excellent commentary from Roberto Litzenberger (VA), Steve Sax (CA), Joe Russell (CA) and Ben himself.

The finalists of the Michigan Open were two Backgammon Hall of Famers and good friends from Las Vegas: U.S. Open Champion Ray Fogerlund and Las Vegas Director Howard Markowitz. Ray won the Michigan Summer Championship in 2011, while Howard was the Michigan Champ in 1984 and 1993. This time, Ray won his second Michigan trophy. Despite the 11-0 score, it was an exciting match to Andy Fazekas with trophy. For watch. the past few years he has been playing, and often cashing, on the Ray reports that his toughest match was against Michigan’s 2003 Intermediate circuit. Champion Dean Adamian. Ray was down 7-10, but he clawed back to win 11-10. Dean’s eXtreme Gammon performance rating (PR) was 3+, while Ray’s was 2.9. Overall, Ray defeated Craig Alexander (IL), Zafer Yasa (CA), Victor Ashkenazi (NJ), Dean (MI), Phil Simborg (FL), Rambiz Khalili (Iran/), and Howard. Ray is now #2 in the ABT Online! standings, second only to Art Benjamin.

Semifinalist Aaron Foust was the third Las Vegan to cash in Michigan. In the Consolation, David Staggs (IN) had a thrilling come-from- behind victory over our favorite Mathemagician, Art Benjamin (CA).

In his first major win, Connecticut pharmacist Andy Fazekas won the Intermediate trophy over Cem Aslan (TX). Irina Litzenberger (VA) was delighted to win the Consolation over Douglas DeWitte. Doug is the fourth winner from Las Vegas!

Ben, Cary and I thank all the players who were part of this Michigan event. Thanks also to the match commentators as well as GridGammon Maestro Gabriella Barclay for all of her administrative help. The world’s landscape is surreal and sometimes scary these days. Online backgammon helps us stay connected and entertained. 60 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Tournament Recap The Viking Classic: An Online Tournament with an In-Person Feel Jeff Spencer

Photo Credit: 2020 Viking Classic Replica of a Viking ship in western Norway. Modern-day Vikings have made good use of online capabilities lacked by their ancestors.

ike every other ABT tournament of late, These pre-tournament events were a huge success. this year’s Viking Backgammon Classic A lot of people commented on how much more was held online. But April and Michael enjoyable the main events were because they had Mesich set a new standard for running online played in the free rolls. One of our players started Lbackgammon tournaments. Their goal was to make out not even able to open a new browser window, but the online experience as close to playing in person as they had a great time and were able to navigate the possible, and they outperformed everyone’s expectations technology with minimal support. A big thanks goes with several innovative additions. They chose Discord to Rory Pascar who personally led several training as their communications platform. It is designed for sessions on Discord which went a long way toward online gamers, but it can seem overwhelming at first, getting everyone comfortable. so they knew it would take some time for many players to get comfortable with it, especially those without The Viking Classic featured two online speakers. much technical experience. Knowing this, they hosted Michihito (Michy) Kageyama kicked off a week of four pre-tournament free-roll events. This gave players backgammon with “Improve Your Game Plan” on a chance to get comfortable with the suite of online Wednesday evening. And on Sunday morning, Art tools that they’d be using during the Viking Classic Benjamin, the mathemagician, presented “Understanding itself: Discord – for communication, Challonge – for Backgammon Formulas.” Both presentations were managing the brackets, and Backgammon Galaxy – streamed within Discord and recorded for later playback for actually playing matches. by attendees who weren’t able to watch live. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 61

The structure of the Discord platform was key to the Grand Crystal Beaver XXI tournament’s overwhelming success. Michael and The Grand Crystal Beaver has been a one of the April set it up like a virtual convention center with most coveted trophies in this century. Owning one separate “rooms.” We all met in the large tournament makes a statement, ”Now, I’m really somebody in the room at the beginning of each day to hear Backgammon World.” Kent Goulding won the first announcements, ask questions and enjoy some gentle one and Bill Finneran took it home last year. Multiple ribbing from each other. The big room included winners include Ray Fogerlund, Steve Sax, and Yury “bulletin boards” where you could see the rules, Millman. Congratulations to Jeremy Bagai, our 2020 trophies, pictures of the winners, and even post your Grand Crystal Beaver champion, who took home own bad beat story. Each event had its own “room” the prize in a field of 20 players. Thank you to Larry which had individual tables already set and waiting Oman for kindly donating the trophy. 1st – Jeremy for players to be automatically assigned by Challonge, Bagai (CA), 2nd – Alex Toth (WA), 3rd/4th Michael the bracket manager. The table number for each Neagu (Canada), Roberto Litzenberger (VA). match was listed on the bracket, so everyone knew exactly where they were supposed to go. Each event Early Raven room had its own “bulletin boards” where players Ravens are a constant in Norse mythology. In fact, posted their match links and completed match files. Odin is sometimes referred to as the Raven God. It was easy for players to visualize and understand And ravens are featured in stories of Valkyries’ how to navigate. choosing who would die on the field of battle. Could this event be an omen, predicting the winner of the While players waited in the big tournament room, main event? Time would tell if Adrian Nedelcu could current matches were streamed online. The USBGF pull off a repeat performance after his thrilling win provided expert commentary and other high-level in our much anticipated early event. 1st – Adrian players added impromptu analysis encouraging the Nedelcu (Austria/IL), 2nd – David Hanold (IL), spectators to comment and ask questions. The whole 3rd/4th – Ronald Loero (Venezuela), Joe Urso (NY). experience was interactive and engaging. It was definitely a draw for players to stick around rather Friday Frigga than disappear into “real life” for a while. Frigga is the wife of Odin and the Queen of Asgard. As the Lady of the Hall, she carries the mead horn Over 100 players participated from 25 states and six around, both sending off and welcoming back countries. Many players commented that it was the warriors with the cup of victory. Jeremy Bagai took best, most engaging online tournament that they had home top honors in two events, winning the coveted attended to date. Frigga trophy and the prestigious Grand Crystal Beaver. 1st – Jeremy Bagai (CA), 2nd – Michael Neagu (Canada), 3rd/4th Rich Sweetman (NH), Rick Silberman (WA).

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Tom Dale 62 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Odin Open Valhalla Advanced Jackpot Odin is worshiped by those in search of prestige, A local Minnesota player won our second added honor, and nobility. What better god to hold the event which included a field of 14. Gregg Trunnell, name of a backgammon championship? Brian had affectionately known as “Triple G,” has really stepped one of the longest paths to victory. After losing his up his game since Minnesota tournaments went second match, he won nine in a row through the online. When he’s not playing backgammon, he’s a Fighters Bracket to play the undefeated champion, a local chef and promised to cook the virtual feast for local player from Minnesota. And then Brian had to the slain who played in the Valhalla jackpots. 1st – beat him twice to take home the trophy. 1st – Brian Gregg Trunnell (MN), 2nd – David Hanold (IL). Lonergan (LA), 2nd – Jeff Willis (MN), 3rd/4th – Sean Garber (IN), Art Benjamin (CA); 1C – Ergin Ragnarök After Tourney Bayrak (CA), 2C – Jonah Seewald (CO). Ragnarök is the final battle in the end times. It is foretold to lead to the death of a number of notable Thor Advanced Norse figures after which, the world will resurface Thor, the brawny thunder god, is the archetype of a anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods loyal and honorable warrior, the ideal toward which will meet, and the world will be repopulated. Thirty- the average human warrior aspired. All the Advanced three players stuck it out to the end. 1st – Steve warriors in our tournament strove to uphold the Reichelt (MN), 2nd – Mario Savan (CA). honor of the god for which it was named. David Parks won the trophy, which is apropos since Thor Bad Beats has always been his favorite comic book hero. 1st – One of the favorite features of the Viking Classic was David Parks (CA), 2nd James Fleming (NV), 3rd/4th a special place to post bad beat stories. We all have a Michael Farrugia (NY), Edward Onny (CO); 1C – sad, sad story where we were poised to win a match Igor Moraes (Brazil), 2C – Steve Waller (MN). and advance, but our victory was snatched away by our opponent because they got incredibly lucky . Valhalla Open Jackpot To help our players work through the five stages of Valhalla, the hall of the slain, is a splendid palace, grief, we offered this outlet to detail their punishment roofed with shields, where the warriors feast on at the hands of the Viking Dice Gods so everyone the flesh of a boar slaughtered daily and made could share their misery. whole again each evening. This was an added event because of popular demand. Because of how well The consistent theme of the bad beats this year was April and Michael architected the Discord platform, double fours with no less than four stories featuring the tournament ran so smoothly that all the events that roll. In fact, personally I was poised to gammon finished early. The participants wanted more David Parks with 93% to win, but he rolled 4-4 off opportunities to play, so, in an unprecedented move the bar against a 5-point board, a 35-1 shot for the for online tournaments, our humble tournament win which eventually ended in David winning the directors created two new events on the fly. Roberto tournament. But the winner goes to Mario Savan Litzenberger took home the win in a field of 12 in the last game of the finals of the Ragnarök After players. 1st – Roberto Litzenberger (VA), 2nd – Marc Tourney, the last event of the tournament. Emrich (CO). USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 63

Mario (Black) was behind in the match 5-6 in the Steve made his prime and Mario did his share of Crawford game against Steve Reichelt. In Position 1, dancing, and by the time he finally reentered, Steve Mario is poised to crush his opponent. After pulling had ripped eight checkers. Luckily, he was able to hit four checkers, he is 97.8% to win the game and 70.8% Steve off the ace point with 2-1 and stage his checker to win a gammon or backgammon (backgammon for escape. After hitting in Position 2, Mario had chances are 64.9%, even though he doesn’t need one). improved to a 95% favorite.

Black bears off four checkers with double 5, coming Mario correctly hit the blot. down to one left. Position 1 Position 2

Score Pips Score Pips 1-Away C White (Steve Reichelt) 118 1-Away C White (Steve Reichelt) 31 2-Away C Black (Mario Savan) 10 2-Away C Black (Mario Savan) 25

Black to play 55 Black to play 21

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

But Mario fell victim to the 5-5 curse. This roll left But fortunes turn quickly in this game. After him with a single checker on the deuce which Steve entering in Mario’s empty inner table, Steve threw a promptly hit with 4-1, making a five-point board. timely 6-6. Mario muttered, “Good for you,” without But Mario wasn’t worried. He only had one checker a worry. At 96.8% he was still nearly a lock to play left and was still about a 92% favorite to at least get another game. Until Steve’s fateful 5-5, shown in past the Crawford game. Position 3: 64 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Position 3 Wrap Up Overall, the tournament was a huge success. The Score Pips Follow-up Survey indicated that almost 90% 1-Away C White (Steve Reichelt) 23 of the participants rated it as excellent and the 2-Away C Black (Mario Savan) 9 rest thought it was good or very good, while 97% considered the online playing experience White to play 55 of high or very high quality. And two-thirds 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 of the respondents thought that Discord was better or much better than other tournament communication platforms. The keys to the success were organization, communication, and engagement. April and Michael are more than willing to share their experience and best practices with any other tournament or club directors who are interested. You can contact them at [email protected].

