今回は、コロナ禍の暗い雰囲気を吹き飛ばすビッグニュースを二つ紹介します。

ひとつはバックギャモンだけを専門に取り扱う出版社「ゴールデンポイント出版」の設立、そしてもうひとつは第一弾となる書籍『バックギャモン検定１』の出版です。

近所の書店や図書館で「囲碁や将棋の本はたくさんあるのにバックギャモンの本は少ないなぁ」と感じたことはないでしょうか。

そんな状況を打開すべく、「バックギャモンの本をもっとたくさん増やしたい！」とバックギャモン専門の出版社を立ち上げ、「ゴールデンポイント出版（Golden Point Publishing）」の出版社登録が完了したのが2019年の６月でした。

「ゴールデンポイント出版」という名前の由来についてはギャモンプレイヤーならピンと来る方が多いと思いますが、「ゴールデンポイント」とは相手側の５ポイント（相手のゴールから５ピップ離れた位置のポイント）すなわち自分側の20ポイントを指すバックギャモン用語です。ゴールデンポイントの名付け親である Paul Magriel（ポール・マグリエル）によると、バックギャモンにおいて最も重要なポイントとされており、その名の通り黄金のような価値があります。そこで我々も、黄金のように価値のある本を世に出していきたいということでこの名前を付けました。

『バックギャモン検定１』キャンペーンサイト（２月から予約受付開始）
https://sales.goldenpointpublishing.com/

それから足掛け１年９ヶ月、気の遠くなるような数々の作業を乗り越えて、記念すべき書籍第一弾『バックギャモン検定１』がいよいよ３月に刊行されます。

2011年からスタートしたバックギャモン検定は、これまでモナコやラスベガス、コペンハーゲン、イスタンブールなど世界中の大会で累計1,200名を超えるプレイヤーが参加する一大イベントになっています。バックギャモン検定の書籍化はファンからの要望も多く、このたびようやく実現することができました。書籍化にあたっては、解説を全面的に書き直し、過去の受検者のデータから問題ごとの難易度や自己分析の目安となる情報などを追加して、約100ページのボリュームに仕上げました。

『バックギャモン検定１』キャンペーンサイト（２月から予約受付開始）
https://sales.goldenpointpublishing.com/

本書の購入特典として、自分の得意分野や苦手分野を簡単にチェックできるように、オンラインで PDF の成績証（下図参照）を入手できるサービスを用意しています。

その他の詳しい情報については下記のキャンペーンサイトをご確認ください。他の検定についても順次、バックギャモン検定シリーズとして書籍化の準備を進めており、コレクターズアイテムとしても価値あるものになっています。なお、今回の『バックギャモン検定１』は 2018 年に実施した第８回バックギャモン検定をベースにしていますので、過去に受検したことがある方はご注意ください。

ゴールデンポイント出版では今後、バックギャモン検定以外にもさまざまな種類のバックギャモン書籍を続々と刊行していく予定ですので、ぜひご期待ください。また、バックギャモン検定と同じように海外展開も計画しており、日本から世界のバックギャモン界をリードしていくようなクオリティの高い書籍を作り上げていきます。最近では UBC（Ultimate Backgammon Championship）や WBIF オンライン国際チーム戦 で日本人プレイヤーが世界を席巻し、日本のバックギャモンのレベルの高さが海外からますます注目されています。こういったことも今後の海外展開の追い風になっていくと考えています。

この一年、正直めちゃくちゃ大変でしたが、最高の本に仕上げられたと自負しています。今後とも、バックギャモン検定およびゴールデンポイント出版をよろしくお願い致します。

The 26th Ouisen Tournament, which was supposed to be held last October, was postponed due to record-sized typhoon No. 19, but the event was finally realized with this three-day holiday from February 22. However, this time, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare called for self-restraint of unnecessary and urgent meetings in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Cancellation has also become a concern.

In practice, though, it seemed that the number of participants was slightly reduced, but thanks to the efforts of the tournament staff and the care of the participants, the championship was successfully completed. This test is scheduled for the morning of the first day of the event, with highly motivated players participating.

The venue was Sunpearl Arakawa, Arakawa City for the first time.

