Post on 10-Feb-2022
transcript
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE USBGF MARCH - APRIL 2014
Us Backgammon federation
Mochyvs fogerlundFinal of the Dual-Duel at the Texas Backgammon Championships
visit us at usbgforg
gammonishvolatility
Jason Pack analyzes the World Championship Final
Video LessonPhil Simborg lectures on
breaking the anchor
longhorncLASSIC
Alfred Mamlet takes the Masters
at San Antonio
Backgammon World Championship Fairmont Monte Carlo Monaco
Monte Carlo OpenAugust 3rd - 4th 2014
World ChampionshipAugust 5th - 10th 2014
39th
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Reserve Rooms Early
New Modified Double-Elimination Formatnew format for the 39th world championshipMain flight fighters bracket amp last chance
With its new President Bill Riles at the
helm the US Backgammon Federation is
thriving Phil Simborgrsquos candid interview
reveals what makes Bill such an effective
leader And speaking of leaders the results
of the first web-enabled member-wide
election of seats on the USBGF Board of
Directors are in Dorn Bishop and Neil
Kazaross won seats on the Board with
Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and Richard
Munitz coming back for second terms
Therersquos much more mdash see especially the pro-
file of Jamie Rosen at age 14 the youngest
participant in the NY Metropolitan Open
event and the feature on the Directorrsquos Cup
II online tournament winner Greg Kurrell
Check out the live and online tournament
rankings and as Bill Riles says Get in the
Game
- KAREN DAVIS
Karen Davis is Chairman of the USBGF Board of Directors and Managing Edi-tor of PrimeTime Backgammon
KAREN DAVIS
Featuring over 150 photos from major
tournaments
4 5USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
By Karen Davis Managing Editor
We are delighted in this
content-packed issue of
PrimeTime Backgammon
to welcome two distinguished new authors
to our galaxy of member-contributors First
Ray Fogerlund three-time winner of the
American Backgammon Tour and highest
ABT annual point winner lets readers inside
his head to see how he conceived executed
and almost successfully pulled off a daring
game plan against world champion Mochy
Mochizuki in the Dual-Duel event at the
Texas Backgammon Championships Then
Jason Pack a foreign-affairs expert who has
written for (among others) the New York
Times and the Wall Street Journal describes
the game-theoretic strategy used by Slava
Pryadkin in winning the 2013 Backgam-
mon World Championship over former
champion Lars Trabolt
The excitement and buzz of first-class
tournament play is attracting a growing
field of entrants and world-wide streaming
audiences In this issue Steve Sax submits
reports on two major events the Texas Back-
gammon Championships and Decemberrsquos
California State Championships From our
foreign desk the fine Turkish player Sabri
Buumlyuumlksoy fills us in on the action in Cyprus
where several organizers have recently run
very well-attended and successful tourna-
ments and provides a stunning pictorial
album of the ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary
Festival in Turkey And I report in prose
and photos on the New York Metro Open
mdash where players from 10 countries con-
verged at the beginning of the New Year
to compete for Statue of Liberty trophies
On the organizational front Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
shares with us his approach to nurturing a
local club Scott as a journalist and special
education teacher has received a wealth
of on-the-job training in patience and
persistence mdash qualities that he has put to
good use in turning out his club members
in force to enter this yearrsquos Texas Backgam-
mon Championships
March - April Issue PrimeTime Backgammon
With its new President
Bill Riles at the helm
the US Backgammon
Federation is thriving
Phil Simborgrsquos candid
interview reveals what
makes Bill such an
effective leader
ldquo
44
16
96
26
56
Questions or comments about PrimeTime
Backgammon We want to hear from you
Contact us via e-mail at infousbgforg
INTERVIEW WITH BILLBill Riles has put his stamp on USBGF engaging members and leading with energy enthusiasm and an engineers drive to solve complex problems
6 7USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
JASON PACKA foreign affairs analyst Jason delves into the
strategies deployed to become world champion
BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSSabri captures the charm glamour and excitement
of backgammon in Cyprus in words and pictures
TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HATRay Fogerlund shares his strategy wit and insight in his final Dual-Duel match with Mochy
MOCHY DOES IT ALLSteve Sax captures the bigger-than-life Texas Backgammon Championships
In This Issue
FEATURED
16 INTERVIEW WITH BILL RILESRiles brings his entrepreneurial spirit and experi-
ence to the helm of the USBGF BY PHIL SIMBORG
26 A TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HAT Funny revealing high-drama mdash they all describe
this article by Ray Fogerlund on his match with
Mochy in the final of the Dual-Duel
BY RAY FOGERLUND
44 LIMITING GAMMONISH VOLATILITY
How to beat a world champion mdash Jason Pack ana-
lyzes Slava Pryadkins strategy at Monte Carlo
BY JASON PACK
56 BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSGlamour class and first-rate competition are alive
and well at Cyprus tournament venues
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
64 ISTAVDER 6TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
The Turkish Club ISTAVDERs 6th Anniversary event
was a model of tournament organization sponsor-
ship and celebration with 270 participants
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
70 BREAKING THE ANCHORUSBGF Educational Adviser Phil Simborg lectures
on when to break your anchor and run
BY PHIL SIMBORG
March-April 2014
8 9USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
PLAYER PROFILES
78 JAMIE ERIN ROSEN14-year old Jamie has captivated her classmates amp
world-class players with her love of backgammon
BY KAREN DAVIS
84 GREGORY KURRELLOnline backgammon helped Greg Kurrell find the
love of his life 10000 miles away
BY KAREN DAVIS
LOCAL CLUB NEWS 86 AUSTIN BACKGAMMON CLUB
Patience and persistence pay off for Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
BY KAREN DAVIS
TOURNAMENT NEWS 88 CALIFORNIA STATE
Patrick Gibson delivers another great event with
Ray Fogerlund winning the Championship division
BY STEVE SAX
91 NEW YORK METRO OPENThe NY Metro Open attracts players from all over
the world to this start-of-the-new-year tournament
BY KAREN DAVIS
96 MOCHY DOES IT ALLTexas just gets bigger and better mdash Steve Sax cap-
tures the excitement of the 2nd Texas Backgammon
Championships from San Antonio
BY STEVE SAX
March-April 2014
106 LIVE TOURNAMENT RESULTSSee all the results from ABT tournaments in New
York and San Antonio
USBGF NEWS 12 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION
Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross bring new energy
and expertise to the USBGF Board of Directors
BY BILL RILES
24 FOUNDING SPONSORSBecome a Founding Sponsor and show your sup-
port for the US Backgammon Federation
72 USBGF ONLINE CIRCUITThe USBGF Online Circuit has attracted 435 players
playing over 3300 matches since its launch
BY KAREN DAVIS
USBGF LIVE amp ONLINE RATINGS 109 LIVE LEADER BOARD
Check out the Open Advanced and Novice top
ten leaders in USBGF cumulative Elo ratings in live
events since 2009 and 2013 ABT Points
BY BARRY SILLIMANmdashRATINGS EDITOR
111 ONLINE LEADER BOARDSee the latest leaders based on cumulative Elo
ratings from USBGF online tournaments as well as
wins losses and tournaments won
BY TARA MENDICINO
112 UPCOMING TOURNAMENTSMark your calendar for upcoming ABT tournaments
and USBGF online events
In This Issue
ON THE COVERThanks go out to Bill Riles for this fabulous shot of Alfred Mamlet winner of the Longhorn Classic Masters Jackpot at the 2014 Texas Backgammon Championships
SUPER BOWL PARTYParty revelers were still going strong after four days of action-packed backgammon and sightseeing in San Antonio Knit hats by Carel Lindley
BIL
L R
ILES
In This Issue
MA
RY
HIC
KEY
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
MICHAEL ROSEN TARA MENDICINO amp KERRY ROSENMichael and Kerry Rosen graciously took Tara and Pierre Mendicino out to lunch while in San Antonio to thank them and all the PrimeTime staff for featuring their daughter Jamie in the March-April issue
10 11USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
editorBob Wachtel
Founding EditorMatt Cohn-Geier
Managing EditorKaren Davis
Production EditorTara Mendicino
Assistant EditorMark Antranikian
Assistant Editor and Design AnalystLisa Rockwell
USBGF PhotographerSteve Sax
Rankings EditorBarry Silliman
Feature EditorAnnotated MatchesMarty Storer
Editorial Advisory BoardKaren Davis (Chair) Chuck Bower Matt Cohn-Geier Carol Joy Cole Gus Contos Mike Corbett Perry Gartner Justin Nunez Bob Wachtel Kit Woolsey
informationPrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the US Backgammon Federation
contact usE-Mail infousbgforg Website usbgforg
Volume 5 Issue 2copy 2014 US Backgammon Federation
Staff ampVolunteers
PresidentExecutive DirectorWilliam Riles
Board MemberDorn Bishop
Treasurer Board Chair Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeKaren Davis
Executive Committee Chair Tournament Directors liaisonPatrick Gibson
Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeJeb Horton
Board MemberNeil Kazaross
Chair Legislative CommitteeAlfred Mamlet
SecretarySteve Mellen
Vice-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeTara Mendicino
Chief Technology Officer Executive Committee Chair Ratings and Stats CommitteeRichard Munitz
Director Local Club InitiativeJustin Nunez
Executive Committee Chair Education CommitteeJoseph Russell
Special Adviser to Board of Directors Carol Joy Cole
Education AdviserPhil Simborg
Accounting ManagerSheryl R Lennon
Director of Communications WebmasterTara Mendicino
USBGF Boardof Directors
from the editorOpinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the US Backgammon Federation TAR
A M
END
ICIN
O
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
Wednesdaybull Doubles and Mini-matchesbull Continuous Entry Seniors Tournament bull Blitz tournament - Held every daybull The main event is played at a relaxed pace which allows
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bull Visit the casinorsquos 24-hour poker room with daily tournaments and non-stop cash games
bull Make your hotel reservations by April 5th for the guaranteed rate
For More InformationHoward Markowitz
1001 Dumont Blvd 115Las Vegas NV 89169
(702) 218-8238howardmarkowitzyahoocom
The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon World Championship Fairmont Monte Carlo Monaco
Monte Carlo OpenAugust 3rd - 4th 2014
World ChampionshipAugust 5th - 10th 2014
39th
Book early Our discounted Fairmont Monte Carlo room rates are in high demand Rates start at euro314 and reservations must be made by June 15th to secure this discount Make your reservations online at wwwbwcmccom or contact Antoinette-Marie Williams at 2122227177
Presented by the IPATT Group | Patti Donner-Rubin | E-Mail pattirubinaolcom
August 3rd - 10th 2014
Pre-Register Online at wwwbwcmccom
Reserve Rooms Early
New Modified Double-Elimination Formatnew format for the 39th world championshipMain flight fighters bracket amp last chance
With its new President Bill Riles at the
helm the US Backgammon Federation is
thriving Phil Simborgrsquos candid interview
reveals what makes Bill such an effective
leader And speaking of leaders the results
of the first web-enabled member-wide
election of seats on the USBGF Board of
Directors are in Dorn Bishop and Neil
Kazaross won seats on the Board with
Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and Richard
Munitz coming back for second terms
Therersquos much more mdash see especially the pro-
file of Jamie Rosen at age 14 the youngest
participant in the NY Metropolitan Open
event and the feature on the Directorrsquos Cup
II online tournament winner Greg Kurrell
Check out the live and online tournament
rankings and as Bill Riles says Get in the
Game
- KAREN DAVIS
Karen Davis is Chairman of the USBGF Board of Directors and Managing Edi-tor of PrimeTime Backgammon
KAREN DAVIS
Featuring over 150 photos from major
tournaments
4 5USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
By Karen Davis Managing Editor
We are delighted in this
content-packed issue of
PrimeTime Backgammon
to welcome two distinguished new authors
to our galaxy of member-contributors First
Ray Fogerlund three-time winner of the
American Backgammon Tour and highest
ABT annual point winner lets readers inside
his head to see how he conceived executed
and almost successfully pulled off a daring
game plan against world champion Mochy
Mochizuki in the Dual-Duel event at the
Texas Backgammon Championships Then
Jason Pack a foreign-affairs expert who has
written for (among others) the New York
Times and the Wall Street Journal describes
the game-theoretic strategy used by Slava
Pryadkin in winning the 2013 Backgam-
mon World Championship over former
champion Lars Trabolt
The excitement and buzz of first-class
tournament play is attracting a growing
field of entrants and world-wide streaming
audiences In this issue Steve Sax submits
reports on two major events the Texas Back-
gammon Championships and Decemberrsquos
California State Championships From our
foreign desk the fine Turkish player Sabri
Buumlyuumlksoy fills us in on the action in Cyprus
where several organizers have recently run
very well-attended and successful tourna-
ments and provides a stunning pictorial
album of the ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary
Festival in Turkey And I report in prose
and photos on the New York Metro Open
mdash where players from 10 countries con-
verged at the beginning of the New Year
to compete for Statue of Liberty trophies
On the organizational front Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
shares with us his approach to nurturing a
local club Scott as a journalist and special
education teacher has received a wealth
of on-the-job training in patience and
persistence mdash qualities that he has put to
good use in turning out his club members
in force to enter this yearrsquos Texas Backgam-
mon Championships
March - April Issue PrimeTime Backgammon
With its new President
Bill Riles at the helm
the US Backgammon
Federation is thriving
Phil Simborgrsquos candid
interview reveals what
makes Bill such an
effective leader
ldquo
44
16
96
26
56
Questions or comments about PrimeTime
Backgammon We want to hear from you
Contact us via e-mail at infousbgforg
INTERVIEW WITH BILLBill Riles has put his stamp on USBGF engaging members and leading with energy enthusiasm and an engineers drive to solve complex problems
6 7USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
JASON PACKA foreign affairs analyst Jason delves into the
strategies deployed to become world champion
BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSSabri captures the charm glamour and excitement
of backgammon in Cyprus in words and pictures
TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HATRay Fogerlund shares his strategy wit and insight in his final Dual-Duel match with Mochy
MOCHY DOES IT ALLSteve Sax captures the bigger-than-life Texas Backgammon Championships
In This Issue
FEATURED
16 INTERVIEW WITH BILL RILESRiles brings his entrepreneurial spirit and experi-
ence to the helm of the USBGF BY PHIL SIMBORG
26 A TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HAT Funny revealing high-drama mdash they all describe
this article by Ray Fogerlund on his match with
Mochy in the final of the Dual-Duel
BY RAY FOGERLUND
44 LIMITING GAMMONISH VOLATILITY
How to beat a world champion mdash Jason Pack ana-
lyzes Slava Pryadkins strategy at Monte Carlo
BY JASON PACK
56 BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSGlamour class and first-rate competition are alive
and well at Cyprus tournament venues
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
64 ISTAVDER 6TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
The Turkish Club ISTAVDERs 6th Anniversary event
was a model of tournament organization sponsor-
ship and celebration with 270 participants
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
70 BREAKING THE ANCHORUSBGF Educational Adviser Phil Simborg lectures
on when to break your anchor and run
BY PHIL SIMBORG
March-April 2014
8 9USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
PLAYER PROFILES
78 JAMIE ERIN ROSEN14-year old Jamie has captivated her classmates amp
world-class players with her love of backgammon
BY KAREN DAVIS
84 GREGORY KURRELLOnline backgammon helped Greg Kurrell find the
love of his life 10000 miles away
BY KAREN DAVIS
LOCAL CLUB NEWS 86 AUSTIN BACKGAMMON CLUB
Patience and persistence pay off for Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
BY KAREN DAVIS
TOURNAMENT NEWS 88 CALIFORNIA STATE
Patrick Gibson delivers another great event with
Ray Fogerlund winning the Championship division
BY STEVE SAX
91 NEW YORK METRO OPENThe NY Metro Open attracts players from all over
the world to this start-of-the-new-year tournament
BY KAREN DAVIS
96 MOCHY DOES IT ALLTexas just gets bigger and better mdash Steve Sax cap-
tures the excitement of the 2nd Texas Backgammon
Championships from San Antonio
BY STEVE SAX
March-April 2014
106 LIVE TOURNAMENT RESULTSSee all the results from ABT tournaments in New
York and San Antonio
USBGF NEWS 12 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION
Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross bring new energy
and expertise to the USBGF Board of Directors
BY BILL RILES
24 FOUNDING SPONSORSBecome a Founding Sponsor and show your sup-
port for the US Backgammon Federation
72 USBGF ONLINE CIRCUITThe USBGF Online Circuit has attracted 435 players
playing over 3300 matches since its launch
BY KAREN DAVIS
USBGF LIVE amp ONLINE RATINGS 109 LIVE LEADER BOARD
Check out the Open Advanced and Novice top
ten leaders in USBGF cumulative Elo ratings in live
events since 2009 and 2013 ABT Points
BY BARRY SILLIMANmdashRATINGS EDITOR
111 ONLINE LEADER BOARDSee the latest leaders based on cumulative Elo
ratings from USBGF online tournaments as well as
wins losses and tournaments won
BY TARA MENDICINO
112 UPCOMING TOURNAMENTSMark your calendar for upcoming ABT tournaments
and USBGF online events
In This Issue
ON THE COVERThanks go out to Bill Riles for this fabulous shot of Alfred Mamlet winner of the Longhorn Classic Masters Jackpot at the 2014 Texas Backgammon Championships
SUPER BOWL PARTYParty revelers were still going strong after four days of action-packed backgammon and sightseeing in San Antonio Knit hats by Carel Lindley
BIL
L R
ILES
In This Issue
MA
RY
HIC
KEY
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
MICHAEL ROSEN TARA MENDICINO amp KERRY ROSENMichael and Kerry Rosen graciously took Tara and Pierre Mendicino out to lunch while in San Antonio to thank them and all the PrimeTime staff for featuring their daughter Jamie in the March-April issue
10 11USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
editorBob Wachtel
Founding EditorMatt Cohn-Geier
Managing EditorKaren Davis
Production EditorTara Mendicino
Assistant EditorMark Antranikian
Assistant Editor and Design AnalystLisa Rockwell
USBGF PhotographerSteve Sax
Rankings EditorBarry Silliman
Feature EditorAnnotated MatchesMarty Storer
Editorial Advisory BoardKaren Davis (Chair) Chuck Bower Matt Cohn-Geier Carol Joy Cole Gus Contos Mike Corbett Perry Gartner Justin Nunez Bob Wachtel Kit Woolsey
informationPrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the US Backgammon Federation
contact usE-Mail infousbgforg Website usbgforg
Volume 5 Issue 2copy 2014 US Backgammon Federation
Staff ampVolunteers
PresidentExecutive DirectorWilliam Riles
Board MemberDorn Bishop
Treasurer Board Chair Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeKaren Davis
Executive Committee Chair Tournament Directors liaisonPatrick Gibson
Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeJeb Horton
Board MemberNeil Kazaross
Chair Legislative CommitteeAlfred Mamlet
SecretarySteve Mellen
Vice-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeTara Mendicino
Chief Technology Officer Executive Committee Chair Ratings and Stats CommitteeRichard Munitz
Director Local Club InitiativeJustin Nunez
Executive Committee Chair Education CommitteeJoseph Russell
Special Adviser to Board of Directors Carol Joy Cole
Education AdviserPhil Simborg
Accounting ManagerSheryl R Lennon
Director of Communications WebmasterTara Mendicino
USBGF Boardof Directors
from the editorOpinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the US Backgammon Federation TAR
A M
END
ICIN
O
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
Wednesdaybull Doubles and Mini-matchesbull Continuous Entry Seniors Tournament bull Blitz tournament - Held every daybull The main event is played at a relaxed pace which allows
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For More InformationHoward Markowitz
1001 Dumont Blvd 115Las Vegas NV 89169
(702) 218-8238howardmarkowitzyahoocom
The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
With its new President Bill Riles at the
helm the US Backgammon Federation is
thriving Phil Simborgrsquos candid interview
reveals what makes Bill such an effective
leader And speaking of leaders the results
of the first web-enabled member-wide
election of seats on the USBGF Board of
Directors are in Dorn Bishop and Neil
Kazaross won seats on the Board with
Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and Richard
Munitz coming back for second terms
Therersquos much more mdash see especially the pro-
file of Jamie Rosen at age 14 the youngest
participant in the NY Metropolitan Open
event and the feature on the Directorrsquos Cup
II online tournament winner Greg Kurrell
Check out the live and online tournament
rankings and as Bill Riles says Get in the
Game
- KAREN DAVIS
Karen Davis is Chairman of the USBGF Board of Directors and Managing Edi-tor of PrimeTime Backgammon
KAREN DAVIS
Featuring over 150 photos from major
tournaments
4 5USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
By Karen Davis Managing Editor
We are delighted in this
content-packed issue of
PrimeTime Backgammon
to welcome two distinguished new authors
to our galaxy of member-contributors First
Ray Fogerlund three-time winner of the
American Backgammon Tour and highest
ABT annual point winner lets readers inside
his head to see how he conceived executed
and almost successfully pulled off a daring
game plan against world champion Mochy
Mochizuki in the Dual-Duel event at the
Texas Backgammon Championships Then
Jason Pack a foreign-affairs expert who has
written for (among others) the New York
Times and the Wall Street Journal describes
the game-theoretic strategy used by Slava
Pryadkin in winning the 2013 Backgam-
mon World Championship over former
champion Lars Trabolt
The excitement and buzz of first-class
tournament play is attracting a growing
field of entrants and world-wide streaming
audiences In this issue Steve Sax submits
reports on two major events the Texas Back-
gammon Championships and Decemberrsquos
California State Championships From our
foreign desk the fine Turkish player Sabri
Buumlyuumlksoy fills us in on the action in Cyprus
where several organizers have recently run
very well-attended and successful tourna-
ments and provides a stunning pictorial
album of the ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary
Festival in Turkey And I report in prose
and photos on the New York Metro Open
mdash where players from 10 countries con-
verged at the beginning of the New Year
to compete for Statue of Liberty trophies
On the organizational front Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
shares with us his approach to nurturing a
local club Scott as a journalist and special
education teacher has received a wealth
of on-the-job training in patience and
persistence mdash qualities that he has put to
good use in turning out his club members
in force to enter this yearrsquos Texas Backgam-
mon Championships
March - April Issue PrimeTime Backgammon
With its new President
Bill Riles at the helm
the US Backgammon
Federation is thriving
Phil Simborgrsquos candid
interview reveals what
makes Bill such an
effective leader
ldquo
44
16
96
26
56
Questions or comments about PrimeTime
Backgammon We want to hear from you
Contact us via e-mail at infousbgforg
INTERVIEW WITH BILLBill Riles has put his stamp on USBGF engaging members and leading with energy enthusiasm and an engineers drive to solve complex problems
6 7USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
JASON PACKA foreign affairs analyst Jason delves into the
strategies deployed to become world champion
BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSSabri captures the charm glamour and excitement
of backgammon in Cyprus in words and pictures
TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HATRay Fogerlund shares his strategy wit and insight in his final Dual-Duel match with Mochy
MOCHY DOES IT ALLSteve Sax captures the bigger-than-life Texas Backgammon Championships
In This Issue
FEATURED
16 INTERVIEW WITH BILL RILESRiles brings his entrepreneurial spirit and experi-
ence to the helm of the USBGF BY PHIL SIMBORG
26 A TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HAT Funny revealing high-drama mdash they all describe
this article by Ray Fogerlund on his match with
Mochy in the final of the Dual-Duel
BY RAY FOGERLUND
44 LIMITING GAMMONISH VOLATILITY
How to beat a world champion mdash Jason Pack ana-
lyzes Slava Pryadkins strategy at Monte Carlo
BY JASON PACK
56 BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSGlamour class and first-rate competition are alive
and well at Cyprus tournament venues
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
64 ISTAVDER 6TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
The Turkish Club ISTAVDERs 6th Anniversary event
was a model of tournament organization sponsor-
ship and celebration with 270 participants
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
70 BREAKING THE ANCHORUSBGF Educational Adviser Phil Simborg lectures
on when to break your anchor and run
BY PHIL SIMBORG
March-April 2014
8 9USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
PLAYER PROFILES
78 JAMIE ERIN ROSEN14-year old Jamie has captivated her classmates amp
world-class players with her love of backgammon
BY KAREN DAVIS
84 GREGORY KURRELLOnline backgammon helped Greg Kurrell find the
love of his life 10000 miles away
BY KAREN DAVIS
LOCAL CLUB NEWS 86 AUSTIN BACKGAMMON CLUB
Patience and persistence pay off for Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
BY KAREN DAVIS
TOURNAMENT NEWS 88 CALIFORNIA STATE
Patrick Gibson delivers another great event with
Ray Fogerlund winning the Championship division
BY STEVE SAX
91 NEW YORK METRO OPENThe NY Metro Open attracts players from all over
the world to this start-of-the-new-year tournament
BY KAREN DAVIS
96 MOCHY DOES IT ALLTexas just gets bigger and better mdash Steve Sax cap-
tures the excitement of the 2nd Texas Backgammon
Championships from San Antonio
BY STEVE SAX
March-April 2014
106 LIVE TOURNAMENT RESULTSSee all the results from ABT tournaments in New
York and San Antonio
USBGF NEWS 12 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION
Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross bring new energy
and expertise to the USBGF Board of Directors
BY BILL RILES
24 FOUNDING SPONSORSBecome a Founding Sponsor and show your sup-
port for the US Backgammon Federation
72 USBGF ONLINE CIRCUITThe USBGF Online Circuit has attracted 435 players
playing over 3300 matches since its launch
BY KAREN DAVIS
USBGF LIVE amp ONLINE RATINGS 109 LIVE LEADER BOARD
Check out the Open Advanced and Novice top
ten leaders in USBGF cumulative Elo ratings in live
events since 2009 and 2013 ABT Points
BY BARRY SILLIMANmdashRATINGS EDITOR
111 ONLINE LEADER BOARDSee the latest leaders based on cumulative Elo
ratings from USBGF online tournaments as well as
wins losses and tournaments won
BY TARA MENDICINO
112 UPCOMING TOURNAMENTSMark your calendar for upcoming ABT tournaments
and USBGF online events
In This Issue
ON THE COVERThanks go out to Bill Riles for this fabulous shot of Alfred Mamlet winner of the Longhorn Classic Masters Jackpot at the 2014 Texas Backgammon Championships
SUPER BOWL PARTYParty revelers were still going strong after four days of action-packed backgammon and sightseeing in San Antonio Knit hats by Carel Lindley
BIL
L R
ILES
In This Issue
MA
RY
HIC
KEY
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
MICHAEL ROSEN TARA MENDICINO amp KERRY ROSENMichael and Kerry Rosen graciously took Tara and Pierre Mendicino out to lunch while in San Antonio to thank them and all the PrimeTime staff for featuring their daughter Jamie in the March-April issue
10 11USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
editorBob Wachtel
Founding EditorMatt Cohn-Geier
Managing EditorKaren Davis
Production EditorTara Mendicino
Assistant EditorMark Antranikian
Assistant Editor and Design AnalystLisa Rockwell
USBGF PhotographerSteve Sax
Rankings EditorBarry Silliman
Feature EditorAnnotated MatchesMarty Storer
Editorial Advisory BoardKaren Davis (Chair) Chuck Bower Matt Cohn-Geier Carol Joy Cole Gus Contos Mike Corbett Perry Gartner Justin Nunez Bob Wachtel Kit Woolsey
informationPrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the US Backgammon Federation
contact usE-Mail infousbgforg Website usbgforg
Volume 5 Issue 2copy 2014 US Backgammon Federation
Staff ampVolunteers
PresidentExecutive DirectorWilliam Riles
Board MemberDorn Bishop
Treasurer Board Chair Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeKaren Davis
Executive Committee Chair Tournament Directors liaisonPatrick Gibson
Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeJeb Horton
Board MemberNeil Kazaross
Chair Legislative CommitteeAlfred Mamlet
SecretarySteve Mellen
Vice-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeTara Mendicino
Chief Technology Officer Executive Committee Chair Ratings and Stats CommitteeRichard Munitz
Director Local Club InitiativeJustin Nunez
Executive Committee Chair Education CommitteeJoseph Russell
Special Adviser to Board of Directors Carol Joy Cole
Education AdviserPhil Simborg
Accounting ManagerSheryl R Lennon
Director of Communications WebmasterTara Mendicino
USBGF Boardof Directors
from the editorOpinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the US Backgammon Federation TAR
A M
END
ICIN
O
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
Wednesdaybull Doubles and Mini-matchesbull Continuous Entry Seniors Tournament bull Blitz tournament - Held every daybull The main event is played at a relaxed pace which allows
entry into side events or time to enjoy the Flamingo and Las Vegas
bull Visit the casinorsquos 24-hour poker room with daily tournaments and non-stop cash games
bull Make your hotel reservations by April 5th for the guaranteed rate
For More InformationHoward Markowitz
1001 Dumont Blvd 115Las Vegas NV 89169
(702) 218-8238howardmarkowitzyahoocom
The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
44
16
96
26
56
Questions or comments about PrimeTime
Backgammon We want to hear from you
Contact us via e-mail at infousbgforg
INTERVIEW WITH BILLBill Riles has put his stamp on USBGF engaging members and leading with energy enthusiasm and an engineers drive to solve complex problems
6 7USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
JASON PACKA foreign affairs analyst Jason delves into the
strategies deployed to become world champion
BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSSabri captures the charm glamour and excitement
of backgammon in Cyprus in words and pictures
TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HATRay Fogerlund shares his strategy wit and insight in his final Dual-Duel match with Mochy
MOCHY DOES IT ALLSteve Sax captures the bigger-than-life Texas Backgammon Championships
In This Issue
FEATURED
16 INTERVIEW WITH BILL RILESRiles brings his entrepreneurial spirit and experi-
ence to the helm of the USBGF BY PHIL SIMBORG
26 A TIP OF THE TEN-GALLON HAT Funny revealing high-drama mdash they all describe
this article by Ray Fogerlund on his match with
Mochy in the final of the Dual-Duel
BY RAY FOGERLUND
44 LIMITING GAMMONISH VOLATILITY
How to beat a world champion mdash Jason Pack ana-
lyzes Slava Pryadkins strategy at Monte Carlo
BY JASON PACK
56 BACKGAMMON IN CYPRUSGlamour class and first-rate competition are alive
and well at Cyprus tournament venues
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
64 ISTAVDER 6TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
The Turkish Club ISTAVDERs 6th Anniversary event
was a model of tournament organization sponsor-
ship and celebration with 270 participants
BY SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
70 BREAKING THE ANCHORUSBGF Educational Adviser Phil Simborg lectures
on when to break your anchor and run
BY PHIL SIMBORG
March-April 2014
8 9USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
PLAYER PROFILES
78 JAMIE ERIN ROSEN14-year old Jamie has captivated her classmates amp
world-class players with her love of backgammon
BY KAREN DAVIS
84 GREGORY KURRELLOnline backgammon helped Greg Kurrell find the
love of his life 10000 miles away
BY KAREN DAVIS
LOCAL CLUB NEWS 86 AUSTIN BACKGAMMON CLUB
Patience and persistence pay off for Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
BY KAREN DAVIS
TOURNAMENT NEWS 88 CALIFORNIA STATE
Patrick Gibson delivers another great event with
Ray Fogerlund winning the Championship division
BY STEVE SAX
91 NEW YORK METRO OPENThe NY Metro Open attracts players from all over
the world to this start-of-the-new-year tournament
BY KAREN DAVIS
96 MOCHY DOES IT ALLTexas just gets bigger and better mdash Steve Sax cap-
tures the excitement of the 2nd Texas Backgammon
Championships from San Antonio
BY STEVE SAX
March-April 2014
106 LIVE TOURNAMENT RESULTSSee all the results from ABT tournaments in New
York and San Antonio
USBGF NEWS 12 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION
Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross bring new energy
and expertise to the USBGF Board of Directors
BY BILL RILES
24 FOUNDING SPONSORSBecome a Founding Sponsor and show your sup-
port for the US Backgammon Federation
72 USBGF ONLINE CIRCUITThe USBGF Online Circuit has attracted 435 players
playing over 3300 matches since its launch
BY KAREN DAVIS
USBGF LIVE amp ONLINE RATINGS 109 LIVE LEADER BOARD
Check out the Open Advanced and Novice top
ten leaders in USBGF cumulative Elo ratings in live
events since 2009 and 2013 ABT Points
BY BARRY SILLIMANmdashRATINGS EDITOR
111 ONLINE LEADER BOARDSee the latest leaders based on cumulative Elo
ratings from USBGF online tournaments as well as
wins losses and tournaments won
BY TARA MENDICINO
112 UPCOMING TOURNAMENTSMark your calendar for upcoming ABT tournaments
and USBGF online events
In This Issue
ON THE COVERThanks go out to Bill Riles for this fabulous shot of Alfred Mamlet winner of the Longhorn Classic Masters Jackpot at the 2014 Texas Backgammon Championships
SUPER BOWL PARTYParty revelers were still going strong after four days of action-packed backgammon and sightseeing in San Antonio Knit hats by Carel Lindley
BIL
L R
ILES
In This Issue
MA
RY
HIC
KEY
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
MICHAEL ROSEN TARA MENDICINO amp KERRY ROSENMichael and Kerry Rosen graciously took Tara and Pierre Mendicino out to lunch while in San Antonio to thank them and all the PrimeTime staff for featuring their daughter Jamie in the March-April issue
10 11USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
editorBob Wachtel
Founding EditorMatt Cohn-Geier
Managing EditorKaren Davis
Production EditorTara Mendicino
Assistant EditorMark Antranikian
Assistant Editor and Design AnalystLisa Rockwell
USBGF PhotographerSteve Sax
Rankings EditorBarry Silliman
Feature EditorAnnotated MatchesMarty Storer
Editorial Advisory BoardKaren Davis (Chair) Chuck Bower Matt Cohn-Geier Carol Joy Cole Gus Contos Mike Corbett Perry Gartner Justin Nunez Bob Wachtel Kit Woolsey
informationPrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the US Backgammon Federation
contact usE-Mail infousbgforg Website usbgforg
Volume 5 Issue 2copy 2014 US Backgammon Federation
Staff ampVolunteers
PresidentExecutive DirectorWilliam Riles
Board MemberDorn Bishop
Treasurer Board Chair Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeKaren Davis
Executive Committee Chair Tournament Directors liaisonPatrick Gibson
Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeJeb Horton
Board MemberNeil Kazaross
Chair Legislative CommitteeAlfred Mamlet
SecretarySteve Mellen
Vice-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeTara Mendicino
Chief Technology Officer Executive Committee Chair Ratings and Stats CommitteeRichard Munitz
Director Local Club InitiativeJustin Nunez
Executive Committee Chair Education CommitteeJoseph Russell
Special Adviser to Board of Directors Carol Joy Cole
Education AdviserPhil Simborg
Accounting ManagerSheryl R Lennon
Director of Communications WebmasterTara Mendicino
USBGF Boardof Directors
from the editorOpinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the US Backgammon Federation TAR
A M
END
ICIN
O
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
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For More InformationHoward Markowitz
1001 Dumont Blvd 115Las Vegas NV 89169
(702) 218-8238howardmarkowitzyahoocom
The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
8 9USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
PLAYER PROFILES
78 JAMIE ERIN ROSEN14-year old Jamie has captivated her classmates amp
world-class players with her love of backgammon
BY KAREN DAVIS
84 GREGORY KURRELLOnline backgammon helped Greg Kurrell find the
love of his life 10000 miles away
BY KAREN DAVIS
LOCAL CLUB NEWS 86 AUSTIN BACKGAMMON CLUB
Patience and persistence pay off for Scott Butki
director of the Austin Backgammon Club
BY KAREN DAVIS
TOURNAMENT NEWS 88 CALIFORNIA STATE
Patrick Gibson delivers another great event with
Ray Fogerlund winning the Championship division
BY STEVE SAX
91 NEW YORK METRO OPENThe NY Metro Open attracts players from all over
the world to this start-of-the-new-year tournament
BY KAREN DAVIS
96 MOCHY DOES IT ALLTexas just gets bigger and better mdash Steve Sax cap-
tures the excitement of the 2nd Texas Backgammon
Championships from San Antonio
BY STEVE SAX
March-April 2014
106 LIVE TOURNAMENT RESULTSSee all the results from ABT tournaments in New
York and San Antonio
USBGF NEWS 12 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION
Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross bring new energy
and expertise to the USBGF Board of Directors
BY BILL RILES
24 FOUNDING SPONSORSBecome a Founding Sponsor and show your sup-
port for the US Backgammon Federation
72 USBGF ONLINE CIRCUITThe USBGF Online Circuit has attracted 435 players
playing over 3300 matches since its launch
BY KAREN DAVIS
USBGF LIVE amp ONLINE RATINGS 109 LIVE LEADER BOARD
Check out the Open Advanced and Novice top
ten leaders in USBGF cumulative Elo ratings in live
events since 2009 and 2013 ABT Points
BY BARRY SILLIMANmdashRATINGS EDITOR
111 ONLINE LEADER BOARDSee the latest leaders based on cumulative Elo
ratings from USBGF online tournaments as well as
wins losses and tournaments won
BY TARA MENDICINO
112 UPCOMING TOURNAMENTSMark your calendar for upcoming ABT tournaments
and USBGF online events
In This Issue
ON THE COVERThanks go out to Bill Riles for this fabulous shot of Alfred Mamlet winner of the Longhorn Classic Masters Jackpot at the 2014 Texas Backgammon Championships
SUPER BOWL PARTYParty revelers were still going strong after four days of action-packed backgammon and sightseeing in San Antonio Knit hats by Carel Lindley
BIL
L R
ILES
In This Issue
MA
RY
HIC
KEY
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