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Another double 5 for Steve!

Mario’s final 3-2 got him in but not off, losing a game in which he had been a 50-1 favorite.

Viking Classic Champions and Trophy Winners facebook.com/usbgf 66 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Tournament Recap Artem Biletskiy Under-12 Online Champion at 7 Years Old Cristian Frisk

he first U12 (under 12 years of age) World Online Backgammon Championship has recently ended. The first world champion is the Ukrainian Artem Biletskiy, only 7 years Told. This young player is supported by Jakob Garal, a well-known author. Artem won the supreme title after winning a dramatic match for the gold medal against Leo Mailebiau from France.

Thirty children under age 12 took part in the World Under-12 Championship, organized by the World Backgammon Internet Federation and played on Under-12 Champion, Artem Biletskiy the Heroes platform. The matches were DMP (double match point), the reason being that younger players cannot be expected to sustain the high level The final ranking of concentration required by longer matches. For 1. Artem Biletskiy () the USA, the best result was obtained by the York 2. Leo Mailebiau (France) brothers, who qualified for the final tournament. 3. Avrora Chekun (Ukraine) 4. Luca Mills (Great Britain) The first phase of the competition consisted of 5. Dmitriy Karkach (Ukraine) dividing all competitors into three groups of 10 6. Euan York (USA) players each. It was played in a round robin system, 7. Pierce York (USA) and the top three finishers in each group qualified for 8. Zac Colls (Great Britain) the final tournament. 9. Fanny Lardy (France)

In the battle for medals, the round robin system was At this writing, the matches from the U14, U16, played again. U18 and U26 World Junior and Youth Online Championships continue – starting with 132 youngsters, 17 from the USA. These events are also taking place for the first time, on Heroes, organized by the World Backgammon Internet Federation (WBIF) in cooperation with WBGF (The World Backgammon Federation). Here the matches are 9 points, played in a seven-round Swiss format. After those seven rounds, the top 16 finishers play in a single-elimination final. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 67

There have been some performance ratings (PRs) “The first Kids and Youth World Championship from these events. The Czech grandmaster Zdeněk was a big success. We extend our thanks to all the Žižka, already a big name in backgammon national federations for their awareness of how competitions, has an average PR of 2.43 despite important it is to work with youngsters for the future having been defeated twice in five matches. The of backgammon as a mind . For next year, we situation is similar in the case of the Japanese will establish a committee of two or three young grandmaster Kentaro Meijo, who has two defeats backgammon players, who will help us to optimize and an average PR of 4.26. The British master Oliver the details and workflow of these competitions. Squire has only one defeat with an average PR of Our vision at WBGF – the World Backgammon 3.20, and another player from Japan, Kazuki Yokota, Federation – is to establish backgammon worldwide has four victories, with an exceptional PR of 1.82 as a . Seeing the kids playing has been after five rounds. the biggest motivation for us all,” said Bernhard Mayr, Chairman of the World Backgammon Internet The leader is Daminder Singh, from , so far Federation. undefeated with five victories, and an average PR of 7.84. Some other players are also undefeated, The World Championships for children and young but with higher PRs. The World Junior and Youth people are a unique challenge, but also a reason to Championships are expected to end sometime in try to teach backgammon in schools, as a mind sport. early December. The French Backgammon Federation has instituted a promising model, having signed an official At the end of the competition, separate hierarchies partnership with the French Ministry of Education. will be drawn up for each age category. These World Championships have received donations and Speaking about backgammon education, it is worth sponsorships from all over the world, consisting of noting that the Romanian Backgammon Federation, money, objects, trophies, free lessons. One of the in cooperation with the National Coaching School in sponsors is USBGF, which contributed $250 to the Bucharest, has recently enrolled its first students. The prize pool. See details at https://wbgf.info/links/ two-year courses now have four candidates for the our-sponsors. license of backgammon coach.

2nd Place: Leo Mailebiau 3rd Place: Avrora Chekun 4th Place: Luca Mills 5th Place: Dmitriy Karkach Exquisite Craftsmanship

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Our boards are built with 45mm (1.75”) and 50mm (2”) checkers. Their smooth surfaces perfectly compliment Fazil’s Merino wool playing surfaces. Every board comes with 8 corner protectors, a unique handmade 40mm 65+ unique doubling cube, 2 or 4 dice cups, 4 or 8 ball-cornered precision dice, and a board designs Chouette pack that includes 4 acrylic doubling cubes, 2 scoring cubes, and a high quality leather dice bag. Our newly released Titan Series boards are are in stock and built with 50mm (2 inch) checkers. Every board ships with a heavy duty ready to ship. canvas carry bag.

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www.gammonstuff.com | www.facebook.com/gammonstuff USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 69

Book Review Cube Like a Boss

Chris Trencher

Cube Like a Boss: Intuition, Patterns & Strategy by Marc Olsen (illustrated by Joaquim Marques) Backgammon Galaxy.com, 2019. ISBN 978-1-709385-65-0 (396 pages). Paperback, list price $49.95.

enmark's Marc Olsen has been engage and think for the game to continue. Double/ an incredible contributor to the no-double decisions are more difficult, similar to the backgammon community. His essay that forces you to engage with the course work previous books, Backgammon: from in more depth. And there is nothing forcing you to DBasics to Badass and Backgammon: Pure Strategy, think about whether to double each roll; you must were very well received. The platform he founded, provide that discipline and energy. Yes, that can be backgammongalaxy.com, is a high-quality, user- done, but it is harder to do when it is not literally friendly platform that is (on information and belief) "forced" — and fatigue can become a bigger factor. the leading backgammon hosting site currently. So it stands to reason that a book that can both His latest effort, Cube Like a Boss, is a valuable provide reference positions and organize and and highly recommended resource on organizing streamline our thought process on doubling would be your thoughts about cube decisions. So at the risk a valuable resource; this was in my opinion ultimately of stating the obvious, these decisions are tough. the goal of Marc's work, and the finished product is Cube play has always been more difficult for me, an unquestioned success. and I believe for most, than checker play. For most Open-level players, their cube performance rating To that point: When you have a list of the key factors (or PR) will be meaningfully higher than their at play, you can create your own reference positions checker play PR. Why is this true? In my opinion, it's by varying the influence of each factor and checking because of all those little things in life that distract the results with XG. That’s one reason this book is us from backgammon and cause fatigue — and, in so useful. For this review I have created reference some cases, the duration of tournaments. When positions, both to give examples of the use of such you're tired, it's easier to mentally shut down and positions, and to help shed further light on the types "disengage" from the cube for a roll or two; you can't of positions Marc analyzes. The reference positions do that with checker play or else the game won't I’ve created are the ones labeled with a position continue. In many ways, checker plays are like a number but not giving a position number from the multiple choice question; there might be two or three book. choices, but typically only two are reasonable and the best play is clear more often than not. And you must 70 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

There are fourteen chapters, each covering a Chapter 2 covers the middle game, which is generally different category of positions. To avoid match-score reached after around five rolls. The middle game complications, all positions are at 0 – 0 in a 7-point sometimes reaches a defined state (such as anchor match. Each is checked by eXtreme Gammon (XG)’s game, or two-way holding game) and sometimes XGR++ evaluations. There are also quizzes at the end not, but is generally fluid enough that both sides are of each section to ensure that the materials have been seeking to maximize all the available game plans. properly absorbed. I find that, having read the book, going back frequently to retake the quizzes is very Here we develop the useful framework of the four useful maintenance study. different types of "values," or equity, if you prefer:

Chapter 1, "Early Blitz," is one of my favorites. It 1. Prime value; starts with the 3-3 blitz, where the prototype is the 2. Blitz value; trailer (or the underdog) opens with a 5-4, played 3. Contact value; 13/8 24/20, and the leader responds with a 3-3, 4. Race value. making his 3 and 5 point. The book then discusses when the leader will have a double based on the next These concepts are discussed thoroughly, using two rolls. It is largely a function of two factors: standard types of positions that occur frequently and have been analyzed in the literature. The takeaway is 1. Whether the leader has added a ninth checker to to the discipline to think about each of these the zone, and; forms of value. 2. Whether the trailer is still on the bar. Chapter 3 covers the race and the bearoff. Chapter 4 What's important to remember is that the 3-3 blitz moves into holding games, which Marc reasonably isn't a pure blitz, inasmuch as the blitzer does not defines as the steady state when one player has give up any priming value; and in fact, the 3-3 makes achieved full freedom of their two back checkers and two of the four points necessary to complete an ideal typically has a lead in the race, but there remains six-prime from the 3 to the 8 point. plenty of contact for the trailer to catch up either by hitting a shot or rolling a large double. The chapter then transitions to the 5-5 blitz where, by contrast to the 3-3 blitz, the blitzer gives up any Chapter 5, "One Man Back," covers the situation priming value by making the ace and three points in where the leader has escaped both back checkers the hopes of securing a quick knockout. Here there and has an underdeveloped forward structure are three primary factors driving cube action: opposing one enemy checker that seeks to escape and make the game a pure race. Here the leader must 1. Is the trailer on the bar? consider the pip count, the existence of shot-leaving 2. If the trailer has entered one checker after the numbers (that usually lose if the blot is hit) and any classic 5-2 (24/22 13/8) 5-5 sequence, was the priming, attacking or blitzing possibilities that create entry on a high point (better for the blitzer) or a gammonish variations even with only one checker low point (better for the trailer); and closed out. 3. How many checkers does the blitzer have in the zone? USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 71

Chapter 6, "Late Game Contact," covers various Position 1 Olsen’s 10-1.a., p. 273 holding game structures. It discusses which of these Score Pips are more or less likely to leave a shot, and gets into 7-Away White 122 the interplay of shot equity and racing equity, which 7-Away Black 142 are generally inversely proportional. Chapter 7 covers bear-off positions after a hit. In most circumstances, Black on roll. Cube Action? the hitter will have the cube so it would be a redouble 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 in question, but it is imperative to understand how a good (or not so good) placement of spares within a closed board affects winning chances against different numbers of checkers off.

Chapters 10 and 11 are my favorites. Chapter 10 is “Prime vs. Blitz” and 11 is “Blitz vs. Prime.” In my experience, this is where colossal cube errors by pros occur. These positions are highly nuanced and there are no simple rules.

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Online Match Series! ND Winning Chances: 58.00% (G:14.67% B:0.74%) ND Winning Chances: 42.00% (G:20.36% B:0.25%) Play on the USBGF Team against All-Time D/T Winning Chances: 58.07% (G:14.59% B:0.75%) ABT Point Leader Neil Kazaross! Vote on D/T Winning Chances: 41.93% (G:20.22% B:0.25%) Checker and Cube Decisions! Commentary from Best choice: No Double / Take top-experts Kimon Papachristopoulos (Germany) No Double +0.164 and Grant Hoffman () will help Double/Take -0.049 (-0.213) improve your game. Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.836)

I think most would understand that this is not a double. If Black hits a direct shot, he will likely lose his market, but it's not hard to imagine White making a fourth point, Black fanning, and then White rolling a 2-x to become the favorite.

