Bulletin nr 10 - Tuesday 13 August 2002

Danish Dynamite

Denmark have won the first ever FISU World University Bridge Championship. On the Danish team were Gregers Bjarnarson, Michael Askgaard, Kasper Konow and Anders Hagen.

In a very close finish, the silver medal went to Italy while co-favourites the Netherlands had to settle for the Bronze.

A report on the final day's play is inside.

Kasper, Gregers, Michael and Anders

Final Ranking

1. Denmark 259.5
2. Italy 239.0
3. Netherlands 239.0
4. Poland 236.0
5. Germany 230.0
6. Estonia 220.0
7. Chinese Taipei 207.0
8. Belgium 188.0
9. Great Britain 166.0
10. U.S.A. 163.0
11. France 137.5
12. Yugoslavia 137.0
13. Turkey 101.0

The final round

Denmark knew they only had to finish to get the gold, but the other teams had more difficult tasks ahead. Italy could do no more than what they in fact did: score a maximum against Turkey.

The Netherlands were originally in joint third place with Poland, but they asked for a ruling on a slam in their match and received one in their favour. That brought their score up to Italy's but sadly they had lost the mutual encounter so they had to settle for bronze.

Poland and Germany had difficult tasks against the teams that were in joint sixth position before the final round. Poland came out the better, as did Estonia who secured the sixth place.

Belgium was already certain of 8th place. The USA needed 23 to push Great Britain from ninth but they only managed 21. France did manage the 19 they needed to jump ahead of Yugoslavia, while Turkey had already saved the honour and the third digit on Monday night.

Double winners

Anders Hagen and Gregers Bjarnarson join Lars Lund Madsen, Simon de Wijs and Frank Burghout as double winners of these championships. Anders and Gregers were on the team in 1998 in Skövde, when Denmark last won the European title.

Multiple Medallists

Apart from that 1998 Gold, Anders Hagen has a Silver from Rotterdam and a Bronze from Maastricht. That makes him the most successful player at Universi-ty Championships. Other quadruple and triple medal-lists are:

1. Anders Hagen (G-G-S-B)
2. Simon de Wijs (G-G-B-B)
3. Sebastian Reim (G-S-S-B)
4. Lars Lund Madsen (G-G-B)
5. Gregers Bjarnarson (G-G-B)
6. Kasper Konow (G-S-B)
7. Ricco Van Prooijen (G-B-B)
8. Anders Sisgaard (G-B-B)
9. Mario d'Avossa (S-S-S)
10. Julius Linde (S-B-B)

Matches of the Day Poland - Chin.Taipei Estonia - Germany Denmark-Netherlands Italy - Turkey

Yesterday's results had meant that the battle for the gold medal was all but decided, but they had also produced even more interest than previously predicted in the battle for the other medals. No less than four teams were left with a realistic chance of a medal, and three of them were facing serious opposition. Germany and Poland faced Chinese Taipei and Estonia, according to the table of exactly equal strength. The Netherlands were facing Denmark, almost champions but not quite, while currently fifth placed Italy had, on paper at least, the easiest opponent and might well slip in among the top three.

We had already decided to write a board-by-board account of the match at the top, so now we simply expanded this to include the three other matches.

During the first half, board 9 was the one that produced the most interesting swings:

Deal 9 N/EW	10 2 Q 9 6 4 7 6 K Q 9 5 2
A K Q J 2 A K 10 5 3 2 A 6		8 7 6 J 10 8 7 Q J 9 8 8 4
	9 5 4 3 A K 6 2 4 J 10 7 3

Two West players found the optimum contract. The Poles tried their best to make life difficult for the opponent:

West	North	East	South
Yi-Cheng		Yi-An
	Pass	Pass	1
Dble	3	Pass	3
Dble	Pass	3NT	Pass
6	All Pass

3 showed a suit and heart support.

South had wanted to pass but changed his mind, something which Pan had noticed. When South hesitated after 3NT, Pan deduced he must have a club fit. Partner must then have something like 2443 or 3442 so Pan bid 6.

The Turks on the other hand did not interfere in the bidding, which enabled the Italian West to bid out his hand:

West	North	East	South
Matteo		Francesco
	Pass	Pass	Pass
2(1)	Pass	2	Pass
3(2)	Pass	3	Pass
4(3)	Pass	4	Pass
4NT(4)	Pass	5	Pass
5(5)	Pass	6	Pass

(1) Game Forcing
(2) Diamonds and a Major
(3) 6, 4
(4) singleton
(5) 8 controls

All East's bids are relays

At the end of the first half, Italy had already done all they could to score a maximum, but would the others quietly sit by and allow the Italians the silver medal?

