The 2015 Bermuda Bowl, the premiere world championship team event, which comes along every two years, is underway in Chennai, India. The format is that each team will play each other team in a round robin series of short matches, and the top 8 teams will qualify for longer knockout matches. 12 of 21 matches have been completed in the round robin, and USA 1, comprised of various members of the country's "old guard," is placed very well, sitting 2nd with many tough matches behind them; they should qualify easily. USA 2, with younger players, is currently not in a qualifying spot, but they still have a lot of time, and they're not too far out, sitting 12th with not too big a gap between them and 8th. USA 2 came in second place in 2011 with many of the same players. American bridge is sort of in transition, with the next wave of superstars occasionally surpassing the guys who have been on top of the heap for decades, but are not quite there yet. It's sort of the early stages of maybe the Federer - Djokovic transition.

Standings after 12:
1. Bulgaria 156.33
2. USA1. 155.43
3. China 150.96
4. Poland 148.54
4. France. 148.54
6. Sweden 144.58
7. Brazil. 141.47
8. England 137.32
9. Japan. 132.71
10. India 127.67
11. Denmark 126.64
12. USA 2. 126.24
13. Singapore. 117.50
14. Australia 115.33
15. Canada 104.69
16. Egypt 98.46
17. New Zealand 97.00
18. South Africa 95.91
19. Argentina 94.78
20. United Arab Emirates 76.77
21. Guadeloupe 70.17
22. Jordan 65.46


USA 2 has the opportunity to make up some ground tonight (the matches start at 10:30 p.m. West coast USA time), with two of their matches comi against Argentina and Guadeloupe (the other is against a very tough Poland team). If they hold their own against Poland and lay it on in the other two matches, they should be right in the thick of things. 20 points are at stake in each match; a maximum crush would be 20-0, and a dead tie would be 10-10. So an average score at this point is 120. ISA 2 struggled yesterday, scoring only 8.24 against United Arab Emirates and losing badly to China, before crushing Japan for over 19 points. But they're definitely capable of laying it on against weaker teams. But with short matches, and as in any competitive endeavor, anything can happen. The field is quite wide open; defending champions Italy did not qualify, after a disappointing result in the European Team Championships, and defending Silver medalists Monaco aren't playing either, as their anchor pair - formerly ranked #1 in the world - were banned for life as part of the cheating scandal I posted the other thread about. If I had to pick a final, it would be Poland vs. USA 1. Note: USA 1 and USA 2 would have to meet in a semifinal match if both of them get that far.

Composed of, or comprising.

Comprising is what the whole does to the parts; composing is what the parts do to the whole.

Live and learn!

Would that we all had your attitude!

Then we'd all be banned for 3 months of the year.

LOL!

I think what Lobo wrote was fine. And I think Merriam-Webster's agrees with me.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprise

Full Definition of COMPRISE

1: to include especially within a particular scope <civilization as Lenin used the term would then certainly have comprised the changes that are now associated in our minds with “developed” rather than “developing” states — Times Literary Supplement>

2: to be made up of <a vast installation, comprising fifty buildings - Jane Jacobs>

3: compose, constitute <a misconception as to what comprises a literary generation — William Styron> <about 8 percent of our military forces are comprised of women — Jimmy Carter>

"Although it has been in use since the late 18th century, sense 3 is still attacked as wrong. Why it has been singled out is not clear, but until comparatively recent times it was found chiefly in scientific or technical writing rather than belles lettres. Our current evidence shows a slight shift in usage: sense 3 is somewhat more frequent in recent literary use than the earlier senses. You should be aware, however, that if you use sense 3 you may be subject to criticism for doing so, and you may want to choose a safer synonym such as compose or make up."

The problem with sense 3 is that it makes these two sentences equally valid:

The cards comprise the deck.

The deck comprises the cards.

I believe that people should fight against popular misusage that creates ambiguity or contradiction.

That doesn't stop flammable and inflammable from being synonymous.

But there IS NO problem. There IS NO misusage going on. Both usages ARE acceptable, according to Merriam-Webster and others. I think everyone here understands the meaning(s): the cards together make up a deck; the deck is made up of cards.

IMO, you are tilting at a windmill of your own creation. But, hey, I am just happy you are not employed by Merriam-Webster.

Principally because inflammable doesn't also mean not flammable.

Everyone here?
(That's a large, diverse group. Think carefully at the members who compose [sic] that group.)


Your opinion is duly noted.

Call me a dummy, but it would seem that the span of this bridge thread has been trumped by grammar rules. I would call that quite a trick.

Wordplay suits you.