To participate visit http://usbgf.org/category/olm/ or check the What’s New section on the Home Page for the most recent post. 72 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Position 2 Olsen’s 10-1.b., p. 274 Position 3 Olsen’s 10-1.c., p. 275

Score Pips Score Pips 7-Away White 122 7-Away White 121 7-Away Black 140 7-Away Black 140

Black on roll. Cube Action? Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 66.08% (G:16.96% B:0.72%) ND Winning Chances: 67.34% (G:19.23% B:1.00%) ND Winning Chances: 33.92% (G:12.28% B:0.23%) ND Winning Chances: 32.66% (G:12.68% B:0.21%) D/T Winning Chances: 65.90% (G:17.63% B:0.73%) D/T Winning Chances: 67.44% (G:19.33% B:0.99%) D/T Winning Chances: 34.10% (G:12.39% B:0.25%) D/T Winning Chances: 32.56% (G:12.65% B:0.21%)

Best choice: No Double / Take Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.571 No Double +0.599 (-0.045) Double/Take +0.538 (-0.034) Double/Take +0.645 Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.429) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.355)

Black is much better in Position 2. He has only Position 3 improves White's offense by moving the one on the roof and will squelch White's attack spare from the 8 to the bar, but creates another blot immediately with 5-3, 4-2, 2-2 and 5-4. This is still for Black to shoot at. Against three blots, Black will a slight no-double, but I would double this without now win more gammons even when White forms hesitation in a match against a timid player or in a deep anchor in his board; thus, there are more a chouette, as passes will be not uncommon and market-losers and Black should double. White's winning path is much harder to visualize. But not all of Black’s entering rolls are great. If he rolls 2-6, for instance, White has some priming value, and if he rolls 4-1, 4-3, 5-1, 4-6, or 5-6, both blots will still be exposed while White retains attacking chances. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 73

Position 4 Position 4a

Score Pips Score Pips 7-Away White 131 7-Away White 137 7-Away Black 140 7-Away Black 140

Black on roll. Cube Action? Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 76.23% (G:28.44% B:2.30%) ND Winning Chances: 68.30% (G:25.58% B:2.11%) ND Winning Chances: 23.77% (G:8.38% B:0.15%) ND Winning Chances: 31.70% (G:10.78% B:0.49%) D/T Winning Chances: 76.43% (G:28.50% B:2.34%) D/T Winning Chances: 68.36% (G:25.56% B:2.08%) D/T Winning Chances: 23.57% (G:8.00% B:0.13%) D/T Winning Chances: 31.64% (G:10.54% B:0.49%)

Best choice: Double / Pass Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.986 (-0.014) No Double +0.713 (-0.163) Double/Take +1.394 (+0.394) Double/Take +0.877 Double/Pass +1.000 Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.123)

And, in Position 4, as we would expect, when White Another class of position is where the leader has a has two checkers back, his position is untenable. broken five-prime containing multiple checkers, but Black can anchor with 11 numbers, hit with seven faces a more developed blitz/attack against two rear numbers, and attack with 4-4. Of course, we must checkers. Here are the appropriate categories: remember this is prime vs. blitz. But if we give White more priming value by moving the checkers on his 1. Both rear checkers on the roof; ace point back to his 4 or 5 point, we would expect 2. One on the roof; him to have plenty of counterplay even with two 3. Neither on the roof, but both exposed to back. And indeed he does, as shown by Position 4a heavy attack; below. 4. Anchored. 74 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Let's give Black a weak broken five-prime against Position 6 Olsen’s 10-3.a., p. 281 a post-blitz four-point board. As shown below in Score Pips Positions 5 through 8, as we strengthen Black's 7-Away White 124 position by making it progressively harder for White 7-Away Black 121 to attack, White’s cube action progresses from beaver (Position 5 being shown as a money game) to pass. Black on roll. Cube Action? Position 5 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Score Pips (Money) White 124 (Money) Black 126

Money game, Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 60.15% (G:18.34% B:1.25%) ND Winning Chances: 39.85% (G:17.43% B:0.34%) D/T Winning Chances: 60.46% (G:18.21% B:1.24%) D/T Winning Chances: 39.54% (G:17.42% B:0.34%)

Best choice: No Double / Take No Double +0.323 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Double/Take +0.196 (-0.127) ND Winning Chances: 48.49% (G:15.26% B:1.23%) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.677) ND Winning Chances: 51.51% (G:27.02% B:0.45%) D/T Winning Chances: 48.42% (G:15.23% B:1.19%) D/T Winning Chances: 51.58% (G:27.30% B:0.43%)

Best choice: No Double / Beaver No Double -0.199 Double/Beaver -1.310 (-1.112) Double/Pass +1.000 (+1.199) USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 75

Position 7 Olsen’s 10-3.b., p. 282 Position 8 Olsen’s 10-3.c., p. 283

Score Pips Score Pips 7-Away White 124 7-Away White 124 7-Away Black 119 7-Away Black 116

Black on roll. Cube Action? Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 69.20% (G:19.71% B:1.32%) ND Winning Chances: 76.29% (G:18.21% B:0.72%) ND Winning Chances: 30.80% (G:9.84% B:0.21%) ND Winning Chances: 23.71% (G:4.16% B:0.11%) D/T Winning Chances: 69.43% (G:20.26% B:1.38%) D/T Winning Chances: 76.14% (G:18.67% B:0.81%) D/T Winning Chances: 30.57% (G:9.85% B:0.19%) D/T Winning Chances: 23.86% (G:4.15% B:0.11%)

Best choice: Double / Take Best choice: Double / Pass No Double +0.739 (-0.098) No Double +0.904 (-0.096) Double/Take +0.837 Double/Take +1.213 (+0.213) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.163) Double/Pass +1.000

Next, I wondered what would happen if we gave Black the best broken prime, and then a solid prime. 76 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

With an open 3 point in Position 9, Black doubles In Position 10a, when Black has both on the roof and with one on the roof even when his blot is on the 23 a solid prime from the 7 to the 3 point against two on point. the ace, it’s a pass. Position 9 Position 10a

Score Pips Score Pips 7-Away White 124 7-Away White 124 7-Away Black 128 7-Away Black 132

Black on roll. Cube Action? Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 66.79% (G:22.08% B:1.55%) ND Winning Chances: 73.45% (G:22.06% B:1.46%) ND Winning Chances: 33.21% (G:13.51% B:0.26%) ND Winning Chances: 26.55% (G:11.71% B:0.17%) D/T Winning Chances: 67.10% (G:22.39% B:1.59%) D/T Winning Chances: 73.69% (G:22.39% B:1.47%) D/T Winning Chances: 32.90% (G:13.50% B:0.26%) D/T Winning Chances: 26.31% (G:11.19% B:0.14%)

Best choice: Double / Take Best choice: Double / Pass No Double +0.615 (-0.076) No Double +0.840 (-0.160) Double/Take +0.692 Double/Take +1.061 (+0.061) Double/Pass +1.000 (+1.199) Double/Pass +1.000 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 77

How about Position 10b, where White’s checkers are So, remember, these positons are highly sensitive split so that one is at the edge of Black’s five-prime? both to the leader's precise priming structure and the Now it’s not even a double. Wow! nature of the counter-attack.

Position 10b Chapter 11, “Blitz vs. Prime,” focuses on positions where the blitzer has such a strong attack that, were Score Pips it not for checkers behind the trailer’s blockade, 7-Away White 123 the position would be too good to double. In these 7-Away Black 132 positions, the trailer either has two checkers at the edge of a solid five-prime, or one checker set back Black on roll. Cube Action? from the edge. For these and similar positions, the 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 criteria are:

1. Number of checkers in zone for the blitzer; 2. Number of checkers on roof for the trailer; 3. Number of exposed blots; 4. Timing available to blitzer (considering the possibility that the release of one back checker provides time to release the second); 5. Trailer’s prime structure; without a good blockade, the trailer will have a hard time containing a hit checker, thus a broken prime

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 causes their position to become much weaker.

ND Winning Chances: 60.49% (G:19.20% B:1.33%) ND Winning Chances: 39.51% (G:19.63% B:0.27%) Note that in a typical blitz there are two or three D/T Winning Chances: 60.62% (G:18.83% B:1.32%) blots exposed to attack. Doubling decisions tend to be D/T Winning Chances: 39.38% (G:19.53% B:0.26%) less problematic with a different number of blots. That is, one blot will usually make it too treacherous for Best choice: No Double / Take the blitzer to double, and with four blots, the trailer's No Double +0.315 equity is based almost exclusively on the blitzer’s Double/Take +0.200 (-0.115) timing to hold their board. Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.685) 78 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Positions 11 and 12 are reference positions. I Again, we see that Black only wins 60% but over 2/3 recommend committing them to memory, as many of his wins are gammons. other positions can easily be compared to them.

Position 11 Olsen’s 11-1.a., p. 299 Position 12 Olsen’s 11-1.b., p. 300

Score Pips Score Pips 7-Away White 132 7-Away White 132 7-Away Black 113 7-Away Black 110

Black on roll. Cube Action? Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 54.87% (G:30.28% B:0.30%) ND Winning Chances: 59.52% (G:36.60% B:0.35%) ND Winning Chances: 45.13% (G:9.61% B:0.59%) ND Winning Chances: 40.48% (G:8.73% B:0.61%) D/T Winning Chances: 55.13% (G:30.54% B:0.29%) D/T Winning Chances: 59.51% (G:37.01% B:0.35%) D/T Winning Chances: 44.84% (G:9.99% B:0.64%) D/T Winning Chances: 40.49% (G:8.81% B:0.73%)

Best choice: No Double / Take Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.393 No Double +0.642 (-0.037) Double/Take +0.319 (-0.074) Double/Take +0.679 Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.607) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.321) USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 79

Position 13 tells us what we instinctively understand, Position 14a shows that with two checkers back which is that even the strongest broken prime is of against a broken prime, we are typically not good little value against one checker. enough to double until we roll the splitting number. If we now roll 2-4 (24/22 13/9) and White doesn't Position 13 enter, it will be an obvious pass, but what if we split but White enters one checker? Score Pips 7-Away White 130 Position 14a 7-Away Black 110 Score Pips Black on roll. Cube Action? 7-Away White 130

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 7-Away Black 121

Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 70.86% (G:45.55% B:0.47%) ND Winning Chances: 29.14% (G:6.43% B:0.60%)

D/T Winning Chances: 70.66% (G:45.78% B:0.44%) 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 D/T Winning Chances: 29.34% (G:7.07% B:0.69%) ND Winning Chances: 48.83% (G:27.79% B:0.32%) Best choice: Double / Pass ND Winning Chances: 51.17% (G:15.17% B:1.28%) No Double +0.961 (-0.039) D/T Winning Chances: 48.93% (G:28.28% B:0.29%) D/T Winning Chances: 51.07% (G:15.37% B:1.36%) Double/Take +1.451 (+0.451) Double/Pass +1.000 Best choice: No Double / Take No Double +0.107 Double/Take +0.170 (-0.277) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.893)

One might think that improving Black's structure to give him a two-way priming and attacking plan, and eight more pips of timing, could produce a pass with two back against a strong broken prime. But Position 14a shows that is not nearly the case. 80 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Position 14b Position 15

