[patroclo]

[Sorry, translated with Google]

Alfredo Versace
Ends Sanya 2014 or the World Championship team free. worst
edition of the Rosenblum Cup for posting a real spot antibridge numbers is ...
speak for themselves: 120 open teams, 28 ladies teams, 22 senior teams. Lille
Montreal, Verona, New York the latest editions accessible for everyone (especially for
companions), not Chinese island where to get it takes 25 -30 hours
besides air ticket at least 1000 Euros, where the hotels cost $ 200
day, eat costs 40.50 € in the most cost not to mention drinks
various (7,8 € in the hotel) .Iscrizioni $ 1,200 the ladies teams in 1500 l.open, 1200 the
mixed, $ 600 couples various open and ladies .... but you really want to promote the game of
Red Bull Pen Bridge ???? him sponsor..ma who ??? nnn some of the players, not the
Juniors (could be counted on your fingers), but the WBF ..to say nothing of
formula..8 rounds of 7 board two days of swiss and via..le prime27 teams to play for the
world together with the group B.Monaco 5, Cayne, Nickell (seeded 1.2.3 of
tournament) to play for the final round qualifying for the knockout says it all about the validity of
formula (I'm not trying to excuse our failure to qualify but I highlight that not
we were the only ones to be in trouble). Now European Team Free July 2015
expected to Tromso-- Norway / Arctic Circle .... the most expensive city in Europe
practically unattainable. Let's stop this massacre, this spot antibridge holding
young people away from the most important races, which does not allow athletes to be able to
meet at the table of the great champions, questonon and 'the bridge open to all ... only
sponsors the largest can afford to support these charges, the associations do not
are able to send teams to represent them, we need to take action before
stay at 10 teams to play these games
From scuola bridge multimediale

This post has been edited by barmar: 2014-October-29, 08:42
Reason for edit: move comment translation from title to text

[1eyedjack]

What are you on? And can I have some of it?

[johnu]

Ifindyourposthardtoreadandthetranslationisntverygood.

[Trinidad]

Come on guys...

Patroclo has made several interesting posts here. Unfortunately, his English isn't very good. Can't we just read past that?

If we did, we could conclude that it seems that Alfredo Versace has been complaining on an Italian website about the tournament in Sanya:
- Too far away from civilization
- Everything is way too expensive
- Poor format
- No wonder so few contestants showed up

And Versace goes on to complain that the next European Championship will be in Tromsø, Norway, which again will be: Too far away from civilization and too expensive.

He calls for officials to stop this nonsense and make bridge again accessable for young players.

I think it is interesting to hear Versace's opinion.

Thanks Patroclo,

Rik

[helene_t]

I agree. Warzaw and Bucharest, for example, have good airports, large local bridge communities, and affordable hotels.

[NickRW]

johnu, on 2014-October-28, 14:23, said:

Ifindyourposthardtoreadandthetranslationisntverygood.

The thread title gives the reason "sorry traduced with google", so blame google for the bad "traduction" (translation).

Anyway, there have been similar comments from quite a number of people on other websites.

[jjbrr]

Quote

Let's stop this massacre, this spot antibridge holding
young people away from the most important races, which does not allow athletes to be able to
meet at the table of the great champions, questonon and 'the bridge open to all

[PhilKing]

Versace overlooked the 2 for 1 deal on Pina Coladas that ran from 7-9pm.

[barmar]

I've given the thread a more descriptive title and moved the comment about translation into the text.

[ggwhiz]

Sanya was a disaster in many ways and google translation sucks.

Prominent voices publicly stating the obvious (or not so obvious in translation) should lead to improvements at google but in the WBF.................. don't hold your breath.

[Aardv]

A rough, but less unreadable translation (of the post in Italian on AV's facebook page):

>>>
The Sanya 2014 World Open Teams Championship is over. The worst edition of the Rosenblum Cup by far, a true advertisement against bridge.

