Competitive Backgammon in The USA
Com pe t it ive Ba ck ga m m on in Th e USA
Did The Chicago Bar Point Club Spoil Me? Perhaps
it did, because it is a very well- run club. Cert ainly I
am old and m aybe m y peers j ust died; but nope, I
see t hem as I t ry t o reconnect wit h t he gam e. I
played com pet it ive backgam m on a decade ago for
a few years; I always liked t he gam e. Most of you
won’t know m e because I was never anyt hing
m ore t han a sm all fry of t he gam e am ong in t he
land of t he Giant s. I did have great t eachers, yet I
was a poor st udent . I like m at h, however I enj oy
playing m ore by feel t han crunching num bers. This
caused m y t eachers ( Abbas Zalt ash and Mary
Hickey) t o resign t hem selves t o m y short com ings.
The Chicago Bar Point is a prem ier club due t o t he
qualit y of t he players and how it is run. My friend
Jon Viet or quips “ I t ’s a t ough chouet t e” and it sure
can be t here. I really j oined t here because a
gent lem an I adm ire great ly who we call “ The King”
played t here occasionally ( Bill Bart holom ay) . I ran
int o som e ot hers I had m et before t here t oo, who
were delight ed t o light en m y wallet . Aft er a t im e, I
decided t o t ry a t ournam ent and aft er t alking t o
Abby we decided on Novi. I was fresh m eat and
played in t he novice, doubles wit h Abby ( who
refused t o help m e m uch) insist ing t hat I would not
learn anyt hing if we only used his brainpower. I
bought Neil Kaz in t he auct ion and he did not cash.
I did have fun on m y m aiden voyage t hough. I lost
in t he sem is at Springfield, but paid for m y t rip. I
was swam ped in Vegas and I did win t he Beginner
Division in t he Chicago Open. Of course t here was
a price, now I was considered an int erm ediat e. I
was quit e excit ed t o earn m y 3.13 ABT point s and
be ( albeit a very sm all) part of BG hist ory.
I was playing quit e a bit online at Gam esgrid,
played in Novi again having a hoot wit h Howard
Shirey in t he doubles, but did not cash ( Trina high
j acked Abbas) . I played in NY where m y brot her
was m urdered in t he World Trade Cent er ( Cant or) .
Pops and t he fam ily t ook it t ough and Pops had a
fall as m y fam ily was im ploding. The fall caused
him t o lose his m em ory and it t ook 4 years and a
m ove t o Arizona t o cure him . There are plent y of
t raders who knew m y brot her when he was at t he
BOT, and Phil Sim borg was one. The Point is a
pret t y sm all, but act ive com m unit y and as we say
in Chit own “ Big cit y ~ Sm all t own” . By t he t im e,
Pops was bet t er Gam esgrid was breaking up and I
j ust st opped playing ( not m uch live act ion in
Nogales or Havana) . I spend m uch of m y t im e in
Havana, Cuba and in t hose days int ernet was very
challenging t here.
Fast forward t o t his March and I decided t o st art
playing BG again. Pops had died aft er a long bat t le
wit h Alzheim er’s, m y m om had died of a broken
heart aft er losing her favorit e son and aft er t welve
years of caring for m y dad, m y libert y has
ret urned. I was off t he grid as t hey say. Well, I
heard Gabriella had t aken over Gam esgrid and
renam ed it . Aft er days of t rying t o rem em ber m y
password I w rot e her, no response. I explained m y
sit uat ion t o Mam abear ( Mary) who t old m e
Gabriella’s healt h was failing and darn if she knew
who t o call. ( Mary is st ill m y favorit e hick) . I wrot e
GridGam m on four weeks ago and no response. I
wrot e t he USBGF ( who’s websit e is kaput ) at t heir
Facebook page, no response. I t ried t o call, nope. I
t ried t he ABT Facebook page and called, no
response. I wrot e Carol, nope, but she was happy
t o hear from m e. I called Howard, nope. I finally
j oined Gam m on Sit e on a t rial basis, ( m y handle is
Spencer) . Believe m e I wish I was playing on m y
Bob Zavoral board, but I need t o shake t he rust
off, first .
I t racked down Tam i Jones t oday, hoping she
m ight have a sneaky num ber, nah. You see, I ’d
really like t o play on GridGam m on, heck I even
spoke t o Kenny who said he was off t he grid t oo.
My point is t hat it sure should not be t his difficult
t o get back int o t he gam e and wow ie for t hose who
have no cont act s! I t seem s t here are t oo m any
Nat ive Am ericans and not enough chiefs. Perhaps I
should j ust sm ile and say not hing, be a good
soldier, but I do writ e for a living and som eone
needs t o clim b up on t he Old Nort h Church’s roof
and wave t he lant erns. What a great sham e t o be
t he ret ching crane. I sure m iss Abbas.
