[cherdano]

MickyB, on May 2 2007, 09:39 AM, said:

(33-48 are allocated randomly)

That's what I'd claim too if I were you
Good luck!

[mike777]

Exciting. Win! Best wishes and good luck.

[han]

Good luck Mike, Paul and Alan. I see ewj and sheepman are also playing so good luck to them too.

[Echognome]

Hannie, on May 2 2007, 01:21 PM, said:

Good luck Mike, Paul and Alan. I see ewj and sheepman are also playing so good luck to them too.

Unfortunately, I know too many of the teams to wish anyone here good luck. I am rooting for the dutch team which has two of my good friends on it (probably the two you haven't heard of), and the team of Stockdale, Cropper, Bryant, and Stanley who has three of my former teammates.

[ewj]

Some of the seedings are ridiculus, absolutely ridiculus!

Not sure that the team MickyB mentioned was one of the better teams not to be seeded though....I'd have though they were one of the weaker teams

[Gerben42]

Quote

Any advice on playing against Otvosi would be welcomed 

Know your Polish Club (Burago & pd are a very strong pair) and play well, very well to beat them.

Let me take this opportunity to disagree with the seedings. I think I would choose 2 & 7 as the top seeds.

[Echognome]

Gerben42, on May 3 2007, 06:56 AM, said:

Quote

Any advice on playing against Otvosi would be welcomed 

Know your Polish Club (Burago & pd are a very strong pair) and play well, very well to beat them.

Let me take this opportunity to disagree with the seedings. I think I would choose 2 & 7 as the top seeds.

Over the defending holders? Perhaps the number 1 seed is by default.

[MickyB]

Thanks Gerben, playing well sounds like a good plan.

Maybe the Irish should be first seeds, but the holders are a very good team, strengthened further by the addition of Hallberg and McIntosh. Having a sponsor in a team of four is a significant weight to carry, I don't think the 7th seeds deserve to be much higher.

[the saint]

I will let you know how good the top seeds are after we have played them!

[Rossoneri]

Hmm, I just realised that my friend is in MickyB's team and they lost to Otvosi.

EDIT: I think I was writing nonsense just now.

[jchiu]

MickyB, on May 3 2007, 03:53 PM, said:

Having a sponsor in a team of four is a significant weight to carry, I don't think the 7th seeds deserve to be much higher.

It's Monday morning in England. I just spoke with Valio Kovachev, who is on one of the remaining two undefeated squads for round 6. I certainly wish him the best of luck as the event progresses.

Does anyone know the link to the current results page?

[Walddk]

http://www.ebu.co.uk/results/2007January-J...ing4s/Index.htm

[jchiu]

Thanks, Roland, for the link. As of this posting, I have heard that: "[Wolfarth] beat [a] Norwegian team by 2 imp---just because they play [a vulnerable] 6♦---and the side suit is 3-3---26 imps difference". Are we broadcasting from both rooms tomorrow morning in the semi-finals?

[MickyB]

Wolfarth beat Svendsen by 2 IMPs
Gillis beat Rees by 1 or 3 IMPs depending on whose maths you trust
Helle beat Brunner by 9 IMPs

The lead changed hand in the last set of all three matches. Liggins (the holders) are the undefeated team, they got this evening off and get choice of opponents for the semis.

[jchiu]

I'm surprised there is no bulletin. In round 5, the Wolfarth team beat Allfrey 63-60, thanks in part to a psychic double by Valio Kovachev. He sent me this story earlier today, which I have included with minor editing.

You are playing a 32 boards knockout match against very good opponents. After 24 boards your team is 20 IMP[s] behind. The last eight boards don’t start well either — Tony Forrester makes an expert play to bring home a 4♥ game with [a mere] 22 points and a 4-4 fit.

So it looks like you are now trailing 27 or 30 IMP depending on whether your teammates have reached that game. In fact they [went down one in game].

Now for the first time in my life I made a psyche double. I was in second position and held:

Scoring: IMP

---

The auction by Tony Forrester and David Bakshi began

1♦ - Pass - 2♣ (FG) - Pass
2♥ - Pass - 3♥ - Pass
4♣ - Pass - 4♦ - Pass
4NT - Pass - 6♦ - Pass
6♥ - Double (!) - Pass - Pass

When the double [returned] to Tony, [a] great player with a lot of imagination, he agonized for three minutes staring at his hand (East):

Scoring: IMP

---

Tell me now dear reader would you pass, and face a dummy like (West)

Scoring: IMP

---

Scoring: IMP

---

only to find out that Valio's double contained 5 or 4 good trumps?

Anyway, his final decision was wrong — he moved to 6NT as is [customary] nowadays only to be doubled again for -4 (-800) as he had no stopper in spades. David's hand was (North):

Scoring: IMP

---

Indeed, 6♥ had some play — but tell me honestly how would you guess the ♥Q after hat double?

That swing created 17 IMP[s] for our team — just the breath of fresh air that we needed. The final result was 63-60.

Most of the time the game is just to sit and bid your hands waiting for the opponents to make a mistake, but sometimes you need to push them to the edge where it is easier to fall out.

Some final words. That great player Forrester, who isn't famous for his nice behaviour, came to me after the segment and said: “Great double”.

[the saint]

the saint, on May 3 2007, 10:01 PM, said:

I will let you know how good the top seeds are after we have played them!

Well after we played them into form, they didn't really have much trouble with anyone else!