Walddk

Lol, Norway in the semifinals? I will bet that you have no chance at that wine in that case! It'll get worse than that, as Gerben, like bb79 before him, thinks that the England women will qualify for the KO phase. It has yet to be seen that a non-participating country will advance to anything. Roland

It will be pretty tough for England to finish second given that they did not qualify. Furthermore, it should also be noted that China has withdrawn from the seniors'. Roland

I have now received the detailed information regarding the 39th World Team Championships in São Paulo, Brazil. As expected, our coverage of the event will be comprehensive. Have a look at ... http://online.bridgebase.com/vugraph/sched...?order_by=event Not only will we get three sessions a day for 12 days and a further two (Bermuda Bowl only) on the final day of the competition (September 12), we will also be broadcasting from a record number of tables in every session. 12 is once again the magic number. 12 tables three times a day! The emphasis will be on the Bermuda Bowl, but on a regular basis we will also show matches from the Venice Cup, the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Transnational Teams. At this point in time I can't be specific as far as fixtures are concerned, simply because I don't know them. The decisions will be made pretty late, often not until the day before. Useful links (bookmark them!) are ... http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/SaoPaulo.09/SaoPaulo.htm http://www.ecatsbridge.com/Events/wbf/2009brazil/draws.asp Enjoy the show! Roland

Several of our regular forum posters will be on vugraph shortly. We will be offering a comprehensive coverage of the 1st World Youth Championships from Istanbul, Turkey, teams as well as pairs. Check your bookmarked schedule web page for details. I am trying hard to get info regarding the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and Senior Bowl in São Paulo, Brazil, starting on the 29th (ending Sept 12), but no luck yet. I know Leão Carvalho is busy with the organisation and the training of operators. I will keep you posted when I learn more. Roland

Here is where we disagree. I know your opinion is worth more than mine because you are the owner and therefore have every right to make the decisions, but I think "basic access" should be restricted to play in the MBC and all other public clubs. Then add Partnership Bidding, Chat room and tourneys organised by volunteers. A few more "basics" could well be added as well. In my opinion, vugraph should not be part of that package, as is the case regarding "play with the robots" and certain tournaments. In this context it might be interesting to know what the members expect. A survey if you like. There is no law against trying. Roland

Dear Fred, "Man har et standpunkt til man tager et nyt". "You have a conviction until you change it". (Jens Otto Krag, Danish Prime Minister 1962-1968 and 1971-1972). You will change that view, Fred, perhaps later rather than sooner, but change it you will. It's a noble thought that everything at BBO should be free, and it was for a few years. Then pay tourneys were introduced. Excellent. When you created this site, you did not foresee that vugraph presentations would escalate the way they have. It won't be long till we have vugraph every single day of the year. We are pretty close now as you well know. You could not foresee this because no-one could, not even in their wildest dreams. Also excellent. There comes a day when vugraph spectators will be charged some X amount of money, perhaps monthly, perhaps annually, and rightly so. Where else in the world can one be entertained for hours and hours for free? Nowhere! No-one expects that and no-one should expect it. One can't render all kinds of services constantly without charge, at least some kind of symbolic charge. Just as an example, how many spectators do you think you will lose if you charge say $10 a year for a vugraph subscription? My guess is very few. In recent months three new tournament organisers have asked me how much we charge for providing expert commentary. When they saw the reply "nothing", they were flabbergasted. "You mean, not only can we use the software for free, but you are not going to charge for commentary either??" "No", I replied. "It is clearly stated in our vugraph guidelines." This is another aspect of "free vugraph", but I sincerely hope that we, some day, will be able to re-write those guidelines. Three or four people wrote those guidelines initially (you and I were two of those). I will be happy to send you a draft for a revised vugraph concept. Roland

I'll be on holiday for a month from Monday. All 281 vugraph commentators on my contact list were notified earlier today. This is what I got back from one of them: "Have a wonderful, well-deserved holiday, Roland. We’ll record all Flannery bids for you!" I would appreciate if someone will be good enough not to do the same with G. Hope it won't put too much pressure on you :) Roland

It's me and I don't know what they are talking about. I must be below advanced.

