MAY 2012′s  lecture entitled “EXERCISES TO IMPROVE YOUR GAME”  is now ready for viewing.

This month Professor Phil Simborg offers some excellent  exercise suggestions using eXtremeGammon (or GNU or Snowie) which will definitely help you improve your game.

EXERCISES TO HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR GAME 

ANNOUNCING THE 2012 INTERNATIONAL BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIP

The U.S. Backgammon Federation is  co-sponsoring the 2012 International Backgammon Championship with the Japanese Backgammon League. It will give players across the globe the chance to compete in a worldwide competition at a very low cost. Sign up now and join in the fun!

In the inaugural international event in 2011, 26 players from 10 nations competed. Chuck Bower, Ray Fogerlund, David Kettler, and Joe Russell represented the U.S., as the top 4 semi-finalists in the 2011 U.S. IBC Playoffs.  In the IBC, Tsuyoshi Minakami (Japan) won the individual competition, defeating finalist Simon Bargot (UK) in an exciting concluding match. Third and fourth place winners were Thomas Ronn (Sweden) and Lorenzo Rinaldo (Italy).

Japan captured the country prize with 17 points based on a point for each match win within a series, followed by Italy with 10, UK with 8, Sweden with 7, Denmark with 6, Germany and U.S. with 4, Australia with 3, and Turkey and the Netherlands with 1 each.

As in 2011, the entry fee of 1000 Euros will be paid by the U.S. Backgammon Federation for up to four U.S. entrants, as well as the 100 Euro registration fee. 100% of the entry fees will be dedicated to the prize pool (see details below).

Selection of U.S. Representatives

U.S. citizens wishing to compete to represent the U.S. may:

1) Directly enter the U.S. Playoffs by making a donation of $160 to www.PayPal.com USBGF account: payments@usbgf.org and complete the online registration form. Alternatively, a check for $160 payable to the U.S. Backgammon Federation may be mailed c/o Karen Davis, Treasurer, U.S. Backgammon Federation, 4838 Laurel Hill Place, Toledo, Ohio 43614.

2)  Win a qualifying bracket of 8 players in online competition on GridGammon playing site. Donate $20 to www.PayPal.com USBGF account: payments@usbgf.org and complete the online registration form. Alternatively, a check for $20 payable to the U.S. Backgammon Federation may be mailed c/o Karen Davis, Treasurer, U.S. Backgammon Federation, 4838 Laurel Hill Place, Toledo, Ohio 43614.

All matches in the qualifying brackets of 8 will be single elimination 9-point matches. Players may enter as often as they choose, and winners may qualify twice for the U.S. Playoffs, receiving a first-round bye.

3) USBGF affiliated local clubs and other live events may also hold 8 person qualifying brackets. The format is at the discretion of the club/tournament director.

4) In addition the winner of the USBGF National Championship at the NY Metropolitan Open held in January 2012 (Ed O’Laughlin) and the winner of the USBGF National Championship at the LA Open (to be held June 8-10, 2012) will be included in the U.S. Playoffs.

The U.S. Playoffs field with a maximum of 64 players will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, and will be closed no later than September 5. Entry fees to the IBC will be paid by USBGF for the top four winners of the field of 64. (If there are 32 or fewer registrants, the number of entrants to the IBC by the USBGF will be reduced. Last year 56 positions were filled, and it is anticipated that this will be exceeded in 2012.)

Entrants to qualifying events and the U.S. IBC Playoffs must be USBGF Premium members. If a player qualifies twice, he/she will be given a bye in the first round of the US IBC Playoffs.

US Playoffs Format

U.S. IBC Playoffs will be played on-line on GridGammon between September 5 and October 10 with matches recorded and submitted for review.  The round of 16 and lower will be proctored as well as recorded. Winners will be selected by best two of three 9 point matches.

The Tournament Director for the U.S. Playoffs and the online qualifying brackets of 8 is Tara Mendicino, e-mail: tara@usbgf.org

International Backgammon Championship

The international competition will begin October 12 and complete the opening rounds by the end of December 2012 by proctored online competition. The USBGF will pay the entry fees of up to four US representatives of 1000 Euros and 100 Euro registration fee.