MICHAEL ROSEN TARA MENDICINO amp KERRY ROSENMichael and Kerry Rosen graciously took Tara and Pierre Mendicino out to lunch while in San Antonio to thank them and all the PrimeTime staff for featuring their daughter Jamie in the March-April issue
10 11USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
editorBob Wachtel
Founding EditorMatt Cohn-Geier
Managing EditorKaren Davis
Production EditorTara Mendicino
Assistant EditorMark Antranikian
Assistant Editor and Design AnalystLisa Rockwell
USBGF PhotographerSteve Sax
Rankings EditorBarry Silliman
Feature EditorAnnotated MatchesMarty Storer
Editorial Advisory BoardKaren Davis (Chair) Chuck Bower Matt Cohn-Geier Carol Joy Cole Gus Contos Mike Corbett Perry Gartner Justin Nunez Bob Wachtel Kit Woolsey
informationPrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the US Backgammon Federation
contact usE-Mail infousbgforg Website usbgforg
Volume 5 Issue 2copy 2014 US Backgammon Federation
Staff ampVolunteers
PresidentExecutive DirectorWilliam Riles
Board MemberDorn Bishop
Treasurer Board Chair Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeKaren Davis
Executive Committee Chair Tournament Directors liaisonPatrick Gibson
Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeJeb Horton
Board MemberNeil Kazaross
Chair Legislative CommitteeAlfred Mamlet
SecretarySteve Mellen
Vice-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeTara Mendicino
Chief Technology Officer Executive Committee Chair Ratings and Stats CommitteeRichard Munitz
Director Local Club InitiativeJustin Nunez
Executive Committee Chair Education CommitteeJoseph Russell
Special Adviser to Board of Directors Carol Joy Cole
Education AdviserPhil Simborg
Accounting ManagerSheryl R Lennon
Director of Communications WebmasterTara Mendicino
USBGF Boardof Directors
from the editorOpinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the US Backgammon Federation TAR
A M
END
ICIN
O
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
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For More InformationHoward Markowitz
1001 Dumont Blvd 115Las Vegas NV 89169
(702) 218-8238howardmarkowitzyahoocom
The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
PRIMETIMEB A C K G A M M O N
MICHAEL ROSEN TARA MENDICINO amp KERRY ROSENMichael and Kerry Rosen graciously took Tara and Pierre Mendicino out to lunch while in San Antonio to thank them and all the PrimeTime staff for featuring their daughter Jamie in the March-April issue
10 11USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
editorBob Wachtel
Founding EditorMatt Cohn-Geier
Managing EditorKaren Davis
Production EditorTara Mendicino
Assistant EditorMark Antranikian
Assistant Editor and Design AnalystLisa Rockwell
USBGF PhotographerSteve Sax
Rankings EditorBarry Silliman
Feature EditorAnnotated MatchesMarty Storer
Editorial Advisory BoardKaren Davis (Chair) Chuck Bower Matt Cohn-Geier Carol Joy Cole Gus Contos Mike Corbett Perry Gartner Justin Nunez Bob Wachtel Kit Woolsey
informationPrimeTime Backgammon is the official magazine of the US Backgammon Federation
contact usE-Mail infousbgforg Website usbgforg
Volume 5 Issue 2copy 2014 US Backgammon Federation
Staff ampVolunteers
PresidentExecutive DirectorWilliam Riles
Board MemberDorn Bishop
Treasurer Board Chair Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeKaren Davis
Executive Committee Chair Tournament Directors liaisonPatrick Gibson
Co-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeJeb Horton
Board MemberNeil Kazaross
Chair Legislative CommitteeAlfred Mamlet
SecretarySteve Mellen
Vice-Chair Membership and Marketing CommitteeTara Mendicino
Chief Technology Officer Executive Committee Chair Ratings and Stats CommitteeRichard Munitz
Director Local Club InitiativeJustin Nunez
Executive Committee Chair Education CommitteeJoseph Russell
Special Adviser to Board of Directors Carol Joy Cole
Education AdviserPhil Simborg
Accounting ManagerSheryl R Lennon
Director of Communications WebmasterTara Mendicino
USBGF Boardof Directors
from the editorOpinions expressed in these pages are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the US Backgammon Federation TAR
A M
END
ICIN
O
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
Wednesdaybull Doubles and Mini-matchesbull Continuous Entry Seniors Tournament bull Blitz tournament - Held every daybull The main event is played at a relaxed pace which allows
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For More InformationHoward Markowitz
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(702) 218-8238howardmarkowitzyahoocom
The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014usbgf board of directors electionBy Bill Riles President and Executive Director
The US Backgammon Federation
is pleased to announce election
of five members to the Board
of Directors Dorn Bishop Karen Davis
Patrick Gibson Neil Kazaross and Richard
Munitz As prescribed by the by-laws Board
members serve three-year terms with 4-5
members of the 13-person Board up for
election each year on a staggered basis
After a highly-participatory web-enabled
election held in an open transparent inclu-
sive and democratic manner the Board
is especially pleased to welcome two new
members Dorn Bishop and Neil Kazaross
as well as congratulate current Board mem-
bers Karen Davis Patrick Gibson and
Richard Munitz on their re-election Bill
Riles President and Executive Director
of USBGF noted ldquoDorn Bishop brings
important legal and business judgment to
the Board His courtroom experience and
service as an Assistant US Attorney for
the Southern District of California will be
helpful to the Board in evaluating issues
that come before itrdquo
Riles also welcomed Neil Kazaross to the
Board of Directors thanking him for his
three years of service as a Special Adviser
to the Board Riles said ldquoNeil Kazaross the
number one all-time American Backgam-
mon Tour leader is not only an extraor-
dinarily gifted backgammon player but a
strong advocate for ethical play and fair
clear and universally accepted rules His
experience as a stock options trader training
in engineering and significant management
experience will be major assetsrdquo
Karen Davis chairman of the Board
thanked all of the candidates for board seats
for their willingness to serve the USBGF
and noted ldquoWe look forward to working
with all of the candidates to further the mis-
sion of the US Backgammon Federation
to advance the awareness participation
education and enjoyment of the skill-
based game of backgammon The USBGF
depends on the volunteer contributions of its
membership to offer benefits and activities
that grow the backgammon community
We invite all of the candidates successful
or not to contribute their skills and their
desire to further the ongoing work of the
organizationrdquo
white collar criminal defense Mr Bishop
is also a highly-respected and experienced
backgammon player who has performed
well in several major events Most notably
he won the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgam-
mon Championship captained the United
States Team to the bronze medal in the
2012 Nationrsquos Cup World Championships
and placed second in the 2010 US Open
Championship
Neil Kazaross a resident of Chicago
received his BSEE in electrical engineer-
ing from Union College (NY) in 1981
and worked for 10 years as an electrical
environmental matters From 2001-2003 he
served as an Assistant US Attorney for the
Southern District of California His work
for the United States Government included
the prosecution of criminal cases involving
fraud drug smuggling child pornography
bank robbery assault alien smuggling
and illegal reentry of convicted felons He
also argued several appeals on behalf of
the United States before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and
never had a conviction overturned For the
past ten years he has been President of his
own law firm where his practice focuses in
insurance coverage business litigation and
Dorn Bishop a resident of San Diego
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest
Honors from Dartmouth College in 1986
He then attended The University of Chicago
Law School where he served as an editor
of The Law Review Following graduation
Mr Bishop served as a federal judicial
clerk in Philadelphia for the Honorable
Jay C Waldman Mr Bishop moved to San
Diego in 1990 where he spent the next
ten years working for Latham amp Watkins
one of the worldrsquos premier law firms First
as an associate and then as a partner Mr
Bishop represented clients in a wide range
of insurance coverage commercial and
DORN BISHOPDorn Bishop former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of California and winner of the 2011 USBGF Internet Backgammon Championship brings legal and business judgment to the Board
NEIL KAZAROSSNewly-elected Board member Neil Kazaross the num-ber one all-time American Backgammon Tour leader is deeply committed to fair and ethical play and univer-sally accepted tournament rules
We invite all of the
candidates successful
or not to contribute
their skills and their
desire to further the
ongoing work of the
organization
ldquo
13USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine12 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
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16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
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The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
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70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
engineer before changing careers to better
use his math and game playing abilities as
a stock options trader He was a partner in
3rd Milennium Trading for over 13 years
He is the number one ranked player on the
all-time American Backgammon Tour and
ranked number three world-wide on the
2011 Giants of Backgammon list At the
Chicago Bar Point Club he earned the title
of ldquoPlayer of the Yearrdquo five times He has
presented seminars and live commentary
at international tournaments Using his
brilliant analytical mind he and another
world class player David Rockwell co-
authored the RockwellKazaross MET
(Match Equity Table) which is widely
used today He is famous for inventing
ldquoNeilrsquos Numbersrdquo a short-hand method of
calculating match equities over the board
Mr Kazaross racked up his record of all-
time ABT leader with victories throughout
the US over the last decade and took the
prestigious British Open title in 1999 He
won the 2011 USBGF National Champion-
ship was a member of the Chicago Bears
team that won the 2011 USBGF National
Club Team Championship won the 2011
Central States Invitational placed 2nd in
the 2011 1st Golden Gate Backgammon
Open Championship and has many other
victories too numerous to cite
Davis thanked out-going Board members
Perry Gartner and Lynn Ehrlich for their
three years of service on the Board Gart-
ner as the former President and Executive
Director developed valuable ties with the
international backgammon community and
national backgammon federations and was
instrumental in creating the International
Backgammon Championship Ehrlich one
of the first appointed founding Board mem-
bers served as Vice-Chairman of the Joint
Marketing and Membership Committee
She brought valuable experience as director
of one of the leading tournaments on the
American Backgammon Tour the highly
successful New York Metropolitan Open
The newly-elected Board members join
Riles Art Benjamin Jeb Horton Alfred
Mamlet Steve Mellen Tara Mendicino
Justin Nunez and Joe Russell on the Board
of Directors together bringing extensive
experience in academia banking business
engineering law marketing nonprofit
management software design and tech-
nology
- BILL RILES
KAREN DAVISKaren Davis re-elected to a second 3-year term brings over 20 years of nonprofit management experience to the Board and a deep commitment to the USBGF
BILL RILESUSBGF President and Executive Director Bill Riles led the drive to a highly-participatory web-enabled elec-tion with 230 members voting in the election
14 USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
2014 USBGF Board of Directors Election
PrimeTime in Print Subscribe for $150 annually not including shipping
6 issues for $25 each E-mail infousbgforg for details
ADVERTISEIN PRIMETIME
Full Page $100frac12 Page $50
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
DA
VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
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For More InformationHoward Markowitz
1001 Dumont Blvd 115Las Vegas NV 89169
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The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
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VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
16 17USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Bill Riles President and Executive
Director of the US Backgammon
Federation lives in Houston Texas
In this interview Bill introduces himself
and shares with us a bit of his backgammon
history experiences ideas perspectives
and vision
Q First a little historical background tell us about where you grew up and a
little about your family If you donrsquot mind tell us your age and about your education and your interests and hob-bies as a child
A I was born in Beaumont Texas and
grew up in a rural community just north of
Beaumont My dad was a mechanic and my
mother a homemaker I am 61 years old I
have an older brother and a younger sister
I earned Bachelorrsquos and Mastersrsquo degrees in
Civil (Structural) Engineering from Rice
University in Houston As a youth I was a
very good student an accomplished athlete
and an avid reader I played almost every
imaginable sport and game Baseball was
my favorite
Q Tell us your profession and any-thing you think is noteworthy or interesting
A Prior to retiring in 2004 I worked pri-
marily as a structural engineer and project
manager in the offshore oilgas industry I
designed and managed the fabrication and
installation of fixed offshore platforms
The last several years of my professional
career were spent as the co-owner of a
small boutique business in the industry
specializing as brokers in the exchange
of used fixed offshore platforms mdash with
varying agency and equity interests on a
number of properties
Q When and where did you meet your wife and tell us about children
A My wife Connie and I both grew up
in the Beaumont Texas area We met at a
swimming pool the summer after I gradu-
ated from high school mdash she was two grades
behind me and attended a different high
school We married in 1974 after I gradu-
ated from Rice mdash 40 years ago in August
Wersquove lived in Houston all those years We
have three children Our daughter Casey
31 is an elementary school principal in
Fort Worth The sons Matt and Cody 29
are identical twins Matt is an engineer
livingworking in London Cody works in
commercial real estate in Dallas
Q Were you involved in any sports games or interesting hobbies growing
Riles candidly describes his personal amp professional background his love for backgammon amp his goals for the USBGF in this interview conducted by Phil Simborg
A Man with a Mission
QampA
Interview with Bill RilesUSBGF President amp Executive DirectorBy Phil Simborg
Every member is a
stakeholder in the success
of the USBGF In some
respect every member
has a skill an idea or
some time to lend the
organization toward the
goal we all seek
ldquo
RILES AT SAN ANTONIOBill Riles with his engineering train-ing and experience in offshore oilgas industry believes in aiming high work-ing hard and getting results
KA
REN
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VIS
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
The Nevada Backgammon Association Presents the
Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
Featuringbull The first US Open held in fabulous Las Vegasbull Super and Limited Jackpots - round of 32 starting
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The Flamingo HotelVisit wwwnvbgcom
Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
To be able to view this video you must have Adobe Acrobat installed and set as the default PDF viewer in your browser Internet Explorer does this by default however Chrome and Firefox users should see Adobe Acrobat Help for complete Adobe Acrobat plug-in configuration instructions
PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
KA
REN
DA
VIS
70 71USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
18 19USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
up and while an adult
I played a lot of baseball as a youth mdash my
Dad was a semi-professional baseball player
in Southeast Texas so I was introduced to
the sport at a young age As a young adult I
played a lot of softball and racquetball Later
I moved on to golf I am no longer active in
any physical sports An interesting hobby I
pursued for a number of years mdash though I
have not been active with it for some time
now mdash is the collection of baseball cards
I have a collection of perhaps 75000 cards
Q How did you get involved in back-gammon When and where was it
A As a young engineer in Houston in the
mid-1970s I had a number of co-workers of
Middle Eastern origin A number of them
played backgammon at lunch I picked the
game up from them and fell in love with
it This of course was right at the time
of backgammonrsquos booming popularity It
was a fun era
Q When did you start going regularly to ABT events
A Professional and parenting responsibili-
ties took me away from the game in the
early 1980s I did not play again until 2002
I discovered a club in Houston and became
active again I attended my first ABT event
in 2003 and have played actively since
Q What trophies or awards have you won in the ABT or elsewhere
A My more significant wins include the
2009 Michigan Masters the 2012 Badger
Classic and the 2005 Las Vegas Open
Limited Jackpot I also finished 20th in the
ABT rankings in 2009 by virtue of being
the Championship Consolation finalist in
Michigan and the Championship finalist
in Illinois
Q Yoursquove become a strong Open player How have you learned What books software lessons or other learn-ing tools contributed to your improve-ment What are your favorite books and web sites articles etc
Who are your heroes in backgam-monmdashthe people you look up to both as players and leaders
A There is no substitute for live play (pref-
erably against better players) for practice
play against bots (currently XG) and for sys-
tematic study to improve onersquos game There
are no shortcuts I love discussion forums
where varying perspectives of a number of
players are shared I love anything written
by Mike Corbett mdash a great playeranalyst
with tremendous writing skills Anything
Mike writes is not only instructive but easy
and entertaining to read
My personal backgammon heroes include
my fellow Texan Malcolm Davis mdash for his
great play his steady respectful demeanor
and his great charm also Mochy mdash no
better ambassador of the game and Neil
Kazaross John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov
Ray Fogerlund and Victor Ashkenazi All
players Delays distractions disruptions
gamesmanship and the like have no place
in the game
Q In just two years your San Antonio tournament has become one of the premier events in the US attracting a large number of top players from all over the world Why has your event enjoyed so much success Do you have any plans for changing things in the future
A I wonrsquot claim the San Antonio tour-
nament as mine I have a great co-host
co-director business partner and friend
in Tara Mendicino The tournament has
become a great success by the tremendous
support we receive from the backgammon
community
Tara and I had for years discussed hosting
a tournament in Texas We conceived and
designed the tournament as a lsquodestina-
tion eventrsquo providing those attending the
tournament much more than just another
backgammon tournament at an airport
hotel We chose one of the most popular
tourist cities in the US We chose a historic
downtown hotel next to the Riverwalk and