Only two of the eight tables that we were following reached a slam on board 21, but one of them was changed on a Directorial ruling. That leaves us with something good to say about our friends from Turkey:

Deal 21 N/NS	A K 10 5 3 10 K 8 7 A 5 3 2
9 7 6 2 A 9 7 3 2 Q 10 Q 10		Q J 8 4 J 5 4 2 K J 9 8 6
	- K Q 8 6 A J 9 6 5 4 3 7 4

Hasan and Orçun had not yet bid a single slam all week, and this was their last chance.

West	North	East	South
	Hasan		Orçun
	1	Pass	2
Pass	3	Pass	3
Pass	3NT	Pass	6
All Pass

Well done boys.

I would like to thank the volunteers, mostly the Belgian players, who brought in the results that enabled me to produce a mini-Rama in my room. The Italian captain found it all very nerve-racking, but he thanks me, and you, for the effort we put into this.

bd	ger	est	GER	ned	den	NED	pol	tpe	POL	ita	tur	ITA
			226 (2)			221 (3)			218 (4)			214 (5)
1	3-1 +50	2= +90	241 (2)	3-2 +100	3-1 +50	236 (3)	3x-3 +500	2N-2 +100	235 (4)	2-1 -50	2+3 -200	230 (5)
2	3= +110	4= -420	242 (2)	4= -420	4= -420	236 (3)	3+2 -200	4= -420	236 (3)	4x= -590	4= -420	229 (5)
3	3= -140	4-1 +100	241 (2)	3N= +400	5-2 -100	238 (3)	4= +130	3N= +400	234 (4)	3N-1 -50	4-1 -50	229 (5)
4	4= -620	4+1 +150	240 (2)	4-1 +100	4-1 +100	238 (3)	5x= +750	4x= +710	235 (4)	5x= +750	1+1 -90	231 (5)
5	3+2 +200	3+2 +200	240 (2)	3+2 +200	3+1 +170	238 (3)	4+1 +650	5= +650	235 (4)	3+2 +200	4-1 +100	232 (5)
6	5= -650	4+1 -650	240 (2)	4+1 -650	6-1 +100	236 (3)	4x-3 -500	6-1 +100	233 (5)	6-1 +100	4+1 -650	235 (4)
7	4-1 +100	2+1 -140	241 (2)	3-1 +100	3N= -600	238 (3)	4-4 +400	3-1 +100	234 (5)	4-4 +400	3N= -600	237 (4)
8	6+1 -1010	4+3 -510	239 (2)	5+2 -510	5+2 -510	238 (3)	7x-3 -500	4+3 -510	234 (5)	4+1 -450	4+3 -510	238 (3)
9	3N+1 -630	3N+2 -660	239 (3)	3x-1 -100	5+1 -620	240 (2)	6= -1370	5+1 -620	232 (5)	5+1 -620	6= -1370	239 (3)
10	4-1 -100	2+3 +200	237 (4)	4-1 -100	4-1 -100	240 (2)	4= +620	4-1 -100	234 (5)	4= +620	3+1 +170	239 (3)
11	1N+2 -150	4-1 +50	236 (4)	2= -110	2= -110	240 (2)	4x-2 +300	4= -420	236 (4)	4= -420	2+1 -140	239 (3)
12	6-1 -100	3N+2 +660	234 (5)	3N+2 +660	6= +1370	238 (3)	3N+2 +660	3N+2 +660	236 (4)	3N+2 +660	3N+2 +660	239 (2)

