Calvin's BYO KO #1: Round 1

[Calvin]

We have four takers: Mark, Erland, Dan T and Stephen.

Q1: In what year did both the first Wimbledon lawn tennis championship and the first cricket Test match take place?

You have 4 days to respond. The entrant furthest from the correct date will be eliminated.

Good luck gentlemen.

cheers,
calvin

[Mark Brader]

"Calvin":

> Q1: In what year did both the first Wimbledon lawn tennis championship
> and the first cricket Test match take place?

1882.
--
Mark Brader "A clarification is not to make oneself clear.
Toronto It is to PUT oneself IN the clear."
m...@vex.net -- Lynn & Jay, "Yes, Prime Minister"

[Erland Sommarskog]

Calvin (334...@gmail.com) writes:
> We have four takers: Mark, Erland, Dan T and Stephen.
>
> Q1: In what year did both the first Wimbledon lawn tennis championship
> and the first cricket Test match take place?
>

1890

[Dan Tilque]

Calvin wrote:
> We have four takers: Mark, Erland, Dan T and Stephen.
>
> Q1: In what year did both the first Wimbledon lawn tennis championship and the first cricket Test match take place?

1856


--
Dan Tilque

[swp]

1876

swp, who remembers a 100 year anniversary in 1976 related to tennis

[Calvin]

On Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 9:15:50 AM UTC+10, Calvin wrote:
> We have four takers: Mark, Erland, Dan T and Stephen.
>
> Q1: In what year did both the first Wimbledon lawn tennis championship and the first cricket Test match take place?

1877

Mark 1882
Erland 1890
Dan T 1856
Stephen 1876

Dan T is eliminated.


Q2: On what date did Julius Caesar die?

cheers,
calvin

[Mark Brader]

"Calvin":

> Q2: On what date did Julius Caesar die?

ID. MAR., DCCX A.V.C.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "This one isn't close. It's not even close to
m...@vex.net | being close." --Adam Beneschan

[Erland Sommarskog]

Calvin (334...@gmail.com) writes:
> Q2: On what date did Julius Caesar die?
>

June 7th, 43 BC

[swp]

15 march 44 bc

swp

[Mark Brader]

Stephen Perry:
> 15 march 44 bc

Hey, that's what I said! You pick your own answer!

:-)
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Astronauts practice landing on laptops"
m...@vex.net | --Ft. Myers, FL, News-Press, March 13, 1994

[Calvin]

On Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 9:27:53 AM UTC+10, Calvin wrote:

> Q2: On what date did Julius Caesar die?

15th March 44 BC

Mark: 15th March 44 BC
Erland: 7th June, 43 BC
Stephen: 15th March 44 BC

Erland is eliminated.


Q3: In contract bridge, the maximum points a pair can earn in a single hand on their own contract is for bidding and making seven no trump, redoubled, while vulnerable. How many points does that score?

cheers,
calvin

[Mark Brader]

"Calvin":

> Q3: In contract bridge, the maximum points a pair can earn in a single
> hand on their own contract is for bidding and making seven no trump,
> redoubled, while vulnerable. How many points does that score?

Hmm, this is awkward.

In plain *contract bridge*, also known today as rubber bridge, the
actual maximum points are for bidding and making seven no trump,
redoubled, while *only your side* is vulnerable, *and* one of your
pair's two hands includes *all 4 aces*. Then you have:

880 Trick points
100 Insult bonus
1,500 Slam bonus
150 Honors bonus
700 Rubber bonus

which is 3,330. If the other side is also vulnerable then the rubber
bonus is only 500, and you need those aces in one hand for the honors
bonus.

In *duplicate bridge*, which was called "duplicate contract bridge" in
the previous version of the Laws, there are no honors bonuses or rubber
bonuses, but a vulnerable game gets a bonus of 750. So that's 3,230.

The wording of the question suggests that duplicate was intended, since
in duplicate only one score is possible for the stated conditions, but
"duplicate" was not stated.

--
Mark Brader | "I'm surprised there aren't laws about this in the USA..."
m...@vex.net | "Of course there are laws about this in the USA.
Toronto | Without even reading further to find out what 'this' is."
| --Rob Bannister and Evan Kirshenbaum

My text in this article is in the public domain.

[Mark Brader]

"Calvin":
> > Q3: In contract bridge, the maximum points a pair can earn in a single
> > hand on their own contract is for bidding and making seven no trump,
> > redoubled, while vulnerable. How many points does that score?

Mark Brader:

> Hmm, this is awkward.
>
> In plain *contract bridge*, also known today as rubber bridge, the

> actual maximum points are...

> In *duplicate bridge*, which was called "duplicate contract bridge" in
> the previous version of the Laws, there are no honors bonuses or rubber
> bonuses, but a vulnerable game gets a bonus of 750. So that's 3,230.