A third option missing in the poll: "I would not watch at all." Put me in that category. There are plenty of reasons for my view, but at this point in time I will only emphasize two of those: - 1. A broadcast that is not live (real-time) is no broadcast to me. I never watch recorded broadcasts on TV. A vugraph broadcast from a bridge tournament is no different. But more significantly ... - 2. You have no idea about how many errors operators make, and you will not believe how much time I spend on making them correct those errors through private chat messages. Wrong set-up, wrong names, wrong spelling of names, typo in names, wrong claims, etc. Then add the operators who don't know how to correct a score after a false claim. Sometimes I wish I had a remote control. This may sound like a joke, but I am serious. I know Jan and Chip Martel agree with me, and I have not asked others. It was actually Chip's suggestion not so long ago. I am convinced that a time delay, however long, will attract fewer spectators. Roland

We do have competition: the leagues where you don't only win or lose but where all pairs are compared with one another through quite intelligent calculations. Do well there, make an impression and you have a chance to be selected. Currently, Peter Schaltz, 500+ internationals for Denmark, is the chairman of selectors. The DBF members trust him to pick the best team for the occasion. Roland

The reason is that this pretty much ensures that we fields our best team. Or the team most people would regard our best team. Our teams record since 1992 "proves" that this system works. Of course, those pairs that think they are good enough to be on the team might not be entirely happy with the situation. We send teams to the Nordic Teams Championship (picked normally), to the Rottneros Nordic Cup (Premier League winners) and the European Champion's Cup (Club Teams winners). In those tournaments we thus often field players not playing regularly in the open team for the EC/BW. None of them seem to have impressed enough to make it to the EC/BW team this far. You may not mean this but this comes across that winning is the " big thing", not the actual competition and the game. I hope the USA wins but not at too high a cost. :) If the USA won every WC at the expense of one person selecting the team I would hate it, but that is me. Of course winning is the 'big thing'. In some countries they know they have no chance of winning, but if you take the European Championships as an example you can name around 10 nations with a realistic chance of winning. If I understand you correctly, you subscribe to these words by Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937): L'important dans la vie ce n'est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l'essentiel ce n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais de s'être bien battu. The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. That was a fine statement around 1900, but in my opinion that is a naive view in 2009. I honestly don't think you can find one bridge player at top level in major bridge countries who would agree with that. International championships are not social events. The players can socialise elsewhere. I am not saying that you should not be playing in a friendly atmosphere, of course you should, but the important issue is surely 'winning', not at all costs, but close. Roland

We do not object because this is a normal procedure in every sport in Denmark. You have a selection committee, and its members select the team they think has deserved to represent our country in international events. Mainly based on achievements in domestic competitions such as the Premier League. Denmark also has leagues for women and championships for youth. I am pretty sure that only a few would object to this procedure. At least we don't hear from any among the roughly 25,000 members of the federation. Roland

If you are good enough, you are old enough. Age does not mean anything in this context. Adam is a fine player, an excellent analyst, a quick typist and a polite young man. I am delighted to have him on our panel, and I know Fred and Uday agree. Adam (mtvesuvius) is also a frequent forum poster. I always read what he has to say. Roland

For a nice picture of Frances Hinden in Monday's bulletin, page 15 ... http://www.eurobridge.org/bulletin/09_1%20.../pdf/Bul_03.pdf

At long last I got our schedule for Sanremo. It will be comprehensive, starting on June 13 (Saturday), and ending on June 27. No broadcast on the 18th and 25th. We will be covering the Mixed Teams (4 tables), Open Teams (4 tables) and the final of the Open Pairs over two days (1 table). Full schedule on our vugraph web page later today. Roland

We are working on it. My guess is yes. Apparently the EBL is planning to do BBO vugraph in San Remo. I don't have any details yet, but I will let you know when I learn more. Roland

Organisers in nine 9 nations have decided to set up 22 tables over the weekend. They are: Indonesia, Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, USA, Portugal, Australia, Italy and Switzerland. Our broadcasts from USA (the USBC to determine USA1 and USA2 for the Bermuda Bowl) will continue through June 15. You guessed it, yet another record. The previous record stood at 16 tables from six nations. I am running out of Walddk's :angry: Have fun everyone :rolleyes: Roland

Yeah I'm going to call bullshit on this one. I have never seen any incident like you suggest while I've commentated nor while I've watched. Some commentators can be harsh, but there is always someone else in the booth that can draw them back and stop things from getting out of line. I have never seen unfettered criticism of a player or a team. Its always done in good taste and above board. Their decorum is commendable. The fact that you bring this up as a 'hypothetical' simply means that your discussion is either pointless or offensive or both. Can you think of a single instance in sport where the announcers show this much class? I guarantee you that if a new player who is leading the US Open golf tournament started choking like a dog and making all kinds of strange plays, the telecasters would be making an absolute spectacle out of it. Google Jean Van De Velde's meltdown at the 2001 (I think) Open (British Open if you are from the States). Oh yeah? I'm going to call bullshit on this one, and back it up with evidence - http://stacyjacobs.com/2007/10/11/bbo-commentary/ - Stacy Jacobs has said it better than I could have. Not that again. - 1. Was private chat, so Phil is correct. He is referring to public non-constructive criticism. He has no way of knowing what happens through private chat. - 2. No player was criticised. - 3. It happened 18 months ago, and the issue was resolved shortly afterwards. We have indeed had incidents where commentators have been rude to players, sponsors and organisers. Those people have not been invited again and probably never will be. Roland

