Backgammon Online

01-May-2026
05:10 PDT

Friends,

BBL-35 is now OPEN!

As of today, 31 players signed up, so we will have 3 groups of 8 players and one with 7.

Based on the snapshot of participants’ ratings as of May 1, the four-group seeding is now set, and all games can begin! The top four players from each group will go to the 1/8 finals, with the playoff portion of the tournament being conducted on a best-of-three basis. All games must use the BG format only.

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NEW SCORING TEST RUN: (These rules are listed on the front page of our league website as well):

To incentivize a faster game experience for the players and to reflect the “Blitz” nature of the league, the following rules will apply to all group stage matches in BBL-35:
Scoring Adjustments Based on Speed of Play (calculated as the difference between Game End Date and Game Start Date, captured on the ZE platform):

Game completed in < 2 days: Extra 0.2 pt. added to both players
Game completed between 2-5 days: Extra 0.1 pt. added to both players
Game completed between 6-10 days: Regular scoring applies
Game completed between 11-14 days: 0.1 pt. deducted from both players
Game completed after 14 days: 0.2 pt. deducted from both players

All group stage games must be initiated (started on the platform) within 5 days of group seeding. Games not started within 5 days will incur a 0.1 pt penalty deduction per day for both players. The host will have the right to remove the deductions upon advance notice of a necessary delay (life circumstances) or upon documented unsuccessful attempts to challenge the opponent within the 5-day threshold.

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IMPORTANT: Please update your challenge criteria to ensure you can be challenged by your group opponents or challenge them yourself first! Check your ignore lists, too.
Please avoid any delays - all games must start by May 6 to avoid point deductions.

To see who your group opponents are, please go to the home page of the BBL website (https://tinyurl.com/ze-bbl - bookmark this page!), where you will find the link to the Results page. Everything is set up on that page, including a ZE challenge link for each group opponent, which is created for your convenience. Click that link for each group opponent, and your BBL challenge will automatically open on ZE.

On the home page of the BBL website, you will find the result submission form. The winner of each game should fill in this form within 24 hours of completion in the following format: Player A - Player B 1:0, Gammon (if applicable).

As usual, I intend to update the results multiple times a day as I get automated notifications on your result submissions. Please review the results page often, and if you do not see some of your results, don’t hesitate to submit them even if you lost a game. Your assistance here is greatly appreciated.

Here are a few important suggestions to speed up the games:
a) Communicate with your opponents to see what time of the day is best for both of you to be online. This will greatly increase your chances of receiving bonus points!
b) If you happen to be on the losing side and your game is out of reach, consider resigning and updating the website with the result yourself, as your opponent might not notice that the game was over.

As usual, feel free to connect with me directly if you have any issues, questions, or concerns

Best,
Leoton
https://tinyurl.com/ze-bbl

01-May-2026
14:42 PDT

Just has my number lately. Beat me two matches in a row in this tourney. Tooo tough. Great win!

03-May-2026
13:38 PDT

I like (for now) the idea of ​​+/- points. I thank you, Leo for your efforts to speed up the games.

But I would like to consider one more option for - 5 points for anyone who doesn't know the meaning of the word "blitz".
A vote from the participants would help determine them.
My first name on the top in "no blitz" list is "hopeiwillwin".

15-May-2026
09:11 PDT

We have a new champion - Tatus-the-Best! Congratulations on your first trophy!

Also, congrats to all playoff participants:
Finalist - Maxmator
Semifinalists - Blokhin2 and Gem001
Quarterfinalists - Steelerhead, Lilwarrior, Xapko87, and Leoton
Sweet 16 - Erykutzu, Pointbuilder, Esprit, Mariusadi, Kumarakid, Estorba, Laurakim, and Joepesci.

One more important achievement - we completed the entire tournament in just 15 days! This is a real “blitz” spirit - and I wanted to thank all players for their commitment to fast play! Especially, I wanted to point out how well the communication between players worked - we had last several playoff matches completed in just 1-2 days!

I hope the new scoring system helped as well - I would be happy to hear from you all if you want to continue with this, want any adjustments, etc. Please, let me know either on this forum or send me a direct message.

Finally, with the tournament ending so quickly, I can actually start BBL-36 on June 1. I will prepare the website over the weekend and open registration.

Thank you all and see you in BBL-36!
Leoton

16-May-2026
16:30 PDT

Friends,

BBL-36 Registration is now open. Please use our usual website link to register for the new tournament (https://tinyurl.com/ze-bbl). After the record-setting speed in BBL-35 and your positive responses to the new scoring rules, the same system will stay in place for the next tournament as well.

BBL-36 will start on June 1, 2026. Hope to see you all there!

Best,

Leoton (Host)