wildbill@ucbvax.UUCP (05/10/84)
The Team Trials to determine the U.S. representative in the VII World
Team Olympiad were held 3-6 May in Memphis, TN. Three teams were
qualified by virtue of having won a major National championship in
the past year:
Grand National: Tom Sanders (NPC); Chip Martel-Lew Stansby, Hugh Ross-
Peter Pender, Kyle Larsen-Ron von der Porten.
Spingold: Malcolm Brachman, Ron Andersen, Paul Soloway, Robert Hamman-
Bobby Wolff
Reisinger/Vanderbilt: Cliff Russell (NPC); Edgar Kaplan-Norman Kay,
Bill Root-Richard Pavilcek, Jeff Meckstroth-Eric Rodwell
Due to their double qualification, Russell was seeded into the finals.
Sanders would play Brachman in a 128-board semifinal, the winner to
play Russell in a 128-board final.
The semifinal match was close through the first 3 eighths, Sanders
pulling out to about a 35-imp lead. But Brachman took over at that
point, eventually winning by approximately 70.
The finals went down to the last segment. At the start of that
segment, Brachman was ahead by 3, but Hamman and Wolff went on
another tear and the eventual margin was close to 90.
The team which will be sent to Seattle is strong and seasoned. In
addition to being veterans of many years of high-level play, all
five members have represented the U.S. in world championship
team competition before, and Hamman and Wolff are regarded as
one of the top two or three pairs in the world. Brachman, although
very strong for a client, is nonetheless not up to the level of the
rest of the team. In addition, he has played substantially more sessions
with Andersen lately than with Soloway. If Brachman-Soloway proves
too costly, this could force Andersen to play more sessions than he
really wants to. But Hamman-Wolff can carry just about anybody when
they get hot. Conclusion: look for lots of Brachman-Soloway at your
local Regionals - they've just GOT to find out whether they can
swing it before the Olympiad.
Bill Laubenheimer
----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science
...Killjoy WAS here! ucbvax!wildbill