bd	ger	est	GER	ned	den	NED	pol	tpe	POL	ita	tur	ITA
13	6= -1370	6-1 +100	231 (5)	6-1 +100	6-1 +100	238 (3)	5+1 -620	5-1 +100	234 (4)	5= -600	6= -1370	239 (2)
14	4-2 +100	3Nx-7 -1700	234 (4)	4-1 +50	4= -420	240 (2)	4x-1 -100	3+2 -200	234 (4)	4-1 +50	4-1 +50	239 (2)
15	3-2 -200	3-1 -100	234 (5)	3+1 -170	3+2 -200	240 (2)	3-1 -100	3+1 -170	235 (4)	3+1 -170	2+2 -170	239 (3)
16	3+2 -150	6-1 +100	233 (4)	5= -600	6-1 +100	238 (3)	5= -600	6-1 +100	233 (4)	5= -600	6= -1370	239 (2)
17	4-3 -150	3-1 +50	232 (5)	3-2 +100	3= -140	239 (2)	2N-1 +50	3= -140	233 (4)	2= -110	3= -140	239 (2)
18	3-2 -200	2-2 +100	231 (5)	2N-2 -200	3N-2 -200	239 (2)	2N-1 -100	2-2 -200	234 (4)	1N-1 -100	4-4 -400	239 (2)
19	3N-3 -150	1N= +90	230 (5)	1N= +90	3= +110	239 (2)	1N= +90	3Nx-3 -500	236 (4)	4-2 -100	1Nx= +180	239 (2)
20	3N= +600	3N+1 +630	230 (5)	3N+1 +630	3N= +600	239 (2)	3N+1 +630	3N= +600	236 (4)	3-2 -200	3N-1 -100	239 (2)
21	5+1 +620	5+1 +620	230 (5)	5+1 +620	5+1 +620	239 (2)	5+1 +620	3N+2 +660	236 (4)	5+1 +620	6= +1370	239 (2)
22	4= +420	4= +420	230 (5)	4= +420	4= +420	239 (2)	4= +420	4= +420	236 (4)	4= +420	4= +420	239 (2)
23	4= -620	4+1 -650	230 (5)	4+1 -650	4+1 -650	239 (2)	4+1 -650	4= -620	236 (4)	6-2 +200	4+2 -680	239 (2)
24	4+1 -450	4+1 -450	230 (5)	4+1 -450	3N= -400	239 (2)	4= -420	4= -420	236 (4)	4= -420	4+1 -450	239 (2)

Groeten van de Staf

Herman, Harry, Paul, Kasper, Solvejg, Guy
Paul, Marc, Herman

Most people on the staff have had more than one job.

Paul Magerman was one of the originators of International University Bridge in 1993 and is the current chief responsible for University Bridge in the EBL and WBF. To list all his achievements (including bridge ones) would fill a bulletin of its own, so let's just suffice to say that Paul combines in one man the abilities of two: the ability to put together a major championship and the ability to assemble a staff and get the best out of them.

Marc Magerman is Paul's cousin. I have no idea what his official function was here, as he seemed to be doing everything. Only twice was he afraid that he would falter, but that was when he had to play the pairs' tournaments with Paul.

Geert Magerman is Paul's son. He was at every University championship except the first one in his native Antwerpen. He had two official functions here, and did nothing in either. Yet he was constantly active, among other things as host to our FISU guests.

(the Magerman family was responsible also, in the person of Bart, for setting up the tables)

Herman De Schrijver has been a Tournament Director at a number of previous University Championships, but was officially on the Appeal Committee here. He wrote the "Match of the Day" articles.

Herman De Wael should be well known by now. He is the regular scribe for the EBL Appeal Committee, but the organizers thought he would not have enough to write about on just appeals so they put him in charge of the complete bulletin. He doubles as the official photographer.

Paul Meerbergen has been the Director at University championships for the past five years now. His job is big enough so that he doesn't need a second one.

Guy Lambeaux is the only person in the world who is an international, but not a national tournament director. He also doubled up in functions, and we are glad his services as doctor weren't needed.

Martien Mareel is the secretary of the local bridge club, and was in charge of the office. He also copied the bulletins and beat his own record for doing so every single day.

Kasper Munch was in charge of the duplication. He was the only one who had a key, so he frequently locked us out of our offices. Solvejg, his wife and assistant, says the only time he did not smile during the week was when he played the free tournament.

Harry van de Peppel is the kind of Dutchman that Belgians like. He's from Maastricht, but also plays bridge in the Walloon city of Liège. He was in charge of systems.

Errrors in the Bulletin

No bulletin can be completely error-free, but I thought I managed quite well. Then last night I made a whopper of an error. Tom Venesoen told me that Tom Cornelis was mentioned twice in yesterday's bulletin. Only one of them was correct. Tom Venesoen wishes to stress that he was not the one to program the German Puzzle, but he did organize the free tournament in the bar. Many apologies, Tom and Tom.

Incidentally, that does mean that I cannot keep my firm intention not to publish another picture of Tom. So here goes:

De Schrijver, Venesoen, De Wael, Cornelis

Hartelijk Bedankt

I would like to thank everyone who made some contribution to the bulletin. I think that includes every one of you, as you have all smiled for my photographs, contributed freely your stories, or at the very least answered my questions.

