Worcester Backgammon Club

A growing club for Backgammon beginners and enthusiasts throughout Worcester and beyond Backgammon is often referred to as the ‘World’s cruellest game’.

This is partly because of the chance element and partly due to other elements involved in the mastery of the game. Without overcomplicating it, you can be number one in the world with the lowest error rate in play and still loose to a novice player. This is the thrill and excitement that makes the game so compulsive and yet, frustrating. Some would care to suggest it is all luck, but that is a foo

lish notion. There are good moves and bad moves depending on the roll of the dice. Not every move is equal in strength. Choices are made and games are won or lost on those choices. The element of cube action adds to the pressure already heavy in checker play. The cube can be thrown at you mid game and you need to decide whether you can win the game or not. This action is one of the hardest elements to master as you try to decide what the possibilities are; the PIP count, the size of the bridge, the number of crossovers, the position of your opponents checkers, the number of games you may be playing in a match. The maths of the game is supplemented by the instinct you have for your position on the board. These all come together to make you a player. The more you play, the more you have, to inform your play. I have seen new players come along slowly, but then they play in a real tournament and their play improves exponentially. It is in the fire of real battle that the skills are honed and refined. At Worcester backgammon club we try to encourage keen competitiveness and sporting play. We want all to improve their game no matter where they start from. We discuss positions and moves, we play in groups, watch live games, travel to tournaments around the country and the world. Some are content to play backgammon as a social activity and this is acknowledged and respected at Worcester Backgammon Club. We play at the level we are happy with. We play in leagues that means we play people at a similar standard. Their is a proviso in this that the club has grown so rapidly that the leagues are still ironing themselves out as people are promoted and relegated. So what has been achieved. We have, with help from the UKBGF, purchased lots of boards and clocks. We have now represented Worcester twice at the UK Club Championships. We have had members get as far as the final of the Irish Open. We have organised an open Charity Tournament to which players from outside of Worcester Club have come and taken part. We have arranged transport for people to attend different tournaments-e.g. Coventry Open, UK Open, UK Clubs Championships, Bristol Open and many others. We have attended youth groups to try and inspire young people to play the game. We took part in the UKBGF’s Backgammon in the Sun tournament which was very successful bringing in a couple of new players. We have a membership of around forty players and looking to grow further. At times it has been a bit hectic as we attempt to figure out how to run the club. We are now in a position to get new players and to grow the club even more. We are looking to various groups of people to achieve the goal of a membership of seventy five. It is up to all members to try and stir the backgammon bug in their friends, family, colleagues and associates. It is a relatively inexpensive past time and has a great social aspect. If any of this appeals to you, please message us and we will get back to you promptly.

26/08/2026

Wales road to the semi finals-in the group stage they played England, Denmark, Austria, South Africa and Belgium winning three out of the six matches played plus a bye.

They are now sitting down to play Belgium and on stream is Tom Thorpe (Wales) and Marc Van Damme (Belgium).

Stream link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raz7kdslld0

Brackets:
https://ggarena.app/tournament/cmru0clnr0011l608lw183os9

UK Backgammon Federation Birmingham Backgammon Club North East Backgammon Association - NEBA

Photos from Worcester Backgammon Club's post

26/08/2026

Wales are through to the semi finals of the World Teams Championships. At the start of the competition they probably were real outsiders to get this far in the competition but have made it through some really great teams to get to this point under the magnificent leadership of the Mighty Gwynne.

The teams left are Japan, The Netherlands, Belgium and WALES!!!

The Welsh team comprises of Ian Gwynne, Paul Lamford, Tom Thorpe, Adrian Jones, Kevin Jones, Simon Jones and Dod Davies.

At Worcester we are cheering on the Welsh team under the leadership of our very own Ian Gwynne.

Sending all our luck and best wishes as they enter the semi-final against Belgium.

Pob lwc Gymru!

Go Wales!

Follow Brackets here:
https://ggarena.app/tournament/cmru0clnr0011l608lw183os9

Semi finals begin at approximately 2pm.

Stream of event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raz7kdslld0

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

24/08/2026

What a great day for backgammon today has been-28 teams from all around the Globe competing for the World Teams Championships 2026 title.

The Teams are put into 4 groups where they play each other giving a total of seven rounds. Each team receives on bye. The table shown are the standings after four rounds. So still a lot to do. Wales, captained by the Mighty Gwynne is doing spectacularly well. Ian, a member of Worcester Backgammon Club played a great match against the great grandmaster Gaz Owen. Ian was 8-1 down to eleven points. Took a break and put his Welsh hat on came back and slowly got back to take the match.

