Online NABC Meets Wine And Cheese Lessons!

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Lee Lin

(Note: The May 2020 Regional is still on the books)

Last board of Day 2, I had one of those hands where you are just really scared the bots are going to misinterpret and do something crazy. LHO opens a club, two passes to my hand, which is right on the borderline of a simple heart overcall and a power double with hearts.

Then I remembered Giorgia Botta’s Wine and Cheese lesson just last Friday, held at Honors and organized by Mo Oehlerking. “There *ARE* *NO* pre-empts in the balancing seat!” (Try to say that as loud as you can in Giorgia’s voice).

Indeed, I’ll confess maybe 2 weeks ago I wouldn’t have thought to hover over the other bids – but with the powers of the Wine and Cheese crew, I found the right bid: a balancing seat jump overcall!

Tell Me More About Wine And Cheese?

In normal times (not Covid-19 times), most Friday evenings at Honors include a seminar by one of our local pros, then supervised teaching boards to solidify the featured topic of the night (last Friday was… various bidding options in the balancing seat). In addition to the usual Honors dinner, you get wine, hot and cold appetizers, and many dessert options.

The usual crowd is 10 to 15 tables, and you can sign up solo, in a pair, or even a full table. In addition to the pro, a crew of volunteers are on hand to help answer questions or help you with a lend you a lifeline bidding suggestion. I highly recommend it – and you never know, the concepts can come to you when you need it most!

Onwards To Day 3!

Good luck everyone on Day 3. For those in the running for overalls – your consistency is impressive. For the rest of us, let’s try to have some fun, or at least earn some red points.

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Clarification on May Big Apple Regional 2020

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Bonnie Gellas

To Greater New York Bridge Association Members:

The GNYBA is writing to provide you with an update on the status of the Big Apple Spring Regional in May. Earlier today, Honors sent an e-mail to their mailing list stating that the GNYBA Board had voted to cancel the tournament.

In fact, we have not. We voted to monitor the situation in light of Governor Cuomo’s ban on gatherings of over 500 people, which currently runs through April 11 and may be extended.

No final decision has been made, but rest assured that whatever decision we ultimately make will be in the best interests of our players.

As things develop, the GNYBA will provide you with updates.

Be Well…
Bonnie Gellas
GNYBA President

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Day 2 Online NABC – Loose Aggressive Start

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Lee Lin

Alright, the clock has struck midnight, which means we have confirmed our awful Day 1 results. However, with the pressures of overalls behind us, we can go high vol for the rest of the tournament. If this were a poker table, I’ve become the Loose-Aggressive Maniac. If you don’t believe me, here are my first 5 boards – no holding back versus the bots!

Not fooling around – no small slams allowed, either grand or bust! Sadly, turns out Board 1 I could have made 6C double dummy, and Board 4 should have been +500.

Deal Pools Revisted?

So a huge security feature of the online NABC is that almost every gets completely different boards. About 30 people play each board, and there are 2334 entries. With only 24 boards per day, it is highly unlikely you have even 3 boards in common with anyone. If you don’t believe me – 2334 people play 24 boards = 56,016 scores recorded. Each board played 30 times, meaning at least 1800 unique boards!

How about those within your “section” of 15 tables? I haven’t confirmed, but I believe even those 15 tables are not playing the same boards as you – the section concept is only for the purposes of scoring your percentage for section tops. Does anyone know for sure?

Furthermore, players who are friends with you or in the same geography as you will not get the same boards. Therefore, I don’t feel guilt sharing my preliminary results with GNYBA readers. Besides, even if you got the 7NT board – it won’t be board 5 for you. I could be any of the 1-24, or most likely none at all!

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Day 1 NABC – Not Gonna Happen

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Lee Lin

Ah hah, I didn’t take my own advice to step away and get out of tilt. Immediately after four “known” bad boards and publishing the post, I got back on the wagon of blunders. But it was reasonably fun – for those who are on the fence, come join the fun. You will probably do better than me, and you’ll be doing your part in self-quarantining.

Pressure Is Off

Good news, with each passing online NABC, my score has gotten worse and worse. But at least I finish them in a reasonable time. Not joking, somehow the first time I ever played the online NABC, I got a 61% but took a straight 3 hours to do 24 bot boards. Maybe I should slow down?

Bot Training Thoughts?

So we can’t talk about any specific hands until the day is done – but I swear there is a tooltip bug in the bots. Either that, or the bid is counter-intuitive enough that almost all humans assume a different interpretation, so thousands of past experiences have trained the bots to also expect a different hand from their partner.

For example, and this is completely unrelated to the “bug” I think I found. Imagine the bots were coded to play that opener after Jacoby 2NT always shows shortness, even without extras. However, enough humans bid fast arrival, to avoid the bots taking them too high after a light opening. Over time, do the bots start to build slightly higher expectations for partner’s hand in the shortness showing case?

As a gamer and software engineer, I would be curious to see how much bot bidding is lookup table versus constrained simulations. In the simple case, the bot just follows rules. In the second case, the bot generates thousands of hands based on what everyone has promised in the bidding, then figures out how best to bid.

