On No....A page is missing

As you may or may not have noticed our meetings page is missing.

Don't panic normal service will be resumed soon.

However

we are also planning a Thursday afternoon meeting in Launceston town center. We have a venue in mind but are yet to finalise details. (watch this space)

The idea being that Thursday afternoon in a cafe will potentially interest a completely different set of people who may not want to go out in the evening to a pub.

So while we are sorting things out it's meetings as usual at the Pint & Post.

No meeting

Hi, very quick last minute post..
There is no meeting this Tuesday 8th due to work commitments etc..

Back to normal next week....

New club??

It's been a funny old couple of weeks.

We have had a new player come along for the last three weeks. Great I hear you cry, fresh members..

Well that didn't quite work out.

This week he came along to announce that he wouldn't be coming very often from now on as he had been chatting with some friends and they were planning on starting a club local to them.

So bad news that he won't be a regular. But at the same time I can completely understand this as his trip to us every Tuesday was roughly a 50 mile round trip.

On the plus side, good news that there is going to be another club in the south west  as well as somewhere else for me to find a game.

I'm hoping that when they are up and running a

Lansongammon. v. ??

match can be arranged.



I think he is planning on getting a mention on the UKBGF site club list as well as BIBA so keep an eye on their site for a nice new club in the area.

Xmas Menu

For anyone local to Launceston this is the Pint & Post Christmas menu.

Go on, treat yourself or someone else...You know you want to...

Beginners Backgammon 13 - 15

Last post in the Complete Beginners Backgammon series By ENSOR42

Below are videos 13 - 15


Backgammon fro Complete Beginners Part 13 (The Doubling Cube)

Backgammon fro Complete Beginners Part 14 (The Doubling window)

Backgammon fro Complete Beginners Part 15 (The Crawford Rule)

Beginners Backgammon 9 - 12

Below are videos 9 -12 of the Beginners Backgammon Series..

ENJOY...

Below are Parts 9 - 12

Backgammon for complete Beginners Part 9  (Bear of Basics)

Backgammon for complete Beginners Part 10  (Playing through a bear off)

 Backgammon for complete Beginners Part 11  (Gammons and Backgammons)

Backgammon for complete Beginners Part 12  (The Pip Count)

Beginners Backgammon 5 - 8

The second post where I am adding links to a series of introduction Youtube videos.

ENJOY..

Below are Parts 5 - 8




Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 5 ( Rolling Doubles)

Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 6 ( Blocking and Primes)

 Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 7 (Hitting and Re-Entering)

 Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 8 (Dancing)

Our Venue... The Pint & Post.

This is where we meet on a Tuesday evening.

The Pint & Post.. Small and cozy.



Wood burner for those long winter evenings


A warm welcome always received from Tim & Lorraine.






















              Bar serving local ales and some not so local...                                                    

 

Cozy snug area..

 

Good pub grub available.





We start playing at about 19:30 so if there are any munchkins that you want to bring along during the hols for a game they are more than welcome.




 
















 
We usually play here. Room for everyone.
 

 

 Ready for action..

 

Beginners Backgammon 1 - 4

Youtube is a great place to learn Backgammon.. Here I have added the first Four in a Beginners series posted several years ago now. But still a great series in my opinion..

I will add all of the videos here over the next week or so. I know you can go to Youtube to find them but if they are here, you don't have to go searching..

Below are videos 1 -- 4 

Big thankyou to Ensor42 for producing these videos.



Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 1. (Introduction)

Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 1. (The Rest Of The Kit)

Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 3. (Basic Moves)

Backgammon For Complete Beginners Part 4. (The Opening Moves)

Hitler reacts to the UKBGF publishing their financial position

Found this on Youtube the other day..Just had to post it here..

Still chuckling as I post it....

Keep up the good work UKBGF

Tomorrow evening it's Backgammon as usual at the Pint & Post. Why not come along for a game.

Food available until 21:00
Good selection of local Ales..

Why not come early to eat, then finish the evening off with some Backgammon.

The perfect evening..

Links

The Links page is now up and running. Only a few links at present as I don't want to just load the page with random websites for the sake of it.

Next meeting will be on Tuesday 18th Oct at the usual location "The Pint & Post" St Giles.