The results of this test are as follows.

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	31	2337	Kouichi Koizumi
2	30	3001	Daisuke Katagami
3	25	3570	Akimasa Kaneyori
4	18	4836	Takato Tsushima
Total 4	Ave. 26.0	Ave. 3436

As the shogi player Katagami, who has taken our test many times, said that “this time is the most difficult so far,” the average score of the 9th test was about 2.5 points lower than the previous one. We need to examine this factor later.

After the Ouisen, the next round was scheduled for the Nordic Open 2020 in April, but the Nordic Open itself was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. So, this has become the last round. The total number of participants in the 9th test was 130. A list of all current participants’ scores can be found here.

As a result, the number of test takers exceeded 100 in all tests from the 1st to the 9th. The total number of examinees so far has been 1,215. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants. Thank you very much 🙂

On Saturday, January 18th, the 9th Backgammon Proficiency Test was held at the Istanbul Open, Turkey. This test has been held here for eight consecutive years and is known as the “BGTV Proficiency Contest”.

This time, 24 players, the most so far, have taken the test. Thanks to the players of the Istanbul Open, the total number of participants has reached 150 in the eight years since the second test. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the players and staff who joined.

Prizes will be awarded to the top performers from the tournament organizer, and the top performer this year was Sabri Büyüksoy, who has taken the test six times so far. In addition to Sabri, Turks such as Berkant Bilgi and Zafer Taş topped the list.

All of their scores are as below:

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	32	2874	Sabri Büyüksoy
2	27	3174	Berkant Bilgi
3	25	2816	Zafer Taş
4	22	3534	Martin Barkwill
5	21	4329	Cumhur Bektüre
6	20	4532	Jeremy Sherr
6	20	4766	(Anonymous)
8	19	3880	Nihat Özkurt
9	18	3873	Aytug Yiğit
9	18	4743	Gülderen Gücavlı
9	18	5436	(Anonymous)
12	17	5351	Naciye Aydın
13	16	4709	Hirofumi Kawaguchi
13	16	4848	Ömer Aykut Sorgüven
13	16	5809	(Anonymous)
16	15	4576	Yücel Özkan
16	15	5047	Cesur Kaya
16	15	5236	Kerim Güneyman
16	15	6086	Mahmoud Taha
20	14	4773	(Anonymous)
21	13	4843	P. G.
21	13	5244	T. K.
21	13	5793	Fady Asmar
24	10	8270	(Anonymous)
Total 24	Ave. 17.8	Ave. 4773

You can see the list of overall results as of now here.
Thank you for joining us! 🙂

As usual, Arda Fındıkoğlu, who is the host of the Istanbul Open and the president of WBF Turkey, Cüneyt Argun Genç and his staff helped us prepare and run the test, which was really helpful. Thank you as always!

Akihito

(Updated January 29th, 2020)
Arda Fındıkoğlu, Cüneyt Argun Genç and Gökhan Güneş, our dear friends and staff of the Istanbul Open, took the same test as the Istanbul Open 2020. Their results are now published as official tally, since they closely monitored each other to prevent cheating.

We thank all those who cooperated in the “BGTV Proficiency Contest” !! 😉

On September 22nd, the last day of the 39th Swedish Open, Michihito “Michy” Kageyama presented the 9th “Backgammon Proficiency Test”. It was the first time for the Swedish Open.

We were very surprised that all the participants performed well. In particular, Thomas Tenland, Giants #26, took an amazing score with 42 (out of 50) correct answers.

His score is currently ranked first overall. The runners-up are Yoshiyuki Nakamura (Japan) and Zdenek Zizka (Czech). You can see all the results so far from here.

The results of 10 participants are as follows:

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	42	749	Thomas Tenland
2	36	1822	Marten Howe
3	33	2148	Conny Eriksson
4	31	2791	Alain Babillon
4	31	3806	Nick Blasier
6	27	2799	Lars Degerman
6	27	3327	Laila Leonhardt
8	24	4209	Johan Sarnbratt
9	22	3743	(Anonymous)
10	20	5088	Ola Vingren
Total 10	Ave. 29.3	Ave. 3048

Thank you for joining us! 🙂

This year’s U25 summer camp for young gammon players was held in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture from August 14th to 18th. On the 4th day of the camp, the Ashikaga Open was held with feverish excitement.

