USBGF - US Backgammon Federation
Growing backgammon. Serving players.
Congratulations to Max Levenstein, winner of the Advanced Divisional XCIX. Max defeated Karl Sours in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Jeff Spencer and Kerry Remp. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. For more information about this […]
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Congratulations to Jasper Watertor, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXXII. Jasper defeated Andrew Selby in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were Kevin Jones and Kiri Vala. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. […]
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Unlimited Games. How should Red play 32? XGID=–B-bBC-D—bC–ac-dc—A-:0:0:1:32:0:0:3:0:10 This problem looks at the thorny issue of when to advance the last rear checker. Should the Red checker on the 24-pt start to run for home or should it be left out of harm’s way? There are several factors that need to be considered, the race, […]
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Players can register for the next tournament by sending their $20 entry fee by Venmo to venmo@usbgf.org (in the note, include Pick-A-Pro Jackpot, email address, and GridGammon username) Each event will consist of an eight player bracket, 9 point matches, with the winner receiving a free one hour lesson from the backgammon pro of their choice (subject […]
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Congratulations to Jan Cerny, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXXIII. Jan defeated Irina Litzenberger in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were Steve Hills and Sourria Impraim Oglou. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of […]
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Congratulations to Jim Wallace, winner of the Advanced Divisional CI. Jim defeated Jeff Spencer in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Anthony Elliot and Jacques Stambouli. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. For more information about this […]
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Unlimited Games. How should Red play 43? XGID=—CCCBb—-bB-A–bdAa-bb-:0:0:1:43:0:0:3:0:10 Over the board Red quickly played 20/13. He reasoned that he would be 8 pips ahead and he was duplicating White’s threes. Therefore, he elected to run. Unfortunately, he didn’t look deeply enough. After 20/13 the racing lead is small and White will be hitting […]
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Match Play. Red trails 0-4 to 5 (Crawford). How should Red play 32? XGID=-BBaBBC-A-b–B——A-ecd-:0:0:1:32:0:4:1:5:10 Red needs to contain White’s rear checker. Clearly the three must be played 6/3*. The question is how to play the 2? This is the Crawford Game so the cube is not in play. Red can only win by optimising the […]
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Congratulations to Joao Almeida, winner of the Intermediate Divisional XCI. Joao defeated Dan Pascu in the 13-point final. Brian Holmes and Attila Felsen finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. For more information about this tourney […]
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Congratulations to Dennis Lutz, winner of the Advanced Divisional C. Dennis defeated James Schothorst in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Jim Wallace and Sol Sassoon. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. For more information about this […]
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Unlimited Games. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take? XGID=-b–BBC-AA-A-C–bcbea-B—:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10 This position is quite deceptive. Red seems to have control of the whole board and this looks to be a very strong double that White might not be able to take. Certainly, the position is volatile and Red should ship the cube now. However, […]
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Congratulations to Karen Davis, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXX. Karen defeated Ruben Siñeriz in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were Peter Wisniewski and Marc Emrich. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. […]
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Congratulations to Sol Sassoon, winner of the Advanced Divisional XCVIII. Sol defeated Vinson Blanton in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Bradley Rosenberg and Kara Schultz. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. For more information about this […]
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Congratulations to Ruben Siñeriz, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXXI. Ruben defeated Rich Sweetman in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were Matthew Brown and Bob Azari. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. […]
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Congratulations to Curt Wilhelmsen, winner of the Intermediate Divisional XC. Curt defeated Richard Casten in the 13-point final. Jacques Stambouli and Daniel Peters 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. For more information about this tourney or […]
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Congratulations to Cristian Frisk, winner of the Advanced Divisional XCVII. Cristian defeated Doug Mayfield in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Richard Stubbe and Shahrooz Moreh. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. For more information about this […]
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Unlimited Games. How should Red play 31? XGID=aCABaBBaB——-A–bccBbb-:1:1:1:31:0:0:3:0:10 Red has a lot of work to do yet to win from this position so we can quickly ignore the safest play of 16/13, 2/1. Red must also accept that he will need to take some risks to bring the position home. However, he has the cube […]
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Congratulations to Steve Waller, winner of the Advanced Divisional XCVI. Steve defeated Ali Shamsian in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Jack LeProwse and Richard Griggs Jr. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings […]
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Congratulations to Lynda Clay, winner of the USBGF September Womens Monthly. Lynda defeated Anna Popp in the 17-point final. Kara Schultz and Anita Marholm finished 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final round. The Womens Monthly tournament is open to all USBGF ladies. Entrants are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information about this tourney […]
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Congratulations to Kevin Jones, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXVII. Kevin defeated John Manning in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were P.J. Macali and Michael Klein. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. […]
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Unlimited Games. How should Red play 22? XGID=-BBaD-D-B—bA—–bbcbab-:1:-1:1:22:0:0:3:0:10 This is a straightforward problem once you understand the basic strategy. There is an old backgammon maxim, “A point cleared is a point not to be feared”. Blocking points, which start off as assets, become liabilities as you seek to bear all your checkers into your home […]
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Congratulations to Jorge Cano, winner of the Advanced Divisional XCV. Jorge defeated Kris Waters in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Richard Griggs Jr. and Barry Gittleman. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings […]
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Congratulations to Bob Young, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXXXVII. Bob defeated Richard Casten in the 13-point final. Herman Arzuman and Max McCauley finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. See the current online tournament ratings […]
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Congratulations to Roberto Litzenberger, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXIX. Roberto defeated Rich Sweetman in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were Barry Gittleman and Erwin Hom. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. […]
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Congratulations to Richard Casten, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXXXVIII. Richard defeated David Gillett in the 13-point final. Gary Nouskajian and Ira Gardner finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. See the current online tournament ratings […]
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Congratulations to John Gamalielson, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXVII. John defeated Giancarlo Ratto in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were Scott Ward and Kevin Jones. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. […]
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Unlimited Games. How should Red play 11? XGID=-aBbcBBBBA–a–a-b-cAbA–B:0:0:1:11:0:0:3:0:10 A roll of double ones is known as snake eyes. The roll often causes problems in backgammon because there are likely to be many possible reasonable plays. That is true even of this position where two of the aces are forced, bar/24(2). To play the other two […]
[Read More...]PrimeTime BG Fall 2020 In this issue, replete with great photos, we continue to track online backgammon in America and all over the world. The veteran American grandmaster Chris Trencher appears on our cover following a great performance in the first Magriel Cup, a monumental U.S. vs. U.K. challenge that America won. That big event […]
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Congratulations to Jeff Spencer, winner of the Advanced Divisional XCIV. Jeff defeated Matthew Brown in the 17-point final match. Finishers 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were David Staggs and Konstantin Kerestelieve. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings at […]
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Congratulations to Narvey Goldman, winner of the USBGF Masters Divisional CXVI. Narvey defeated Roberto Litzenberger in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 in the 19-point semi-final were William Lonergan and Ruben Sineriz. The Masters Divisional is a single-elimination tournament, requiring players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above at the time of registration. Registration […]
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