Format for GNT Opening Round D24

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Lee Lin

Hopefully by now everyone knows the dates for the 2020 Grand National Teams opening round in District 24 (New York City and Long Island). If you don’t, check out the GNT flyer one more time, it’s this weekend and next weekend, depending on which flights you play. More fun if you play more flights with more teams.

So once you’ve decided to sacrifice an entire weekend day, what is the format? That’s actually a VERY complicated question, and it depends on the number of teams.

The Registration

First off, don’t show up at 10:58am. This is a hectic event for the one ACBL director who needs to collect payment, fire up the software, AND determine the format for an unknown number of teams. The venue also runs their normal club games and lessons, so there are just lots of bridge players running around asking where they need to be, and the answer could be three different places on two different floors.

If you are playing in the Grand National Teams, go to Honors Bridge Club well before 11:00 and go to the 12th floor to register your team for GNT. It helps to know the masterpoints of your team members, but a seeding committee can override the usual masterpoint seeding.

The Format

Here is where things get tricky. The number of teams that show up drastically changes the format of the event. You’ll play close to 50 boards for the day, but how is it done? We have to dig all the way into Appendix A of the GNT D24 conditions of contest.

When 7 teams show up, it looks like a standard round robin. Everyone plays 6 matches of 8 boards each, comparing scores every 2 rounds (just like in a 3-way). But if a team shows up last minute for 8 total teams, the event becomes an 8-team knockout for championship flight (A/B/C still do round robin). Add a 9th team we are back to round robin, but things get crazy at 10 teams.

Seeding Extra Important With 10

With 10 teams, the director, perhaps with help from the seeding committee, must separate the teams into 2 groups of 5 teams. In each group, the teams play a round robin of 12 board matches, only within your group. Two teams from each group continue to semifinals where 1st place of each group plays 2nd place of the other.

No Swiss Formats – Round Robin Only

Of course, once the 11th team shows up, we are back to round robin! Note the conditions never call for a swiss. The luck factor in swiss is undesirable, so all 11 teams would presumably play against the 10 other teams in shorter matches (5 board matches?).

Two Groups AGAIN – More Survivors

What if we hit 12 teams? Oh boy, we are back to two groups of 6 teams. Each group plays a round robin with 10-board matches, but now we get 4 survivors per group (only 2 eliminated). A total of 8 teams move onward to a Knockout “Round of 8.”

Importance of Seeding?

Truth is, there is always going to be plenty of luck in any bridge tournament. We try to minimize the obvious sources unfairness – the two teams deemed strongest should not be knocking each other out in the first round. Similarly, the two groups should be relatively balanced – it should not be obvious that one group feels easier than the other.

In many ACBL events, seeding is done entirely on masterpoint averages, but we DO have a seeding committee for at least the Championship Flight event. The conditions also say that a team with a majority of members on the prior year’s District winning team will automatically get the favorable top seed (does that require 4 out of 6 members, or can 3 members of a team of 6 form a team of 4 to get it?).

But as we all know, upsets happen all the time, so maybe seeding and format just doesn’t matter a whole lot. In the end, to prevail you’ll need 50 or so boards of smooth sailing (or bumpy sailing by your opponents). Try to have fun!

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NYC Beginner Social Bridge for Young Adults

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Lee Lin

Many of us have friends who are intrigued by bridge, but have no idea how to get started. They see us spending endless hours at the club and burning entire weekends going to nearby tournaments. What if they simply want a taste of the game, in a completely safe and social environment?

February 26th, 7pm, Aces Bridge Club

Here is the perfect chance!

Come play bridge with other young professionals and adults (under 60 is young in our world). You do not need to bring a partner, and you do not need bridge experience. Perhaps you played home games back in the day? Or maybe you enjoy hearts or spades but want to transition to bridge? What if you are completely new but watched the Bill Gates documentary and want to know how to play? This is for you!

Wine, Snacks, Bidding Boxes, and More

For only $20 a person, you will have hours of fun and learning, as well as some snacks and wine to keep things extra merry. Instructors will be on hand to give guidance at all levels. You will be paired off roughly by experience level, and you can come solo or in a group. The venue is Aces Bridge Club in Midtown West, which regularly hosts daily afternoon duplicate games.

