The 7th round of our 7th “Backgammon Proficiency Test” was held as “BGTV Proficiency Contest” on Saturday, January 13th, the middle day of the Istanbul Open 2018.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t join it, but the test was supervised by our Turkish friends, Arda Fındıkoğlu (the host of the Istanbul Open and the president of WBF Turkey) and Cüneyt Argun Genç. They carried that out smoothly and all went well. They always cooperate with us, so we are really grateful to them.

Well, that was the sixth consecutive time our test was carried out there.
This year, 19 participants with various levels from various countries challenged it.

The result says that Jalil Khalili (Iran) answered 30 problems correctly (out of 50) and was ranked first among them, although he was ranked second last year. Claus Elken (Denmark) got second place at the contest, and then he got second place at the main championship. Martin Barkwill (UK) was ranked third, although he got the highest last year. Onur Vurur got the top score among the Turks this year.

Here are the details of this round.

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	30	2300	Jalil Khalili
2	28	2245	Claus Elken
3	27	2520	Martin Barkwill
3	27	3252	Onur Vurur
5	24	3662	Abdullah Sorgüven
6	22	4010	Burhan Cumhur Bektüre
7	20	3432	Tuğrul Sezgin
7	20	3510	O. P.
9	19	4479	Fady Asmar
9	19	4521	Fuat Hakan Uncuoğlu
11	17	4336	Hakan Aksu
11	17	4530	Cynthia Roberts
11	17	4609	Mustafa Dikgöz
11	17	5269	Alparslan Göktay
15	16	5459	Göksel Kılınç
16	15	4254	Refik Vural
17	14	4196	Ender Can Avcioğlu
18	13	4713	T. B.
19	12	4715	Kemal Aksu
Total 19	Ave. 19.7	Ave. 4001

It was unfortunate that I couldn’t go there this year, but I am happy that many people joined it.

Akihito

(Updated Saturday, January 27th)
Arda Fındıkoğlu, Cüneyt Argun Genç and Gökhan Güneş have challenged the same test after the Istanbul Open 2018. They said that they strictly monitored each other to play fair, so we decided to list up their scores on our official results just as before.

Arda’s score was so good as in the past, while Cüneyt and Gökhan didn’t do better than last year.

We really appreciate their cooperation during “BGTV Proficiency Contest”.
Thank you again! 😉

Gammon Associates held the 2017 California State Championship at the Hilton hotel during December 1-3, 2017. On the second day of the event, Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki (Giants #1 2015-2016) presented our 7th “Backgammon Proficiency Test”.

Saturday (Dec. 2nd)
8:30 am Mochy’s PROFICIENCY EXAM (allow 60 minutes)
(Answers Seminar on Sunday morning)

Sunday (Dec. 3rd)
8:30 am Mochy + Phil lecture “Answers to the EXAM”
(See the official brochure)

This was the first time our test was held in California, and we are grateful to have been given this opportunity.

There were 23 entries for the test. While it might be the first time for many of the participants to take it, Bob Wachtel, who is also Giants #12, got the top score with 39 points (out of 50). Based on the number of correct answers, he currently ranks third among them all. You can see the overall results of the 7th test as of now here.

Their scores are as below:

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	39	1078	Bob Wachtel
2	31	2050	(Anonymous)
3	30	2202	Art Benjamin
4	29	2202	Tom Tseng
4	29	2718	(Anonymous)
6	25	2694	N. M.
6	25	3639	Ray Spehar
8	23	3663	(Anonymous)
9	21	3883	Richard Siebold
9	21	4189	Z. F.
11	20	3549	M. H.
11	20	3744	Brad Vogt
11	20	3932	F. B.
14	18	3776	Paul Mangone
15	17	3975	L. P.
15	17	5018	C. B.
15	17	5179	Mark Astemborski
15	17	5429	D. H.
19	14	5366	Bob Covrtney
20	13	4523	D. G.
21	11	5452	Mike Graham
22	10	5088	S. S.
23	9	5856	Cecilia Pedroza
Total 23	Ave. 20.7	Ave. 3878