Yet there are a few people I would like to thank especially.

Geert Magerman was labelled the Lay-Out editor for this bulletin, but that was the only thing he did not do. He did bring in stories, collaborated on the match of the day articles, and - mpost importantly - checked my articles for bridge errors.

With his time free by you players not appealing, Herman De Schrijver wrote most of the match of the day articles, and he was very patient in following my instructions for the lay-out. It meant my work was a lot easier.

Others who have contributed to the match of the day include Harry van de Peppel and Paul Magerman. I particularly felt it was sorry Paul had no more time to spend on this, as his analysis proved very accurate.

Some of you have been quite prolific in bringing in stuff. Allow me to mention all the players and captains in one breath, so I won't miss anyone, but then also allow me to mention Tom Venesoen for his Question of the Day articles.

Finally I would like to thank the many who have attempted (mostly in vain) to get the computers in the Bulletin room to talk to one another. Every day saw another configuration of which computers were visible to each other, and which ones were able to print or not. At one point I even used my camera as transfer device for text files.

I hope to have contributed to your stay in Brugge being a pleasant one.

Missing Pictures

All the players and captains should have had their pictures in the Bulletin, but a few are still missing:

Jason Feldman was on a trip when we took the USA team picture

Jean-Pierre Rocafort was not included on the French team photo which they took themselves!

Jui-Lung Lin was not sitting on the Chinese Taipei stairs

Championship Diary

Two pictures from last night at the bar:

The staff joined us and even played some bridge! Alon sneaks in the bulletin twice!

There was even some dancing, but I was not allowed to take a picture of Susan dancing with Sam, but I did get Stockdale and Hirschman:

DUA trophy

Denksportclub Universiteit Antwerpen

Sunday 2 March 2003

Open Pairs tournament with reduced participation and special prizes for Students.

All information on www.dua.be

Medal table after 9 championships:

(G-S-B)(other placings)

1. Netherlands 4-0-3 (4,5)
2. Denmark 3-1-2 (7,8,9)
3. Germany 1-2-2 (4,4,5,7)
4. Austria 1-0-0
5. Italy 0-4-0(5,5,8,7,11)
6. England/GBR 0-1-1(4,6,7,8,9,11)
7. Norway 0-1-0 (7,8,9)
8. France 0-0-1(5,6,6,6,9,10)
9. Israel 0-0-1
10. Poland (4,5,5,8)
11. Portugal (4,5,8,8)
12. Estonia (4,6)
13. Romania (4)
14. Czech Rep. (5,12)
15. Belgium (6,6,7,7,8,8,10,10,10)
16. Sweden (6,7)
17. Greece (6)
18. Latvia (9,14)
19. Spain (10,11)
20. Yugoslavia (10,12)
21. Ireland (13,13)
22. Turkey (11,14)

the Rest of the World (2 championships)

1. Chinese Taipei(7,12)
2. USA (10,11)
3. Indonesia (10)
4. China (13)
5. Japan (14)
6. Singapore (16)
7. Hong Kong (18)
8. Botswana (21)

Türkiye'den Merhaba

Ömer, Serhat, Hasan, Orçun

Now that we are certain of finishing last, we are allowed to be the last to write our team presentation.

Ömer Eskizara (20) is the youngest member of our team. He studies Electrical and Electronical Engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU) He is the expert on squeeze play. He enjoys playing difficult hands but is not so successful playing them.

Hasan Özkaya (21) also studies Electrical and Electronical Engineering at METU. He is a beginner at bridge. The monkey of the team. He makes us laugh.

Serhat Paksoy (22) is the captain of the team with head and tail. He only shouts at everyone. He also uses unusual bidding. He likes pre-emptive bidding and his overcalls are very aggressive. But he is very lucky. We did not lose any pre-emptive bidding sequences and he has brought us lots of points. Serhat also studies mechanical engineering at METU.

Orçun Sen (22) is absolutely Orçun. He is the best. He drives his partner crazy with his unusual bidding like:

1	2NT(1)	Pass	3
Pass	3(2)	Pass	3NT
Pass	4(2)	Pass	4
Pass	Pass(2)	Dble	Pass
Pass	Redble(3)	All Pass

(1) 5-5 - (0-8 or 16+)
(2) with an angry face
(3) to teach partner the convention

Orçun studies mechanical engineering at METU.

Alon is saddened by the Turkish selection for this year's team.

hermandw@skynet.be