What would your perfect online backgammon name be?

Have you ever seen someone's nickname on Galaxy, Heroes or Hub and thought that's a smart name - wish I'd thought of that? Personally, I've never been creative with my usernames, but I've recently thought of one that I might use. This raises another issue altogether - how do you bring the name into use? Do you dump an existing account and create a new one with a new nickname or can you just change your username and keep the account with its stats and so on? I haven't tried yet, so watch this space....

The name that's taken my fancy came to me when I wasn't really thinking about it, but when I did then think maybe it has something going for it, I realised there are probably a few things you need to check. Like would I be comfortable telling other players to look for it when wanting to play me? So as much as I agree with the player that I recently saw online that has called themselves 'f*cktrump', I'd probably not choose it for myself. Politics is best kept out of backgammon.

Likewise there are some names which are best described as playing mind games with opponents, like 'letmewin' and 'gameoverbro' which I'd be a bit embarrassed about telling people. You could try and laugh this sort of name off when telling another player, but ultimately you just come across as a bit needy or weird don't you think?

I guess ultimately for me, the name needs to be humorous or cool in some way or other. So something like 'Mochy' is very cool, but it's already taken and it would be a bit creepy if you were to impersonate the best backgammon player in the world.

Then there are the names that use some backgammon jargon like 'sixprime' or 'LoversLeap' - while these are good and pass the decency test, they're not very creative and they don't really tell you anything about the character of the player behind the name.

Heading in the right direction, 'Sir_Blotsalot' has a bit of Blackadder humour to it and perhaps tells you a bit about the game strategy you're going to face when you play them - I quite like that one.

All that said, my pick is 'BlunderBus' and I'll tell you why - not only does blunderbuss exist as a word in its own right (meaning an obsolete short musket gun with large bore and flared muzzle, used to scatter shot at short range, or a clumsy or unsubtle person or approach to a task), but it also incorporates 'blunder', a word that has become a bit of backgammon jargon through XG software using it as a label for the worst type of move or cube decision you can make in backgammon. With the 'Bus' tagged on the end it makes it seem like a type of public transport you take to go on a journey. As in "I'm taking the Blunder Bus today - let's see where it takes us." I'm always making blunders, so it's very fitting.

What about you? Do you have an online backgammon name you use or you're toying with using or have seen which sticks in your mind? If so, share it with us in the comments below, along with why you like it.

Meanwhile club night this Monday was the busiest ever - we played 5 Swiss tournaments which were won by Jimmy Ishac, Lawrence Powell, Jim Desai, Henry Keane and Farzin Yazdi. Congratulations to all of them and thanks to all 36 of you that came out to play.

Next week is already June Grand Prix - hope to see you there!