2nd Merit Open – Glimpes from Backgammon Paradise

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2nd Merit Open achieved great success for backgammon community. After the first Merit Open Tournament last year, I had thought it was a great opportunity for the backgammon world. Witnessing an increasing care and quality in the second version, I had a recollection of my nearly twenty years of backgammon adventure. Compared to what I have envisioned then this tournament was a peak experience for me as a player. Therefore, it is a good point for me to thank the organizers and all backgammon community for making it happen. What remains is to make sure that these events are repeatable and improvements are contagious. Then we can talk about an official acceptance of backgammon similar to the “noble” game of chess.

Apart from the quality of execution, Merit Open was a very big tournament by size. 325 players from 33 countries provided a good answer to the “decline” of backgammon during recent years. Among 235 players in the Championship flight Athanasios Katsios (Greece) won the tournament by winning against Henrik Veje (Denmark). In the Intermediate flight 16-year old Zdenek Zizka (Czech Republic) won the tournament. 104 team huge Doubles event was won by Volker Sonnabend and Rainer Witt from Germany. 32 player Super Jackpot went to Steen Grønbech (Denmark). As as indication of how backgammon improved in Turkey, three players Cüneyt Argun Genç, Atila Malçok and Gültekin Uygur reached to top eight in the Championship level. You can see the complete results at the bottom of the page.

The tournament was well organized and well executed. Both Merit Park Casino and WBF tried very hard to please everybody. Opening and prize giving ceremonies were fabulous. There was more to the eye than the words can tell. Before presenting some pictures from the 2^nd Merit Open, I would like to remind our community that we need to think about sustainability of these kind of great events. As the winner Katsios put it what we witnessed there in North Cyprus was the “backgammon paradise”. Objectively admitting the contribution of all parties involved in the producing of such good results and building on top of that, we can make more than one paradise. More is better!

WBF – 2nd MERIT OPEN INTERNATIONAL BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIP
October 29-November 2, 2014; Kyrenia, North Cyprus

MASTERS (235): 1-Athanasios Katsios (Greece), 2-Henrik Veje (Denmark), 3-Michihito Kageyama (Japan), 4/5-Cuneyt Argun Genç (Turkey) / Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria), 6/8-Paul Gilbertson (England) / Atila Malçok (Turkey) / Gültekin Uygur (Turkey), 9/12-Boris Mamporia (Russia) / Ary Nogueira (Brazil) / Kimon Papachristopoulos (Germany) / Jacek Wojciechowski (Poland); 1LC-Jürgen Orlowski (Germany), 2LC-Franz Munk Rediin (Denmark), 3LC/4LC-Mehmet Ali Akpolat (Turkey) / Konstantinos Mitrelis (Greece); Ladies Prize: Maya Peycheva (Bulgaria).

INTERMEDIATE (71): 1-Zdenek Zizka (Czech Republic), 2-Kazuko Numazawa (Japan), 3-Sergey Grinev (Russia), 4/5-Gagik Harutyunyan (Armenia) / Kader Türk (France), 6/8-Franco Candeo (Italy) / Ahmet Sirmaçek (Turkey) / Marc Werner (Germany); 1LC-Cengiz Dindar (Turkey), 2LC-Sigrid Seyrling (Austria); Ladies Prize: Kazuko Numazawa (Japan).

SUPER-JACKPOT (32): 1-Steen Grønbech (Denmark), 2-Shahab Ghodsi (Norway), 3/4-Stepan Nuniyants (USA) / Akiko Yazawa (Japan).

LADIES TOURNAMENT (26): 1-Scarlett Serrero (France), 2-Eva Zizkova (Czech Republic), 3/4-Carol Joy Cole (USA) / Marie Gustafsson (Sweden).

WARM-UP (270): 1-Mario Sequeira (Portugal), 2-Dario Bertola (Italy), 3/4-Gagik Harutyunyan (Armenia) / Sami Sallak (Germany).

869BG TROPHY (128): 1-Scarlett Serrero (France), 2-Philippe Vouhé (France), 3/4-Timur Bulekbaev (Russia) / Boris Martinello (Italy).

PRESIDENT’S ONE-POINT MATCH (128): 1-Gökhan Kazandag (Turkey), 2-Kemal Aksu (Turkey), 3/4-Honza Czerny (Czech Republic) / Boris Martinello (Italy).

