Playing the same opponent over and over again can leave little room for variation and growth. Friday Harbor residents Matt Marinkovich and his daughter Lucy wanted to break from this predictability as they continued to go head-to-head with each other in the game of backgammon.
“We would play each other and our games would be the same; we would have identical backgammon boards,” said Matt. “It’s like we’re playing [against] ourselves.”
He suggested he and Lucy find a backgammon tournament where they would have the opportunity to play against other people. After doing some research, it turned out that the nearest tournament was the New York Metropolitan Open in New Jersey. So, the two islanders traveled all the way to the East Coast to attend the tournament on Jan. 4 – 6.
According to Lucy, around 300 participants were registered for the tournament, and they were amongst those who traveled the furthest – along with one attendee from Vancouver, B.C. Unsure of which division they belonged to, they decided to register for the advanced beginners tournament.
“We were also thinking maybe we could be in the intermediate [tournament], except the problem is we’ve never played in a tournament and they have different goals,” said Matt.
As a child, Matt learned to play backgammon from his brother, and went on to teach his oldest daughter, Sophie, when she was in junior high, making it an easy and enjoyable way to spend time with each other during her teenage years. Around the same time, Lucy started to learn the game at eight years old, graduating first from checkers.
“We never did much chess – I think I don’t have the patience for it,” said Matt. “ A game of backgammon takes anywhere from 10 minutes if it’s a quick, easy race, but you can get into some crazy 40-minute games. But most games are 25 minutes long.”
In the two player game, each player has 15 pieces that move along 24 points on the backgammon board according to the roll of two die. The objective of the game is to move the fifteen pieces around the board and be first to remove them from the board.
“It’s a fun game because it does require skill and you can learn it, but also there’s a lot of luck, which makes every game more fun,” said Lucy.
For Lucy, her skills (and of course, a bit of luck) served her well during the advanced beginner tournament. Each tournament had a main bracket, and after losing a match, competitors could play in a consolation bracket, followed by a “last chance” bracket once eliminated from the consolation round. Lucy was the runner-up for the consolation round in her division, walking away with $360 from her game earnings and a trophy.
Beyond the game profits and title, Matt and Lucy returned to Friday Harbor having gained new skills and a renewed passion from their big-league experience.
“There’s a bunch of different elements involved in a tournament game and it turns out that was kind of our weakest point,” said Matt. “I would say that we learned twice as much about playing backgammon, but it seems like Lucy learned five times as much. Whatever she learned stuck to her young little brain better than mine. Or maybe she’s just a better player,” said Matt.
The duo already plans to attend the tournament again next year, and have decided to create a backgammon club in Friday Harbor to get others involved in the fun pastime. The first meeting is on Jan. 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the American Legion and will continue to meet every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. except the second Wednesday of the month.
“[Backgammon] is just a fun game, and if you want to come to our little gaming meetup, any skill level is fine,” said Matt. “You don’t have to be a pro. But if you are a pro, please come and give us some pointers.”
