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1st Boston Open - Thank You!

Posted By: Albert Steg
Date: Tuesday, 28 February 2017, at 6:47 p.m.

On behalf of the New England backgamon Club and our friends from across the border at the Connecticut Backgammon Club, we'd like to thank everyone who turned out to attend our 1st Annual Boston Open last weekend. We were delighted to welcome 88 players to the three main brackets (44 Open, 32 Advanced, 6 Novice), which exceeded our hopes for this first effort. Full results can be found on the USBGF site:

http://usbgf.org/1st-annual-boston-open-backgammon-championships/

Even Boston locals were wowed by the beautiful vista of the Boston harbor from the playing room, and the general camaraderie among players was especially evident at a in the dining area/lounge after dinner on Saturday as everyone congregated for cake & coffee before the resumption of play. Local legend Bill Robertie administered a tough quiz on Sunday morning, assisted by longtime collaborator Kent Goulding, and we had plenty other leading lights of the game in attendance. We could only wish NEBC legends Walter Trice and Herb Gurland could have been with us, but were proud to inaugurate the Herb Gurland Memorial Masters event, won in this first year by Victor Ashkenazi.

There were some aspects we intend to improve upon for next year. The visual quality of the match streaming was lacking, as has been remarked upon here, though we could scarcely improve upon Matt Reklaitis's engaging play-play play commentary, seconded by a variety of passersby who dropped in to co-chair with him in the hallway outside the playing room. It felt more like "Boston Open Television" than just match streaming (and perhaps we should be thinking more that way about including hand-held camera interviews / views of the playing rooms, setting, mini-interviews, etc. as part of 'event streaming'?) We need to make sure the Masters bracket advances sufficiently on Friday Night in order to avoid a time crunch on Saturday night / Sunday morning, and we will look to avoid an unplanned adjustment to the Consolation bracket that caused some stress for some players, but which ultimately worked out fine. We want to do more advance work promoting the event to local communities, so we can boost our novice/advanced -level attendance and grow our club.

We heard lots of happy "see you next years" from attendees, and we hope everyone who came will help spread the word so we can grow our event from year to year, emulating the most successful stops on the ABT tour. I'd also welcome genuine feedback / suggestions that I can take not of as we plan for next year (feel free to email me directly).

I'd particularly thank Ross Gordon for offering, and indeed urging, the NEBC to attempt a major tournament again. The Boston Open absolutely would not have happened without him, and it's inspiring to see him grow in his role as a Tournament Director and to see how well his team works together.

Albert Steg New England Backgammon Club