Finishing Alaska and Down to LA

Well clearly I am the only Jew on this ship. I turned up to three challot and kosher wine, waited for 15 minutes and left. That said I subsequently see three people wearing kippot with their kosher meals. Clearly the service in a chapel was not to their taste. Most cruises I have been on have 20-40 people turn up for Shabbat services - oh well. The ship didn't sail till 20:00 so maybe that was a factor.

Tepanyaki dinner where 8 of the 13 people were Aussies including the CFO of Etihad and his family and a school teacher and her banker husband. The food was good but it doesn't feel the same with a Filipino and not a Japanese doing the cooking at Tepanyaki. Went to watch a comedian who was very amusing and then off to bed.

Next morning and up at 06:30 in order to listen to the Rangers talk about the Glaciers and to view the tidal glaciers at 08:00. The weather is amazingly good as we reach the major glaciers, Margerie and Grand Pacific. The boat comes extremely close for good photo opportunities. The rest of the day is cruising down Glacier Bay with ongoing Ranger commentary.

I participate in the Blackjack Tournament and make the final six tomorrow - here's hoping with $500 first prize. Being very tired I have a simple dinner, dessert in the cabin and a relatively (22:00) early night.

Next morning I sleep in to 09:00 and pack in preparation for leaving my luggage outside the room tonight. Breakfast at the Hakoah Club (family joke) and a walk around the ship before crashing out of the Poker Tournament - well I am the world's worst poker player.

Blackjack tournament final and I crash out early and the winner turns out to be the the person who bet small and survived the dealers big run. Oh well.

Dinner at the steakhouse where I had.....lobster and shrimp pasta and some other yummy fare. After this I went to see the illusionist - they called him a magician but most of his stuff was people disappearing etc. He was darn good.

The cruise was an excellent decision and should be on everybody's bucket list. The sheer magnitude of wilderness temperate rain forests etc., the wildlife, quaint Alaskan Towns with their frontier architecture all combined to make the cruise incredibly enjoyable. Norwegian was nice mid-market standard cruise and I love the Freestyle where you dine where you want when you want and you don't need to bring a suit or any formal clothes with you. The facilities on the ship were great and I would recommend it no risk.

Cabin pack and luggage outside. Wake up early next morning shower and gather my few remaining belongings before breakfast and disembarking. I have paid the $55 for a bus transfer from Whittier to Anchorage. They didn't tell me that there is a one lane tunnel into and out of town that only opens for an hour each way at a time so we sit and wait 45 minutes before the 90 minute drive to Anchorage (300,000) where I get a cab to the $120 two star hotel (read hostel) which is 'non pour moi'. I find a really nice 3 star suite for $170 which suits my tastes much better - and my room is NEXT TO THE LAUNDRY YAY.

It is drizzling but not overly cold - guessing 15 ish degrees.

Tuesday morning and I manage to sleep in till 09:00 and lazily get ready for my 12:15 tour. Picked up from the hotel for the one our drive to Girdwood where Alpine Alaskan Airways have their helicopter base.

The bus trip itself was interesting learning about the history of the area, the fact that Captain Cook and Bligh were here in the 1700's, that there is a pod of beluga whales in Cook Inlet and Turnaround Bay - pity I didn't get to see them or have any caviar :-), the average price for a three bedroom two bathroom and garage home in Anchorage is $US320k (remember it is built in timber), that all fuel is shipped in and various other tidbits.

The tour was very expensive so I was hoping it would be worthwhile. Kinda pissed that I could have booked it directly for $120 less rented a car and found my own way there and back. But anyway....

It comprised a 15 minute helicopter ride up to a glacier around 3,000 feet above sea level. At this glacier there was a summer musher's camp with around 50 Alaskan Huskies sled dogs.  Here we would learn about sledding, the Iditarod sled race and then be taken for a sled ride with a full team of 16 dogs.

Well I can report that the tour was a fantastic life experience. Just standing on a glacier and then being immersed in the world of dog sledding was just awesome. I would recommend it to anybody who has the chance. These pictures can only partly tell the story of a great adventure:

 

A bus ride (you know the $120 one!!) back to Anchorage and seven hours to kill before my 00:36 flight down to LA. I don't fully recall why I am n this flight other than it would likely have been based on price. When I phoned to change it they told me that my existing ticket had negative value as they tried to sell me a new ticket at a cost higher than available online - go figure! 

Two days in Los Angeles and three days in Vegas and then home to sell all my family and friends who I have missed during what was a sensational but slightly long holiday. Anyway after the world bridge championships in Bali I expect to by in Australia for around 7 months or if I am away it will only be for a short time.