Score Pips Score Pips 7-Away White 130 7-Away White 125 7-Away Black 129 7-Away Black 115

Black on roll. Cube Action? Black on roll. Cube Action?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ND Winning Chances: 58.27% (G:28.98% B:0.79%) ND Winning Chances: 63.86% (G:40.55% B:0.45%) ND Winning Chances: 41.73% (G:11.44% B:0.76%) ND Winning Chances: 36.14% (G:10.68% B:1.51%) D/T Winning Chances: 58.31% (G:29.35% B:0.78%) D/T Winning Chances: 63.84% (G:40.82% B:0.42%) D/T Winning Chances: 41.69% (G:11.57% B:0.79%) D/T Winning Chances: 36.16% (G:10.86% B:1.59%)

Best choice: No Double / Take Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.425 No Double +0.716 (-0.209) Double/Take +0.384 (-0.041) Double/Take +0.925 Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.575) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.075)

Black does not even have a double. If we modify In Position 15, the position is quite a bit better for further by moving one of White's checkers on the bar Black but still an easy take for White. to Black's deuce point, White has a beaver! USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 81

The final three chapters (Chapters 12-14) focus on Position 16 action cubes, crunch positions, and back games. Score Pips 7-Away White 69 One particularly useful class of action cubes is defined 7-Away Black 83 by positions where the leader has a closed board or a five-point board with the 1 point open, and retains Black on roll. Cube Action? two checkers on the midpoint. The trailer has just 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 rolled a 6 to be forced off the leader's bar point, leaving a blot there. The leader now loses his market with any of the 17 hits (excepting soft sixes such as 4-2 or 5-1 where the trailer returns with a 1-6), and also has some racing equity after missing. The critical question, then, is how much racing equity.

In Position 16, Black trails by 14 pips. He will be around 88% after a hit. He will also be a small favorite after 5-5 and 4-4. If he rolls a number such as 5-2 (6/1 6/4), White will become the favorite, but will not have a redouble to 4 because his blot does not 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 always escape and his racing lead is not yet decisive ND Winning Chances: 61.79% (G:1.53% B:0.02%) even if it does. Put it all together and Black does not ND Winning Chances: 38.21% (G:0.38% B:0.01%) quite have enough for a double. D/T Winning Chances: 61.90% (G:1.45% B:0.02%) D/T Winning Chances: 38.10% (G:0.62% B:0.01%)

Best choice: No Double / Take No Double +0.232 Double/Take +0.222 (-0.010) Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.768) 82 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Position 17 Olsen’s 12-2.b., p. 326 1. 17 hits with 88% winning chance = 14.8 wins in 36 games; Score Pips 2. 4-4 and 5-5 leave Black low- to mid-60%s 7-Away White 73 winning chances = 1.3 wins in 36 games; 7-Away Black 83 3. Black rolls one of the other 17 missing numbers (5-4, 5-3, 5-2, 4-3, 4-1, 3-2, 3-1, 2-1, and 1-1). Black on roll. Cube Action? These average about 6 pips, meaning White will 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 be on shake, leading 73 pips to 77. Black retains about 31% racing equity: 17 misses with 31% winning chances = 5.8 wins in 36 games. 4. White does not escape the blot (leaving a shot with 16 numbers), and Black hits the second shot (about a 34% chance), and then wins (about 85% of those variations, based on the possibility that Black has an open ace point, perhaps with a blot). This equals 2.4 wins in 36 games.

Add up these four components and we get 24.3 wins in 36 games or 67.5%. Black’s actual winning 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 percentage is less, 65.0%, because we have a bit of ND Winning Chances: 64.86% (G:1.45% B:0.02%) ND Winning Chances: 35.14% (G:0.46% B:0.01%) duplication in Components 3 and 4 because White's D/T Winning Chances: 65.00% (G:1.34% B:0.01%) small numbers that improve Black's racing equity D/T Winning Chances: 35.00% (G:0.59% B:0.01%) (Component 3) are mostly the same numbers that leave a shot (Component 4). Best choice: Double / Take No Double +0.323 (-0.053) Crunch positions are very idiosyncratic, and back Double/Take +0.377 games are technical, so the thought process is a bit Double/Pass +1.000 (+0.623) less ritualized ... I will leave these for the reader.

In Position 17, the white checker on the deuce point I highly recommend Cube Like a Boss. As I’ve said, has been moved to the 6 point, so Black trails by 10 I believe the purpose of the book is to provide the pips. Now Black has a small double. reader a more organized and intellectually rigorous approach to cube decisions. This approach certainly To highlight the significance of the race a different succeeded for me. The book also provides many great way, if black rolls 5-2, which he will play 6/1 6/4 in reference positions that can be easily experimented both positions, his game-winning chance (GWC) with on XG to ensure the position is well understood. will be 36.8% in Position 16 but 42.3% in Position 17. I also like the Quizzes at the end of each Chapter which provide a valuable check to beginner and We can go into more detail and disaggregate the intermediate players, and a good way for experienced components of Black’s equity in Position 17 by ones to maintain their knowledge. I believe that this running through the variations of 36 games. is the most ambitious undertaking of its type; all serious players should read this book and review it frequently. Well done, Marc! TC Real Stake Online Tournaments!

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Next generation of online tournaments! Use your skills to build your bankroll Kara Candace Mayeron SchultzShe's a Winner

Photo Credit: Lance Whitewolf USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 85

ess than two years ago, in December 2018, Kara Schultz walked into her first ABT tournament and won the Novice division of the California State Championship. A mere six months later she moved up in class and won the Intermediate in Sacramento. Continuing her move upward in ever-bigger and ever-stronger fields, she cashed in both the Las Vegas Open (2019) and San Antonio (2020), Lcapping her run with first place in the Los Angeles Online Open advanced division, June 2020.

To summarize these results in detail: Kara Schultz is a VP of marketing for a real estate company in Oceanside, California, a coastal town • December 2018 – California State Novice – just north of San Diego as palm-tree picturesque 1st place as you’d expect. Born in Southern California, she • June 2019 – Sacramento Intermediate – 1st place lived in Japan, , and New York before • November 2019 – Las Vegas Advanced – returning to California in 2017. She was first exposed 4th Consolation to backgammon in high school at an after-school job. • February 2020 – San Antonio Advanced – “My boss taught me the game. Basically all he knew 1st Last Chance was racing so I just ran around the board. I could • June 2020 – Los Angeles Online Advanced – tell there was more to the game.” She didn’t play 1st place again, however, until she happened across a club • September 2020 – Denver Wild West Shootout event while living in New York. It reawakened her Open Gunslinger, tied for 3rd interest in the game. “Shortly thereafter I moved back to Los Angeles and Googled backgammon Lucky girl? Lucky dice? Yeah, right. Nah, wrong. plus my zip code and discovered the Orange County Backgammon provides numerous skill-enhancing Backgammon Club. The OCBG is run by Mario avenues: books, teaching videos, kibitzing, XG. Kara’s Savan and Vera Holley. story, however, is of hard work and serious coaching.

Photo Credit: ocbackgammon.com Simona Olah (L) with Kara, at Orange County club venue, Seal Beach CA. 86 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

It was a game-changing moment. OCBG is a small but mighty backgammon club that meets weekly plus once monthly, located a mere hour south of Patrick Gibson’s behemoth Gammon Associates in Los Angeles. Justin Nunez started the club in 2012 and Open player Mario Savan has run it since 2016, with backup by Vera Holley, herself an advancing Advanced player. Several very solid Open players are regular members. Kara remembers her first night very clearly. “Mario Savan, the Tournament Director, rushed over to me and welcomed me warmly. He waived my entry fee since it was my first time,” she says. “Between Mario and Vera, I felt I had found a place to really pursue my backgammon.” What else happened that night, her first night? Uh-huh. She won. “She’s just one of those people,” says Savan, “she’s just a winner. She has a knack for winning.”

Things really started to fall into place when she was introduced to Jonah Seewald at the Los Angeles Open in June, 2019 and agreed to become his pupil. Photo Credit: Mario Savan Although elite coaches are available through the December 2018 - Kara’s first cash. She won the Novice prestigious Backgammon Learning Center, Jonah division at the California State Championship. works independently and has earned a reputation for successfully bringing low level players up to Championship range. Work hard she does. She takes notes. And more notes. And even more. “OMG,” says Jonah. “She is “Jonah’s style suits me,” says Kara. “He’s very team- always asking questions and taking notes. She misses oriented. All his students know one another and we nothing.” Indeed, Kara has 96-page notebooks filled all support each other at events or online. Jonah feels on both sides of the page. They work together about more like a coach than a teacher. He personalizes two hours a week on Google Hangouts. each lesson plus I have homework to do. He will text support if he knows I’m in a tournament and Jonah – whose students include Ian Terry and April sometimes, depending on the site, he will even pop Mesich, among others – says Kara’s “cool demeanor” in to say hello. I feel he’s emotionally invested in my is another key to her success. “She doesn’t get upset success and that makes me work even harder.” when things go against her. Old-timers don’t get rattled, they’ve seen it all. It’s something special, though, when a relative newcomer can shrug off bad dice or bad manners and not let their game be affected.” USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 87

A newlywed, she works on her game every day. “I Those who know Kara constantly sing her praises. As cannot help myself,” she says. Her PR ranges between a Tech Coach for the LA Online Open, despite the 6 and 8 and she aspires to be an elite player. During pandemic, she drove 45 minutes to a pupil’s house to the pandemic she plays online a lot. “For the weeklies show him in person how to install the tournament or monthlies I play April and Michael Mesich’s platforms! “I cannot say enough good things about U.S. Backgammon Club’s online tournaments and this lady,” gushes OCBG’s Vera Holley. “I love her!!” Rory Pascar’s weekly events. I play some of the ABT Online events, in particular the two Southern California events run by Candace Mayeron. I like to play on GridGammon and Galaxy the best, but I do not play money or pickup games.”

Jonah Seewald - Kara’s coach.

Photo Credit: Steve Zanco Happy Newlyweds - Kara Schultz and Lance Whitewolf. Engaged for a year, they married in April during the pandemic. “We got married at Angel Stadium with about 60 other couples. You stayed in your car till you were called forward and an officiator performed the ceremony from a booth.”