The main organizer is Adam Parrish, a local pro with a top 10 finish in the 2019 North American Bridge Championships. He is a bridge teacher and author of multiple books, GNYBA board member, and monthly contributor to the ACBL Bridge Bulletin.

RSVP or show up – 2/26/2020.

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Big Apple Spring 2020 Regional

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Lee Lin

We have a tournament flyer for the Big Apple Spring 2020 Regional. Check back for more updates, but for now here are the big changes:

Gold Rush Pairs Every Day

The December 2019 regional was very successful, but one large piece of feedback is having gold rush pairs daily. In the past, the last day only included Fast Pairs and either Bracketed Teams or Flighted Teams (Open, Mid-Flight, Gold Rush Swiss).

Knock Out In A Day

We are taking the best of all worlds. The Tarrytown Freaky KO games were fun, but we are iterating based on the feedback. The KO In A Day will ensure more incentives to win the KO brackets, while still providing the Swiss players with lots of fun and points.

Goldman Pairs

The premiere event of the regional is the Goldman Pairs. Don’t be fooled, there is nothing Gold Rush about this event. It attracts many of the top pros in the district and nation! It is a 4-session pairs event with a qualifying day and final day. It is also an early factor in determining who wins GNYBA Player of the Year.

Spring Newcomer Championship

While not officially The Countess Cup, we will still award a trophy for the winners of our special 0-99er pairs event. This is an all day, 2-session event with full carryover, open to all players with under 100 masterpoints.

Side Series Continues

The popular side game series will take place at Honors Bridge Center, this time featuring three separate series. There are two horizontal afternoon series and a horizontal evening series. What does it mean for a series to be horizontal? It means the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sessions take place on different days at the same time, rather than the usual different times on the same day (that would be vertical, you have morning and afternoon, get it?).

No More Choose-Your-Flight Swiss Day

There is no longer a day were all players are lumped into larger swiss fields. In previous regionals, there would be at least one day with an A/X, BC, and Gold Rush swiss. For this May, all team events will be bracketed into the usual brackets of 8 or 9, including the KO in a Day. There is still a choose-your-flight pairs day, on Tuesday (Day 2).

Name Change, Same Venue

This year we fully embrace the name “Big Apple” for both of our regionals. We still love the Eastern States and Edgar Kaplan of course! But moving forward we are going with the Big Apple name.

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Avoiding Board Swapping And Caddy Disasters

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Lee Lin

During a large team event, there is a lot of chaos going on in the room that most of us don’t see. How could we? We are too busy concentrating on the current hand (or the prior hand if we really botched it). From the caddy’s point of view, 20 tables begin the round at the same time. Half inevitably shout “CADDY PLEASE” within the same 2-minute window, just as the round timer hits 34. That’s the point when tables that began with 3 boards have run out.

Never Move The Table Mats, Or Physically Move Tables

I’ve witnessed two caddy disasters in my time, and both involved physically moving tables or table mats, breaking whatever intricate system the head caddy had in place. In one case, a table was wobbly and unsuitable for play. In another case, a player with mobility constraints requested to stay at the same table as the prior round and just change the table mats. Both times, the team informed the director and got permission.

Unfortunately, the caddy didn’t get the memo. One of the incidents even occurred during NABC in the final round of a compact knockout! The director carefully delivered 6 boards to the correct table, which required a slightly diagonal movement. Unfortunately, the diligent caddy took care of the other boards, abiding by the golden rule – boards always go straight down a lane.

What Do They Do?

About 40 minutes later, four different teams realized something had gone horribly wrong and all shouted for the director at the same time. The director said there is nothing to do but use the 6 common boards. A mere 6 boards determined the final round knockout winner.

In cases where there are zero common boards, there isn’t much the director can do. They can’t really stay an extra hour and wait for a tiebreaker, and the players probably don’t have the mental energy to replay a round anyway. The director gave everyone an “average plus” round of 12 Victory Points (win by 3 IMPs).

How Does It Even Work?

