Day Zero: The Beginning
"Pinch me," I said, "Please pinch me."
She turned and looked at me in horror. I could tell what she was thinking; "Oh no! Here I am 30,000 feet in the air and I'm sat next to a lunatic for the next 4 hours!"
But I'm not a lunatic, honestly, I just couldn't believe that is was actually happening - there I was on Istanbul Airlines flight 708 out of Stansted en route to Istanbul and the backgammon World Cup Challenge VI; hurtling at 500 miles per hour towards the tournament that boasts the world's highest added money prize of $50,000 and is host to the world's top players. "Pinch me." I said again, "This has got to be a dream!"
It wasn't. I arrived in Istanbul at 21:00 local time and, not wanting to miss out on the entire 'welcome cocktails and reception' which started at 2030 I spurted from the terminal to the taxi rank outside and breathlessly used my considerable knowledge of the Turkish language to say, "Tacksi, Hyatt Regency, Otel, lutfen," which roughly translated as, "Taxi, Hyatt Regency Hotel, please." This Turkish is a doddle; the driver understood immediately what I was saying and pulled out towards the city centre.
Now, those of you that have been to Turkey before will know that all Turkish taxi drivers are mad and think they're Stirling Moss (for those of you who aren't familiar with Stirling Moss will still know the type); foot down to the floor, tearing down the centre of the road giving way to no-one and no-thing. Some people think that the Turks don't have to pass a test before being given the right to endanger life and limb upon the highways and byways of the Turkish infrastructure, but they do . . . as long as you can open the car door and locate the steering wheel, you've passed!
Now I would normally avoid such suicidal driving but in this instance time was at a premium and I had cocktails waiting, so, foot down my good man and don't spare the horses.
Horses? Goats would have been faster. Just my luck to engage the only taxi driver in the whole of Turkey who drives at 75% below the maximum speed limit as opposed to 75% above. Entire families on motor scooters were overtaking us; people on foot were overtaking us - with their goats! Oh well, I might as well enjoy the scenery..... too bad it's dark outside!
I got to the hotel at 23:00, too late for cocktails, but not too late for bed; I was exhausted after being in transit for over 12 hours, but, did I go to bed? No, I unpacked and went directly into the playing rooms to ensure that you, my demanding readers would have a report of the nights action. So here it is:
The Kick Off started at 22:00 (I was in the taxi from hell at the time) and is a free entry, 5-point knockout tournament for all those entered in the first draw, thereafter, as you get knocked out you can re-enter after paying the appropriate fee. This works very well and adds a considerable sum to the prize money.
The draw of 110 entrants is done on two drawsheets, the winners of which go into a 16 player 'final' being joined by 14 other players from the re-entry field (just how they get down to an awkward number like 14 I'm not too sure). The last 8 on each sheet (or less than 8 when I eventually retired to write my report (02:00 Tuesday morning - backgammon players are by nature nocturnal creatures, not unlike vampires, shunning the light of day lest they are turned to dust!) was as follows:
Sheet One:
J Leverman vs Kolga Mossoyan
Puchkov vs Nihat Sorgüven
Irfan Mizragki vs Jean Van Ingen
Frank Dan vs (not known)
Sheet Two:
Thomas Ronn vs (not known)
Eyup Durmas vs Neopomnachi
Lewis Zako vs Alexi Popov
G. Menasherov vs Andy Groetsch
If I've misspelt some of these names, please forgive me. There appears to be a smattering of most nationalities there and, when the next round is played I'll report back on who won what.
Some of tonight's losers (who will no doubt re-enter) worth mentioning are - in no particular order, honestly!: Ed Rogers (who appears to be the only BIBA member taking part . . . and he's from the States, though living in London!), Harald Johanni (the German player responsible for the now sadly defunct, Backgammon Magazin), Hugh Conyers and Malcolm Davis from the USA, Gerry Grandell (defending champion from Sweden), Martin De Bruin an ex-pat American living in Spain (Editor of the European Backgammon News).
Tomorrow (Tuesday - in fact, today) the Main Tournament starts and I will be reporting on the entrants and any results from Monday's games. Watch this space!
- Michael Crane
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