I arrive in Los Angeles after a midnight flight arriving at 09:00 after a stop in Seattle. Slept for 3 hours but am pretty tired. I spend the morning in the hotel catching up on some work and emails etc. In the afternoon I get a Thai massage at the local mall (they have those here too) and go to the Apple store to swap out my iPad which has a problem and then restoring it. Weather beautiful 30 degrees....what a change.

In the evening off to Fishbar which is a great seafood restaurant at nearby Manhattan Beach. It is one of the few restaurants I am prepared to wait for a table at. You give them your mobile number and they text you with approximate times and then when the table is ready and when you leave they send a text to say they hoped you enjoyed your meal.

Tuesday morning I foolishly agree to meet a friend who is in the independent film distribution business. Stupidly because the 40 minute 40 kilometres away but actually takes me 80 minutes to get there. Nice (for USA) Chinese lunch and some shopping for baby clothes and back to the hotel.

A simple dinner at Whole Foods (my fave) - soup and salad and back to the hotel for sleep.

Anyway Vegas tomorrow (Yee hah) and heading home. Like usual I may not blog the last few days so I hope everybody is well and look forward to a new blog maybe for Bali maybe not but certainly middle of next year.

XD

Cruising Alaska

Atlanta was fun but I would have preferred to have seen more of the city than I did - something I have done all too often. The weather was warm around 32 but with very high humidity which at times made it a little unpleasant.

 

So I wake up at 04:30 Monday morning to make my 7:05 flight to Vancouver via Dallas Fort Worth. Everything works well all connections luggage etc and I board the ship at 12:30. Not having eaten much I head for the Hakoah Club (family joke) for lunch and mooch around the ship until we sail at 16:00. Vancouver is such a beautiful city and even more so by water sailing away. I really should make an effort to visit the city again some time.

Dinner and an early night was order of the day as I had woken up at 01:30 local time.

 

Up early next morning and I head to the rear of the ship for breakfast. I then head for a cocktail and cooking demonstration which was a lot of fun. They explained the history of the word cocktail although I am not sure I believe them and cook Sushi, crab cakes and lobster all of which looked great and I did learn that with sushi the rough side of the Nori should be the rice side – live and learn.

 

A brief look at the art auction (all overpriced) and ice carving before lunch. After lunch I enter the Blackjack tournament and after the early lead I miss out on having enough chips to make the finals.

 

An hour in the spa – outside temperature 15 degrees spa 38 degrees – where I meet a guy that lives in Cherrybrook and works for the ATO, two American women and an American guy and we talk for an hour which was nice.

 

Just as I leave the spa there is a whale alongside the boat. Wasn’t performing but merely showing a little of its body and lots of its tail.

 

Back to the cabin for a late afternoon relax before dinner at Le Bistro inspired by the fact that the lobster dish which we saw cooked at the demonstration being available there.

 

A nice evening and an awesome moon:

I have spent most of day really relaxing watching the wilderness on both sides of the ship just float by.

 

Tomorrow's excursion is a float plane tour followed by a crab feast. I'm looking forward to the feast for sure not sure about the float plane.

7:00 next morning we dock in Ketchikan, a city of 8,000 permanent inhabitants and 5,500 seasonals who look after the two main industries, salmon and tourism. The population was 27,000 when there was 22 canneries (only 2 now) and a thriving timber and saw milling industry (now a park so  no timber harvesting)

There can often be 5 cruise ships in port on a day. A breakfast of bagel and lox - shouldn't have - and off for my tour.

Ketchikan the only international airport in the world without a road leading to it - can only be reached by a ferry - go figure.

 

Around 20 minutes on a De Havilland Beaver float plane. Built in 1958 this is one of 1630 such planes built of which 1000 are still in service.

It was a beautiful flight through the mountainous wilderness:

 

We landed at George's Inlet lodge where we learned about how to crack lobster claws and were treated to a great salad/lobster/cheesecake well second breakfast being only 10:30.

 

A bus ride back to Ketchikan and a walk around the town before heading back to the ship. The weather is amazing must be 22 degrees sunny and not a cloud in the sky.

 

That evening I have dinner and go to a show with acrobats who were previously with Cirque du Soleil. I went expecting little and it was amazingly good - really enjoyed it.

 

All in all a wonderful first port. 

 

Next morning we arrived at Juneau and I head up the Roberts Cable car 1800 feet above Juneau. Bald Eagle and short video about the history of the Native Americans in Alaska - very interesting. A walk around the town, capital of Alaska and 17,000 inhabitants.

 

I get back to the ship for lunch and head out for my whale watching and glacier tour. The weather is 23 degrees and sunny and everybody says this is amazing about 10 above normal. Luckily we see some whales:

All rather awesome. That night sushi/sashimi dinner and a relatively early night. We saw some Orca whales which only happens twice a month or thereabouts so that was special.