Thank you very much for joining us! 😉

10月7〜9日の三連休に開催された JBL バックギャモン王位戦 の最終日に、第7回バックギャモン検定を実施しました。今年5月の バックギャモンフェスティバル で問題をリニューアルした第7回バックギャモン検定ですが、その後は、シカゴオープン（5月）、世界選手権（8月）、U25合宿（8月）と開催を重ね、これが5回目（第5ラウンド）の実施となります。

今回の会場は、文京シビックセンター3階の和室でした。いつもと違った新鮮な雰囲気で受検することができたのではないでしょうか。

今年の王位戦は海外から参加しているプレイヤーが比較的多かったので英語版の冊子を多めに用意していたのですが、結局外国人の参加者はシカゴオープンのディレクターの Rory Pascar 一人だけでした。英語での告知が足りなかったかもしれません。
なお、第3回検定 で全体トップのスコアを獲得した Matt Cohn-Geier も受検してくれる予定だったのですが、三日目はチャンピオンシップの準決勝に残っていたため不参加となってしまいました。次のチャンスに期待したいです。

参加者10名の結果は、以下の通りとなりました。

順位	正答数	エラー合計	氏名
1	34	1913	Junichi Tanaka
2	31	2125	Shigeru Fukazawa
3	28	2144	Rory Pascar
4	27	2352	Hideki Tosaka
4	27	2398	Masahiro Kisono
4	27	3618	Y. O.
7	24	3053	Akimasa Kaneyori
8	22	3390	Megumi Ishii
8	22	4047	R. K.
10	18	3921	Tetsuya Shirogane
合計 10人	平均 26.0	平均 2896

10名中成績トップとなった田中準一さんは、つい先日の9月24日に行われた バックギャモン名人戦 の決勝で横田一稀さんに勝ち、第23期名人位を獲得した日本トッププレイヤーの一人です。なお、34点という好スコアは現在暫定8位（105名中）となっています。

また二位の深澤さんは、前々回 は10位、前回 は13位にランクインした常連のプレイヤーで、毎回30点オーバーの成績をコンスタントに残しています。

この王位戦が、日本で第7回検定を受けられるラストチャンスとなりました。
皆さま、ご参加ありがとうございました。

Sorry, this entry is only available in Japanese.

During the 42nd Backgammon World Championship, Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki (Giants #1 2015-2016) presented our 7th “Backgammon Proficiency Test” on Thursday, August 3rd, 2017.

A total of 35 players were present at the exam, and the number was larger than last year.
In addition to Falafel (USA, Giants #4), the defending champion of the 6th exam, the world’s leading players such as Jorgen Granstedt (Sweden, the first 3-time World Champion), Steen Gronbech (Denmark, Giants #14), Zdenek Zizka (Czech, who got the highest score in the 5th exam) went in for it.

What a surprise! Marc Olsen (Sweden, Giants #40) marked an incredibly high score of 44/50. Steen Gronbech and Falafel also did remarkably well, but their scores were 6 points behind Marc Olsen’s. Zdenek Zizka was ranked 4th with 37/50, and Jorgen Granstedt followed.

Currently, Marc Olsen stands in first place in terms of both the number of right answers and the total error rate (equity loss) among all of the attendees. You can see the overall results of the 7th exam as of now here.

The results for 35 players are as below:

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	44	675	Marc Olsen
2	38	1142	Steen Gronbech
2	38	1537	Falafel
4	37	1522	Zdenek Zizka
5	36	1467	Jorgen Granstedt
6	33	1968	Shahab Ghodsi
7	31	1794	(Anonymous)
7	31	1861	Michael Larsen
7	31	2108	Konstantinos Mitrelis
10	30	2428	Z. Y.
11	29	1898	Alain Babillon
11	29	1959	Bonnet Aurelien
11	29	2222	Mislav Kovacic
11	29	2256	V. R.
11	29	2559	Johan Moazed
16	28	2660	Timur Azizov
17	27	2984	Stephane Cheneviere
18	26	2681	Takis Chatzelis
18	26	2725	Robert Lindbom
18	26	3099	A. C.
21	23	3039	Thorsten Hoyer
21	23	3844	Leyla Zaloutskaya
21	23	4336	Federico Riceputi
24	22	2636	(Anonymous)
24	22	3130	C. E.
24	22	3839	Malis Sergiu
27	21	3275	Vaibhav Saxena
28	20	3732	Benichou Eric
28	20	4362	Liz Granstedt
30	19	3605	Lorenzo Rusconi
31	18	3753	Michael Ramsey
31	18	4723	(Anonymous)
33	15	4726	Mamaila Marian
33	15	5110	Armin Soltani
35	14	5284	Max Mowzoon
Total 35	Ave. 26.3	Ave. 2884

