The Mill Hill Backgammon Club hosted its annual Christmas Open on Sunday 7th December at the Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomoolloo in Sydney. Here is organiser Mark Driver's report followed by the full results. [There may be some photos later if I can extricate them from my digital camera - SW]

Wally Cleans up Sydney Championship

When its time to clean up Wally Bartelme is a good man for the job. Wally runs his own business taking out the trash on the streets of Sydney. Sundays are usually his day of rest, but Sunday the 7th of December saw Wally hard at work and play in the Sydney Backgammon Championships.

We arrived at the venue bright and early to discover that the cleaners hadn't turned up to clean the mess from the night before. After unloading our truck full of backgammon gear Wally rolled up his sleeves and quickly got down and dirty with a mop, bucket and brush. Some eight hours later he was still hard at work, but now switched to mental mode cleaning up in the finals of the championship division.

This year marked a change of venue and format for the traditional December tournament. The event was hosted by the Old Fitzroy Hotel located in the Wooloomooloo district adjacent to the tourist Mecca of Kings Cross. Thanks to the manager Chris Fardon's, interest in the game (he prefers to play Acey-Ducey but we shouldn't hold that against him), the proprietors kindly agreed to sponsor the event by providing over $1,000 in extra prize money. This added incentive served to attract players from Melbourne and Canberra in addition to the usual veterans of the Sydney club scene.

A further goal of the organizers (i.e. me) was to attract the interest of casual players by providing an inexpensive introduction to formal tournament play in the form of a cube-less division. To ensure the 64-player field would fill, players eliminated from the main championship division would be permitted and encouraged to sign up. The combination of an abbreviated match length; 3-points, and no doubling would go some way to reduce the advantages enjoyed by more experienced players whilst giving casual players a taste of tough opposition.

Matches in the highly competitive Championship division were set at 9-points. By late afternoon the 32-player field had been whittled down to four strong contenders. 'Super' Marijo Udovicic, the 2002 Sydney Champion verses Charlie Brown, the self-proclaimed 'local boy makes good' candidate; and Ryan Jones, armed with plenty of experience on the European tournament circuit against 'Wild Sex' Wally Bartelme founding member of the Mill Hill backgammon club.

Marijo and Charlie pitched in battle across the chouette table is a familiar site to regulars of the Mill Hill club but their tournament style is a picture of contrast. Marijo's steely demeanor and intent focus is the polar opposite of Charlie's natural flamboyance and trademark tendency to play to the crowd. On this day Charlie's flair prevailed to secure him a seat in the final. In jubilant mood he rushed across the room to check out the opposition.

Wally seemed to be struggling. Trailing 0-7 and faced with a complex prime verses prime position he decided the time had come to launch an all out attack with the cube. From this moment onwards his fortune dramatically changed as he sailed to a 9-7 victory. "Deserved winner brutally cut down by the cruel winds of fate" Ryan joked as he rose from the table. Charlie was astonished and jumped into negotiations to hedge the prize money. It was a good move as the final witnessed Wally sweep his way to a commanding 9-5 victory.

Meanwhile back at the cube-less division the Mill Hill's 'Player of the Year 2003' Ian Dunstan, had gradually worked his way through the diverse field of casual and experienced players beating Robby Solomon in the final to add another backgammon trophy to his growing collection.

Many thanks go out to the management and staff of the Old Fitzroy Hotel for their hospitality, generous support and financial sponsorship of this event. And to Simon Woodhead for assistance with publicity and photography. Simon had to rush off on vacation after the event, but his photographs will be available on the Sydney Backgammon web site in the near future. Thanks also to all the players both old and new without whose participation the event couldn't have taken place.

2003 Sydney Backgammon Championships Results

Championship Division

Champion - Wally Bartelme
Runner-up - Charlie Brown
Semi-finalists - Ryan Jones and Marijo Udovicic

Cube-less Division

Champion - Ian Dunstan
Runner-up - Robby Solomon
Semi-finalists - Alex Ivanovski and Gabriella Nagatta

8-Player Jackpot

Winner Ian Dunstan
Runner-up - Jim Bean