Sarim Bridge Bowl - Everything Thread (SF-25 Jul/F-27 Jul)

[PotatoFarmers]

Looks like my results last night didn't pass through. Unless someone asked for an extension to RP, I will cutoff as normal tomorrow.

Round 11
Sarzonia 6.96–13.04 Kriegiersien
Delaclava 12.29–7.71 Poafmersia
Gortolekua 18.55–1.45 Græntfjall

Round 12
Græntfjall 19.16–0.84 Delaclava
Poafmersia 18.33–1.67 Sarzonia
Kriegiersien 16.58–3.42 StrayaRoos

  Sarim Bowl Round-robin     VPs
1 Poafmersia               154.40
2 Delaclava                140.73
3 Kriegiersien             122.59
4 Gortolekua               100.07
5 Græntfjall                87.48
6 Sarzonia                  67.24
7 StrayaRoos                48.23

[Kriegiersien]

Lord Veder and Hubertus Schimmel sitting at a table, playing cards, while in the background the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is shown on a TV.

“Ah, we could be there now”, Schimmel says, while listening to the songs in Twin Cities.

“42… What?”, Veder mumbles distracted, while counting his cards.

“I would have loved to be in the Opening Ceremony again. I was at the XIII Olympics in Republica. Playing a Card Trading Game. Those were times. Odd times.”

“Curious, indeed”, Veder affirmed, looking up from his cards and seeing Schimmel looking fascinated at the TV.

“We missed the start, but the Golf tournament is beginning later, we will be thar soon enough. First we win this tournament, then we go to the Olympics. Have no fear, my caddy.”

“I hope so. The last I heard that the next cutoff will be as normal ‘next year’. If that is true, we will miss the Olympics. And a lot more.”

“That is surely just a little mistake. Over 9000!”

Schimmel disengaged his look from the fireworks in Prescott.

“What? That is impossible.”

“Your lack of faith in my contract skills is disturbing. This was of course just a joke. Please shuffle again.”

[PotatoFarmers]

Round 13
StrayaRoos 11.2–8.8 Poafmersia
Sarzonia 2.97–17.03 Græntfjall
Delaclava 7.2–12.8 Gortolekua

Round 14
Gortolekua 7.2–12.8 Sarzonia
Græntfjall 0.23–19.77 StrayaRoos
Poafmersia 19.93–0.07 Kriegiersien

  Sarim Bowl Round-robin     VPs
1 Poafmersia                183.19
2 Delaclava                 147.93
3 Kriegiersien              122.66
4 Gortolekua                120.07
5 Græntfjall                104.74
6 Sarzonia                   83.01
7 StrayaRoos                 79.20

Semifinals fixture:
Poafmersia vs Gortolekua
Delaclava vs Kriegiersien

[Kriegiersien]

Oh, Lord Veder, we are playing against Delaclava in the semis, what is our Matchplan?

Well, my dear Schimmel, every time I can see that our opponent has good cards, I will make this gesture with my hand and give them the silent command “You don’t need that card”.

You can do that? Why didn’t you use that power before?

The power is a pathway to many abilities, but can’t be wasted so simply. But now are the play-offs.

But isn’t that cheating? I don’t know if that is a good idea.

Yes, you think that it is a good idea.

You are right, it is a good idea.

You also want to bring me a coffee.

[Delaclava]

DSGN.com

In semifinals of Sarim Bowl, Fisher just happy to take part
Young bridge star praises host perspective on female competitors

There's no question that Dalia Fisher belongs with the best bridge players in the world at the Sarim Bridge Bowl in Poafmersia. But it's not just because she, along with her compatriots, is in the semifinals of the competition after twelve grueling matches.

"Women are equally capable players," Fisher proclaimed. "I don't have to prove that with my performance."

Such a statement would seem unnecessary, even outdated in many nations that compete in all kinds of sports with gender-integrated teams. The host nation, Poafmersia, features one female out of six players along with a female coach. And the country generally eschews gender stereotypes as well as gendered terminology. In contrast, although Delaclava scores well on gender equality in social and professional settings, the nation - particularly under the presidency of Anna Voss - embraces traditional gender roles (except in the bedroom) and maintains a separate women's domestic league and national team for virtually every sport. Although Delaclava does not have "men's teams", but rather "open teams" that are generally comprised of men but are open to anyone with the requisite skill, only Carly Davis in recent memory has managed to break through. Davis played a key role on two International Basketball Championship squads, but after some disastrous performances, she wouldn't make the cut for the Phoenixes' miracle IBC31 team and hasn't appeared since.

