First night at the Wellington

As a preparation for the online tournament, I thought it would be a good idea to visit the Fulham club this Tuesday to get back on top of playing backgammon against real people. After a good 5 months of hiatus, I was really looking forward to try my new board as well.

About the venue

First of all, I just learned yesterday that the club found its new home in the Wellington pub. Me being oblivion about this fact headed there in a hurry after a redundant visit to the Durrell Arms where the games used to take place before November 2018. The new venue is a bit of a disappointment with its dark chambers and storage like rear function rooms. The only surprising factor was the shuffleboard and the African buffalo trophy which are both rear items for a London pub.

preparation for a Fulham Backgammon Club match at the Wellington pub

Three attempts, three fails

Despite the atmosphere and the dim lights, I looked forward to my first game against Max with high hopes. The board I got from my wife as a Christmas present serve me well, mainly with lucky die rolls. I grew a 4–1 lead in a 5 point match but Max showed great skills and gained upon me turning a tight 4–4 to his advantage at the end.

For the second round, I played against Tim. I gave two really well-timed doubles, but it ended 5–3 to his favour.

Finally, Rosalie who gave me a sobering 5–0 in about 15 minutes including a backgammon(!) win. I’ve tried to play the waiting game strategy, anchoring on 3 positions in her home board. As you can tell by the end score it did not go well.

Takeaways

1. I’ve noticed that playing against the AI is very competitive but also handles waiting pretty generously. With a real-life opponent, my current pip counting speed is only enough to be used in one or two crucial situations during a game.
2. A note on concentration: I use the Pomodoro technic at work: 25 minutes of intense focus (no news, phone or social media) followed by a 5 minutes break. I noticed yesterday that my attention tended to drift away occasionally after the first 25–30 mins in the game.

Left with the wooden spoon this time. I reckon Fulham’s relegation from the Premier League gave the tone of the night for me. But at least it could not be worse next time for sure and this occasion gave me a reason to commence writing about my backgammon journey.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to my first competitive online game tomorrow.