As a tournament director, it's never easy to predict how many players are going to turn out for a club night, but a key measure of a good TD and the club systems is that they cope with whatever happens.
This is especially true when more players than ever come through the doors, which was the case this week. Four 8-player Swiss tournaments and a 16-player knockout later, we closed out a record week.
While the TD is on the frontline on the night, it wouldn't be possible to host 48 players without a fantastic club crew who ensure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes, no matter what.
So, I wanted to pay tribute to Mihail, Kate, Valérie and Gavin who help me to run the club - they're the reason that BGiE offers club nights 50 weeks a year, that we have great club equipment that is in good shape, that the financial accounts get done, that our social media accounts and club website are running smoothly, that all rated match results are uploaded to the UKBGF database within 24 hours, that we have a weekly backgammon problem to solve, that we have a disciplinary policy that is enforced, that we have trophies for our Grand Prix and Spring and Autumn Tournaments and the Ealing Cup (more to come on that soon) and... well you get the idea.
There's a lot of work in running a busy backgammon club, so next time you're chatting to one of the really dedicated crew pictured above, show your appreciation!
The winners of the four Swiss tournaments this week were Martin Sher, Yas Turan, Lawrence Powell and Steve O'Connor. The 16-player knockout was shared between Dicky Biddle and Lawrence Powell. Congratulations to all of them. Altogether the side pools exceeded £1,000.
Thanks to everyone who turned out to play - you were all part of a record-breaking week and now you know there isn't a secret to how it was done!
Thank you. We truly appreciate all that you do.
Yep! We rock!