Update

Hello all... Just a quick update with all things Lansongammon... It's been a little up and down over the last couple of months.
We only have a few members so if one or two can't make it for some reason. Work / Holidays etc then we usually cancel the meeting. This makes it hard for new members to join as well as losing valuable playing time. :-)
Now that winter is closing in fast I'm hoping that things will get on track.

New members are ALWAYS welcome.. We run a very laid back meeting, playing a few games, drinking and chatting as we go.
As soon as we get enough members I would like to set up a league such as the one run by the London Backgammon club.
The ultimate would be to get a team together to play in the "UK clubs Championship" next year. I'm not holding my breath though...But it would be nice.

Hope to see you down the Pint & Post very soon...

Links Page

So, every website seems to have them.

Here on our newest page I am going to list the main sites that I like, of Backgammon interest around the world.
It may take a little while to complete so after the MAIN sites of interest I am going to make the page live and work on it as and when I find sites of interest.
I am planning to take it out of draft by Monday the 25th July.

 

You are probably saying "why bother when there are so many lists already"
Well, apart from doing it for my own amusement it will hopefully help any new members that we may get here at Lansongammon central to find information quickly rather than relying on a Google search.

Lansongammon Central......The Pint & Post. St Giles On The Heath, Launceston, Cornwall


Meetings every Tuesday...Check the meetings page above before travelling.

Members Area

We now have a Members Area. The page link is above. Just use your google account to log in.
I will be adding elligible google accounts very soon.

The purpose of this "members area" is to provide somewhere to display club photos that we may not want generally thrown out there, as well as anything club related that may not be that interesting or appropriate to put on the main Blogg.

We don't have loads of members at the moment but I'm hoping in the future that this small corner of the Blogg will be well used.

The NSPCC Board Game Day Results

In this post I was going to write a long in depth analysis about our NSPCC #BigBoardGameDay event way back in June.

Then I thought "Why bother" 

After spending several weeks on advertising, telephone calls, driving around Launceston scrounging some really great raffle prizes. And generally everything involved in organising an event of this type, the big day arrived. 

All was set, these photos taken 5 mins before opening the doors. What you can't see very clearly is the tea urn, and table of homemade cakes etc on the right of the picture.

                                                Some great prizes on offer.

We were open from 10am to 5pm and apart from friends and family who made the effort to come, our total was 4 people who popped in out of curiosity on their way back from getting their pension.

So, with some fierce last minute raffle ticket buying by certain people (Did I mention the great prizes) our grand total for the event including some very generous online donations was £149.40  for the NSPCC.
Although this is still a nice amount for the NSPCC I know that if we were supported by more people it could have been so much better.

New Titles Arriving

Several new titles arrived for the Lansongammon Library.

I have been busy buying Backgammon books for the Lansongammon library..
Ebay seems the place to be to get value for money. It always amazes me what sort of discounts you can get even after paying postage.






I have chosen a couple of very basic books as well as intermediate titles.... 


All we need now is a few more members to help the club along. If you have any sort of interest in playing this great game why not come along to our next meeting.. Check the MEETING page above for details and before traveling as I always try to update the page if for some reason its cancelled..
No meetings for the next few weeks due to work commitments..

Most importantly there's good pub grub and some great local ale available...

NEW.....Lansongammon Library

( BoardGame event results in the next post)


I have not been able to update this Blogg for a while due to work etc.... I have not even been able to play much Backgammon....And thats BAD...

 Been Working......



I recently had an email from the UKBGF reminding me that its been a year since we were awarded our grant of £100 to help with club set up etc, and that we were due the second installment of £50.
This was paid into the bank just a few days later..

What to do with the grant top up?
Anyone who has been following this blogg will know that members are thin on the ground and it has been an uphill struggle all the time to get members...
So my thinking is, if we do get new members then the chances are they will be beginners. With this in mind I am going to buy a few books to loan out to members starting with books for beginners followed closely  by intermediate/ advanced.

The library link appears at the top of this Blogg. Only two books available at the moment, but another on order and more to follow.

LIBRARY.. 

If you want to borrow any of the available books just let me know at the next meeting...

A week to go

It's less than a week until our Board Game Day.

