U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF)
Published by Karen Davis · 16 hrs ·

Final of EBIF World Team Championship between U.S. and Norway being played this weekend on GridGammon! Come watch!: EBIF International.
Neil Kazaross won his match with Norway’s Sven Wisloff Nilssen with a 2.32 PR and 8 Luck Factor!

Joe Russell has his match scheduled today, Friday, December 21, at 10:30 pm Pacific time (that’s 1:30 am Saturday Eastern/GGT or 7:30 am Central European Time on Saturday morning.

Alfred Mamlet has his match with Jorn Nesdal scheduled at Noon Eastern/GGT time (18:00 Central European time) on Saturday, December 22.
Steve Sax has his match with Asbjorn Arntzen scheduled at 1 pm Pacific time on Saturday, (4 pm Eastern/GGT and 22:00 Central European time).

Roberto Litzenberger has his match with Hans Marias Eikseth at 1 pm Eastern/GGT (19:00 CET) Sunday, December 23.

Make a tax-deductible charitable donation to the U.S. Backgammon Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, to support the Boards for Kids program and play a match against USBGF Teaching Pro Phil Simborg or USBGF Board member and top-ranked player Frank Talbot. Donations may be made to the Foundation’s PayPal account: donations@usbgf.org.

Donors will play USBGF Teaching Pro Phil Simborg or Frank Talbot, a Certified Teaching Pro and member of the Board of the U.S. Backgammon Federation, on GammonSite, a backgammon server of GameSite 2000. Phil and Frank will give you a few comments or tips to improve your game during the match or afterwards based on an XG analysis of your play.

If donors are not already subscribed to GammonSite, they may play their match for free. GameSite 2000 is known as the producer of the premier eXtreme Gammon software for analyzing backgammon positions and matches. GameSite 2000 is a corporate sponsor of the U.S. Backgammon Federation. It offers a 20% discount on XG to USBGF Premium members and a 30% discount on its GammonSite backgammon server for all USBGF members ($14 a year compared to $20 a year for non-members).

Donors contributing $25 will play a 3-point match with Phil or Frank; donors contributing $50 will play a 5-point match. All winners of the match with Phil or BLC Teaching Pro will be entered into a GammonSite single elimination blitz. Winners of 3-point matches will receive one entry; winners of 5-point matches two entries. Each 8-player blitz will offer a prize of one year Premium membership in the USBGF (or one-year extension) or a $60 credit for use at the USBGF BG Shop. In addition winners will receive a one-year subscription to GammonSite.

100% of all donations will be used to supply backgammon boards to youth including all youth under age 18 playing in ABT tournaments. Donations will be matched by Phil, Xavier Dufaure de Citres, the CEO of GameSite 2000, and Karen Davis, President/Executive Director of USBGF. Prizes will be donated by USBGF and GameSite 2000.

So act now! Send a donation via PayPal to the account donations@usbgf.org
and receive a tax deduction while supporting growth of the game we all love! The offer will expire January 31, 2019.

Congratulations to Gary Zelmanovics, winner of the Advanced Divisional LX. Gary defeated Chris Krisilas in the 17-point final. Jason Karns and Andrew Hunter finished 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final.

The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 – 1649.99 at the time of registration. See latest standings: Leader Board.

We are pleased to announce a new free online tournament for Premium and Founding Sponsor members, the USBBGF Premium ABT Jackpot #1. First place prize is a free entry to an ABT tournament of the winner’s choice in 2019 or 2020. Second place finalist receives half the entry to an ABT tournament of the finalist’s choice in 2019 or 2020. The entry fee applies to any Main division event (Championship/Open or Advanced/Intermediate). It does not include registration or hospitality fee.

The tournament format will consist of single-elimination, 128-player brackets. All early rounds will be 13 points in length. The semi-final will be 15 points, and the championship final will be 17 points. Match logs will be required at the time of reporting. The tournament will start as soon as the 128-player bracket has been filled.

If you are not currently a USBGF Premium member, take advantage of a special membership promotion of 10% off on one-year and three-year memberships — $54 for one year and $135 for three years. Check out becoming a Founding Sponsor through easy recurring monthly payments.

The USBBGF Premium ABT Jackpot #1 will be played on Backgammon Studio, Backgammon Galaxy, GridGammon, GammonSite, or Safe Harbor Games.

The tournament is directed by Tara Mendicino and Jeff Proctor.

For additional tournaments in registration, including FTH Blitzes, Founding Sponsor Jackpots, Masters, Advanced, and Intermediate Divisional events, Monthly Circuit, Women’s Circuit, and Membership Blitz events, please see our Online Circuit tournament calendar.

