[Walddk]

Our broadcast from the Gold Cup Finals (one quarter-final Friday and the final Sunday) was very exciting. It went down to the wire before Janet de Botton's team from England won against Patrick Collins, also from England.

So far so good, but when it comes to the technical aspect of the broadcast, I think it's fair to say that it was a farce. More than 50 times was our operator disconnected, and that became very frustrating, not only for our operator who was absolutely innocent, but also for the hundreds of spectators and 16 commentators.

Somebody (perhaps a few) forgot to do his/her/their homework which, unfortunately, is often the case prior to a broadcast. Let me quote from the web site of Bridge Great Britain:

The Gold Cup is the most prestigious Open Teams event in Britain, and is organised by Bridge Great Britain (formerly the British Bridge League).

If the Gold Cup really is the most prestigious open teams event in Great Britain (I know that several in Britain disagree), I think the organisers should have done much more to make it a success. All this went wrong:

1. No broadcast from the semi-finals on the Saturday.
2. No results service.
3. No check as to the internet connection at the Hydro Hotel in Peebles, Scotland.
4. No attempt to stick to the timetable announced beforehand.

Not even today, Monday at 13.30 CET, can you find the results of the one quarter-final, the semi-finals and final. This is just not good enough!

In this context, I would like to emphasize that our operator, Margaret Pemble, did all she could to get this going as smoothly as possible despite all the tehnical problems she faced. She even made the hotel management get an engineer to have a look on the Saturday when there was no broadcast.

He couldn't find anything unusual with the dial-up connection and the hotel's switchboard. The answer is blowing in the wind over the Scottish hills, but there must be a few people at the BGB who have red faces.

Better luck next time!

Roland

[uday]

I prefer to look at this differently.

It is not always easy (or possible) to ward against poor internet connections, and I don't see any need for red (or purple) faces.

I am delighted that the people who organize the Gold Cup were willing to invest the time and effort into vugraphing it, and I don't think it sensible to chastise them publicly on BBO for any imperfections.

[Walddk]

Let me make this clear, so that no misunderstanding is possible. My view is entirely my own and not put forward on behalf of BBO. I don't think anyone will accuse me of not being a loyal BBO user. Hundreds of hours working with vugraph should be enough evidence.

Roland

[mike777]

Walddk, on Dec 12 2005, 10:45 AM, said:

Let me make this clear, so that no misunderstanding is possible. My view is entirely my own and not put forward on behalf of BBO. I don't think anyone will accuse me of not being a loyal BBO user. Hundreds of hours working with vugraph should be enough evidence.

Roland

Glad to see your "Irish" is up on this one Roland.

Here in the USA it seems every other bridge player is a computer expert yet the ACBL site and ACBL involved broadcasts of tourneys are, sadly, of poor quality.

Thanks to you and Fred and UDAY we get something of real value.
Hopefully the ACBL membership will demand more and spend the money if that is the biggest issue holding us back.

[FrancesHinden]

I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of people who've never been to the Hydro Hotel in Peebles. There's a lovely picture of it at http://www.peebleshotelhydro.co.uk/ - it is a traditional Scottish country house hotel set in the middle of some attractive countryside. It has been hosting the GC semi-finals and final at the same time as the Scottish December congress for as long as I can remember.

The congress is hugely popular - I know a number of people from the SE of England who make the trip specially because the atmosphere is so good. This is in spite of the fact that it's not easy to get to: the nearest major railway station is Endiburgh which I know from experience is over an hour by infrequent bus service* (or an expensive taxi ride), the nearest airport is also Edinburgh but is even further. The beautiful setting attracts people, but even more so the excellent & friendly service from the staff there, the all-inclusive and good-value accommodation & food (bed, breakfast, lunch and dinner for about half what e.g. the Stratford Moat House charge for b&b and in nicer rooms).