We are now rushing around putting final finishing touches to the event.

I have managed to get hold of some board games just in case people turn up without one. (It's bound to happen)
and I have a couple of people loaning me games.
The raffle is going very well with some great prizes from businesses around Launceston.

The next thing on the list is to make cake and anything else we can think of to 

a.) Help fundraising
and
b.) Keep the gamer's going.

We will be there from 10am. Ample Free parking.....

Update

Just a quick update:


We have been busy getting some great prizes for our raffle to be drawn at our #BigBoardGameDay on the 18th June.

Prizes so far from,
Number Eight cafe
Launceston steam railway
The Codfather
Costa
Hazard
Sazzyloo
Craig Chapman Hair Design
Homeleigh Garden Centre
Launceston Fryers
Cameo
Rob Hume Hair 

Tangles

Sagor tandoori 

New Mills farm

Tesco 

Launceston florists

Watch this space for updates.......

Reminder

Just a little reminder that tomorrow (Tuesday) it's our usual weekly meeting at the Pint and Post, St Giles. All welcome

On the 11th June it's our village fun day.
Lots to see and do. And there will be a beer tent too..

The 18th June we are holding our #BigBoardGameDay in our village hall..See this Blogg for details..
Or if you can't make it why not pop along to my justgiving page HERE

NSPCC #BigBoardGameDay

Well after an earlier problem with the hall that we were going to use we are now back up and running.
So, our NSPCC #BigBoardGameDay will be on the 18th June at St Giles-on-the-heath village hall. 10am to 5pm

 

If you love board games then come along and bring your favourite game.

There will be tea, coffee and cake on sale to keep your inner gamer nourished..

There will also be a raffle with some great prizes.
FREE entry (Donations appreciated)

Any board game goes. Bring along your favourite game to play or teach others. Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess , Backgammon, Cleudo, Battleships the list is endless. 

Or just come along to learn a new one..

Ample Free Parking

New Board

I was doing a general search on EBay last week and came across a 21" Backgammon board at a fairly reasonable price.
Several mins of discussion followed with Mrs Lansongammon before clicking the buy now button.
After waiting for my echeque to clear and then for the postman to arrive I now have my first full size board to play on.
Up until now I have used 15" boards. Which although are just fine, don't give the feel of a full size board.
                                                                                                                                                                                    

 All I need now is some time to play..

Next Lansongammon meeting: Tuesday 31st May at the "Pint & Post".
If you want to learn or are just interested please come along.

                                                                      +

           
                                                                      +

New Logo

After hearing about a website called Fiverr.com I thought it was about time that Lansongammon had their own custom made logo.
I quickly found a suitable seller and within 24hrs of the order being placed I had three designs to choose from.

After much thought and deliberation this is the logo that has been chosen. Together with a nice new tagline.

 

The only problem now is that I have to shift all the fliers and business cards that we have so that I can order new with this design.
I see pens, keyrings and caps on their way.  :-)

Several updates have been made to the site: We now have a countdown clock to the #BigBoardGameDay event.
The event page has been updated and a map to the event location posted together with the full address.
A new picture has been added to the gallery together with a whole rearange and tidy up.

New E-MAIL address

Well our website and e-mail subscription is up for renewal..

The website is staying the same but I have cancelled my email subscription.
It came free with the website but I'm expected to pay for the renewal. (Not good)

It's had very little use really so I think it would be fine to use a free Gmail account in the future.




I have set up a nice new address it's  Lansongammon@gmail.com

Our Birthday...

Looking at the calendar the other day and I realised that "Lansongammon" was one year old in April.

This has been an interesting year.

So far.
We started the club and found a venue.
Moved venue.
Meet every week.
Set up a club website
Club Facebook page, Twitter feed and email.
Obtained a grant from the UKBGF
We have been mentioned in our local newspaper.
Printed advertising fliers and cards
We have a regular club mini tournament at the end of each month.
And most importantly have several regular members.


Things to come.
Club library
Lansongammon league (Page set up we just need more members)
Advertising campaign to find more members.
NSPCC Big Board Game Day (June 2016)

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

Your Play Please

Yesterday I was down the pub playing some games and came across this move.
You might think to yourself, whats so interesting about that position, but I was interested to find out what the correct  move was. Any comments appreciated.