This tournament gives backgammon players in any of the participating federations/organizations the opportunity to play in a world-wide championship with very low cost.  The inter-country competition will be online, except for the semi-finals and finals which will be live. The venue for the semi’s and finals will be determined by the Tournament Committee.  There will be ample opportunities for players and spectators to watch intra-country and inter-country matches online.

 The entries will be paid in Euros in the amount of 1000 euro per contestant plus a 100 euro registration fee. The return will be 100% with the exception of the registration fee.  Half of the registration fee (50 euros per entrant) will go toward the expenses of the web-site and tournament directors. Half (50 euros per entrant) will be dedicated towards travel expenses.

The IBC format: 

Single elimination based upon the best 2 of 3 eleven point matches. Semi’s and Finals are the best 2 of 3 thirteen point matches.

The draw for each round will be managed so that opponents are not from the same country until no other choice.

All IBC matches with the exception of the semi’s and finals will be online, although if any opponents agree to play live, that would be acceptable as well.

Players agree on date/time/place and have a time of 2 weeks for each round. Planed matches must be announced at least 3 days before the match is played. All matched will be recorded on Extreme Gammon online and submitted to the Tournament Committee by the proctor exporting it, immediately after play is completed.  All matches against an opponent must be completed in the same session.

All IBC online matches will be supervised by a proctor selected by each contestant’s Federation/Organization.  Any cheating that is discovered will disqualify the contestant.  Any accusations of cheating will be resolved by a committee to be formed to investigate and adjudicate such allegations.

 Playing rules are listed on the site, www.bgchampionship.com.

 Spectators will be permitted to be present at all matches.

 The finals will be in March 2013 or later, depending on when the draw reaches the semis and the selection of the venue.   

Prize money:

16 players: 70% to the winner.  30% to the finalist.

32 players or more: 50% to winner, 25% to the finalist, 12.5% to the semi-finalists.

Harvey Mudd College is the winner of the 2012 National Backgammon Collegiate Team Championships sponsored by the U.S. Backgammon Federation. Last year’s winning team, The University of California at Los Angeles, placed second. The Harvey Mudd team consisted of Nathan Hall, Louis Ryan, and Jonathan Schwartz, with the students splitting the $690 scholarship first prize. The team is coached by Art Benjamin, Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and a member of the USBGF Board of Directors. Nine teams competed on-line (with live proctors) on Saturday, April 21st.

Photo of Harvey Mudd College backgammon team: Jonathan Schwartz, Nathan Hall (seated), Louis Ryan, and coach Art Benjamin taken by Rachel Levy.

The second-place UCLA team included Joe Roth, Ashim Ahuja, and Matt Hecht, while the other UCLA team tied Northwestern for 3rd and 4th place. UCLA players opted for year-long memberships in the U.S. Backgammon Federation for all six UCLA players, and split the remaining $120 second-place scholarship from the U.S. Backgammon Foundation. Scholarship awards will be presented at the annual USBGF awards dinner at the Los Angeles Open on June 9, 2012.

According to Joe Russell, Chairman of the USBGF Education Committee and organizer of the event, “I was truly impressed by the high quality of play. Harvey Mudd, entered a strong team again this year and put in a lot of study and hard work the past few months preparing for this competition. “ Each team received much help and coaching from USBGF volunteers around the country including Art Benjamin from Harvey Mudd College; Chuck Bower from Indiana; Michael Edge from South Carolina; and Joe Russell, Justin Nunez, Steve Sax, and Alex Eshaghian from Los Angeles. Thanks also go to Phil Simborg and Alex Eshaghian for assisting with the tournament.

Other teams participating in the event were two teams from Clemson, two teams from Indiana University, and a team from Texas A&M University. There are over two dozen schools across the country with Backgammon Clubs that have started in the past two years under the leadership of Phil Simborg, USBGF Education Advisor. Simborg noted, “Thanks to a lot of hard work from Joe and the volunteers who have worked with the teams, we are attracting a whole new generation to the game.”

