Registration, Fees & Payment

The Entry Fee is £95 per person. £55 of the Entry Fee makes up prize money. Registration is £40 and includes a basic lunch on Sat/Sun and free morning coffee.

Please contact Ian Cukrowski to register. Payment will then be requested by bank transfer, after which your name will be added to the Entrant List or added anonymously if you prefer. You will also be asked whether you plan to attend the Friday evening event and if you have any dietary requirements (Sat/Sun lunch).

Prizes

The total prize fund is £3520 (fully subscribed with 64 players). First prize for the main event is £1000. More details to follow.

Rules

UKBGF Tournament Rules apply and can be downloaded from the UKBGF website.

Please bring Backgammon Boards, Scoreboards and Clocks where possible. Clocks encouraged.

Venue

Holiday Inn Aberdeen - West is the venue for the 2024 Scottish Backgammon Open. The same venue hosted the 2023 Granite City Open.

Westhill is only 6 miles from Aberdeen Airport and seven miles from Aberdeen railway and bus station. Nos. 5 and 6 buses go direct to the hotel. There are many local amenities close to the hotel.

Room Rate

For those wishing to stay at the venue we have negotiated a special rate of £55 B&B per standard room based on 2 adults sharing.

Only executive rooms remain available in the competition venue, priced £95. Alternative accomodation can be found at the Premier Inn Aberdeen (Westhill), 10 Straik Road. Westhill AB32 6HF. Telephone number 0333 777 3653.

History of the Scottish Open (with thanks to Neil Webb)

Many of the now older backgammon players playing today will remember that for a long time it was principally Michael Crane who expertly provided and directed tournaments throughout the UK. Michael ran the now retired British Isles Backgammon Association (BIBA). In February 2020 in his association’s magazine BIBAFAX Michael wrote the following:

Exactly thirty years ago today (3 February, 1990), the first ever Biba tournament was held - despite court proceedings to stop it! Two early morning court appearances across the Pennines to Manchester resulted in the writ being ‘postponed, awaiting further evidence’. The ‘further evidence’ never materialised and the writ was still valid until five years later when it was thrown out of court ‘for lack of prosecution’. During those thirty years I’ve directed 785 different elements (Main, Consolation, Last Chance, and Suicides) for a total of 32,801 players; and I have enjoyed every single one. I have contributed, edited, and published 157 Bibafax (and Bibafix) magazines, with pages ranging from 6 to 80; and I have had the time of my life formatting every single one of them. This is my final one.

A number of those tournaments were held in Scotland and from the meticulous records of BIBA it is noted that the following individuals won or were runner ups for the BIBA Scottish Opens. Some of the names may still be familiar!

Year	Winner	Runner Up
1998 Scottish Open	Neil Webb	David Hale
1999 Scottish Open	Sean Casey	Paul Arnott
2000 Scottish Open	Lawrence Powell	John Hurst
2001 Scottish Open	Wayne Auty	Jeff Ellis
2002 Scottish Open	Ray Tannen	Brian Busfield
2003 Scottish Open	Peter Chan	Rosey Bensley
2004 Scottish Open	Rachel Rhodes	Rosey Bensley
2005 Scottish Open	Peter Christmas	Jason Champion
2006 Scottish Open	Tim Line	Ron Havenhan
2007 Scottish Open	Adrian Jones	Gerry Enslin
2010 Scottish Open	Stewart Pemberton	Vaidas Novicenko
2011 Scottish Open	Neil Webb	Neil Oswald
2012 Scottish Open	Alastair Woods	Neil Webb

While BIBA may be retired those interested in the history of UK Backgammon can view many of the old BIBA magazines and other materials on the retired Facebook page of the British Isles Backgammon Association.

We would like to acknowledge and thank Michael Crane for his outstanding work in promoting backgammon.

Entrant List