Bristol backgammon couple perform well in Monte Carlo

Husband and wife backgammon experts Roland and Simonetta Herrera are back in Bristol after narrowly missing out on the World Championship title.

Westbury Park violin teacher Mr Herrera, 44, reached the semi-finals of the international tournament in Monte Carlo, before losing out 23-21 to the reigning world champion from Denmark in an epic six-hour match.

His conqueror, Lars Trabolt, lost a similarly tight final to Masayuki Mochizuki of Japan, renowned as another of the very best players in the world.

Cello teacher Mrs Herrera, 42, managed to reach the last 16 in the competition, also giving the Denmark player a run for his money.

The couple were the last two UK contestants from the 173 players in the event which has a top prize of £100,000.

But Mr Herrera won £10,000 for his bronze position – his biggest monetary prize in his 10-year backgammon career.

Mr Herrera said: "We moved to Bristol about 10 years ago and wanted to meet some friends, so I thought I would join the Bristol Backgammon club, as this was one of my hobbies."

Mrs Herrera, a Bristol Open Champion, said: "Roland was always looking for someone to play with. I resented the game for many years. I kept telling him that I didn't want to play.

"Little by little I realised there was more to the game than pure luck, and that the skill involved was very high, and I wanted to get into it."

Soon after joining the local club, Mrs Herrera entered her first competition and won.

The couple, who met in Italy when they played as part of the same string quartet, then started competing regularly in city tournaments, then national tournaments, before progressing to international games.

They married at Bristol Zoo in 2005, just hours before organising the first Bristol Open Championship tournament in the city. The Bristol Open Championships has since become an annual tournament, held in August, with people coming from all over the world to compete.

Mr Herrera is currently number two in Bristol, and Mrs Herrera is number nine, but these rankings continuously change.

Mr Herrera said: "I wouldn't say we're professional; we're strong amateurs."

He added: "I won £10,000, so it's not like I completely failed. But for me it's not about the money, but the achievement. Without our local club we would never have got so into the game."

Mr Herrera's third place in Monte Carlo is the best performance of any British player since 1976.

The week-long competition saw the couple play 40 hours of backgammon, with Mr Herrera one day playing two six-hour matches.

On returning to the city this week, Mr Herrera had to have a professional massage to ease his shoulder pain, caused by continuos shaking of the dice.

The tournament was streamed on backgammon forums around the world.

The couple believe their healthy diet of fresh, organic food, and ionised water, has made a huge improvement to their performance.

Mr Herrera said: "Backgammon involves a lot of number crunching, mathematics, technically correct moves, and a feel for the game; for the pattern. For people with a balanced mathematical and artistic mind, it is a great game."

Currently, only a handful of women play the game in Bristol, something which the Herreras would like to see change.

Mrs Herrera said: "It's so absorbing, I can play it all day without losing interest. There are so many different patterns all the time. It's never the same. It's so enthralling.

"Men don't like being beaten by women. I've definitely toughened up since I started playing. We would welcome more girls."

The Bristol Backgammon Club meets on Mondays and Thursdays at the Bristol County Sports Club, in Colston Street.

The Bristol Open takes place from August 28 to 30 at the Artillery Grounds, in Whiteladies Road.