Next morning Skagway and I walk through town. Unfortunately the weather is inclement and despite one delay the helicopter and dog sledding tour is cancelled. I sign up for the zip lining tour over the rain forest. What a great choice:

Flying over the rain forest was such good. I've had the opportunity to Zipline before but never done it and am now kind of regretting that as it is such good fun. Basically flying fox from station to station each with different aspects speed, height etc. Over the waterfalls, creeks, trees - recommended!

Back to the ship for what will be two days at sea and Anchorage which I have booked a helicopter and sledding tour and hopefully the weather will be better.

Tonight going to Shabbat services - see who I meet.

More Soon
Regards to All
XD  

 

 

Daily Diary Atlanta

I am writing a daily blog for the World Bridge Federation. It is included here but without photos - No Bridge hands so far

I was fortunate to receive an invitation to be a journalist for the World Bridge Federation at the 3rd World Youth Pairs Tournament in Atlanta Georgia.

The event is being played at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta alongside the US Summer Nationals. I arrived here on Friday afternoon and after scouting out the facilities and playing area which is excellent. The tournament with 150-200 participants starts on Sunday 4 August with the Pairs Tournament and as the field is reduced a Board a Match (BAM teams) starts on Thursday with both events concluding Sunday 11 August followed by the closing ceremony.

 

The organisers have arranged a number of activities which I am VERY excited about including:

 

Georgia Aquarium Night

Dinner at Hard Rock Café

Braves Baseball Game, Food at Game

World of Coca-Cola visit

 

At my age I am not sure about dinner and DeeJay but let’s see about that.

 

It’s Saturday and players are coming along and registering, getting their T-Shirts, welcome packs and event bags.

 

Saturday night rolls around and at 19:30 the opening ceremony takes place ion one of the ballrooms. It is well attended by players, officials and some parents.

 

The highlight for me was the 40+ strong Chinese contingent getting up on stage and performing “we are the world” – awesome.

 

A light dinner of hot dogs and Nachos satisfied all of the youngsters – off to bed and ready for battle the next morning.

 

Sunday and the room is all ready for action. Things start smoothly with 32 pairs in the Juniors (U26), 40 pairs in the Youngsters (U20) and 12 pairs in the girls. The only minor regret as that these is limited participation from some European Countries which could have increased numbers had they participated.

 

Five rounds of two boards make up each stanza and after 20 boards lunch is served back at the hotel followed by another three stanzas of 10 boards each.

 

During the fourth stanza I am pleasantly surprised to find an Aussie pair at the top of the Juniors:

 

I am guessing this young lady won’t be giving up bridge any time soon – and yes it is permanent.

 

Sunday early evening and the finalists for the Pairs has been decided. There is a good mixture of countries represented in the various divisions:

 

Juniors: Turkey, USA, Australia, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Costa Rica and Canada make up the 16 pair final.

 

Youngsters: USA lead the Sino-American battle in this division by 24-16 players in the 20 pair final.

 

Girls: Italy, USA, Venezuela and China make up the 8 pair final.

 

Tomorrow will see four tables shown on BBO starting at 10:00 EDT (07:00 PDT, 20:00 Australian East Coast, 16:00 Europe and 15:00 UK time) for those wishing to follow the action from the finals of the pairs.

 

After play the entire tournament were invited to the nearby Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Unfortunately the restaurant was not well geared for an invasion of youth players but all ended up well.

 

The directors and statisticians have reported that:

 

-       very few rulings involving system disruption (one Australian forgot the system)

-       they have determined that High = D in Chinese means encouraging as well as even

-       with many younger players there are a lot of non-agreements but none seemed to cause any problems

-       The youngest player is nine years and one month and ten days.

-       37 of the 168 players (22%) were born in 2001 or later (under 12)

-       Only six pairs of the total 84 withdrew from the consolation events

 

Monday morning and everything is a go. So we have two days of pairs finals followed by knockout teams and then Board-a-Match teams.

 

I haven’t had much of a chance to see Atlanta but it has a nice feel to it with a lot of greenery EVERYWHERE and some lovely old Southern style buildings amidst the modern concrete jungle. I’m not sure I will get much of a chance to see very much but will certainly try.

 

Today I have decided to interview Mr Qiu Wei Chang about the state of bridge in China as well as the 40+ contingent of Chinese players at this Championship. A lot of what I found out is quite interesting and should appear in tomorrow’s Bulletin.

 

I even managed to do some BBO operating for a session and watched quite an interesting group of boards so off to do some writing.

 

Well not a lot of writing but various bits and pieces. I really have to get my A into G to find some interesting hands.

