Jay's View
REPORT ON PLAY FROM WEDNESDAY, February 25, 2026
I know there are a lot of people ready to move on from the cold and the dread of winter here in Chicago, myself included. And while our temperatures have been well above single digits for the past few weeks, we’re not quite over winter yet, both literally and literally. While the thermometer is beginning to show numbers indicating a warming trend— it’s supposed to hit close to 60 degrees on Friday— there is still cooler weather and even a snow flurry or two coming this weekend. But hey, if you want to feel bad for backgammon players dealing with crappy weather look no further than Lynn Ehrlich and the rest of the backgammon community in New York. They’ve had a rough go of it with the recent snow storms that have limited movement throughout the city and surrounding areas. That translated to canceled meetups for their favorite game. I’d say we’re pretty fortunate as we are still able to offer a warm welcome to people coming to play at our club. So have our backgammon brethren to the east in your mind the next time you are able to come to play at our club.
With that said, last night offered slightly improved weather and a nice turnout for play. Kudos once again to all players who helped to keep us on schedule by playing at a good pace and prompt reporting of their match results. By the end of the evening, I surprisingly found myself the winner in a hard fought match against Omid Rouhi in the Consolation bracket. To be honest, without some incredible dice in our DMP game, I would not have been the winner. But as we say, that’s backgammon.
In th Main bracket, the two players in the final match, David Rockwell and Michael Peters chose to split the master points and prize money, with both happy to end the night and head home. It was especially rewarding for Michael as the master points he earned were his first for 2026. Getting on the board put a big smile on Michael’s face and that’s a nice thing.
With play for the month of February now in our rear view mirror, we look forward to March when on Sunday March 8 we turn our clocks ahead one hour for daylight savings and, our top six players for 2025 will head downstate to Springfield to represent our club in the annual Illinois Challenge Cup. Our team will be there to represent our club in the tournament as well as defend our win in last year’s cup and our possession of the trophy. With one week of play before the tournament, come play with us next Wednesday for fun and great play and to wish the team success. Until then, have a great weekend, everyone!
Jay