Pennine Trophy 2023

The Pennine Trophy is an annual backgammon tournament commencing with the first Bradford tournament in January and ending with the Manchester tournament in December.

There will be 24 rounds, 12 at each venue with 2 leagues, a Masters and an Intermediates for each venue (Bradford and Manchester) and 2 leagues for the joint event.
Eligibility to contest the Intermediate leagues are as follows –
Tour rating >= 1600 or previous Pennine winner = Masters, tour rating <1600 = Intermediates
For players without a tour rating the TD has sole discretion
An eligible intermediate player may opt to play in the master’s league

All monthly tournaments will start at 12.00pm (Bradford) and 12.30pm (Manchester) prompt. Last registrations taken 15 minutes before start times.

Pennine Trophy league positions to be determined by the following criteria:
1.   Match points (1 for a win, 1 for a bye win, 0 for a loss, -2 for forfeit loss) from best 8 results (Bfd/Mcr leagues) and best 16 results for joint league.
2.   Most events won
3.   Least number of bye wins
4.   Best win percentage
5.   Most attendances
6.   Head to head
7.   If still tied 9th (Bfd/Mcr leagues) and 17th (joint league) results will be used

Part of the registration fees after costs for venues, trophies, admin etc will be given as prizes to the top 5 qualifying* players in the Bradford and Manchester masters and intermediates leagues.

As the money used to fund this competition is coming from registration fees (i.e. the more events you attend the more you contribute) there will be an eligibility criteria.

*To qualify for the annual Bradford and Manchester prize monies and trophies players must attend a minimum of 5 of the 2023 Pennine trophy tournaments held at the relevant venue.
To qualify to win the joint Pennine Trophy players must attend a minimum of 12 of the 2023 Pennine trophy tournaments with a minimum of 4 at the both venues.

Monthly tournaments 

Entry fees and prizes

£5 registration, £10 entry (100% pay-out, winner 67.5% RU 22.5%, 10% end of year and bonus prizes)
Optional side pools (100% pay-out, winner 75% RU 25%)
Optional £10 2nd chance entry for players winning 3 matches (100% pay-out, winner 67.5% RU 22.5%, 10% end of year and bonus prizes)

Format

Each round will feature a 4 x 9pt randomly drawn swiss type format.

The monthly winner and runner up to be determined by the following criteria:
1.   Match points (1 for a win, 1 for a bye win, 0 for a loss, -2 for forfeit loss)
2.   Head-to-head result between tied players
3.   1 or 3 point play off’s if required

Any players not completing all their matches will forfeit any points gained in earlier rounds and be penalized 2 points for each match not played. In addition, should this occur on more than one occasion without any extenuating circumstances said player will be excluded from future tournaments.

Any players found guilty of “fixing” a match to benefit themselves and/or others will be disqualified and become ‘persona non grata’ at any future events.

Play off criteria

With two players tied, if they've met during the event then use the head-to-head result, otherwise play a tiebreak match.

With four or more players tied, a randomly drawn KO with byes as necessary.

With three players tied, if one of them has already beaten the other two during the event, then that player wins. (Whether the other two have met or not is irrelevant.) Otherwise, a playoff is needed as follows:
Round robin. If the result is 1-1-1 then ……. Two randomly chosen players play for a spot in the final. The loser plays the third player for the other spot in the final.

• Play off matches will not be awarded Pennine points nor added to UKBGF database

2nd Chance

Optional 2nd chance entry for players winning 3 matches (100% pay-out, winner 67.5% RU 22.5%, 10% end of year and bonus prizes)

The entry fee for this is £10 with refunds given to those that don't qualify.

Winner and runner up determined by same criteria as main event.

IMPORTANT RULES   you need to know about monthly tournaments

Any players not completing all their matches will forfeit any points gained in earlier rounds and be penalized 2 points for each match not played. In addition, should this occur on more than one occasion without any extenuating circumstances said player will be excluded from future tournaments.

In addition, any player forfeiting a match in the qualifying period prior to the 4 added money bonus events will become ineligible for added money regardless of number of events attended.

Any players found guilty of “fixing” a match to benefit themselves and/or others will be disqualified and become ‘persona non grata’ at any future events.

Clocks - All matches are clock mandatory and to help ensure we can finish the events at a reasonable time clock settings will be 90 seconds per point (rounded up) with a 12 second delay. Therefore:-
9-point matches = 14 minutes +12 seconds per move
7-point matches = 11 minutes +12 seconds per move
5-point matches =   8 minutes +12 seconds per move

Default start times and match points

Matches in rounds 2 to 4 will play reduced points if starting more than 30 minutes after default time.

Clocks

All matches are clock mandatory and to help ensure we can finish the events at a reasonable time clock settings will be 90 seconds per point (rounded up) with a 12 second delay. Therefore:-
9-point matches = 14 minutes +12 seconds per move
7-point matches = 11 minutes +12 seconds per move
5-point matches =   8 minutes +12 seconds per move

Annual Pennine Trophy Prizes

All below based on an ave 35 entries (20 main, 15 2nd chance) less £900 costs = prize fund £2340
60% for bonus rounds = £1400, balance £940 for end of year prize monies
End of year fund £940 = 65% masters (£610) 35% inters (£330)
*The amounts will be pro rata'd based on number of "Master/Intermediate" entries (approx 65/35)

Should a player finish in the top 5 in more than one of the leagues only the higher prize will be awarded with the next player/s in the league ranking (6th onward) receiving the lower amount.

End of year cash prize fund less venue, trophies and admin (£900)

Quarterly added money bonus tournaments

We are reintroducing added money events for 2023 and based on an average number of entries (20) in the preceding 6 monthly events the pay-outs will be as follows: -

*All above prize monies based on average 20 registrations.
75% for main tournament, 25% for 2nd chance tournament.

The added money ""bonus"" tournaments are open to all players but will be limited to a maximum 32 entries. Preference will be given to players with the highest number of attendances from the previous 6 Pennine trophy events at the relevant venue.

Registration will be open 2 weeks prior to the event and following the above preference criteria, places will be on a first come, first served basis.

To qualify to win the added money, entrants must have attended either 3 of the previous 6 Pennine trophy tournaments or 3 of the previous 6 tournaments held at the relevant venue.

To qualify to win the 2nd chance added money, entrants must have opted in to the 2nd chance a minimum of 66.6% of the time. (i.e. played 3 events with minimum two 2nd chance entries)

Any player forfeiting a match in the qualifying period will become ineligible for added money regardless of number of events attended.

If the winner or runner up is a non-eligible player the money will be awarded to the highest qualified finishers.