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Six Anecdotes from the Chicago Open
Posted By: rory
Date: Saturday, 4 June 2011, at 4:52 p.m.
Anecdote #1 A special thank you goes to Xavier Dufaure de Citres for donating two copies of eXtreme Gammon (XG). Those two copies of XG went to the winners of the Intermediate and Novice divisions. The winner of the Intermediate division is Cliff Mayoh and he already has XG therefore the free copy went to Georgina Flanagan the finalist. The winner of the Novice Division is Lyle Rubin, who is now excitedly waiting to receive his own copy of XG.
Anecdote #2 Adrian Rios is an Intermediate division player in that lives in the Chicagoland area. He was present for the first round of the Giants Invitational and was happy to be of assistance when I asked him if he would mind monitoring one of the first round matches. On Friday when he arrived to register for the main tournament he stated that he wanted to be registered in the Open Division. He was excited for the opportunity to play a number of the best players in the world even though he knew his equity would not be very good. I applaud his desire to learn from the best
Anecdote #3 Special thanks so Ed Ziesche and Jeb Horton for their gracious reaction to my error. This weekend I made one of the biggest mistakes a director can make. I posted the wrong payout for the Seniors Tourney. I noticed the error at approximately 3:00 AM on Sunday night/Monday morning when Bill, Beth, and I were making the envelopes. I overstated the prizes for 1st and 2nd place by $56 and $24 respectively. Ed & Jeb very quickly told me that it was not a problem and I could take my full rake. What I chose to do is round off the totals to $900 and $400 instead of $895 and $385. Thank you to the both of them for their understanding and I assure you I won’t ever make this mistake again.
Anecdote #4 Ben Friesen was the man this weekend! Whenever assistance was needed he was there lending a hand. On Thursday he was a monitor for the 1st round of the Giants Invitational. Numerous times throughout the weekend he helped carry food in from the car and at the end of the weekend he helped pack up and carry supplies out to the car. There were other instances where he found what he perceived to be issues with brackets or payouts based on information I had given him. He quietly pointed out those issues to me and I was able to make corrections where it was needed or inform him that something had changed and what was posted was correct.
A little more about Ben…when I asked him how long he has been playing Backgammon he stated that his dad has been taking his lunch money for about 15 years. Sometime this past December he started going to Carol Joy Coles Flint, MI club. Although he hasn’t won a weekly tourney yet, he has cashed at least six or seven times. In February, he attended his first ABT even and won the Novice division in Pittsburg and then followed it up with a 2nd place finish at the CSI event in March. He moved up to the Intermediate division in Ohio and very impressively won the whole dang thing. At the Chicago Open he was the only competitor to win two qualifying 8-player brackets. Unfortunately, he fell short of cashing. Not too shabby…it took him four ABT events to NOT cash while I would guess that it takes most people at least four ABT events to cash for the first time. On the phone he stated he had learned more about Backgammon this weekend than he did at his three previous ABT events combined. Meeting Stick, Mochy, Falafel, MCG and others was an eye opening experience. Much of what he learned this past weekend came primarily from the time he spent watching many of the top players. I believe it will not be long before this young man moves up to the Open Division and not much time after that before he is seen as a force to be reckoned with over the board. Just as important is the fact that he continues to prove that he is an asset to those that run tournaments with his keen eye and helpful hands. If anyone is looking to add an able body to their staff Ben is unequivocally a man ready for the job.
Anecdote #5 This year we ran the same knockout/re-buy format that we ran as last year with one slight difference. This year we allowed those that won an 8-player bracket and qualified for the 16-player playoff to re-buy to try and win a 2nd spot in the playoffs, earning themselves a bye into the round of eight in the playoff. When we posted the final qualifying 8-player bracket there were three players in that bracket who had already qualified for the playoffs. There were also three players that were closed out and disappointed that they would not have one final shot to get into the playoffs. Faddoul Khoury (representing his friend Lucas Bauer, one of the players shut out) brought this to my attention. He asked that I check with the players that had already qualified and see if they wouldn’t mind giving up their spots allowing the other three players one last chance to try and win a spot in the playoffs. One of the players was hesitant at first but realized rather quickly it was the right thing to do and I commend all three for their generosity and sportsmanship. The three players that graciously gave up their spots were Russell Head, Georgina Flanagan, and Ramez Abi-Akar. I tip my hat to those three players for their kindness and sportsmanship. Kudos to you!
Anecdote #6 This was my favorite highlight of the weekend! In the Juniors Tournament we had four participants, Lyle Rubin (no introduction needed), Sybil Sha (this young lady had won the last three Novice Tournaments she had entered coming into this weekend), Stephen Collins (Karen Davis’ grandson and tournament aficionado), and Serena Sha (Sybil’s friendly little sister who has a will to learn and win like no one you have ever met). The first three are all in the 13-14 age range while Serena is only 10 and a bit behind them in learning our beloved game. The Juniors were to play a double round robin and then the two with the best record would meet in a best 2 out of 3 playoff. In the first round robin we permitted Serena to ask for help with one cube and one checker play per match. Surprisingly there was no argument from the other three players. Unfortunately, Serena went 0-3 in the first round robin so in the second session I told her she could ask for help with 2 cubes and 2 checker plays per match. On Monday morning a short time after Mochy’s lecture ended, Serena came to me and asked if rather than having my help her with a cube decision, could she get the assistance of the World’s greatest player. A big smile came across my face and I told her I would see if he was available. I went to Mochy, told him of the situation and he was happy to help Serena. I escorted him over to where the Juniors were playing, listened as he introduced himself and asked them their names and shook their hands, and then I heard him ask, “So what is the score?” As I walked away I still had a smile on my face from ear to ear. That moment made my weekend!
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