 

Well it’s Monday evening and the B Consolation has been decided:

 

Rank	Pairs		Nationality	%
1	CABRERA Ruben Dario	GRANDA Moises	VEN - VEN	68.11
2	HENBEST Maxim	HOWARD Nathan	AUS - AUS	64.53
3	OYAMA Ryoko	SESHIMO Takumi	JPN - JPN	63.48
4	HARADA Yuki	ITO Kosuke	JPN - JPN	62.95
5	QIN Bin	WANG Penghao	CHN - CHN	62.26
6	MANFIELD Sabrina	MANFIELD Seth	USA - USA	60.71
7	PEREZ Fernando	RODRIGUEZ Carlos	VEN - VEN	58.56
8	LIU Siyuan	WANG Yingqi	CHN - CHN	57.81
9	LAMOUREUX Victor	MILLER JASON	CAN - USA	57.24
10	ARGAIN Ariel	SENGIALI Nicolas Miguel	ARG - ARG	56.37

 

Obviously disappointed with the my countrymen missing out on winning the event but it was 3.6% so the Venezuelans were worthy winners. Interesting to note the mix of countries at the top of the B Consolation a nice pointer to the future of youth bridge.

 

Get back to the hotel around 18:00 where dinner is provided and guess what it is – Southern Fried Chicken Mashed Potatoes and Salad – pretty yummy actually. Then of to Georgia Aquarium the world’s largest. I must say I was pretty impressed as were most of the youth players.

 

Dimitri Ballas reports that a young 11 year old Chinese boy came to him and said the score of 2NT making had been entered in the wrong direction. On examination of the hand record it seemed that the score claimed was impossible. Dimitri, expecting a very limited answer kindly asked do you remember the play and was shocked to find that the player could recount the play card by card and did in fact, through a very weird defence AND PLAY, make 2NT – problem solved.

 

Director Jacek Marciniak comes to the CTD and asks “they don’t have time to complete the board should I cancel the board or award 60%/50% to avoid tears”!! A sensitive director indeed

 

Tuesday Morning and the weather is warm very humid but overcast. It is the final two stanzas of the pairs and I am hoping for a good showing from the Australians still seeking glory in the finals. Hollands-Howard may find it tough to catch up 5.5% with just 20 boards to go but Ellena and Lauren have some chance with only 1.5% to catch up. Go Aussies go.

 

Rank	Pairs		Nationality	%
1	DI FRANCO Massimiliano	ZANASI Gabriele	ITA - ITA	59.11
2	MOSKOVSKY Ellena	TRAVIS Lauren	AUS - AUS	57.50
3	AYDOGDU Erkmen	KOCLAR Akin	TUR - TUR	55.18
4	PRAIRIE Alex	SHI Sylvia	USA - USA	54.46
5	HOLLANDS Peter	HOWARD Justin	AUS - AUS	53.57

 

Tuesday morning went smoothly and the end of the first stanza saw first versus second in the Girl’s division.

 

But by the end of the tournament the Italians were victorious in both the Juniors and Girls, a rare double considering there are only four Italians competing at the tournament:

Juniors

Rank	Pairs		Nationality	%
1	DI FRANCO Massimiliano	ZANASI Gabriele	ITA - ITA	57.81
2	AYDOGDU Erkmen	KOCLAR Akin	TUR - TUR	57.48
3	PRAIRIE Alex	SHI Sylvia	USA - USA	57.31
4	MOSKOVSKY Ellena	TRAVIS Lauren	AUS - AUS	53.61
5	HOLLANDS Peter	HOWARD Justin	AUS - AUS	53.08

GIrls

Rank	Pairs		Nationality	%
1	BOTTA Giorgia	CHAVARRIA Margherita	ITA - ITA	60.49
2	DE JESUS Karla	SUAREZ Adriana	VEN - VEN	59.96
3	ARBIT Julie	THAPA Isha	USA - USA	57.76
4	LU Xinying	YU Felicia Xinying	CHN - CHN	49.74
5	CHEN Yunpeng	RUAN Xinyao	CHN - CHN	49.21

Youngsters

1	HUNT Allison	LADYZHENSKY Asya	USA - USA	62.28
2	JENG Andrew	JENG Richard	USA - USA	60.14
3	JIN Tianyi	JIN Kai	CHN - CHN	56.43
4	HERMAN Gregory	KRIEGEL Oren	USA - USA	55.46
5	BERK Hakan	SOUKUP David	USA - USA	55.07

 

Off to the provided lunch – Burritos – hmmm no!! I just spent 12 days in Mexico so opted for a BBLT. No I know what you are thinking an extra B but in fact it was with a double serve of delicious very well done bacon – it certainly hit the spot.

 

Back to the venue to catch up on bits and pieces before the knockout teams starting at 16:00.

