[barmar]

wyman, on 2012-May-22, 13:59, said:

Plus the entire NABC will be getting lunch at the same places at the same time, not to mention the usual lunch crowd for the area.

But our lunch break will be later than most normal people's lunch hour. In the past, getting food at the Reading Terminal Market has always been an enormous hassle because of all the locals as well as the players. This way it will mostly be just the players, so the lines won't be as long.

But no midnight KOs? That's my favorite NABC game!

[barmar]

There are also some screwy changes to regional events in Philly:

1. No morning KOs.

2. Morning side pairs have been moved from 9am to 10am. In the past, you could play in the morning game, get a quick lunch, and still be able to play in the afternoon/evening games. Moving the morning game up an hour will almost certainly make this impossible.

I suppose someone who wants to play in 3 sessions could play in the 10/2:30 regional events, and then the 7:30 side game.

[mycroft]

Barmar: that's what is intended. There's no "morning" games, the "third session" is the 1930 session.

Why we don't have "fast pairs"/"zip swiss" (we don't need KOs as much if the game ends at 2130) as well as the standard side game? Explicitly make a "fun third-session" event for those of us that like that.

side note: looks like I have to organize a trip to an old-style regional and see if I can bribe you to play on a midnight team with me!

[barmar]

mycroft, on 2012-May-23, 13:22, said:

side note: looks like I have to organize a trip to an old-style regional and see if I can bribe you to play on a midnight team with me!

I've never seen them on the schedule for any of the regionals in New England. I've never felt much inclination to travel outside NE for a regional, as I use up most of my vacation time with nationals.

[JanM]

mike777, on 2012-May-22, 23:41, said:

so let me get this you young healthy guys are too groggy to play at ten am due to jet lag?

If Jan's point is NABC's have to many hands per day to enjoy the tourney, fair enough.

My point wasn't that, since I happen to think that what makes a bridge tournament enjoyable is playing bridge. My point was intended to be that when you play 64 boards a day, the concept of starting at 10:00 and having time after the end of play for a "nice dinner" just doesn't work.

Also, I think you're missing the point that for West Coast people, 10 am is actually 7 am by our biological clocks.

[Bbradley62]

wyman, on 2012-May-22, 09:04, said:

* (some of) Those of us who are neither pros nor retirees can actually work from 7:30-11:30 and still play "the majors" while only taking a half-day off work. Playing at 10 & 3 destroys the whole work day (since you know none of us will be able to work after the 3:00 session, especially if we're playing yet again at 7:30!). There was an outside chance I could take a week of half-days to play one of the Spingolds, but there's no chance if they are at 10 & 4 through the whole work week.

When I worked in New York (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and smoking was allowed at all bridge tables) I loved that their regional included "Horizontal Pairs" (get your mind out of the gutter!), which is a two-session regionally-rated event held on consecutive evenings, so players could even work full days and participate in the tournament...

[chasetb]

You all are forgetting that these people tried to implement a policy that would have greatly reduced the amount of discounted entry fees that the Junior bridge players get at NABCs in order to save $10,000 a year, when by simply raising every ACBL membership by 10 cents a year "for the Juniors, for bridge's future" would cover that and then some. This just doesn't seem well thought-out, because it 'punishes' anyone not from the Eastern Time Zone as well as us college kids by changing the times like that.

[barmar]

How is this "punishment" any different from what happens at west coast tourneys, when the evening session ends at close to 2am for those of us from the east?

Or are you suggesting that west coast tourneys should have early start times, while east coast tourneys should have later ones?

[MickyB]

barmar, on 2012-May-23, 17:52, said:

How is this "punishment" any different from what happens at west coast tourneys, when the evening session ends at close to 2am for those of us from the east?

I find it much easier to adjust when going West, I simply stay up longer, and will usually get a proper night's sleep. Adjusting the other way is awful in comparison - I can't just go to bed early, so it requires having half a night's sleep, and even then I can't get to sleep at the desired time the next night. Obviously those from the East who feel the same way I do about this will still have to go through the "punishment" when they return home.

