[helene_t]

 JLOGIC, on 2011-October-27, 01:19, said:

Thx everyone for their support, I imagine we won't get much while we're here (only because we're playing the home team of course!)

Kevin Bathurst is former Dutch mixed teams champion (he played with Meike Wortel, Han's girlfriend). So they ought to be rooting for you!

[BunnyGo]

By the way, maybe other people here knew the full quote, but I did not.

“The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.”

[JLOGIC]

 Trinidad, on 2011-October-28, 01:45, said:

I found it more surprising that the format of the match for 3rd/4th in the BB, VC and SB could be changed because a captain's meeting wanted it changed.

Rik

Huh? Details?

[Tomi2]

 mfa1010, on 2011-October-27, 23:44, said:

Reminds me of the 2007 world mixed pairs scandal i Turkey, where the field for the final was enlarged after the result from the semi final had been posted.

Aside from the very dubious procedure I agree that 16 qualifying teams was much more reasonable in this Transnationals.

I think I can also remember 2009 in San Remo where the pair including a CEO from a domestic coffee company and an open player finished 6th or 7th in the Semifinal B (5 should qualify to the finals).. guess what has been done..

for me the change is incredible, especially because it does not make the tourney any better. My idea would be to make the original top8 cut and let the rest and the dropping semi finalists (who all get a bronze medal) play some side event for free, for example a world BAM championship or whatever

[Aberlour10]

Transnationals was a smart idea to cover the expensives ( entry fees ) by the WBF, its a nice side event, but naming it "World Championship is simply exaggerated IMO.

[y66]

That "last train" conversation by Roland, Barnet & Peter on board 10 of segment 2 was classic.

[JLOGIC]

Dutch are playing extrremely well today, credit to them.

[billw55]

Wow, USA1 conceded the consolation match to Italy after only 3 of 8 segments? Or is that an error in the scores?

[gwnn]

 billw55, on 2011-October-28, 09:55, said:

Wow, USA1 conceded the consolation match to Italy after only 3 of 8 segments? Or is that an error in the scores?

That was the original intention (only 3 segments), or maybe it has been changed a few days/weeks ago as suggested by someone upthread. The ladies' playoff finished too after the same time, despite the difference being quite small.

[billw55]

 gwnn, on 2011-October-28, 10:02, said:

That was the original intention (only 3 segments), or maybe it has been changed a few days/weeks ago as suggested by someone upthread. The ladies' playoff finished too after the same time, despite the difference being quite small.

aha, I thought maybe there was more to the story there.

[paulg]

USA 2 are 55 imps down with 32 boards to play and I presume that Justin-Joe, Joel-Johnny will be playing the final two sets. Having watched a lot of the match the biggest problem is not the deficit, which is not good but not desperate, but the fact that the Dutch continue to play well.

USA 2 did get 50 imps from USA 1 in the crucial fifth set of the semifinal and there is no reason to panic at this point. Important to try and get 20-30 imps back tomorrow morning, but any positive score will give them a chance.

Go Justin!

[Trinidad]

 JLOGIC, on 2011-October-28, 05:07, said:

 Trinidad, on 2011-October-28, 01:45, said:

I found it more surprising that the format of the match for 3rd/4th in the BB, VC and SB could be changed because a captain's meeting wanted it changed.

Huh? Details?

To the best of my knowledge the bronze match was supposed to be played over 96 boards. After the captain's meeting it was shortened to 48 boards. But tell me if I am wrong.

Rik

[mrdct]

 Trinidad, on 2011-October-28, 12:22, said:

To the best of my knowledge the bronze match was supposed to be played over 96 boards. After the captain's meeting it was shortened to 48 boards. But tell me if I am wrong.

Rik

Per the Supp Regs:

Quote

8.1.5 Play Off

The losers of the semi-final will play a play-off of 48-board match (three 16-board sessions) IMP scoring for the third place. This will be on Thursday & Friday 27 & 28 October.

[jmcw]

 paulg, on 2011-October-28, 11:47, said:

USA 2 are 55 imps down with 32 boards to play and I presume that Justin-Joe, Joel-Johnny will be playing the final two sets. Having watched a lot of the match the biggest problem is not the deficit, which is not good but not desperate, but the fact that the Dutch continue to play well.

USA 2 did get 50 imps from USA 1 in the crucial fifth set of the semifinal and there is no reason to panic at this point. Important to try and get 20-30 imps back tomorrow morning, but any positive score will give them a chance.

Go Justin!

I really don't understand this. The USA are down 55 and the Dutch are playing well. This comes as no surprise... if the Dutch were playing badly would they be up by 55?.

Good Luck tomorrow USA.

[barmar]

 paulg, on 2011-October-28, 11:47, said:

USA 2 are 55 imps down with 32 boards to play and I presume that Justin-Joe, Joel-Johnny will be playing the final two sets. Having watched a lot of the match the biggest problem is not the deficit, which is not good but not desperate, but the fact that the Dutch continue to play well.

And USA 2 missed bidding several good slams, like the hand where East had 2=2=3=6 22-count, and chose to bid it as a balanced hand rather than show the good clubs.

It seems like they may have been getting tired and a little sloppy. But maybe I'm just projecting, since I was watching at 6am.

[jillybean]

If I'm correct, this is the 15th day straight that these teams have been playing.
What I'd like to know is at this stage of the game, how much success can be contributed to sheer stamina as opposed to skill?

[Mbodell]

 jillybean, on 2011-October-28, 22:01, said:

If I'm correct, this is the 15th day straight that these teams have been playing.
What I'd like to know is at this stage of the game, how much success can be contributed to sheer stamina as opposed to skill?

They aren't playing that many boards. Even if you played every board you'd only be playing 48 boards a day. That's less than the 2 sessions/day at a nationals (which are typically 26 boards/session). While they are playing important, nerve wracking boards which might well up the tension and stress, they are playing on 6 person teams so even if you play 3/4 of the boards, more or less, you are still only playing a NABC session and half a day.

Justin's claimed not to feel much fatigue from this pace, and I think most of the professional teams would find this not too bad.

[the hog]

 helene_t, on 2011-October-28, 04:25, said:

Kevin Bathurst is former Dutch mixed teams champion (he played with Meike Wortel, Han's girlfriend). So they ought to be rooting for you!

Rooting for you? Really? I would suggest they would be rooting for themselves.

[the hog]

"if the Dutch were playing badly would they be up by 55?."
You can play badly by your standards and still be up. Why don't you understand this?

[paulg]

 paulg, on 2011-October-28, 11:47, said:

USA 2 are 55 imps down with 32 boards to play and I presume that Justin-Joe, Joel-Johnny will be playing the final two sets. Having watched a lot of the match the biggest problem is not the deficit, which is not good but not desperate, but the fact that the Dutch continue to play well.

USA 2 did get 50 imps from USA 1 in the crucial fifth set of the semifinal and there is no reason to panic at this point. Important to try and get 20-30 imps back tomorrow morning, but any positive score will give them a chance.

Go Justin!

 jmcw, on 2011-October-28, 20:26, said:

I really don't understand this. The USA are down 55 and the Dutch are playing well. This comes as no surprise... if the Dutch were playing badly would they be up by 55?.

Good Luck tomorrow USA.

What I really mean is that this has been a very good final. Aside from one 'horrible' set, the USA 2 team has continued to play well. It has not been donating imps randomly, but the Dutch have earned their lead with better bridge. Often the Bermuda Bowl final has not been the greatest showcase, even when there has been the highest levels of excitement, because the standard of bridge has looked tired. I don't think has been the case here. Both teams continue to play the high levels of bridge that got them to the final.