How about challenging the Acol club to a teams match?

[wackojack]

We know well and are grateful to Poco and Cedar for holding the "Dare competition" for iac.  They are both, ofcourse titans of the Acol club and run many events there.
 I think it would be great if we could get up a team of 4 (or even a team of 8 if sufficient interest)  and challenge the Acol club to a teams match.  I think it would not only be interesting for its own sake but will be helpful in getting practice playing against a weak no trump and possible 4 card major suit openings. 

Interested?  And any suggestions?

[Curls77]

This is one excellent idea Jack
Start forming the IAC team, and let's ask Colin/Alan later today (after Dare lesson) to form ACOL team.

I am sure it won't be hard to agree on the date/time and hold a regular, monthly or even weekly, IAC vs ACOL team match, maybe even with postmortem following the match.
When we used to do IAC team series, sundays at 1700 utc (noon in NY, 5pm UK) usually worked well for players from both Europe and America.
(I so wish we could resume those matches, they were such fun)

[wackojack]

Colin (Poco) and Alan (Cedar) are keen on having these matches.  The first suggestion is to stage the match or matches on a Sunday or Sundays at 17:00 utc which is noon Eastern time.   Ideally an adv/exp team of 4 to play the Acol cream and int/ adv team of 4 to play regular Acol players.

So I am asking who wants to play?  If we get a large response it could be a headache for me (If I am designated as a selector)  on picking the teams.  OTOH if this becomes a regular fixture everybody that would like to play could be given a chance. 

First come first served?  Established partnerships?  or even say a trial playing with robots.  Opinions please? 

BTW Those not familiar with Acol should not worry.  The only real adjustment is how to compete over a weak no trump  The only convention that I know of which is not really suitable is DONT because double is needed for penalty.  and knowing that a 1NT rebid shows 15-16(17).

[Curls77]

It's surprising that Jack still could not create a team, I know many of you that adore team matches.
Please contact WackoJack if you'd like to be in the team, and let's schedule first match, ACOL is keen for this event and look forward to it 

[wackojack]

Acol teams challenge 26 Feb 8pm utc (3pm US Eastern)

The firmed up date for the Teams challenge will be 26th Feb at 8pm utc (3pm US eastern time)  16 boards with changeroo after 8 boards.   Colin says that he thinks he can field 3 teams.  So I need definite partnership names to come forward.  So far the only definite partnership that has volunteered has been. 

Neha + Fleurette
Also Blubayou + ?  (Palych)?

Sanya has also suggested that Post Mortem + Quarky might want to represent iac.  Please could other players particularly the leading players declare a partnership that I can put on the list. I know that might be difficult when there are many possible pairings but better to get the pairings now rather than ad hoc decisions on the day. Monday (tomorrow) will be an opportunity for all those that compete in DARE to volunteer a partnership in this teams challenge.

Acol club details are on their website   www.acolatbbo.org.uk

[donnas]

Hi - I can play, but don't have a partner.
Donna

[palych]

I am in. Can play most of Sat/Sun at this time

[Curls77]

Hi all
I put the details in the IAC site news section, and we'll send a couple of BBO mail invitations to all IAC members.
*
This first event should have several teams. IAC team Nº1 will be created by WackoJack. OliverC and BrianM will create an OCP team. All members are most welcome to create own teams with their partners and friends, speak with them and when the team is created, give it a name, choose captain who should mail BBO_IAC (email:  IAC.at.BBO@gmail.com) with usernames on their team. Please have an extra player or pair, in case the team will need sub, although bbo_iac will be there to help you.
*
The teams will be graded. “Expert/Advanced” &  “Intermediate” , so do not be shy, there is room for everyone : )
FEB 21 is the deadline to sign up the teams. Please enter before midnight UTC (that’s 7pm in NYC).

Do not miss this great fun, it will be a lovely opportunity to learn to defend against a different system, meet new friends or laugh with old ones.
Both IAC and ACOL clubs hope this will not be just one time event, but perhaps repeated monthly, if there is enough interest. There is also a possibility to have all teams playing same hands, with PostMortem review after all matches finished.
So, do not miss this, form a team and JOIN 

[wackojack]

Can I confirm that Joe + Todd and Ken + Pat are a team?

[blubayou]

Dmitry and Jock  have agreed  feb 26

[Masse24]

Conflict.
Joe and I cannot play on the 26th.

[kookee]

I would love to play - just need a partner and may be a team

Shankar

[Curls77]

Hi all, the clock is ticking, and so far we had only ONE confirmed entry.

TEAM: From All Countries
CAPTAIN: maysie (May) - Australia
VICE CAPTAIN  : Boleo1 (Clement) - Canada
lysblanc (Lys) - Canada
oktayA (Oktay) - Turkey
RaNTuL (Emin) - Turkey
Uof FL Jen (Jen) - USA


All of you that want to participate, PLEASE organize your teams and select the Captain, who should write email to IAC.at.BBO@gmail.com stating Team name, usernames of all teammates, and if possible average team strength (intermediate, advanced, expert).
The deadline for registrations is FEBRUARY 21 2359uct.

We'll soon publish a document with detailed instructions, but the most important facts are:
       * The matches will be held on Saturday, February 26th at 2000utc, 3pm eastern USA. Use https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/ to find out your local time, and be sure you can attend.
       * Team captain and at least 3 teammates must be from IAC club. You can have players that are not IAC members, invited by the captain. Needless to say is that we'll expect all players to play ethically, be polite and respectful to all. Captains are responsible for their teams, and should be sure that non-IAC invited players are aware of the Zero Tolerance policy.
       * After we have all teams registered, IAC and ACOL admins will seed them, and put captains in touch, by February 23rd 2359utc. Even though we play all kind of systems in IAC, ACOL players usually play just ACOL, and would not be fair to expose them to a team where pairs play different systems, they do not have enough time to prepare defense. So IAC can have 2/1 team, SAYC team, OCP team, etc., but not a mixture of them.

So many of you love team matches, I am surprised we do not have at least half a dozen teams already registered and practicing Don't be shy or lazy, join -- it will be great fun event for all!

[foxxtrot]

Hi. This is foxxtrot (Louise). I would  to join a teams match. I am an Intermediate. I play 2/1, or SAYC. Feel free to look at my Profile on BBO. Leave a message on my BBO Profile, if you would like my email address. And if you would like me on your team, please let me know. Thanks so much.

[OliverC]

Hi All,


Sanya, as discussed earlier, Brian and I are cobbling at one one additional OCP team together. We'll post the details in here and send the email to iac.at.bbo@gmail.com as well.


I may well not be able to play myself on 26th as I will be finishing work on the stroke of 8pm that day, but I'd be quite happy to conduct or help with a hand discussion afterwards.


Oliver


*
Edit from Curls:  We got 2 more OCP teams registered, GL you all!!!

Team 1, yet to be named
brian_m (captain) & podlecii
oliverc & servetd
iamadeus & p0stm0rtem

Team 2, yet to be named
epee9 (captain) & eszter5
bfortune & sjaldan
soko52 & arda85

Way to go OCP!!!