nikos59

There may be some problems with the Vugraph software, or the problems are due to erroneous handling by operators, I don't know. The one is already mentioned by mrdct in the Vugraph operator's section, but I am also mentioning it here where it is more visible perhaps. I mean the problem that appeared *sometimes* during the USBC coverage, with the names of the other room missing when there was dual coverage. If you were watching Open room, when exiting the Closed room names were missing from the movie and vice versa. This was not uniform, sometimes it happened, sometimes not: hence, probably it is an operator's issue. Another bizarre happening: I was watching Final, segment 1, Open Room. At Board 8, Hamman opened 1NT, passed out to Zia who reopened -and HammanSoloway reached and made 4S! Later a friend tells me that this board is missing from the lin file stored at his hard disk; it is also missing from the lin file stored in BBO Vugraph Archives (the Open Room, I mean). Bizarrely, at my hard disk the board was there but not the bidding. Having watched, I was remembering the bidding, so I manually edited it so the board at my site is correct. But I wonder how the problem came to pass in the first place. Nikos Sarantakos

This is interesting, I mean I had the intention to raise the matter here and I find that my friend mrdct has already raised it. Fine! The reason I wanted to raise the matter: there is a thread in r.g.b. about Hand 119 of the semifinals (the slam by Soloway that decided the match) and a reader specifically asked: Is there any site where I can find the players' names? There was not. Now there is because I added them at my site. I used to do this manually after every match but only when I was watching (and even then not always) and this match was played in the middle of the night for us Europeans. I don't know whether the problem is caused by a bug or an operator's omission/erroneous handling. Sometimes the names are there, sometimes not: for instance, for the USBC finals, Segment 1 is ok, Segment 2 is not. Nikos Sarantakos

Hi all Uday has stored the USBC data in the Vugraph archives, and this was good because there was some terrific bridge played (although I guess we were all rooting for Fred!) but I think there might be a problem with these lin files. Unless I am mistaken, the procedure to store this lin file on my hard disk is as follows: having opened a match, you klick on Movie, then Open, you are asked if you want to Load the current match into the movie window, you reply Yes and it is loaded. Then you have just to klick Save and save it on your disk under a name of your choice. This procedure works fine with all previous matches stored in Explore Bridge -> Bridge Library -> Vugraph Archives. But not with USBC matches. I can open the movie, see the various boards unfolding *almost* normally, but when I try to Load the current match into the movie window and save it all I get is an "empty" lin file containing only the scoreboard plus some data from the last board. Any ideas pls? Regardless of this, has anyone stored the lin files from the 8th semifinal segment? I need both matches if possible and also the 6th segment of NickellMeltzer match. If you have them, I would be grateful to receive them at sarant-at-pt-dot-lu. TIA nikos

IMHO the 1,8% figure is totally misleading. What I want to know is: after 1D - 1H if I hold four spades and three hearts and raise partner at 2H, what chances do I have to miss a 4-4 spade fit? Or, to put it plainly, what are the chances for pard to have four spades? The answer to this, unless I misread the script, is *not* 1.8% If I read well the dealer script, 1,8% is the percentage of the "trouble with 4-4 spades" hands averaged on ALL North hands that open 1D, but this is irrelevant because it includes all the North hands that open 1D and raise to 2H but do not have four spades. Or am I wrong? n.

Assuming you don't play negative free bids, pard could have a major 2suiter, perhaps with better hearts. It is true that 4C could mean the same but a) if you want to split hairs, then 4C would mean that he has both majors equally strong-long, while 4H-S would imply a preference for the major named, B) not everyone likes to torture partner with a return cuebid and risk playing a 3-0 fit n.

Well, where I play (France) it is considered almost an aberration to raise with three cards only. Very seldom I have done it myself. What I find really weird is the suggestion to raise pard to 2H with a tripleton (after 1C-1H) even when holding four spades. You risk missing a 4-4 in spades this way, which in my opinion is unacceptable even if the odds are not so high. n.