When I first began, I was mystified. How is there not some huge mixup each round, where the boards when to the wrong place and entire tables played the wrong hands. Turns out there is a method to the madness.

Table Layout

The tables are set up in a special system to help the caddies. If you’ve ever had trouble finding your table number, there is a reason they aren’t laid out in a nice long line. They are usually rectangular clusters, so that the “other table” is always 3 or 4 tables down the same lane.

Board Numbers

In most 7-board matches, your last board number is divisible by 7 (14,21, 28,35). Based on the boards you shuffle at the beginning, you should know which ones you will play. If you receive a board out of that range, something is wrong! Note, if you have 5-board matches, then your last board is divisible by 5.

Board Colors

I actually didn’t know this for over a year. At larger tournaments, the color of the boards will be the same for your table and your opponent’s table, but should be different from all the nearby tables. If you ever notice you have yellow boards at the beginning of the round and suddenly the caddy drops off green boards, that’s a red flag! Again, we’re talking about the boards holding the cards, not the color of the cardbacks.

Please: Go Easy On the Caddies

For good reason, caddies should operate in a single-threaded manner. Even if your table is “on the way”, having the caddy hold boards from multiple tables is asking for trouble. Just let them drop the boards off! They usually also need to make a round trip delivery, so don’t be offended if you queue for just a little longer. If you are waiting for the caddy, you are probably not the bottleneck.

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Finding GNT Partners and Teammates

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Lee Lin

As we near the GNT opening rounds for District 24, we are getting more and more requests from pairs and individuals looking to complete their teams. It’s a great event and we encourage everyone to give it a try. Here are some tips that you might not know:

The Cutoff Date Is August 2019 For Eligibility

This is big. If your favorite partner just made Life Master in the December regional, he or she is probably eligible for GNT Flight C! The fine print in the conditions of contest require all members of the team to be residents of District 24, and 0-500 masteproints, and not life master by the August 6th, 2019 ACBL update (that includes points won in the Las Vegas 2019 NABC).

That goes for all flights. Anyone who just crossed 2500 recently is likely still eligible for one more time in GNT Flight B. And individuals who moved out of NYC last fall can still play for this district (that’s a little more tricky – you can’t play for TWO districts. ACBL will recognize you in only one).

You Can Play In Two Flights

If you are eligible for Flight B, you can play in both A and B as they are on different dates. Similarly, for Flight C teams, you can play in Flight B the weekend prior. However, just make it clear to all of your teammates that you are two-timing. One of the most awkward situations occurs when an individual potentially qualifies for two different flights with two different teams or partners!

The rule is simple. You are welcome to compete in the District finals in as many flights as you can fit in your schedule. However, you may only represent the district in one flight should you prevail. The remaining teammates may augment the team with a replacement, but you had better give them ample notice if there is a chance this will happen!

You Can Have Four, Five, Or Six On The Team

The rules require that every team member plays 50% or more of the boards. If you have four people on your team, everyone just plays the whole time. If you have six, then you can rotate in a way so that one pair plays the whole time and the other two half the time. A more complicated rotation has two pairs playing 3/4 of the day and one pair 1/2 the day.

Also, remember there are some stages that will run as a swiss instead of a knockout. It’s a little trickier to divide rotations when there are 7 rounds, but I’m sure your team can figure something out. SOMETIMES the directors say that playing 3 rounds out of 7 counts as “50% of the boards”. That’s weird, but that’s what the director at a regional told me once.

When you have a team of 5, all sorts of fun rotations can pop up. You can have the classic “anchor pair” that plays the whole day. Then the other table will be “the wheel”, which can have an anchor person and two rotating. The wheel might also have the three of them switching around all day long. If that sounds a little dubious, an alternative is the pentagon team – each person can play with exactly two other people. This works best when one player agrees to play the entire day, and the other four will play 3/4 of the day.

The GNT Coordinator is Not a Partnership Desk

Lots of hard-working GNYBA board members volunteer their time to help organize GNT, including the email marketing blasts, the flyers, and the actual scheduling and logistics. Unfortunately, they are too swamped to also take on the role of partnership desk. You might find some luck in the usual places. Perhaps the ACBL online partnership desk or the bridge winners forums. Maybe you can even comment on this post!