the Alamo We chose Super Bowl weekend in
a warm southern climate providing a winter
getaway for many players from northern
climes We brought many new marketing
and promotional ideas to the game Grate-
fully it all has been well received
We try to learn from experiences and to
be reactive to our playersrsquo experiences As
an example our very popular signature
side event mdash the Dual-Duel mdash will likely
be changed a bit next year to incorporate
suggestions from the elite players of the
backgammon community
Q Are there any rules of the game you would like to see changed You used Legal Moves in your San Anto-nio tournamentmdashwhy do you prefer that rule
A Irsquom a big proponent of lsquolegal movesrsquo and
lsquoclockedrsquo play In my opinion lsquolegal movesrsquo
provides a more ethical sporting game
and removes a bit of the gamesmanship
available without the rule Legal moves also
removes the burden of uncertainty associ-
ated with non-legal move player options
Clocks in addition to assisting directors in
maintaining reasonable schedules provide
much cleaner lsquomechanicsrsquo of the game mdash
no fast rolling no arguing over rolls etc
Time settings typically are fairly relaxed
The clocks are not meant to be punitive or
intrusive to the game mdash it is quite rare that
clocks become an issue in a match More
often than not when they do become an
issue in a match it is with an elite class
player who knows exactly what heshe is
doing in clock management
Q You recently took on the Presidency of the USBGF replacing Perry Gartner who stepped down for business and personal reasons What do you hope to accomplish going forward What are your major goals and personal goals for the organization
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
are great friends and great players There
are many more One of the greatest things
about backgammon in comparison to many
other games and sports is the willingness
of the top players to share their knowledge
with others Tournament backgammon is
a great social community
Q What advice would you give to an intermediate player who wants to raise hisher game to a higher level
A Play a lot Try to play better players
Study the game and your own game with
a bot such as XG Develop a study program
and reference system that works for you
Study the archived games of great players
Q What are your favorite tournament formats side events or anything else you care to mention relative to going to tournaments
I just like to play Irsquom not a big fan of lsquovaria-
tionrsquo games mdash just give me the standard
game When tournament schedules permit
I like double elimination Swiss modified
Swiss and similar formats I think it is a
great move for the Monte Carlo World
Championship to go to a double elimina-
tion format this year In my opinion it will
yield a more credible champion
Q What are your pet peeves about tournaments and tournament play
A My biggest pet peeves in tournament
play are any manifestations of inconsider-
ation toward the tournament andor other
20 21USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
A I want the USBGF to grow the game
through increased exposure visibility and
promotion We need to increase member-
ship Wersquove done very well with tournament
players but that is such a small segment
of the overall backgammon community
We need to access the many more social
casual online and recreational players
So we are implementing more grass roots
efforts to accomplish this Additionally we
want to make the USBGF more of a truly
participatory membership organization
Every member is a stakeholder in the suc-
cess of the USBGF In some respect every
member has a skill an idea or some time
to lend the organization toward the goal we
all seek I want to make it easy for everyone
to participate and to contribute
Q Why do you think the USBGF is an important organization for the backgammon community to support
A Backgammon needs a central organiza-
tion to promote the game and to provide
resources to the members It serves as
simple a role as providing a community
to find other players It serves other roles
ultimately in standardization of rules and
tournaments with online tournaments in
ratings in master points and much more
We provide a great magazine to members
We archive matches We provide video
lessons tips quotes position analysis and
more on our Facebook page The won-
derful thing about a great participatory
membership organization is that it can be
anything we want it to be mdash the members
determine that
We have made great steps recently with
By-Laws revisions and a Board of Directors
election that fully embody our new vision
of openness transparency inclusiveness
democracy and participation The response
has been significant We are making great
strides
Q How is the USBGF working with other countries and is there a plan for an international Federation or ruling body of backgammon
A We do engage with other countries and
Federations I think it is great to jointly
promote the game We have worked with
the Danish the Japanese and the French
in hosting the IBC tournaments I think it
desirable to work toward an international
alliance of some nature to establish at a
minimum an internationally accepted rule
set and to promote play internationally mdash
not only across borders but also within
individual countries Denmark the UK
France Japan the USA and others mdash the
countries that have strong established
Federations mdash can assist other countries in
developing their own organizations Recent
developments with the UKBGF and with
a European Federation are all good steps
in the right direction
Q What are the USBGFrsquos biggest hurdles and challenges at this time
A Hurdles as always with relatively new
member organizations are attracting new
members retention of existing members
participation and volunteerism A challenge
linessuggestions of how to establish a club
or run a tournament checklists and all of
the many things necessary It is daunting
for someone to start from scratch we need
to make it much easier
Q We all know that the game would grow more and tournament atten-dance would increase if we had major corporate sponsorship adding money for prizes and promotion What is the USBGF doing to try to garner this kind of support
A Corporate sponsorship is the classic
chickenegg scenario The game would grow
more and faster with increased tournament
attendance if we had major corporate spon-
sorship however the game must grow and
have more increased tournament attendance
to attract major corporate sponsorship
Nonetheless we do seek such relationships
and will explore opportunities as they are
discovered
Q We understand that the USBGF must work closely with Bill Davis and the ABT to make major live tourna-ments a success How do you plan to work with Bill Davis and the ABT moving forward
A Bill Davis is a good friend of mine
who has done a considerable amount for
backgammon over the years We share the
common goal of the promotion of the game
though we may not always agree on the best
method(s) to accomplish those goals But
it is important to maintain the relationship
and the dialogue We must work together
to find and cultivate common ground We
must not let differences negatively impact
the game Mutual respect exists with that
we can move forward together
Q Do you like the Giants List and the way the Giants are selected If you could change it how would you change it
A The Giants of Backgammon listing
serves a good function It is not perfect
but few things are Personally Irsquod like to see
more participation worldwide mdash I know
Yamin CJC and Jake also wish to increase
participation and work hard trying to do so
Again personally Irsquod prefer two lists mdash one
based solely on skill and performance and
a second recognizing service and contribu-
tions to the game Certainly there would
likely be some overlap however I think it
would solve some of the apples and oranges
comparisons that we now are forced to
make Irsquom a traditionalist history means
something to me Even if some international
rating system is established to determine
the top players I think the Giants as voted
by their peers is an honor that should be
retained
Q Would you share with us your thoughts on who the best players in the world are currently in your opinion
A You put me on the spot because Irsquoll
doubtlessly omit some very deserving play-
ers mdash Irsquom not that familiar with many of
the foreign players It is hard to overlook
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
is the repair of some prior longstanding
divisiondissension With my new role
I think wersquove made considerable visible
changes in the dynamics and direction of
the organization With evolving perspectives
on the Board and with as of last year new
members joining the Board I think that
will continue There is a new enthusiasm
reflected in new membership renewals
of memberships and participation Our
recent Board election was most welcomed
by the membership and drew considerable
interest and participation We are on the
right track
Q What do you think it will take to grow backgammon significantly in the US
How can the USBGF help grow the game at the grass-roots level and at the local club level and what is being done and is planned in that area
A Exposure visibility and promotion
are key factors to growing the game We
must do a better job than wersquove done in
the past I envision a program to identify
communities needing clubstournaments
and attempting to recruit and cultivate
directors We can assist the new clubs
tournaments and directors in two basic
manners First Irsquod like to establish a men-
tor system among directors mdash make an
established club director or tournament
director accessible to a new director to
assist however needed Secondly I plan to
develop lsquokitsrsquo for these new directors mdash the
kits might include rules brackets guide-
22 23USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Mochy as among the very best mdash his recent
performance in San Antonio was amazing
Neil Kazaross Michy Matt Cohn-Geier
John OrsquoHagan Petko Kostadinov Falafel
(I hope he reneges on his lsquoretirementrsquo talk)
and many more are among the best I admire
the play and demeanor of Malcolm Davis
mdash he has maintained his place among the
best for decades I think Ray Fogerlund is
one of the best lsquoplayersrsquo of the game mdash he
understands and capitalizes on all aspects
of the game What Ray may lack in the
technical game he more than offsets with
the intangible game mdash his tournament
record speaks for itself I personally like
some of the really good American players
that arenrsquot as well known as they might be
mdash like Victor Ashkenazi Alfred Mamlet
Bill Phipps and Dmitriy Obukhov Akiko
Yazawa Maya Peycheva and Mary Hickey
are not only among the best women players
in the world they are among the best play-
ers in the world I also like the newcomers
making a name for themselves mdash the splash
Saba Bejanishvili made in San Antonio was
awesome The buzz about Saba around the
globe was great for the game
Q Where do you stand on the issue of teaching backgammon to children
A I think the game really takes an unfair
bad rap in this regard It is a great game
on any number of levels It is a game with
a few very simple rules mdash so it can be
learned quickly and played easily on a
social and recreational level It is also a
game of amazing complexity subtlety and
intricacy At all levels in increasing degrees
the game involves considerable math and
an appreciation of risk analysis mdash the risks
and rewards in various circumstances
For all the skills required it is also a dice
game mdash so an element of chance is always
present For these reasons backgammon is
much like life mdash and consequently can be
quite instructive in onersquos formative years
Q What are your favorite books and movies of all time that you recommend everyone should seeread
A Off the top of my head I will include for
books Shantaram To Kill a Mockingbird
Interview With Bill Riles Interview With Bill Riles
Green Mansions Ethan Frome The Magus
The Shadow of the Wind Caravans Sayo-
nara and The French Lieutenantrsquos Woman
For movies To Kill a Mockingbird Little Big
Man Before Sunrise Before Sunset Once
and Chasing Amy
Q Do you have a favorite quote or a philosophy of life you care to share with our readers
A I have one that I use in backgammon
ldquoYou canrsquot be afraid to lose and you canrsquot
be afraid to winrdquo
Q Tell us a funny or interesting story about something that has happened to you or you have seen at a backgam-mon tournament
A Obviously Phil you must mean other
than the time you paid a player thousands
of dollars to buy one of your baffle boxes
We all doubtlessly have innumerable funny
interesting stories of the game and bad beats
wersquove suffered or administered mdash this is
of course backgammon Perhaps the most
amazing Irsquove ever personally experienced
was in Florida a number of years ago I
led Lee Genud 10-0 Crawford She rallied
to 10-5 In the next game with the cube
obviously on two I was in danger of being
gammoned I had 3 checkers on her two
point (none in the air) and she had all of
her checkers in her home board but none
yet off I lost a backgammon for the match
She had to have 15 crossovers I had to
have 15 pips The game never ceases to
amaze me
Q What are your plans for the future Describe what you would like your life to look like 15 years from now
A Beyond being King of the World and
the 1 ranked backgammon player
Seriously Irsquod like to still be healthy active
and enjoying my family Hopefully Irsquoll still
be playing backgammon and reflecting that
in some small manner years ago I helped
make the game a bit better
Q It is well-known that you are politi-cally conservative and we also know that you have decided not to be too outgoing about your political views because you donrsquot want to alienate people from supporting the USBGF simply because of differences of politi-cal views Do you find it really hard now that you are President of the USBGF to tone down your political opinions
A Not at all mdash Irsquove probably been too
vocal in the past anyway Just because Irsquom
politically conservative does not detract
from the common goals we all share in
the promotion of backgammon I think
most that know me well recognize a nice
personable compassionate guy mdash at least
I hope so Politics have their place and
donrsquot belong in other places We all have to
co-exist however I remain who I am
- PHIL SIMBORG
RILES amp SIMBORGShown here with Phil Simborg (R) Billrsquos Texas-charm and open direct manner have made him a trusted friend to many
KA
REN
DA
VIS
Founding Sponsors
Within each level names are presented in the order of becoming Founding Sponsors
24 25USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
usbgf founding sponsorsOutstanding Supporters of our Organization
The US Backgammon Federationrsquos
Founding Sponsors initiative has
attracted 95 donors who share
its vision of drawing thousands of people
throughout the country to the exciting
skill-based game of backgammon through a
rich array of activities appealing to all play-
ers young and young-at-heart alike The
support of our Founding Sponsors during
this critical period will be appreciated for
years to come and includes recognition on
our website in perpetuity and benefits not
available to any other class of Membership
The Federation salutes the individuals
and organizations who have generously
supported our organization by becoming
a Founder We hope you will join this elite
group by going to our website usbgforg or
contacting Bill Riles at billusbgforg for
more information
Become a Founding Sponsor and play in
the 2015 USBGF Tournament of Stars to
be held in connection with the Texas Back-
gammon Championships in San Antonio
January 29-February 1 2015 Founding
Sponsors select Giants of Backgammon and
other backgammon legends and experts
as partners in this doubles event based
FOUNDERS CUBES BY LAWRENCE SONNEacuteFounding Sponsors are presented with an exquisite personalized engraved doubling cube specially designed for the USBGF by Lawrence Sonneacute of Backgammon Elegance
DiamondMalcolm DavisAlan and Joan GrunwaldHugh SconyersMike Svobodny
platinumKaren DavisMorten Holm
goldAnna Covlin Myles Covlin Rod Covlin Patrick and Carla Gibson Harvey GillisPerry GartnerLarry TaylorAlfred MamletEdward B BennettRichard Munitz Joseph Russell Jeffrey Acierno Masayuki Mochizuki Falafel NatanzonJim PaskoDavid LeibowitzJason LeeMichael Louis RosenJamie Erin RosenArt BenjaminLloyd E Webber (LEW)Saba Bejanishvili
silverLynn Ehrlich
Silver cont Chiva TafazzoliAlex GerdingBruce NewbergLarry LiebsterBen FriesenJim StutzGus Contos
bronzePat McCormick Carol Joy ColeNeal and Kathy WeinerNeil Kazaross Kit WoolseyMichael WeinbergerChuck BowerPreston GuidryJake JacobsSean CearleyKristina VigPlay65 Backgammon Judy FieldRory PascarGreg Cottle Bill FinneranJames G AllenSean Williams Pat GeoffroyMark Gordon Rochelle HassonDennis CulpepperAndrew MartinezDrew Giovanis James E Roland Bill Riles
bronze contJosh RackoRussell SandsSteve SchreiberBob GlassJohn CalcottJeff BurdsallJustin and Rynell NunezSteve SaxDorn BishopScott KellandArthur SteinStepan NuniyantsPowhatan FrenchRobert E StollerJoe PottsArkadiy TsinisCarla GibsonDavid KettlerMichael FlohrMario SavanJeb HortonCloyd LaPorteSecil BaysalDavid RennieAlan PrucePhil SimborgEd SawyerTwain PigottJerry GodseyJulius HighMichelle SteinbergTariq Siddiqi
youthIstvaacuten Eacuteger
on their level of Sponsorship and order of
becoming Founding Sponsors
More information on the benefits of becom-
ing a Founding Sponsor may be found at
USBGF Founding Sponsor Benefits
27USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The recent Texas Backgammon
Championships provided a fas-
cinating insight into human
nature and psychology Having devised a
format intended to reward the best player
(the ldquoDual-Duelrdquo) the Texas tournament
attracted an international field studded with
Giants Yet much of the buzz surrounding
this event was about its surprising lack of
entrants Many well-known players were
on site in advance of the event but declined
to enter
There has long been a faction of the back-
gammon world that is constantly on the
lookout for who is the best player End-
less discussions in public forums arise
bi-annually on the Giants of Backgam-
mon vote The participants obsessed with
abstract notions of eligibility and worthi-
ness examine and re-examine various
playersrsquo ldquocredentialsrdquo Many of those quite
active in these deliberations both private
and public were on location in plenty of
time to enter the Dual-Duel yet didnrsquot I
suppose it is simpler for me to analyze the
efforts of those who accepted the challenge
than to speculate on the motives of those
who did not
I entered the Dual-Duel because I thought
any self-respecting pro ought to no matter
what the entry fee was I did not enter the
$500 side pools but to play at all one had
to ante up $1000 I am sure this would
deter some pros who do not work but
there were several who had the financial
ability to enter and declined Evidently
many players were resigned to the fact
that they were inferior to a couple of the
elite competitors in the draw and saw fit to
watch from the sidelines since the format
gave equal weight to winning matches and
winning performance ratings
I kind of figured that I might not have much
chance to win on the PR (Performance
Rating according to eXtremeGammon
respectively referred to as PR and XG from
here on) side of the draw but after all it was
a regular tournament on the other side
So I had my normal chances on that side
plus some very minor equity of outplaying
my opponent(s) on the other side I was
not under the illusion that I was going
to outplay all these guys but last year I
had been destroyed by Mochy in my first
round match only to find out later that I
had played below 2 PR and had won on
that side of the competition I am quite
sure it was mainly due to being blown off
the board and not having many significant
decisions that I was able to win the PR
