Walddk

Don't forget the world junior team championships at the beginning of August :) My apologies, I forgot that *very* important event. Well, this makes it even clearer: August will be busy beyond compare. I already booked a hotel in St. Yawn where there is no electricity, no telephone and therefore no access to the internet :) How did I book then you may ask. I sent a carrier pigeon, and she came back last night with a confirmation note. I'll be leaving on July 31 and come back on September 2. Roland

♠10, but only because I lead 3rd/5th. 10 = none or two higher (denies the jack). I'll be happy to lead the jack if that's our agreement from an interior sequence. Roland

As far as number of sessions are concerned, August will surely be the busiest with the European Team Championships, USBF Championships and PABF Championships. Then add what we already know (Fulvio Fantoni in Crete), and I would not be surprised if we get 1 or 2 before the first major event (Europeans). It's impossible to predict the number of tables being broadcast. Just as an example: The European Championships will have 32 nations in the open series, 20 in the women's and 15 in the seniors'. It is not unlikely that we will be broadcasting from 6-8 tables in each of 31 sessions (complete round-robin). As Fred has pointed out in another thread, France has asked for coverage of all their matches in the 3 series. We will definitely be showing other nations too. I know that Poland has lots of well trained operators for this event, so there is every reason to believe that we will be well covered. Roland

http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=14201&st=0

5♦ and let them make the final error. If they don't err, oh well, I have gone for 800 against (perhaps) nothing before. Roland

I think you all had a feeling that the first 5 months of 2006 have been quite hectic as far as vugraph presentations are concerned. Here are some statistics: Days with VG broadcasts: 127 out of 151. Number of countries: 40. Number of sessions: January: 113 - February: 193 - March: 194 - April: 219 - May: 248. Total: 967. Number of commentators: 187 from 54 nations. Number of spectators: Approximately 410,000. I know that I also speak on behalf of Fred, Sheri and Uday when I say: many thanks to our thousands of volunteers all over the world. Without them this would not have been possible! Roland

I would be reluctant to bid 2♦ since it may not be interpreted as forcing. With some partners I play it as "constructive but non-forcing". 2♣ would be the catch-all bid with the hand. If my agreement is that it shows 3+ spades as well, I must jump to 3♦. Scary. I will risk 2♣. She won't pass that. Roland

I did double, didn't I? I have a virtual 14 count (disregard ♥Q). Another double would show a much better hand. I pass and lead ♣x. Roland

Hey, what has Jeffrey to do with your decision? Let him become a member of the forums and express his view if he wishes. As Sabine Auken, while playing on BBO last night, so rightly pointed out in public: "When did you last meet a woman who knows what she wants"? :D Roland

I live in Scotland ... what world cup? Paul The poor man means football, but that would not make much difference to a Scot, would it? I mean, they never qualify anyway :rolleyes: If my memory serves me correctly, last time was in 1990 in Italy. Early exit. Same in 1986 in Mexico. Roland

My bad; of course a fit Tendulkar should be in one of the teams. Corrected above. Roland

World XI 1: Stephen Fleming Matthew Hayden Ricky Ponting C Rahul Dravid Kevin Pietersen Andrew Flintoff Adam Gilchrist W Shane Warne Brett Lee Shoaib Ahktar Glenn McGrath World XI 2: Sachin Tendulkar Marcus Trescothick Jacques Kallis Brian Lara Inzamam-ul-Haq C Andrew Symonds Kumara Sangakkara W Shaun Pollock Shane Bond Makhaya Ntini Muttiah Muralitharan

World1 will be selected first. I am having a hard time as we speak. OK then, 2 openers and an obvious 3. Middle order = 4, 5, 6. Wicket-keeper is 7, and finally 3 seamers and 1 spinner. Lord's it is. It's close to a sell-out already. Regarding Dizzy: great knock indeed, but it could only happen against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Roland P.S. Jeffrey and I will be umpiring (Alan 3rd umpire), Fred is the match referee, Frances is World 1's physio, Paul belongs to World2, and Sean will bring drinks on to the field. The rest will be commentating on TV :rolleyes:

Are they supposed to be equally balanced teams - both having the same chance of winning? It's tricky, because individual country teams have a huge amount of team spirit, morale and understanding as well as a captain who knows the players well. That's one of the reasons I think Australia hammered the "world XI" recently. By the way, where is the match being played? There are pitches where Murali is my first choice bowler and others where he's very low down the list. Equally balanced. The venue is Lord's, and the weather is great for cricket. 5-day game of course. Roland

Whoops. Sri Lanka is not the same team any more, but they should obviously have been there. Put them in at number 8 and throw Zimbabwe out if you like. By the way, how would you all like to list a World XI (1) vs. World XI (2)? Tough job, I know. You are allowed to include as many players from one country as you please in both teams. Let's assume that every player is fit. You go first, and I'll give you my line-ups later. Roland

If you mean that "if" 1 is satisfied..., you're right. I'm fairly pessimistic about 1, though, at least for this year. And why is that? Because you don't have the resources or because you can't make the players use Bridgemate? If the latter, I can assure you that it takes less than 5 minutes to teach them. Quite a few of the Americans who will be taking part in the USBF Championships were also present in Tenerife last summer when Bridgemate was introduced. Fred was one of those and he can verify that it's not rocket science. Even I (and I am pretty clueless regarding technical devices) survived unscathed. Roland

Much more often than that if all you require is 5+ cards and 0-7 hcp. That's a normal development worldwide. 2♦ as garbage Multi (often 5 cards), 2MA as constructive (8-10, 6 cards). Roland

You misunderstand. There would never be an argument at the table because there is no undo option. Argument here? Sure, any time, also about Pepsi and Coke. ;) The real thing, man! Roland

Well, someone has to do the dirty job, so let me stick my neck out. 1. Brazil. 2-4: Argentina, France, Netherlands in no particular order. England and Italy will be knocked out in the quarter-finals. USA and Australia will not get through from their groups. Roland

OK, let me try to make it clear: 1. I don't think the UNDO feature should be there. Then there would never be an argument about misclick or not. 2. Now that it's there I think the requests should be handled with care. If a request seems obvious to me, I will grant an undo without hesitation. However, if it's dubious (like the KJ guess) I will reject. 3. When I or others reject the request, we do not need to explain why we reject, but personally I will always tell the player why I think it would be inappropriate. Roland

I said exactly the opposite. Let me repeat it for convenience: "I believe that s/he tells the truth until I am proven wrong". How you make that "guilty until proven innocent" is beyond my comprehension. Yours too I'm sure when you read it again. Roland

Even if off-shape wasn't part of my agreement, I would open a 14-16 1NT. I do not want to rebid 2♦ over 1♠ and I am not even close to a reverse into 2♥. Roland

You call that football?? lol, roflmao, hahahahaha. (spoken like a true american) ;) It's football because they use their feet as opposed to American football where they have the ball in their hands most of the time, unless the game has come to a complete standstill (which happens far too often). I can't understand why they don't call it "Handball with 22 breaks per half". Roland

I can understand why an Englishman wants Australia at the bottom of the list, but since I am not English, I can't join that camp. My list is based on a combination of passion and skills, and I do indeed enjoy watching the Aussies - also against England. Sure, it would have been nice if Bangladesh had beaten Australia, and I am glad to see how BD have improved considerably over the past couple of years. But I am also a subscriber to top class cricket, and in that area Australia are still a mile ahead of the rest. I wish that I am proven wrong, but although my heart wants England to retain The Ashes, my mind tells me that it's unlikely to happen when the Aussies are on home soil. Roland