Everything has pro and cons. For instance, if you scrap Texas you can use the 4D bid as the French do, namely a major 2suiter with no slam interest, just game. Opener places the contract. As to 4H, 4S you can keep them "to play" (I like to be able to forego the transfer on some special hands) or you can find some very specific meaning. What kind of hand (shape for instance) would be bid with 1NT - 2H 2S - 4S to show a mild slam interest, as advertized by Ben when Texas is used? n

Some useful lessons from the thread: a. The claim mechanism must be modified; however, the proposed cumbersome procedures will prove unworkable; I propose a very minor change that will probably work well: "The software should make it impossible to claim unless claimant (or dummy if claimant is declarer) has the lead" b. There are some bridge players whose lawyer skills are much greater than their bridge playing skills. n.

Hi all I missed the lin files from the Norwegian Trials transmitted on Sunday 6/6. Does anyone have them? If yes, I would like to have them emailed to me. TIA Nikos Sarantakos

Hi all There is a potential problem but I don' t now if and how it can be solved. Normally, when I choose a table to sit, I don't sit in the first empty place available but I check who is my future partner and opponents. So, in a sense I choose my partner. However, when I am already sitting at a table without a partner, I have no say concerning my future partner unless I am the table owner. Under the current system, it is the table owner who gives/denies permission to sit at the table. This may be reasonable, but it may end up in an unreasonable situation, i.e. to force me to accept a partner I would never choose. I wonder if it is a) sensible and B) feasible to allow to the future partner a say in such cases. ns.

Hi all Vugraph fans had another exciting weekend thanks to BBO. Several events were transmitted simultaneously (even 7 tables at a time). I have posted all the data that I collected at my pages. See: http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/newer.html I would also like to point to a possible bug. Some lin files were unusable until edited and I concluded that the problem was due to the fact that a player's name contained the "mb" letter combination and apparently this got confused with the "mb" command in the lin file syntax. Both the Hungarian cup and the Croatian tournament had players with "mb" and these files present the problem. Here is one example of file, if you want to examine it. http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/2004/hungcup/3s.lin It is unedited by me, so that you can see the problem. TIA Nikos Sarantakos

Well, while I was watching I managed to store all the data correctly and I was also adding players' names. But I had to go to sleep (cheap excuses:) so I am missing Rounds 1-7 of Session 4 (or, Rounds 10-16 of Day 2 if you prefer). If I have time I am planning to edit also the data from Day 1 and add scores. If not, I will post the data "as is". If (unlikely, given the situation described by Fred) anyone has any missing rounds, I will be grateful to receive them at sarant-at-pt-dot-lu. Nikos

It is not extremely difficult to correct them because the Cavendish website offers full hand records+frequencies so when you have the three scores it is easy to infer which pairs were playing against each other. Btw, rounds 3-5 (from the 1st session) are still missing :( Nikos

Hi all With the precious aid of Uday and some dedicated collaborators :( I have collected all the lin files from the Cavendish Pairs so far (2 sessions out of 5) except rounds 3, 4 and 5. If you have them, please send them at sarant-at-pt-dot-lu. Many thanks Nikos

First of all, I must thank very much all those who helped! Well, lin files are tiny so I won't get inundated if I receive them several times (for small values of 'several'). I did receive three times the 2,3 and 6 rounds of Cavendish -which also served as an indirect validation since the files were all the same. I have posted them now. You can also help by seeing if you have any *earlier* lin files. As it was pointed out, I usually flag which files are missing/incomplete so you can always fill them later. For instance, both Polish and Italian championships had missing data but now they have been completed. Thanks again for the great help! Nikos

Well, since you asked, I have almost all the data (some are incomplete) at my website. Italian: http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/2...4-itateams.html Polish: http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/2...04-polliga.html Hope this helps Nikos