They’re off and running! The 2012 USBGF National Club Team Championship has attracted 42 teams from 23 clubs, for a total of 138 players — up from 33 teams last year.  Co-directors are:  Justin Nunez Justin_Nunez@yahoo.com  and Joe Russell Joe@usbgf.org.

Follow the action on the Drawsheets posted on this website. Matches are played on GridGammon. The competition takes place in three phases: Group Play, Qualifiers and 2nd Chance Rounds, and Final Rounds.  Detailed instructions for team captains are posted.  The Group Play runs from March 26 to April 20; the Qualifiers and 2nd Chance Rounds from April 22 to May 12; and the Final Rounds from May 14 to June 7.

The traveling trophy will be awarded to the first place team and certificates will be awarded to players of the top four teams at the USBGF awards dinner on June 9 in Los Angeles. Photos of winning team players will be featured on the USBGF Hall of Fame website page and the July-August 2012 issue of PrimeTime Backgammon electronic magazine.  You won’t find more fun, prestige, and recognition anywhere else!

Teams include:

Arizona Phoenix (Arizona BC, AZ) — Harvey Gillis, Doug Amenda (Captain), Todd Crosner

Phoenix Backgammon (Phoenix BC, AZ) — Daniel Pelton (Captain), Dale Snow, Cherie Owens

Bay Area Blotters (Backgammon by the Bay, SF) — Ted Chee (Captain), Pete Mostoufi, Carl Blumenstein

The Eventual Winners (Backgammon by the Bay, SF) — Odis Chenault (Captain), Jeremy Bagai, David Levy

Twisted Fate (Backgammon by the Bay, SF) — Cheryl Andersen (Captain), Josh Racko, Mark Antranikian

Fabulous Three (Gammon Associates, LA) — Doug Mayfield (Captain), Charles Toots, Moni Hatchikian

GammonNation (Gammon Associates, LA) –  Joe Russell (Captain), Tiran Dangor, Reza Sarabi

Glass Menagerie (Gammon Associates, LA) — Bob Glass (Captain), Jona Alexander, Ashim Ahuja

Incubating Nards (Gammon Associates, LA) — Kamyar Hosseinian, Reza Daryabegi (Captain), Kevin Kahl

LA Blankers (Gammon Associates, LA) — Justin Nunez (Captain), Joe Roth, Michael Showkati

Oh Fudge (Gammon Associates, LA) — Norm Wiggins, Frank Ley (Captain), Larry Bosen

Pip Squeaks (Gammon Associates, LA) — John Rockwell, Scott Evans (Captain), Ergin Bayrak, Doug DeWitte

Prime and Punishment (Gammon Associates, LA) — Steve Sax (Captain), Alex Eshaghian, Russ Rosen

CBC (CT) — Ross Gordon (Captain), Andrew Fazekas, Jim Stutz

Atlanta Northside BG (GA) – Stuart Thomson, Larry Taylor, Jerry Godsey (Captain), Randy Sloan

Chicago Style (Chicago Bar Point) — Rory Pascar (Captain), Larry Goldstein, Carter Mattig, Lucky Nelson

KCBG (Kansas City) — Phil Franklin, Eric Barr (Captain), Kathleen Davis

Urban Achievers (Grand Rapids, MI) — Chris Haviland (Captain), Jim Slomkowski, John Drexel

Autos and Carryovers (North Metro, MI) — Bill Calton (Captain), Faris Gabbara, Prince Barlow

Northmen (North Metro, MI) — Frank Talbot, Dmitriy Obukhov, Paul Berg (Captain)

Runnin Rebels (Las Vegas, NV) — Drew Giovannis, Ray Fogerlund (Captain), Howard Markowitz, Greg Cottle

Exit 177A (Mid-Jersey, NJ) — Arthur Sutton (Captain), Bob Tilp, Mike Battaglia

The Jersey Boys (Mid-Jersey, NJ) — Jeff Acierno, Alan Grunwald (Captain), Steve Jacobson

Santa Fe Backgammon Club (NM) — Ed Rosenblum, Penina Meisels, Ethan Nissani, Edna Riley (Captain)

