How should White play 51 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

The WBIF Online Team Championship 2021 has now begun with 31 countries entered. See our WBIF page (link home page, top right) for the AusBGF team, competing countries, scheduled matches to watch, and results. Best of luck to Saeed, Simon, Hossein, Kevin, Craig and Mick!

The Sydney Backgammoners next Cheap and Cheerful tournament is now open. Entries close midnight September 27. See Tournaments for more information.

The Newcastle Backgammon Club’s Newy Open 2021 gets underway today. Good luck to all!

Congratulations Craig Elfenbein (ACT), winner of the Eva Bitel Tournament main flight. In a best of three, Craig defeated Steve Quinn (VIC) in the first two matches. Well done to both on making the final.

How should White play 43 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Gant Hoffman

Congratulations to Hossein Haydari, winner of the Eva Bitel Consolation Round and $50. Well done.

Craig Elfenbein goes up against the mighty Steve Quinn. Best of 3 matches to 13 points. First match Sunday 5 Sept 2 pm; second match Saturday 11 Sept 2pm; and third (if needed) Sunday 12 Sept 2pm.

How should White play 43 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

The WBIF (World Backgammon Internet Federation) Online Team Championship 2021 kicks off September 12. Click the link top right home page to see our AusBGF team members and participating countries.

Through to the semis (3×11) are: David Wells vs Craig Elfenbein; and Steve Quinn vs Grant Hoffman. If you would like to watch, keep an eye on the Watch Matches page. Steve and Grant (currently 1-1) will play their final match Wednesday 5pm.

Newcastle Backgammon Club is hosting the second Newy Tournament. Play begins September 12. FREE ENTRY with trophy. Single elimination. For more information, see our Tournaments page.

Warpgammon’s monthly online tournaments. Various formats. Good for Beginners right through to World Champs. Great opportunity to play (and observe) World Class players. Contact Cindy for more information.

How should White play 53 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Thanks to Sam Siave of Christchurch NZ, we have a new FB group BONZA (BackgammOn, New Zealand, Australia – Anything Backgammon for downunder). Click on the Facebook icon top right on the AusBGF home page. Please join!

Congratulations to Ben Scarf, winner of the 2021 EBT Newcomers tournament. Ben defeated Mark Unger in the final 9-6.

Through to the quarter finals:

Quarterfinal 1 – Wells+, Frisk, Saeed, Zarnic
Quarterfinal 2 – Disney, Saab, McAllister, Quinn
Quarterfinal 3 – Elfenbein, Tuglu, Christodoulou, McCormack
Quarterfinal 4 – Marczak+, Kurrell, Golegolab+, Hoffman

The four QF winners go through to a best of three series to 11-points and then the final (best of three to 13-points).

How should White play 33 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

The newcomers brackets are now complete. The finals knockouts are:

Main Flight: Rick, Bella, Ben and Mark play to 9 points and Trophy.

Consolation: Paddy, Joshua, Liv and Thomas play to 7 points for honour but no glory.

Last Chance – Chloe, Matt, Georgia and Harry play to 5 points just for shiggles.

Peter Kalyvas looks like a formidable opponent across the board when wearing the coveted Sydney Backgammoners Champion cap. Peter was the winner of the club’s marathon 48-week online tournament league.

Just four players left in SydBG’s Last Man Standing, Round 6 – Clarry, Jessup, Quinn and Frisk. The nature of open-ended tournaments is that we can’t predict how many more rounds will be required. We can say that two or three players will proceed to Round 7, one of them being Steve Clarry. At this point we can also congratulate Steve Clarry and Saeed for coming first and second in the side pool respectively.

We have a new web page WATCH & LEARN with a calendar detailing upcoming matches to watch. Please email your confirmed match date/time, who is playing (name and nic), which tournament, and where you will be playing to ausbgf@gmail.com.

Practice. Backgammon masters become masters through hours of rigorous practice. Regular consistent practice (combined with watching the experts and masters) is the only way to develop your pattern recognition skills to a high level. The way you practice is similarly important – it needs to be deliberate and challenging. Practice just outside of your comfort zone and force yourself to learn from experts and masters. This way you’ll see patterns emerging and develop a keener eye for patterns.

The July Sydney Online (SBOT) was won by Steve Nelson over Kevin Jessup. Steve also took first prize in the Side Pool and James Noble took second.