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Tilt Management: Rocky Start to Online NABC

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Lee Lin

Back in the day, you only had a limited time to finish the Online NABC. It was still 12 hours, so that should be plenty for anyone. But now it is the entire day, midnight to midnight Eastern Time!

That means, if you are off to a rocky start, then consider taking a break. I know, maybe it’s not bridge if you don’t sit through the whole session, but it’s a reasonable strategy.

How Do You Know When It’s Going Badly?

Truth is, you don’t. Maybe difficult boards can be your specialty, and as bad as it feels going down 1 because of the horrible splits, maybe everyone else freaks out and goes down 2 or more. So keep some faith.

Unfortunately, there ARE times when you know you blundered – the old misclick has been around since the days of Yahoo Games, and there is no undo option in the online NABC.

And sometimes, you simply realize there was a better path.

Does a Timeout Help?

I’m not sure. There might be an argument for getting into the zone, so doing the 24 straight boards is the way to go. But if you aren’t feeling great, taking a break shouldn’t hurt. This post is, in fact, my break. Day 1 is off to an awful start. Oh well, there is always the Day 2 and Day 3 comeback. Stay positive – bridge is supposed to be fun.

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Online NABC Still A Go!

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Lee Lin

Even though most events for the Spring 2020 NABC are cancelled, there is still one NABC title to be awarded: the online individual! For those who haven’t tried it, the individual robot tournament is a lot of fun.

What To Expect?

With over 2000 people expected to join, you are still placed into a small section of 15 “tables” (really 15 people and a lot of robots). Each section is stratified, so there is a good chance you will win points from entering the event. Plus, you get 3 days of fun, playing from the safety of your home. We wrote about what it means to play Best Hand, Human Declare, and have Deal Pools last time.

Last Minute Registration?

You can still register – just go to ACBL World on Bridge Base. As of this writing, 2020 people have entered. You will play 24 boards each day starting tomorrow, and you will receive results around midnight each night. You also get a provisional result right after you finish, which is about as reliable as the “BridgeMate percentages” you see at the club – the later you check, the more accurate. If you are the first table to play the board, of course it will always say 50/50.

Head to ACBL World and register now!

You Should Finish The 72 Boards

Robots can be lots of fun, but they can also be extremely frustrating. Especially when they need to sometimes lie while bidding (come on, you do it too, why should the robots not be allowed?). But whatever you do, don’t go on tilt and quit the tournament. Why?

First off, unlike most robot tournaments, you will be scored regardless of whether you finish. You just get bottom on all the boards you didn’t play. Also, if you miss one of the days, you won’t be allowed to play the other days.

More importantly, each day is considered a separate session. Last time around, I had a hopeless score of 40% on Day 2, only to rally back with a 70% on Day 3! I ended with peanuts for overall awards, but a great “Flight B/C” session award (red points). The overall scores are pretty consistently filled with familiar and famous names. But the daily session scores have plenty of random “lucky civilians” mixed in.

Also, your results won’t show up on ACBL Live. You can find the results in your ACBL Masterpoints History, or in hidden places for those who know where to look…

Well, 1809th place isn’t dead last, but considering how many people quit without finishing, I was pretty close to straight bottoms on Day 2.
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NABC Spring 2020 Cancelled!

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Lee Lin

Disaster! Or maybe we are all relieved. Hundreds of people flying in from all over the world, playing in close proximity for a week, then flying back home seemed like a bad idea. Add to that the demographics of the typical NABC attendee. The ACBL has likely done their part in stopping any further health hazards.

Even if they wanted to continue, it seems there was no choice. Enough government authorities have already banned events like NABC.

How About NYC and Long Island Events?

Stay tuned – we expect to have updates as they come. At the moment, there is no change to the Unit events. GNT knockouts in all flights are progressing through their quarterfinal or semifinal rounds.

Summer NABC in Montreal?

So far, it’s on. No changes.

Fall And Beyond?

Some tentative dates for NAP: Flight A and Flight C on October 11th, at Sagamore Bridge Club. Flight B on November 1st, also at Sagamore.

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New York Sectional – Hacking the Masterpoints

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Lee Lin

Everyone should be thankful for all the silverpoint opportunities we have had lately. If you didn’t go to Woodbridge this weekend (last one ever), and you didn’t play the online sectional (first one ever), then there is still STaC week all next week.

Minting More Silver – Standalone Sectional

But the most exciting thing happening has yet to be announced. However, there are clues lurking around for those who know where to look. And lo and behold, we have been outed by ACBL’s own sanction calendar. Some people have already asked about it, so the cat is semi-out of the bag.

What is this mysterious non-STAC event among all the STaCs?

I know most people don’t use the online ACBL calendar to find tournaments. You can just rely on Bridge Finesse, the back of the monthly Bridge Bulletin, or flyers at your favorite club (or this website).

Save The Date – June 20, 21

Truth is, the GNYBA board must first finalize all the ins and outs of the first standalone sectional we will be holding in over a decade. It is not 100% happening, but if it does, it will not be considered a “Sectional Tournament at the Club” event. As a full sectional, it will pay 11/9 as much as a regular STaC (22.2% more).

