Buffett Cup 2010 – Team USA Diary

Sunday Night

Well, Team USA made it to Cardiff safely – but not without a lot of effort! Bob Hamman and I left Dallas on a plane, stopped in Boston and on to London. From there, it only took two trains and a taxi to get to Miskin Manor Country hotel! Eric and Donna Rodwell had to drive to Tampa Bay, catch a hopper flight to Miami and then over to London. They joined Bob and me on the two trains and a taxi up the country side to the Mansion. Jeff Meckstroth and Sally took the scenic route from Tampa Bay to New York to Raleigh and only then across the ocean to London. The rest of the team had relatively normal itineraries due to the fact that they booked their own tickets rather than use the team travel agent. Needless to say, there is an position open on Team USA now.

Upon arrival, Team USA was greeted by the incredible Patrick and Maggy. Patrick is the European organizer and has done a magnificent job with details. The location (aside from getting here) is beautiful, the food is delicious and the playing area is nice. Team USA first meant Maggy in Dublin four years ago at the 2006 Buffett Cup Challenge Match. She came over to learn about the tournament and players so that she could make this year’s (four years later) match even better! Now that is thinking ahead!

After unpacking, I saw an unusual occurrence never seen before at a Buffett Cup Match – Team USA pairs were discussing partnership agreements!!! I even saw one Team Europe pair sitting in the corner of the bar discussing their convention card. Past Buffett Cups have been more of a social gathering and to promote the game of bridge through publicity of the match. This year was different…It will be interesting to see what the competition is like tomorrow.

At 5:45, Team USA and Team Europe took a bus to Maggy’s Country Club for dinner with the local volunteers. (Plane, Train and Bus – now all we need is a hot air balloon!). We wined and dined for several hours in an attempt to stay awake for a few more hours. The jet lag, however, was hitting Team USA pretty hard (except for Zia who lives in London!). Finally, we returned to the hotel and Team USA could be seen pushing each other out of the way to go up to our rooms!

Monday Morning

Breakfast ended at 9:30am which made it tough on those of us whose body thought it was 3:30am! Most everyone made their way down for breakfast and then scrambled to make a 10:30 appearance with the Mayor of Wales! An interesting siting at breakfast…Hamman and Zia were discussing agreements! They were yelling or waving arms or pointing at one another – they were actually talking about their bridge conventions like normal partnerships. I can safely say that this was a first. I have been their captain at the world level since the partnership began and I was amazed. Perhaps there is something in the air in Cardiff, Wales.

With smiles on and bags under our eyes – Team USA posed for pictures and shook hands with locals for a good 15 minutes until it was finally game time. The Mayor and his staff were quite hospitable and invited us down to the parliament for a visit between matches. I don’t know if we will make it there – unless Team USA sweeps Team Europe and the match is called early. This is possible the way the scoring works. There 198 Buffett Points available over the three events – Pairs, Teams and Individual. The first team to 100 wins! Go Team USA!

Today, the teams are scheduled to play five matches of 11 boards each. Team USA got off to a great start in match one winning two out of three segments and taking the lead 8 Buffett Points to 4. Match Two allowed Team USA to increase their lead 16 to 8 by winning two out of the three segments. With 22 boards down, the teams took a 45 minute lunch break – which of course meant more team pictures…

Monday Afternoon

After filling our stomachs with tasty sandwiches and soup, Team USA went after Team Europe with a goal of sweeping a match – After all Team USA had just won four of the first six matches. Why couldn’t Team USA sweep a match! Match Three was another two to one victory – Happy but we did not accomplish our goal. Then came Match Four and the two fouled boards. On vugraph (BBO), it looked like Team USA had pushed the match winning one and a half segments until I arrived at USA’s Team Room and was notified that two boards (6 & 7) had been thrown out causing our tied match to change to a loss.

Here’s the deal – you be the judge: The cards were in the board properly. The stickers, however, were upside down so the dealer was in the wrong position at one of the tables. Looking at board 6, the bidding started pass, pass, 1S, x and the other table started with 1S. There was no effect on the bridge result – yet they through the board out. On Board 7, the result was a tie – meaning the bridge result was not affected. When I approached the director, I said who was the committee that decided this result? He pointed to Paul Hackett (Team Europe Captain) himself and me. I said, “Wow, how did I miss this committee meeting?” So instead of the committee of three making a decision without knowing the final result – it was now being discussed with both captains knowing the end result. This results in our arguments being mute and the tournament director being the final decision. So I switched horses and argued that if the bridge results were not going to stand, the least we could do is to play two more boards to finish the match. This suggestion was summarily denied and I was sent on my way. I am not one to argue with a director having been a tournament director for 17 years – but this one seemed a bit WRONG. Well, when you mess with Team USA, you will regret it - We will take it out on you at the bridge table!

Matches Five and Six went all to Team USA winning five out of the last six segments (including a sweep in Match Six). It took all day but we finally got out sweep. At the end of the day (and Pair event, Team USA leads Team Europe 40 Buffett Points to 20. A solid day for Team USA. In the previous two Buffett Cup matches, Team USA and Team Europe ended the pair event in a tie. I was very happy by the way Team USA performed today and I look for more of the same in tomorrow’s team event which starts at 5:30am NYT.