versus Mochy back then I had had about
7 full hours of experience playing Mochy
over the last couple of years He had played
consistently at about 25 PR give or take 01
Many in attendance made him the favorite
this year along with previous yearrsquos finalist
Matt Cohn-Geier Matt had played a match
below 1 PR last year Alas he timed out in
the final against Akiko Yazawa the MFF
(Most Feared Female) on the worldwide
backgammon circuit
I didnrsquot want to sit out this dance and regret
it later so I entered
Seven other individuals paid 4 figures and
accepted the challenge They were
Petko Kostadinov Bulgarian immigrant
former oil tanker captain who recently
became a US citizen Petko has been a
success in everything he has attempted and
he has lately concentrated on backgammon
A perfect gentleman he is nonetheless
highly respected perhaps even feared
over the board One potential participant
named him as one of his principal reasons
for not entering
AKIKO YAZAWA VERSUS ED OLAUGHLINAkiko Yazawa 2013 Dual-Duel Champion returned to defend her crown Yazawa and OLaughlin advanced to the score-based side of the Dual-Duel bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy By Ray Fogerlund
DUAL-DUEL FINALArguably the worlds best back-gammon player meets the best
player of backgammonB
ILL
RIL
ES
GU
S C
ON
TOS
peeled off the Benjamins and entered and
some of them might have formerly been
yours Akiko likes to dress in the latest style
with the high heels and everything She is a
very classy lady but she is one nasty feline
OTB She seems to be the latest greatest
example of what I call the winning zone It
just seems like those who play with a PR in
the 4 to 6 range win more than their share
She may well do better than this routinely
I have seen her and Mochy play lightning
fast and silent backgammon I havenrsquot seen
anyone else play with him enough said
28 29USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Saba B I would not try to pronounce his
last name much less try to spell it so if it
appears in this article then someone else
did it Here was the surprise of the tourna-
ment mdash that a little-known player would
step up to the plate and demonstrate an
astonishing command of the game Saba
told me that he started playing less than
a year ago first reading books and then
practicing with XG I guess that shows what
an intelligent person with some intensity
can accomplish in this game in a short
time Wow Saba is a doctor of some kind
so he apparently has a mind like a steel trap
and one of those unshakable constitutions
With 30 times his experience I was easily
twice as nervous
Akiko Yazawa Last yearrsquos Champion Akiko
benefitted when MCG timed out last year
but I think she was winning when that
happened Other opponents who did NOT
time out against her in the finals during the
last couple of years have similarly finished
second Along with me Akiko might have
been an underdog in terms of PR But she
MCG The giggling garrote He will choke
you out beware Number 5 Giant Finalist
last year attention deficit disorder when it
comes to clocks
Kit Woolsey Forty-year backgammon pro
and ambassador for the game Also a bridge
expert Kit is always willing to discuss strat-
egy with anyone Quite an engaging fellow
Ed OrsquoLaughlin Eccentric ex-millionaire
turned backgammon junkie Ed plays 8
hours a day and it shows He has never
eaten meat never had a cold and is in
great physical condition His favorite game
show is Lets Make a Deal Ed always hedges
Backgammon is his livelihood
Mochy Mochizuki The man Voted 2 by
his peers in the 2011 Giants and consensus
favorite to be numero uno in the recently
completed 2013 vote Mochy conducted a
seminar based on the backgammon profi-
ciency exam he created He won the ABT
event at the Texas Backgammon Cham-
pionships and was a semi-finalist in the
Masters losing to eventual winner Alfred
Mamlet Like most Japanese players a
perfect gentleman who politely eviscerates
you OTB Donrsquot worry Samurai swords are
very sharp and the pain is minimal
All righty the stage was now set and play
commenced Petko and Saba had delayed
flights so only two matches could begin
Fortunately there were two stations set up
for streaming video Two Americans drew
one another and so did two Japanese It was
Kit versus Ed and Mochy versus Akiko
Ed won a miraculous gammon to beat Kit
in the match-score portion With two men
on the bar versus Kitrsquos best 5-point board
Ed produced 11 to enter both 66 to escape
both and then improbably won a gammon
for the match with the cube on 2 (trailing 4
away 2 away) This game might have been
the saltiest of the weekend At least it would
get my vote and Kitrsquos Of some consolation
for Kit was that he won the PR side of the
battle so he moved left on the sheet while
Ed headed right
Mochy played Akiko and he ldquooutplayedrdquo
her but Akiko continued her nasty habit
of winning matches They went opposite
ways on the bracket sheet mdash Mochy going
left and Akiko right
Saba and Petko showed up about the time
the other two Dual-Duel matches finished
up mdash perfect timing for the streaming
videos provided by Justin Nunez and his
wife Rynell Saba would play MCG and I
was paired against Petko
Saba was the only player to win both the
match and the PR battle by virtue of win-
ning a game with an 8-cube Saba edged
Matt on the PR even though Matt made
little more than one mistake I think it
was an ill-advised redouble decision but
memory fails me I think those PRs were
on the order of 27 for MCG and 24 for
Saba This victory by Saba established him
as a force to be reckoned with in this event
He has the perfect demeanor OTB and he
obviously has a keen intellect for analysis
under pressure That he has only been
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
LEGENDS IN THE OPENING ROUNDKit Woolsey (L) faced Ed OLaughlin in the opening round of the Dual-Duel Woolsey advanced to the PR-based side of the bracket while OLaughlin won the match and advanced to the score-based side
BIL
L R
ILES
My enthusiasm was
tempered somewhat
when I looked at the
other side of the draw
Now I know how
Custer must have felt
or a guy walking across
the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced
nearby
ldquo
30 31USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
playing seriously for 1 year added to the
mystique he created by entering and then
succeeding in this difficult format
Petko flat outplayed me in the other opening
match I was a little too free-wheeling miss-
ing several defensive plays by hitting loose
or doing something else rather flagrantly
careless A good reminder that at its highest
levels backgammon is a defensive game
Fortunately for me Petkorsquos luck was not up
to par and I won the match He won the PR
side handily 34 to 50 or some such thing
I noted that I usually erred by playing too
wide open though it would hardly matter
for the rest of this event unless I made the
final I filed it away for future reference in
the ABT event coming up From now on
I must try to win each match mdash a familiar
situation
There were second-round matches on both
sides of this unique drawsheet now mdash still 4
matches to be played Saba would compete
in two of them and he cleverly chose to play
the PR side versus Petko first reasoning
that he did not want to be tired when he
was playing for lowest PR I would have
to wait for them to finish before we could
play on the winnersrsquo bracket side
Ed faced Akiko on the winnersrsquo side and
he managed to stop her winning streak
there She had won that side of the sheet
last year and won the final so her streak
ended at +5 No telling who won the PR
though it might be available at BgOnline or
the streaming website if you are interested
Kit drew the unenviable task of playing
Mochy on the PR side mdash during the week
where Mochy was never outplayed to my
knowledge Kit won the match but Mochy
cruised in PR playing close to 2 versus Kitrsquos
4 Poor Kit had lousy luck in two matches
in a row losing on a bad beat and having an
unfortunate draw See you next year Kit
Petko and Saba settled in for a grim battle
Petko is a seasoned competitor and he can
grind out his 2s and 3s in PR Saba was
the talk of the tournament for people
could walk by and look at the aggregate
PRs of the two players as MCG graciously
entered the moves into XG live I wonder
how many players would be in a mood
to do this having been blown out of the
tournament an hour before What people
saw was that Petko was playing around 3
while Saba was playing below 1 PR for at
least the first three games of the match
They began whispering Who is this guy
() In the end the match was close but not
as close as the eventual PRs Saba won by
a nose something less than one tenth of a
point mdash like 275 versus 268 or some such
thing A rollout may well have flip-flopped
that result but the format doesnrsquot allow
for that and Saba moved further left into
Mochyrsquos backyard
Having won 3 ways now Saba had only to
pound me into submission in the winnersrsquo
bracket Surely his easiest assignment of
the day but it went south along with his
dice Perhaps it is more accurate to say that
my dice were considerably north of aver-
age producing consecutive perfect sets of
doubles on numerous occasions Saba could
console himself in the realization that the
dice had given him no chance as they will
do about 11 of the time He had acquitted
himself brilliantly for his first experience
in this event
The respective finals were now set Winnersrsquo
bracket would pit Ed O versus Ray F and
the PR side would be Mochy versus Saba
Saba beat Mochy convincingly in their
11-point match but as often happens the
leader had tougher decisions Saba still
played world class at about 40 but Mochy
would advance to the Dual-Duel final His
PR had been 152 Look out Ed or Ray
I got lucky last against Ed thank God He
beat me several times in various semi-finals
last year on his way to second place in the
ABT points race behind Neil Kazaross I
finished a distant fifth but maybe this year
will be different I had made the final of
the Dual-Duel Yay
My enthusiasm was tempered somewhat
when I looked at the other side of the draw
Now I know how Custer must have felt or
a guy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
as Godzilla surfaced nearby
Mochy had lost only 4 matches over the
weekend by now Thatrsquos pretty good He
advanced on the drawsheet three of those
four times because three of the losses came
in the Dual-Duel when he had outplayed his
opponent I wonder if he outplayed Alfred
Mamlet who beat him in the semi-finals
of the Masters on his way to winning that
title over Malcolm Davis in the final Alfred
was playing quite well mdash he took fifth in
the ABT event too I should know mdash he
kicked my butt in the first round
Anyway Mochy may well have outplayed
everyone every time over the entire week-
end When the time came for me to play
the Dual-Duel final with him it was get-
ting late They put up the streaming video
camera before we started
You had to have a ring-side seat to enjoy
this one and a meandering crowd of about
30 people did in addition to the 10 or so
seated fixtures The USBGF final between
Phil Simborg and Jonah Seewald was tak-
ing place behind our table and over one
It too enjoyed a crowd of onlookers That
many of these onlookers had partaken of
alcohol while attending one or both of the
Super Bowl parties added to the festivity
of the scene Neither final would enjoy a
somber atmosphere Carter was louder than
TEXAS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIPS DUAL-DUEL DRAWSHEETThe high stakes Dual-Duel format devised by Bill Riles advances PR-based winners and score-based winners to separate sides of the bracket Players who initially win on both PR and score advance to both sides of the bracket
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
32 33USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
normal mdash I am sure you get the picture
The primary reason for this article is to
feature one extraordinary game that was
played in the final of the Dual-Duel It is
not intended to trivialize Mochyrsquos other
accomplishments at this tournament He
won the ABT event he cashed in the Mas-
ters and won the Dual-Duel too His wallet
burst at the seams I think But then it was
probably made in Japan
Meanwhile he was up early and late com-
posing editing correcting and giving a
seminar on his Backgammon Proficiency
Quiz He also attended and was featured in
Phil Simborgrsquos popular seminar on Sunday
morning and he won the competition
amongst the Giants in attendance too If
there was any doubt about Mochyrsquos prodi-
gious talent before this tournament there
was not any left at the end of it He seemed
a bit weary by the time we got started but
he is in the prime of his life and at the peak
of his abilities I will be 58 by the time you
read this and that is not an advantage
Our match had an inauspicious start mdash we
both passed takes in games 1 and 2 so the
score became 1-111 After his initial cube
mistake Mochy served notice by perform-
ing flawlessly in game 2 Zero period
exclamation point That was his PR Are
you ready Mr Fogerlund
Indeed I was not well prepared to deal with
the problems that Mr Mochizuki poses
However I had some time to mull over
the possibilities before we played Neil
Kazaross walked by and I flagged him
down Neil has been the belle of more
backgammon balls than anyone else Surely
he would have a take on this situation We
chatted for a bit and I asked if I ought to
just run with opening 64s to simplify the
games He stated that it might be okay to
give away tiny amounts of equity like this
but how would I play a 42 next Well I
would make the 4 point I said Anyway
I discarded this strategy I would want to
seek strong positions and running would
take 3 turns to accomplish that mdash assum-
ing that Mochy missed his initial shots
Neil said maybe playing backgames where
decisions are tougher That branch of our
chat didnrsquot provide me with much solace
for I had taken another of Mochyrsquos quiz-
zes some time ago The title Back Game
Quiz Sigh
So hey I was up against it this time Every-
body knew it including me and it was not
an enviable position to be in Looking on
the bright side it could be worse mdash Ed
OrsquoLaughlin might be playing instead of
me in the final I like to play but this was
probably not going to be my day I cer-
tainly did not expect to win the PR battle
in a long match so I hoped to somehow
win the first match Then the subsequent
match(es) would be shorter I can play well
for a couple games in a row but there was
little chance I could outplay Mochy over 8
to 10 games I had a plan sort of
Game 3 started It would take a while
Over 80 moves for each side including 4
cube turns Yes the cube ended up on 16
Just the sort of ldquomatchrdquo I wanted to play
Probably not Mochyrsquos top choice given the
circumstances Here is how it went
Okay Mochy is on roll here Given that he
has an advanced anchor and if he wins the
impending fight for his bar point he will
have a 5-prime on four of my checkers and
he has a double In fact it is a blunder not to
double Now then Mochy did not outplay
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[392014 60525 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 186
11 point match
pip 165score 1
is MochyXGID=-ab--BBaCB--dC---b-eAB----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6871 (G2392 B145) 6884 (G2417 B151)Opponent Winning Chances 3129 (G590 B019) 3116 (G585 B021)Cubeless Equities +0580 +1207
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0844 (-0109)DoubleTake +0953DoublePass +1000 (+0047)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 186 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 165
Position 1
Game 3 Move 5 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
everyone at this tournament by missing this
type of cube so what is going on here I
donrsquot think he missed this double due to
nerves either so it must be something else
Evidently Mochy has changed his game
gears according to his opponent Not a lot
of fear in this character sitting across from
him I canrsquot know for sure but the book on
me has to be that I am a taker so Mochy
correctly figured he might get a take later
after he makes the bar-point Remember
Mochy also had 7 hours of experience
against me in the last couple of years Ya
think he might have been paying attention
Mochy lost about 0100 points mdash a blunder
by missing this double Will he be able to
get that back later
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
34 35USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51137 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 193
11 point match
pip 172score 1
is MochyXGID=aab--BBABB--dB---b-eAC----001001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7275 (G2722 B184) 7305 (G2727 B192)Opponent Winning Chances 2725 (G501 B017) 2695 (G502 B019)Cubeless Equities +0709 +1475
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0977 (-0023)DoubleTake +1251 (+0251)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 193 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 172
Position 2
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Mochy) doubles Take or pass
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 205 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 3
Game 3 Move 23 White (Fogerlund) to play 41Two rolls later he has his answer After hit-
ting me loose on the bar-point being hit
back and then hitting me off the bar once
again I have picked a wonderful time to
fan Now the position has become a close
double instead of a clear double Why
Because it is almost too-good-to-double
This position is worth 0977 according to
my particular version of XG Remember the
tenth of a point Mochy ldquoinvestedrdquo a couple
of turns before this It has made him more
than 100 return because I still took this
cube a 0251 blunder In laymanrsquos terms
this is a double whopper con cheese Did
I mention that I am a taker
For the record I was not seeking out a
complicated backgame (as Neil K had sug-
gested) I was just doing the best I could
and got stuck with this position A poker
player has to play the cards he is dealt or toss
them into the muck I am not particularly
afraid of complex positions or backgames
What self-respecting giant of backgammon
would be This just happens to be the type
of error I commonly make
I know that it is not as bad as XG says it is
because my opponents donrsquot play perfectly
and canrsquot achieve the stated numbers I
am trying to rid myself of this habit in
order to improve my results but this was
a special situation I had to win the PR and
the match to get anything more out of this
event because Mochy did not propose a
hedge lol I was perfectly comfortable in
the knowledge that I was probably not
going to outplay Mochy in a long drawn
out 11-point match How best to shorten
it Take some cubes then give some bigger
cubes Many a theorist might take exception
to this notion but none of them were in the
tournament much less my seat at the final
table I was and I chose to take When it is
your turn to play Mochy in the final of the
Dual-Duel you can do whatever you want
I like to send a message to my opponent
early in my matches I will not be pushed
around Technically this is a blunder but
practically it works out I have found that if
you take a brave cube early then you may
not have to face a tough one later It may
not be right but that is how it is Trust me
Opponents think you are crazy and they
slow down a bit
By the way when you take a bad cube in
a match it doesnrsquot really hurt There is no
pain associated with taking though there
might well be some pain in the aftermath
Anyway if you will pardon the pun mdash the die
had been cast We proceeded to Position 3
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
36 37USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 51350 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 98
11 point match
pip 205score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------bbbAa-a-1-1-1411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2423 73 eq -1135PlayerOpponent
