Scintillating drama as Paul Moulton Takes the Crown Carlsberg don’t do backgammon tournaments, but if they did…  Easy to get to for most, venue next to the station, tremendous playing room and facilities, free George Clooney coffee, free bottled water, and the most impeccable tournament direction you could wish for, from someone with “delusions of expertness since 1985.” We can compare and contrast the Swiss format here to Blackpool [which was still outstanding, don’t get me wrong].  The absolute key one is that the Sunday can now breathe and lost the feel of the day being a really t ..read more

Martin gives a demonstration what NOT to do for the cameras. You won’t see this in a real match! Some backgammon players sometimes cheat. Sad, but true. Many backgammon players sometimes make mistakes about plays. We all know this is so. According to our website, ‘Version 2.1 of the WBGF rules, published in August 2023, have been adopted for UKBGF-sanctioned backgammon tournaments in the UK’. These rules contain the following; 4.2 Checkers and moves (i) MOVES – Players must move clearly and use only one hand to move the checkers. This rule is simple, it’s unequivocal. It’s designed to help add ..read more

The UKBGF recently announced its new initiative to bring together backgammon organisers through its system of training and accreditation.  A flurry of applications has been received from around the country, and already 11 organisers have completed their training and received accreditation.  A further 10 applications are in progress, and more will be joining through July and August.  The AO scheme is led by UKBGF Board member Simon Hopper, whose professional background is in higher education. He said: “I couldn’t be more pleased. Not only have we received more than 20 application ..read more

Beaulieu-sur-Mer is a truly delightful south of France coastal resort. It sits just beyond Villefranche-sur-Mer and is only a short taxi, train or tram ride from Nice airport. David Niven had his summer villa there and if you have a spare €49 million you can purchase it, as it is currently on the market. For the period 12th-16th June one could have been forgiven for thinking it was part of the United Kingdom as the great and the merely good of the UK backgammon scene descended en masse for the 3rd French Riviera Backgammon Challenge. The Union Club in London sent a large contingent and I am g ..read more

Blackpool Imperial Cup, June 7-9, 2024 It is a tad disingenuous to compare Eric McAlpine to Eric the Eel of 2000 Olympic fame whose alarming 1:52 for the 100 metres freestyle captured global hearts.  But this masterful matchplayer, formerly placing a solo 3rd at the Worlds, still negotiated some choppy waters of his own.  Eric has been largely absent from the scene post-Covid but it was great to see him, and his presence made the tournament that much tougher.  His errant hip afforded him prime real estate in the playing room, and by far the best light in an environ where those p ..read more

Tournament and club organisers provide an invaluable service to the backgammon community.  Their efforts are sometimes overlooked, and they often work quietly in isolation.  The UKBGF recognises their enormous contribution to the enjoyment of backgammon by its members and players throughout the country. There is no doubt that the successful running of a club or event requires hard work, knowledge and experience.  The UKBGF sees an opportunity to bring together organisers so that best practice can be shared freely, and support provided in the running of events.  With this in ..read more

Bob Bruce: 1945-2024 With the passing of Bob Bruce at the age of 78 on 7 June, less than five months after his beloved wife Jan, the East Kent Backgammon Club has lost its founder and one of its most popular players. Bob grew up in Dagenham where he went to school in Halbutt St. He did various jobs, including as an auditor and driving instructor, before ending up in Customs and Excise, where among other things he checked consignments of bananas. In his youth he went out with backgammon player and author Rosey Bensley, who taught him the game on a beach, and over the years he so enjoyed it tha ..read more

I’ve been developing and running Backgammon Hub (www.backgammonhub.com) for a few years now. The site is kindly sponsored by the UKBGF which helps pay the server costs. The UKBGF hosts quite a few tournaments, and the integrity of the dice is very important. I think most players accept that online dice are random, just like real dice. But there are the vocal conspiracy theorists who are hard to silence. They tend to spread the idea that sites are manipulating the dice unfairly. Let’s recap some of the common complaints about online dice: Too many doubles! The dice favour the weaker player I ..read more

We can finally announce the nominees for the British Backgammon Awards 2023… Michele shows off a 2022 Award at last year’s UK Open. The Awards align with the calendar year and the UK Tour, so the current set cover 2023 and the 2024 TWI. We’ll be sending out a link to the voting form to all members in the regular members’ email in the next few days, so do keep an eye out on your in-boxes! Voting will be open for two weeks following that, and we’ll be handing out framed certificates to the winners and taking pictures whenever opportunities arise – very likely at the UK Open, where several of us ..read more

Mike Ireland was crowned as the winner of the Scottish Open – the first champion for 12 years. Fifty two players took part in the tournament at the Holiday Inn in Aberdeen, a tournament that was last held more than a decade ago.  Participants travelled from across the British Isles to take part. Brenda Rafferty, one of the members of the organising committee, said: “We hope everyone had a great weekend of backgammon. “We’re very grateful to all the people who came to the event and a special thank you to all of my colleagues – in particular treasurer Ian Cukrowski and TD Graeme McPhee – w ..read more