[PaulH]

I remember the first time I met a World Class bridge player. He served me a drink at the Manchester Bridge Club.

The first time I remember thinking "thats not in the books" was watchin his (Paul Hackett's) then regular pairs partner Martin Hoffman pull off a seemingly impossible 3NT contract (it took a long time before anyone at the University Bridge club could solve it double dummy).

Meetings with such superstars were then rare. (Thankfully in the case of Zia and the rubber bridge table).

These days, thanks to the power of the internet, the brillance of Fred and the efforts of our wonderful viewgraph team we can "watch" the best in the world live.

So what pair can't you stand to miss.
Who (nationalism aside) do you always like to see win.
Who do you love to root against.

Is this a worthwhile thread or am I just a sad Engaland Cricket fan whose dreams have been dashed?

[awm]

My favorites to watch are Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes (fulvio2002 and nunes2002). They are one of the best pairs in the world of course, they play interesting (but not highly artificial) methods, and their card play is incredible. I've also noticed that the top Italian players have a somewhat different approach to competitive bidding and opening leads than most of the top Americans, and since I have plenty of opportunities to observe (and play against) the top American players (living in the US), I like to have the opportunity to watch the Italian style in action. Others I try to catch are all-time great Benito Garrozzo (sillafu on bbo), Dano DeFalco, and some of the other top Italian pairs (Bocchi-Duboin and Versace-Lauria when they are online).

Watching the Oz-One team from Australia is always a kick because they play such unusual methods, but seeing them on Vugraph is often frustrating because their bidding is kind of mystifying without informative alerts or explanations.

[cherdano]

awm, on Apr 19 2007, 05:40 PM, said:

I've also noticed that the top Italian players have a somewhat different approach to competitive bidding and opening leads than most of the top Americans,

Can you elaborate on what you think is different?

[jdonn]

Not very creative but I still like watching Meckwell the most. Their slam bidding is extremely accurate, and they bid very aggresively so it's fun to watch them steal lots of games and even get in some trouble at times. It is most interesting to watch a pair that tends to have a different auction than the other table. And of course, there is always the chance of a big comeback with them.

[pclayton]

Here's a list of the players I like to kib the most:

1. Justin. It amazes me how much our bidding is similar but he is miles ahead of me in card play.

2. Chris Larsen. A good friend in real life that I can always bounce ideas off of and ask 'why did you do such and such'. Never screws the ordinary hands, which to me is the hallmark of a great player.

3. Melih Ozdil. Probably the best technician you can watch on a regular basis. Definitely the type of player who is always asking 'what can go wrong'.

4. Ira Chorush. He has become my favorite personality on BBO. He is a model partner. Case in point: last night against Soloway and Sontag his expert partner pitches IMPs right and left the 1st 10 boards. Doesnt say a word. On the next he makes a questionable lead (his partners suit) and blames HIMSELF for not making an offsuit lead from AJ9xx.

[the hog]

I love watching the Italians and any of the Scandinavians. I liek their methods and they are great card players. Tend to barrack against their opponents, regardless of who they are. (PaulH, use "barrack" and NOT "root" if you are writing or talking and Aussies are about.)

Oh, and I always barrack against youth players.

[cherdano]

Among individual players, I think watching Versace is the best. He seems to get so many pure guesses on defense right... Among partnerships, I don't have a creative answer either - any of the top Italian or American pairs is good enough for me

[Aberlour10]

There is emotional side of watching vugraph too, I try to kibbitz C. Balicki & A. Zmudzinski so often I am able to do, crossing always the fingers for their success. I am always impatient for some "fireworks" they make, particulary in the declarer play and defense.

Beside this, I like to follow my favorite commentators trough the VG rooms.

Robert

[Badmonster]

I get excited to see Justin on vugraph, and also Sabine Auken.

[jchiu]

First, I'll start off with the friends and mentors:

* Valio Kovachev (valani) A Bulgarian internationalist who is relatively young and has interest in supervising young, talented player. His strengths are deceptive cardplay and bidding based on frequency. I play with his team in several American tournaments, and with him on Bridgebase occasionally.

* Ira Chorush (chorush) An American statistician who really knows his math when applied to bridge. However, the highlights of his bridge game are his structured and disciplined bidding and his excellent partnership demeanor. I played with him in an exhibition match, where I cost us no fewer than 25 IMPs over the span of a dozen boards by misusing Blackwood. He said not a word of criticism, and I had to almost beg him to tell me that I did something wrong.

* Justin Lall (jlall, jiaii, etc. ) Never before have I seen a player create so many positive swings by being so disciplined.

Then the internationalists (who are friends of friends):

* Sabine Auken and Daniela von Arnim (Germany) I enjoy watching the adventures of their free-spirited four-card majors canape strong club system. They hardly ever have a misunderstanding about the intricate continuations that is outlined in their 140-page system notes booklet.

* Bauke Muller and Simon de Wijs (Netherlands) They play a variant of symmetric relay precision called Tarzan Club. Having played a similar system, as passed on to Rob Helle and Steve Green, then to Matt Haag, I at least get the impression that I have some clue what they are doing. They can be very deliberate in the cardplay at times.

And I really don't need to explain why any of the internationalists mentioned by previous posters are interesting to watch.

[twcho]

1. F-N
2. Meckwell
3. L-V
4. Greco-Hampson

[awm]

cherdano, on Apr 19 2007, 06:54 PM, said:

awm, on Apr 19 2007, 05:40 PM, said:

I've also noticed that the top Italian players have a somewhat different approach to competitive bidding and opening leads than most of the top Americans,

Can you elaborate on what you think is different?

A few things that come to mind: the Italians tend to more often make passive leads against "normal" contracts, whereas American expert thinking seems to favor leading from honors. The Italians make a lot fewer "lead-directing" bids and doubles, and are generally less likely to lead partner's bid suit. They use a lot of transfers in competitive auctions (as do some American pairs) and also have some different ways to show the other two suits (I think a cuebid that most US pairs use as a raise of partner is sometimes used to show an extreme two suiter with the two unbids). They also have a different cuebidding style (including Turbo) than is common in the states, and different agreements about continuations when opponents interfere in a cuebidding auction.

I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of at the moment.

[GeeGee]

Norberto Bocchi. He is just a hero to me.

Geoff

[firmit]

Being a norwegian - I always cheer for Tor Helness and Geir Helgemo. Best pair from Norway - and among the best pairs in the world, I believe.

[helene_t]

I don't watch much vugraph. I liked the Chinese ladies in Estoril, though. They play stone-age Precision like I do in most partnerships, so I can compare their bidding to what I would have done.

[JLOGIC]

pclayton, on 2007-April-19, 18:12, said:

1. Justin. It amazes me how much our bidding is similar but he is miles ahead of me in card play.

agreed

[TMorris]

The ones I don't like watching are the very very slow players.

I like Helgemo, Helness as the bidding is almost always understandable & the cardplay is so good. Lauria/Versace mainly for the cardplay. They seem to be able to work out opponents hand patterns both accurately and quickly.

[jdeegan]

I love to watch Hamman. I love to watch Zia. But, not together, they are both pitchers in a game that favors pairs with a pitcher and a catcher.
I love to watch Meckwell dash in harm's way and swindle the opps out of a game.
I love to watch H-H
I love to watch Fred stroke the dummy. He can be amazing.
I love watching the young, up and coming pairs like Justin and Joe Grue.
Let's face it, I love watching them all.

[PeterGill]

I like all the top Italians, because the best way to learn what they do differently is to watch them.
I also like the way Joe Grue usually lands on his feet when he makes a bid that I wouldn't dare to.