Jay's View
REPORT ON PLAY FROM WEDNESDAY, September 2 , 2026
Check your calendar and your workplace holidays-observed schedule and you’ll see that we are approaching the Labor Day weekend. Labor Day is a significant date on our nation’s calendar as it honors the labor movement in our country and the contributions of workers everywhere. It was considered important enough to do so that in 1894 the U.S. Congress made the first Monday in the month of September a legal holiday to accomplish that.
But for me, here’s where Labor Day differs from the Memorial Day and Independence Day holiday weekends. Sure, the majority of people observe these holidays by gathering with family and friends for great food, drink and commaraderie. During the Memorial Day weekend, many people also attend services honoring those men and women past and present that served our country in all branches of our armed forces. I personally like to watch a few good war movies, i.e., “The Bridge Over the River Kwai” or “The Longest Day”. When the Independence Day holiday rolls around, we traditionally enjoy fireworks displays celebrating our nation achieving independence from British tyranny and becoming our own soverign nation. But aside from your end-of-summer vacation with your family and barbecue with neighbors and friends, what do we traditionally do as a nation that is specifically associated with Labor Day? I struggle to think of any one thing. Should I go out to lunch or dinner and give the wait staff a particularly hefty tip and a “thank you for your service”? Should I visit all the labor union locals in my area and thank them for assuring proper wages and work conditions for their members? A nice gesture, I suppose, but not practical. So I guess we could honor our nation’s workers this weekend by enjoying cakes and breads made by the Bakery and Confectionary unions' workers, or take a train operated by the Commuter Rail Employees union, or attend a concert in the park that is performed by musicians in the Musicians union. I dunno. I think until celebrating the holiday with any of those, I’ll just barbecue and hang out in my yard with whoever shows up.
There is one thing about the Labor Day weekend that is significant to the backgammon community. This is the weekend that the Viking Backgammon Classic is traditionally held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In fact, our club was down two players last night, as David Rockwell and David Hanold are there getting ready to play in the tournament. Another player from our club that will be playing in the tournament, Adrian Nedelcu, did come to play last night but will head to Minneapolis on Friday. In fact, in addition to playing in the Open Division, Adrian will play in the doubles tournament with David Hanold as his teammate. I look forward to all three returning to the club next week with word about their experience and hopefully, their success.
But leading into the holiday weekend, we did have a strong turnout of 19 players at the club. Play in all matches was brisk and for the most part, entertaining. In the Consolation Bracket, Michael Peters fought his way through some stiff competition to get to the final match. I watched that match between Michael and Albert Simonovich and it was not only well played but paced with high energy and humor by both players. Michaels win gave him enough master points to move up two places in the standings, from 10th to 8th.
In the Main Bracket I watched a great final match between Mackenzie “Moo” Reed and one of the top players anywhere, Carter Mattig. It was a great back and forth match but because of the late hour, the two players chose to end it and split the master points and prize money. The split provided Moo enough points to jump up from 13th to 11th place. Kudos to Moo for giving Carter a run for his money, proving that her play is getting stronger every time she sits down to a board.
And so it goes. Stay tuned for word on how Adrian and the two Davids fared in Minnesota! Until then, enjoy the Labor Day weekend, no matter how you do it!
Jay