The amazing backgammon being streamed has been absolutely thrilling-even the adjacent game between Tom Thorpe (Wales) and Pete Heskett (England) also went to the wire.

Still plenty to play for as their are three more rounds for the teams to play tomorrow. If you have time do tune in you will not be disappointed.

Great Commentary today from Chris Bray and Kent Goulding.

Good luck to all the teams tomorrow.

The Brackets to the team championships can be found here:
https://ggarena.app/tournament/cmru0clnr0011l608lw183os9

24/08/2026

The World Backgammon Team Championships started today in London and one of the teams; Wales, is being led by the mighty Gwynne AKA Ian Gwynne. Ian has been a stalwart of the Worcester Backgammon club for many years now. He is leading a fine looking band of Welsh warriors into the fight and in round three which starts in ten minutes Wales we be taking on England. The stream will show the Mighty Gwynne v an English player. Should be worth a look to see the Mighty Gwynne in action as he fights for the Welsh cause.

Stream can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUFHphauuXw

(STARTS 5.30pm UK time today 24th August 2026)

Good luck Ian! 😀🎲🎲

UK Backgammon Federation U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF) North East Backgammon Association - NEBA Birmingham Backgammon Club Irish Backgammon Federación Española de Backgammon - FEBG
Federación Española de Backgammon - FEBG Backgammon Federation of Ireland

13/08/2026

12/08/2026

One of the great stories of the Second Worcestershire Open was the defending champions of the Worcestershire Open Doubles-Mike Snowden and Alex Hannam. A very well subscribed to doubles competition appeared to be the end to the defenders hopes of winning for a second year.

Match after match they worked their way through the field to finally come up against Reece Hodges and Geoff Hall. Not the easiest doubles team to take on, but Mike and Alex took them on and conquered them. That makes them the only Doubles team to have won the Worcestershire Doubles Open. If you are in a good doubles team, it may be time to think about joining us at the Worcestershire Open to take this Power Doubles Team on!

Well done Mike and Alex-we look for ward to seeing you next year!

A great performance Reece and Geoff, but you came up against the doubles Champs!

Thank you all for your participation and we know you all had some great fun!
UK Backgammon Federation Birmingham Backgammon Club North East Backgammon Association - NEBA

11/08/2026

In a great show of resilience the Worcester player Robin Jones made it to the final of the Lickey End Cup (Last Chance). He met the wonderful Aydin Kolcak of Artgammon Boards fame and had a challenging match. To get to this point in the weekend Robin had played 12 matches and had 3 byes.

In great style Aydin managed to get the upper hand and took the match. A tournament is hard work and requires a huge amount of concentration and stamina. These guys made it to the very end and a huge thanks to Aydin for bringing his beautiful boards for us all to see as well as all the other backgammon paraphernalia that accompanies the wonderful game.

Congratulations to Aydon for winning the Lickey End Cup and his worthy adversary Robin.

Backgammon Federation Birmingham Backgammon Club
North East Backgammon Association - NEBA U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF)

11/08/2026

The Worcestershire Open Main Final was between Chris Rogers and Catalin Bucur. In a good and sporting clash between these two great players the winner was Catalin. Well done Catalin and well done to the worthy adversary Chris.

Catalin had success on the Friday night in the super jackpot with a joint win between Cat and Sean Clennell.

Catalin had to fight through the swiss rounds and then win in the playoffs to achieve his place in the final. Chris took the easier route and won 4 out of 5 of his matches in the Swiss rounds.

But in the end Catalin took the trophy.

Well done all for some great backgammon.

UK Backgammon Federation North East Backgammon Association - NEBA Birmingham Backgammon Club U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF)

11/08/2026

Worcestershire Open 2026-Rose Hill Trophy (Consolation)
In a hard fought and crowd pleasing match, between the finalists Robert Perry and Alex Polden, Robert managed to get the edge in the game and won.

The Cup went to Robert Perry with a great performance from his adversary Alex Polden.

Well done Robert and a great challenge you put on Alex.

UK Backgammon Federation North East Backgammon Association - NEBA Birmingham Backgammon Club .S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF) @brighton_backgammon

10/08/2026

Worcestershire Open Results posted to UKBGF Ratings system

89 players attended the 2nd Worcestershire Open held this last weekend. Over 420 rated match results have now been uploaded and can be viewed on the link below.

Some individuals played up to 17 rated matches each over the weekend.

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Location

Worcester

Website

https://worcesterbgc.co.uk/

Address

Claines Royal British Legion, Cornmeadow Lane
Worcester
WR37PL

Worcester Backgammon Club

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