View Full Version : What the Papers have to say
Sydney Morning Herald 5 April 2007
by hard-hitting bridge columnist Ron Klinger
"There is much to commend the OzOne program, following a generous grant to try to improve the standard of the top players of Australia. There have been some creditable performaces, but none yet that are especially praiseworthy. Best would be the sixth by Nagy-Richman in the 2006 Cavendish and their second in the World Imp Pairs last year.
Until recently the OzOne squad consisted of Hans-Nunn, Nagy-Richman, Marston-Prescott and Del'monte - Demuy. M-P/N-R made th semi-finals of the NEC Cup (Japan) in February and D-D/H-N reached the quarter-finals of the Yeh Bros Cup (China). These results were against strong opposition, yet the OzOne squad has yet to win a national title here. They lost the final of the Open Teams playoff just now, they lost in the semi-finals of the Spring National Teams last year and they were knocked out in he quarter-finals of the National Open Teams in January. Sure, there were excuses - matches too short, opposition had tough professionals, but given the local standard is not super-brilliant, one would expect a better CV for OzOne.
Curiously, there was no OzOne participation at the Gold Coast Teams. Only Nagy-Richman played together and they did not make it to the semi-finals. All the others played in different partnerships. Unless Demuy's visa problems after Shanghai (sic) are resolved, he will not be back in Australia in the short term. Word is out that we might be seeing an Ishmael Del'monte - Kieran Dyke partnership for OzOne." END QUOTE
followed by two unlucky hands for Hans - Nunn from the Playoff,
Klinger's column was headed "Luck doubt or lucked out".
Sydney Morning Herald 5 April 2007
M-P/N-R made th semi-finals of the NEC Cup (Japan) in February and
D-D/H-N reached the quarter-finals of the Yeh Bros Cup (China).
These results were against strong opposition,
In Australia's historic track record of mediocrity in international bridge, these results were not an earth-shaker. In pre-Ozone days, super strong Australian teams have SOMETIMES achieved similar scores in these events.
In general, achieving success at the international plane is a hard task.
The teams that knocked us out in these two tournaments were all world class. Upsetting these sort of squads is what the GOAL of Ozone is...
But it has been pretty rare in Australian history to even get to the stage where this combat did occur.
yet the OzOne squad has yet to win a national title here. They lost
the final of the Open Teams playoff just now, they lost in the
semi-finals of the Spring National Teams last year and they were
knocked out in he quarter-finals of the National Open Teams in January.
That is very valid criticism. There is a strong feeling within our group that at least this is an aspect we can address in the short future. Watch out for Ozone at the ANOT and at the ANC Butler.
Sure, there were excuses - matches too short, opposition had
tough professionals, but given the local standard is not super-brilliant,
one would expect a better CV for OzOne.
Our only excuse is that we havent played well enough yet to achieve what we want to.
Curiously, there was no OzOne participation at the Gold Coast
Teams. Only Nagy-Richman played together and they did not make it
to the semi-finals. All the others played in different partnerships.
If one spent 6 months in 2006 living in aeroplanes and hotels and playing bridge with the same partner in a high-pressure environment, its only natural to take a break and play with someone else just for fun.
Nagy-Richman's performance can be summed up in the morose fashion of the author or be written as "Nagy-Richman used the Ozone banner to give an opportunity to upcoming youth pair of Nye Griffiths-Griff Ware. The team qualified for the top 6 spots but then lost in their first knockout match".
Does that sound a bit more upbeat ?
Unless Demuy's visa problems after Shanghai (sic) are resolved,
he will not be back in Australia in the short term.
Vincent Demuy has decided to pursue further opportunities abraod and will not be returning to Australia in the near future.
What oz-one has done is given a much needed shot in the arm for Australian bridge. Performances so far is ok and will get better. :)
I have just read," Silver for Ireland", an interesting read. As a team of six and three years hard work they finished second in the 48th European Championships...you would have thought they had landed on the moon! How long has oz-one been playing as a team of six? Oz-one have recorded good wins - on line - against top teams. It is still early days, especially as new players have just been added to the squad.