Try To Have Fun

Putting together a team is stressful. It’s hard enough to coordinate with one partner, but 4 or even 6 people is bound to be hectic. Remember, we are all playing to have fun, and there is enough luck and randomness in the game that anything can happen. This event also happens every year. And for those set on going to NABC, there are plenty of pair and team events that are just as fun, arguably more prestigious, and require no stages of qualification at all.

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STaC Weekend Feb 7th to Feb 9th 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Lee Lin

We have ourselves another STaC weekend, so you can expect extra points at the club, and probably larger crowds (we recommend emailing or calling ahead with reservations). It also means you won’t see “the percentages” in the Bridge Mate for any of the rounds. Some of us probably wish that were the case all club nights – it could improve both the speed of the game and general morale!

Here is the link to the Feb 7th to 9th STaC Weekend Results.

The results update each day, a few hours after the session. Remember, you will get more points than what is shown on the club screen and printout due to the STaC bonus.

Swiss Teams and Silver

Similar to last time, there will be 2 chances to play swiss teams for silver points. Friday Feb 7th at Honors for 0-750 players, and Sunday night Feb 9th. If you are reading this just now, it might be too late for Friday morning. But Sunday night is looking very strong!

For the non-750 among us, you probably don’t care whether or not the points are silver, platinum, or colorless. But if you are tired of pairs and long for teams, there is an open swiss on Sunday night. So far, no word on whether it’s bracketed. But it will certainly be pre-duplicated, a nice perk that you won’t find at the sectionals and regionals.

What If I Miss This Chance?

The next chance to get silver points is March 6-8, at Woodbridge. This could actually be the last Woodbridge, as they look to move it to a new venue.

There will be another STaC in New York March 9-15 if you really don’t want to traverse the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.

And after that, there might just be a standalone NYC sectional in the works. Nothing to announce yet, but stay tuned!

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Bridge Adventures: GNT – An Experience For All

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Lee Lin

What is the Grand National Teams? It sure sounds like a high caliber event, but it’s actually one of the most enjoyable and accessible team events ACBL and the District holds each year! If you haven’t formed a team yet, it’s certainly not too late. Here’s a wild story about how I began my bridge journey…

Two Years Ago – A Last Minute Team Forms

Almost exactly two years ago, I was total beginner and knew nothing about the game of bridge (my partners often remind me not much has changed). A few former colleagues wanted to chance a team, and I reluctantly agreed having never scored IMPs in my life. Adding to the chaos, our 4th dropped out last minute with a work conflict – so we grabbed a company intern to fill the spot. Lucky for us, this intern later joined the Columbia bridge team that went to the National Collegiate Bridge Bowl finals!

Back then, the timetable started in December with a club qualifier round. Fortunately, the district decided to eliminate the qualifier
We had no idea what the event was about at all – but it sounded intriguing

Club Qualifier to District Swiss to District KOs to NABC

Amazingly, we prevailed, and it was a nonstop set of firsts for me! My first red points. My first knockout. My first experience playing 48 boards against the same opponents – and feeling the emotional fatigue pile up alongside my many errors. My first NABC – Atlanta Summer 2018!

Even though our GNT team lost early on, we turned the trip into a wonderful week of bonding among friends. We played 3-4 sessions per day, the morning bottom bracket, the evening side swiss, the midnight knockout. On the last day, we won our first Gold Rush!

After returning to New York, I was hooked. GNT definitely launched the beginning of my bridge adventures, and I’ve been so lucky for all the encouraging teachers, mentors, friends, and partners who have helped me along the way.

A Full Day Of Fun Guaranteed

In total, 6 teams can qualify to the Montreal Summer NABC and represent the district this year – one from each flight plus a possible 2nd team in flights B and C. There are four brackets to cater to all skill levels, so I encourage everyone to give it a shot. There are no qualifiers this year, just show up with your team of 4 to 6 players, ready to play on any of the dates below. A full day of fun team play will be guaranteed!

And you never know – maybe you’ll become New York and Long Island’s next Grand National Teams representatives!