In an earlier thread I mentioned that we had 10 tables up simultaneously. I also wrote that the other commentator was Geoffrey Wolfarth. As soon as you said you did not want to join (to which I replied "ok np"), I had other things to do and did not see your question about this thread. And no, I did not have time to read it until that evening after play had finished at all tables. If you want to get in touch with me online, you must message Walddk2, the only visible account. You can't be sure that I see messages to any of the other 13. So your "that makes me feel that you had read the thread already" is pure speculation and not true. In one of your early threads you more than implied that 75% of the commentators are clueless. Then why don't you add to the pool of 25% when you get an invite? The same applies to Adam who, in the past, got several invites (e-mails and private chat messages). After a while when he did not reply I took him off my contact list. I am not going to beg. It's your choice. Take it or leave it; no hard feelings on my part, but rest assured that I do not provoke anyone when I ask them to join for commentary. I am sincere. Roland

Regarding questions you have not answered. Pray tell how I provoked you when I asked you to join as a commentator. Do you have any reason not to believe my motive, i.e. that I wanted a top player from Bulgaria to comment on a tournament from his native country? If the answer is 'yes', I would like to know what I did wrong by asking you. If the answer is 'no', I think you should add 'apology' to your vocabulary. It is a privelege to be invited and to commentate, not a right. I do not invite people I don't think would add to the quality of the presentation. If you don't want to be invited for future broadcasts, please let me know, and I promise not to bother you with a private chat message. Roland

In Monday's Semi-Final matches, Baker (#1) will face Glasson (#4 - decided by a random draw) and Mancuso (#2 because they won the Round Robin) will face Moss. Both matches will be shown on BBO Vugraph, starting at 11:00 am PDT, 2:00 pm EDT, 20.00 Paris, 7:00 pm London. For team rosters ... http://usbf.org/index.php?option=com_entri...k=list&event=12 Four segments of 16 boards. Roland

You are completely out of line. We had two commentators at the table, Radoslav Radev and Geoffrey Wolfarth, and I wanted a third. I thought a Bulgarian top player would be great since we had a broadcast from Bulgaria. So I asked you to join. Provoked you? Do you really think I have time for such nonsense? You declined, fine, and later you joined anyway, also fine. People are entitled to change their minds. Roland

Is that so? Funnily enough I have seen you several times in the VG theatre. For example, you were there most of the day Sunday. I even asked you to join as a commentator, but you declined. Later you joined anyway. Was that because you wanted to teach people how to comment? You try to get commentators for 10 tables four days in a row, which was the case Thursday through Sunday. All commentators make errors, as do the players. We are only human. Stop acting like a baby and get on with life. Roland

Clear 1NT, and a maximum too. It's worth 13.9 on the K&R Hand Evaluator. http://www.jeffgoldsmith.org/cgi-bin/knr.c...x+Ax+A1098x+Axx If you don't open 1NT, you have no descriptive rebid. Roland

We had vugraph presentations from six nations over the weekend. I was there most of the time and witnessed many exceptional hands. This was (or could have been, rather) the prettiest of them all: [hv=d=w&v=b&n=sa1043h104dj87cqj54&w=sj9872hj963dak5c8&e=sk5hkq75d962cak103&s=sq6ha82dq1043c9762]399|300|Scoring: IMP E: 4H Lead: C2[/hv] The tournament is the Serdika International Swiss Teams, and the venue is Sofia, Bulgaria. In the closed room the contract was also the normal 4♥, just made. The same contract was reached in the open room after 1NT by East and a Stayman sequence. South led ♣2. Supferficially, there is nothing to the play. The hand can be made in several ways, but this was the penultimate match of the tournament, and many players were tired. So let us assume that declarer was hit by fatigue when he won in hand, entered dummy with a diamond and led a spade to his king. He exited with a spade to South's queen. The trouble for declarer was that he never took a diamond pitch. South switched to a diamond, won by dummy's king. Now it was too late to lead trumps. He did, South won the ace and cashed a high diamond. At this point the contract could have been set if South had led his 13th diamond. That pesky ♥8 will now come into play no matter what declarer does. However, South got out with a low trump. These cards remained: [hv=d=w&v=b&n=sa1043h104dj87cqj54&w=sj9872hj963dak5c8&e=sk5hkq75d962cak103&s=sq6ha82dq1043c9762]399|300|Scoring: IMP E: 4H Lead: C2[/hv] Do you see how declarer could have made it from here? It's not easy even with all cards in view, and it cost the commentators many brain-cells to figure it out. We have come across a very rare bird: the entry-shifting squeeze! Win ♥J in the dummy and cash ♥9! To this trick North is entry-shifting squeezed. If he pitches a spade, declarer lets the 9 hold and sets up the spade suit, and if North lets go a club, declarer overtakes with the queen and establishes the club suit instead. You have to agree. This would have been amazing! Roland