 

So the teams kick off with two ten board matches the second of which I operate on BBO but nobody told me they use a different system here did they. Anyway that got fixed and, with the new WBF Victory Point Scale the standings are:

Juniors			Youngsters
Final Rankings			Final Rankings
Rank	Team	VPs	Rank	Team	VPs
1	WAR OF ROSES	38.30	1	BERK	39.44
2	CALIFORNIAN ACES	33.96	2	CHINA XNWY	38.71
3	TURKIYE	25.65	3	KRISTENSEN	28.00
4	ARGENTINA	24.65	4	USA JENG	27.97
5	AUSTRALIA	22.63	5	CHINA SX CLUB	23.51
6	ITALIA	22.60	6	BERMAN	20.56
7	USA JOLLY	21.56	7	CHINA GIRLS SX CLUB	20.13
8	JAPAN	20.13	8	CHINA QFL	19.14
9	USA MANFIELD	18.58	9	BERK S	17.46
10	VENEZUELA	7.10	10	LIN	16.77
11	WERNIS	2.99	11	GREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL	16.59
12	FCBC	1.85	12	CHINA WFL	13.43
			13	MIDNIGHT SUNS	12.00
			14	ZHIHAOLE SCHOOL	6.88
			15	BRIDGEMATES	3.41

Not really sure why but Paolo Clair decides to collect the explanation of the bidding sheets at the table after play and finds a slip of paper with the following:

 

“Are you enjoying your time here? I enjoy playing bridge very much but I don’t like the food here. The food makes a lot of Americans overweight so I don’t eat much/many (I don’t know which of them is right)”

 

At another table “Do the people from China like the food here?” “No I love it is the reply”

 

So mixed reviews of the food.

 

You’ll notice Italian, Maurizio di Sacco eating the pasta so my view is the food is OK. Anyway I’ve been enjoying it.

 

So there ends Day 4 of the Championships and Day 3 of the play. More tomorrow when the Knock-Out Teams continue.

 

Wednesday morning and it’s raining. Now I need to tell you that I have been away for 20 days and each and every day I have been away the weather forecast has been for rain and today is the first day that it actually happened so I can’t really complain.

 

On the way I stop at an ATM to get some cash and find that three different banks have three different charges for the use of their machine ranging from $2.25 to $5.00  it pays to shop around.

 

A discussion over breakfast with the Captain of the Colombian team about what insights I may have into promoting youth bridge and then off to the venue where I deal with emails photos articles and bits and pieces before the beginning of the day.

 

Oh over breakfast my esteemed editor gave me a small pep talk about expecting more material today so I will have to rev myself up.

 

After the first match I have finished two articles so I am good shape to achieve what is expected of me…..phew!

 

I am sitting here while two Americans are discussing the signalling method. The conversation goes:

“When do we lead the Ace or king from AK”

“Give me an example”

“Against 6NT you have AK which do you lead”?

A nearby director says “you double first and then lead either”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I manage to let my fingers do a lot of walking and write three articles in a short space of time which frees me up for the rest of the day for other things.

 

Lunch is in the fast food court below which I only discover today. I wasn’t attracted to what was on offer so went and bought a salad and fruit which hit the spot. There is a $424 million Powerball jackpot tonight so if this blog ceases to be updated you can make your own assumptions.

 

Three more matches after lunch and the qualifiers are determined.

With one match to go Australia are running 7^th with seemingly little chance of qualifying. Hold that thought!! The format of the event is 6 rounds Swiss with the last round a Danish. This means that just for the last round you can play a team that you have already played.

 

 

 

War of the Roses meet Italy for the second time and beat them soundly while Australia have a great win. The final scores are:

 

1	WAR OF ROSES	102.65
2	TURKIYE	88.32
3	JAPAN	80.94
4	AUSTRALIA	77.64
5	ITALIA	77.16
6	CALIFORNIAN ACES	72.79
7	VENEZUELA	70.47
8	ARGENTINA	69.07
9	USA JOLLY	66.77
10	WERNIS	63.50
11	USA MANFIELD	52.49
12	FCBC	16.20

 

Hold that thought!!

 

The directors have made a ruling on a board in favour of the USA against Italy. There are no appeals at this event but a team may ask for a further review of the Director’s ruling. I must say that the directors here have been great. Whenever there is a ruling requiring bridge judgement they ask any good bridge players, including me who they have clearly misclassified, before coming to a decision.

 

Anyway the Director’s ruling is upheld and the Italians take it very graciously – I guess having already won the pairs titles made it a little easier.

