Jay's View
REPORT ON PLAY FROM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2024
By the time you read this, you will have consumed and then stored in your fridge plenty of the wonderful fare that was served at your Thanksgiving table. Whether it was brunch or dinner— or both— you’ve had plenty and have begun to resent the volume that you ate, yummy though it was. For me it was my nephews homemade pumpkin pie. But I hope that you and your family and friends also took the time at your bountiful feast to share what it is that you are thankful for this year. Whatever it is that you are thankful for, I hope what everyone shared made the holiday gathering more meaningful for all.
Hopefully you’re thankful for the people in your life that make up the important communities in which you live and thrive. While family and friend are very important to us all, we all also share an appreciation for the backgammon community in our lives. I know we all miss one particular member of our backgammon clan, Denny Scully, who passed just weeks before Thanksgiving. You may not be aware that Denny’s birthday was on Thanksgiving so I hope we’ll all have him in mind as a special person and a special friend at this special time of year.
Another special person in our world was our club’s founding director, Trudy Chibnik, of blessed memory, would send her pre-holiday message to everyone at the club, requesting that we not stay home to baste your turkey and come to play at our club. This week we had 13 players come to honor Trudie’s wishes and came to play the night before the holiday festivities. No turkey basting for this group.
At the end of the evening four players received their pre-Thanksgiving feat appetizier in the form of well, master points. In the Conosolation bracket, it was Craig Anderson defeating newcomer Richard Similio in the final. Richard has played previously at Pub Club and thought he would give our club a try and we’re glad he did. In the final match of the Main bracket, Gene Eydelman took care of business and outplayed Michael Peters.
All in all a nice segue to the last weeks of play in 2024 before the next holiday stops of the year. That means there are three weeks left for players to secure a spot on the team we send to the Illinois Challenge Cup, or to participate in our end-of-year Doubles Tournament. Hope to see you next Wednesday!
Jay