It is with great sadness that I report the premature death of Edward Baliszewski. Edward was the founding father of the London Clubs Backgammon League and one of the major reasons that backgammon is so popular at the RAC. The London League trophy will be renamed in his honour and as a tribute to all that he did for the game in our capital city.

P.G. Wodehouse would have described him as a good egg. I knew him as the most courteous of men whose passion for the game inspired others. I spent many a fine evening as his guest at the RAC, either playing or discussing the game, and he constantly surprised me with his depth of knowledge not only of backgammon but of other games as well. In a world of diminishing values the phrase 'true gentleman' is often used out of context but it is precisely the right way to describe Edward Baliszewski. He will be greatly missed.

He was keen on quizzes so in his memory I present as a competition one of the problems from last year's RAC Backgammon dinner, the last occasion on which I had the pleasure of his company.

Black is on the bar and on roll - how should he play his double twos? I will give three copies of "Second Wind", my most recent book, as prizes. To make the problem as interesting as possible, to win you not only have to identify the correct move but also explain in no more than 150 words why it is the right move.

Entries should be sent to: chris.bray@btconnect.com and must reach me by March 22nd 2008.

The answers and winners names will be published in The Independent on Sat 5th April.

Many thanks to Chris Bray who writes the backgammon column in The Independent on Saturday magazine from which this article is reproduced with permission.


Full article: http://www.backgammoninlondon.com/home.html

I think it's safe to assume it's a money game as surely if it were a match we'd have been given the details?

Hi don and spielberg,

Yes, money game (because no match details given.)

Hi also PersianLord,

Maybe I should have written this in bold: "Entries should be sent to: chris.bray@btconnect.com ... by March 22nd."

Chris will not be able to check all the replies on all the sites this competition has been posted on.

So if you're hoping to win a copy of his book "Second Wind" please email Chris direct.

Thanx.

Mike

Hi spielberg,

I should imagine so. I should point out that the London Clubs Backgammon League is not the same organsation is my Backgammon in London. Hence my "I imagine so."

However I do know that when Chris plays at his local chouette house they do use Jacoby so I think it is safe to presume that this "rule" has been adopted by other circles he plays in. Indeed I can't think of a venue here in London that does not use Jacoby and further I'm stuggleing to think of any venue I've ever played in that doesn't use it. I fully agree that it is a matter that should be agreed upon before chouette play commences but it is usually the first on the list and often little more than a case of "rubber stamping" it.

Beavers, raccoons, aardvarks, automatic doubles as well other local / house rules as to what the procedure is on rotation of players and how much should be allowed to be played for before actual cash is put on the table are all matters that I like to see on chouette scorecards.

http://www.backgammoninlondon.com/chouettecards.xls

If my "I imagine so" is not within your required answer then please write to Chris direct and hence receive a definate answer. If you do so it might be of help to others now wondering if you post his reply here.


Thanx,

Mike
 

Right-i-o,

The answer and winners have now been published in The Independent on Saturday 5th April so the answer can now be posted here. 

Yours,

Mike
 

The Baliszewski Quiz

The quiz generated the largest response in the fourteen year history of this column so thank you to all who took the time to enter. Edward Baliszewksi would have been greatly impressed.

There were three moves to consider: (a) bar/23, 13/11, 6/4(2); (b) bar/23, 13/11, 18/16(2)* and (c) bar/23, 18/16*, 6/4(2).

What is black’s game plan? Given that maroon’s two rear men are stranded where they started the obvious plan is to prime those two men (remember, prime an anchor, attack a lone back man). How do the three moves play to that plan?

(c) can quickly be discarded. Leaving four blots strewn around when your opponent has the stronger home board is not a good idea. (b) was chosen by just under half the entrants. It has the advantage of gaining ground in the race but doesn’t really set maroon any significant problems as black’s home board remains undeveloped.

(a) is the right move for the following reasons: it plays directly to the correct game plan by creating a broken four-point prime with the threat of quickly making it a five-point prime; it unstacks the 6-pt; it makes many of maroon’s subsequent rolls difficult to play and crucially, after all but the best of maroon’s rolls, it will give black a powerful double next turn and maroon, at best, will have a borderline take.

The ability to look ahead and see that move (a) would give maroon a very difficult cube decision next turn was the crucial factor that separated the winners from the very large number of correct entries.

Congratulations to the three winners: Malcolm Robertson, Richard Munitz and Demetris Kordoulos.

 
Many thanks to Chris Bray who writes the backgammon column in The Independent on Saturday magazine from which this article is reproduced with permission.

Quiz also available at: http://www.backgammoninlondon.com/quizzes/00.html