European Championships

[Walddk]

The 48th European Team Championships are our second major championship in August (we had the WYTC in Bangkok recently, and we will have the USBC and the PABF Ch'ships later).

 

The ETC will start in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday the 13th and last 2 full weeks. It's massive, not only regarding matches being played, but also as far as live broadcasts are concerned. The official web site is

 

http://www.eurobridge.org/competitions/06Warsaw/Warsaw.htm

 

Vugraph coverage on BBO will take us from one extreme to the other when you compare it to the WYTC in Thailand where we had 1 table throughout. In Poland they have more than 20 volunteer operators lined up, and they are prepared for most anything.

 

We will definitely be broadcasting from 6 tables in every round, often 8, and if the local organisers can have it their way, we may see 10, 12, even 14 tables up at the same time! Remember that our limit of simultaneous broadcasts has been increased from 8 to 32.

 

No matter what happens, it will be a new record for BBO regarding vugraph coverage.

 

The Poles have been planning this for more than 2 years. We know we are in capable hands, because every broadcast we get from Poland is sublime. They have our most experienced operators to train newbies, and they are quick learners.

 

In the last 6 months or so, those operators have been practicing regularly, invisible as well as from live tournaments, so they are already pretty experienced.

 

We will have commentary in English, French and Polish in every round, and availability permitting we will try to get German, Spanish, Turkish and mixed Scandinavian occasionally.

 

This is going to be huge and a treat for all BBO members. If you would like to have a look at our time schedule, go to

 

http://online.bridgebase.com/vugraph/sched...?order_by=event

 

Happy vugraphing!

 

Roland

[the saint]

(Insert your deity here) bless the Polish!

[Walddk]

(Insert your deity here) bless the Polish!

His/her name is Mr/Ms Planning. Planning can get you far even if you are short of financial resources - and if you remember to involve Mr/Ms Manpower and Mr/Ms Knowhow.

 

Roland

[Walddk]

Examples of excellent planning. Our fixtures will appear here:

http://bridgebase.pl/index.php?l=eng

 

And Chopin will welcome you here:

http://www.bridgebase.pl/warsaw/welcome.wmv

 

Yes, they have promised to replace the photo of me with something more flattering.

 

Roland

[Gerben42]

His/her name is Mr/Ms Planning. Planning can get you far even if you are short of financial resources - and if you remember to involve Mr/Ms Manpower and Mr/Ms Knowhow.

 

That and Engagement. Going to be great show! Especially with all the "comebacks".

Please welcome back to the stage players like Helgemo, Balicki and Westra. :)

[Aberlour10]

Good luck Roland, for the managing this virtuell Tower of Babel :)

 

 

 

Robert

[Walddk]

I now have our fixtures for Sunday the 13th. Since France, Italy and Poland will appear in every round, our matches will not come as surprises.

 

Round 1:

Denmark v France

Italy v Estonia

Poland v Belgium

 

We may add Turkey v Scotland, but no promises at this point. Starting times are:

 

14.15 Paris, 1:15 pm London, 8:15 am New York, 10:15 pm Sydney.

 

.....

 

Round 2:

San Marino v Italy

France v Sweden

Belarus v Poland

 

We may add a 4th match. Undecided at this point. Starting times are:

 

17.35 Paris, 4:35 pm London, 11:35 am New York, 1:35 am Monday Sydney.

 

Roland

[KiwiBridge]

Bless you Roland for mentioning the PABF although I don't see it on the schedule yet. Hoping to see some coverage of our newest internationals - our Yellow cascade (Wayne Burrows) and his delightful partner Pam Livingston (kermit).

 

Thank you for all your great work. Regards, Gary.

[Walddk]

Bless you Roland for mentioning the PABF although I don't see it on the schedule yet.  Hoping to see some coverage of our newest internationals - our Yellow cascade (Wayne Burrows) and his delightful partner Pam Livingston (kermit).

The schedule for the PABF is in the oven, Gary. I have sent it to Gerardo, and it's in his capable hands now. I'm sure he will list it as soon as he gets a little time.

 

Time consuming it is, not least now that we have learned about significant changes to our schedule for Warsaw. Two nations have withdrawn from the open series at the last minute, and that will create quite a few changes.