MERIT “ION RESSU MEMORIAL” DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP (104 teams): 1-Volker Sonnabend (Germany) & Rainer Witt (Germany), 2- Philip Kazemieh (Germany) & Thomas Kazemieh (Germany), 3/4-Carol Joy Cole (USA) & Bob Wachtel (USA) / Athanasios Katsios (Greece) & Ioannis Passialias (Greece).

MOCHY’S QUIZ (102): 1-Franck Stepler (France), 2-Honza Czerny (Czech Republic), 3-Michel Serrero (France).

Note: I would like to thank Ian MacFarlane and Şebnem Büyüksoy for their photos.

: Athanasios Katsios (Greece) won the tournament. Yunan komşumuz Athanasios Katsios turnuvayı kazandı.

: Tournament room getting ready. Turnuva salonu hazırlanıyor.

: Sunset to dusk. Gruba karşı bu son bahçelerde...

: View from our room.

: My wife Şebnem getting the last rays of November sun. Eşim Şebnem bu kış vaktinde güneşin keyfini çıkarıyor.

: Wish tree for players 🙂 Oyuncular için dilek ağacı. Ben ip yerine dal bağladım, sonuç hüsran 🙂

: Maya Peycheva warns her opponents with her t-shirt statements 🙂 Maya rakiplerini kendini daha ciddiye almaları konusunda uyarıyor.

: Nice backgammon boards are everywhere. Hareketli tavla sehpaları keyif için oynayanların hizmetinde.

: Sunbathing in the afternoon. Güneşe tünaydın.

: Experts attending Mochy's quiz had hard times 🙂 Mochy'nin sınavı uzmanlar için bazen daha zordu 🙂

: The winner Franck is closely inspecting the tie breaker question. Sınavı birincilikle geçen Franck beraberliği bozacak soruyu inceliyor.

: Together with my ex-colleague Ömer Kandırmaz from OBSS. Eski iş arkadaşım Ömer Kandırmaz ile danışman çiftlerde iyi mücadele ettik.

: Cüneyt Argun Genç and Bob Wachtel starting a tough match.

: Tournament room live. Turnuvayı turnuva yapan insandır.

: Having fun at breakfast with Ömer Mert Gülaçtı. Arkadaşımla sabah kahvaltıda eğleniyor ve dertleşiyoruz. Konu malum: Düşeş attım yek geldi 🙂

: Celebrating Republic Day with Şebnem. 29 Ekim kutlaması.

: Last night dancing. No chronological order in these photographs 🙂 Son gece dans edenler. Fotoğraflarda sıra yoktur, her an başa dönebiliriz.

: Famous Kürşat Başar performs after the prize ceremony. Meşhurlardan biri ödül töreni sonrası güzel bir solo atıyor.

: A famous singer Güvenç Dağüstün. Yine bir meşhur şarkılar söylüyor.

: Antoinette is capturing the belly dancer. Dansözü kaydeden meşhur sima Antoinette Monte Carlo Dünya Şampiyonası 'na dansöz getireceklerini söyledi 🙂

: Robert Wachtel signing his last book "In the Game Until the End - volume 2". What a good name reflecting the nature of backgammon. Robert Wachtel son kitabı "Sonuna Kadar Oyunda - 2. volüm" adlı kitabını imzalıyor. Tavlanın doğasına ne kadar da uygun bir isim.

: Happy winner. Mutlu şampiyon.

: Being a champion is nice. Congratulations! Ne güzel şeydir şampiyon olmak. Tebrikler!

: Last year's champion Sergey Erokhin. Geçen senenin şampiyonu.

: Katsios and other Championship winners.

: Katsios.

: Faruk Perkin (right) is posing for a WBF classic shot.. Faruk Abi'miz klasik tavla pozunu kimbilir kaçıncı kez veriyor 🙂

: High prize. Yüksek ödül.

: Cengiz Ergin is playing very serious and Kemal Aksu is paying full attention. Cengiz ve Kemal Abi'lerimiz iş başındalar 🙂

: Time stops when you are playing backgammon.. Tavlanın zamanı dondurduğu bir an. Bu muhteşem fotoğraf ve diğerleri için Merit Casino 'ya teşekkürler.

: Another moment captured while it was soaring over. Süzülmekte iken yakalanmış bir güzel an daha.

: A black and white moment, yin yang of backgammon. Tavlanın kutupsallığını gösteren siyah beyaz bir sanat parçası.

: Beauty! Güzellik!

: 50th anniversary party. 50. evlilik yıldönümü kutlaması.

: It is wonderful when four birthdays are also added. Dört doğum günü de eklenince muhteşem oldular.

: Happiness lasting time. Zamana direnen mutluluk.

