In another quarterfinal, Manouchehr Parchami of Sweden beat Arild Idsøe of Norway.

The other two quarterfinal matches involved Danes. And of course, most of the Danes were hoping to see at least one of the Danish players go to the Semi-Finals.

The first one to try was Claus Cato (Semi-Finalist of 2006 Nordic Open Championship flight) who played a television match against Tassilo Rzymann of Austria. People were mostly supporting Cato, but it was Rzymann who got the points. Leading 11-4 (to 17) Rzymann recubed Cato in a very interesting position. Cato thought for almost five minutes, took the cube and lost a gammon and the match.

The last quarterfinal was contested between Denmark’s Hans Kristian Mathiesen and Hans Liby of Norway. The Norwegian guy looked like a sure winner but Mathiesen made a great comeback and won it at Double Match Point (DMP) as the spectators cheered and gave a huge round of applause.

A good atmosphere
Later on, at 8 p.m., Mathiesen played the semi-final against Parchami (TV-match). It was played in a great atmosphere, where players small-talked and had a good time during the match. Neither seemed to be nervous. Most people were hoping for a Mathiesen to win, but both players got applauses after game wins. Mathiesen won the match 17-12 and was ready for the Final, which will be played today against Tassilo Rzymann of Austria who won the other semi-final match.

In the Advanced Division, the Final will be played between Søren Larsen and Ole Anderesen.

In the Ladies Cup, with an impressive 64 participants, Pia Sevelin of Sweden scored a victory in the final against Danish backgammon star, Pia Jeppesen.

In the Japan Open Qualifier, Uli Koch of Germany won over Jan Jacobowitz, also of Germany.

Early on Day 4, Falafel held a seminar in which he spoke about 16 positions. Around 35 players showed up, one of them was Dane Niels Larsen, who said he had a great time:

“I think the level of the seminar was quite good and I picked up some good ideas to prepare my game.”

Confusing television set up
I also met up with Volker Sonnabend of Germany to a chat about the tournament. This top German player likes the conditions here.

“I like live tournaments with lots of players like here at Nordic Open. The organisation of the tournament is very good,” Volker remarked.

But what about the TV set up?

“I think it is a bit confusing. It takes lot of space, and you can´t hear the commentators. But it is a very good idea and television is a good thing for the backgammon scene,” Volker continued.

How are the side events Volker?

“There is a lot of side action, and that is good. I played in the Nations Cup and tonight I am playing the Mix Consultation with my wife Ingrid. The side events are a good way to meet people, where many play mostly for fun, not like in tournament matches which are more serious,” he said.