 

So Australia qualified for the semi-finals:

 

WAR OF ROSES	Adam GROSSACK, Kevin DWYER, Owen LIEN, Adam KAPLAN, Marius AGICA, Zachary GROSSACK
JAPAN	Tadahiro KIKUCHI, Kosuke ITO, Koichiro HASHIMOTO, Takumi SESHIMO, Yuki HARADA, Ryoko OYAMA
TURKIYE	Akin KOCLAR, Muhammet OZGUR, Sarper USLUPEHLIVAN, Erkmen AYDOGDU, Altug GOBEKLI, Berk GOKCE
AUSTRALIA	Peter HOLLANDS, Justin HOWARD, Nathan HOWARD, Lauren TRAVIS, Maxim HENBEST, Ellena MOSKOVSKY

 

In the youngsters 8 teams qualify with much less drama:

 

1	CHINA XNWY	106.18
2	USA JENG	92.24
3	BERK	87.54
4	CHINA SX CLUB	85.70
5	KRISTENSEN	82.21
6	CHINA WFL	76.67
7	LIN	75.57
8	BERMAN	69.79
9	GREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL	68.39
10	BERK S	68.26
11	CHINA GIRLS SX CLUB	67.68
12	ZHIHAOLE SCHOOL	64.17
13	CHINA QFL	63.59
14	BRIDGEMATES	36.37
15	MIDNIGHT SUNS	19.64

 

After selection of opponents  the Quarter Finals looks like this:

 

CHINA XNWY	Tianyi JIN, Zhizhou SHA, Kaiwen WU, Kai JIN, Felicia Xinying YU, Yiling SHEN
BERMAN	Murphy GREEN, Asya LADYZHENSKY, Evan BERMAN, Jeffrey SCHWARTZ
USA JENG	Andrew JENG, Richard JENG, Burke SNOWDEN, Oren KRIEGEL
LIN	Amber LIN, Theo ALLEN, Joseph LIEBERMAN, Christopher WELLAND
BERK S	Ellie FASHINGBAUER, Gianni HSIEH, Victor LAMOUREUX, JASON MILLER, Sedef BERK, John ALTMAN
CHINA WFL	Yiqin SHAO, Hanchang LI, Bin QIN, Penghao WANG, Siyuan LIU , Xu HUANG
CHINA SX CLUB	Licong CHENG, Renyu LI, Yiyang ZHANG, Zhecheng DU, Yijun SHANG, Yihong LIU
KRISTENSEN	Benjamin KRISTENSEN, Brandon HARPER, Gregory HERMAN, Ryan MILLER

 

Dinner of BBQ Pork back at the hotel and an early night pour moi – well I thought it was an early night and would have been had I been able to throw my technology in the bathtub but that wouldn’t be much fun. Anyway 01:30 but compensated by 08:30 wakeup.

 

Quick breakfast which, by now, is starting to look unappealing even though it is actually quite good , and off to the venue.

 

Clearly this young player from Argentina is expecting to double a lot with his double cards

 

Paolo Clair approaches me that there is a friendly game proposed this afternoon between the WBF Staff against some of our Chinese visitors. I’m up for it even though I am playing with the President of the World Bridge Federation, Gianarrigo Rona. Well he’s a good friend before we play we will see how it finishes up.

 

Anyway back to work if you can call it that.

 

Sometimes you are proud to be a bridge player. An infraction took place at the table and the directors made a ruling that instead of winning 6 imps on the board the team would only win 3 imps. The team, on being told this apologised to the director and thanked him for his considerations. More of this please.

 

The “friendly” starts and I am playing the second 10 boards.

 

So at 16:00 I sit in for my ten boards and I am thinking I hope they win but then again I am very competitive. I promised no bridge hands but this is a must – I pick up

 

Q 10 6

A K 8 7 3

A K 4

J 10

 

For some unknown reason I open 1NT (it’s too strong) and partner raises to 3NT. My right hand opponent a charming 12 year old says double holding S A-K-J-5-3 and I can’t help myself I redouble making 10 tricks for +1000. I feel kind of guilty and they look unhappy. The next board arrives at the table and my partner says OH I’ve played this the boards haven’t been shuffled including the one which we just played which he sat in the opposite direction. Well you’ve never seen two happier kids.

 

We ended up winning by 19 IMPS over the ten boards. I was extremely impressed with their bridge, their table manners and it was a joy to see young kids having fun playing the game I love.

 

Comes the end of the Semi-Finals in the Juniors and Australia who were leading by 36 after 16 and 19 after 32 of the 48 boards. With a board to go Australia were 10 IMPs behind and an incredibly exciting hand sees Australia qualify by the finals by 4 IMPs. I’ll post the hand in here after it appears in the Bulletin tomorrow morning.