New York Athletic Club 1 (NYAC) — Leyla Zaloutskaya (Captain), Pierre de Ravel d’Esclapon, Michael Aufrichtig

New York Athletic Club 2 (NYAC) –  Jonathan Bartlett, John Lummis (Captain), Jim Haddad

Alphabet City (NYC) –Susan Keyloun (Captain), Dane Carillo, Avi Harari

The Battery (NYC) — Richard Munitz (Captain), Rod Covlin, Andy Rubien

Five Points (NYC) — Mel Rappaport, Keith Gershenson, Lynn Ehrlich (Captain)

Hell’s Kitchen (NYC — Peter Geissler (Captain), Nick Kravitz, Frank DiMaggio

The Village People (NYC) — Julia Sommer (Captain), Ira Gardner, Peter Kasturas

Wall Street (NYC) — Michael Zumoff (Captain), Margo DeSantis, Iakovos Sismanoglou

Team Pair-O-Dice (Pair-O-Dice, NYC) — Chris Trencher, Allen Hodis, Bill Phipps, Ira Siegler (Captain)

Tar Heels (Charlotte, NC) — Michael Edge, Vadim Musaelyan, Jeb Horton (Captain), David Rogers

Ohio Buckeyes (OSBC, OH) — Joe Miller (Captain), Karen Davis, Farhad Forudi, Daniel Barabas

Ready for Prime Time (Columbus BC, OH) — Stick Rice, Chris Yep, Mary Hickey, Jason Marshall (Captain)

Steel BG (Pittsburgh BC, PA) — Adam Versaw (Captain), Steve Hast, Bill Versaw

Austin Aces (TX) — Ira Hessel, David Kettler (Captain), Mary Tremayne, Marc Lewis

Beltway Bandits (Beltway BC, VA) — Bob Koca, Alfred Mamlet (Captain), Frank Raposa

Estranged Barbells (Beltway BC, VA) — Jason Lee (Captain), Steve Bland, Paul Strasberg

They Might Not Be Giants (Beltway BC, VA) — Grant Schneider (Captain), Barry Silliman, John Klein

Parkway Patriots (Northern VA) — Ed O’Laughlin, Gary Fries, Bill Finneran (Captain), LEW Webber

Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki (photo by Steve Sax)

Courtesy of Backgammon TV and USBGF Gold Founding Sponsor Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki, US Backgammon Federation Premium, Youth, and Associate members are eligible for access to a free video viewing for 30 days, “Priming Formation and Blitzing Formation” by Mochy.  Mochy says: “I always play by one simple rule during mid-game. I do not use complicated calculations or strategies. I just decide whether I should take up a priming formation or a blitzing formation.” Don’t miss out on this $19.99 value — available free of charge to USBGF members.

 To access this benefit you must have a Facebook account with an e-mail address that matches your USBGF membership e-mail address. Then go to Back-gammon TV website, by either clicking on the icon on the lower right hand side of the USBGF website http://usbgf.org or go directly to http://back-gammon.tv/. Log-in using your e-mail address. Click on the Facebook icon on the upper right of the Home Page. Once the login system has verified your eligibility, you will receive a message offering the “Priming Formation and Blitzing Formation” movie/video free of charge. Click on Receive this Privilege. The video will begin rolling. Also go to the bottom of the screen and click on Download to obtain a free pdf file of the lesson.

Matt Cohn-Geier

Justin Nunez

Matt Cohn-Geier and Justin Nunez, two of the younger stars on the backgammon circuit, battled for the Masters Jackpot at the US Open in January 2012. With Justin taking an early lead, MCG surging ahead in the middle of the match, Justin seeming to have it in the bag in the last game before MCG pulled it out for the win, it made exciting watching for those in attendance and those following it streamed onto their computers. Marty Storer analyzes ten interesting positions from the match,  in the latest issue of PrimeTime Backgammon. You’ll enjoy the commentary as well as Marty’s annotation of the entire match on the website.