バックギャモン足利オープンいよいよ開幕。初戦の相手は日本（世界？）最強の中学生。 pic.twitter.com/1cSOJg4pLO

— Nishiken66 (@Nishiken66) August 17, 2019

On the first day of the camp, a challenge to the “9th Backgammon Proficiency Test” was imposed on the applicants as part of the skill enhancement menu. The tests are used as teaching materials every year at the U25 camp, and this is the sixth consecutive year. In this way, the Japanese Backgammon League (JBL) young support program “U25” includes training camps, hosting U25 championships and hot new players’ tournaments, support for dispatching to overseas tournaments, and international student championships. They perform a wide range of activities such as support. For the U25 program, please see the following links.

• バックギャモン U25 Wiki
• U25 活動掲示板

As a result, Meijo, who got 39 points last year (#7 overall in the world), got 38 points this year! This score is currently ranked 3rd out of 88 players, and it has become one of the world’s top results by surpassing the scores of many famous players. However, it is no longer surprising to those who know his abilities.

The scores for the eight examinees were as follows.

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	38	1437	Kentaro Meijo
2	33	2302	H. K.
3	23	3546	Shoichi Tsunetsugu
4	22	3457	Yui Osaki
4	22	3872	(Anonymous)
6	21	4282	Yamato Takahashi
7	16	4989	M. K.
8	15	4328	(Anonymous)
Total 8	Ave. 23.8	Ave. 3527

You can see the results for all 88 people here.

On Thursday, August 1st – the third day of the 44th Backgammon World Championship, our 9th “Backgammon Proficiency Test” was presented by Hideaki Ueda, who joined our test production team from this year and the current JBL(Japanese Backgammon League) Bansei tournament champion.

This is the sixth consecutive year that it has been held, and so it has become a popular event. A total of 28 players, including Jorgen Granstedt (Sweden, the three-time World Champion), Marc Olsen (Denmark, #1 in the 7th test), Zdenek Zizka (Czech, #1 in the 5th test), took part in it.

As the result, Zdenek Zizka (Czech) is on top with 39 correct answers (out of 50), followed by Aurelien Bonnet (France) and Jorgen Granstedt (Sweden).

Now, we have some good news 🙂
Fabrizio Lo Surdo (Italy), who enjoyed our proficiency test for the first time, won the 3rd place in the main championship. Congratulations!!
Just started playing backgammon, Takayuki Moriuchi (Japan) won the Juniors tournament. We are looking forward to how he grows from now on, yeah!!

Taka Moriuchi won the Backgammon Junior World Championship ＼(^^)／ pic.twitter.com/sjtTNsskGP

— 下平憲治 (@KenjiShimohei) August 3, 2019

The results of 28 players are as below:

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	39	1659	Zdenek Zizka
2	34	2416	Aurelien Bonnet
3	33	2251	Jorgen Granstedt
4	32	2495	S. W.
4	32	2700	George Klitsas
6	31	2095	Thorsten Hoyer
6	31	2257	G. C.
8	30	2221	Marc Olsen
8	30	2416	(Anonymous)
10	29	2574	Toshiyuki Moriuchi
10	29	3519	Malis Sergiu
12	28	3018	Stephan Hartmann
13	27	3186	Fabio Cultrera
13	27	3516	Chris Trencher
15	23	3506	J. M.
15	23	4690	M. E.
17	22	3714	Fabrizio Lo Surdo
17	22	3768	Phil Simborg
19	21	3532	Didisheim Patrick
20	20	4046	Ralf Sudbrak
21	19	3706	A. H.
21	19	4597	Lorenzo Rusconi
21	19	4823	D. T.
24	18	4700	Bogdan Constantinoiu
25	17	5094	Michael Ramsey
26	15	5477	A. F.
27	13	4510	Y
27	13	6037	Takayuki Moriuchi
Total 28	Ave. 24.9	Ave. 3519

You can see the overall results of the 9th test as of now here.
Thank you very much for joining us!