Kara has hundreds of pages of notes analyzing positions and cube decisions. “Making the notes forces me to rethink and re-analyze each problem.” 88 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Math Overboard The Art of the Long Race

Art Benjamin

o, what are your chances of winning the leader has X = 86 pips, then PLT = 86 + 8 + 2 = 96. race? This is a question that you probably Thus, if Y ≤ 96, the trailer can take. If Y > 96, the ask yourself in almost every game you trailer should pass. When should the leader double? play, perhaps several times per game. We According to Trice, the leader should double when Swant to know this information to help us determine the trailer is 3 pips below PLT and redoubles when appropriate cube actions, as well as when choosing the trailer is 2 pips below PLT. That is, the Doubling between different game plans. Point DP and the Redoubling Point RDP satisfy DP = PLT – 3 In this article, I will focus on long races, where both players have more than 60 pips to go. These are the easiest races to evaluate. We will look at shorter races in future articles. Thus, if the leader has 86 pips, then since PLT = 96, the leader shouldRDP double = when PLT Y ≥ – 93, 2 and should Let’s begin with cube action. Although many authors redouble when Y ≥ 94. Other racing formulas, such have weighed in on this subject, I think Walter as the Keith Count and the Isight count define the Trice had the right idea. (I’ll note that my results doubling point to be DP = PLT – 4 (and RDP = PLT and formulae differ slightly from the way Walter – 3). Which is correct? After further testing, I have described it, but all discrepancies have been verified concluded that when Y = PLT – 4, it is right on the by XG.) Let X denote the pip count of the player border of Double/NoDouble, so either decision would on roll (whom we will call the “leader” even though be less than a 0.02 (and probably less than 0.01) error, that may not always be the case) and let Y denote the so the double is optional. But when Y = PLT – 3, the pip count of the other player, whom we will call the doubling decision is not borderline, you must double “trailer.” Assuming that X and Y are greater than 60, for money and at money-like match scores. we compute the Point of Last Take (PLT) by adding 10 percent of the leader’s pip count, rounding down, Let’s do one more example. If the leader has X = 95 then adding 2. Algebraically, pips, then PLT = 95 + 9 + 2 = 106. The leader should double if Y ≥ 103, redouble if Y ≥ 104, and the trailer should take if Y ≤ 106. (The leader has an optional double at Y = 102 and an optional redouble at Y = where the PLT=floor symbol X+⌊X/10⌋+2 indicates that the quantity 103.) should be rounded down⌊□⌋ to the nearest integer. For example, = 8. (Notice that this formula does not require⌊8.6⌋ any division. The floor of X/10 is just the number X with the last digit removed.) Thus, if the USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 89

Perhaps an easier way to remember this rule is to say on the 3 point as 3.5 pips. When checkers begin to that for long races, when the leader has X pips, the accumulate on low points, especially for the trailer, doubling window is 10% ± 2. In other words, the an adjustment to the pip count may be necessary Double/Take region is when for improved accuracy by taking checkers off and crossovers into account.

Although this article is about long races, let me keepingX+⌊X/10⌋–2≤Y≤ in mind that the bottom X+⌊X/10⌋+2 number is an briefly note the situation for shorter races. When optional double. For those, more visually inclined, see the leader has a pip count X that is 60 or below, Figure 1 below. then as described by Trice, the Point of Last Take is determined by

-2 -1 10% Lead +1 +2 OD DP RDP PLT The doublingPLT= and redoubling X+ ⌊(X-5)/7⌋ points satisfy the same rules as before, namely DP = PLT – 3, and RDP = Figure 1. For a long race, the leader has an optional PLT – 2. Again, these rules should only be applied double (OD) with a lead of 10% – 2, an initial double to low wastage positions, where nearly all of the inner (DP) with a lead of 10% –1, a redouble (RDP) with a 10% board checkers are on the high points. When this is lead, and the trailer’s Point of Last Take (PLT) is with a not the case, then there are other variables besides lead of 10% + 2. the pip count in play, and that will be the subject of a future article.

These doubling rules are accurate for almost all values We now return to our original question. Given the of X above 60 and below 130 (and I can’t remember pip counts, what are your chances of winning the ever needing to determine PLT for a race above 130). race? The first reasonable answer to this question was The exceptions are handled by the “9 Rule.” If X = 69, given by Danny Kleinman in 1980 in his book, Vision 79, 89, or 99, then add one more pip to the previous Laughs at Counting with Advice to the Dicelorn. Using formula. These pip counts have PLT = 78, 89, 100, properties of the normal distribution, he arrives at and 111, respectively. (They aspire to be one higher the following formula. As before, let X be the leader’s than their first digit suggests.) pip count (on roll), let Y be the trailer’s pip count, and define D = (Y – X) + 4. (The +4 is for being on Caveat: The doubling rules given above are highly roll, noting that the average dice roll is slightly bigger accurate when both players have “low wastage” than 8.) Then we compute the quantity K (as in positions, which means that there are very few Kleinman) as follows: checkers on the 3 point or below. When checkers are on the low points, and especially when a low point K=D has three or more checkers, then we should adjust 2 the pip counts to reflect the extra wastage. As I The value of K leads to /(X+Y-4)a good approximation of the mentioned in my Fall 2019 column on Pip Counting, doubler’s cubeless game winning chance (GWC) by I count the third and higher checker on the ace point way of a table, for which the most important values as 3 pips, the third and higher checker on the deuce are shown in Table 1. point as 3 pips, and the third and higher checker 90 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Table 1. Kleinman’s estimate of Game Table 2. The Ross-Benjamin table. Please Winning Chances don’t memorize it.

K 0.5 0.7 1.0 1.2 1.4 2.0 R GWC R GWC GWC 69 72 76 78 80 84 0.000 0.50 0.998 0.75 0.001 0.51 1.095 0.76 For example, in a race where X = 70 and Y = 80, then 0.006 0.52 1.198 0.77 D = 14, so K = 142/(70 + 80 – 4) = 196/146 = 1.34, 0.012 0.53 1.308 0.78 which suggests that the leader will win a little more 0.022 0.54 1.427 0.79 than 79% of the time (and thus trailer wins less than 0.035 0.55 1.554 0.80 21% of the time) suggesting that this would be a 0.050 0.56 1.691 0.81 close pass for money. This is consistent with our PLT 0.068 0.57 1.838 0.82 formula, since when the leader has 70 pips, the trailer 0.089 0.58 1.997 0.83 can take with 79 pips or less. Although reasonably 0.114 0.59 2.170 0.84 accurate, K can be difficult to calculate over the 0.140 0.60 2.357 0.85 board. 0.171 0.61 2.561 0.86 0.204 0.62 2.784 0.87 In 2007, I collaborated with two former students of 0.242 0.63 3.029 0.88 mine on the paper Estimating Winning Probabilities 0.282 0.64 3.301 0.89 in Backgammon Races, where we used slightly more 0.326 0.65 3.603 0.90 sophisticated mathematical tools and simulation 0.373 0.66 3.944 0.91 of real backgammon positions to arrive at a more 0.425 0.67 4.331 0.92 accurate estimate for GWC. Here we compute the 0.480 0.68 4.778 0.93 statistic R (which I am naming after the lead author, 0.539 0.69 5.304 0.94 Andrew Ross, now a professor of mathematics and 0.603 0.70 5.936 0.95 statistics at Eastern Michigan University) as follows. 0.672 0.71 6.724 0.96 As before, we let X be the leader’s pip count, Y be the 0.745 0.72 7.761 0.97 trailer’s pip count, and D = (Y – X) + 4, then 0.824 0.73 9.254 0.98 0.908 0.74 11.874 0.99

2 Unfortunately, since R is at least as difficult to You thenR=(D look up +D/7)/(X+Y-25)the number R in Table 2, which compute over the board as K, I decided that the produces the Game Winning Chances. statistic was too much work for practical use, and put it aside for a while. But over the years, I heard If we let X = 70 and Y = 80, as in our previous that top players (including Jacob “Stick” Rice, example, then D = 14 and R = (142 + 14/7)/(70 + 80 – Petko Kostadinov, and especially Grant Hoffman) 25) = 198/125 = 1.584, which predicts that the leader were using this table and finding it to be extremely will win slightly more than 80% of the time, which is accurate, and was consistent with XG calculations. a little more accurate. USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 91

(Grant calls it the RB count to denote Ross-Benjamin This approximation should almost always be within or Racing Benchmark.) I was pleased to know that 2% of the exact game winning chance. For example, this method was so accurate, but troubled that it was if the player on roll has X = 75 pips and the trailer has so difficult to calculate. Perhaps there was a way to Y = 78 pips, then the player on roll has a lead of harness the power of the RB count, without having = 3, and thus has winning chances approximately to do any messy calculations or memorize too much? Δequal to 60 + 6 = 66 percent. (The RB formula says Happily, the answer turns out to be yes. D = 7 and R = 50/128 = 0.39, suggesting that GWC is about 66.3%.) Let’s start by examining the game winning chances when the race is very close, but not close enough to The above formula gives an excellent approximation be considered a money cube. As most players know, for the game winning chances in close races, when if you are on roll and trailing by exactly 4 pips, then the leader’s game winning chance is between 50 your GWC = 50 percent. For example, if the player and 70 percent. When the leader’s game winning on roll has 88 pips, and their opponent has 84 pips, chance is above 70%, it is important to have a more then the race is even. This makes sense, since the accurate approximation, since this is the region where average roll in backgammon is about 8, so after most cube decisions will be made. Happily, the PLT trailing by 4 pips and rolling an 8, you will be leading formula provided earlier gives us another useful by 4 pips, and you put your opponent in the same benchmark. In a long race, when the trailer is at the situation that you were in. In other words, expressing point of last take (for money), the leader’s winning GWC in percentages, chance is always very close to 78% (usually within about half a percent). In other words, for X, Y > 60,

WhatIf Xhappens = Y when + 4, the then pip count GWC is exactly = even? 50 Using the RB table, you see that when Y = X = 100, Equivalently,If Y = atPLT, the point then of last GWC take, the = Trailer’s 78. then D = 4, and R = 16.57/175 = 0.095, indicating Winning Chance (TWC) is about 22%. That is, for that GWC = 58%. Comparing this to the 50% figure X, Y > 60, when trailing by 4, we see that each pip is worth about 2%. When Y = X = 61, then R = 16.57/95 = 0.171, indicates a winning chance of about 61% (easy to remember!). Comparing this to the 50% figure, we Earlier,If Y we = saw PLT, that when then GWC TWC is in the = 50% 22. to see that each pip is worth about 2.75% in that region. 70% range, each pip is worth about 2%. But when we Rather than memorize exact formulas for situations are within 5 pips of the PLT, each extra pip is worth that rarely need such precision, I summarize about 1.5%. In other words, for X, Y > 60, and for –5 everything into a simple approximation. For long ≤ e ≤ 5, close races, where X and Y are greater than 60, let Y – X = denote the lead of player on roll (which could be negative). Δ If -5 ≤ ≤ 5, then the roller’s game winning chance is Δ If Y = PLT + e, For a littlethen more TWCaccuracy, =if the 22 trailer – 1.5eis e pips beyond PLT, then TWC = 22 – 1.4e, and if the trailer is e pips below PLT, then TWC = 22 + 1.6e, but the GWC ≈ 60 + 2Δ above formula is accurate enough. 92 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Table 3 gives the Trailer’s Winning Chances relative to their point of last take, where the numbers are rounded to the nearest half-percent. Conveniently, the endpoints of the interval are nice round numbers: when you are 5 pips beyond the PLT, your winning chances are 15%, when you are 5 pips below the PLT, your winning chances are 30%.

