Bermuda Bowl 2009

[Aberlour10]

So, the next Bermuda Bowl starts already in a few weeks, here the detailed Participants List taken from the site of The Brazilian Bridge Federation:

 

http://www.brazilbridge2009.com.br/bb.pdf

 

Robert

 

[EDITED]

 

The draw for the rounds 1-21 is now available :

 

http://www.ecatsbridge.com/Documents/files...azil/BBDraw.pdf

 

Matches will normally start at 11.00, 14.30 and 17.30 pm

( this time, it's optimal for the European kibbers ;) )

[MFA]

I'm really looking forward to some good bridge.

 

What teams do people fancy?

 

I think Netherlands will be new world champions, with the USA 1&2 and Italy in the semifinals.

 

I have a feeling that Bulgaria, India and perhaps Brazil on home ground might well surprise. On the other hand I think that Germany, Egypt and Norway might disappoint (although I'm rooting 100% for Norway - prove me wrong Harald!).

 

I have not much idea what to expect from NZ and Australia. But in principle that goes for many of the teams - the above are just my hunches.

[dicklont]

Dutch players sure show some good bridge these days.

We're cautiously optimistic in the low countries.

[USViking]

I notice Bocchi is absent from the Italian roster, and Helgemo

and Helness are absent from the Norweigan.

 

I hope they are all healthy. Can anyone explain why they are

not participating?

[TimG]

Helgemo may not be available as the result of a recent disciplinary action. This rgb thread discusses the matter -- I have not read all the way through it so am not 100% sure that this sanction would make Helgemo unable to represent Norway in Sao Paulo, but it could easily have played a role in the selection process.

[USViking]

Helgemo may not be available as the result of a recent disciplinary action.  This rgb thread discusses the matter -- I have not read all the way through it so am not 100% sure that this sanction would make Helgemo unable to represent Norway in Sao Paulo, but it could easily have played a role in the selection process.

Thank you for the link.

 

Here is a partial explanation from the link:

 

(emphasis added)

I have just heard that 8 Norwegians were suspended by the NBL for

cheating.  Specifically they were in a national event to represent

Norway in international play but couldn't find a convenient time to

arrange the match, so turned in a ficticious result that allowed both

teams to proceed to the next round.  The NBL suspended all of them

until the end of 2009 but subsequently modified the suspension to end

Sept 1, 2009.  Some renown world class players were involved.  They

did not try to hide their actions and admitted to the charges... 

 

I am astonished that anyone thought they could get away

with such a thing.

 

I am also baffled as to why no "convenient time" could be found.

 

What in God's name is happening in Norway?

 

In the USA we have not been getting too many things right lately,

but at least our national bridge events seem to be proceeding

without a hitch.

[aguahombre]

let us be careful, here. the Acbl took duplicate action against three of the 8. Tor Helness was not one of them. He played on the Team which placed second in the Spingold. the others did not play in the Natls. this leads me to believe he was not involved.

[Jlall]

Here we go...

[the hog]

Well, I thnk it is the weakest team to have ever represented Australia. This team would be hard pressed to win a State championship.

 

Italy, USA2 and the Netherlands look to be the picks.

[helene_t]

Can anyone explain why they are

not participating?

Helgemo and Helness decided to play the transnationals instead.

[nickf]

This team (Australia) would be hard pressed to win a State championship.

I think that's a mild overbid but I'll be surprised if they qualify.

 

nickf

sydney

[the hog]

This team (Australia) would be hard pressed to win a State championship.

I think that's a mild overbid but I'll be surprised if they qualify.

 

nickf

sydney

Hi Nick, seriously don't you think this is the worst team to ever represent Australia?

[theli]

also Balicki and Zmudzinski do not appear to play for russia. anyone knows why? are the new conventions cards posted online already?

[MFA]

also Balicki and Zmudzinski do not appear to play for russia. anyone knows why?

Balicki-Zmudzinski were deemed ineligible for Russia for the 2008 European Championships. Perhaps the Russian team then made an agreement to stay as a team for the Bermuda Bowl, should they qualify. It would be a reasonable demand if the pair that played in Pau instead of the Z-men back then had insisted on also getting to play in Sao Paulo. Just speculating.

 

Anyway, I don't know what deals those two would get on the Gromov team, but I think it's quite likely that they actually prefer to play on the Zimmerman team for the transnationals instead for financial reasons.

[Aberlour10]

Anyway, I don't know what deals those two would get on the Gromov team, but I think it's quite likely that they actually prefer to play on the Zimmerman team for the transnationals instead for financial reasons.