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Freaky Knockouts and Freaky Masterpoint Awards

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Lee Lin

The Tarrytown regional just concluded their very successful week-long tournament, including a return of the Freaky Knockout Teams events (previously known as Far Out Knock Out In A Day).

(EDIT: The Masterpoint formula has changed following the Tarrytown event)

DISCLAIMER: This post is about the quirks in the ACBL formula, from the point of view of a data nerd. The directors and folks from District 3 did an amazing job running the tournament. The Freaky KO format is an innovative solution to knockouts in one day, and GNYBA is considering a similar format for the upcoming regional.

Masterpoint Payments Very Freaky

The current ACBL Masterpoints formula requires adjusting the points when knockout matches are shorter than the usual 24 boards. For example, a compact knockout with 12-board matches pays half as much as 24-board full knockouts. A freaky knockout with 18-board matches pays 3/4 as much as 24 boards. Simple and linear until you reach 24.

A Swiss, however, has no such adjustment, as long as the swiss qualifies as “2 sessions”. Technically, the swiss that lasts 4 rounds with 9 board matches beginning at 12:30pm and ending 6:45pm qualifies as two sessions. It’s a creative solution and works well with the Freaky KO format. However, shouldn’t we adjust the award to account for only 18 boards per session? (EDIT: Yes, we should and will from now on)

The Knockout Formula has the “L” factor, which redues the award if the boards played per match is less than 24 boards.
The Round Robin formula has no such factor – they assume the tournament will fill the entirety of the two sessions with 7 rounds of 7 boards.

(EDIT: Following the Tarrytown regional, the formula has been changed. The 36-board swiss will be multiplied by the 0.75 factor as well. However, it is still possible for the swiss winners to win more points than the lower brackets of the KO contributing to the swiss)

Transcending Brackets Becomes Freaky Too

With bracketed round robin events, a team can either choose to play in the top bracket or the bracket mandated by their team masterpoints. However, with 7 brackets of 7 teams on Saturday of Tarrytown, 3 teams from each bracket were knocked out in the first round. The Freaky Swiss afterward had two brackets, one with teams knocked out of brackets 1-3, the other one with 12 teams from bracket 4-7.

For teams hoping to play in a wider field or play slightly above or below their bracket, losing the first round of the Freaky KO becomes an awkward way of getting an A/X Swiss and a B/C/D Swiss. You CAN skip the morning festivities, sleep in, and register directly for the Freaky Swiss at 12:30pm. I don’t think any teams took that route.

Losing the Freaky KO and Winning the Freaky Swiss

This part is mind-blowing. In the very top bracket, the eventual KO winners won 19.38 Gold. The winners of the higher Freaky Swiss with 9 teams from brackets 1-3 won 18.33 gold (much more than 2nd place in the KO).

In the lower brackets, things get even more odd. The winners of bracket 4 won 8.37 Gold. The winners of the lower Freaky Swiss won 8.69 Gold! That’s more than the winners of all the KO brackets who sent their knocked out teams to the swiss! As it turns out, the winning team came from Bracket 7, the very bottom. That same team would have won 3.94 points, half red half gold, had they won all their matches that day.

It’s a bit of a fluke because the original KO bracket had 7 teams, and the swiss afterward had 12 teams. But something seems weird about losing the first round and eventually getting more points than all the teams from much higher brackets.

As it turns out, running all 7 brackets as a Brackted Round Robin would pay more points to the eventual winners than what the knockout recipients received. However, if you add the points paid in both the Freaky KO + Freaky Swiss, the tournament ends up paying much more, which is a nice perk. We created a spreadsheet showcasing the two scenarios for the lower brackets, but the findings hold for higher brackets as well.

Tarrytown January 25th Freaky KO vs Round Robin Data

Are Knockouts In A Day Successful?

I had lots of fun participating, as did 200 other people each day they held the event. Any regional team event with 7 brackets is a success, especially with concurrent gold rush and open pair events. And this is across two different days back to back! Granted, it’s hard to know whether attendance would be unchanged holding the usual Bracketed Round Robin. Some people enjoy Knockouts more than Swiss. Some vice versa. But without a doubt there are more Swiss events than Knockouts, especially at regionals. Outside of NABCs, there are limited chances to enjoy the longer matches of a Knockout.