We also hope to hold a Grass Roots Fund for one of the days, which will pay even more silver points. It will be regionally rated, as they say, paying 14/9 as much as a STaC (55.5% more). And as you all should know by now, STaC week pays a bonus beyond the usual club masterpoints award.

Here is the classification factor for various events – note that Club Championship at a club is 7.00, so even STaC pays more than club championship.

Enough Math? What’s the Format?

I will confess, I was at Honors today and someone pleasantly surprised me by complimenting the various masterpoint formula posts. So for now, these types of posts are here to stay! One of my long-time partners once predicted that someday I will end up on the ACBL masterpoint formula committee – I’m not sure about that, but I’m glad we fixed the Freaky Masterpoint KOs in time for the Big Apple Spring Regional. There are more quirks to be patched up, but we will pick our battles for now.

As for the sectional, much more will be revealed later – but with the creative minds here at GNYBA, we hope to host North America’s highest paying silver point team event here in New York. So save the date – June 20th and 21st!

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The Last Woodbridge?

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Lee Lin

In December, we first heard that the Woodbridge days were numbered. Rumor is the next Unit 140 sectional will move to Edison, just a little bit further for New York drivers. Possibly easier by public transit. They also recently upgraded the Sunday lunch, so perhaps the new venue with retain said upgrades.

About The Tournament

Here is a link to the Woodbridge March 2020 Tournament Flyer. As usual, there will be pairs Friday and Saturday, and teams Sunday. It’s actually a refreshing break. We’ve been talking nonstop about things both Grand and National – I could definitely use a break, relaxing away in a friendly team event that is both minor and local. Keep in mind, Woodbridge Sunday starts at 10:30am, so it’s not the later 12:30pm Allendale schedule (that one is in April, and they are doing some new GrassRoots sessions).

More Silver Point Chances

For those who can’t make Woodbridge, next week right here in District 24 is STaC week! This isn’t the weekend-only silver points we saw in early February. It’s the full-fledged, twice a year week long Sectional Tournament at the Club. And for those who are too busy to make it to a live club, you have a chance to get online silver for the first time ever. But you need to do it today.

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Record Breaking GNT-C / GNT-A Attracts 21 Teams!

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Lee Lin

Be careful what you wish for! We surpassed our goal of 20+ teams. In total 50 teams competed in the opening rounds of GNT-Championship, GNT-A, GNT-B, and GNT-C. Last year there were only 32, a nice 56% increase, mostly coming from B and C. We have reached a golden age of Mid-Flight intermediate players in the district, and the coming KO matches should be very close!

Most Frequent Players?

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean 200 unique people gave up their weekends. Some people played in two different flights, and the true fanatics played in THREE flights (you must be under 2500 MP to hit this achievement). Perhaps there should be a frequent player drawing for GNT’s next year (while we are at it, 3 NAP flights for 3 different days)?

GNT Hat-Trick: Players who gave up 3 weekend days in a row:

Played: Champ, A, B
Allison Rudary
Matthew Rudary

Played: Champ, B, C
Wendy Wen
Qun Yang
Luke Robison
Nikki Hudak
Adam Siegal
Frank Dinoff
Katherine Todd
Lee Lin

Correlation or Causality?

Perhaps it’s just correlation and we are fooled by randomness. Or maybe it takes a certain self-selected kind of person to do it. But it’s also possible that getting beaten up by world class pros actually helps us get better! All of the players who played three flights have qualified into the knockout rounds!

Allison Rudary, Stephannie Culbertson, Rachel Moller, and Matthew Rudary narrowly missed qualifying in the Championship Flight quarterfinals by 2 Victory Points. No problem, they are now Top Seed in the GNT-A Semi-Finals. If anything about this photo looks familiar, Allison and Matthew were also winners in their Group of 9 for GNT-B.

A Multi-Flight Problem?

So for the people who are entering Knockouts , please try to be extra accommodating to the other team and each other. It’s just very hard to find a weeknight or weekend for 8 busy people. For those in multiple flights, you have it extra rough. And of course, be sure to talk things out with your teammates over the various scenarios – you can only go to Montreal and play in one flight, but the remaining teammates can potentially augment the team and swap in eligible players, including those eliminated from other teams.

District 24 GNT-C Results

With 13 teams showing up, the seeding committee used the age old “sort-by-masterpoints” method. The only hiccup was a team of 5 provided their total without notifying the director they had 5 (you are supposed to report the total normalized to four players, and if that is too complicated just give the sum and the number of players to the director).

As with GNT-B, there was one Group of 6, and then a Group of 7, each with four survivors.

Team Yang wins the Group of 6
Team Suden Wins the Group of 7

District 24 GNT-A Results

Team Rudary Wins Top Seed in the GNT-A Round Robin

Team Photos? Bios?

If anyone knows anything about any of the GNT-A or GNT-C Teams, please let us know. We are actively seeking team photos and short bios! For now, we can only briefly discuss a few of the familiar faces.

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