We've just passed the half way stage in the qualifying Round Robin. Monday was a tough day because we faced Poland and Monaco for the first two matches - two of the finest teams in the world. We drew 10-10 against Poland and beat Monaco 15-5 - both excellent results. Yesterday we managed a 20-0 win against Kuwait (very hard to get a maximum on the new WBF VP scale). Even the slightly disappointing small loss against Iceland was on a very low scoring match (18 - 8 IMPs) indicating that both teams had played extremely well.
Today's opponents come from three different continents: Japan, Belgium and Tunisia.
We travel between hotel and venue (about 3 miles) by walking, taxi or the team car. The experience can be described using some bridge terms:
Triple Squeeze - Rush hour traffic in Wroclaw
Clash Squeeze - Successfully attempting to avoid a Wroclaw tram
Suicide Squeeze - Unsuccessfully attempting to avoid a Wroclaw tram.
Here are some bridge problems for you
1. The farmer
A farmer approached a ricketty bridge across the river Oder which he had to cross. He had with him a dog, a chicken and some corn. The bridge would only support the farmer and one of the items but, if he left the dog alone with the chicken the dog would eat the chicken; if he left the chicken alone with the corn the corn would be eaten. How could he get across with with everything safely?
2. The English Open Team
Four of our team arrived at the bridge at night. Andrew could get over the bridge in 1 minute, Frances needed two minutes, Tony Forrester needed 5 minutes and NPC Chris could only manage it in 10 minutes. We all have to get across but there are three problems. Firstly, the bridge will only support two people at a time. Second, we need a torch with us - we have one only. Thirdly, the bridge closes in 18 minutes time. Can we all get across safely?
3. The Native
David Gold arrived at the bridge one day alone. There are two footpaths but he has been told that one of them is badly damaged and will not support his weight. A local man is standing by the bridge. Now, David knows that all Wroclaw men lie always and the women always tell the truth - or is it the other way round? He also knows the native language well and that the word for 'Yes' is 'Guczki' and the word for 'No' is 'Wriski' (or is it the other way around?). The native will only answer one question with 'Guczki' or 'Wriski'. Is there a question David can ask to identify if the left hand path or the right hand one is the safe one?
More later
Chris Dixon
1. That chicken is going to be tired.
ReplyDelete2. With a minute to spare.
3. I don't speak Polish.
Chris Dixon (who tells me that he always tells the truth) has said they are bridge problems, so the answers must be Criss-Cross Squeeze; you don't need a safety play because they are all winners; and Restricted Choice.
ReplyDelete