KAOSHIUNG – At the end of the third day of play, the Polish are still going strong. While they did receive their first (narrow) defeat at the hands of GER A, 13-17 VPs in the fifth round, but recovered smartly with a 25-0 blitz of INA and an 18-12 defeat of TPE A. With 56 VPs for the day, they now lead with 143 VPs, 8 ahead of FRA at 135 VPs in second place (they had 58 on the day) nearly a match in front of GER A in third at 122 (who also had 56 VPs).
USA B (118), CHN A (116), and USA A (115) all still have some chances at gold. USA A had started the day in second place, but was stunned 25-2 VPs in round 7 by the French and now languishes in 6th place. Closing the rear is TPE A at 67 VPs. There are still six matches to go and anything could happen.
It takes Skills …
Playing bridge well requires analytical and logical abilities, many character strengths such as patience, and a lot of skill and judgment that can only be acquired through experience. This is part of the reason that bridge is considered a “mind sport”. This is not to say that a good player has to major in any particular area. Let’s take a look at the motley collection below:
- Zhenguo WU (China) and Victor CHUBUKOV (USA) are math majors.
They think that they developed their logical thinking through math training and powered their bridge games with clear thinking. - GIAMPIETRO Cristina (Germany) majors in law. She said that there is no real relationship between law and bridge skills at all. However, she does believe analysis and judgment to be important at bridge.
- Jun-Da Huang (Chinese Taipei) is a music major. He thinks that there is a gap between abilities needed for musical composition and bridge. One is mainly creativity and imagination, the other is a practical competition. But playing either requires a cool head.
(Source: OC)
Quotes …
ORTH Paul Robert (GER)
‘My father supports me to do everything, especially bridge. When I took part in competitions in Germany or international championships, he always cheered me up, and said ‘’Just do it!’’. That’s why I appreciated my father.’
GROSSET Christophe (FRA)
‘My father is the man who teaches and supports me very much in bridge. He has great enthusiasm in bridge. In fact, I will go to England next week to join another competition with him after this championship.’
ZATORSKI Michal (POL)
‘My Dad brought me into the bridge world. I appreciate his inspiration, though he is too busy to play bridge with me now.’