The Captains meeting was uneventful for the most part. The newbys asked a lot of questions and the oldies rolled their eyes…I did ask for a clarification of the conditions of contest as to whether a particular clause would be enforced and to further define the word “convention.” At the World Championship level, it is much more important that the convention card clearly disclose all partnership conventions. The convention card itself is two pages with very tiny print and then the partnership can add supplemental pages. Our team realized that several of the pairs were not fully disclosing their system. According to the conditions of contest, violators are subject to a 2 Victory Point penalty. My question was sort of answered but I was left with a lot of ambiguity. So when we play these pairs and the convention comes up – we will call the director and see if they enforce the conditions of contest.
The Opening Ceremony was held in the Teatro Apha. The ceremony (although extremely long) was very well presented. They started with opening remarks by the various organization presidents followed by the introduction of the teams. After the World Championship was officialy “Opened” the local talent groups entertained us for 2 1/2 hours! Music, song, dance – all of Brazilian heritage.
Enough about the side show – DAY 1 has begun! There are three 16-board matches a day. Today, USA II plays Mexico, Chile and USA I. Nick Nickell-Ralph Katz and Bob Hamman-Zia Mahmood are in the first match against Mexico. The line ups are posted 15 minutes prior to each match so I can’t let you in on who will be playing the second or third match as that is TOP SECRET! Once the match begins, you will see the line up for the last two matches today.
Occassionally you can watch USA II on Bridge Base Online which will carry 9 different matches each session. If USA II is not live on BBO, you can follow their running scores at www.swangames.com. On this site, you can follow ALL of the teams on a board by board bases. Personally, it is too nerve racking for me to watch this way…but very exciting none the less.
If you prefer to see just the end results of each match, go to
http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/SaoPaulo.09/Results.htm.
If you want to read about the players and actual hands played, go to
http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/SaoPaulo.09/Bulletins.htm.
Enjoy your day of bridge!
