[Walddk]

The world has seen it three times before (1965, 1990 and 1992), but now we must have it verified once and for all on vugraph. Which system is better, natural as played in the Portland Club in London with no gadgets, or scientific with all sorts of conventions?

BBO is happy to present Naturalists vs Scientists Thursday and Friday in the vugraph theatre. The match will be played in the fashionable area of Belgravia in London, England. We will be broadcasting from both tables.

The Naturalists are captained by shipowner Dmitri Marchessini and Zia Mahmood captains the Scientists. Line-ups are:

Naturalists: Dmitri Marchessini, Giles Hargreaves, Patrick Lawrence, Lord Wolfson.
Scientists: Zia Mahmood, Andrew Robson, Gunnar Hallberg, Boye Brogeland, David Gold.

The Portland standard system is weak NT, 4 card majors, 2♣ strong, Blackwood and *NO* Stayman! The Scientists are allowed to play any system and convention they like.

56 boards (IMPs) to be played Thursday, 48 (Goulash) Friday. On day 1 the Naturalists get a head start: 1 IMP per board. So when the match begins they are effectively up by 56 IMPs. Honours are added when applicable.

Needless to say, the stakes are very high. How high remains to be seen. We are quite hopeful that this event will attract a large crowd. Sounds like great fun, doesn't it? I will try to get some of our best commentators to cover the event, but I can't promise anything at this point.

http://online.bridgebase.com/vugraph/sched...?order_by=event for schedule

Roland

[hrothgar]

Wish that I could watch (damn job)

Even so, I feel obliged to make the obvious comment: Are any of the "scientists" particularly known as scientific bidders? Maybe the Portland Club considers Stayman and transfer high science, but I doubt many others would agree...

I know that beggars can't be chosers, but I'd much rather see something like the following:

(Zia / Rosenburg + Helgemo / Helness) for the Naturalists

versus

(Meckwell + Grotheim-Aa) for the Scientists

[Walddk]

hrothgar, on Oct 29 2007, 09:49 PM, said:

I know that beggars can't be chosers, but I'd much rather see something like the following:

(Zia / Rosenburg + Helgemo / Helness) for the Naturalists

versus

(Meckwell + Grotheim-Aa) for the Scientists

We have seen several celebrities before, but this format is completely new, not least the 56 IMP head start. I think it is refreshing.

(1) New York 1965:
Scientists (Roth-Stone, Stayman-Mitchell, Jordan-Robinson) defeated Traditionalists (Murray-Kehela, Becker-Hayden, Mathe-Schleifer) by 53 IMPs over 180 boards

(2) London 1990:
Scientists (Soloway-Goldman, Garozzo-Eisenberg) defeated Traditionalists (Zia, Chagas, Wolff, Forrester, rotating) by two sessions to one, although trailing in IMPs.

(3) London 1992: Scientists (Hamman-Wolff, Meckstroth-Rodwell) defeated Traditionalists (Chagas-M. Branco, Forrester-Robson) by 70 IMPs over 128 deals, winning a $50,000 prize.

Note that Zia is now on the other side. Naturalist in 1990, Scientist in 2007.

Roland

[helene_t]

Zia wants to win

[han]

Any idea what systems the scientists will be playing? I imagine that Zia and Robson will be playing together, what about the other three? Are they regular partners?

[Walddk]

Hannie, on Oct 29 2007, 10:33 PM, said:

Any idea what systems the scientists will be playing? I imagine that Zia and Robson will be playing together, what about the other three? Are they regular partners?

We will likely get convention cards before start of play. You are right about Zia and Robson playing together. Gold-Hallberg will be playing Thursday, Brogeland-Hallberg Friday (because Brogeland is unavailable on Thursday).

And no, the three are not regular partners in any combination.

Roland

[Rain]

Quote

56 boards (IMPs) to be played Thursday, 48 (Goulash) Friday. On day 1 the Naturalists get a head start: 1 IMP per board. So when the match begins they are effectively up by 56 IMPs. Honours are added when applicable.

Can someone explain this pls?

[Cameron_1]

Seems pointless given the obvious skill imbalance between the teams and the head start ... I fail to see how a win or a loose one way or another will offer meaning.

[vang]

the meaning is good advertising for bridge, not to estabilish which system is better.

[Walddk]

Cameron_1, on Oct 29 2007, 10:48 PM, said:

Seems pointless given the obvious skill imbalance between the teams and the head start ... I fail to see how a win or a loose one way or another will offer meaning.

Mr. Marchessini invites the whole world to his house to watch this match. If that is not a great way to promote bridge, I don't know what is. I have a feeling that many BBO members share the same view.

If some think it's a bad idea, they will likely stay away from the vugraph rooms. Fair enough, but negativity is perhaps not the way forward if one wants to make our game even more popular.

We were asked by the organisers in London if we thought this would be a good idea. It took Fred, Uday and myself less than 10 minutes (through e-mails back and forth) to agree that it is.

Roland

[BillHiggin]

Regardless of who is scientific and who is naturalistic, this sounds like a great show. Just putting the words "zia" and "goulash" in the same sentence sends tingles down my spine (I bet science has little to do with things on that day).

[han]

I couldn't find anything about these traditionalists on the WBF site, who are they? The scientists are not regular partners, does that make sense?

Looking at the amazing players who played in these memorable events in '65, '90 and '92, I'm not sure if this is right. 42 years from now, will people still remember this match?

[matmat]

so long as there's champagne and croquet sandwiches to go around... or something...

[Mbodell]

Does anyone know if the scientists plan on using the same methods for the normal boards as for the goulash boards? I seem to recall from watching the vugraph of the goulash event that was on during the BB that there are goulash specific methods that seem as if they would be a huge win.

[jocdelevat]

I wish good luck to Naturalists and lack of memory to scientists

[helene_t]

Rain, on Oct 29 2007, 10:47 PM, said:

Quote

56 boards (IMPs) to be played Thursday, 48 (Goulash) Friday. On day 1 the Naturalists get a head start: 1 IMP per board. So when the match begins they are effectively up by 56 IMPs. Honours are added when applicable.

Can someone explain this pls?

I don't get it either. Are honours added to the raw score before it gets converted to IMPs?

[mrdct]

helene_t, on Oct 30 2007, 03:47 AM, said:

Rain, on Oct 29 2007, 10:47 PM, said:

Quote

56 boards (IMPs) to be played Thursday, 48 (Goulash) Friday. On day 1 the Naturalists get a head start: 1 IMP per board. So when the match begins they are effectively up by 56 IMPs. Honours are added when applicable.

Can someone explain this pls?

I don't get it either. Are honours added to the raw score before it gets converted to IMPs?

Fred better get his programming boots on!

In practice I suspect that any imps (typically 3 imps if the same contract is bid and made in both rooms and there are 100 honours) will get manually added to carryover scores after each set. I'm sure the commentators will be keeping track of them.

[Walddk]

mrdct, on Oct 30 2007, 11:09 AM, said:

I'm sure the commentators will be keeping track of them.

No, the operators will. Besides, honours only apply in the Goulash sessions on Friday. At least that was the last I heard from Zia.

Roland

[Sambolino]

you may find these links useful

Marchessini didn't play but in fact did organise previous ('92) event


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...75AC0A962958260
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...n=&pagewanted=1
http://www.bcmchess....d_feature_8.htm