Table 3. The Trailer’s cubeless Winning Chances (TWC) relative to the point of last take, rounded to the nearest half-percent. Table 3. Kleinman’s estimate of Game Winning Chances

Y – PLT –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 TWC 30 28.5 27 25 23.5 22 20.5 19 18 16.5 15

Another way to remember Table 3, is to always Let’s do a quick example. Consider the position increase or decrease the GWC by 1.5% except when below. White has 75 pips and Red has 87 pips, with you go from the 2 level to the 3 level. That is, when White on roll. Suppose White is leading 5 to 3 in we go from +2 to +3, the trailer’s GWC decreases by a 7-point match, so Red has a take point of 19% (or 1%; when we go from –2 to –3, the trailer’s GWC 18.5% if you want extra accuracy). What is the proper increases by 2%. cube action? White on Roll. What are Black’s Game Winning Chances? 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score Pips 4-Away White 87 2-Away Black 75

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 93

Since there are very few checkers on the lower points, this constitutes a long, low-wastage racing position, so crossovers won’t matter. By the Trice formula, PLT = 75 + 7 + 2 = 84, so the Trailer can take for money with as many as 84 pips. Since the trailer has 3 pips more than that, then our table indicates that their winning chances are about 18%, which is below the 19% take point. Thus, White should double and Red should pass. XGR++ confirms these numbers, saying that Red wins 17.95% of the time, and that taking would be a 0.059 error. (The RB formula also confirms this. Here, R = 258.29/137 = 1.88, suggesting that the Leader’s GWC is slightly more than 82%.)

Next comes my favorite part of the table. when the trailer is 5 to 10 pips beyond the PLT for money, the trailer’s win probability decreases by 1 percent per pip, as shown in Table 4. Table 4: When Trailer is 5 to 10 pips beyond PLT, then apply the Rule of 20.

Y – PLT 5 6 7 8 9 10 TWC 15 14 13 12 11 10

This leads to the Rule of 20: Suppose the trailer is 5 to 10 pips beyond PLT. That is, Y = PLT + e, where 5 ≤ e ≤ 10. Then the Trailer’s cubeless Winning Chances are

For example, if X = 75, andTWC Y = 92, = then 20 PLT – e. = 84, so the trailer is 8 pips beyond PLT, suggesting that TWC = 12%. In the previous position, if we move a checker from Red’s 5 point to their 10 point, we create such a situation and XGR++ indicates that TWC = 12.00%.

When the trailer is more than 10 pips beyond PLT, their game winning chances drop by about 0.6% per pip, so that at 20 pips beyond PLT, the trailer has just 4% game winning chances, as shown in Table 5, with numbers rounded to the nearest half-percent. Table 5. When Trailer is 10 to 20 pips beyond PLT, then apply the Rule of 10.

Y – PLT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 TWC 10 9.5 9 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5 4.5 4 94 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

The formula I use here is for X, Y > 60 and for 0 ≤ References: e ≤ 10, suppose Y = PLT + 10 + e, then the trailer’s winning chances are given by the Rule of 10: Art Benjamin, Math Overboard: Handy Tips for Counting Pips, PrimeTime Backgammon, Fall 2019, pp. 86-93.

Alternatively,TWC you could = just 10 start – at0.6e 10% and count Danny Kleinman, Normal Race Takes, Vision Laughs down by 0.5%, remembering to drop a full 1% on the at Counting with Advice to the Dicelorn, 1980, pp. 142- third step and on the eighth step. 143 (reprinted by Lulu Press, 2007).

With these simple tools at your disposal, you are Andrew M. Ross, Arthur Benjamin, and Michael now in a position to estimate game winning chances Munson, Estimating Winning Probabilities in (between 4% and 96%) for most long low-wastage Backgammon Races, in Optimal Play: Mathematical races that arise in practice. Studies of Games and , University of Nevada, Reno, 2007, pp. 269-291. Acknowledgments: I am extremely grateful to David Presser, John O’Hagan, Ilia Guzei, Tom Courts, Walter Trice, Backgammon Boot Camp, Fortuitous Daphne Downs, and Marty Storer for valuable ideas Press, San Francisco, 2004. and feedback.

Tournament Recap Mind Sports Olympiad, August 2020

Cristian Frisk

he 24th Annual Mind Sports Olympiad Backgammon (11 points) (MSO) ended on Sunday, August 30, after a 1. Michael Mesich (USA) month of hotly contested online competition 2. Peter Wisniewski (USA) ranging from Scrabble and Speed Reading 3. Alesia Mercuri (Italy) and Daniela Tunsoiu (Romania) Tto Chess, Backgammon, and Catan. There were 100 events, which included eight backgammon events, and Backgammon (Double Match Point) eight meta-events where the scores of individual events 1. Arad Pedram (Iran) were combined. One hundred and six countries took 2. Julia Hayward (England) part, and 56 countries won medals. Several countries 3. Piero Zama (Italy) and Robert Kreisl (Austria) participated for the first time, including , Bolivia, , Malawi, , Mozambique, Hypergammon (3 points) Tanzania, , and . 1. Robert Kreisl (Austria) 2. David Pearce (England) The medalists for backgammon events are: 3. Scott Agius and Simon Jones (both from England) USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 95

Backgammon (3 points) Michael Mesich was the only player winning medals, 1. Michael Neagu (Romania) with two gold and two bronze. Certainly, if other 2. Ildebrando Pietravalle (Italy) strong players had lined up under the American flag, 3. Paco Garcia de La Banda () and the ranking of nations would have been different. Vitaly Sandro (Ukraine) All the competitions took place over one day under Blitzgammon (5 points) the elimination system, which greatly increased the 1. Gaz Owen (England) importance luck. This feature was criticized by many 2. Valery Gorbanev (Ukraine) players and perhaps should be changed for future 3. Petru Hlihor (Romania) and Toader Sandu (Austria) years. There were also some technical issues related to the direct reporting of the results on Heroes, as well as Speedgammon (5 points) some delays of the organizers in publishing the results, 1. Martyn Hamer (England) but all in all there are several positive aspects that 2. Ankush Khandelwal (England) go into the conclusion report of the MSO. There are 3. Cornel Oleniuc (Romania) and Michael Mesich (USA) also some countries, including Romania, Ukraine, or Moldova, which reported the results to the National Arad Pedram (Iran) and Ștefan Ghena (Romania) Olympic Committees, and some steps were taken to won gold medals at the juniors level. FIDE, the International Chess Federation, for the chess Olympics to have a backgammon contest. Backgammon (7 points) 1. Spyridon Sofos (Greece) Also under the auspices of the World Backgammon 2. Peter Wisniewski (USA) Federation, during this period, the first edition of 3. Andrew Selby (England) and Stephen Mackel the World Journalists' Championship took place. () This writer won that event, after a final in which, surprisingly, a beginner, the Moldavian Kirill Burciu, Nackgammon (7 points) qualified. Third place was shared by Daminder Singh 1. Nicolae Tunsoiu (Romania) (India) and Gheorghe Vișan (Romania). Among 2. Martyn Hamer (England) well-known players in this event were Chris Bray, 3. Artur Petrosyan (Russia) and Michael Mesich (USA) from The Times of London, and Jakob Garal, author of several specialized books. I can be proud of the fact Backgammon Cumulative (best five results) that I won this title by competing under the colors 1. Michael Mesich (USA) of USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine. The 2. Nicolae Tunsoiu (Romania) Brotherhood competition took place on Heroes and 3. Robert Kreisl (Austria) we hope it will become a tradition.

Romania ranked first in the medal hierarchy with a The World Backgammon Federation is now record of seven medals, three gold, one silver and three preparing to launch the first edition of the World bronze. The youngest medalist in the competition Club Championship in October. Three members was 6-year-old Stefan Ghena, who won the Junior of the same club or organization can form a team, Speedgammon event after he managed to reach the and the event will take place on Heroes as a single quarterfinals of the senior tournament. For the USA, elimination. 96 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

What's the Ruling? Cheating and the USBGF Standards of Ethical Practice

Richard Munitz, Chair, USBGF Rules and Ethics Committee

Every issue, Rich Munitz, Chair of the USBGF Rules and Ethics Committee, discusses rulings based on the USBGF Tournament Rules. He focuses on situations where the right call does not seem clear, and adeptly removes all confusion. Readers are invited to send puzzling rulings questions from real life; don’t worry, if Rich addresses your question, you will remain anonymous!

Have a question? Email us at [email protected]

Question: I play in tournaments online. How can I be sure that my opponent is not cheating?

Short Answer This is a timely question. Due to the COVID-19 No set of rules can ever force all people to behave pandemic, live backgammon play has all but stopped ethically at all times. But the members of the and the USBGF has made the unprecedented USBGF backgammon community should expect and decision to suspend sanctioning of ABT tournaments. trust that ethical behavior is a deeply held part of our Instead, more than ever, players are getting their culture and should have confidence that the USBGF backgammon fix online; both via the regular USBGF will not tolerate behavior that violates that trust. We Online Circuit tournaments, and via the newly will remain vigilant to root out unethical behavior. created ABT Online! tour. While players are eager to play online, some have raised concerns about the Long Answer possibility that opponents might cheat in ways that In this column, I am not answering a specific are not normally a concern in live tournaments. question about a backgammon situation in which a ruling is required. Instead I am addressing this Let’s get the easy part out of the way – cheating is general concern that has been raised and will discuss not only failing to abide by the rules; it is explicitly what the USBGF Rules and related policy have to prohibited by the rules! say about the general topic of behavioral and ethical matters. Where do the rules actually say that? It’s not only in there, but if you follow the breadcrumbs, you’ll find a whole new and more ancient set of rules that you might not be familiar with! USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 97

Rule 1 [ETIQUETTE]: Tournament staff and just injure the direct victims; they injure the entire players must engage in good sportsmanship backgammon community, along with the game itself and fair play and comply with the Standards of in its public perception. Such actions will not be Ethical Practice. tolerated.