 

They are already official registered in team Zimmermann together with H-H.

 

Robert

[Gerben42]

This team (Australia) would be hard pressed to win a State championship.

 

Didn't they win the qualifying? That surely would count as a "state championship"...

[pooltuna]

Well, I thnk it is the weakest team to have ever represented Australia. This team would be hard pressed to win a State championship.

 

Italy, USA2 and the Netherlands look to be the picks.

Well based on the %age of online players for a particular country at BBO that are experts or higher. India will be winning and a near tie between Bulgaria and Turkey for second

[Aberlour10]

Many of great bridge nations like France, Sweden, Poland, Canada, Turkey etc etc are not qualified for the Bermuda Bowl. Surely, the "zones-proportion" of the WBF must be held, but what about increasing in the future the field to 32 teams, playing Round Robin in two 16er groups, from each eight would qualify to KO R16. In this format the Europeans would have about 10 places.......in my opinion, it's quite reasonable.

 

Robert

[paulg]

If you cannot finish in the top six places at the European Championships, you are probably not a great nation currently.

 

I'd be for reducing the BB field rather than expanding it. Get it down to sixteen teams and start with long KO matches.

 

Paul

[3for3]

Increasing the field definitely seems wrong. Just makes for shorter RR matches, and less ability to prepare for opponents methods.

 

Decreasing to 16 and starting KO's is a very bad idea, IMO. Seeding would be far too important. Bridge is not deterministic. Chance plays a role, as it should. But starting the event on unequal footing should NEVER occur. Let teams earn the seed through the RR process as they do it now.

[mich-b]

Decreasing to 16 and starting KO's is a very bad idea, IMO.  Seeding would be far too important.  Bridge is not deterministic.  Chance plays a role, as it should.  But starting the event on unequal footing should NEVER occur.  Let teams earn the seed through the RR process as they do it now.

Agree strongly with that.

 

And (though perhaps this is off-topic) I am surprised this exact objection is rarely raised with regard to the Spingold and Vanderbilt.

[paulg]

I'm not sure why you want seeding. I'd just have an open draw with the caveats that (1) countries from the same zone cannot meet in first round and perhaps, with no strong opinion, (2) teams from the same country should meet in the semifinal. I don't mind Italy playing USA2 in the first round, and I'm sure all these players are only interested in the win and not second place.

 

The Spingold and Vanderbilt seeding does make sense as there is a fair and open basis for the seeding, based on performance where the majority of the players have been involved. Only new aliens are discriminated against.

 

Paul

[mich-b]

I'm not sure why you want seeding. I'd just have an open draw with the caveats that (1) countries from the same zone cannot meet in first round and perhaps, with no strong opinion, (2) teams from the same country should meet in the semifinal. I don't mind Italy playing USA2 in the first round, and I'm sure all these players are only interested in the win and not second place.

I see another problem with your suggested format.

 

Do you think it is a good idea that a team practices for a long time , prepares itself, travels half the globe to get to the event, spends a lot of money , and then gets eliminated after 1 or 2 days of play?

 

It seems wrong to me, to ask players do all the effort of coming to the BB , and then "kicking" them away so fast. What are they supposed to do ? go home? become tourists? play some minor side event?

 

I think they are entitled to a week of play, for the effort of qualifying within their country, and from their zone.

[Aberlour10]

If you cannot finish in the top six places at the European Championships, you are probably not a great nation currently.

I don't agree..... by so closed competition as at the last Europeans in Pau. Just a single fact: there were only 11 VPs difference between places 6-10 in the final ranking.

 

The new format 2x16 in Round Robin + KO R16 has nearly the same number of boards needed to get to the QF as the present one. So even the 16 teams which will not qualify after RR have quaranteed a full week of play, and still the possibilty to register in Transnationals

 

Robert

[helene_t]

I don't mind Italy playing USA2 in the first round, and I'm sure all these players are only interested in the win and not second place.

I think it would be a bad thing if too many top teams were knocked out early because they met other top teams. It does reduce the chance that the best team wins. Among other reasons because early-stage matches are shorter than late-stage matches. Silver and Bronze are still significant for most even if they are not for Italy and USA. Finally, it is bad for the publicity if half of the well-known players people want to watch on vugraph are knocked out after round two.

 

I think the current format is probably OK. But the reason for not making it larger is the costs If costs is not an issue, then they could easily make it 32 teams, or 40 teams for that matter. A partial, balanced round robin where everyone plays roughly half of the other teams would have almost the same statistical power as a full RR with half the match length.