2081 (G046 B001)7919 (G5060 B1314)
2 XG Roller++ 2423 62 eq -1161 (-0026)PlayerOpponent
2060 (G026 B001)7940 (G5143 B1412)
3 XG Roller++ 73 65 eq -1193 (-0058)PlayerOpponent
1972 (G026 B001)8028 (G5237 B1408)
4 XG Roller++ 73 54 eq -1197 (-0062)PlayerOpponent
2298 (G027 B001)7702 (G5454 B2079)
5 XG Roller++ 76 73 eq -1202 (-0066)PlayerOpponent
1890 (G040 B001)8110 (G5217 B1308)
6 XG Roller++ 65 62 eq -1214 (-0079)PlayerOpponent
1910 (G023 B001)8090 (G5282 B1404)
7 XG Roller++ 72 eq -1218 (-0083)PlayerOpponent
1921 (G026 B001)8079 (G5307 B1456)
8 XG Roller++ 2423 51 eq -1223 (-0087)PlayerOpponent
1796 (G028 B000)8204 (G5222 B1262)
9 XG Roller++ 62 32 eq -1267 (-0132)PlayerOpponent
1721 (G022 B001)8279 (G5372 B1353)
10 XG Roller++ 61 eq -1277 (-0142)PlayerOpponent
1689 (G026 B000)8311 (G5397 B1346)
11 XG Roller++ 62 54 eq -1300 (-0164)PlayerOpponent
2251 (G017 B000)7749 (G5836 B2566)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
All right I had been trying and failing
consistently to spring a back-man from
Mochyrsquos 5-prime I was getting a little frus-
trated mdash the way I feel when I play matches
against XG XG just plays backgames better
than people do and I figure it is two levels
better In other words it is on a totally dif-
ferent plane I can never time a backgame
against XG and it has little trouble timing
one against me Not that it chooses to play
too many backgames mdash there are too many
gammons to make them profitable That is
the feeling I get from my studies anyway
All of this is fine and good but I had no
choice but to play this backgame against
Mochy and I know he has studied them
Humans tend to lose faith when things donrsquot
go their way and I was beginning to wonder
if these dice had any 6s on them Rather
than trust them to provide me with what
I needed desperation became the mother
of my invention With 20 people watching
intently not too many players would make
The dice have a sick sense of humor
sometimes and Mochy rolled (11)
ROARRRRRRRRR went the crowd
RoaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
they repeated vociferously as my dice
responded (22) Fully into my six-free
depression I thought this was a lousy roll
But what the hell do I know I am but a
lowly human XG considers it a joker
Now we have arrived at Position 5
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53418 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 200
11 point match
pip 102score 1
is MochyXGID=-dcCBCBBA--A------baaaaaaA1-11111101110
to play 11
1 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 2221 eq +1857PlayerOpponent
8275 (G7531 B4920)1725 (G007 B000)
2 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 1110 eq +1651 (-0206)PlayerOpponent
7971 (G7036 B4214)2029 (G012 B000)
3 XG Roller++ Bar24 2423 2322 54 eq +1643 (-0214)PlayerOpponent
7962 (G7021 B4173)2038 (G012 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 200 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 102
Position 4
Game 3 Move 23 Black (Mochy) to play 11
the Dildonian Defense play mdash leaving
blots on all of my inner board points while
hitting Mochy loose I am sort of a perverse
contrarian however Perhaps I was more
afraid that people would not see me make
this play So I did it Yes I knew it was a
blunder too Ok
You have to remember the calling card of
the underdog I have nothing to lose I can
try to play this just right and watch Mochy
toss a (3X) in which case my board will
go South anyway Or I can take a proactive
approach and try to manufacture some
timing artificially by forcing him to hit
me I chose the latter for better or worse
The problem with such plays is that your
opponent gets to pick what checker(s) to
hit when he enters and he will invariably
pick the ones highest in your board thereby
thwarting your plan to some extent After
my play we reached Position 4
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHEDMochy Mochizuki (L) and Ray Fogerlund display their trophies after an entertaining and classic Dual-Duel Final
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
BIL
L R
ILES
38 39USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53741 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 282
11 point match
pip 98score 1
is MochyXGID=-dgCBCBBA--A------baaA----1-11411101110
to play 41
1 XG Roller++ 2120 84 eq +1597PlayerOpponent
7954 (G7038 B3743)2046 (G015 B000)
2 XG Roller++ 2120 117 eq +1594 (-0003)PlayerOpponent
7964 (G7018 B3708)2036 (G017 B000)
3 XG Roller++ 2120 2016 eq +1574 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
7933 (G6947 B3670)2067 (G020 B000)
4 XG Roller++ 2120 73 eq +1562 (-0035)PlayerOpponent
7873 (G6973 B3687)2127 (G021 B000)
5 XG Roller++ 2116 eq +1390 (-0207)PlayerOpponent
7691 (G6273 B3171)2309 (G022 B000)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
7
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 282 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 98
Position 5
Game 3 Move 24 Black (Mochy) to play 41
Mochy thought for a while about this play
Not wanting to improve my timing he chose
to step into the outfield without hitting XG
rewarded him with a double-whopper
totalling -207 It is better to hit it says
Backgames are hard to play okay Had I
managed to roll a 6 in the next couple of
rolls (Mochy never made the 8 point) this
story might have a happier ending for me
I didnrsquot and the four checkers on my side of
the board made their way to my ace point
In Monopoly terms I now owned Mediter-
ranean Ave with two houses on it Sigh
Well of course we have only reached the
halfway point of this game by now and
much of the rest of it is rather routine mdash
me trying to get out and build something
on my side of the board while waiting for
a shot etc So letrsquos fast forward a bit to the
point where I chose to redouble Mochy to
four at Position 6
ROFL I am on the bar shooting at a 3
Failing that I can hit another checker in
Mochyrsquos outfield with an ace or deuce and
if all else fails I can hit loose inside my
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 53922 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 40
11 point match
pip 108score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=aD-A-----aaA----b--bbbA-d-1-1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6638 (G000 B000) 6656 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 3362 (G563 B032) 3344 (G580 B033)Cubeless Equities +0265 +0561
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0555RedoubleTake +0338 (-0217)RedoublePass +1000 (+0445)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 247
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 108 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 6
Game 3 Move 54 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
board with a 6 (like if I rolled a 46 from
the bar or something) Anyway I redoubled
without much hesitation It pays to do such
things with confidence Meanwhile in the
back of my mind I knew that this redouble
was probably premature Often I would
consider my opponent and decide to wait
if he is fearless or in this case as flawless as
humanly possible So I knew this was not
right but it canrsquot be as big a blunder as XG
says it is which is over 0200 The reason
it is NOT a double whopper is that maybe
only 20 of all Open players would take
it especially in the FINAL Seeing all the
blots they would surmise that discretion is
the better part of valor and just pass So
not giving the Open division players this
cube would be like a 10 blunder on the
RAY-character scale Kinda like the Richter
scale for earthquakes You MUST put the
question to your opponents
Unfortunately I was playing a Samurai
and they are not endowed with fear I
knew this so why did I double anyway
This was the situation I had been waiting
for Strike while the iron is hot I did not
want to toss 31 or 32 and lose my market I
want to do my shopping before it closes In
addition curiously this is my best chance
at beating Mochy in the PR He thought for
5 minutes mdash his clock literally went from
over 20 minutes to 15 or so mdash to make his
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
40 41USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 67 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 40
Position 7
Game 3 Move 70 Black (Mochy) on roll Cube action
decision He must surely have considered
passing this redouble even though he knew
it was a take Anyway if my redouble is
a blunder of 2 then I can tell you from
experience that his PR penalty from passing
would be at least twice that much Here it
would have been 0445
Secondly and paradoxically this was also
my best chance to win Letrsquos remember that
winning in my opinion is more important
than playing well They give you money and
trophies for winning while playing well
earns you respect Of course you can win
while playing well and the purists seem to
insist that you canrsquot have one without the
other but my shelves are sagging under
the weight of trophies while I seldom get
much respect
My point here is simply this mdash I had made
a pact with the dice because I needed an ally
to defeat my stronger opponent Without
reinforcement from them I was going to
lose Plain and simple They need to perform
for me or I am on my way to the funeral
parlor A backgammon player hates to have
to trust his dice but that was required for
me to win here I sent over this cube in
anticipation of the same thing those that
would PASS it fear mdash that I will pick up
multiple blots and cruise to a 4 point win
Mochy dutifully took as he knew he had to
Those of you who were inclined to pass this
redouble need to figure out why otherwise
you will be at risk not only when you play
Mochy but also when you play me I am
convinced that I get better results than I
probably should because I give this kind
of double Sensing the moment of maxi-
mum discomfort for my opponent I give
his imagination a chance to defeat him It
didnrsquot work here but it often does Math-
ematically my redouble is right on believe
it or not because of the sheer number of
players incapable of taking it for whatever
reason I donrsquot have enough experience
to state that Akiko would have liked this
redouble but I would bet on it Irsquoll wager
that she has used male fear to her advantage
better than anyone else
After the match our recorder proclaimed
that NOBODY would have taken my redou-
ble even though it was a 217 blunder I
guess he has some fear in him what do you
think But my blot-collecting mission hadnrsquot
gone so well when we reached Position 7
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55025 PM]
is Ray Fogerlund
score 1pip 67
11 point match
pip 40score 1
is MochyXGID=-D---A--A---a-----bbbbbAd-211001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 6714 (G445 B015) 6747 (G516 B021)Opponent Winning Chances 3286 (G000 B000) 3253 (G000 B000)Cubeless Equities +0387 +0712
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0567 (-0066)RedoubleTake +0633RedoublePass +1000 (+0367)
Best Cube action Redouble TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Mochy chose this moment to redouble me
to 8 According to XG he was correct to do
so by 066 According to my interpretation
of this format it was a blunder Mochy is
winning the PR battle hands down so he
should want to reduce the volatility He
canrsquot possibly dream that I will pass this
redouble can he All it will do is tend to
make sure that the winner of this game
will also be the winner of this match He
should be willing to risk a bit of PR to limit
the influence of luck on the outcome of the
entire match Letrsquos give credit where credit
is due however Mine is a theoretical plat-
form that is quite arguable Mochy had no
idea what the actual PRs were at this point
and so he resolved to simply do the right
thing just as XG always does
You see XG assumes perfect opposition
In real life there is no such thing so the
optimal strategy simply has to be an area
where your vision is obscured like driv-
ing in the fog He gave this cube a couple
minutes of thought before sending it over
I took it and asked Bill Riles a rhetorical
question ldquoHas there ever been a 16-cube
in the Dual-Duel Bill
Mochy failed to exit with a 6 and a few
rolls later we reached Position 8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 8
Game 3 Move 73 White (Fogerlund) on roll Cube action
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
42 43USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
I made a slight error redoubling to 16 here
by 016 (what a coincidence) Everybody
was laughing when I sent this cube and
said something clever mdash except Mochy
who had a look of horror on his face He
took it in an instant He didnrsquot need to
think anymore but he was the only one
not laughing or smiling At least I had him
worried I thought
My redouble is harmless in the big picture
as I must be optimistic that the dice will let
me win this game The dice have minds of
their own and they produced 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3112014 55225 PM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA3 -1-1001101110
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No redouble RedoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7138 (G000 B000) 7131 (G000 B000)Opponent Winning Chances 2862 (G440 B058) 2869 (G444 B037)Cubeless Equities +0420 +0504
Cubeful EquitiesNo redouble +0519RedoubleTake +0504 (-0016)RedoublePass +1000 (+0481)
Best Cube action No redouble TakePercentage of wrong pass needed to make the double decision right 30
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
To do this article justice it must be reported
that I made just a horrible play here a play
that likely cost me the match and boosted
my PR further into the stratosphere Until
now I had managed quite a few things fairly
well but I sort of fell apart here Having a
huge cushion on the time clock and this
being the last game I should have taken
enough time to find the right play here I
have found it useful over the last 30 years
of playing this game to get to know my
own personal weaknesses and do some
situational analysis in order to be better
able to avoid mistakes and blunders under
pressure
Unfortunately I reacted emotionally in
making this play The right play is actually
rather obvious and it is 199 116 72 This
makes a five point board and positions the
checkers to give me a direct 3 at Mochy in
the outfield should he fan here Way back
in Backgammon 101 you are taught to
play to the most likely scenario He will
fan 70 of the time so finding this play is
not particularly hard to figure out for that
is the most likely scenario
I made my last blunder of this match by
playing relatively fast out of frustration
You just have to slow down when you have
a double to play it is pretty simple There
are a myriad of ways to play this roll and
fully 7 of them were better than my play
of 155 116 72 I got covering right
and played that first For some reason I
felt the need to make this play and get it
over with resigned to my fate The lesson
here is Never resign yourself to your fate
in backgammon
You may have rolled badly now and you
might roll badly again but you need to
give yourself a chance to roll well Then if
you donrsquot you can blame the dice At least
make the right play For whatever reason I
mentally checked out when I saw the 55 I
guess The last thought that went through
my mind as I made my fateful play was I
didnrsquot want Mochy to enter with 34 35 or
36 and go past me so I had no chance at his
second checker That thought was fleeting
and incomplete as had been my analysis
The idea is to make plays that are compat-
ible with your game plan I had made a pact
with the dice so I have to trust in them
While my play preserved at least a fly-shot
at him under any circumstances it did not
provide me with a vital direct shot on most
of his rolls Had I exhibited the patience and
stamina and mental toughness to persevere
for one more roll in this game I probably
would have won it Mochy fanned and I
rolled 33 () () Finally the dice would
have rewarded me but alas my bad play
had caused me to miss Having managed the
time clock and direction of the game fairly
well and having victory within my grasp I
played too fast I am very disappointed in
myself however
It would have been a travesty had I won this
match and defeated such a great and deserv-
ing Champion Everyone in attendance
deserved a break and they got one when
Mochy won this game the match and the
PR by a mile Otherwise they would have
had to stick around and watch me botch
up some more games in my inimitable way
and STILL seen me lose The Dildonian
Defense may be entertaining to a certain
extent but it is losing backgammon All
the histrionics aside I had no business
winning this game or match
Mochy was the best I had avoided the trap
of trying to beat a man at his own game
and forced him to play mine Even so he
had outplayed me mdash though our respective
PRs were rather atrocious He played 6 and
I played 12 lol
The sun had already set in San Antonio
long before it set on my dreams of winning
the Dual-Duel final against the best player
in the world The next final I get into my
task will be easier In this one the format
had done its job and the Champion was
deserving I would have preferred that he
didnrsquot deserve it and I had won against all
odds But in Texas you are better off on a
bucking bronco or riding a bull Bucking
the odds is another story Letrsquos tip our
ten-gallon hats to Mochy til we ride again
pardners
- RAY FOGERLUND
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 88 Ray Fogerlund 10-Away
10-Away Mochy Mochizuki Pip 45
Position 9
Game 3 Move 74 White (Fogerlund) to play 55
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[3132014 103533 AM]
is Mochy
score 1pip 45
11 point match
pip 88score 1
is Ray FogerlundXGID=-D-A--a---a--Aa---abbb-adA41-1551101110
to play 55
1 XG Roller++ 199 116 72 eq +0294PlayerOpponent
6472 (G000 B000)3528 (G127 B005)
2 XG Roller++ 194 72 eq +0240 (-0055)PlayerOpponent
6198 (G000 B000)3802 (G166 B005)
3 XG Roller++ 155 116 72 eq +0128 (-0166)PlayerOpponent
5641 (G000 B000)4359 (G146 B005)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
A Tip of the Ten-Gallon Hat to Mochy
lars trabolt vs slava Pryadkinworld championship finalPart 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility By Jason Pack
In the pre-bot era the only tried and
true way to become a top-notch back-
gammon player was by watching or
playing against world class players In the
1980s and early 90s Kit Woolsey and Bill
Robertie published a series of books decon-
structing the key decisions in some of the
best World Championship finals matches
Now in the 21st century mdash the age of
the advanced bots ndash students of the game
seem unfortunately to have lost interest
in these high-level contests Instead of
immersing ourselves in the play of two
human experts mdash analyzed by a skilled
bot-aided commentator ndash we examine
various themes mdash bear offs blitzes and
priming games ndash in isolation This trend is a
shame because in its essence backgammon
will always remain a psychological contest
between two human opponents The more
technically skilled the opponents are and
the more divergent their styles the more
clearly the psychological dimension will
appear In other words the decisions and
ldquoerrorsrdquo of the worldrsquos best usually reveal
some sort of tendency deliberate strategy
desire to promote or avoid volatility emo-
tional strength or weakness or attempt to
confuse or pressure onersquos opponent
The semi-finals and finals of the 2013 World
Championships in Monte Carlo turned out
to be a perfect vehicle for studying the inten-
tionality and psychology of backgammonrsquos
greatest experts At GammonVillagecom
in October 2013 I examined the 23-point
semi-final between Petko Kostadinov (USA)
and Lars Trabolt (DEN) This is avail-
able at httpwwwgammonvillagecom
backgammonmagazinearticle_display
cfmresourceid=6524
In this four-part article based on extensive
interviews with the players I will analyze
the 25-point final between Lars Trabolt