Did The Chicago Bar Point Club Spoil Me? Perhaps
it did, because it is a very well- run club. Cert ainly I
am old and m aybe m y peers j ust died; but nope, I
see t hem as I t ry t o reconnect wit h t he gam e. I
played com pet it ive backgam m on a decade ago for
a few years; I always liked t he gam e. Most of you
won’t know m e because I was never anyt hing
m ore t han a sm all fry of t he gam e am ong in t he
land of t he Giant s. I did have great t eachers, yet I
was a poor st udent . I like m at h, however I enj oy
playing m ore by feel t han crunching num bers. This
caused m y t eachers ( Abbas Zalt ash and Mary
Hickey) t o resign t hem selves t o m y short com ings.
The Chicago Bar Point is a prem ier club due t o t he
qualit y of t he players and how it is run. My friend
Jon Viet or quips “ I t ’s a t ough chouet t e” and it sure
can be t here. I really j oined t here because a
gent lem an I adm ire great ly who we call “ The King”
played t here occasionally ( Bill Bart holom ay) . I ran
int o som e ot hers I had m et before t here t oo, who
were delight ed t o light en m y wallet . Aft er a t im e, I
decided t o t ry a t ournam ent and aft er t alking t o
Abby we decided on Novi. I was fresh m eat and
played in t he novice, doubles wit h Abby ( who
refused t o help m e m uch) insist ing t hat I would not
learn anyt hing if we only used his brainpower. I
bought Neil Kaz in t he auct ion and he did not cash.
I did have fun on m y m aiden voyage t hough. I lost
in t he sem is at Springfield, but paid for m y t rip. I
was swam ped in Vegas and I did win t he Beginner
Division in t he Chicago Open. Of course t here was
a price, now I was considered an int erm ediat e. I
was quit e excit ed t o earn m y 3.13 ABT point s and
be ( albeit a very sm all) part of BG hist ory.
I was playing quit e a bit online at Gam esgrid,
played in Novi again having a hoot wit h Howard
Shirey in t he doubles, but did not cash ( Trina high
j acked Abbas) . I played in NY where m y brot her
was m urdered in t he World Trade Cent er ( Cant or) .
Pops and t he fam ily t ook it t ough and Pops had a
fall as m y fam ily was im ploding. The fall caused
him t o lose his m em ory and it t ook 4 years and a
m ove t o Arizona t o cure him . There are plent y of
t raders who knew m y brot her when he was at t he
BOT, and Phil Sim borg was one. The Point is a
pret t y sm all, but act ive com m unit y and as we say
in Chit own “ Big cit y ~ Sm all t own” . By t he t im e,
Pops was bet t er Gam esgrid was breaking up and I
j ust st opped playing ( not m uch live act ion in
Nogales or Havana) . I spend m uch of m y t im e in
Havana, Cuba and in t hose days int ernet was very
challenging t here.
Fast forward t o t his March and I decided t o st art
playing BG again. Pops had died aft er a long bat t le
wit h Alzheim er’s, m y m om had died of a broken
heart aft er losing her favorit e son and aft er t welve
years of caring for m y dad, m y libert y has
ret urned. I was off t he grid as t hey say. Well, I
heard Gabriella had t aken over Gam esgrid and
renam ed it . Aft er days of t rying t o rem em ber m y
password I w rot e her, no response. I explained m y
sit uat ion t o Mam abear ( Mary) who t old m e
Gabriella’s healt h was failing and darn if she knew
who t o call. ( Mary is st ill m y favorit e hick) . I wrot e
GridGam m on four weeks ago and no response. I
wrot e t he USBGF ( who’s websit e is kaput ) at t heir
Facebook page, no response. I t ried t o call, nope. I
t ried t he ABT Facebook page and called, no
response. I wrot e Carol, nope, but she was happy
t o hear from m e. I called Howard, nope. I finally
j oined Gam m on Sit e on a t rial basis, ( m y handle is
Spencer) . Believe m e I wish I was playing on m y
Bob Zavoral board, but I need t o shake t he rust
off, first .
I t racked down Tam i Jones t oday, hoping she
m ight have a sneaky num ber, nah. You see, I ’d
really like t o play on GridGam m on, heck I even
spoke t o Kenny who said he was off t he grid t oo.
My point is t hat it sure should not be t his difficult
t o get back int o t he gam e and wow ie for t hose who
have no cont act s! I t seem s t here are t oo m any
Nat ive Am ericans and not enough chiefs. Perhaps I
should j ust sm ile and say not hing, be a good
soldier, but I do writ e for a living and som eone
needs t o clim b up on t he Old Nort h Church’s roof
and wave t he lant erns. What a great sham e t o be
t he ret ching crane. I sure m iss Abbas.