 

Australia-Turkey The Very Last Board by Murat Molva

 

Dlr: West                 ♠ J

Vul: E-W                  ♥ A K 10 9 6 5

♦ 4

♣ A K 10 6 5

♠ 7 5                                                          ♠ Q 10 8 4 3 2

♥ 3 2                                                          ♥ Q J 4

♦ 10 9 8 6 5                                              ♦ A K Q J

♣ J 9 4 3                                                    ♣ --

♠ A K 9 6

♥ 8 7

♦ 7 3 2

♣ Q 8 7 2

 

Closed Room

West                  North                 East                   South

Hollands            Gokce                Howard             Gobekli

Pass                  1♥                      1♠                      1NT

Pass                  3♣                      Pass                  3NT

Pass                  4NT                   Pass                  6♣

Pass                  Pass                  Pass

 

East, Justin Howard, led the diamond ace and continued the suit, forcing declarer, Berk Gokce, to ruff. Gokce played his club ace and saw the trump void in East. So he cashed the top hearts and ruffed the third heart with the trump queen in dummy. Declarer played a trump from dummy, which West covered with the nine and declarer won with the ten.

Now declarer went to dummy with the spade king.

This was the position:

♠ --

♥ 10 9 6

♦ --

♣ K 6

♠ --                                                             ♠ Q 10 8

♥ --__                                                        ♥ --

♦ 10 9 8                                                    ♦ Q J

♣ J 4                                                          ♣ --

♠ A 9 6

♥ --

♦ 7

♣ 8

The last trump was played from dummy, but this time West did not cover. So declarer was stranded in dummy and had to lose another trick. Do you see the solution? The declarer had to unblock the club seven or eight under his ace on the first round of trumps. Then

he would have had the club two in the dummy in the  diagrammed position above. He could have finessed  in clubs and ended up in his hand. A fascinating deal. The drama was by no means over. The other table had its own story to tell.

Open Room

West                  North                 East                   South

Ozgur                 Moskovsky         Uslupehlivan      Travis

Pass                  1♥                      1♠                      1NT

Pass                  3♣                      Pass                  4♣

Pass                  4♦                      Pass                  4♠

Pass                  4NT                   Pass                  5♦

Pass                  6♣                      All Pass

The same contract was reached, and East, Sarper Uslupehlivan, led his diamond ace, but then he shifted to a spade at the second trick. This was very effective in that it removed ne of declarer’s dummy entries prematurely. The declarer played a normal low club off dummy, and West went in with his nine!! Declarer, Ellena Moskovsky, took it with her ace and saw the trump void. She cashed the heart ace and king, and ruffed the third heart with dumm’s club queen. But as the club nine was out of the way, it was all plain sailing for her. She took the finesse for the club jack and soon claimed his contract. 14 IMPs to Australia, who won the match by a mere 4 IMPs. So Australia took the ticket to the Junior Teams final on the very last board of the  48-board match. But why did West spend his ♣9 so early at the second trick? After all, if he had held on to that card, Turkey would be a finalist now.

Well, he believed it was a mandatory false-card (to give the appearance of a singleton nine) to create a losing option for the declarer on the second round of the suit if her only problem was drawing trumps when holding ace-king-ten-fourth. If declarer drew the second high club from the wrong hand, West  would have scored his jack. But when East showed void on the first round of clubs, his plan went out of the window, together with the contract and 14 IMPs.

 

The directors took an hour to consider the non-alert of 3C showing a five card suit in which case West would likely not have played the club nine. They found against the Turkish claim and Australia will not meet the USA Team of War of Roses.

 

The War of the Roses Team has been greatly strengthened by the availability of Kevin Dwyer who was always listed on the team but only became available after being knocked out of the Spingold in the US Nationals.

 

The Youngsters continues with one segment of the Semi-Finals completed.

 

 

	c/o	Segment
		1	Tot
CHINA XNWY	0	34	34
KRISTENSEN	0	51	51
	c/o	Segment
		1	Tot
USA JENG	0	39	39
BERK	0	29	29

 

 

Meanwhile the Board a Match Teams continues alongside the Teams Finals with the results being:

 

Rank	Team	VPs
1	ARGENTINA	62.48
2	CALIFORNIAN ACES	59.4
3	ITALIA	58.8
	VENEZUELA	58.8
5	CHINA GIRLS SX CLUB	46.8
6	WERNIS	43.8
7	CHINA QFL	41.8
8	FCBC	30.8
9	ZHIHAOLE SCHOOL	28.8
10	GREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL	25.8
11	MIDNIGHT SUNS	20.4

 

Losing finalists will also drop into this event.

 

So it’s getting close to Money Time.

 

Thursday night and I have a dinner arrangement with Boye Brogeland and Alex Smirnov but their matches in the knockout don’t finish till 22:00 so it’s a light meal in the  lobby bar where Boye is Jubilant having made the final 8 teams by 3 IMPs on the last board and Alex is sad having lost an appeal and losing his knockout match.

 

I don’t get to sleep till 02:00 and the next morning feel more than a little jaded. Three more days to go.

 

Tonight we are going to a baseball game which, even though it’s not my favourite game will certainly be fun. Dinner is being provided at the game - I am thinking hot dogs!!