I think we can all agree that by cheating, a player [FAIR PLAY] The overriding principle that is violating Rule 1; cheating is the exact opposite of applies to any backgammon competition is that good sportsmanship and fair play. But what is this to the best of the organizer’s ability, everyone “Standards of Ethical Practice” that the Rules refer participating shall have a fair and equal chance to to? I suggest that everyone follow the link above and win any prizes, rating points, or recognition that read it in full. We will discuss highlights here (edited may be offered. for brevity). It is the responsibility of tournament organizers The Standards of Ethical Practice was the first public within this community not just to provide a venue policy established by the USBGF. It dates back to for play, and a matching of opponents, but to provide 2010 – shortly after the organization’s inception. That an experience in which players have full trust, and is noteworthy, because the first thing that a nascent in which equal justice and fairness for all will always organization does is a sign of what it stands for and prevail. Nobody should obtain an unfair advantage what is most important. This policy staked out the aside from their skill at the game, and the organizers kind of backgammon community and culture that must prevent that from happening. Organizers are the USBGF considers its mission to foster. obligated to proactively protect their players and treat them fairly. This is also a culture that we wish to The USBGF is dedicated to helping the backgammon foster within the community. Players should look out community achieve the highest possible levels of fair for each other and call out any actions that are unfair, play, good sportsmanship, and appropriate behavior. whether to themselves or to others. If you don’t feel We have two goals: comfortable doing that yourself, speak with the Director in private; they have our backs. 1. to assure that participation in organized backgammon play at all levels will be a fair and [ETHICAL BEHAVIOR] Everyone must enjoyable experience; maintain high standards of ethics and good 2. to promote the game of backgammon in the most sportsmanship. Illegal activities are, of course, positive manner. specifically banned including but not limited to such things as cheating, fraud, threats, and The enjoyment of the game of backgammon, and general disruptive behavior. Cheating shall its social aspects, is first and foremost. We love this be presumed from the mere possession of game and we love the people and the friendships equipment designed or configured to provide the that come from its play. We are a tight community capability for cheating, regardless of whether that and everyone is expected to prioritize doing the right equipment was observed to be used. thing ahead of any personal benefit. Anything that threatens the peace and well-being of this community or disrespects its members is not welcome. Secondly, we want to see backgammon grow in popularity and to share our love for it. Actions like cheating don’t 98 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

In some circles, getting away with an unfair [RECOURSE] Anyone who believes their rights advantage is considered a skill and perhaps even to fair play and appropriate behavior have been respected. If that is your belief, you are not welcome violated should first discuss said issues with the within the USBGF community or to play in director. USBGF members and directors may organized backgammon events in the USA. The also contact the Rules and Ethics Committee USBGF fosters a culture where players believe that it via email ([email protected]) and request an is their obligation to do what is right and that others investigation. should be expected to do the same. If you wish to be a part of our backgammon community, you must act So, you’ve played by the rules, done the right thing, honorably and respectfully to others. Be nice. Tell the behaved properly, but you believe that you were truth. Make the call against yourself (if that is the wronged. What can you do? It is a very broad correct call). Don’t take advantage of another player’s question because there are many different situations ignorance. And in case there was any doubt – don’t in which you might feel wronged. It is also possible cheat under any circumstances. No, everyone else is that you could be incorrect to believe that you did not doing it. You must not either. Cheating has been everything perfectly. and will be dealt with severely. And make no mistake – if you are even found to have something intended to The first thing to do if something feels wrong is to enable cheating, you will be considered a cheat even speak with your opponent, or if that doesn’t address if not caught in the act. the concern, or if it makes you uncomfortable, then speak to the director. If you have a concern about [POSITIVE BEHAVIOR] Everyone is expected possible unethical behavior, speak to the director to act in a manner that promotes a positive image privately. The director will listen, and will ask and atmosphere for the game of backgammon, the right questions. They are generally driven to both in the actual events and outside of the make sure that every player has the best possible events. tournament experience, and so they will try to right any wrongs. But do not interpret facing an extremely When you attend a tournament, you are not going lucky opponent as unfair simply because the dice are to a local bar – you are an ambassador for the game not going your way. Do not mistake an unfavorable, of backgammon and for our community, whether but correct ruling by the director as unfair. A director you are in the tournament room or elsewhere at the will generally explain the basis for any ruling that venue. Act like a diplomat, not a jerk. There may they make. But they are human and can be wrong. be players who are attending their first tournament. That is why the Rules provide for an appeals process. You can either be the reason they want to come back Do not hesitate to appeal a director’s ruling if it still again, or the reason they leave with a sour taste in feels wrong or unfair. their mouth and never return. Other non-players or even members of the press whom you encounter at the venue can either gain a positive feeling about our game and assess that our people are friendly and of good character, or they can view us as degenerates and undesirables. Our game needs a positive public image to grow. Give them one! USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 99

Sometimes a director may make a mistake in The USBGF takes these requests extremely tournament operations. Perhaps they are using a seriously. An investigation is conducted, facts are poorly designed draw sheet. Perhaps they failed gathered, analysis is done, experts are consulted to plan properly and you can only get six hours of and due process is afforded. Where appropriate, the sleep between matches. Speak with them. Make USBGF will help to mediate a resolution. Where constructive suggestions. Do not berate them; do not appropriate, upon finding no compelling basis to make an unpleasant scene. See if they can provide establish wrongdoing, no action will be taken, but if some relief given the situation. If there are clear serious doubts remain, we will continue to monitor. alternatives and yet the director seems completely But have no doubt – when the facts have made unreasonable, you can appeal. But in the end, you clear that cheating or other unethical behavior has must also recognize that mistakes are not the same occurred, the USBGF Board of Directors has and as unethical behavior. We obligate directors to try will continue to take strong and decisive action – their best. We cannot obligate them to succeed. up to and including imposing a lifetime ban from Remember – as long as each player randomly had an all backgammon competition subject to USBGF equal chance of getting three byes while everyone governance (both live and online) and revocation of else got none, it may be incompetent design, but it is membership. Nobody gets a free pass on cheating, not unethical design. no matter who they are. This is not something we or anyone enjoys doing. The primary goal of this ethics But what are you to do when you’ve done these standard is to avoid problems, not to punish people. things and you still feel strongly that you (or another But unfortunately, it must be done when necessary, player) were wronged? Or what if you believe that which thankfully has been rare. the director themselves had engaged in unethical behavior? Or suppose you are concerned that others Summary might be subjected to the same unfairness in the Cheating and other unethical behavior goes against future, perhaps at a different tournament? Also, everything the USBGF believes in. It undermines what do you do when the tournament in question is the culture of respect for the players and respect for one run directly by the USBGF – such as an online and enjoyment of the game of backgammon that is tournament? at the core of our mission. We will never allow any individual to compromise those ideals. The USBGF You can bring your concern and supporting has your back. information to the USBGF and request an investigation. It should be noted that a complaint is not necessary in order to trigger an investigation. If the USBGF observes or becomes aware of potential unethical behavior, it may initiate an investigation on its own accord. 100 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

ABT Online! tournament results July 2020

ABT Online! - Michigan Summer Backgammon Championships July 5-6, 2020; GridGammon.com

CHAMPIONSHIP (76): 1-Coolrey/Ray Fogerlund (NV), 2-vegasman/Howard Markowitz (NV), 3/4-VegasVillain/Aaron Foust (NV) / V1/Rambiz Khalili (Iran/South Africa); 1C-dave56/David Staggs (IN), 2C-Mathemagics/Art Benjamin (CA), 3C/4C-Simborg/Phil Simborg (FL) / SweetRolls/Richard Sweetman (NH).

INTERMEDIATE (44): 1-rxbum/Andy Fazekas (CT), 2-CaLion/Cem Aslan (TX), 3/4-jokrjo/Joe Miller (OH) / igormoraes/Igor Moraes (Brazil); 1C-plata/Irina Litzenberger (VA), 2C-Retsguod/Douglas DeWitte (NV), 3C/4C-Ghost55/Frank Costello III (CA) / fabymel/Fabian Melnik (FL). ABT Online! - Ohio State Backgammon Championships July 16-19, 2020; GridGammon.com

CHAMPIONSHIP (46): 1-Mathemagics/Art Benjamin (CA), 2-Coolrey/Ray Fogerlund (NV), 3/8-timcrazy/Tim Cross (England) / Douli/Faddoul Khoury (AZ) / daddyschips/Marcy Kossar (MD) / LatRonald/Ronald Loero (Venezuela) / STEAMSAX/Steve Sax (CA) / boardmaker/Bob Zavoral (IL).

ADVANCED (26): 1-Technosis/Jasper Watertor (), 2-Counsel/Kristian Mills (England), 3/4-Patty/Patty Johnson (CA) / Karasuzy/Kara Schultz (CA).

WARM-UP (16): 1-bazooka/Bob Glass (CA), 2-CaLion/Cem Aslan (TX).

MASTERS JACKPOT (24): 1-juice2403/Ricky Griggs (MI), 2-CaLion/Cem Aslan (TX), 3-Ladi/Loretta Bernards (CA).

ADVANCED JACKPOT (11): 1-letsplaydice/Larry Brown (VA), 2-Pencentric Exec/James Fleming (NV).

LEAP YEAR JACKPOT (30): 1-SayLaVee/David Rennie (CA), 2-MonsterVal/Val Ovsepyan (CA), 3-aurachbeikitz/Adrian Nedelcu (Austria/IL), 4-TarsTarkus/John Gamalielson (WA).

SUNDAY SPEEDGAMMON (16): 1-Sheshbesh/Avi Cohen (FL), 2-bor742/Boris Dekhtyar (NY). USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 101

August 2020

ABT Online! - Usbgf Tournament Of Stars August 14-16, 2020; GridGammon.com, BackgammonGalaxy.com

TOURNAMENT OF STARS DOUBLES (24 teams): 1-Perry Gartner (FL) & Christian Briggs (FL), 2-Marty Storer (NH) & David Kettler (TX), 3-Tim Cross (England) & Ed Corey (CT). Side Pool winner: Dennis Lutz (GA).

WARM-UP (16): 1-cigarsmoker/Jonah Seewald (CO), 2-GaryZ/Gary Zelmanovics (NJ), 3/4-coolrey/Ray Fogerlund (NV) / JRUS/Joe Russell (CA).

SATURDAY EVENING "DANCE" (25): 1-FoolishBear/Michael Neagu (Canada), 2-finnerab/Bill Finneran (MD), 3/4-TEXBG31/Rudy Langenbach (TX) / STEAMSAX/Steve Sax (CA).

SUNDAY DOUBLE ELIMINATION JACKPOT (16): 1-Einsteinny/Chris Trencher (NY), 2-Americanjam/Dan Minardi (CO), 3-LatRonald/Ronald Loero (Venezuela).

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usbgf.org/shop Professional Scoreboard USBGF BG SHOP 102 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

September 2020

ABT Online! - Viking Backgammon Classic September 2-7, 2020; BackgammonGalaxy.com

GRAND CRYSTAL BEAVER XXI (20): 1-Jeremy Bagai (CA), 2-Alex Toth (WA), 3/4-Roberto Litzenberger (VA) / Michael Neagu (Canada).

EARLY RAVEN (25): 1-Adrian Nedelcu (Austria/IL), 2-David Hanold (IL), 3/4-Ronald Loero (Venezuela) / Joe Urso (NY).

FRIDAY FRIGGA (56): 1-Jeremy Bagai (CA), 2-Michael Neagu (Canada), 3/4-Rick Silberman (WA) / Rich Sweetman (NH).

ODIN OPEN (51): 1-Brian Lonergan (LA), 2-Jeff Willis (MN), 3-Sean Garber (IN), 4-Art Benjamin (CA); 1C-Ergin Bayrak (CA), 2C-Jonah Seewald (CO).

THOR ADVANCED (43): 1-David Parks (CA), 2-James Fleming (NV), 3-Michael Farrugia (NY), 4-Edward Onny (CO); 1C-Igor Moraes (Brazil), 2C-Steve Waller (MN).

VALHALLA OPEN (12): 1-Roberto Litzenberger (VA), 2-Marc Emrich (CO).

VALHALLA ADVANCED (14): 1-Gregg Trunnell (MN), 2-David Hanold (IL).

