Kent Goulding and Karen Davis won their Round 2 match in the Women’s World of Backgammon (WWB) Mixed Doubles online tournament on Monday, April 15, against Melanie Hughes and Jerry Shea. Melanie and Jerry had them on the ropes throughout much of the early match, leading by 7-2 in a match to 9 at one point. But they never scored another point. Kent and Karen missed some doubles in the early games, but not in the last game where at a score of 7-5 to 9, they gave an early “no double/take” and were rewarded with a gammon. They played a stellar 3.86 PR in their struggle to overcome their early deficit! The moral of the story – never give up!
Both Kent and Karen are first-rate and well-known players. Kent Goulding was inducted into the American Backgammon Hall of Fame in the inaugural cohort in 2015. His citation sums it up best, noting that he “is esteemed as a backgammon player, publisher, director/organizer, witty auctioneer, and raconteur extraordinaire. He introduced the first U.S. backgammon ratings system, and as director of the World Cup, he instituted the use of clocks and recorded matches. He was voted to the Giants of Backgammon six consecutive times from its inception. He published 12 issues of Backgammon with the Champions between 1981 and 1982, and the Inside Backgammon magazine with two-time World Champion Bill Robertie from 1991 to 1998. He was an organizer/director with Bill Robertie of the World Cup (known as the U.S. Invitational in early years) from 1984 through 1998.
He won the 2023 St. Louis Gateway ABT Open division, was third in the Masters Jackpot, fourth in the BMAB based on PR with a 4.70 PR, and won the Doubles with Mike Senkiewicz. He was 4th in the Sunny Florida BMAB event with a 4.81 PR. He was 5th in the Masters Jackpot at the 2022 Los Angeles Open where he served as the Auctioneer of the Calcutta Auction. He was 3rd/4th in the 2022 Cherry Blossom Classic Super Jackpot.
With Karen Davis, he won the 2023 Cherry Blossom Doubles tournament; they were 3rd/4th in the 2022 Cherry Blossom Capital Doubles; and won the Doubles in the February 2022 Big Freeze Out ABT Online tournament. They finished second in the 2023 Backgammon.Winning.Women Mixed Doubles event.
Karen Davis, Ph.D., has been a member of the USBGF Board of Directors from 2009 to 2022, serving as Board Chair from 2010 to 2017, and as the Federation’s President and Executive Director from 2017 to 2020. She is the Chairman of the U.S. Backgammon Foundation, the 501(c) (3) counterpart of the USBGF. Her backgammon accomplishments include: member of the American Backgammon Hall of Fame; BMAB (Backgammon Masters Awarding Body rank of Master Class 2; winner of the USBGF Women’s National Championship, 2022; captain of the U.S. Women’s Team in the Genud Cup, 2020; Member, winning U.S. Team, Magriel Cup, 2020; Member, U.S. Team, World Backgammon Federation World Team Championship, 2021 and 2019; Winner, Super Jackpot, NY Metro, 2019; Second, U.S. Open Online Super Jackpot, 2021; #1 ranking in USBGF Online Master Points for 2021 and #2 all-time; 2nd in the Michigan Masters Jackpot (2021 and 2012), 3rd Sunny Florida Miami Masters Jackpot (2022); 2nd Sunny Florida Tournament of Stars with Marty Storer (2022); 2nd Michigan Women’s Fireworks Cup (2022); 2nd Michigan Seniors Jackpot (2022); 3rd Cherry Blossom Doubles with Kent Goulding (2022); 2nd-4th, Cherry Blossom BMAB (2022) 1st Big Freeze Out ABT Online Championship (January 2022)
Come watch this exciting match on the WWB YouTube channel!
