Ken Larsen's web site -  Carolina Invitational Backgammon Tournaments

 

January 13-15, 2006:  At the persuasion of Ray Reed, one of my World League internet backgammon cronies, I entered my first live backgammon tournament in 23 years – the Carolina Invitational, an event on the American Backgammon Tour (ABT) and hosted by Jeb Horton, his family, his associates and the Charlotte Backgammon Club.  The tournament was extremely well run, and I returned to play it again in 2007 and 2008. 

 

My results:

 

2006:  I win the Cardinal Classic Tournament, but win nothing in the Advanced Division tournament where my record was 3 wins and 3 losses.  In a warm-up tournament I win one, lose 1.

 

January 12-14, 2007:  I win the Cardinal Classic for the second straight year, but I again fail to place in the Advanced Division tournament.  My 2007 record is 5 wins and 3 losses.  My three losses are to:

January 18-20, 2008:  I return to try to win the Cardinal Classic for the third straight year, but fail.  I win my first three matches, but then lose in the semifinals to Stacy Turner 11-8.  He went on to win the 2008 Cardinal Classic.  I try my hand also in the Open Division, but lose all three of my matches:

 

Here are pictures and more stories:

 

Plaques that I was awarded for winning the 2006 and 2007 Cardinal Classic tournaments.

Two days prior to the tournament my Sony Cybershot digital camera was stolen from the locked trunk of my Honda Accord while it was parked in my driveway, so I wasn't able to take any of my own pictures of the 2007 tournament.

 

2006:  Tournament chairman Jeb Horton (left) presenting me with a plaque for winning the Cardinal Classic – a tournament for people who previously had not placed in an open or master’s tournament.

 

Rainer Stachowitz (left) was my opponent in the 2006 final match, a titanic struggle that lasted 14 games:

 

1.     0-1 (Ken-Rainer)

2.     1-1

3.     2-1

4.     2-2

5.     3-2

6.     3-3

7.     4-3

8.     4-5

9.     5-5

10.    6-5

11.    6-6

12.    7-6

13.    7-7

14.    9-7 Whew!!

 

Rainer is a tough competitor.  I was very fortunate to beat him.
2007:  I beat the very genial Marvin Widenhouse in the finals of the Cardinal Classic:
  1. 0-1 (Ken-Marvin)
  2. 1-1
  3. 2-1
  4. 2-2
  5. 2-3
  6. 3-3
  7. 5-3
  8. 7-3
  9. 8-3
  10. 10-3
  11. 10-5
  12. 10-7
  13. 10-8
  14. 11-8

 

2008:  I don't know who these players are, but this picture shows a video camera being used to record the match.  Some of the top players do this so that they can later compare their moves with Snowie (see note at the bottom of this page). 

 

Also shown is a backgammon scoreboard showing that the player on the right is leading 6-0 in a match to 11.

 

View of playing room in 2008. The tournament was held at the Hilton at University Place.  It's a marvelous venue - very nice accommodations and adjacent to a large shopping area with numerous restaurants and a manmade lake. 

 

View of the scoreboard and administrative area in 2008.

 

2006:  Robin Horton, wife of tournament director Jeb Horton and co-chairperson.  The Hortons and the rest of their volunteer staff did a fabulous job.  The 2006 tournament drew 105 entrants, and the 2007 tournament drew 108.  Participation has increased steadily over the last six years – attributable to their consummate organizational skills and their desire to make the tournament an enjoyable experience for all.  The 2008 tournament will no doubt draw an even larger field.

 

The most important lesson I learned from my Charlotte experience:  The top ranked players each own a copy of Snowie (a $ 380 piece of software) and actively use it to study their past matches and learn from their mistakes.  They'll use a digital camera or video recorder to take pictures of board positions in live matches and later review those positions on Snowie.

 

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