On Sunday, May 26th, the fourth day of the 39th Chicago Open Backgammon Tournament, Giants #2 Michihito “Michy” Kageyama presented the newest version of our “Backgammon Proficiency Test”. He also offered a comprehensive review to its participants on the following day.

We have held the proficiency test in Chicago for six years consecutively since 2014. The previous articles are here:

• 8th Proficiency Test – Round 2 @ 38th Chicago Open
• 7th Proficiency Test – Round 2 @ 37th Chicago Open
• 6th Proficiency Test – Round 3 @ 36th Chicago Open
• 5th Backgammon Proficiency Test – Round 2 @ 35th Chicago Open
• The 4th Backgammon Proficiency Test in 34th Chicago Open

The number of participants of this year was 35, and more than half are repeat participants.

As the result, Gerry Tansey is on top with 38 correct answers (out of 50), followed by Chuck Bower.

All of their scores are as below:

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	38	1651	Gerry Tansey
2	35	2217	Chuck Bower
3	33	2235	Albert Steg
4	29	2544	Justin Nowell
5	28	2760	Frank Talbot
6	26	3186	Dennis Culpepper
6	26	3414	David Todd
8	25	3392	Allen Tish
9	24	3393	(Anonymous)
9	24	5088	Butch Meese
11	23	3387	D. D.
11	23	3659	(Anonymous)
11	23	3729	D. K.
11	23	4336	S. R.
15	22	3464	David Winn
15	22	3613	(Anonymous)
15	22	3637	John Craig Anderson
15	22	4057	D. J. J.
15	22	4772	Mike Clapsadle
20	21	3506	S. B.
21	20	3889	Steve Hairgrove
21	20	4185	(Anonymous)
23	19	4836	Richard Stubbe
23	19	5606	Joe Briggs
25	18	4732	Karen Davis
25	18	4787	Paul Mangone
25	18	4839	Rick Silberman
25	18	5181	Apollo Lammers
29	17	4585	Jeb Horton
30	16	4307	Jeffrey Spencer
30	16	4402	Roberto Gaui
30	16	4441	Jesus Ibarra
30	16	4448	Charles Haley
30	16	5917	Danny Lynch
35	14	7094	Sharon Lefferts
Total 35	Ave. 22.1	Ave. 4057

You can see the overall results of the 9th test as of now here.

Thank you for joining us! 🙂

Sorry, this entry is only available in Japanese.

On Friday, April 19th, our 8th backgammon proficiency test was presented by Michihito “Michy” Kageyama (Giants #2 2017-2018) on the second day of Nordic Open 2019, Denmark.

Here in Nordic Open, the first to the fifth proficiency tests were conducted before this. It’s the first time in three years. Making it a total of six times.

Sixteen players, many of them are Danish and Swede, took time to challenge it. As the result, Thomas Tenland (Sweden) is on top with 42 correct answers (out of 50), followed by Peter Friberg (Denmark).

All of their scores are as below.

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	42	999	Thomas Tenland
2	38	3030	Peter Friberg
3	35	1715	Sven-Olav Norén
4	27	2293	Laila Leonhardt
5	25	2810	B. P.
5	25	4044	Peter Hallberg
7	24	3087	Erling Skorstad
7	24	3698	Hans Kristian Mathiesen
9	23	3662	Thomas H. Ferguson
9	23	3919	Yonas Lamnabhi
11	21	3889	Tin Gavran
12	17	4402	John Blem
12	17	4485	Julianna Juhl-Johaugen
14	15	4223	Håkon Møstad
15	13	5022	Henrik Biering
15	13	7944	Jovan Kosovic
Total 16	Ave. 23.9	Ave. 3701

So, this is the final round of our 8th proficiency test. Each round was attended by players all over the world, and the total number of participants reached 133. We are deeply grateful to all of them for joining us.

Based on both the number of correct answers and the total error rate (equity loss), Matt Cohn-Geier (USA) is ranked first. Thomas Tenland (Sweden) ranks second by a narrow margin. You can see the final result of the 8th proficiency test here.