 

In the meantime I can tell you that the PABF Championships will be played as a double round-robin (11 matches twice) and that we will be covering the event from the word go.

 

What we do not know at this point, however, is the number of tables we will be broadcasting from.

 

Roland

[Walddk]

Bless you Roland for mentioning the PABF although I don't see it on the schedule yet.

You do now.

 

Roland

[Walddk]

I have a couple of links that you may find handy before and during our broadcasts from the European Championships:

 

http://tinyurl.com/ke4xt --- for convention cards in the Open series.

 

http://tinyurl.com/ebh7z --- for convention cards in the Women's series.

[wojela]

Hi all

Movie (photos) from press conference

http://bridgebase.pl/warsaw/press.wmv

Schedule of matches and vugraph (sunday and monday)

http://bridgebase.pl/index.php?l=eng

[Walddk]

I now have our fixtures for Sunday the 13th. Since France, Italy and Poland will appear in every round, our matches will not come as surprises.

 

Round 1:

Denmark v France

Italy v Estonia

Poland v Belgium

 

We may add Turkey v Scotland, but no promises at this point. Starting times are:

 

14.15 Paris, 1:15 pm London, 8:15 am New York, 10:15 pm Sydney.

 

.....

 

Round 2:

San Marino v Italy

France v Sweden

Belarus v Poland

 

We may add a 4th match. Undecided at this point. Starting times are:

 

17.35 Paris, 4:35 pm London, 11:35 am New York, 1:35 am Monday Sydney.

 

Roland

Ireland v Netherlands has been added to round 1.

Russia v Norway has been added to round 2.

 

Fixtues for Monday the 14th

4:30 am New York, 10.30 Paris, 9:30 am London, 6:30 pm Sydney

RR3

Italy v Romania

Poland v Hungary

Bulgaria v France

Croatia v Serbia

 

8:15 am New York, 14.15 Paris, 1:15 pm London, 10:15 pm Sydney

RR4

Spain v Turkey

France v Ireland

Russia v Netherlands *

Latvia v Italy

* Bosnia/Herzegovina has withdrawn at the last minute so no Poland v B/H

 

11:35 am New York, 17.35 Paris, 4:35 pm London

RR5

Italy v Serbia

Netherlands v Norway

Poland v Estonia

Turkey v France

 

Roland

[DenisO]

I can understand Poland appearing in every round (host and providing all the operators) but why are France and Italy being so highly favoured?

 

Denis

[Walddk]

I can understand Poland appearing in every round (host and providing all the operators) but why are France and Italy being so highly favoured?

 

Denis

Because they are paying all the expenses and salaries for the staff they need to cover their matches. The same would apply to all other nations that wish to have their matches shown.

 

Our limit of simultaneous tables is now 32, so in practice we would be able accommodate everyone. However, we also know that this is theory, because most federations don't have or don't want to spend the money for that purpose.

 

Should they if they can afford it? That's a different question, and only local members can encourage them.

 

Roland

[DenisO]

Thanks Roland - I understand now. Were all the Federations or NBOs made aware of these new circumstances or invited to make use of them in sufficient time so that they could have made provision for their team to be on Vugraph each round?

[Walddk]

Thanks Roland - I understand now. Were all the Federations or NBOs made aware of these new circumstances or invited to make use of them in sufficient time so that they could have made provision for their team to be on Vugraph each round?

All federations who have been involved in vugraph broadcasts on BBO have received our guidelines. It reads:

 

All tournaments are welcome to use the BBO software for vugraph purposes. We do not charge a fee for the use of our software (nor do we charge a fee to people who watch our broadcasts), but you will be responsible for all arrangements and expenses. For example:

 

- 1. Providing computer(s) with stable internet connection(s) at the playing site.

- 2. Finding and training the required number of operators for each session.

- 3. Paying operators' expenses and salaries (unless you are able to find volunteers).

 

We can't put it clearer than that, so if more nations than Italy, France and Poland had been interested, I am sure they would have got in touch with us.

 

These are not new circumstances; that's how it always has been. You may recall that we covered all Italy's matches in Malmö 2 years ago.

 

This time Poland and France have also seen the light.

 

Roland

[hrothgar]

The federations in Poland, France and Italy did long time ago.

