Biographies - Phil Simborg
by Jake Jacobs
Name Phil Simborg
Who is that long tall Texan? It might be The Simborg Kid, aka: Emptychair, Snookems, or the Loveworm. ("Smile when you say that, pardner!") While most of us know Phil as a Chicagoan – he was born here, and lives here – he grew up in Texas, graduating from Highland Park HS in Dallas, and the U of Texas at Austin. (His higher education he owes to "two ex-wives.") Currently he is the Managing Partner of a national commercial real estate firm based in Dallas. He continues to live in Chicago, but spends most of his time in Dallas, which "raises the IQ level of both states." No one is sure which way he means that.
As a tournament player, Phil was the 1995 Chicago Bar Point Club Champion, and took second in the 1998 Georgia State Championships. He also claims "various individual victories over Jake Jacobs, Neil Kazaross,
Mary Franks, and Kit Woolsey." Phil is also active online, averaging 214 hours of play per week. He is especially active on the MSZone, and has been instrumental in attracting top players to the Zone for exhibition
matches, commentary, and occasional donations to the chouette. He has also been responsible for bringing many, many new players into the game, both live and online.
Phil writes articles for the Chicago Point, GammOnline, and others. The articles are both serious and humorous, and he defies you to determine which is which. Phil also has a humor site at Phil claims he owes his game to several players. "My first serious teacher was Dean Muench in the early 80's and he taught me not to sit down in the
game unless I could grab a 64 cube without hesitation. I had the pleasure of having Sly as a houseguest, and he taught me that you don't have to be a bad player to lose money. I had some great, private lessons from Kit
Woolsey and Nack Ballard that have raised my game tremendously, and Neil Kazaross, Laila Leonhardt, and many members of the Chicago Bar Point Club have been most generous with their time and advice. But I wish
to offer a special thanks to Jake Jacobs who has spent hours looking at positions I have sent him and given me full explanations that could fill several books explaining why I am so stupid and why I should be careful
not to lose my day job. I have saved every word Jake ever sent me, re-read and review his advice often, and I owe it to Jake that I am now, after some 35 years of
backgammon play, an excellent intermediate player. (Biographer's disclaimer – The preceding testimonial was unsolicited. However, Phil knew that he was facing my rewrite. His life is literally in my hands. It is
also true that before he met me he was an open player, but with my help has become an intermediate, though I do have trouble with the word "excellent"…)
On a personal level Phil's achievements include: Past President of many
Commercial Real Estate Organizations; author of the Standards of Ethical Practice for the National Society of Office and Industrial Realtors, and the Commercial Div. Of the National Association of Realtors; author of the modern
rules of Handball and Racquetball and former head referee and Chairman of the Rules Committee for the Professional and Amateur Racquetball Associations; Best Father award granted by a committee of the Best Sons
in Chicago ("9-time recipient, but my kids stopped voting for me during their teenage years"); former Life Master at duplicate bridge; many Racquetball, Handball, and Tennis awards and championships; recipient of the
Cube-in-the-Head award, presented by Mr. Matt Surekci. In addition I personally can attest to Phil's walking away plus from the chouette many times, though we called him back when it was his turn to roll.
In his spare time ("What spare time?" they cried.) he collects jokes,
quotes, and puns. He is also an avid student of physics and quantum mechanics, though he is having trouble finding a left-handed wrench to change the spark plugs on his quantum. He plays bridge, backgammon, and gin rummy, live and
online. He plays racquetball, tennis, squash, ping-pong, golf, and rollerblading. He travels extensively for business and pleasure and knows "Every major city in the U.S. well, with the exception of
Portland, Maine, which I have vowed never to visit."
e-mail Jake Jacobs: tobaksa@bg-info.com