Tric Trac Tourno 36 Report

This was a Live Tric Trac Tourno held at Ryan's Bar in Stoke Newington London. Live TTTs are a long way behind Online TTTs in terms of attendance - but then again there have been 33 Online ones and this was only the 3rd Live one. I'm finding that people who have played in one TTT usually return to play in more - the difficulty is in trying to get folk to play in their first TTT. 

We were better set up for this Live TTT. Yabble made up 4 Celtic and 4 Rasta Backpacker Backgammon Wooden Sets with side boxes for stones and dice so every table in Ryan's Bar had a backgammon board on it ready for players. The T.D. desk was of course the Backpacker Backgammon Boards Stall equipped with a laptop and a monitor so players could see the Score-chart as it happened.  

At 7.30 we had 6 players - about half the turnout I had been hoping for. Other players had been delayed by their work and Parents Meetings. As those already there we happily chatting away about this and that we held on until 8.15 when we had 9 players - enough make a good TTT. This is not to say I'm keen to have a sloppy start time in the future - I think it's important to start at the time you say you will start otherwise you end up starting at 10.00 p.m.

 GandP is a past TTT winner  - The Live TTT at Funcom Backgammon Live In London (TTT20) and TTT24 and Grant has been runner-up in it seems dozens of TTTs. Stanolli has played in numerous TTTs as has Yabble who has also been a TTT Scorer. Solly played in the last Live TTT. Chris, Bambos, Kyri and Shahin were all new to TTTs so a quick explanation was given to them. Off we set.

The biggest surprise from the first few games was that gandp lost twice. This from the man who I pip to one day be the first to win a TTT without losing a single game. Tonight was not going to be that night. 

Game 9 was a noisy one being played on a Sheshbesh wooden board. That's not the full reason why it was noisy, that was because Solly was involved ! Not one to hold back his emotions I (and everybody else) could tell when Solly got a good or bad roll. The end of the game was hailed with a huge wail from Solly as Bambos backgammoned him and Bambos was off to the best possible start.

Meanwhile players ordered their Thai dinner - we were supposed to have a Thai Buffet, but the Chef had forgotten to prepare the buffet so we chose from the menu. 

Back at the tables Yabble beat Shahin by a gammon so won 2 points and was invited to select a miniature bottle from the prize table as her reward - I knew it would be the gin. Grant promptly beat Chris by a gammon and also selected a miniature. Meanwhile the Thai dinners were arriving and some were eating and some were playing. Solly, who likes his food, was eating.   

By Game 18 Bambos had now lost a couple of games and his lead did not look so impressive. In game 20 Grant won his 4th game (no losses) and his average became the best. Kyri was falling behind in games played but was looking like a solid backgammon player who might do well in the last few games. Stanolli was doing o.k. but was in need of a gammon. Solly was getting used to doing the "Walk of Shame" to report yet another loss.

Meals finished, in Game 23 Kyri gammoned Chris and came to claim his prize of a miniature of Vodka. In Game 26 gandp, who had been quite for him so far, made his move and gammoned Kyri. Chris liked this idea and in the next game gammoned Bambos. Scores were evening up now. As is often the case we had a hat-trick of gammons and in Game 28 that gandp gammoned Solly. Now others needed to catch up gandp. 

Gandp, having now played all his games was tempted by the Table Football sitting idle in the corner. So we had Table Football going as well as backgammon and Solly's laughter.

In the last 4 games there were various high scores were needed to come equal or beat gandp's score. Players were consulting the Standings Score-chart before they played to understand what they needed to play for. Spectators were crowding round tables and willing one or another player on. Gandp was calling "Come on you whites." A Final Play-off looked a possibility and I cleared the central round table should that happen. As dice were throw so games swung and players had to think twice before moving because they were chasing gammons and backgammons. Stanolli had the upper hand in this department because of his TTT experience but he couldn't get the rolls he needed. Kyri, a good player of the game, was learning on his toes and doing very well but didn't have the TTT experience. As it turned out there were no gammons or backgammons in the last 4 games so gandp was our winner.

gandp wins a Tric Trac Tourno Trophy and a bottle of Bollinger Champagne.
Grant came in his (now traditional) 2nd place and won a bottle of wine.
Bambos, Chris, Kyri and Stanolli came in equal 3rd.
Yabble and Shanin tied for 7th place.
And Solly won a bag of marbles for finishing in 9th place.

So it all went well. All players had a lot of backgammon fun, a good Thai Dinner and there were 8 miniature bottles, a bottle of wine, a bottle of champagne, and a trophy won. 
All this for just  £10 a head. 

I've not yet set a date for the next Live TTT, but I will let players know when it is. I'll look into, as requested, running it on a Sunday. If you all bring along just one friend it will be even bigger and better. Meanwhile I'll target some other backgammon players too.


Thanx to all the players who took part. 


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