(DEN) and Vyachslav Pryadkin (UKR)
Trabolt was in his third WC final in the
last six years having also won the first
consolation in 2012 Pryadkin a master
gambler is famous for making a fortune
playing cash games against the worldrsquos best
players His most successful tactic was to
offer a consortium of experts the option of
consulting with Snowie on all their plays if
they spotted him a point and a half every ten
games This was a recipe to make a killing
Both Lars and Slava are masters of the
psychologicalstrategic aspect of the game
Like most top Danes Lars is known for
great technical skill deep understanding
of match-score dynamics and staying
cool under pressure If he ever deviates
from technical play it may be in his very
slight tendency to limit volatility against
weaker or lesser-known opponents Cru-
cially Slava was largely unknown to Lars
as the two had never played a long match
before Lars told me after the match that
he had only played Slava once before after
a previous yearrsquos gala dinner in a series of
dmp matches for 500 euros a pop In the
WC final Larsrsquo checker play was superior
to Slavarsquos Lars made many bold yet correct
plays as well as some which showed great
finesse Slavarsquos checker play was mostly
fine At times it was overly aggressive or
old-school but it was not erratic Slavarsquos
errors tended to arise from pre-bot- style
tactics He is known as a top-notch money
player who is not too concerned with the
precise doubling window or take point at
uneven match scores Due presumably to
his vast experience in high-stakes money
action he has developed his own theories
about how the cube should be handled In
their finals match both men played at a very
high level XG++ rates Larsrsquo performance
at 49PR and Slavarsquos as 59PR Most of Larsrsquo
lost equity came from cautious cube play
whereas Slavarsquos lost equity came mostly
from checker-play mistakes
VYACHSLAV SLAVA PRYADKINSlava Pryadkin followed through on his match strategy to steer the World Champi-onship final towards big cubes and high volatility
45USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
GEO
FFR
EY P
AR
KER
GA
MES
STEE
N G
RO
NB
ECH
Yet there was much more to the play-
ersrsquo decisions than an attempt to ape the
programs Their advanced technique and
unique understanding of match dynam-
ics meant that there was a great degree
of psychology involved in the decisions
made in this match Pryadkin knew he
was the underdog and said as much to
interested spectators To compensate for
this he relied upon his mental toughness
and daring match strategy He sought to
increase volatility and to redouble when-
ever he had the opportunity to win 4 8
or even 12 points at a time This strategy
countered Larsrsquo desire to give scope to his
greater technical skill and knowledge of
match-score dynamics by prolonging the
match The way events unfolded the dice
allowed Slava to decisively steer the match
in the direction he wanted and to take Lars
out of his game plan and comfort zone All
players in the 4-7 PR range should study
Pryadkinrsquos performance it provides insight
into the kind of match strategies that may
be successfully employed against the worldrsquos
best (if the dice cooperate)
In this series of four articles I will focus
upon the key decisions that revealed the
playersrsquo tendencies and psychology We shall
see in this first article that on a number
of occasions Lars overcompensated for the
skill difference between him and Slava by
trying to reduce the match volatility
In studying the match I confirmed my
opinion that cube play constitutes the
clearest window into a playerrsquos soul mdash yet
opening checker plays decisions on when
to volunteer shots hit aggressively or play
purely also provide insight into a playerrsquos
psychology and tendencies This may be
the case because in the early game it is
impossible to do precise calculations and
one must rely upon instinct Similarly the
issue of volunteering shots or avoiding
many blots frequently demonstrates how
comfortable the player is with short term
tactical risk for potential strategic gain
Before we proceed with our analysis it is
worth reiterating that both Slava and Lars
are amazingly talented backgammon players
mdash and although I will be focusing on their
errors and criticizing their play they both
played a remarkably high-quality match
Given the pressure of the circumstances
they showed daring resolve cunning
and innovation I hope they can accept my
criticism my praise and my attempts to
diagnosis their psychologies in the objec-
tive manner in which they are intended
In the first game both men came out of
the gate slowly making some fairly simple
checker-play errors In the middle game
Pryadkin missed a good opportunity to
cube After the game became a race he
ended up losing a single point by dropping
a small but clear take In interviewing Lars
months after the match he remembers
that as Slava dropped the cube he told
Lars that he knew it was a take but that he
would pass it anyway This bizarre tactic
may have been a form of psychological
warfare mdash either baiting Lars to cube even
earlier in the future or conversely using
reverse psychology to make Lars cube later
Slava clearly was making a non-bot play
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 81709 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 160
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-ba---E-D--AdC---c-da---B-00-1430102510
to play 43
1 XG Roller++ 2420 85 eq +0091PlayerOpponent
5221 (G1582 B078)4779 (G1376 B064)
2 XG Roller++ 139 85 eq +0070 (-0021)PlayerOpponent
5191 (G1647 B083)4809 (G1486 B100)
3 XG Roller++ 2420 2320 eq +0037 (-0054)PlayerOpponent
5101 (G1346 B050)4899 (G1271 B047)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 160
Position 1
Game 2 Move 3 White (Trabolt) to play 43
He knew he was only giving up minimal
equity with the upside of getting under his
opponentrsquos skin When I interviewed him
months after the match he justified his
action with a piece of life philosophy ldquoI
actually thought of the position as a small
take but I often do what is more comfort-
able for me in close situations regardless
of the opinion of computer [or an outside
objectiverational observer] In real life
by the way this [approach] helps a lot So
I passed what was possibly a small takerdquo
Wisdom from the World Champion
Both players settled down in the second
game Larsrsquo otherwise sound play was
marred by a defensive style which resulted
in some small yet noticeable ldquosuboptimal
decisionsrdquo In the opening if given a choice
between making the offensive five point
or the defensive twenty point it is usually
correct to make the offensive five Here
on the third move of the game Lars had
a 43 to play
46 47USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In studying the match
I confirmed my
opinion that cube play
constitutes the clearest
window into a playerrsquos
soul mdash yet opening
checker plays decisions
on when to volunteer
shots hit aggressively
or play purely also
provide insight into a
playerrsquos psychology and
tendencies
ldquo
Larsrsquo choice of the 20 point (by playing
2420 2320) instead of the five point (2420
85) opens a window into his priorities
With the 20 point established he is far less
likely to be gammoned Asked about the
play after the match Lars said he didnrsquot
know what the technically best play was
but wanted to make the play that would
get gammoned the least and steer the game
towards less volatility depriving Slava the
chance for any fireworks Whether Larsrsquo
overall strategy was wise or not in this
situation the Magriel criteria call for an
aggressive play Lars has more men back
trails in the race and the board strengths
are equal
We could also deduce that 2420 85 must
be the right play by thinking about how best
to prevent our opponent from achieving his
goals mdash hitting the slot on our five point
or making his own five point It is easier
for him to hit a blot that we leave on our
five point (15 shots) than for him to make
his five point on the head of our checker
spilt to the 20-point (only 9 shots) Lastly
in a position like this where it seems quite
likely that there will be an exchange of hits
strengthening our board first (85) allows
us to seek favorable contact by splitting
whereas making the anchor deprives us
of this tactic
Lars exhibited a similar cautiousdefensive
tendency a few moves later when he rolled
a set of double threes that allowed him to
hit and cover
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 82502 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 0pip 126
25 point match
pip 176score 1
is Lars TraboltXGID=-b---bEADB--cC---b-daa----00-1330102510
to play 33
1 XG Roller++ 2418 1815 85 eq -0183PlayerOpponent
4595 (G1226 B034)5405 (G1580 B079)
2 XG Roller++ 2418 1310 85 eq -0224 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4567 (G1220 B035)5433 (G1791 B099)
3 XG Roller++ 2418 85(2) eq -0236 (-0053)PlayerOpponent
4369 (G1152 B027)5631 (G1401 B059)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 176 Lars Trabolt 24-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 126
Position 2
Game 2 Move 7 White (Trabolt) to play 33
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 126 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 131
Position 3
Game 3 Move 6 Black (Pryadkin) on roll Cube action
After playing the first three 3s 2418 85
Lars was faced with the rather challeng-
ing problem of how to play his last 3 He
chose to move 85 a second time so as to
clean up his position and play with three
blots instead of four or five But this is the
wrong time to play cautiously Lars is way
behind in the race has a better board than
Slava and owns the best anchor Here the
Magriel criteria strongly indicate a bolder
play (amazingly even the very loose five-
blot play 1310 is slightly better than Larsrsquo
cautious play) Lars should play purely put-
ting his men where he wants them poised
to make the four point and to remake the
8 point Playing 2418 85(2) leaves 25
ways to make the four point if the slot is
missed while the correct 2418 1815 85
leaves 28 ways and many additional ways
to remake the 8 and begin to control the
outfield That being said it is very easy to
understand Larsrsquo rationale for tidying up
If after playing 2418 1815 85 he is hit
back from the roof he will be scrambling
to clean up the extra blots However he is
already behind in the race and must with
his better board seek contact
In both of the small ldquomistakesrdquo we have just
looked at Lars chose the play that got him
gammoned the least As a top player he may
have even been aware that his was not the
XG play When asked about this later he
told me that he has been consciously trying
to play less ldquolooserdquo and knew that Falafel
would criticize him in his commentary for
moves like this one
Observed through the prism of match
psychology this tendency is perfectly under-
standable and potentially even ldquocorrectrdquo for
Lars inasmuch as mdash against a less accom-
plished partially familiar opponent mdash he
wants to avoid losing a big game should
the dice turn against him Ironically fate
would not allow Lars to successfully lower
the volatility in this match
The rest of game 2 was fairly uneventful
Lars cashed the game after Slava needlessly
volunteered an extra blot ndash apparently in an
unsuccessful attempt to make Lars play on
In game 3 Slava ldquomissedrdquo another marginal
non-gammonish cube
48 49USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 84123 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 126
25 point match
pip 131score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDBB---dD-A-bac--bb--001000202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7132 (G1013 B022) 7143 (G1105 B023)Opponent Winning Chances 2868 (G401 B007) 2857 (G425 B007)Cubeless Equities +0489 +1007
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0792 (-0024)DoubleTake +0815DoublePass +1000 (+0185)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
Slavarsquos decision to not cube here may be
evidence that his strategy was only to cube
early in positions that were very scary
and gammonish or likely to provoke an
error from his opponent This is not such
a position Lars would scoop this cube as
he is ahead in the race by five pips and
despite being trapped behind a four prime
has the better board should an exchange
of hits occur Slavarsquos wise decision not to
double paid off as he reached this position
on his next roll
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 85629 PM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 118
25 point match
pip 120score 0
is Slava PryadkinXGID=--a--BDCB-A-cC---baca-bb--001D0202510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7585 (G1075 B020) 7630 (G1141 B022)Opponent Winning Chances 2415 (G281 B004) 2370 (G292 B005)Cubeless Equities +0598 +1238
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0932 (-0068)DoubleTake +1088 (+0088)DoublePass +1000
Best Cube action Double PasseXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 118 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
25-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 120
Position 4
Game 3 Move 7 Black (Pryadkin) doubles Take or pass
Slava had improved his forward structure
threats and has gained three pips but got
Lars to take anyway This is something that
I feel XG should reward players for doing
by lowering their PRs via giving them
some kind of psychological bonus points
[Hint hint Xavier] Slavarsquos decision process
here teaches a good psychological lesson
Rather than cubing at the bottom of the
doubling window as the computer does
it is frequently a good idea in non-volatile
positions not to give a marginal cube that
is unlikely to elicit a mistake and instead
wait for a more difficult cube which can
pressure your opponent into a mistake
This is a tactic which all top money players
utilize In the backgammon literature it is
sometimes called the reverse Woolsey Law
or the Simborg Corollary
Position 4 is a clear candidate for the appli-
cation of both of these principles That is
to say it is quite difficult to evaluate if this
position is a take or a pass It is a very good
double White has 12 numbers that extend
his four prime he can attack with 6 other
numbers and on those variations benefit
from the blot in Blackrsquos board if Lars steps
up to the edge of the prime he is likely to
be pointed on Larsrsquo forward position has
big gaps and blots so he must avoid most
contact All in all this spells a small pass
on board strength and the race alone it
appears to be a take but Lars is unlikely to
be able to escape without throwing a joker
Yet Larsrsquo take given his tendencies was
almost to be expected for this is a fairly
gammon-free and low-volatility position
To say that he blundered in taking would
only be telling half the story Slavarsquos facili-
tated and ldquoforcedrdquo the error After the take
the game played out uneventfully mdash Lars
became stuck behind a six prime and was
then closed out
The score now 2-all Lars played perfectly in
game 4 and Slava made some connectivity
errors These mistakes would recur through-
out the match evidence that Slava was
wedded to an older style of backgammon
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STREAMED LIVEWatch the Pryadkin-Trabolt match and enjoy the engaging commentary by the 1 Giant of Backgammon Falafel Natanzon
50 51USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2282014 12401 AM]
is Lars Trabolt
score 2pip 148
25 point match
pip 163score 2
is Vyacheslav PryadkinXGID=---a--E-DA--eBa--b-db-C---001442202510
to play 44
1 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 2214 eq -0076PlayerOpponent
4876 (G934 B027)5124 (G1200 B042)
2 XG Roller++ 2214 84(2) eq -0093 (-0017)PlayerOpponent
4653 (G1477 B047)5347 (G1328 B054)
3 XG Roller++ 2218(2) 139(2) eq -0098 (-0023)PlayerOpponent
4677 (G793 B018)5323 (G815 B026)
4 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 139 eq -0101 (-0025)PlayerOpponent
4688 (G797 B017)5312 (G849 B028)
5 XG Roller++ 2214 139(2) eq -0115 (-0040)PlayerOpponent
4620 (G1199 B042)5380 (G1178 B041)
6 XG Roller++ 2214(2) eq -0149 (-0074)PlayerOpponent
4686 (G1077 B041)5314 (G1489 B055)
7 XG Roller++ 2214 1410 139 eq -0174 (-0099)PlayerOpponent
4492 (G1192 B044)5508 (G1289 B049)
8 XG Roller++ 2218(3) 95 eq -0210 (-0134)PlayerOpponent
4374 (G705 B013)5626 (G823 B025)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pip 148 Lars Trabolt 23-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 163
Position 4-A
Game 4 Move 5 Black (Pryadkin) to play 44
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92205 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 134
25 point match
pip 142score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B---bC-C-A-dE-Aab-c--b-a-00-1542302510
to play 54
1 XG Roller++ 2015 1511 eq +0213PlayerOpponent
5521 (G1684 B050)4479 (G1215 B045)
2 XG Roller++ 2015 139 eq +0194 (-0020)PlayerOpponent
5463 (G1624 B046)4537 (G1220 B039)
3 XG Roller+ 139 61 eq -0093 (-0307)PlayerOpponent
4617 (G512 B006)5383 (G278 B007)
eXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pip 142 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 134
Position 5
Game 5 Move 4 White (Trabolt) to play 54
Rolling an excellent set of double fours
Slava was faced with many choices with
only a small equity difference between
them He chose to hit and make a partial
outside prime 2214 139(2) rather than
to hit and partially escape 2214 2218(2)
or hit and build his board 2214 84(2)
Slavarsquos move is not a big error but the correct
move 2214 2218(2) keeps the back men
connected to the rest of Slavarsquos army He
is no longer behind in the race and hence
he doesnrsquot want to stay back to wait for a
shot he should prepare to move forward
while keeping his soldiers all marching
in formation in an attempt to control the
outfield where the real struggles in this
game are likely to unfold However Slavarsquos
play is certainly the most instinctive The
bot play is decidedly counterintuitive even
though the theme of the position is racing
and simplifying the position the bot play
leaves two blots while his play leaves only
one and makes an extra blocking point
After falling further behind in the game
Lars would throw a double 4 joker of his
own which allowed him to cash on the
next move to take the lead in the match
3-2 In game 5 Lars made a very minor
error shown below as position 5 I am
only choosing to point out such a minor
ldquonon-botrdquo play because it appears to jibe
with the psychological tendencies I am
attempting to diagnose
52 53USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
That Lars must hit 2015 should be quite
clear before the roll he trails in the race
and Slava is threatening to fully escape his
back men That Lars has a blot on the ace
which he cannot cover if he elects to hit
must not distract him from hitting After
Lars hits 2015 if he plays 1511 he trip-
licates Slavarsquos ones (ie ones hit on the 24
point the 14 point and the 5 point) while
if he plays 139 he triplicates his own good
fives (ie fives to make the 15 point to hit
Slavarsquos blot on the 10 if it is not moved
and to cover the blot on the ace) In short
the correct move 1511 diversifies his own
good numbers while triplicating Slavarsquos
ones These short term tactical factors are
more important than battening down the
hatches and making the nine point This
move is a case where tactics trump securing
long-term assets and the risk of leaving an
extra blot is actually minimal As many
players would instinctively play 1511
Larsrsquo choice almost certainly demonstrates
his penchant for avoiding plays that leave
too many blots In fact when asked about
the play Lars told me he ldquoinstinctivelyrdquo
played 139 without giving 1511 serious
consideration The correct play 1511 leaves
four blots while Larsrsquo play leaves only three
and makes an asset so he didnrsquot look more
deeply into the position This situation and
Larsrsquo instincts parallel position 2
