We all thank Lynn Ehrlich, Troy Longman, Julia Sommer, and Lynn’s two sisters Bonnie Bayuk and Katrina Clark for giving us an enjoyable and fantastic weekend January 10-13 at the luxurious Hyatt on the Hudson in Jersey City, New Jersey. This is the sixth year Lynn has done a superb job of organizing and running this New York Metro event. We hope she will continue for many more years to come.
This is a unique and special tournament. It is the first time in my memory that anyone has held a large annual tournament in the vicinity of New York, the USA’s greatest city. Lynn’s tournament at the Hyatt has the nicest and classiest venue in the USA. Only the World Championships in Monte Carlo might be a bit more upscale than the New York Metro Open.
The Hyatt sits right on the edge of the Hudson River, giving a spectacular view of the skyline of southern Manhattan. For the first time (and possibly the last), the tournament was held on the ninth (top) floor of the Hyatt, in an enormous ballroom large enough to comfortably accommodate 200 people. From the adjacent large outdoor veranda, we had great views of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Veranzo-Narrows Bridge, Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty.
The attendance was encouraging, with 124 participants. There were four players from England, two from Germany, one from Israel and at least two from Canada. Some of the stronger well-known players were Jason Lee, Falafel, Kit, Victor, Carol, Ed, Petko, Rich, Koca, Senk, Robertie, Ray, Alfred and Frank.
Not so well known outside New York was Chris Trencher, who was a strong player in the high-stakes chouettes at the Ace Point Club in New York in the 1990s. Chris reached the finals of the Liberty Cup Masters and he also reached the finals of the consolation, where I had to get very lucky at DMP to emerge as the winner. Chris plays on GridGammon under the nickname “einsteinny.”
Bill Robertie, who won both the championship and the doubles events in 2011, repeated with a win in the championship in 2013! Bob Koca defeated Falafel, Victor and Senk before losing to Bill in the finals. Thanks to Jason Lee for recording all four of Bob’s matches. I may do an article for the USBGF online magazine containing positions from the finals.
In the Liberty Cup Masters, Victor beat Ray in one semi while Chris beat Falafel at DMP in the other. Victor won the 11pt finals against Chris in well under an hour. A complete list of the tournaments’ results can be found at www.chicagopoint.com, a site run by Bill Davis.
The tournament began on Thursday with jackpots, masters and doubles events. The championship, intermediate and beginner divisions of the main event began Friday at 1:30 with 13pt matches in the championship division, dropping to 9pts in the consolation. When three days instead of the usual two are allotted to finish the main events, the tournament proceeds with a more relaxed and enjoyable ambiance.
Here are seven things about the tournament I liked: • The staff. Lynn, Troy, Julia, Bonnie and Katrina were friendly, polite, low-key and competent. They were able to quickly and effectively deal with the few minor situations that arose. • The venue. I consider it to be the most beautiful BG setting in the USA. • The schedule. It was well run on a relaxed and reasonable schedule. I love it when we have three days instead of two to finish the main event. • The events. Plenty of big and small events, in addition to late-night chouettes. • The trophies are the coolest souvenirs I have ever seen. An image of the Statue of Liberty is inside a vertical clear plastic block that rests on a battery-powered stand that projects lights of different colors onto the statue. • The participants. I encountered a lot of interesting, intelligent, lovely people of all skill levels—some I have known for twenty years and others whom I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. • Longer matches. Most tournaments have 11pt matches in the championship division. I like the longer 13pt matches at Lynn’s tournament.
Nobody has asked for my opinion, but that has never stopped me from giving it. If it were up to me, I would have 15pt matches in the championship division, make clocks mandatory, and give players only 1.5 (or less) instead of 2.0 minutes per point. I would also like to see the same in the Liberty Cup Masters.
Admittedly, this change would benefit the stronger players, but if we want backgammon to become more seriously respected, we should gravitate toward a format that increases the skill factor while also making the game more enjoyable for both spectators and players.
I happened to see the last game of the Liberty Masters Jackpot semi between Falafel and Chris and I remembered the interesting positions posted below. I hope to provide rollouts at both the match score and for money. Are there any of these you would play differently at two-away/two-away than for money? Is it possible that there are some positions that should be played differently at true DMP than at two-away/two-away?
Position 1.
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| XGID=-a---BE-B---dEa--d-e----A-:0:0:1:26:9:9:0:11:10 | |||||
| Blue to play 26 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.04
Position 2.
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| XGID=-a---CE-B---dD---d-db---A-:0:0:1:16:9:9:0:11:10 | |||||
| Blue to play 16 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.04
Position 3.
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| XGID=a----CEBA---dB---d-db---B-:0:0:-1:23:9:9:0:11:10 | |||||
| White to play 23 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.04
Position 4.
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| XGID=--a--CEBA---cB-a-d-db---B-:0:0:1:52:9:9:0:11:10 | |||||
| Blue to play 52 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.04
Position 5.
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| XGID=--a--CEBB---cA-a-d-db-A-A-:1:1:-1:61:9:9:0:11:10 | |||||
| White to play 61 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.04
Position 6.
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| XGID=a-AB-BCBB---bA-a-cbdbAA---:1:1:1:32:9:9:0:11:10 | |||||
| Blue to play 32 | |||||
eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.04