I'm not sure why there is so much focus in the forum on the Irish. Is second in the Europeans really something to write home about (let alone write a book about)? I mean let's face it, the quality of European bridge falls away pretty dramatically after Italy.
OzOne have played Ireland four times in recent months and beaten them on each occasion.
Newroad
02-05-07, 06:39 PM
Hmm,
Interesting thoughts on the Irish: I haven't read the book - which one wrote it?
When I played them in real-life we beat them in the last match of the tournament and it propelled us into second place rather than them. They were intense but friendly guys.
I would agree with not reading too much into it on the forum, unless there are some key excerpts from the book which are in themselves interesting.
Regards, Newroad
OzOne have played Ireland four times in recent months and beaten them on each occasion.
The book is about why, despite being outclassed in say BBO matches, those guys managed a great performance AT THE TOURNAMENT.
If one says the European Championships isnt much of an event, then the Far East must be a joke !
The book is about why, despite being outclassed in say BBO matches, those guys managed a great performance AT THE TOURNAMENT.
If one says the European Championships isnt much of an event, then the Far East must be a joke !
Here is the results of the european last year. Anyone in the top 10 will be a big handful for us but we might hope to beat those below the top 10 (and sometimes succeed!).
As for Silver for Ireland, it is a trashy little book with appalling production. The production is about as amateur as I have ever seen. As for the content, the first few pages talk about how the team was formed and so on. It is quite interesting but it would have been better said in one decent email. But the rest of the book goes through the event selecting various random deals. This book is wrapping paper for tomorrow's fish and chips.
1 ITALY 661
2 IRELAND 594
3 NORWAY 590
4 SWEDEN 582
5 NETHERLANDS 581
6 POLAND 579
7 ICELAND 572
8 FRANCE 554.5
9 HUNGARY 537
10 ENGLAND 534
11 GERMANY 533
12 BULGARIA 527
TURKEY 527
14 ISRAEL 511.5
15 DENMARK 509
16 SPAIN 504
17 SCOTLAND 492
18 RUSSIA 491
19 CROATIA 461
20 FINLAND 460
21 BELGIUM 452.5
22 BELARUS 452
23 SERBIA 450
24 GREECE 445.5
25 ESTONIA 443
26 SWITZERLAND 434
27 WALES 433
28 PORTUGAL 428
29 LATVIA 424
30 ROMANIA 396
31 LUXEMBOURG 390
32 LITHUANIA 378
33 SAN MARINO 372
If one says the European Championships isnt much of an event, then the Far East must be a joke !
The PABF is similar to Europe in that there is China (our local version of Italy), Daylight and The Rest. Last year's results:
1 China 433
2 Japan 400
3 China Hong Kong 398
4 New Zealand 388
5 Indonesia 382.5
6 Chinese Taipei 310
7 Thailand 305
8 Australia 301
9 China Macau 300.5
10 Philippines 251
11 Singapore 249
12 Korea 186
I guess the cohort of Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Indonesia could be viewed similarly to the European 2nd tier of Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland and Iceland, but like Italy in Europe does anyone have a realistic expectation of beating China in a round-robin format?
I'd be quite surprised if a European team other than Italy made the semi-finals of this year's Bermuda Bowl.
With China being a semi-finalist at the last Olympiad and Japan a quarter-finalist, to win a Far East you need to be playing as well as the top half-dozen or so countries in the world so I wouldn't exactly call it a joke.
Paul wrote: WARNING by PG - this is a LONG post
Here are the results of the european last year. Anyone in the top 10 will be a big handful for us but we might hope to beat those below the top 10 (and sometimes succeed!). END QUOTE
I think Dave (MrDCT) is taking into account that at the last Bermuda Bowl, the six European teams came 1st, 4th, 10th, 13th, 17th and 20th (average 11th) of the 22 countries. Australia came =14th. The PABF teams came 9th (Japan), 11th and 19th (average 13th) of 22. Thus, except for Italy, Europe's dominance (with USA) of world open bridge does not happen nowadays, based on the most recent results available.