People still dress formally for dinner, which is not sometimes you see much anywhere else, and everyone eats at about the same time making for a very social event. That may not mean much to many of the (younger) BBO readers, but it definitely attracts more of the slightly elderly and traditional bridge players (my husband just moaned at having to wear a tie).

Having played in the GC semi/final and in other EBU finals, it's a great benefit to to have it taking place at the same time as another congress: there are quite a few kibitzers, and people enjoy looking at the hand records and results - all of which are posted up on the walls. It definitely makes it much more of an event than turning up at some soulless bridge club somewhere with no-one but you, the opponents and an EBU TD, and going out to buy supermarket sandwiches for dinner. Put it this way: even if you win the GC, the prize money and the contribution for travelling expenses are still less than the cost of going to Peebles for the weekend from down south. Yet the only people I know who don't want to play the GC there are the pros, for whom it's a job rather than something they do for fun.

Put that in a context where the EBU are finding it harder and harder to get hotels to host bridge events (they complain we don't spend as much in the bar as wedding parties or similar which are their alternatives), where it looks like all EBU events for the foreseeable future are going to be in the rather spartan Kettering conference centre. You see that every few years there are complaints about holding the GC semi/final at Peebles, particularly when 3 of the 4 teams tend to be from the SE of England, but it never moves.

I've written all of this at great length, because no-where above did I mention a secure internet connection. A hotel in the middle of the countryside in the Scottish
Borders is simply not (yet) going to be the same standard as a city 'conference' venue where IT is concerned. I agree that that's a pity, but I'm not going to start lobbying BGB to move the event for all of the reasons above.

*advice: do NOT do this bus journey on a Monday morning with a hangover.

[cherdano]

FrancesHinden, on Dec 12 2005, 07:46 PM, said:

Put that in a context where the EBU are finding it harder and harder to get hotels to host bridge events (they complain we don't spend as much in the bar as wedding parties or similar which are their alternatives)

...

*advice: do NOT do this bus journey on a Monday morning with a hangover.

Sounds like you did you share with respect to accomodating the complaints.

[mrdct]

It's quite simple - availability of a reliable internet connection should be in the venue selection specifications for all major events.

If you have a reliable internet connection, have checked your hand data files and practiced for half a dozen hands, there really isn't anything that can go wrong with a BBO vugraph broadcast.

[pdmunro]

A really delightful post by Frances Hinden. Her whole description makes one want to jump on a plane and head to Peebles. As my bridge is exclusivley BBO these days, I need reminding of what I am missing with f-2-f bridge.

And good to see Roland letting off a bit of steam. Failure is the main spur to improve things.

I have been kibitzing the World Chess Cup 2005 the last couple of weeks. It is being held in Siberia(!), in Khanty-Mansiysk, one of the world's newest cities, with an obviously great internet connection - a bit of a contrast to Peebles' dialup connection.

One very interesting feature of the World Chess Cup site are the interviews with the players. Maybe it's just the fun the Russian interviewer/translator had with the English language, maybe it's the way he teased the players into talking about what was going on in their heads, but I found these some of the best interviews I have ever read. I wonder if the top bridge players would be as interesting to interview?

[DenisO]

Despite all the connection problems with the broadcast, four decent Vugraph files (two 8-bd stanzas per file) are now available - see:

http://www.sarantako.../2005-gcup.html

[FrancesHinden]

Quote

I wonder if the top bridge players would be as interesting to interview?

I generally found the Olympiad TV series a bit dull, but there was a fascinating interview with one of the top Italians (can't remember which) when he was asked why he took a particular line in a difficult 4M and he described his thought processes.

[paulg]

FrancesHinden, on Dec 17 2005, 09:57 AM, said:

Quote

I wonder if the top bridge players would be as interesting to interview?

I generally found the Olympiad TV series a bit dull, but there was a fascinating interview with one of the top Italians (can't remember which) when he was asked why he took a particular line in a difficult 4M and he described his thought processes.

It was Giorgio Duboin. His explanation was very eloquent and utterly convincing, making a difficult decision seem very simple.

p