Hi all I have some questions about a remarkable bidding sequence produced in the Polish Liga finals by Kowalski-Bizon. By coincidence, this very sequence is being discussed in another thread here, but I would not like to digress their discussion which is about advanced relay theory Here is the hand and bidding Dealer: South Vul: All Scoring: IMP ♠ KQJT4 ♥ T52 ♦ K94 ♣ 87 ♠ A6 ♠ 872 ♥ KJ984 ♥ AQ73 ♦ 7 ♦ AQT8 ♣ AKQT5 ♣ J4 ♠ 953 ♥ 6 ♦ J6532 ♣ 9632 West North East South Bizon Balicki Kiwalski Zmudzinski - - - Pass 1♣! 1♦! 1♠! Pass 1NT Pass 2♣! Pass 2♦! Pass 2♠! Pass 2NT! Pass 3NT Pass 4♣! Pass 4NT Pass 7♥ Pass Pass Pass Apparently 1C is strong (not Polish probably) and 1D shows spades. If possible, I would like an explanation of all the other bids of Kowalski-Bizon! Thanks in advance Nikos Sarantakos

This weekend was really a treat for Vugraph fans -we were lucky to watch some excellent bridge from the Italian and the Polish team championships. I really would like to thank all the people who helped one way or another, but especially Fred Gitelman. What touched me about Fred's attitude: when he is commentating Vugraph, he is not limited to discussing high-level play ramifications with his fellow experts, but he is also trying to explain to laymen spectators some "self-evident" things, for instance how are screens working. I really liked that. The Polish final was really excellent, one of the best. As I have said in a previous message, I have created a webpage to store all Vugraph data that I come across (almost all transmitted via BBO). You can find it at http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/2...004-natzon.html and klick the appropriate link. And, again: Many thanks Fred! Nikos Sarantakos

Hi all I have moved my old Tripod bridge site to a more spacious home. Please note the new address: www.sarantakos.com/bridge.html I have added some fresh material, denoted with the icon "New". What I consider more important potentially, especially to BBO users, is a new section "Vugraph project", where your contribution will be precious. See you there, Nikos Sarantakos

There has been and will be a *LOT* of Vugraph in BBO this weekend, also in the two next weeks. It is impossible for one person to watch all of them live, so it would be nice to be able to watch them offline. Also it is a pity to have our "collective memory", so to speak, vanish. Hundreds of BBO users are watching the events, if not thousands -couldn't you mail me the .lin files that are automatically stored in the Bridge Base Online\Hands folder in your hard disk? I would prefer complete files for one segment, obviously. If you happen to have conserved earlier files, these are also precious if they come from lesser events that are not archived in BBO site or Yvan Calame's site (i.e. unlike the World Championships etc.) I intend to have these files posted permanently at my website so that they can be accessed by all. My email address is: sarant-at-pt-dot-lu (remove hyphens, replace at with @ and dot with .) So, let's start to conserve Vugraph data! Nikos Sarantakos

Erkson said: <<Afterwards what did I find on my hard disk ? The complete England - Poland vugraph and nothing of the HK match ! I suppose that my first file was overwritten and I should have made a copy of it -if it ever was stored on my hard disk- before going to the other match. I don't know and it is not very important. I will get the first match file from somewhere.>> Your guess is correct -the files have the same name, so the newer one is overwriting the older. I usually rename one file, adding something like, say, Eng-Pol, so there is no overwriting.

I agree with Erkson, but there is already a solution that I would like to let you know. Yvan Calame of the Swiss Bridge Federation has made a page where one can download the vugraph records of the Youth Champs: http://fsbridge.nexenservices.com/2003/wytc/index.html He is even offering .lin, txt and html formats. But there is nothing about Round 1, plus some boards from R3 are missing. A solution might be to send the Round 1 records to him. Nikos

Hi all As you know, BBO is going to broadcast Vugraph from South American championships (beginning today) and then Canadian champs. Unfortunately, I'll be pretty much on the move this week, so chances are I won't be able to watch much of it. So, I humbly request, beg and beseech the enlightened BBO friends to keep this precious vglog.linx files and send me a private message, please, to let me know. Nikos Sarantakos PS The Danish championship finals were broadcasted here a couple of months ago. I stumbled upon the Vugraph data which can be found at: http://www.netbridge.dk/bridge/VuGraph/slutspil.htm

Well, I found that all the .linx files from the recent Polish matches (8 segments of the final plus 6 from the semis) are to be found at http://www.polbridge.pl/liga/liga2002_3/pi...rwsza/1liga.htm Go there, then click on BBO Rama and you download a small zip file containing the .linx files Nikos