 

Another explanation sheet on the table which I should note was written with perfect apostrophes, question marks and commas:

 

“I’ll tell you a secret of mine. Bridge is what I call a sport when people ask”

“What”?

“If someone asks if I play a sport, I say yes”

 

I write up the first 16 boards of Australia versus War of the Roses Final and attend a WBF Youth Committee meeting which discusses where this event will be held in two years time (no inside information  but all appeal to me) and back to finish my article.

 

The Finals are all decided.

GOLD/SILVER MEDAL PLAYOFF
	c/o	Segment
		1	2	3	Total
WAR OF ROSES	0	46	69	15	130
AUSTRALIA	0	42	24	35	101
BRONZE MEDAL PLAYOFF
	c/o	Segment
		1	2	3	Total
TURKIYE	0	51	50	55	156
JAPAN	0	26	34	37	97

 

I’m very disappointed that we missed out on the Gold but so happy for the team that they won the Silver Medal in a World Championship.

 

In the Youngsters:

 

GOLD/SILVER MEDAL PLAYOFF
	c/o	Segment
		1	2	Total
USA JENG	0	26	30	56
KRISTENSEN	0	14	30	44
BRONZE MEDAL PLAYOFF
	c/o	Segment
		1	2	Total
CHINA XNWY	0	15	35	50
BERK	0	28	13	41

 

Well done to all the teams who have fought hard throughout the tournament. The Board‑a‑Match continues for the next two days leading up to the closing ceremony on Sunday night.

 

That night I am exhausted so opt out of the baseball game in which the Atlanta Braves win their 14^th straight game 5-0. My understanding is that a good (hot dog) time was had by all including a spectacular fireworks display.

 

Some good news as my friend Boye Brogeland wins his Spingold Match and makes it to the Semi-Finals.

 

I may move to Atlanta! As I walked into the hotel I met Julien Gaviard of France who owed me 60 Euros from my buying part of him during the Cavendish auction. Everybody gives me money here in Atlanta.

 

Next morning wake up quite refreshed quick breakfast and off for the Coke Tour.

 

And the final of the BAM begins. 12 teams left all starting on the same score playing 22 rounds of 4 boards each – double round robin.

 

You have to love the USA. I went to buy some mouthwash and the prices were $4.69 for 500mls and $5.69 for a litre – one dollar more for twice the quantity. Go figure.

 

After 44 boards and a full round robin the standings are:

 

Final Rankings
Rank	Team	VPs
1	TURKIYE	58
2	ITALIA	55
3	AUSTRALIA	53
4	CALIFORNIAN ACES	50
5	WAR OF ROSES	48
6	ARGENTINA	43
7	CHINA GIRLS SX CLUB	41
	CHINA SX CLUB	41
9	WERNIS	38
10	BERK	36
11	VENEZUELA	35
12	JAPAN	30

 

The staff dinner tonight at Durangos Southern steak house. No comment other than the company was good.

Drinks with Alex Smirnov and a relatively early night 23:00 after some family facetime.

 

So, some musings.

 

-       The tournament was generally very successful apart from the lack of participation from European Countries like France, Netherlands, Poland and Italy.

 

-       The attitude and spirit of the players was fantastic and a credit to them all in making the tournament a huge success.

 

-       Organisationally it went smoothly with the staff able to cope with changing numbers of entries etc.

 

-       The Chinese delegation were a very positive factor for the event.

 

-       The ability to play the event in a major international hotel and stay just one block away was fantastic.

 

-       The support of the ACBL in equipment, Bulletin facilities etc. was much appreciated.

 

In terms of my enjoyment factor I would have to rate it a 9 out of 10 so high praise indeed.

 

The 2014 World Youth Teams Championships will be held 13-23 August 2014 in Istanbul, a city I love so looking in the mail for my invitation for that. My recollection of Istanbul last time I was there was every taxi driver turning on the meter and saying “problem traffic” the only two words I think that they knew in English.

 

I will post some closing ceremony pictures and final results as soon as possible and until we meet again….Ciao.

 

So the Board-a-Match teams finishes and Australia get the Silver behind Turkey in an exciting last day:

 

Final Rankings
Rank	Team	VPs
1	TURKIYE	108.0
2	AUSTRALIA	106.0
3	CALIFORNIAN ACES	103.0
4	ITALIA	101.0
5	WAR OF ROSES	99.2
6	ARGENTINA	89.0
7	CHINA SX CLUB	79.0
8	VENEZUELA	78.0
9	WERNIS	77.0
10	BERK	76.0
11	CHINA GIRLS SX CLUB	75.2
12	JAPAN	63.0

 

Following the BAM final round there was a closing ceremony and here are some pics from that function:

 

So signing off from Atlanta and see you all at Next Year’s Junior’s in ISTANBUL!!!!