Monday Evening

After the final match, Team USA and Team Europe enjoyed dinner together in the hotel dining room. The meal was great and the company equally as fun. It is amazing how rivals at the bridge table can put all of the competitive juices aside and be comrades in the end. As usual, in these European events, Team USA was the first to exit up to their respective rooms in hopes of getting a good night sleep! I, on the other hand, excused myself early to come up and write about the day!

See you tomorrow on BBO – Cheer for Team USA!!! We want to reach 100 Buffett Points as soon as possible!

Tuesday Morning

Team USA was slow to wake up this morning and it showed in the first two matches of the day – Winning 1.5 matches out of 6! Yikes…but as the sun rose on the East Coast, so did Team USA’s Board-A-Match score – finishing the afternoon 3.5 matches out of 6. Funny, looking back to Dublin, nearly the same result in the morning matches except that Team USA was swept by Team Europe and yet Team USA went on to win the 2006 Buffett Cup.

I was so busy telling you about the planes, trains, taxis and busses that I forgot to tell you about two of our teammates who almost didn’t make it into the country! David Berkowitz and Alan Sontag were stopped at customs and when asked why they were coming to Wales, replied, “We are competing in the 2010 Buffett Cup Bridge Match between Team USA and Team Europe – Having never heard of this event (sigh – since the entire reason for this event is to publicize the game of bridge), the border patrols put them in a holding pattern until they could find someone to corroborate their story! About 30 minutes later, the patrol officer found Patrick Jourdain (Event Organizer) waiting to take David and Alan to the hotel. Patrick confirmed their story and they were released after about 45 minutes. Wow! Patrick could have allowed them to rot in customs and Team USA would have been down a pair – But in the true spirit of the game – Patrick rescued our teammates. Thanks Patrick! FYI: Always answer that you are on VACATION just in case they haven’t heard of the bridge event in which you are playing! LOL

Tuesday Afternoon

Team USA was happy to still be in the lead after the morning session and thrilled to be up 60-48 with two segments to go in the team event. Remember the first team to 100 Buffett points wins the incredible trophy and bragging rights for the next two years. There are 24 points available in the remaining two segments to be played on Wednesday morning. The remaining 66 points will be fought over in the individual which begins on Wednesday afternoon and continues into Thursday morning and afternoon. Team USA needs just 40 out of the remaining 90 points to win!!!

Tuesday Evening

The Mayor of Cardiff hosted the two teams and volunteers at a local restaurant next door to an old coal mine. Apparently, Wales produce a majority of the world’s coal about 100 years ago and now there are no open mines in the county (This was dinner conversation over a lot of wine so my facts might not be too accurate!). At any rate, the mines have been turned into museums in which you can actually travel down into the earth and see what the inside of an old coal mine looks like. Wales is a beautiful country and the people are so hospitable – I only wish we had more time to visit. I will definitely come back see the country when my team is not trying to win a bridge match! At dinner, the match-ups for the individual were announced. You have to wait and watch tomorrow afternoon to see the pairings. Each player from Team USA is matched with a player from Team Europe. That match-up is compared throughout the individual as the two teams play with each of their teammates (11 matches of 6 boards). The matched-up pair never plays against one another. I can tell you there are some very interesting match-ups – Ok. You twisted my arm – Jeff Meckstroth will be comparing against Fulvio Fantoni – how exciting is that! Be sure to sign on Bridge Base Online at 5:30am NYT to watch the finale of the team event which is followed by the individual.

We need Team USA supports. Sign on to Bridge Base and cheer for your team!!! Updated scores may be found on www.bridgewinners.com and Daily Bulletins may be found on www.buffettcup.com. Until tomorrow…

Wednesday Morning

I hope you guys were watching today! There were exiting hands, amazing plays and all around good competition. You should expect no less when you get 24 of the best players in the world pitted against one another in an individual format. Going into the last two team segments, my goal for Team USA was to break even on the points (remember it’s the morning time and we don’t wake up until the sun comes up in America!). We split-out Match 1 & 2 (1-1-1). Better than expected results for the morning and feeling confident going into the Individual Event up 72-60 Buffett Points.

Wednesday Afternoon

The Individual event began at 3pm local time when the sun was up around America (good news for Team USA) – The Individual event is composed eleven matches of six-boards each. At the end of four individual matches this afternoon, Team USA added 15 Buffett Points bringing the total to 87-69. Match Three was particularly sweet as Team USA swept winning all three matches! To recap the event to date: Team USA won the Pair Event 40-20. Team Europe won the Team Event 40-32 and Team USA is leading the Individual Event 15-9.

An interesting note: Going into the event, Meckstroth was a bit hesitant to be playing in an individual since he usually plays in his set partnership with Jeff. I am happy to report that by the end of the second match, I overheard Meckstroth say with glee, “I like this individual format – it’s a lot of fun!” Perhaps that is because he won his first two individual sets and was on a roll…who knows! For those following the Fantoni-Meckstroth match-up, Meckstroth is leading three matches to one.

Wednesday Evening

Moderately confident at the end of the day, Team USA boarded the team bus to enjoy Italian food on the town. On the way to the restaurant, the team bus passed several landmark sites including one of the oldest castles in Wales. It was quite a site! With jet-lag under control now, Team USA is looking forward to a great start in the morning. Tomorrow’s finale should be a great one! Join us on Bridge Base Online at 5:30 NYT for the final seven matches of the 2010 Buffett Cup Challenge Match.