Oops. After posting I looked it up and it's 2,980. The 750 was sheer
absentmindedness -- in duplicate we usually think of the total score
without breaking it into components, but I should have remembered that a
game contract vulnerable typically scores in the 600s. The actual
game bonus is 500. Shame on me.
--
Mark Brader "It is considered a sign of great {winnitude}
Toronto when your Obs are more interesting than other
m...@vex.net people's whole postings." --Eric Raymond

[swp]

aw crud.

the question favors Mark as he actively plays the game and I haven't played in years. I'll guess 3000.

swp

[Calvin]

On Monday, March 11, 2019 at 9:09:58 AM UTC+10, Calvin wrote:

> Q3: In contract bridge, the maximum points a pair can earn in a single hand on their own contract is for bidding and making seven no trump, redoubled, while vulnerable. How many points does that score?

2980 was the expected answer

Mark 3330
Stephen 3000

Apologies if there was any confusion as to precisely what the question was asking. I made some edits to the original version submitted by another entrant, so take full responsibility if there was.

Despite that I can't see any basis not to declare Stephen the winner. Congratulations sir and thank you all for playing.

Here is Stephen's unused question FYI: "According to scientists at the United States Geological Survey, Yellowstone's history puts the yearly probability of another caldera-forming eruption as ...what?" [Scroll down for the answer.]

I am happy to run another but we really need more that four people to make it worthwhile. Are any lurkers keen?


cheers,
calvin






































A: 1 in 730,000

[Erland Sommarskog]

Calvin (334...@gmail.com) writes:
> On Monday, March 11, 2019 at 9:09:58 AM UTC+10, Calvin wrote:
>
>> Q3: In contract bridge, the maximum points a pair can earn in a single
>> hand on their own contract is for bidding and making seven no trump,
>> redoubled, while vulnerable. How many points does that score?
>
> 2980 was the expected answer
>
> Mark 3330
> Stephen 3000
>

Calvin says he edited the question. I am not sure if I had the contract
in my question originally, or if I only had that in the answer part.

A few days ago, it occurred to me that making 7NT RD vulnerable, is not the
highest score you can get for your own contract. It is with some relief I
note that Mark did not spot my mistake. There is one result that pays
better: 1NT RD +6, vulnerable. That gives you a score of 3160. The biggest
score overall you can get is 7600 if you take all 13 when the opposing side
has big 7NT RD vulnerable.

[Mark Brader]

Erland Sommarskog:

> A few days ago, it occurred to me that making 7NT RD vulnerable, is not the
> highest score you can get for your own contract. It is with some relief I
> note that Mark did not spot my mistake. There is one result that pays
> better: 1NT RD +6, vulnerable. That gives you a score of 3160.

Oops!

> The biggest score overall you can get is 7600 if you take all 13
> when the opposing side has big 7NT RD vulnerable.

And 150 honors for 4 aces in one hand, making 7,750. You did not say
it was duplicate bridge!
--
Mark Brader | "Next time I will proofread my before sending it out. ;-)"
Toronto | --Kevin Rushforth
m...@vex.net | "What? What!? Proofread your what??!!!" --Larry Smith

[Erland Sommarskog]

Mark Brader (m...@vex.net) writes:
> And 150 honors for 4 aces in one hand, making 7,750. You did not say
> it was duplicate bridge!

I never play bridge in any other form, and I don't think I've ever heard
of that rule before. This explains why I did put into the question.

Then again, it was only the other day that I learnt that taking the last
trick with the eight of clubs buys you a beer. It's not that I've been aware
of that Englund (as it is known) is a special card; it was the beer that
was new to me.

And if no one else have heard of it - don't worry, this is a Swedish
thing.

[Mark Brader]

Erland Sommarskog:

> I never play bridge in any other form, and I don't think I've ever heard
> of that rule before.

In contract bridge there are only three honors bonuses:

150 for 4 aces in one hand at notrump
150 for A-K-Q-J-10 of trumps in one hand
100 for any four of -K-Q-J-10 of trumps in one hand

In auction bridge, and the original game of bridge before that, honors
were more significant to the scoring and were scored on most hands.

http://www.davros.org/misc/biritch.html

> Then again, it was only the other day that I learnt that taking the last
> trick with the eight of clubs buys you a beer. It's not that I've been aware
> of that Englund (as it is known) is a special card; it was the beer that
> was new to me.
>
> And if no one else have heard of it - don't worry, this is a Swedish
> thing.

The Beer Card in English-speaking countries, apparently originating in
Denmark, is the 7 of diamonds. See:

http://www.pagat.com/auctionwhist/bridge.html#beer

--
Mark Brader "They are taking to the new methods
Toronto like a duck takes to stock trading."
m...@vex.net --Mark Leeper

[swp]

to which I then asked, "730,000 what?"

my thanks to calvin for running this.

swp

[Erland Sommarskog]

I read that in the recent Venice Cup (world championships for ladies), there
was a result beyond 2980, although they did not reach 3160, only 3120. The
contract was 1H RD. The very unfortunate lady playing South, put in a double
to show unbidden suits. Her partner did not find a bid after the RD, but
South took that to mean that she wanted to play 1H RD. During the play,
South had one occasion to take for an ace, but she didn't. She was later
crushed in a triple squeeze.