BCBA Weekend Special – Day 3 Report
The BCBA tournament reached closer to its business end as the Swiss League gave us 12 qualifiers each battling out for positions in the final leg to be held today. As usual, we will also share with you some challenges we are facing as organizers so as to enable you to understand why we are operating the way we are.
Here are a few highlights of yesterday.
Results
After 2 more rounds today, 12 teams from both leagues took their appointed place in the quarter final league. The results of the league can be seen by clicking on Gold and Silver respectively. The participants for the gold and silver league were divided into 3 groups each as shown below.
List of Gold Participants
List of Silver Participants
We had 12 teams playing three rounds simultaneously with common boards. This was not without glitches and we must thank the participants for their forbearance and the spirit with which they played. We will share some of these issues later.
Gold League
The results of the Gold League yielded three group winners viz Atanu, Potluris, and Unpredictables, listed in the order of the total VPs scored by them. All the winners are true giant killers, overcoming famous names like Hemant Jalan, Arun Jain and Rampage in their respective groups. The fourth team to join them is Team Arun Jain which pipped Team I-Doctors to this place by just 0.31 VPs.
As top scorers in the league, team Atanu has picked team Potluris as their opponents. Therefore the Semi-Final Line up is
- Atanu versus Potluris
- Unpredictables versus Arun Jain
We would like to make a special mention of Team Potluris which is just a four member team, 3 of whom are over 75.
Silver League
The results of the Silver League yielded three group winners viz VFJ Sports Club, Belgharia Bridge Club and Atha’s IV, listed in the order of the total VPs scored by them. The fourth team to join them is Team B&B.
As top scorers in the league, team VFJ Sports Club has picked team B&B as their opponents. Therefore the Semi-Final Line up is
- VFJ Sports Club versus B&B
- Belgharia Bridge Club versus Atha’s IV
Kibitzing
We have received a number of requests to open matches to kibitzers yesterday as people wanted to see how the qualifiers were progressing. Much as we would like to open our matches to kibitzers, we have two points that we would like to present to them.
- Whether to allow kibitzers or not is the prerogative of the playing teams.
Only if both teams allow, can matches be opened to kibitzers. That too subject to any concerns the directors may face about allowing kibitzing.
- Common Boards require a simultaneous start
Yesterday, for reasons both within and beyond our control, we were unable to start all twelve matches simultaneously. Hence, we reluctantly had to forgo opening matches to kibitzers.
We are confident of starting the semi final matches today virtually simultaneously and, subject to the permission of the players and the directors, will open them to kibitzing.
Acknowledgements
No event of this scale could have been organized without the support of a multitude of people. We would like to acknowledge all of them for their contribution. We would like to specially mention a few people who have been both in view of the participants as well as behind the scenes ensuring this event goes on smoothly.
- The Team of Indian Directors While only a couple of them were visible during the matches, we had no less that 5 or 6 members of that team supporting us during the quarter final league. We will not take any names here because all their efforts have been equally important
- A few players
The Gold section would have noticed the presence of Jenish Shah who is an extremely popular persona on online bridge. He helped us smoothly gather individual match results and disseminate group results in the group.
The Silver section may not have noticed the presence of two youngschool boys, Prajjwal Mayur and Tilakraj Chowdhury. They ran the tournaments of one group in the Silver section and we didn’t have to worry about it. Our heartfelt thanks to them for their support
Last but not least, we have to thank Cool Vijayraghavan. While he is a part of our organizing team, the range of his contributions from finding team to make up the numbers, to finding supporters for our cause, to resolving issues during the conducting of tournaments is too wide to mention.
Schedule
The following is the balance schedule
Semi Final, Finals and Play Off
The semi finals and finals will consist of 2 sessions of 12 boards each and start at 1000 am on Monday
The top scoring quarter finalist (among the top 3) will get to pick his opponent for the semi final.
The finals and the play offs, which will be 2 sessions of 14 boards each will start at 0300 pm on Monday
Support for our volunteers
As shared with all of you, we have decided to use the funds received by us for our efforts to support our friendly bridge volunteers who run from table to table providing us boards when we need them. Should you wish to support our tireless friends, you too can contribute by remitting funds to
Account Name: The Bombay Contract Bridge Association
Bank Name: HDFC Branch: Malabar Hill
Account No: 50200037482792 Account Type: Current
IFSC Code: HDFC0000625
General Conditions of Contest
- Barometer Barometer will be switched off throughout.
- Kibitzers
During the league, Kibitzing will be switched off.
During the play offs, if both teams agree, Kibitzers may be allowed subject to the proviso that the Director may, at his discretion, switch off Kibitzing. - Undo
During the league, teams may mutually agree to allow undos
During the play offs, undo will remain on, but will be only allowed with the express permission of the director - Psychs
Psychs are disallowed in the Silver Tournament
Psychs are allowed in the Gold Tournament subject to the proviso that an individual does not psych repeatedly and regularly. The opposing team is requested to bring all psychs to the TDs notice to prevent misuse of this facility. - Withdrawals
Withdrawals are not allowed after a draw has been made. Teams withdrawing in this manner will not be allowed to play in the next event.
Post qualification, withdrawals are not permitted. Teams withdrawing will not be allowed to play in the next event.