Both the PABF and European are long round robins, a different format from the BB and Olympiad which have Finals. Thus the actual data tends to provide fuel for Dave who compared the two events.
The European Championships in even-numbered years is a strong event. It is only in odd-numbered years (e.g. this year in Antalya, with only about six Americans among the 290 entries at this stage, and many top Europeans not entered) that the European Championships is widely regarded as fairly farcical (ref recent threads on rec.game.bridge newsgroup).
>As for Silver for Ireland, it is a trashy little book with appalling production.
True, it was rushed out in seven weeks from idea to publication for the Xmas market, but surely at Oz-One we are more interested in content than appearance.
>As for the content, the first few pages talk about how the team was formed >and so on. It is quite interesting but it would have been better said in one >decent email.
OK, because as you have said earlier, the Oz-One benefactor prefers a permanent record here on the Forum rather than emails, so let me have a try
at writing that email:
The book suggests that in order for a professional bridge team (or an ambitious amateur one such as Ireland) to succeed, the procedure for major tournaments should include:
1. Dietary rules, with fish and chips banned. Newspapers are permitted.
>This book is wrapping paper for tomorrow's fish and chips.
PG: But tomorrow Oz-One's big Friday night event starts, so I (and one would hope, all the Oz-One players) shouldn't be having any fish and chips tomorrow. Thus Saturday's fish and chips would be a better description. :)
2. Max one beer per day, said beer only after play has ended for the day.
PG: no beer tomorrow until 11pm?
3. Exercise, which might be going to the gym or dancing to a team anthem
(for actual song and band name, ref the book).
PG: Tomorrow, a good walk will do for me.
4. Examination of opponents' Convention Cards in advance.
PG: The only two times in the last 17 years that Australia made the Finals of
the BB or Olympiad were the only two times (2000 and 2003) when the npc arranged in advance for a brief summary of our opponents' Convention Cards to be prepared. The Irish could be right: proper professional preparation and winning might be related.
5. Get six players together as a team for a serious period of time.
6. Maximise esprit de corps. A harmonious team unit is needed, not a group of individual warriors. Ref page 7.
7. Do whatever is required to get the best players.
PG: Congratulations to Oz-One on getting Burgess and Del'monte into the squad.
8. No late nights.
PG: Compare with the stories doing the rounds about the effects of late nights on the results of the 2007 Yeh Bros Cup and a recent Cavendish.
9. Single rooms at the venue for all players.
10. There was a team plan to have a litre of water, fruit and muesli bars with each player at the table - to drink and eat not when hungery, but in a prepared manner like marathon runners do, a la Meckwell.
11. Overtricks are relatively unimportant. Make your contract.
PG: Compare with the discussion which Oz-One has had about this topic.
12. See a sports psychologist.
13. Approach the IBU to change how the national team is selected, and be given an exemption.
14. Pull out all stops to qualify your team and players for the Playoff for the national team.
15. Ensure the name of each player is on the sleeve of the team's uniform.
PG: The 2007 NOT winners did exactly that, thanks to David Stern.
16. Select the right npc, who must be ruthless in his approach.
17. Do not allow any thought of money being tight to affect the preparation or morale. Find additional sponsors if money is short. If so, promote each sponsor's name on the team's uniform.
18. Determine your target events, and map out a long term schedule of events that lead to the target.
19. Play effective modern bidding systems, e.g. Stong Club systems.
PG: Oz-One is 100% spot on here.
20. Set up the program so that players can fit in their jobs and the bridge program together in a cohesive way.
21. A daily team meeting at the event before play starts.
22. Plan to dominate your home pitch first.
23. Think about performance in IMPs, not VPs. Very important. See book for details.
24. The npc researches the seating plans for matches in non-obvious ways.
See book for details.