                                        White to play 5-5
                                        I moved 2 x 6 to 1 (Take).... Then bear 2 off the 5
                                        Was this right?
                                        My first thought was to bear all 5 from the 5 point.
                                                      (Then changed my mind)

 

Big Board Game Day 2016

 I was listening to the radio the other day and there was an advert for the upcoming NSPCC event.                                 


                                                "Big Board Game Day"

I sent off for their information pack and decided to go for it.

The event is going to be held on 27th May. However due to other commitments that date is a no go. So as it says in their info pack you can move the date to suit yourselves.
Therefore we will be holding it sometime during the beginning of June.
I say sometime as we do not have a venue yet.

A Just Giving page has been set up in advance and I am starting to get the word out there. I figure that even though we dont have a venue yet it can't hurt to advertise..
For up to date information either come back here or visit our website.. HERE 


Meanwile why not go to our JUSTGIVING Page to donate. It doesn't have to be loads of cash even £1.00 will make a difference.
We are hoping to raise £250.00 before and during the event.

 

 CLICK HERE .... DONATE HERE.

March Mini Tourny

Tonight we held our March mini tournament.

Four players attended playing short games to three points.
The tournament was won by Lynne Norris with Reuben Oliver a close second.

As mentioned in previous posts we are now meeting on a Tuesday evening, Same venue, the Pint & Post
st Giles on the heath.

 For further details see our website
 

It just didn't work

A while ago we changed our meet times to every other Wednesday due to the pub quiz clashing with us.  I thought this would work fine.

How wrong I was. 

Things seem to be constantly clashing with the only Wednesdays that we meet.
The last straw came this week when we were due to meet for the first time in ages and now I have to work.
 
So an executive decision has been made..

We are going back to meeting every week, but now on a

That way we have some chance of getting a game.

For dates its probably best to check our website  (as that's what it's there for) or get in touch via social media etc.

Its been a while

It's been a day or two since my last post so I thought I had better check in.

Backgammon seems to have slowed to a crawl, mainly due to a lack of members and work commitments.

  
Also we have now change our meetings from every week to every other week. This is due to the pub having their quiz night on Wednesdays.

Hoping that when the clocks change a few more members will appear.

On a personal note my GRIDGAMMON UKBGF tournament is not going well.. Apart from losing my first game I am having problems meeting up with opponents online...Mainly my fault I might add.

So to finish, a reminder that meetings are now every other week..Please see our website or get in touch before you travel to avoid a wasted journey.

Meeting changes.

We are changing our meeting day.

Instead of meeting every week we will now meet every other week at the Pint & Post.
Everything else stays the same.
To be sure, pop along to our website before you travel. It is updated regularly so will give up to date info on meeting dates.
If you still want to double check feel free to message me to confirm.

Backgammon is a great game that can be taught very quickly and once learnt will keep you playing and trying to improve your game forever.

Next meeting will be 2nd March at the "Pint & Post" at 19:30.

 Join us for a game.
The pub serves some great food as well as the all important drinks to keep you going.

February tourny

At yesterdays meeting at the "Pint and Post" we held our monthly mini tournament.The meeting was attended by seven players, not all participating in the tourny but all having a good evening.

We had one very new player who picked up the game very quickly and rumor has it that she spent the following morning playing Backgammon with her grandson. (Hooked i think)

The tournament was won by Alex Shaw with Reuben Oliver hot on her heels.

Its the school holidays so we had a couple of extra players in the shape of Poppy and Reuben.

Poppy still picking it up well with Reuben, as you can see from the results above, learning to fast.

And NO that's not Poppy's pint of bitter..

Unfortunately, due to the pubs quiz night and several other things that seem to all be happening on Wednesday  next weeks meeting has been cancelled. (sorry)


If you can play or fancy learning then why not come along to our next meeting.
Check our website for details HERE 
or get in touch via the website... See you there..

We are in the papers...

                                            Most Improved Player 2015


               Reuben, one of our younger members has had his picture in the paper.. 

A nice piece in this weeks Cornish and Devon post featuring Reuben who was presented with a "Most Improved Player" Certificate at our last mini tournament.