[Mbodell]

MickyB, on 2012-May-23, 18:41, said:

I find it much easier to adjust when going West, I simply stay up longer, and will usually get a proper night's sleep. Adjusting the other way is awful in comparison - I can't just go to bed early, so it requires having half a night's sleep, and even then I can't get to sleep at the desired time the next night. Obviously those from the East who feel the same way I do about this will still have to go through the "punishment" when they return home.

Yeah, it is well known that traveling West to East is harder for most people than traveling East to West. The jet lag is much worse and the adjustment is much worse. I personally am a late night person so 2 am (or later) is no problem for me. But I understand folks who are concerned with the late times on the West coast. But that would suggest having the 10/3 times for West Coast nationals and 1/7:30 for the East coast nationals.

[jillybean]

I've just been looking at the Las Vegas Regional game times. They seem to have catered for everyone, except no midnight KO's.

9am, 1:15pm, 7pm single sessions
1:15pm & 7pm KO's and pairs
10am & 3pm pairs

[rogerclee]

I am a junior flying in from California and I much prefer 10 and 3. My main reason is that the Spingold/Vanderbilt/GNT currently end very, very late. Whether you are playing 4 or 6 handed, it is very difficult to keep your concentration going in the evening session, particularly the last segment. My primary purpose on these trips is to try to do well in the major events, and I will be playing at least the GNT 4-handed, so I would like to maximize my ability to play bridge well.

I also seldom have a hard time adjusting to the change in time (if anything, at nationals I always wake up too early the first day) and often end up doing nothing between sessions, since I don't like to eat a big meal and just want to relax (but not for 3 hours).

[jeffford76]

barmar, on 2012-May-23, 17:52, said:

Or are you suggesting that west coast tourneys should have early start times, while east coast tourneys should have later ones?

This would be fine with me. It certainly makes more sense than the other way around.

[Leo LaSota]

Hopefully, the Philadelphia nationals turn out to be a great success for the organizers and volunteers.

Unfortunately, there are a few factors that may harm attendance. As others have already mentioned, for those living on the West coast, playing bridge at 7:00 a.m. for the time that they are used to will be difficult for some. This may mean small participation from those living on the West Coast. Starting at 10 a.m. will prevent many members from having the option of working for the morning before starting bridge. Also, there will be some morning traffic concerns for members that live in Philadelphia or surrounding cities.

Perhaps the ACBL could consider starting times that are in between 10 a.m. and 1. Starting premier national events at say 12 and 6 would likely work out well. The current 6.5 hours between the start of one session and the next for many of the national events is considered to be too long by many. Philadelphia appears to have gotten the 6 hour difference in starting times correct for the Spingold, as most days the 1st half starts at 10 and the 2nd half starts at 4.

[JLOGIC]

***** this *****

[JLOGIC]

10 and 3 are yu kidding me??????????????????

[JLOGIC]

I would consider quitting bridge if every national were this schedule

[gnasher]

Maybe they're trying to attract more players from Europe? I could just stay on English time.

Leaving aside the timezone problems, I prefer to start early and finish early - I'm willing to play the first hour half asleep in exchange for being able to overeat in the evening.

[mfa1010]

I normally strongly prefer late starting times. But when travelling to the US there is the jet lag thing which tends to get to me. Particularly I remember struggling badly in the late sessions in Toronto. Finishing midnight is like 6 or 7 in the morning. So maybe 10/3 will be just fine in Philly.

Perhaps they even switched times with EBL so Europe now will be doing the late sessions instead of ACBL? THAT would really be awesome.

[paulg]

gnasher, on 2012-May-26, 02:16, said:

Maybe they're trying to attract more players from Europe? I could just stay on English time.

We played at Atlanta when they tried this experiment and it is really easy for the European players, even if there is a 5-7 hour timezone change and 15+ hours of travelling. The benefit there was we could go and see the baseball games in the evening and sample real American food.

Realistically though, how many Europeans go to the NABCs who are not professional players. I know we had twenty Scots in Toronto but starting times are really not a factor for amateurs who are looking to play at most one national a year - however it may influence which national we choose.

Of course it may make it more attractive to European sponsors as I don't see many of them at the nationals.