Thank you very much for joining us!

Now, it’s time to take the very new backgammon proficiency exam!
Masayuki “Mochy” Mochizuki (#1 Giant of Backgammon 2015-2016) will present our 7th “Backgammon Proficiency Exam” starting at 12:00 pm on Thursday, August 3rd in the 42nd Backgammon World Championship. On the following day, Mochy will give a lecture and review for you.

It is scheduled as follows:

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, Thursday, August 3rd (Grand Prix A)
Backgammon Proficiency Exam – Exam Given

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, Friday, August 4th (Grand Prix B)
Backgammon Proficiency Exam – Lecture & Review

(Details at https://www.bwcmc.com/schedule.php)

This is the fourth consecutive year that it has been held, and it is becoming increasingly popular especially among intermediate and advanced-level players. Over fifty player (including Falafel, Jorgen Granstedt, Steen Gronbech, etc) have already challenged it so far.

The results so far are here:

• 6th Proficiency Test – Round 4 @ 41st World Championship
• 5th Proficiency Test – Round 3 @ 40th World Championship
• The 4th Backgammon Proficiency Test in 39th Backgammon World Championship

As for details of the test, fifty high-quality and well-balanced questions are supervised by Mochy and Michihito “Michy” Kageyama (#2 Giant 2015-2016). Thus, it is a worthy challenge for players at the intermediate and advanced levels.
(Details at https://blog.backgammonexam.com/en/about/)

By the way, we provide a guide for an estimation of an approximate backgammon skill level as follows. Of course, it varies among players, please use just as a reference.

• More than 45 correct answers … World champion class
• More than 40 correct answers … National champion class
• More than 35 correct answers … Local champion class
• More than 30 correct answers … Advanced class
• More than 20 correct answers … Intermediate class

We are looking forward to many players taking this opportunity to attend.
We hope you won’t miss it.

On Sunday, May 28th, the fourth day of the 37th Chicago Open Backgammon Tournament, Michihito “Michy” Kageyama (Giants #2) presented the newest version of our “Backgammon Proficiency Test”. He also offered a comprehensive review to the participants on the following day.

Since its establishment in May 2011, our proficiency test has attracted more and more attention all over the world. That was the fourth consecutive time we carried it out there. The previous articles are here:

• 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 it was 35, the highest number ever. It is our great honor and pleasure to have so many players.

We are excited about the high-level scores they made. As the result, Gerry Tansey is on top with 37 (out of 50) correct answers, followed by Chuck Bower and Dennis Culpepper. After the second round, Gerry Tansey is now in the lead overall, while Chuck Bower (USA), Daisuke Katagami (Japan) and Dennis Culpepper (USA) tie for second place.

All of their scores are as below, and the list of overall results up to now is here.