Later in the game Lars missed or deliber-
ately withheld a few very borderline cubes
A few rolls later he reached position 6
Pip 138 Lars Trabolt 22-Away
23-Away Slava Pryadkin Pip 153
fileC|UsersuserDesktopPositionhtm[2262014 92850 PM]
is Slava Pryadkin
score 2pip 153
25 point match
pip 138score 3
is Lars TraboltXGID=-B-a--C-C---cEa-bc-c-AbA--00-1D2302510
on roll cube action
Analyzed in XG Roller++ No double DoubleTakePlayer Winning Chances 7053 (G2009 B083) 7049 (G2075 B081)Opponent Winning Chances 2947 (G585 B012) 2951 (G589 B012)Cubeless Equities +0564 +1147
Cubeful EquitiesNo double +0814 (-0102)DoubleTake +0916DoublePass +1000 (+0084)
Best Cube action Double TakeeXtreme Gammon Version 210 MET Kazaross XG2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Position 6
Game 5 Move 8 White (Trabolt) doubles Take or pass
Lars was justified in holding his cube so
that he could give Slava a difficult decision
in a position like this In choosing to pass
Slava exhibited what he classified as ldquohis
conservatism in takingrdquo in gammonish
positions He told me later his strategy for
the match was essentially to get the cube up
to four or eight but only by taking in posi-
tions that didnrsquot frighten him Apparently
this one didnrsquot qualify as Slava confessed
to me that he tends to be afraid when he
lacks an anchor
Yes this is a scary position Slava trails in
the race by 15 pips and Lars has 12 numbers
which make a point on his head (66 55 44
22 64 54 52 and 42 mdash with double aces
Lars should make the 5 point rather than
switching points and hitting loose while
with double threes it is correct to make
the five point rather than pointing on the
deuce) Despite this powerful attack on
the remaining 24 numbers Slava will have
the chance to attack Larsrsquo back man or to
counter attack after a loose hit If Slavarsquos
blot on the 21 point were on the 20 point
where he would be under the gun of four
builders instead of three the position would
be a clear drop Similarly if we were to take
away Larsrsquo race lead without much improv-
ing Slavarsquos position structurally mdash say by
moving two builders from Slavarsquos midpoint
to the eight point and six point (giving
Slava 12 fewer pips) then Lars wouldnrsquot
even have a cube This shows us that this
cube is a combination of racing attacking
and positional chances and Slava can take
because none of the threats is particularly
overwhelming in itself Many players may
want to instinctively pass here because
blackrsquos ace point looks structurally very
weak but the bots have taught humans that
the ace point is not as much of a liability
as was once thought
With Slavarsquos drop Lars pulled ahead 4-2 all
four of his points having come from Slavarsquos
drops Slava on the other hand established
his trend of cubing Lars in We will explore
all of these themes and their implications
for match strategy in my next installment
Until then I bid you adieu from England
Stay Calm and Roll Double Sixes (when
not on the bar)
My thanks go to Raymond Kershaw and
Bob Wachtel for helping proofread the
article They gave excellent advice about
issues of both style and content I am also
grateful to Lars and Slava who talked with
me about their decisions both immediately
after the match and then many months later
over email
- JASON PACK
JASON PACKJason Pack is a Researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University president of Libya-Analysiscom and editor of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) He is also an opinion writer for The New York Times The Wall Street Journal The Guardian Foreign Policy The Huffington Post and other publications
54 55USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility Part 1 Limiting Gammonish Volatility
In this article I will share with my
readers my observations about two
recent Cyprus tournaments the 1st
Merit Open and the 6th Cyprus Open
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea
very close to Turkey Syria Israel Lebanon
Egypt and Greece Due to its location and
climate it is a great tourist destination and
since all of the countries near Cyprus are
also backgammon centers it is also a great
location for tournaments
Five years ago there were no international
backgammon tournaments in Cyprus The
World Cup Challenge VI held in Istanbul
in 2000 may have been the last significant
tournament in that region It was eight
years later that Fuat Erdağ of ISTAVDER
(a Turkish backgammon club established in
2008) in partnership with Chiva Tafazzolirsquos
WBA (World Backgammon Association)
started organizing tournaments in Cyprus
Demonstrating great vision and initiative
Fuat and Chiva developed a culture of
backgammon on the island by running
two tournaments every year the Cyprus
Open and the European Pro Championship
Although WBA and ISTAVDER parted
ways just recently it looks as if these two
tournaments so popular with Turkish
players will be continued
This year Cyprus hosted an even bigger
and a more promising tournament the
Merit Open During the hibernation period
of tournament backgammon in Turkey
another Turkish club WBF TURKEY
had popularized ldquoWesternrdquo backgammon
(played with the doubling cube) by estab-
lishing leagues among some Turkish cities
Meanwhile the WBF preserved the tradi-
tional cubeless version of backgammon
mdash called tavla same as Greek portes mdash
holding very big local tavla tournaments
Arda Fındıkoğlu mdash head of WBF TURKEY
and a fine organizer mdash directed these local
tournaments with great success Finally in
2013 Ardarsquos business acumen was recog-
nized he received an offer from the Merit
Park Hotel to organize an international
tournament Arda invited Marco Fornasir
of WBF to partner with him on this project
The tournament held towards the end of
October in Kyrenia a nice seaside town in
Northern Cyprus drew a very strong field
The weather cooperated the Mediterranean
was still warm enough to swim in The hotel
accommodated the players as well mdash with
added money free transfers very cheap
room rates broadcasts from the tourna-
mentrsquos Facebook site and opening and clos-
ing ceremonies and parties These were as
far as I know the best conditions that have
ever been offered for a tournament it was
like a dream for us backgammon players
The hotel had nice backgammon boards
and dice sets Unfortunately there were no
clocks I believe that the WBF will finally
admit that clocks are necessary in todayrsquos
backgammon world to give the experts a
little more edge just as in chess computer
technology in backgammon has decreased
the performance gaps between players
The tournament had a classical ladder
elimination format with three categories
main consolation and last chance I believe
this was the second most limiting feature
of the tournament In todayrsquos backgam-
mon world when even Monte Carlo has
announced that it will change its elimination
format the WBF should modernize Today
there are quasi-Swiss systems which allow
two or more losses and double elimination
systems with a fighterrsquos bracket With as
many as one hundred players (as we had)
it may also be necessary to add more days
to the tournament Apart from these defi-
ciencies the hotel and WBF executed the
tournament almost perfectly I personally
asked the hotel to organize this tournament
twice a year
In mid-December I was in Cyprus again
This time it was for 6th Cyprus Open The
tournament was at the Pasha Casino of
the Golden Tulip Hotel in Nicosia the
capital of Northern Cyprus Since I have
participated in a lot of tournaments there
(ISTAVDER and WBA had held eight
tournaments at this location usually with
many strong players in attendance) I felt
like I was at home The hotel was always
friendly and the casino provided added
money for these tournaments Despite the
57USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Backgammon in cyprus1st Merit Open amp 6th
Cyprus Open By Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy
A historic bazaar with a courtyard in Nicosia The definition of serenity
TRADITIONAL BAZAAR IN NICOSIAContinued on page 59
58 59USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
The gorgeous view from my room at Merit Park Hotel The Mediterranean is Cyprus main attraction
Cyprus is steeped in history The 1st Merit Open was held 3 miles away from the historic downtown
MEDITERRANEAN SEA HISTORIC STREET IN KYRENIA
Merits three merits Mesut Guumlrdal Daria Malykina amp Didem Yılmaz They are at the heart of the success of the event
GUumlRDAL MALYKINA amp YILMAZ Doubles winners from Greece Konstantinos Mitrelis and Haris Christidis
DOUBLES WINNERS
decline of backgammon in the world these
tournaments have enjoyed ever-increasing
attendance even with minimum publicity
The 6th Cyprus Open also enjoyed a very
good attendance Even Falafel after tak-
ing a break from competition visited and
played doubles
There were however some bumps in the
road Somehow the hotel lost all the clocks
so on the first day we had to play the doubles
without them The main tournament used
a more Swiss type of system called FTB-
GSYSTEM backed up with a web based
Continued from page 57
Opening cocktail and party by the pool of Merit Park Hotel Winner of 1st Merit Open Sergey Erokhin Michy was the finalist
COCKTAILS BY THE POOL SERGEY EROKHIN
Continued on page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
61USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Draws are part of FTBGSYSTEM in every round They could be followed from screens all over the tournament room
In the first round of the main tournament Michy and Mochy had an unlucky draw to play against each other
MONITORS DISPLAYING THE DRAW MICHY VERSUS MOCHY
management system It provided a multiple
loss feature without much bother or cost
I think tournament directors should con-
sider using this system It can also provide
a database of matches for a web-based
worldwide ranking system An innova-
tive break time management policy was
also used in this tournament Break times
were added to the clock settings of both
players and during the break the clock kept
running This gave players more flexibility
in managing their breaks and directors
more control in managing delays There
was some controversy in the handling of
byes and non-systematic broadcasting of
live matches during the tournament but
the traditional closing ceremony and party
were as cheerful as it has always been
The number and quality of tournaments in
Cyprus are higher than most places in the
world and they are still expected to increase
If the competition between two Turkish
clubs ISTAVDER and WBF TURKEY can
be reduced to a healthy level we will see
even better tournaments and attendance
Especially for Turkish players it is very
distracting to have doubts about whether
they will be welcome at a tournament
or not After a period of tension we are
expecting to see some positive effects of
the competition
I would like to express my gratitude to
Annick Hasdenteufel Kutlu Kaya and
the Merit Hotel for providing some of the
pictures Here are the results of 1st Merit
Open and 6th Cyprus Open
My idols of backgammon Cemalettin Yuumlksel and Akiko Yazawa A beautiful moment captured together with Doug Mayfield
IDOLS OF BACKGAMMONContinued from page 59
Continued on page 63
Backgammon in Cyprus
MO
CH
Y A
NN
ICK
HA
SDEN
TEU
FEL
62 63USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Abdullah Sorguumlven
(Turkey) 2-Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece)
Ladies Tournament (11) 1-Pelin Yazan
(Turkey) 2-Meltem Sahtiyanci (Turkey)
Warm-Up (51+38) 1-Cemalettin Yuumlksel
(Turkey) 2-Giorgos Kleitsas (Greece)
869Bg Trophy (43+22) 1-Shimon Kagan
(Israel) 2-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey)
One-Point Match (128) 1-Haluk Oral
(Turkey) 2-Zorik Manukyan (Armenia
Ukraine)
Doubles Championship (31 teams) 1-Haris
Christidis (Greece) amp Konstantinos Mitrelis
(Greece) 2-Goumlkhan Kazandag (Turkey) amp
Doug Mayfield (USA)
E B G T V I I - 6 t h C y p r u s O p e n
Dec 12-15 2013 Lefkosa North Cyprus
Elite (75) 1-Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria)
2-Zafer Tas (Turkey) 3-Caner Kalafatoglu
(Turkey) 4-Masayuki Mochizuki (Japan)
5-Giannis Pasialis (Greece)
Leisure Group (29) 1-Kemal Akdamar (Tur-
key) 2-Cemal Oumlztemiz (Turkey) 3-Cengiz
Dindar (Cyprus) 4-Ugur Taskan (Turkey)
Doubles (32 teams) 1-Alaattin Oumlzaltun
(Turkey) amp Zafer Tas (Turkey) 2-Ilker
Goumlccedilhan (Turkey) amp Mehmet Kutlu
Kuumlccediluumlkyoumlruumlk (Turkey)
Super-Jackpot (8) 1-Metin Ccedilubuk (Turkey)
2-Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Dmp-Challenge (64) 1-Funda Kapikiran
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Murat Kapikiran
(Turkey) Alireza Sarabi (Iran) Line Van
Damme (Belgium)
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
The finalist Zafer Taş and the winner Maya Peycheva
MAYA WINS THE 6TH CYPRUS OPEN
A young Turkish player Caner Kalafatoğlu playing against a giant Caner had a very successful tournament
MOCHY amp CANER KALAFATOĞLU
1st Merit Backgammon Open - WBF
Oct 30-Nov 3 2013 Kyrenia-Girne North
Cyprus
Masters (92) 1-Sergey Erokhin (Russia)
2-Michihito Kageyama (Japan) 34-Martin
Barkwill (England) Tabet Tabet (Lebanon)
1C-Igor Romashov (Russia) 2C-Soinguli
Amirov (Georgia) 3C4C-Mustafa Biber
(Cyprus) Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
1LC-Erkan Varli (Turkey) 2LC-Sergey
Drmoyan (Armenia) Ladies Prize - Akiko
Yazawa (Japan)
Intermediate (33) 1-Andranik Harutyunyan
(Armenia) 2-Yusuf Mehmetoglu (Turkey)
34-Eyuumlp Durmus (Turkey) Mykjailo Yuzh-
nyi (Ukraine) 1C-Gioni Adrian Munteanu
(Romania) 2C-Peter Neumann (Germany)
3C4C-Annick Hasdenteufel (Belgium)
Cengiz Oumlzdil (Turkey) 1LC-Mesut Celebi
(Turkey) 2LC-Yilmaz Oumlzdogan (Turkey)
Ladies Prize - Ayse Oumlzkin Goumlkccedileer (Turkey)
Continued from page 61
Backgammon in Cyprus Backgammon in Cyprus
64 65USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
RED SHOESOUR MISSIONMy wife Şebnem and I had fun dancing Her beautiful red shoes are the reason we have Haluk Levent singing for us
ISTAVDER has joined forces with other backgammon clubs to form a national Federation
BIG BOARDMy colleagues Deniz Aldıkaccediltı and Onur Guumlltekin having fun with a giant backgammon board
The Turkish club ISTAVDER is a
visionary in the backgammon
world For the clubrsquos sixth anni-
versary it raised the bar of excellence to a
level that backgammon as one of the worldrsquos
oldest games has deserved for centuries to
attain In the Mediterranean region where
I was born backgammon is more than just
backgammon Here in Turkey for example
it is played by people of all ages for a mul-
titude of reasons But it is mostly a social
game mdash where as in a perfect world you
talk about life but still try to win all the
time It is very hard to persuade people in
this region to approach backgammon as a
game of skill that is to think analytically
and to use the cube Nevertheless in the
last six years ISTAVDER achieved great
success in promoting modern backgammon
cultivating a small group of players who are
now highly competitive on the international
stage The clubrsquos 6th ISTAVDER Anniversary
Festival was far more than a tournament I
will give a quick and mostly visual capture
of this marvelous backgammon celebration
attended by 270 players
ISTAVDER 6thAnniversary festivalBy Sabri Buumlyuumlksoy ISTAVDER has joined
forces with other
Turkish backgammon
clubs to form a national
Federation The most
striking feature of the
anniversary event was
that it was sponsored
Since Turkish law does
not allow players to
receive prize money
it is only through
sponsorship that we
will be able to improve
the level of Turkish
backgammon by
attracting professional
players to our
tournaments
ldquo
VIDEO PROMOCheck out the highlights of the ISTAVDER event in this great promotional video
66 67USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine USBGF PrimeTime Backgammon Magazine
THE FINALThe final was played in a special room with only a few spectators allowed to watch Murat Cengiz
(L) lost to Burhan Yılmazer
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTCenk Ccedilorbacıoğlu Ali Ccediletin Belene and Ebru Oumlzatan worked very hard to keep
the tournament running smoothly
HALAY LINE DANCEISTAVDER tournaments always end
with halay a lovely Turkish line dance
Results mdash Championship (270) 1-Burhan
Yilmazer (Turkey) 2-Murat Cengiz (Tur-
key) 3-Fuat Erdag (Turkey) 4-Mustafa
Babal (Turkey) 5-Mustafa Altuntas (Tur-
key) 6-Aykut Uzel (Turkey) 7-Ibrahim
Karaca (Turkey) 8-Hamza Nar (Turkey)
1C-Shahab Ghodsi (IranNorway) 2C-Ilker
Gochan (Turkey) 3C4C-Kamil Zafer
Akbiyik (Turkey) Ahmet Kamil Bayka-
logullari (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 1 (64)
1-Roman Guehetadze (Georgia) amp Gocha
Tchockhoneli (Georgia) 2-Mustafa Altuntas
(Turkey) amp Ibrahim Karaca (Turkey)
6th Turkish Consultation Doubles 2 (64)
1-Metin Cubuk (Turkey) amp Kamil Karaali
(Turkey) 2-Selahattin Hacioglu (Turkey)
amp Salih Yener (Turkey)
Speedgammon (64) 1-Hakan Kahyaoglu
(Turkey)
Team Challenge (16 Teams) 1-Team
Tigers Cuneyt Argun Genc (Turkey)
Rod Covlin (USA) Umit Tanoglu (Turkey)
One Point 1 1-Canan Kirikkaya (Turkey)
One Point 2 1- Kemal Aksu (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 1 (16) Dursun Ccediletin (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 2 (16) Abdullah Ser (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 3 (16) Ufuk Aksak (Turkey)
Super Jackpot 4 (16) Mustafa Babal
(Turkey)
Special Player Awards Can Biyiklioglu
(Germany) Sean Williams (England) Sevgi
Basaran (Turkey) Erkan Varli (Turkey)
Nodar Gagua (GeorgiaRussia)
Sponsor Awards WOW Istanbul Hotel
amp Convention Center Kentplus Kadikoy
Mislicom Pasha Backgammon Mys My
Company FMgammon
- SABRI BUumlYUumlKSOY
BURHAN YILMAZERWinner Burhan Yılmazer is trailing 1-4 at round 1 The format allows players to continue until their third loss Complete tournament results amp progression may be viewed here
Fuat Erdağ the head of ISTAVDER and the biggest sponsor of the Festival celebrated the success of the tournament with
a giant cake together with the champion Burhan Yılmazer In Turkey backgammon is like a cake everybody gets a piece
CELEBRATION WITH CAKE
ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival ISTAVDER 6th Anniversary Festival
Like us on Facebookfacebookcomusbgf
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Backgammon ChampionshipsApril 23-27 2014
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Breaking the anchorExclusive USBGF Teaching VideoBy Phil Simborg USBGF Teaching Pro
Video Lesson USBGF resident Teaching Pro
Phil Simborg has been creat-
ing videos covering just about
every aspect of the game you can imagine
He does anywhere from 1 to 3 a week and
is often joined by guest lecturers to offer
their insights into these checker and cube
decisions
Phil has created over
100 videos thus far
and all can be viewed
by going to usbgforgcategorybg-prob-
lemsvideo Most of Philrsquos videos are from
10 to 25 minutes long but here is a short
3 minute sample of the kind of wonderful
insights you can gain from these videos
Phil is a full-time professional backgammon
teacher and lecturer and has given private
lessons to over 300 students all over the
world via the Internet In addition Phil
is an adviser to our Education Commit-
tee and has started backgammon clubs
at elementary high schools and colleges
throughout the country and he donates free
lessons and seminars to students on behalf
of the USBGF Phil encourages members
to become sponsors of clubs and mentors
of children locally and he will help you
get started provide backgammon boards
on consignment and help with teaching
materials For more information contact
Phil at pjsimborggmailcom
- PHIL SIMBORG
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PHIL SIMBORGPhil Simborg was honored at the 2013 London Open for being the No 1 contributor to the game world-wide He is the USBGF Teaching Pro and Manager of the USBGF Facebook page as well as being a highly-ranked tournament player and the leading lecturer on the US Tour
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