 The inaugural USBGF National Internet Championship attracted 191 players, including 111 in the Open Division, 47 in the Advanced Division, and 33 in the Intermediate Division. The tourney gave a number of players who are not well known on the live-tournament scene a venue in which to test their skills against tough competition. This issue includes profiles of the winners—Dorn Bishop, Open Champion; Svilo Todorov, Open Finalist; Bruce Newberg, Advanced Champion; and Joe Roth, Intermediate Champion—illustrating the varied backgrounds and strong influence backgammon has in their lives.

Live tournament play, however, still has a strong appeal. Bob Wachtel captures the art and ambience of the New Mexico State Championship in Santa Fe with a relaxed pace that included taking in the magnificent museums and vistas, while Karen Davis highlights the Swiss format play that began early and ended late with pizza, hoagies, and other treats fueling players throughout the three-day non-stop-backgammon President’s Day weekend at the Pittsburgh Championships.

Attracting new players to online and live tournament play is a major goal of the U.S. Backgammon Federation. We encourage tournament players at every level to check out their ratings and stats on the complete USBGF Player Standings list, and the updated Leader Board prepared by Barry Silliman, USBGF Rankings Editor, with ABT rankings as of March 1, 2012, and USBGF Elo ratings for Open, Advanced, and Novice divisions based on ABT/USBGF tournament play since 2009.

If you’re not yet a member of USBGF, or your membership has expired, sign up now and join the fun. You’ll enhance your playing experience—and enjoy this 49-page action-packed issue.

Stick Rice has donated proceeds of payments for a recorded lesson on the Doubling Cube: Take/Drop Decision to the U.S. Backgammon Federation. The lesson is devoted to a much better method for approaching take/drop decisions at normal match scores. You can view the lesson as many times as you like and feel free to harass Stick with any follow-up questions or feedback. Anyone wishing to listen to the lesson should make a minimum $20 payment to the USBGF PayPal account payments@usbgf.org and send an e-mail to info@usbgf.org requesting access to the recording.

Select testimonials:

• Just want to say love this lesson got so much info out of it. Thanks again Stick !
• Excellent Group Lesson and IMO, the best yet! … I fully recommend this one! In the raw the lesson went smooth, good intro, solid structure; learnt a lot. My guess is that the recording will be equally good! Really looking forward to it! Having trouble evaluating the take/drop process? No worries! Mr Stick will put you on the straight-and-narrow. You’ll get an insight into weighing gammons; a clear and corect procedure for working out the values needed to determine the take-pt and various other juicy stuff!
  
• I also attended Stick’s Group Lesson yesterday and will post some comments here that I hope will be useful to those considering whether to purchase a recording of the lesson. The topic was a way to figure out if you should Take or Drop when you are Doubled. For me, this was a very good, important, topic. (In his original post, Stick listed the topic as “The Cube” — obviously much too broad a topic for a 90 minute lesson. I think he narrowed it down well.) I have spent far more time thinking, analyzing, and reading about when to send the Cube, and far less time on how to determine what to do when cubed. I lose a lot of equity here. I think my ER will improve as I incorporate into my Take/Pass decisions what I learned in this lesson. Stick presented a relatively easy method for determining your take point that involves estimating your opponent’s and your gammon chances and then doing some simple computations. He first gave some background and rationale for the method, which was clear, easy to follow, and useful. Then, in the process of teaching the method, he helped us improve the accuracy of our estimates. He gave useful guidelines, reference positions, and benchmarks, and made good use of examples. I learned a lot that I will use. Moreover, I am now prepared to make better use of the gammon values provided by XG as I analyze my matches. So, if you already know this method, and your gammon estimates are good, you probably won’t get much new out of this lesson. But, if you don’t know this method and/or your gammon estimates need work, imo, the lesson is  definitely worth it.
  

This month USBGF teaching pro Phil Simborg provides some excellent tips on bearing your checkers into your inner board.  Click the title link to play the WebEx recording of the lecture:

Excellent tips on bearing checkers into your inner board 

This month’s lecture can also be accessed by clicking on the LEARN tab on the homepage, then scroll down and click on Monthly Lecture Series.