: Tournament room with view. Manzaralı turnuva salonu.

: 16-year old talent who won the Intermediate category at his first tournament. 16 yaşında ilk turnuvasında Orta kademeyi kazanan genç yetenek.

: Tournament room with view. Manzaralı turnuva salonu.

: Tournament room with view. Manzaralı turnuva salonu.

: Draw time! Kura çekiliyor!

: A big crowd is playing. Büyük bir kalabalık tavlaya oturmuş.

: Happiness! Mutluluk!

: Watching a game: Ömer and Kazuko.

: Metiner and Ahmet is having fun. Boy farkından komediye yolculuk 🙂

: Final match. Final maçı.

: Backgammon quartet. Mahşerin dört tavlacısı.

: Broadcast area. Canlı yayın alanı.

: Tournament room buffet helps those who cannot eat from the restaurant. Restorandan yiyemeyenler için turnuva büfesi.

: Finalist Henrik Veje (Denmark) at left. Finalist Henrik Veje (Danimarka) solda.

: Under aged Intemediate champion is drinking cola. Küçük Orta kademe şampiyonu kola içerek kutlama yapıyor.

: The little girl once tried to steal my trophy in Velden in 2011 🙂 Küçük kız 2011 yılında ödülümü çalmaya çalışmıştı 🙂

: En öndeki masayı görgüsüzce kaptık 🙂

: Our table in front.

: Greeks are celebrating the victory. Yunanlar birinciliği kutluyorlar.

: Relaxed. Rehavet.

: Laurence Sinitzky (France) at left.

: Before the prize giving ceremony Western style music was served. Ödül töreni öncesi kibar Batı'lı müzikler çaldılar. Keşke bunların yerine bizim saz eserlerimiz olsaydı.

: Tournament team. Turnuva ekibi.

: Prizes and Arda Fındıkoğlu. Ödüller ve Arda.

: Antoinette is having fun as always. Her zamanki gibi eğlencenin belini kırıyor Antoinette 🙂

: Carol and I got special player awards together.

: Applause from our table. Since I am missing I must be on the podium. Thanks 🙂

: Applause for a very special player. Çok özel bir oyuncuyu alkışlarken.

: Mert, Ömer and Ebru at our table.

: A very special player. Çok özel bir oyuncu.

: Special player award winners. Özel oyuncu ödülü alanlar.

: I am following Bob 🙂

: One point finalist and winner

: Ladies finalist Eva Zizkova (Czech Republic) at left and the winner Scarlett Serrero (France). Marco Bayanlar turnuvası finalisti ve birincisi ile.

: Mochy's quiz finalist and winner. Quiz ikincisi Honza Czerny (Çek Cumhuriyeti) ve Franck Stepler (Fransa).

: 869BG board tournament winner Scarlett Serrero and finalist Philippe Vouhé. Tavlayı bu kız kaptı, adam da kızı kapmaya çalışırken yakalandı.

: Warm-up tournament: 1-Mario Sequeira (Portugal), 2-Dario Bertola (Italy).

: Super jackpot finalists are trying very hard to get hold of the trophy. Süper jackpot sonucu daha belli değildi ödül töreni sırasında. Kapışma bundan. Sonunda gülen yine sağdaki oyuncu oldu: 1-Steen Grønbech (Denmark), 2-Shahab Ghodsi (Norway).

: Doubles teams from Germany: 1-Volker Sonnabend & Rainer Witt 2- Philip Kazemieh & Thomas Kazemieh.

: Intermediate last chance finalist: Sigrid Seyrling (Austria).

: Intermediate last chance winner: Cengiz Dindar (Turkey).

: Intermediate winner: Zdenek Zizka (Czech Republic).

: Intermediate winners

: Intermediate ladies prize: Kazuko Numazawa (Japan).

: Arda and his cute friend David.

: Akiko and Massoud.

: Championship last chance winner: Jürgen Orlowski (Germany).

: Championship 6th place Gültekin Uygur (Turkey).

: Championship 6th place Atila Malçok (Turkey). Yazdığı gibi yaptı, başarılı oldu 🙂 Bakınız tavlavehayat.com

: Championship 4th place Cüneyt Argun Genç (Turkey).

: Championship 3rd place goes to Michihito Kageyama (Japan) at left. Another Merit winner Michael "Mik" Larsen (Denmark) is trying to compensate his height disadvantage by taking absolute measures 🙂 Soldaki Michy rakiplerinin bütün engellemelerine rağmen bu turnuvanın üçüncüsü oldu.:)