It would be interesting to understand why different Federations make the decision to pay for Vugraph coverage.

 

At the simplest level, I'd assume that there should be a relationship between the size of a national federation, the "real" cost of providing coverage, and the likihood of funding. One would expect that large/wealth federerations like Italy and France would be will to provide coverage for their member. Small/poor ones like the Russia federation would be less likely to pay the (fixed) costs to show a match. Poland is large, but not particularly well off, however, their expenses are (presumably) much lower. I'm especially curious why the Dutch federation isn't covering their matches.

 

One interesting point:

 

At the moment, individual federations are making the decision to sponsor coverage of "their" teams. Any idea what happens when the Italians meet the Poles? Will you have two teams covering the same match? Alternatively, will one team get loaned out to cover another match (or just go site-seeing?). The denser the coverage, the greater the chance for this type of overlap and the less efficient the idea of national sponsorship...

[wojela]

Hi all

open http://www.bridgebase.pl/warsaw/opening.wmv

:-)

Ela

[jillybean]

Nice thanks Ela, keep them coming!

 

Largest group of cleanly shaven (male) bridge players Ive ever seen,

I will have to check the after pictures ;)

[Walddk]

The federations in Poland, France and Italy did long time ago.

It would be interesting to understand why different Federations make the decision to pay for Vugraph coverage.

 

At the simplest level, I'd assume that there should be a relationship between the size of a national federation, the "real" cost of providing coverage, and the likihood of funding. One would expect that large/wealth federerations like Italy and France would be will to provide coverage for their member. Small/poor ones like the Russia federation would be less likely to pay the (fixed) costs to show a match. Poland is large, but not particularly well off, however, their expenses are (presumably) much lower. I'm especially curious why the Dutch federation isn't covering their matches.

 

One interesting point:

 

At the moment, individual federations are making the decision to sponsor coverage of "their" teams. Any idea what happens when the Italians meet the Poles? Will you have two teams covering the same match? Alternatively, will one team get loaned out to cover another match (or just go site-seeing?). The denser the coverage, the greater the chance for this type of overlap and the less efficient the idea of national sponsorship...

I am sure that the federations in the three countries mentioned have sponsors to pay for their vugraph costs. So it's up to other federations to see if they can do likewise. I think we all wish they could.

 

Regarding your question what some operators may or may not do when Italy play against France, Poland meet Italy, etc.:

 

We will add an extra match to our schedule, and the operators (who are mostly Polish) won't even get a session off then. Even if they did, I wish them the best of luck. Richard knows very well how demanding it is to be an operator for 2 weeks.

 

Roland

[Walddk]

Link to running scores in all matches:

 

http://www.polbridge.pl/wyniki/2006/ec2006...OPENrunda1.html

 

I have a feeling that we may have to replace the number after "runda" for every round. We shall see.

 

Roland

[Walddk]

During round 1, DenisO correctly pointed out that all banners were marked identically so that we may lose data for our VG archives. I got in touch with fred at the venue, and he promised to do something about it.

 

Unfortunately, all files were created in the morning before the start of play, so the errors could not be rectified before round 2. However, fred has confirmed that all will be fine from round 3 Monday and onwards.

 

Roland

[DenisO]

During round 1, DenisO correctly pointed out that all banners were marked identically so that we may lose data for our VG archives. I got in touch with fred at the venue, and he promised to do something about it.

 

Unfortunately, all files were created in the morning before the start of play, so the errors could not be rectified before round 2. However, fred has confirmed that all will be fine from round 3 Monday and onwards.

 

Roland

Thanks Roland and Fred.

 

The news on capturing the Vugraphs so far is good :) We have managed to get all eight matches from the first two round and they are available (without commentary) on Nikos's site - see :

 

http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/2006/2006-etc.html

 

I understand, from a thread on rgb, that people with Mozilla may have difficulty opening the links correctly- they open as text files whereas with IE they open, as expected, as bridge movies.. We would be grateful for anyone with Mozilla expertise for help on how to open the links correctly.

[Gerardo]

Unrelated to browser, it just depends on the .LIN -> NetBridgeVu.exe association.

 

Reinstalling BBO takes care of it, can also be fixed by hand if you know how (in Mozilla/Firefox family, Tools -> Options -> Downloads).