The UK Women’s Team in Gothenburg (days before Covid forced us online…) Join us for the first UKBGF Women’s Championship on Backgammon Hub! Registration is open until the end of the Bank Holiday weekend. After a lengthy discussion at last year’s AGM went through how women are under-represented at all levels of the game, Merrin Rose, Jay Hayter and I have started looking at ways in which we can encourage more to play; more to join up with their local clubs and play regularly; more to progress up to Masters level and beyond, and simply to normalise our presence as equals in the backgammon world ..read more

During the depressingly long days of Covid lockdown we all faced a choice. Accept what fate presented us which included denial of live play, or try some new initiatives to use the time at home purposefully. This included arranging some online international friendly matches. As I see it, they convey several advantages: The maximum number of players in the squad for the WBGF World Team Championship is only eight (increasing to ten for the 2024 event), of whom only four or five can play in any one match. Online internationals that are not bound by WBGF restrictions can have as many players as t ..read more

One of the newest clubs in the UK is going from strength to strength. Plymouth Backgammon was started by seasoned tournament players Gerald and Rosemary Whitehouse.  Since its first meeting, around 30 players – both veterans and new – have taken part in club meetings. The club meets at 7pm every Monday at Raffles, 5 Ermington Terrace, Mutley, Plymouth PL4 6QG Gerald said: “Plymouth is a major city of 250,000 people, a city steeped in history and adventure and backgammon needs to be represented, so Rosemary and I started the club. On the first night we were joined by Plamen Sivrev along w ..read more

Another superb festival of our beloved sport went down in Clayton, directed with insouciant charm by Steve Lee and a well-oiled machine of assistants.  Interactions at the desk were rarely required, with the draws so well published on our phones and the big screen, with the added flourish of each match being presented with their ticket during play which they then just have to place in the box. Not a common concept, but very clever.  Most players get at least 10 matches in the event which really is a lot, and some a whole lot more – 13 for one I heard. The Super Jackpot final – Olive ..read more

At The Clissold Arms, home of the legendary Kinks, appropriately a Bass by name would capture the sought after seat at The Tour Winners Invitational 2025. Over the Easter weekend, 62 intermediate players took part in London Backgammon’s annual one-day event. The Main was a 7-point knock out and by the end of the day we were left with semi-finals between Ben Owen v Chris Filby and Wayne Joseph v John Bass. Chris and John prevailed and after a hard-fought final, John (pictured right) emerged triumphant and the only undefeated player of the weekend. To the victor the spoils, to the runner-up an ..read more

Back before COVID was a thing – from the UK Open 2019. 2023 was a very busy year for the backgammon world, and I’m sure you all have particular personal highlights. Somewhat belatedly, we’d like you to look back on the the 2023 season and all the great achievements both over the board and in running the community, and tell us who in the backgammon world has made a real difference to the game. The British Backgammon Awards 2023 cover the calendar year 2023 plus the Tour Winners’ Invitational held in 2024 which brought the tournament year to a close. We’ve refined the categories for this year. W ..read more

30 March 2024, Clissold Arms This was one of the best backgammon days out one could imagine, with glorious Spring weather and outside play for the hardy; a draw of 64 and a great mix of people from the old to the young; a broad range of ability; and a startling surprise for the winner. On a day of shocks and drama aplenty, there was a fascinating four cube by David Lazarus [black 2-1, match to seven] vs Sara Sathyanandha.  Take or pass?  Or is it even a cube?  Answer at the end (with a Brucie bonus lesson to boot). The third round saw a tense clash with David Brown having to l ..read more

A couple of my errors in my daily games against XG have been deciding whether to clear the six-point or to take two off when bearing in against an ace-point game, so I decided to investigate the issue. Many factors will influence the decision: a) Whether gammons count b) Whether the opponent is more likely to crash if we keep a five-prime c) If gammons count, how many crossovers the opponent has d) What our distribution is like if we take two off Try the eight positions without looking at the solutions and then see how you scored. (1) 0-0 in a 5-point match. Blue to play 3-2 (2) 0-0 in a 5 ..read more

It’s England 1 Scotland 1 in the second part of a bi-annual tournament between the North East Backgammon Association (NEBA) and a team from Central Scotland. It the autumn, the Scottish team romped to victory in the first match between the two teams, but NEBA were able to turn their fortunes around yesterday, coming out 27-21 winners. The teams were made up of 12 players, with four rounds of five-point matches. It was all square after the first two rounds, but NEBA opened up a four-point lead after Round 3 and extended that to six in the fourth and final round. The event was organised by Keit ..read more

There are still places available for this year’s Clubs Championship. The following clubs have entered teams for this year’s event.  Up to 32 teams – made up of five players – will be able to take part in July at York University: Belles of St Albans, Birmingham 1, Brimingham 2, Brighton 1, Brighton 2, Cambridge A, Cambridge B, Clissold Arms, East Kent 1, East Kent 2, Harrogate A, Harrogate B, NEBA 1, NEBA 2, St Albans, Stirling & Falkirk, ThameGammon, West Yorkshire. The weekend’s action will be held at Derwent College, University of York, University Road, Heslington, York YO10 5DD.&n ..read more