RAGNARÖK AFTER TOURNEY (33): 1-Steve Reichelt (MN), 2- Mario Savan (CA), 3/4-Bill Finneran (MD) / Roberto Litzenberger (VA). ABT Online! - Usbgf Backgammon Summer Finale September 11-13, 2020; BackgammonGalaxy.com, GridGammon.com

CHAMPIONSHIP (28): 1-Art Benjamin (CA), 2/4-Cary Hoarty (OH) / Irina Litzenberger (VA) / Brian Lonergan (LA); 1LC-Michael Neagu (Canada).

ADVANCED (16): 1-Makoto Nozaki (NY), 2/3-Kristian Mills (England) / Bonnie Rogoff (OH); 1LC- Wayland Augur (CA).

MASTERS JACKPOT (12): 1-Victor Ashkenazi (NJ), 2-Alfred Mamlet (MD), 3-Odis Chenault (CA).

AMATEUR JACKPOT (4): 1-Gary Zelmanovics (NJ).

SPEEDGAMMON (8): 1-Ben Friesen (MI), 2-Roberto Litzenberger (VA). USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 103

ABT Online! - Usbgf Backgammon Summer Finale (continued) FRIDAY NIGHT KNOCKOUT (15): 1-Gary Zelmanovics (NJ), 2-Michael Neagu (Canada).

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (16): 1-Michael Neagu (Canada), 2-Dan Minardi (CO); 1C-Bob Glass (CA).

SUNDAY GRAND FINALE (16): 1-Avi Cohen (FL), 2-Carol Joy Cole (MI), 3-Ronald Loera (Venezuela). ABT Online! - Wild West Shootout Backgammon Tournament September 24-27, 2020; GridGammon.com

OPEN GUNSLINGER ABT ONLINE (58): 1-Ryan Rebelo (Canada), 2-Alex Toth (WA), 3/9-Cary Hoarty (OH) / David Kettler (TX) / Roberto Litzenberger (VA) / Michael Neagu (Canada) / Joe Russell (CA) / Kara Schultz (CA) / Richard Siebold (CO).

ADVANCED GUNSLINGER ABT ONLINE (31): 1-James Fleming (NV), 2/5-Tom Christner (CO) / Cristian Frisk (Romania) / April Mesich (MN) / Michael Mesich (CO).

GUNSLINGER JACKPOT (32): 1-Steve Sax (CA), 2-Rich Sweetman (NH), 3/4-Marty Storer (NH) / Odis Chenault (CA).

WARRIOR JACKPOT (16): 1-Laura Granger (FL), 2-Marjie Harbrecht (CO), 3/4-Avi Cohen (FL) / April Mesich (MN).

FTH QUICK DRAW BOARD EVENT (32): 1-Al Hodis (NV), 2-Michael Mesich (MN), 3/4-Cem Aslan (TX) / John Gamalielson (WA).

EARLY SHOOTOUT (21): 1-Karen Davis (FL), 2-Mario Savan (CA); 1C-Edward Onny (CO), 2C-Lynda Clay (CO).

DOUBLES SHOOTOUT (12 teams): 1-Joe Russell (CA) & Steve Sax (CA), 2-Irina & Roberto Litzenberger (VA).

LAST STAND AFTER TOURNEY (23): 1-Cem Aslan (TX), 2-Mario Savan (CA); 1C-Edward Onny (CO), 2C-Odis Chenault (CA). 104 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

ABT Online! Points Race 2020 ABT Online! Standings Top 20 Updated 10/1/2020

# Name Points # Name Points

1 Art Benjamin 60.29 11 Mario Savan 13.81 2 Brian Lonergan 53.06 12 Neil Kazaross 13.24 3 Ray Fogerlund 39.35 13 Kara Schultz 13.13 4 Tim Cross 26.49 14 Howard Markowitz 12.67 5 Ryan Rebelo 24.99 15 A lex Toth 11.65 6 Rich Sweetman 22.5 16 James Fleming 10.22 7 Fabio Sallusto 19.55 17 Tom Rebelo 10.16 8 David Staggs 16.4 18 Jeff Willis 9.71 9 Aaron Foust 15.07 19 Ergin Bayrak 9.71 10 Marcy Kossar 13.81 20 Victor Ashkenazi 9.57

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iOS Mobile The power of eXtreme Gammon in the palm of your hands  Play with instant feedback using the Tutor Mode  Setup a position and analyze it using the same engine than XG desktop (up to 3-ply)  Games are saved and can be emailed for a full analyze in XG  2 player mode: use XG Mobile as a portable board  High Quality Graphics  Track your Progress, results and dice statistics www.xgmobile.com USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine 105

ABT Online! Standings Online Circuit Top 20 Updated 09/29/2020

2020 Online Trnys High # Name GG ID Rating Master Pts Win - Loss Win % Won Rating

1 Ted Chee tedc 1861.13 47.28 370 – 220 63% 18 1900.58 2 William Lonergan KellyRae 1826.61 44.91 410 – 293 58% 30 1867.03 3 Roberto Litzenberger cafecafe 1849.79 39.54 204 – 122 63% 8 1920.18 4 Art Benjamin mathemagics 1910.49 38.73 146 – 76 66% 12 1923.18 5 Peter Wisniewski Pantera 1793.18 34.63 163 – 134 55% 7 1825.94 6 Kevin Jones specul8tor 1805.42 29.56 152 – 104 59% 5 1828.65 7 Jiri Vala orkadimenza 1813.71 26.44 48 – 27 64% 4 1839.97 8 Martin Stemberka Marstem 1728.06 26.17 170 – 148 53% 7 1780.94 9 Michael Klein Primer888 1772.63 25.53 125 – 93 57% 4 1900 10 Steve Hills Hillsralive 1786.41 25.39 78 – 52 60% 2 1909.2 11 Rich Sweetman SweetRolls 1805.85 24.98 122 – 95 56% 3 1813.52 12 Konstantin Keresteliev bateKosio 1540.5 23.81 102 – 126 45% 4 1603.6 13 John Gamalielson TarsTarkus 1827.94 23.07 238 – 142 63% 5 1959.21 14 Andrew Selby selbs 1708.11 22.86 231 – 202 53% 17 1793.97 15 Karen Davis karendavis 1760.73 22.39 358 – 238 60% 14 1871.28 16 Ray Bills RayBills 1755.7 22.12 159 – 125 56% 1 1835.61 17 Scott Ward sw1111 1761.18 21.79 191 – 139 58% 6 1853.47 18 Matthew Brown Brownmattc 1716.01 19.89 109 – 90 55% 2 1730.91 19 Ruben Siñeriz rubsifer 1765.68 19.89 57 – 49 54% 2 1790.95 20 David Parks MopUP 1638.26 19.41 174 – 199 47% 6 1692.86

Up-to-date ratings may be found at: usbgf.org/trny/leaderboard/ Qualifications for inclusion in USBGF Online Circuit Events The numbers following the player names show their Elo ratings, cumulative since September 2012 in the USBGF Online Tournament Circuit. To be listed, a player must be a current or past member of the USBGF. 106 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

USBGF Online Circuit Winners Recent Online Circuit Tournament Winners Updated 09/16/2020

START DATE STATUS TOURNAMENT WINNER

August 16, 2020 Completed Membership Blitz #128 Bonnie Rogoff August 9, 2020 Completed Membership Blitz #127 Roberto Litzenberger August 9, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for June Playoff Art Benjamin August 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for August Qualifier 2 Karl Sours July 31, 2020 Completed Membership Blitz #126 William Lonergan July 31, 2020 Completed USBGF Intermediate Divisional LXXXVI Keith Remels July 26, 2020 Completed Membership Blitz #125 Roberto Litzenberger July 19, 2020 Completed USBGF Womens Monthly for July Mary Morse July 12, 2020 Completed Membership Blitz #124 Larry Buckingham July 12, 2020 Completed USBGF Advanced Divisional XCII David Vakil July 12, 2020 Completed USBGF Intermediate Divisional LXXXV Judith Bouchara July 12, 2020 Completed USBGF Masters Divisional CXV Art Benjamin July 5, 2020 Completed Membership Blitz #122 Avi Cohen July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for July Qualifier 6 Matthew Brown July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for July Qualifier 5 Gary Oleson July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for July Qualifier 4 Rich Sweetman July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for July Qualifier 3 James Noble July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for July Qualifier 2 Jiri Vala July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for July Qualifier 1 Art Benjamin July 1, 2020 Completed Circuit Monthly for May Playoff Ted Chee

2020 USBGF Online Circuit Tournament of Champions Congratulations to Art Benjamin, winner of the USBGF 2020 Tournament of Champions. Art defeated Bob Azari in the 21-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the semi-finals were Karen Davis and Roberto Litzenberger. Winners of 2019 USBGF tournaments competed in the event. Get into the Game Join the U.S. Backgammon Federation today! When you join the U.S. Backgammon Federation, you can play in online tournaments, participate in the Online Match Series where members vote on checker plays and cube decisions in a match against the #1 All-time American Backgammon Tour player Neil Kazaross, get tips from experts, view over 200 teaching videos that will improve your game, and much more. Premium and Founding Sponsors get all that plus electronic access to the quarterly PrimeTime Backgammon magazine and discounts from backgammon vendors.

Perks of your membership with the U.S. Backgammon Federation include: Many ways to compete online: USBGF Teaching Videos: ABT Online! tournaments, Pick-a-Pro Short 15-20 minute teaching videos are Jackpots, USBGF Online Tournament available at http://usbgf.org/category/bg- Circuit, and special tournaments organized problems/video/. Over 200 teaching videos by the USBGF. have been posted. This is a great resource for novices and everyone who is still learning! Chris Bray’s Learning Curve: Every Monday, renowned British columnist Learn from Expert Players: and author Chris Bray posts a position on the The USBGF provides support for streaming USBGF Facebook page. Answers are provided of top players’ matches at American on Tuesdays with explanations of why a given Backgammon Tour events. decision is best on the usbgf.org website just for USBGF members. USBGF Why wait? Join today at usbgf.org 108 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine

Upcoming USBGF and ABT Online! Events Upcoming Tournaments

Be sure to mark your calendar and attend these exciting ABT Online! tournaments & USBGF events. For complete tournament listings, see http://usbgf.org/abtonline-calendar/ USBGF National Women’s Championship USBGF Dates: October 3-4/2020 Details: Website (https://usbgfwomenschamp.weeblysite.com) Phone: 917/488-5364 ABT Online! Sunny Florida Dates: October 8-11 2020 Details: Website (https://www.sunnyfloridabackgammon.com) Phone: 917/488-5364 ABT Online! St.Louis/Gateway Club Backgammon Championships Dares: October 22-25/2020 Contact: Rory Pascar ([email protected]) Phone: 617-699-9100 ABT Online! Memphis Backgammon Championships Dates: November 4-8/2020 Contact: Joe Russell ([email protected]) Phone: 310-749-8274 ABT Online! Las Vegas ABT Online! Dates: November 18-22/2020 Contact Howard Markowitz Phone: 702-218-8238 ABT Online! California State ABT Online! Championships Dates: December 3-6-2020’ Contact Candace Mayeron Phone: 310-422-1646 ABT Online! Chicago Open ABT Online! Dates: December 16-20/2020 Contact Rory Pascar ([email protected]) Phone: 617-699-9100 • Boards

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