As a reminder, the Freaky Knockouts attempt to solve 2 problems – that the entire bracket is complete in just one day, and any teams knocked out early have events to play. Freaky Knockouts shrink a full 4-round knockout with up to 16 teams into only 3 rounds with brackets up 8. You can finish 3 rounds and 54 boards all in one day. Teams eliminated in round one automatically join a 36-board swiss with 4 rounds and 9 boards per match. In all cases, teams just pay for two sessions, $176 in this case, to play a guaranteed 54 boards. At every point in the day, the team is technically eligible for gold points.

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Bad Claims At The Pro And World Class Level

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Lee Lin

Interesting timing – shortly after posting yesterday’s thoughts on strange bridge claiming habits, I wandered over to the BridgeWinners forum. I’m only playing in two days of the Tarrytown Regional, but one is with a first-time partner and I love the online convention card editor they have!

Bad Claim Story

Right in the top of my news feed, a posting about a top level bridge player making an erroneous claim, with possibly a bad ruling by the director. Again, we are only hearing one side of the story, but apparently the declarer in a slam claimed on trick 3, representing that he started with 7 spades (trump), 2 hearts, 3 diamonds, and a stiff club (KQx clubs in dummy to pitch a heart loser). Don’t feel too bad for the protagonist though, shortly after he found out he was the lucky $100 winner of the GNYBA frequent player drawing.

What Happens In A Bad Claim?

I’ve heard too many horror stories on what happens during a bad claim. Even when the players call the directors immediately, it’s stressful for everyone. The player making the claim should have provided the line of play (prior to director call). When crucial details are not provided, things get interesting. Clearly the defenders can’t argue you will play stupidly and clash your aces on your kings, or ruff your winners. But if there is a guess involved (two reasonable ways to finesse), then you won’t be given the benefit of the doubt.

Too Trusting?

At least in the mid-flight levels, I’ve found most defenders are too quick to show their hands during a claim, prior to hearing the line of play. Sometimes players say “play it out”, which is also technically not proper (it gives back rights that I surrendered after claiming).

Even if 95% of the time the claim is rock solid, should we be a little more careful?

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Claiming By Not Claiming?

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Lee Lin

Seen and heard recently at a local game. A declarer just finished the 9th trick and said, “I’m not going to claim, but I will show you my hand.”

Apparently, he heard that officially claiming means he loses some rights. That’s true, he is required to give a line of play, and if there are any disputes to the claim, play has already ended (the table would need to call the director to resolve). The declarer has seen and made enough bad claims that his habit is to show his hand and hope the defenders concede without asking for a line of play.

Claiming Without Showing

Amazingly I’ve seen the opposite. A declarer claims by taking the rest of his face down cards, mixing it with the tricks already played, and putting it back into the board! The opponents of course raise objections, and he said “the dummy is obviously good”. I wonder how many times this claim has gone awry – problems with a blocked suit or transportation problems, for example.

Claiming by Defender

I’ve been guilty of this one myself. As a defender, you assume you know all the relevant remaining cards, so to speed things up, you claim for the declarer! I can remember two different professional players doing this to me, and in each case they were gifting me a trick (in one case partner spoke up, the other I only saw it looking at hand records later).

Concede Then TakeBack

Another pro once played through 10 tricks and conceded the last two. We agreed and showed our cards. Then he stopped us and said, “Wait!” Looks like your Ace and King clash, and you are forced to lead back into my winner.” We accepted that, being nice people in a friendly club game. I’m curious what the official ruling is when declarer concedes, then sees defenders cards and realizes there is a way to make an extra trick

Conditional Claim

There is nothing wrong with this one, except it removes room for bad defense. The most common being an early claim conceding a few tricks, but also asking if a side suit breaks or a finesse is on. Apparently in Fast Pairs, which is not my cup of tea, people will make insanely complex claims – “if the squeeze is on and the repeated finesse works, I get two more tricks.”

Any Other Bad Claim Stories?

Claiming generally saves time and moves the pace of the game along – but we probably all have some claiming horror stories. I’d be curious to hear some.

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