The numbers speak for themselves: 120 Open Teams, 28 Ladies' Teams, 22 Senior Teams. Lille, Montreal, Verona, Philadelphia, the most recent editions, were accessible for all (companions in particular), quite unlike a Chinese island which takes 25-30 hours to fly to, with the ticket costing at least 1,000€, where the hotels cost $200 a day, where to eat costs 40-50€ in the cheapest places, not to mention the cost of drinks (7-8€ in the hotel). Entry fees were $1200 for a Ladies' Team, $1500 for an Open Team, $1200 for the Mixed, $600 for the various Pairs...but you really want to promote the game of bridge?

Red Bull China was the sponsor, but of whom? Certainly not of the players, certainly not of the juniors (who could be counted on one's fingers), but of the WBF - to say nothing of the format - two days each with 8 rounds of 7-board Swiss, with the leading 27 teams from group A qualifying with the leading 5 teams from group B [the first day split the field into two groups, with a substantial carry over]. Monaco, Cayne, Nickell (seeded 1,2,3) playing the final round with qualification at stake says it all about the validity of the format (I'm not trying to excuse our failure to qualify but to highlight that we were not the only ones in trouble). [Versace was playing for Cayne.]

Now the European Open Teams in July 2015 is planned for Tromsø, Norway, in the Arctic Circle - the most expensive city in Europe, practically unreachable. Let's end this mess, this advert against bridge, which keeps the young away from the most important competitions, which does not allow competitors to meet the champions at the table, this is not bridge open to all - only the biggest sponsors can sustain these costs, the Federations are not able to send teams to represent them, we need to take action before there are only 10 teams left competing in these championships...

[ahydra]

Aardv, on 2014-October-29, 09:18, said:

Now the European Open Teams in July 1915

Excellent translation, but did you mean 2015?

ahydra

[PhantomSac]

Anecdotal evidence but the main reasons Kevin and I chose not to go was because it was really hard to get to, it was expensive, and the format seemed super random. So at least in our cases he was right. I love China in general and think it's great to hold more events there since they have such a big and growing bridge population, but the choice of Sanya instead of one of their major cities seemed odd. The whole short swiss to cut a lot of teams followed by very short knockout matches though, that seems criminal. Apparently they did all of this to make the mixed a more prestigious event... sorry but lol at that concept.

I believe they also shortened the world open pairs right?

[MickyB]

PhantomSac, on 2014-October-29, 10:45, said:

I believe they also shortened the world open pairs right?

Yes, two day quali, one day semi, two day final. In Philly each stage was 2.5 days. Even having decided to shorten the event it seems bizarre to make the semi so short, especially as there was no carry-forward.

[MickyB]

They used the same schedule in the mixed pairs as well, perhaps it was partly to avoid exempting more than two teams to the final of their respective pairs events.

[MickyB]

Compared with Philly -

Open teams 145 entries (down to 120, according to Versace)
Women's 31 (28)
Seniors 34 (22)

[the_clown]

As a part time working university student (and someone who is clearly not good enough to be sponsored) there is no way I can afford to spend a week in Norway. I can imagine there are a lot of other juniors feeling the same way.

[jjbrr]

the_clown, on 2014-October-29, 11:57, said:

As a part time working university student (and someone who is clearly not good enough to be sponsored) there is no way I can afford to spend a week in Norway. I can imagine there are a lot of other juniors feeling the same way.

As a fully employed young person, there is no way I can afford a week in Norway or India or Orlando or even at a hotel just down the street, either. I know for a fact there are a lot of other recent-juniors who feel the same way. I think the only solution is to stop having bridge championships.

[Aardv]

ahydra, on 2014-October-29, 10:03, said:

Excellent translation, but did you mean 2015?

ahydra

Thanks, I've corrected it.

[helene_t]

jjbrr, on 2014-October-29, 13:49, said:

I know for a fact there are a lot of other recent-juniors who feel the same way. I think the only solution is to stop having bridge championships.

This is a bit silly. Of course there will always be players
for whom it is too expensive but that's no reason not to make it more affordable.