Walddk

It's true that the players can decline to travel if they don't agree with the government's decision. However, although we may have a feeling as to what the consequences will be if they go and play, we can't be sure what effect it will have if they decide to stay at home. Roland

That is a fact, of course, but the problem for Israel is that they would not be accepted in the zone they belong to. So another compromise. Roland

As one could predict, it happened again. Lebanon's women did not turn up for the round 1 encounter against Israel at the European Championships. Here is the result of the match: LEBANON-ISRAEL ... 0 0 ... 12 18 Although there was some kind of adjustment involved if and when, blah, blah ... this political decision to a political issue is ridiculous. Lebanon scored around 9 VPs on average against the other 23 opponents. The only sensible solution is to have the following phrase (or something similar) in the Conditions of Contest: "Every team must play against all other teams. Failure to do so will result in disqualification from the championships." Please note that I do not take sides here. The same would obviously apply for Israel if they declined to play against Lebanon or any other Arab country. I know that the Lebanese players would not mind to sit down and play against Israel, but the Lebanese government does not allow them to. Too bad, but in that case you can't participate in an event like this. Bridge politicians are like all other politicians. They think, naively, that they can please everyone with a compromise that in effect pleases no-one. Next time some country refuses to play against Norway or Italy and gets 12 VPs for staying away. Sheer nonsense. Sadly, the political undertones reach beyond the matches and players. One of the online commentators declined to commentate on a match where Israel was involved. Fair enough, but that is easily taken care of. We just find a replacement. Roland

You can also make it if you duck. What you can't do is to win trick 1 and lead ♣Q (as declarer did). Roland

http://tinyurl.com/5pp49o I will be in London myself at the end of July and intend to spend a few hours at TGRs. But cricket has higher priority, of course, as some of you may know. Roland

[hv=d=s&v=e&n=skqj105h96da10964cq&w=s9876432hq103dk3ck&e=sha875d8752ca7542&s=sahkj42dqjcj109863]399|300|Scoring: IMP S: 3NT Lead: DK[/hv] I watched all 720 boards during the European Championships. I was probably the only one (idiot?) who did, but I have no regrets. It is no surprise that one can find lots of exciting hands over that many boards, but the one you see in the diagram above must simply be the deal of the championships. A gem, nothing less, at least it is in my view. Say you are declarer in 3NT after an uncontested auction where you have shown clubs and hearts and partner the other two suits. LHO finds the devastating lead of ♦K. A Merrimac Coup on the blind lead; amazing! You can obviously run it through a double dummy solver to see if you can make it or not, but try not to. Do you still want to be declarer after that lead, or do you want Bocchi or Duboin to take over and let you have one of their seats as defender? Roland

Claus, you are basically saying that Glen is a fool and that you know better. Show us! Roland

On behalf of BBO I would like to express our gratitude to everyone involved with this the biggest, most successful vugraph presentation ever. 228 tables, 26 operators, 181 commentators from 26 nations and thousands of spectators every day for two weeks. A couple of insignicant glitches, that's all. Most of the time we had 12 or 14 tables up at the same time, occasionally 16. I think the organisers and operators did very well. It was a challenge, and I was a little sceptical when I was asked if we could handle 14-16 tables three times a day. We did, and judged by the hundreds of appreciative private messages I got, our members are in complete agreement. We are ready for more challenges in the future. Roland

I don't think she has a choice now. First time since 1993 that Italy hasn't been on the podium. Roland

Our matches in the last (Open) round tomorrow morning are as follows: Round 17: Norway v Denmark France v Iceland Turkey v Bulgaria Germany v Italy Israel v Netherlands England v Poland Portugal v Russia

I suppose. I'm not sure I like a Norwegian airing dirty laundry as they are winning the event, however. (Not you Roland, I know are a Dane :angry:) I know all Norwegian players personally, so I'd like to emphasize that you can't find better sportsmanship, at as well as away from the table. They were very popular BB winners in Shanghai for a reason, and the fact that only two of the six are in the team in Pau hasn't changed anything in this respect. There comes a time when one must realise that all good things must come to an end. I am not saying that the Italians are over the hill, but it's for everyone to see that they can longer just sit down and expect the opponents to surrender without putting up a fight. Roland

In my view, the crux of the matter is that when you are not used to losing you don't know how to react when you do. Accept it with grace, be sad or frustrated? Remember that the Italians with virtually the same players as now have not lost as many matches for the past 10 years as they have in Pau. It's a completely new situation for them, and perhaps one should understand that this is tough to tackle. I am not trying to defend their behaviour, but a coin always has two sides. Roland

The translation is actually OK, but the author uses Norwegian slang on occasions, and one can't expect Google to understand those words. Others should be translatable but who knows what goes through Google's 'mind'? Also, there are several bridge terms which Google hasn't been programmed to 'understand'. Here is a link to the article in Norwegian: http://nbf.bridge.no/modules.php?name=News...article&sid=122 Roland

The RR2 match between Norway and Italy at the Europeans Championships was allegedly unpleasant at times. Here is a Google translation of an article on the NBF website: http://tinyurl.com/6fcf93 Juicy stuff. However, remember that -1. This is a literal translation with special Norwegian words even Google can't interpret. -2. This is how it happened as experienced by the Norwegian camp. We have not heard the Italian version. Roland