25. Pages 18 and 161 are examples of legitimate ways to use psychological warfare at bridge.
24. They have "no time for the attitude that says that we're a small country with modest resources and modest ambition in bridge terms".
PG: Do not feel threatened by the European teams.
25. The training weekend should involve playing against a strong team, not masses of talk from a coach without playing bridge.
26. Hand records are not encouraged at team gatherings away from the table, because time away from the table is preparation for future matches, not rehashing the past.
PG: The 2007 NOT winners got this one right.
The book's summary is" "fail to prepare, prepare to fail".
PG: Well, that's some of the tips in the book. Is it all just garbage? Did it work for Ireland?
PG: Personally I do not think that Oz-One has got all these aspects sorted out perfectly, but that's just my opinion.
Ireland had never previously come in the top six at the Europeans, and had never qualified for the BB. The Irish team lost 4 of their first 5 matches. In Round 10 they beat Italy, moving up to 12th spot. At that stage they were performing about how Australia does, 12th spot. What is so striking to any but the most casual reader of this book is that Ireland came from there to 2nd, i.e. they finished all over the top of the field in the latter stages, like a Melbourne Cup runner who has been finely honed to produce its best in the
2 mile race.
I wonder if their preparation had something to so with their staying power.
As we have seen on BBO, we are more than competitive with them at bidding and play. But as the IMO best article ever written on bridge proved, bidding and play do not matter much relative to concentration, temperament and partnership handling if the aim is winning at bridge. See footnote.
Compare with Oz-One's two teams at the 2006 Reisinger. Both were dong fine, then both collapsed at the end. On one board, two South players (Gill and Marston, one in each team) made a 3D jump overcall on a 6322 shape at equal vulnerability that suffered the doubled disaster that it deserved at this level. Would I have made the same bad bid if I was 100 percent at the top of my game? I don't think so. The 3D bid would be OK against bunnies back at home, but not against Zia - Rosenberg to whom it was manna from heaven.
Paul, if there are any bridge books out there that are not merely wrapping paper for Saturdays fish and chips, could you list them on the Forum so that we all can read them?
Peter Gill.
Footnote: Article is by Paul Marston, in a Grand Slam Bulletin circa 1990.
I cannot remember the name of the article.
I guess the cohort of Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Indonesia could be viewed similarly to the European 2nd tier of Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland and Iceland
Just from memory, european achievements have outclassed far east ones
Norway (lost two finals and one semi?)
sweden (two semis atleast )
poland (multiple showings in quarters and semis,dont think they've won)
iceland (won bowl)
france (won a few olympiads)
dutch (one final)
While Far East in recent history has Indonesia (two finals inc. one Rosenblum), China (one semi) , and Australia, Japan (quarters).
Taipei used to be a force but that was a long time ago...
We do have current world pairs champions Fu and Jack.
Although my take on it is that they are not the strongest pair in that country.
So China is the future for our zone(s) and we are trying to make Australia another one...
I'd be quite surprised if a European team other than Italy made the semi-finals of this year's Bermuda Bowl.
China didnt even qualify for R/8 in the last Bowl.
I'll take a bet for Bermuda Bowl 2007, dave,
1) More qualifiers into the quarter-finals from Europe than FarEast and Oz/NZ combined (We will not count Italy as a european qualifier)
2) At least two european teams in the semifinals ( we will count italy)
Sartaj wrote:
I'll take a bet for Bermuda Bowl 2007, dave
1) More qualifiers into the quarter-finals from Europe than FarEast and Oz/NZ combined (We will not count Italy as a european qualifier)
2) At least two european teams in the semifinals ( we will count italy)ENDQUOTE
I think that two USA teams and Italy will make the semis and one other team, probably from Europe, who have five non-Italian chances to the rest of the world's less than five chances. So Sartaj's "bet" looks like a sound one to me.
Peter Gill.
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