Signups for September Sydney Backgammoners Online Tournament (SBOT) are now open. Details here.

How should White play 61 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

President Greg Ash will be discussing backgammon on ABC Radio North Coast (NSW) with presenter Bruce Mackenzie tomorrow morning (Thursday) 6:45am(ish). Listen live

You know you were expecting it… The Australian Championships have been postponed until December <sigh>.

And the winner is… Paul Kellett (NZ) who defeated Carl Dell (NZ). Congratulations Paul and well done New Zealand. Grrrr!

The AusBGF team competing in the WBIF Online Team Championships is:

Saeed Nourmohammadi (SA)
Simon Ustick (VIC)
Hossein Haydari (SA)
Kevin Jessup (VIC)
Mick Dyett (NSW)
Craig Elfenbein, reserve (ACT)

The team will be in training over the next month. Play starts September 12. Keep an eye on the website for scheduled match times for your viewing pleasure.

How should White play 65 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Well… let’s say a NZ only final. Paul (Slijmbal) vs Carl (R1 dellboy). This Friday 6pm AEST. We’ll get ’em next time!

A nice backgammon background image for you.

The Eva Bitel Tournament is now underway with the Round Robin stage. See “Now Playing” on our home page for latest results.

Sydney Backgammoners Online Tournament (SBOT) – After 48 weekly tournaments a Grand Champion has emerged. The title goes to Peter Kalyvas. Well done, Peter, and congratulations to anyone who stayed the distance.

Warpgammon’s monthly online tournaments. Various formats. Good for Beginners right through to World Champs. Contact Cindy for more information.

How should White play 31 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Melbourne Backgammon will be re-opening carefully – starting Thursday 5th August 2021. For now, they have decided to meet the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month.

Bakelite is considered one of the best materials for checkers because it slides well and is very durable. Some players prefer the feel of Bakelite, and old Bakelite Backgammon sets are very collectable.

How should White play 52 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Hossein Haydari has a number of backgammon boards, but one of his favourite is this beautiful hand-made Khatam board. Khatam is an ancient Persian technique of inlaying. It is a version of marquetry where art forms are made by decorating the surface of wooden articles with delicate pieces of wood, bone and metal creating precisely-cut intricate geometric patterns. This board is valued at around $700.

After Stage 1 Round 6, Australia leads 117 matches to New Zealand’s 74. The top 16 from each side will now compete in the Stage 2 knock-out. Good luck to all!

Peter Kalyvas vs Tony Meyer
Habib Shalala vs Farid Farnia
Simon Ustick vs Archie Lamont
Tony Walker vs Carl Dell
Mick Dyett vs Peter Ware
Saeed Nourmohammadi vs Malcolm Forsyth
Michelle Taubman vs Simon Clark
Ben Scarf vs Tom Huber
Cindy Belonogoff vs Paul Kellett
Reece McLean vs James Noble
Breck McCormack vs Grant Hoffman
Jim Bean vs Ivo Zarnic
Elsa McNally vs Patrick Davey
David Kinston vs Murray Richards
Melinda Kelf vs Richard Theunissen
Hammon Mans vs Elie Sawma

How should White play 62 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Who would have thought there could be a cool backgammon song!

Australia
99 wins, 2678 pts

New Zealand
60 wins, 1875 pts

Round 6 is the final round of the Swiss format. The next round will be the knockout stage, consisting of the top 16 from both sides.

The 2021 Eva Bitel Tournament will get underway August 1. Entries close July 31. Full details here.

Australia
81 wins, 1772 pts

New Zealand
46 wins, 1219 pts

How should White play 21 here?
See the solution.

The Catholic church didn’t approve of a lot of things back in the days. One such thing was Backgammon, which they banned during the sixteenth century. They ordered the boards to be burned, just like numerous books that they deemed unholy. Luckily, people managed to save the game from destruction by playing in secrecy.

How should White play 41 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Round 1 results in the Australia vs New Zealand challenge – Australia wins 20 matches to NZ’s 12.

At Sydney Backgammoners you never know if you’ll go home with a tray of pork chops. We play backgammon, too.

How should White play 52 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

2021 Aussie-NZ Challenge, Round 1 underway.

Melbourne Backgammon Club is back in action this Thursday June 24th (subject to COVID restrictions, as always). Looking forward to seeing everyone again!