 Due to the pub changing the day that it holds its quiz night we are moving the date of our end of month tournament forward to next Wednesday 17th Feb.

This has turned out be be beneficial to us as the schools are on holiday so some of our younger members may be able to attend.

UKOPEN 2016

This week saw the UKBGF open registration for the UKOPEN 2016.

Ricoh Arena Coventry

This year we will be attending with two and possibly three members. One in the Advanced flight and the other two in the Swiss Beginners.

I have sent off the required email for two entrants but I'm waiting on confirmation from the third.

Hotels yet to be booked, but we stayed in a great Premier inn last year so the same could be on the cards.

Watch this space for a full report of our exploits as well as plenty of pictures.


Also, can someone pop over to the Lansongammon website and let me know in the comments below if the Newsletter sign up form is visible on the front page..I have been having some problems with this of late..Thanks in advance,,

  

More problems.

A very quick post...I am still having a few issues with the main Lansongammon website.

 If you visit our site then halfway down there should be a newsletter sign up form...If it's not there could you please comment below as it all seems a bit hit and miss as to whether it's there or not.

Thanks in advance...

Newsletter

Our website now has a sign up form to receive our newsletter. 

 

At present this is only planned to be produced once a month, so you won't be snowed under with newsletters in your mail box.

Why not pop along to the site and sign up.. It takes seconds.

If you are not local to us or live in the middle of nowhere don't worry, sign up and keep track of what's going on here in sunny Cornwall. 

                                                      (Middle of nowhere)

Next weeks Backgammon is at the Pint & Post, st Giles.....19:30.. see our website for details or directions...All welcome.  

 

                                                            (Pint & Post)

Most Improved Player 2015

Due to the storms tonight's mini tournament at the Pint & Post was a little short of players. However a good night was had by all with many games played.

The end of month mini tournament for January was won by myself with Lauren Oliver coming a close second.
All the results have been uploaded to the UKBGF website as well as the challonge site.

For full results go to our web site and click the tournament tab. Web Site

At the end of the evening one of our youngest players was awarded a certificate for the
 "Most Improved Player 2015" 

Less than a year ago Reuben Oliver did not know how to play the game.
Now, when playing him you have to keep your wits about you.

Reuben, proudly displaying his certificate and prize of a Star Wars stationary set.



Keep up the practice Reuben...

Day change....

Quick post to let everyone know that this weeks meet has been  moved to Tuesday the 26th due to the pub having their quiz night.

We will be staging our clubs mini tournament on that day but if you want to come along for a game you will be more than welcome.

Problems Problems Problems

Apologies to anyone having problems with our web site today.  I think go daddy are having a small problem.
When I view stats I am getting some foreign language tags but more importantly when viewing some pages there are problems.

 
Most notably the meetings page, where apparently we are meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.  Nice idea, but unlightly.

Back to normal

Last week saw one of our few unavoidable Lansongammon cancelations.
This Wednesday all is back to normal with our usual meet at the Pint & Post st Giles

Kick off is 19:30 with our hosts selling good beer and even better food.

Format is very informal with one or three point games being played. 

Next week is our end of month mini tournament.

Games to three points, to be added to our UKBGF  ratings page.

See you there....

January

      

So the UKBGF online championship has started. 72 participants have signed up to this first online tourny. I have yet to play my first match due to work commitments. But watch this space..

The brackets are up HERE on the Challonge website.


Our next Lansongammon mini club tournament will be on the 27th January at the Pint & Post, st Giles.
Provisional brackets are up HERE 

If you want to come along we play to 3 points only with no cube due to time limits. Drop me a line via the website or ring on 07899238206... Details on the contact page HERE


As a final note, the January 13th meeting has been cancelled. 

Backgammon Quotes

Never, ever, grab the first good looking play you see. There is often a better move around the corner. Go look for it. 
Kit Woolsey, 1991






There are three steps that should be taken EVERY time it is your turn to play: 

1. Have a plan. - 2. Consider the cube. - 3. Choose the best move.

 Thinking about these three things, in the above order, should become second nature. 
Kent Goulding, 1991
 

 
The best way to improve at backgammon is to get your hands dirty and really work to learn to understand this game. 
Neil Kazaross, 1994