[Gerardo]

Yes, and pairing constrains in chess are more strict.

Would be strange to have the first playing a bottom team in a Swiss, though

Now, is USA1-Italy in last round a constant?

[han]

I think carryovers are useful and they also make the picking of opponents for the quarterfinals more interesting.

I liked that every team got to play every other team during the round robin.

I think the Swiss round robin is a good idea, but on the other hand, it is nice to have a fixed schedule. This way the teams can decide somewhat in advance who plays when, and the audience also knows what to expect. Also, wasn't it exciting, that last day of the round robin? Would it be as exciting if the top teams were all playing weaker teams that last day?

[mike777]

Prefer more Zonal playoffs and then just the Zone champs play long KO matches for the Bermuda Bowl. We have the Olympiad for round robin matches.

Would make the Zonal playoffs exciting and the finals well rested.

[mrdct]

mike777, on Nov 8 2005, 05:59 PM, said:

Prefer more Zonal playoffs and then just the Zone champs play long KO matches for the Bermuda Bowl.

That was kind of the way it used to be with early Bermuda Bowls only having 4-6 teams competing. All of Italy's previous Bermuda Bowl victories were at time when 6 or less teams competed.

It wasn't until the 1980s that the field started to expand with multiple teams from Europe and few additional zones taking part.

I think the number of teams and spread of zonal representation is about right at the moment. Interestingly, at one point or another throughout the qualifying rounds this year, teams from all but one of the eight zones were in the top eight at some point and the quarter-finalists included teams from Zones 1 (Europe), 2 (Nth America), 3 (Sth America), 4 (Asia/Mid-East) and 8 (Africa).

[Gerben42]

Agree that the zonal represenatation was about right.

By the looks of it the teams were somehow seeded in such a way that all the top matches were in the evenings. However there were too many top matches to have them all in the evenings

Quote

Also, wasn't it exciting, that last day of the round robin? Would it be as exciting if the top teams were all playing weaker teams that last day?

Yes, it will still be exciting. Because of the swissing in a close field some teams that both might still qualify will play in the last round, however the sure qualifyers will now play weak opponents and therefore no important team will have the advantage of playing these teams when they are less concentrated.

[helene_t]

Gerben42, on Nov 9 2005, 12:44 PM, said:

Because of the swissing in a close field some teams that both might still qualify will play in the last round, however the sure qualifyers will now play weak opponents and therefore no important team will have the advantage of playing these teams when they are less concentrated.

Interesting point. I didn't think of it that way. But you're right.

[Gerben42]

Here's a typical result after 20 matches:

1.Team B: 374
2.Team G: 349
3.Team E: 348
4.Team D: 328
5.Team F: 323
6.Team I: 322
7.Team A: 321
8.Team L: 313
9.Team P: 310
10.Team J: 307
11.Team H: 307
12.Team C: 304
13.Team N: 301
14.Team K: 285
15.Team Q: 277
16.Team T: 267
17.Team R: 266
18.Team O: 266
19.Team V: 264
20.Team U: 260
21.Team M: 255
22.Team S: 239

Pairings for last round:

1. Team B - 21. Team M
2. Team G - 20. Team U
3. Team E - 22. Team S
4. Team D - 19. Team V
5. Team F - 11. Team H
6. Team I - 9. Team P
7. Team A - 14. Team K
8. Team L - 18. Team O
10. Team J - 12. Team C
13. Team N - 17. Team R
15. Team Q - 16. Team T

There are three tables that are very interesting to watch now.

This simulation was done in a way that the teams with lower letters are stronger than teams with higher letters. Team A wasn't doing well. They lost 4 - 25 against team B early on and didn't recover. Anyway, you'll probably want to know what happened in this virtual Bermuda Bowl.

Unfortunately for me no big surprises. Team P overtook Team L for the last qualifying spot. I guess you need real players to have real dramatic finishes after all, these computer players did the expected in the last round instead of making last-round suprises

[cherdano]

I am shocked that C failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. Nice to see that P made it though. Their investments in junior bridge are starting to pay off.