9 May 2006
Results from the Second Croydon Tournament
The second tournament of the Croydon Backgammon Club went ahead on a weekend when four other major tournaments were also being played, yet the turnout was good. Every tournament player received an honorary life membership of the Croydon Backgammon Club and the right to play at the club whenever in the area.
Format
23 players took part in four events (7-, 5-, 3- and 2-point tournaments), a doubles event and a late-night extreme tourney. Side tournaments in Tric-Trac and Tavli were planned, but there was no time left to play them.
Main
The first round paired the previous year's finalists, Mike Main and Jon Kinsey, and this time Mike won. The final went to Paul Lamford, who beat Simon Morecroft.
According to the tournament director, one of the stories of the Main was Joe Atkin, a very new player who reached the semi-final and led Paul Lamford 4-0 before losing. His bold use of the cube effectively shortened his matches and reduced the edge of more experienced opponents.
Because of time pressure, the play-off for third place was combined with the Last Chance, where Mike Main and Joe Atkin had also reached the last two. They first played a 3-point match without the Crawford rule, which Joe won, and then continued to 7 points with the Crawford rule, which Mike won to take third place.
Other events
- Consolation (16 players, with a few byes to speed up the day): Steph Rohan beat Adam Tansley.
- Last Chance (expanded to a 32-player draw so that all finals ended closer together): Len Ness beat Joe Atkin. Len, a FIBS player from Tucson, Arizona, was visiting the UK and had seen the announcement on the FIBS board.
- Double suicide: at Diane Iveson's suggestion, the usual 1-point suicide event was played to 2 points as an experiment. It prompted plenty of discussion about when to double, and proved an interesting variant. Crispin Duke beat Paul Lamford in the final; Richie Newbold, one of Croydon's up-and-coming players, reached the semi-final.
- Doubles (8 teams): Geoff Conn and Paul Epstein beat Adam Tansley and Jon Kinsey.
For how the cube works in match play, see using the backgammon doubling cube.