[helene_t]

Fred Kreek and I will be going to the Swedish Bridge Festival so we need teammates.

I have a Q rating in NGS, handicap 14 in DBF, about hoofdklasse level in the Netherlands, Fred probably slightly better than I. But the level of our teammates is not so important to us, we are primarily looking for a friendly couple who don't yell at our silly mistakes and who can tolerate Fred's wicked humour.

Please email helene.h.thygesen@gmail.com

[jillybean]

http://youth.worldbr...uth-invitation/

Wow , what a great incentive.

Sounds like a lot of fun, Helene. Good luck

[paulg]

I'm not going this year but I highly recommend the Swedish Bridge Festival.

It is the best organised festival I've ever seen and the numbers that they cope with is extraordinary. Everyone is extremely helpful and friendly, the venue is excellent, the TDs are world-class and there is ice-cream available throughout play.

My only warning is that you must not be late. They start on time, literally, and the locals will prevent you from taking out your cards until the clock has counted down. Be late and you cannot play.

Pre-entry is only needed for the Chairman's Cup. Other events, such as the one-session pairs with 400+ pairs, you can just turn up and play, no queuing, and it will start on time!

Enjoy!

[pescetom]

paulg, on 2026-June-04, 01:20, said:

I'm not going this year but I highly recommend the Swedish Bridge Festival.

It is the best organised festival I've ever seen and the numbers that they cope with is extraordinary. Everyone is extremely helpful and friendly, the venue is excellent, the TDs are world-class and there is ice-cream available throughout play.

My only warning is that you must not be late. They start on time, literally, and the locals will prevent you from taking out your cards until the clock has counted down. Be late and you cannot play.

Pre-entry is only needed for the Chairman's Cup. Other events, such as the one-session pairs with 400+ pairs, you can just turn up and play, no queuing, and it will start on time!

I'm all in favour of (and invariably enforce) starting literally on time... but I do hope that by "be late and you cannot play" you mean a pair can no longer "just turn up".
A pair who has pre-entered but is late should play IMO, they take Ave-/Ave+ for unplayed boards and a penalty proportional to lateness too.

Be that as it may, it sounds a great tournament

[paulg]

pescetom, on 2026-June-04, 12:44, said:

I'm all in favour of (and invariably enforce) starting literally on time... but I do hope that by "be late and you cannot play" you mean a pair can no longer "just turn up".
A pair who has pre-entered but is late should play IMO, they take Ave-/Ave+ for unplayed boards and a penalty proportional to lateness too.

That is what I mean.

But pairs cannot pre-enter events but being late for the Chairman's Cup (teams) will incur a penalty.

https://photos.app.g...2KYerikQDxSuiz7 - a collage from 2023 showing just the one-session morning pairs.

On the Tuesday afternoon of the Festival, the Chairman's Cup will be in the later knockout stages and they will be running four other events - easily over 600 pairs playing pre-duplicated boards with barometer scoring in the pairs events. It is some tournament.

[jillybean]

It’s too late to go this year but I’m looking for a partner for 2027 !

[awm]

It does look like a fun tournament, but we already have travel plans for those dates this year. Will keep it in mind for 2027.

[helene_t]

It is a very nice festival. Nobody here yells at their partner. I have heard that Sweden has zero tolerance for anti social behavious at bridge clubs.

There are a lot of flags hanging in the playing room, indicating that there are players from most of Europe plus US, Argentina, Equador, Botzwana, South Africa, Israel, South Korea, OZ and NZ. Most of the pairs we encounter in the side events are locals, though. Foreigners come primaarily for the teams.

[pescetom]

Playing against a mainly Swedish (for some reason) field in Tenerife, I was amazed by the consistently high level of disclosure, both written and verbal. I thought I took these things seriously but it never occurred to me to have both Spanish and English translations of my System Card.
So it can be achieved, if the RA and players both want to play a meaningful game.

[mycroft]

Heh, the Spanish players could probably read your Italian card :-). But yes, the better you can, the better it is.

[pescetom]

mycroft, on 2026-July-28, 13:34, said:

Heh, the Spanish players could probably read your Italian card :-). But yes, the better you can, the better it is.

That is what I assumed, I also had the card in English and it does use suit symbols and algebra whenever possible :-)
And nobody more than me has fought Italian resignation about presumed negative impact of insisting on system cards.
But nevertheless, I felt outbid by pair after pair of Swedes who had their card in 3 languages and were insistent in alerting and ruthlessly clear in explanation.
One would almost have thought they had all read, understood and appreciated the Laws.