In a game like bridge, with much fewer physical requirements, the Delaclav squad features two female players: the 42-year-old Maya Christiansen, a long-regarded mathematician and statistician; and the 25-year-old Fisher, who works as a bartender while paying for art school, and teams up with her father Grady for this tournament. Even though Dalia was a natural fit for the team, Dalia admitted that she was initially nervous about her role on the team, but as she's contributed to Delaclava's second-place standing in the tables with eight of twelve rounds won, and as she acclimates to a far more relaxed perspective than back home. she is much more comfortable about her position now.

"I hope maybe back home, we continue to strive to drop pre-conceived notions about the capabilities of the two genders," Dalia said. "And to keep looking for talent everywhere, so that sports and games federations don't limit themselves and put together the best team possible... And to young women, keep challenging yourselves and improving your craft. Open up for yourself every opportunity you can."

[PotatoFarmers]

Introduction to Contract Bridge, originally published as 30 days of Bridges, is a series of articles published by the Poafmersian Contract Bridge Association (PFCBA) for the major newspapers in the country, as part of a series on the various sports in our nation. The version as published here is a concise version of the entire series, made just enough for newcomers to understand the sport and learn some basics. The original series comprised of a month's worth of articles, which also included introduction to various bidding systems like Precision, Polish Club, as well as some cardplay techniques like the squeezes and endplay. Should there be another opportunity, those advanced articles will be released in a separate series.

Introduction to Contract Bridge - 2 over 1 bidding system

To start it off, we need to understand the main principles of the system, as shown below:

1. We always open with at least 12 High Card Points. If our hand has weird shape, especially when we have a decent suit, we can open with 11 High Card Points.
2. Whenever have a 5-card major and enough points to open, we will always open with a bid of 1-of-a-major. This is except the situation where we have 5-3-3-2 balanced hand and we can open No Trumps.
3. No Trump opening bids and rebids are reserved for balanced hands.
4. 2 Clubs is a strong bid, reflecting hands that have 22 or more points, or at least 9 top tricks.
5. Apart from 2 Clubs, the remaining bids 2-of-a-suit, 3-of-a-suit, 4-of-a-suit, and 5-of-a-minor are preemptive bids and should be taken at face value.
6. When my partner opens with 1-of-a-major, and I have points to reach game (24 High Card Points in total at least), I will bid with 2-of-a-lower-suit to set a game forcing sequence.
7. After a game forcing sequence is activated, bids at a low level indicate extras and interest in slams, while fast arrival indicates minimum and no extras.
8. A 4-of-a-major game is the target, with an 8-card fit in the suit where possible. We will always indicate a major suit fit as early as possible. Otherwise, the next best alternative is 3 No Trump. (There are slight exceptions when playing Matchpoints, but we don't talk about that)

It basically describes how the system works. We start with the common 1-of-a-major opening bids. In response, a 2-of-a-minor (or 2 Hearts in response to 1 Spades) is a natural game force. Subsequently, the partner still can indicate a 8-card fit in the major suit. Looking for a major game is priority, so bids after a game-forcing sequence is often used to indicate fits. Once fits are done, a slow arrival at the game contract indicates an interest in slam - which typically comes with 32 points for small slam and 37 points for grand slam. Of course, these numbers are just approximates and as long as the source of tricks is cool, the contract can be bidded.

Some common bidding sequences:

1C - 1D
1NT - 3NT

1C - 1H
1NT - 3NT

1C - 1S
1NT - 3NT

1D - 1H
1NT - 3NT

1D - 1S
1NT - 3NT

1H - 1S
1NT - 3NT

---

TL;DR: Trying to just reach game in the shortest time possible, nothing extra to show. For the responder, just has barely enough points and no extra length in the major.

1C/D - 1H
2H - 4H

1C/D - 1S
2S - 4S

---

Similar to before. Opener says he has 15 or less points. Partner has nothing much extra, so just reach game.

1H - 1NT
2C/D - 2H

1S - 1NT
2C/D - 2S

---

This one is a common bid. Typically, when one bids 1H-2H and 1S-2S, the responder only has 6 to 9 High Card Points and 3 card suit. Using this bid can allow the responder to show an invitational 11 to 12 High Card Point hand. If the opener has slightly more than minimum, then he can go to game.

Of course, the list of bids can go to infinity. The number of sequences is so huge. Not to mention what happens when the opponents interrupt the bidding. That is another issue for another time.

[PotatoFarmers]

Semifinals
Poafmersia 19.16–0.84 Gortolekua (Poafmersia wins by 50 IMPs)
Delaclava 8.24–11.76 Kriegiersien (Kriegiersien wins by 6 IMPs)

Finals
Poafmersia vs Kriegiersien

[Kriegiersien]

[PotatoFarmers]

Finals

Poafmersia 15.38–4.62 Kriegiersien

Postscript: I must admit, it was a little unexpected to scorinate a tournament where I win myself. But the lack of RPs in general, meant that my first click spat this result out. For anyone that wants to sports file, I can pass it over, and I probably need to think about whether this way of scorinating this tournament makes any sense.