Francesco Angelini is no longer in Pau. He has left the Italian camp and is back in Rome. As most of you will have noticed, Angelini-Sementa were benched for 7 of the 8 first matches in RR2 (one can understand why after their poor performance in RR1). A most reliable source tells me that his team members had criticised Angelini's poor play. Whether that was a good idea or not is not for me to say, but Angelini left the venue in disgust and returned to Italy. Officially due to business commitments, unofficially .... well, you know now. As a result, the Italians have been playing 5-handed for two days. Sementa played two matches with Versace. My source also reveals that Ms. Lavazza now regrets that she dumped Fantoni-Nunes in favour of Angelini-Sementa. He has read it on some Italian website. Unfortunately I don't have a link, so until proven this is only hearsay. Roland

As often is the case towards the end of a tournament, the organisers will not give us our fixtures until 30-45 minutes before the previous session ends (to see who is in contention). So all I can reveal is our morning matches Friday. Friday is the last day for the women and seniors. Round 17 in the Open to be played Saturday morning. Round 14: Russia v Denmark Poland v France Portugal v Italy Germany v Estonia Norway v Italy (R23 Women) Germany v Netherlands (R23 Women) France v Israel (R23 Women) Round 15: 7 matches TBA Round 16: 7 matches TBA

Thursday is the penultimate day with a full programme. We will be broadcasting from 7+6+6 matches. Open series unless stated. Round 11: Iceland v Netherlands Portugal v France Czech Republic v Italy Germany v Denmark England v Norway (R20 Women) Iceland v France (R20 Women) Poland v France (R14 Seniors) Round 12: Italy v Russia Sweden v France Netherlands v Germany Denmark v Poland Belgium v Norway (R15 Seniors) France v Scotland (R21 Women) Round 13: Germany v Norway Bulgaria v France Italy v Netherlands Russia v Sweden Italy v Germany (R22 Women) Czech Republic v France (R22 Women)

5+6+6 is the menu for Wednesday. Open series unless stated. Round 8: Norway v Iceland France v Turkey Denmark v Italy Germany v Israel France v Portugal (R17 Women) Round 9: England v Italy France v Israel Russia v Poland Germany v Bulgaria Sweden v Iceland Scotland v France (R12 Seniors) Round 10: Netherlands v Russia Czech Republic v France Latvia v Italy Turkey v Germany Sweden v Norway France v Russia (R19 Women)

Only two rounds in Pau Tuesday, the morning and early afternoon rounds. All players have the late afternoon off. Our matches are as follows (Open series unless stated): Round 6: Norway v England France v Estonia Israel v Italy Germany v Portugal France v Israel (R9 seniors) France v Netherlands (R15 Women) Round 7: Italy v Sweden France v England Russia v Germany Bulgaria v Iceland Netherlands v England (R16 Women) Germany v France (R10 Seniors)

Back to normal Monday with 6+6+6 matches and a little of everything. Open series unless stated. Round 3: Netherlands v France Russia v Norway Italy v Turkey Poland v Germany England v Portugal Finland v France (R12 Women) Round 4: Germany v England Norway v France Iceland v Italy Sweden v Poland Israel v Netherlands (R13 Women) France v Estonia (R7 Seniors) Round 5: Bulgaria v Czech Republic France v Russia Italy v Norway Latvia v Germany Denmark v Italy (R8 Seniors) Italy v France (R14 Women)

We have reached Round-Robin 2 in the Open series. 20 teams have been eliminated and we are down to 18. They will play a complete RR of 20-board matches for gold, silver and bronze. The Open teams will have the late afternoon off. Our matches Sunday are as follows: Round 1 Latvia v Russia France v Denmark Italy v Poland Iceland v Germany Netherlands v Norway France v Norway (R9 Women) Round 2: Italy v Estonia France v Germany Norway v Czech Republic Russia v Israel Italy v France (R4 Seniors) Austria v France (R10 Women) R5 Seniors, R11 Women: England v Denmark (seniors) France v Netherlands (seniors) Czech Republic v Italy (women) France v England (women)

Saturday will be like a walk-over because the teams in the open series finish in the morning. Then women and seniors in the afternoon. We will be broadcasting 6+3+3 matches. They are: Round 19 Finland v Iceland France v San Marino Italy v Croatia Ireland v Germany England v Switzerland Norway v Portugal Round 1 (seniors): Germany v Netherlands France v England Austria v Italy Round 2: Norway v France Germany v France (R8 Women) Italy v Russia (R8 Women)

7+7+7 Friday. Open series (unless stated). Round 16: Germany v Sweden Hungary v France Iceland v Italy Netherlands v Israel Poland v Bulgaria Russia v Belarus Sweden v France (R4 Women) Round 17: Norway v Russia France v Estonia Italy v Scotland Malta v Germany Ireland v Poland Italy v Netherlands (R5 Women) France v Ireland (R5 Women) Round 18: Czech Republic v Finland Austria v France Denmark v Italy Germany v Bulgaria Croatia v England Portugal v Belarus Croatia v France (R6 Women)

'Crazy' Thursday. 8 matches in the morning, 7 each early and late afternoon. Here they are: Round 13 Monaco v Czech Republic France v Malta Italy v Luxembourg England v Netherlands Portugal v Germany Norway v Poland Sweden v Slovakia Hungary v Sweden (R1 Women) Round 14: Netherlands v Italy Bulgaria v France Poland v Sweden Germany v Belarus Iceland v Monaco Czech Republic v England Poland v France (R2 Women) Round 15: Norway v Germany France v Ireland Italy v Czech Republic Portugal v Russia England v Iceland Bulgaria v Slovakia France v Spain (R3 Women)

No, it's a warm-up week to eliminate 10 teams from both groups. They start from scratch when the second RR begins, so it doesn't really matter if you finish 1st or 9th in RR1. Roland