Newsletter for 19 October 2004

Time for the World Series of Backgammon

On Tuesday, 19 October 2004, the Backgammon Club of San Diego met.

Tournament News

11 people entered a 16-player main tournament on Tuesday night. We had the following tournament results:

Main Tournament (16 player bracket)
  • 1st place:  Jason Lee

  • 2nd place:  Stan Krimerman

  • 3rd place:  Sho Sengoku

    • Stan Krimerman finished 2nd place in each of the last two tournaments he has participated in.

    Current Master Points Standings 

     1. Sho Sengoku      96
 2. Jason Lee        87
 3. Bruce Haight     81
 4. Tom Fahland      71
 5. Adrian Costa     66
 6. Osman Guner      44
 7. Fred Kamgar      38
 8. Eric Sedehi      29
 9. Henry Chaboki    25
10. Bruce Discher    18
10. Cyrus Mobedshahi 18
12. Mark Weiner      11
13. Marcia Karen      9
14. Stan Krimerman    8
14. Ryan Knowles      8
14. Ned Cross         8
17. Kismet Hancer     6
17. Greg Kopp         6
19. Vito Volpetti     4
20. Chris Rosin       3
21. George Alessi     2
21. Jon Vietor        2
23. Maira Costa       1
23. Sam Mehri         1
    Jason Lee has scored points in six straight weeks, and has moved past Bruce Haight into 2nd place overall, just nine points behind Sho Sengoku for the top spot overall.

    The point leader at the end of the year will be named the BCSD Player of the Year, and the top 16 in the Master Point standings will be invited to the 2004 BCSD Tournament of Champions, to be held in early 2005.

    Problem of the Week

    +-24-23-22-21-20-19-+---+-18-17-16-15-14-13-+
    |2O3X2X2X2X2X|   |2O ' ' '1X '|
    |                   |   |                   |
    |                 |   |                 |
    | ' '3X2O3O2O| 4 |2O2O ' ' ' '|
    +--1--2--3--4--5--6-+---+--7--8--9-10-11-12-+

    Black leads 2-0 in a match to 21. Pip counts: White 119, Black 149
    Position ID: btsgAA7YbQMwMA Match ID: UgmgAgAAEAAA

    Last Week's Problem of the Week

    +-24-23-22-21-20-19-+---+-18-17-16-15-14-13-+
    |2O ' ' ' '5X|   | '3X1X ' '5O|
    |                   |   |                   |
    |                 | 1 |       4 4       |
    |1X1X ' ' '5O|   | '3O ' ' '4X|
    +--1--2--3--4--5--6-+---+--7--8--9-10-11-12-+

    Pip counts: White 162, Black 167
    Position ID: 4HPhASjgc/ABMA Match ID: cAnyAAAAAAAA

    White opens with a 4-1 and splits, and Black replies with a 4-4. What is the best move now? Consider different situations: Money, Gammon Go, Gammon Save, Double Match Point. Does it make a difference?

    For money:

    # Ply Move Equity
      1 4 24/16* 6/2*(2) +0.563
      0.624 0.217 0.012 - 0.376 0.093 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      2 4 24/16* 13/9(2) +0.484 ( -0.079)
      0.622 0.181 0.009 - 0.378 0.093 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      3 4 8/4(2) 6/2*(2) +0.443 ( -0.120)
      0.587 0.232 0.013 - 0.413 0.110 0.004  
      4-ply cubeful  
      4 4 24/16*(2) +0.410 ( -0.153)
      0.619 0.133 0.005 - 0.381 0.090 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  
      5 4 24/20(2) 13/9(2) +0.400 ( -0.163)
      0.602 0.145 0.004 - 0.398 0.066 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  

    At double match point:

    # Ply Move Equity
      1 4 24/16* 6/2*(2) +0.250
      0.625 0.209 0.012 - 0.375 0.092 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      2 4 24/16* 13/9(2) +0.244 ( -0.006)
      0.622 0.189 0.011 - 0.378 0.093 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      3 4 24/16*(2) +0.236 ( -0.014)
      0.618 0.135 0.005 - 0.382 0.091 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  
      4 4 24/20(2) 13/9(2) +0.205 ( -0.046)
      0.602 0.147 0.004 - 0.398 0.067 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  
      5 4 24/20(2) 6/2*(2) +0.188 ( -0.062)
      0.594 0.161 0.006 - 0.406 0.075 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  

    Gammon save:

    # Ply Move Equity
      1 4 24/20(2) 13/9(2) +0.072
      0.601 0.148 0.005 - 0.399 0.065 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  
      2 4 24/16* 6/2*(2) +0.066 ( -0.006)
      0.625 0.204 0.011 - 0.375 0.092 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      3 4 24/16* 13/9(2) +0.055 ( -0.017)
      0.622 0.190 0.011 - 0.378 0.094 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      4 4 24/16*(2) +0.052 ( -0.020)
      0.618 0.140 0.006 - 0.382 0.092 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      5 4 24/20(2) 6/2*(2) +0.039 ( -0.033)
      0.593 0.163 0.006 - 0.407 0.074 0.001  
      4-ply cubeful  

    And finally, gammon go:

    # Ply Move Equity
      1 4 24/16* 6/2*(2) +0.692
      0.620 0.226 0.013 - 0.380 0.096 0.003  
      4-ply cubeful  
      2 4 8/4(2) 6/2*(2) +0.646 ( -0.045)
      0.583 0.240 0.013 - 0.417 0.115 0.005  
      4-ply cubeful  
      3 4 24/16* 13/9(2) +0.603 ( -0.089)
      0.626 0.175 0.007 - 0.374 0.089 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  
      4 4 13/9(2) 6/2*(2) +0.567 ( -0.125)
      0.576 0.207 0.011 - 0.424 0.117 0.004  
      4-ply cubeful  
      5 4 24/20(2) 6/2*(2) +0.517 ( -0.175)
      0.591 0.168 0.006 - 0.409 0.078 0.002  
      4-ply cubeful  

    See you next week! Keep tossing those cubes,
    J. Lee

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