The 2021 Sydney Open attracted 35 strong players including several from interstate. A very happy winner, Ron Shaked, is holding the coveted crystal cube trophy and wearing the Sydney Backgammoners Champions’ cap (see home page photo gallery). Below, Sydney Open Tournament Director Gary Stavrou (R) congratulates 2nd place winner Habib Shalala, with winner Ron Shaked looking on.

Current Aussie #1 Simon Ustick with World #1 Mochi.

How should White play 53 here?
See the solution.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

How should White play 43 here?
See the answer.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

An unusually large SydBG club jackpot of $649 went off to a very happy Hammon Mans who also collected first prize of $90. Club champion David Reitzin is always supportive of our next generation of top players. I trust that is a V for victory sign Hammon is giving us!

The term ‘backgammon’, or more literally ‘back game’, is said to originate from the Middle English words ‘back’ and ‘gamen’, in reference to the counters that go back to the ‘bar’.

How should White play 43 here? The answer in a couple of days.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Who are the top players in the world? Read about it here. Something to aspire to!

Watch this interesting interview with World #1 Masayuki Mochizuki, known as Mochi (pron: moh-chee).

How should White play 54 here?
See the answer.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

How should White play 54 here? The answer in a couple of days.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

A message from President Greg Ash.

Paul Kellett (NZ) 1st Place
Chris Taylor (NZ) 2nd Place
Grant Hoffman (NZ) 3rd Place
Reza Nemati (NZ) Silver Plate Champion

Congratulations to all!

Please join us in welcoming new Secretary Breck McCormack to the AusBGF committee. Breck was born in the United States and first learned backgammon from his grandfather. He lived in London for 3 years and spent 15 years in Hong Kong where he was the Managing Director of the sports marketing firm IMG. He now lives in Sydney (plays with SydBG) and is very happy to call Australia home. Welcome aboard, Breck!

Breck McCormack

Warpgammon’s monthly online tournaments. Various formats. Good for Beginners right through to World Champs. Contact Cindy for more information.

Well done Malcolm Hutson, who defeated Giant Neil Kazaross 13-12 in Warp Gammon’s Esprit Teams consolation round. Mel also won her match yesterday with Neil 13-7. Team eVICtioners are hot!

How should White play 21 here?
See the answer.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Watch Mel (try to) play Giant Neil Kazaross this Friday 9am at Safe Harbor Games, Doubling Cube room, in Warp’s Esprit Teams consolation round. (chaffey vs NeilKaz)

How should White play 21 here? The answer in a few days.

Courtesy of Grant Hoffman

Great video for intermediates to experts that really drives it home… BE AGGRESSIVE!

The April Sydney Backgammoners Online Tournament was won by Hammon Mans over Saeed Nourmohammadi. Bill Marczak came third. Entry to the June tournament is now open.

AusBGF is excited to announce that we have joined the World Backgammon Federation (WBGF). Not only are we supporting this dynamic group, they will be supporting us in growing backgammon within Australia, particularly in regard to bringing young people into the game. Exciting times ahead! Check out the WBGF announcement on their Facebook page.

The Sydney team prevailed over Bucharest 15-13. The internet, with a little help from Covid, has added an international dimension to such challenges. Congratulations Sydney Backgammoners!

As they enter their final round, Sydney leads Bucharest 12-11. Either club could win in this nail-biting finish.

AusBGF Treasurer and Public Officer John Symon contemplates ZenGammon last week. Hard work.

Round two of the Sydney-Bucharest challenge has finished and Sydney leads 11-5.

May 29/30 at Auckland Bridge Club. See Tournaments for more information.

VicBG’s eVICtioners has made it through to the semi-finals of Warp Gammon’s annual teams event. Definitely the underdogs, we are next up against a team of US Champions, including several Giants (Steve Sax, Joe Russell, Alan Grunwald). Whatever the outcome, it’s an honour to play these champs. Pray for us! – Mel

Sydney Backgammoners had a record turnout of 26 at their weekly club meeting. Hammon Mans and Andre Marootians arm wrestle any disputes.

VicBG has entered team “eVICtioners” in Warp Gammon’s annual Esprit team event. With 12 international teams competing, after Stage 1 eVICtioners are in second place. Bring on Stage 2! Latest results

Flush from their success as winners of the Australian Inter-Club Challenge, Sydney Backgammoners are going international with a challenge to the Bucharest Backgammon Club  – play begins 20 April. Where next? Is there a club on Mars? …Gary S. See the flyer.