July 15th, 2009
WSOB is Back!
by WSOB REPORTER, WILL COCKERELL
“Double!”
“Of course. You can only win with a 66; the stake is 200,000 rupees, do you have the cash?”
James Bond’s error-rate soars against Kamal Khan, in Octopussy.
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Hello, Will Cockerell here, welcoming you to the return of the world’s greatest backgammon extravaganza. The 2008 edition saw 295 go-lucky gammoners attempting to roll their way to the 100,000 euro jackpot in the WSOB championship, which was finally won, under a rising sun, by French fashion photographer Frederic Andrieu.
I wrote about WSOB’s opening night in November 2007, with the anticipation of a little kid on Christmas morning, and the action that followed never faltered. The roll call of names who gave us such spell-binding drama over the three events spring easily to mind: the smiling assassin John Hurst, Maria Krancheva’s infamous meltdown, Christian Plenz’s sportsmanship in the UK Masters final, the battle of the Galacticos Falafel and Tardieu - bizarrely ending in a time-out; and then on to Helsingor and Tassilo Rzymann’s stunning triumph against all the odds as he defeated not just the far bigger guns of Cato, Jacobowitz (he of the friskiest ‘take’ in WSOB history) and Mathieson, but also his own screaming bladder.
And then a year ago at the Palm Beach, we had the roller-coaster of the WSOB race reaching its climax as the world’s greatest players fought like bounding cougars to reach the last 16 shoot-out. We had a final to savour in the Riviera Cup as UBK (Unflappable Bob Koca) squared up in a DMP-humdinger to TGD (The Great Dane [Gus Hansen]). The masterful Mochy missed out on the final table by a whisker, and the likes Von der Fehr, Hildsberg, Jeppeson, Check, D’Ancona, Heard and Kolonias all came so very close, just one good roll away for some.
As for the WSOB final-table last 16 shoot-out, it is documented in detail elsewhere on this site, but many would agree it to be the modern game’s finest hour. Magnificent drama, incredible skill, and yes, some of the most inter-galactic clunkers you’ll ever see over the checkers. Whoever said BG’s easy?!
Why is backgammon such a great game? Simple. It is the perfect mix of skill and fortune. Yes, lady luck plays a part, but not so much that it all becomes a ‘free-for-all’. Let’s compare it to a couple of other pastimes: marathon running and poker. In marathon running the ratio of skill-to-fortune is about 99.92 - 0.08. Not exactly romantic. My 5 previous finishes at the London marathon, in a field of 36,000 have been: 48th, 56th, 36th, 58th, 65th. Best position: the top 0.10%, and worst position the top 0.18%. Snore! Compare that to the World Series of Poker Main event where the percentage swings are off the scale: a fairly strong player could win, yes, but he could also easily finish in the bottom 250 finishers of a field of 6,500, due to one sick parlay. That’s a swing of over 96% - well over a 1,000 times greater than the marathon example.
At the WSOB we offer a middle ground to the above case studies: the top pros know they’re going to do ok (as evidenced by last year when legendary match-players Bredahl, Falafel and Mochy placed 2nd, 4th, and 7th in the WSOB race); but there is also room for a feel-good story of an amateur/semi amateur “hitting it large”, like a Rzymann or an Andrieu. I know I’ll never hit the prize money at the London Marathon, but if I put the same amount of work in to my backgammon, I COULD be a World Series champion, and so could you!
There is much to look forward to for WSOB ’09. Some of the highlights include:
** The launch at Cannes of our new BG online platform, where you’ll be able to qualify online for entry into the minimum €160,000 16 player WSOB Championship in London, which this year has the flexibility of expanding to 32 players/ €320,000, depending on demand.
In short, the top 24 players from the WSOB Race qualify for an online play-off on October 25th, boiling down to 4 slots for the WSOB championship; and another minimum of 8, but potentially rising to 24 are slated to qualify for the WSOB championships via super-satellites online, and at WSOB live events in Cannes, Prague and London.
** A gorgeous new WSOB venue at the “landmark in itself” Corinthia Hotel in Prague – a mere two months away.
** So far an incredible 188 players have put their names down for Cannes – paving the way for the rare 200-barrier to be broken.
**All to be overseen by WBF boss Marco Fornasir as Tournament Director.
We can all do our bit to secure WSOB’s future for not just this year but for the next 10, 25...50 years. We ask that you put your faith and trust in the magnificent game of backgammon, and for our part at WSOB we will remain forever humble that our future depends on you the backgammon community, and will work as hard as we can to continue to deliver a first-rate product.
We are delighted to welcome you back to WSOB 2009 and are certain we can offer something you’ll like: terrific action, incredible personalities from all over the world, great value, and a chance to win some huge cash prizes. The memories of 2007/08 are still fresh and we can’t wait to see you at Palm Beach, Prague and London and to learn who will be crowned WSOB champion 2009. We didn’t let you down in 2008, and we won’t in 2009.
Will Cockerell, 15th July, 2009