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	37	1167	Gerry Tansey
2	34	1541	Chuck Bower
2	34	1910	Dennis Culpepper
4	33	1738	Steve Brown
4	33	1816	Grant Hoffman
4	33	1882	M. F.
7	32	1920	(Anonymous)
8	30	2195	Alfred Mamlet
9	28	2332	S. B.
10	27	2622	Ray Bills
11	26	2547	Steve Hairgrove
11	26	2765	F. T.
11	26	2882	(Anonymous)
11	26	3093	Karen Davis
15	25	2664	(Anonymous)
16	24	2707	Jeb Horton
17	23	3064	(Anonymous)
17	23	3956	Aaron Foust
19	22	3208	Larry Shiller
19	22	3257	Allen Tish
19	22	3647	(Anonymous)
22	21	3714	Craig Anderson
23	20	3319	Eric Barr
24	19	3922	C. A.
24	19	4417	Mike Clapsadle
24	19	4960	Dane Seiler
27	18	4288	(Anonymous)
28	17	3617	Jeffrey Spencer
28	17	3887	Charles Haley
30	15	4089	Lynda Clay
31	14	5741	A. K.
32	13	5376	(Anonymous)
33	12	4778	D. W.
34	11	4545	Peter Victor
35	9	6021	David Seiler
Total 35	Ave. 23.1	Ave. 3302

Thank you for joining us! 🙂

ゴールデンウィーク期間中（5月3日〜5日）に行われた「バックギャモンフェスティバル 2017」にて、「バックギャモン検定」の新たなシーズンが幕を開けました。

これまで6年連続で5月の王位戦でのシーズンスタート（問題リニューアル）となっていましたが、会場の都合によりバックギャモンフェスティバルが5月、王位戦が10月に開催時期が変更になったのに伴い、今年からは王位戦ではなくバックギャモンフェスティバルでの開催となりました。

新しい会場での開催となり、日程もイベント初日の午前中ということで会場での事前告知ができないということもあり、「あまり参加者が集まらないのでは？」と内心とても心配していたのですが、蓋を開けてみると試験開始5分前には全ての座席が埋まってしまい、何名かの方には満員御礼ということで受検をお断りをする運びとなってしまいました。受検できなかった方には大変申し訳ございませんでした。次回はもう少し広い会場で開催できるよう調整させていただきます。

なお今回は、中上級者向けの「第7回 バックギャモン検定」のほかにも、初中級者向けの「第5回 バックギャモン初中級検定」も同時開催しました。
中上級検定の受検者は18名、初中級検定の受検者は5名でした。

「バックギャモン検定」のファーストラウンドの結果は、以下の通りとなります。

Rank	Total score	Total errors	Name
1	34	1597	Daisuke Katagami
2	30	2088	T. I.
3	29	2847	Jake Jacobs
4	28	2225	T. U.
5	27	2577	Hiroyuki Kawakami
5	27	2708	Hiromichi Sugimoto
7	26	2224	Shinya Kimura
8	25	3470	Kazuhiro Saito
9	24	2955	K. O.
9	24	3119	Takashi Ootani
11	22	4214	Keita Morina
12	21	4154	M. F.
13	20	3361	Naoki Chiba
13	20	3895	T. S.
15	18	3330	Masaaki Isobe
15	18	4690	M. S.
17	16	4060	Shinichi Onozaki
17	16	4666	M. H.
Total 18	Ave. 23.6	Ave. 3232

現時点の暫定トップは、「将棋の daichan」として有名な棋士、片上大輔六段でした。嬉しいことに、当日の氏の ブログ には「フェスティバルには検定とクイズだけ参加予定」と書いてくださっていました。

そしてさらに嬉しいことに、毎年バックギャモン検定を受けてくださっている磯辺 政明さんが、3月の 大阪オープンでの優勝 に続き、バックギャモンフェスティバルの 日本選手権で見事優勝 されました！

準決勝を勝ち抜いたときに、「検定の結果が悪くて優勝しちゃったら申し訳ないね」と心配してくださっていましたが、バックギャモン検定を毎年受検して血肉にしてくださった結果だと信じております。また、バックギャモン検定はスコアを自慢することだけがキモなのではありません。問題集として世界最高のクオリティであることのほか、「出題の妙」と「世界トッププロの解説」がバックギャモン検定の「売り」と言っても過言ではありません。今回も、「解説が素晴らしい」「3000円は安い」という評判を方々からいただいております。今回参加されなかった方も、チャンスがあれば是非受検してみてください。

今回受検していただいた皆さまには、この場を借りて御礼申し上げます。
お陰さまで今年も上々のスタートを切ることができました。ありがとうございました。

Sorry, this entry is only available in Japanese.