Jay's View
REPORT ON PLAY FROM WEDNESDAY, July 28, 2021
I just got home from the Cub game with my son Michael and a few other family members. The Cubs lost again to the Reds (the Cincinnati ones, not the Communist ones) so without a lot of celebrating to do right now, I thought I’d sit down and write my little report on last night’s action at the club.
The first thing to report is that two new players showed up. The first was Jessie Sonmez, John’s wife. In her debut, she finished with a respectable 2-2, plus 1 record. We’re sure that we’re going to see even stronger play out of Jessie in the coming weeks when she plays at the club. The other newbie was Ali Malek, who as he explained to me, is not exactly new to our club. It turns out that Ali played with the club around 2002 and remembers Bill and Trudie very well. Unfortunately, Ali did not come in until the tournament was well under way and therefore could not participate. But we expect to see him return next week and hopefully many weeks thereafter. Welcome, Ali.
The evening was further enhanced by a nice showing of 12 attendees, making for a lot more fun and exciting action at the club. It was kind of fun in particular watching the match between Seda and Jessie. It was kind of like watching two close friends give each other crap and good natured ribbing on every roll but with a foreign dialect. Actually, that’s exactly what it was. They brought a lot of energy to the game and I loved watching it.
Aside from all that, Tournament Director Extraordinaire David Hanold continued his winning ways, taking first place with a 4-0, plus 12 record. I am still baffled how he can focus well enough on his play while also running the tournament.
But the list of people that have earned points at our club grew by just a bit last night as recent newcomer, Seda Memik had a strong showing with a 3-1, plus 8 record, with her only loss coming at the hands of first place winner, David Hanold. I know I’m happy for Seda for getting her first .48 points at our club and I’ll bet there’s more to come. Last night’s attendees also included a rare visit by one of the top players in the Chicago area, Larry Goldstein. Larry had a rough start, losing 5-0 to Seda in his first round match. But Larry stormed back to beat his next 3 opponents by a combined 10 points. His performance in his first visit of 2021 at our club was good enough for 3rd place money and master points.
Larry Morris also returned to the club after a two week absence and started off strong, winning his first three matches with a 3-0, plus 7 mark going into the final round of play. But Larry played David Hanold in the marquee match of the night and came up short by a 3 point margin. Nevertheless, Larry’s 3-1, plus 4 finish was good enough to earn him 4th place master points. NOTE: Larry Morris STILL hates backgammon!!!
It was great to see everybody last night but we still hope to see the return of other club regulars such as Tom Terrill and club director, Bill Chibnik. I look forward to seeing everyone next week. And remember, it’s not how you play the game, it’s . . . oh wait; It IS how you play the game. Never mind.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Jay