Congratulations to Bonnie Rogoff, winner of the Advanced Divisional LVIII. Bonnie defeated Jason Karns in the 17-point final. Fabian Melnik and Manny Olszynko finished 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final.

The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 – 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings: Leader Board.

The U. S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the results of the Board of Directors election. Congratulations to Marty Storer, Tara Mendicino, Jeb Horton, and Frank Talbot on election to the Board. Jeb Horton returns to the Board, having previously served as a Founding board member from 2009-2014. Tara has served on the Board of Directors since 2013; Marty Storer and Frank Talbot have served since 2016. In accordance with the By-Laws, they will serve on the Board for three-year terms from 2018-2020. They join Art Benjamin, Dennis Culpepper, Karen Davis, Jack Edelson, Julius High, Neil Kazaross, Richard Munitz, Matt Reklaitis and Joe Russell to comprise the USBGF Board of Directors.

Marty Storer serves as Managing Editor of the PrimeTime Backgammon magazine, is a member of the USBGF Executive Committee and Technology Committee. Tara Mendicino serves as Vice President of USBGF and Production Editor of PrimeTime Backgammon. She serves on the Membership and Marketing Committee, Technology Committee, and Tournament Directors Advisory Committee, and serves as Board Secretary. Jeb Horton will join the Executive Committee and Technology Committee. bringing his professional expertise facilitating communication between technology developers and customer users. He has chaired the USBGF Tournament Directors Advisory Committee since its formation in 2017. Frank Talbot chairs the Education Committee and serves on the Rules and Ethics Committee.

The Board is pleased that 228 members participated in the election. The results are:
Marty Storer 159 votes 70% of those voting
Tara Mendicino 151 votes 66% of those voting
Jeb Horton 140 votes 61% of those voting
Frank Talbot 140 votes 61% of those voting
Carter Mattig 114 votes 50% of those voting
Bill Riles 107 votes 47% of those voting

We thank retiring Board member Bill Riles for his years of valuable service to the USBGF. He served on the Board from 2013-2018, including a three-year stint as President/Executive Committee from 2013-2016 and service as Treasurer from 2017-2018. He was the impetus behind the creation of the American Backgammon Hall of Fame and chaired the Hall of Fame Committee. We look forward to continuing to seek his wisdom and expertise.

We appreciate the willingness to serve the USBGF demonstrated by all of the candidates. Each of them has the skills and the desire to serve which are valuable to the USBGF. We look forward to engaging their talent and energy in the work of the USBGF.

If you have’t yet voted in the USBGF Board of Directors Election, please do so. The link to the voting page is: USBGF Board of Directors Ballot. All members are eligible to vote. The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. EST, Monday, December 3, 2018. Each member may submit only one ballot. A member must be logged onto the USBGF website to be able to vote.

Six candidates, including four incumbents, are vying for four seats up for election. The six candidates are: Jeb Horton, Carter Mattig, Tara Mendicino (incumbent), Bill Riles (incumbent), Marty Storer (incumbent), and Frank Talbot (incumbent). The left side of the voting page contains a ballot with the six candidate names in random order. The right side of the voting page contains an alphabetical accordion listing of the candidates. By clicking on a candidate name on the accordion file, a member may see a photograph of the candidate and an informational/biographical statement submitted by the candidate.

There are four seats up for election. A member may vote for a minimum of one to a maximum of four candidates. A candidate may not receive more than one vote from a member. A member should select every candidate for whom they are voting prior to hitting the submit button.

The four candidates receiving the most votes will be elected, provided they are named on at least 50% of the ballots. If one or more of the top four vote recipients are not named on at least 50% of the ballots, a run-off election will be held including twice the number of candidates as the number of unfilled seats. As an example, if #4 and #5 (in terms of votes received) are not named on at least 50% of the ballots then #4 and #5 will appear on the runoff ballot. There will be only one runoff. The top vote recipient will fill the remaining seat provided he/she is named on at least 50% of the ballots. If, in the runoff, a ‘winning’ candidate is not named on at least 50% of the ballots cast, the corresponding Board seat will remain vacant until the next election.

The Board of Directors is excited by the opportunity provided all members to participate in the Board selection process. This voting process embodies our desire for an open, transparent, democratic, and participatory membership organization. We hope all members take the time to exercise their voting rights and carefully consider each candidate.

USBGF members and members of the Board of Directors may, as individuals, make any comments they wish, in any manner, related to the election and to the candidates. However, we request no comments be made by anyone that imply endorsement or opinion of the USBGF.

Should you have any difficulties in voting or have any questions regarding the voting process, please submit an e-mail to nominations@usbgf.org.

Results will be announced Tuesday, December 4, 2018.