The loudest, longest laugh the Café has ever given me! Thank you!

That would be composition.

Or would it be comprisal?

As expected, USA 2 crushed Guadeloupe and Argentina, though they lost badly to Poland; however, those results propelled them to 9th, just one place away from qualification. They trail 8th place Sweden 147.70 to 143.83. USA 1 had a rough day, losing fairly heavily to both England and France, and dropped to 5th with 160.05. Poland took over the top spot, though it's neck and neck for the first three spots (Bulgaria and France also in the mix). Host India has narrowed the gap, too; they're still 10th, but right behind USA 2.

Day 6 really shook things up. From almost the start of Day 4 through the end of Day 5 (From the end of match 10 through the end of match 15), the leaderboard had changed a bit within the qualifying group, but the qualifiers vs. the non-qualifiers had been pretty stable. Over the course of those matches, only two teams moved into/out of qualifying spots, at the end of Day 4 when England and Sweden replaced Japan and India. Since then, Bulgaria, USA 1, China, Poland, France, Sweden, Brazil, and England had been the 8 qualifiers. One of those 8 became a casualty (at least temporarily), and USA 2 has grabbed a qualifying spot with one day (three matches) remaining in the round robin. And another team may surprisingly fail to qualify as well.

It started in Round 16, when USA2 won a tough match against India, who have been hovering near the qualifiers since getting bumped off of the #8 spot. That win, coupled with a Sweden loss to Singapore, brought USA2 from 8 1/2 points back to less than a point. USA2 also gained on 7th and 6th place, as USA 1 tied New Zealand and Brazil virtually tied Australia.

In round 17, the lowest-ranked qualifier, Sweden, faced off against the top-ranked non-qualifier, in an 8/9 pairing with big playoff implications. USA2 rose to the challenge with a 17.45-2.45 crush that put them among the qualifiers...in fact, it vaulted them ahead of USA 1, who lost to next-to-last place United Arab Emirates, 12.8-7.2! In addition to the 8/9 matchup, the pairing sheet brought about a 1/2 showdown between first-place China and second place England. England's rise had been in credibly steady - in match 12, they moved from non-qualifying to 8th. In match 13, they went from 8th to 7th. In match 14, they went from 7th to 5th. In match 15, from 5th to 3rd. In match 16, from 3rd to 2nd. Could they keep it going against a Chinese team that had just moved into the top spot one match earlier? Yes, they could! England's 12.03-7.97 victory moved them into the top spot and dropped China to 3rd, with Poland moving from 3rd to 2nd.

That brought up the last match of the day. USA2 beat Australia, 12.03-7.97; USA1 recovered a bit with a 10-10 tie against China. England's streak came to a rough end with a 14.39-5.61 drubbing by Japan (whom England replaced among the qualifiers on day 4, and Bulgaria vaulted past Poland, who remained in 2nd place, by crushing host India, 17.17-2.83, effectively ending India's chance to qualify for the knockout stage. India started the match about 17 points out of 8th with 4 matches to play - tough row to hoe; they ended it 24 points out with 3 to play, and 5 teams to vault past. That's effectively an impossible row to hoe. The Japan loss dropped England to 4th. France and Brazil switched places (France to 5th and Brazil to 6th). USA 2 and USA 1 still sit at 7th & 8th respectively, each with 2 tough matches and what should be an easy one tomorrow (but as United Arab Emirates proved against USA 1, nothing can be taken for granted). USA 1 finishes with Japan, Guadeloupe, and Poland; USA 2 faces Brazil, Singapore, and France.

In 10th place, Sweden is probably too far back to be a threat. They finish against Bulgaria, Canada, and Egypt. The teams in the final, starting at the top, get to pick their opponents, so even though Bulgaria is a cinch to qualify, they still have motivation to be at the top of their game in every match. 9th place, though, is another story...there's one team left with a last chance to shake up the leaderboard, and it's going to make the next match critical - Japan sits just 3 points out of the qualifying group, so the USA1 - Japan showdown in Round 19 is another 8 vs. 9 matchup. USA1 definitely wants more than a tie, because while they still have Poland to face, Japan finishes against South Africa and New Zealand - neither a slouch, but definitely a softer set of pairings than USA1's. A good-sized USA1 victory in match 19 could set things up very nicely for BOTH USA teams, but if it's a Japan win or even a close match, I think one of the USA teams will be the odd men out.

USA 2 was taking it to Brazil in round 19, but a late Brazilian rally has that one pretty well knotted up as it nears a close. Meanwhile, USA 1 is crushing Japan, which may well leave Japan on the outside looking in as both American teams advance, but there are still two matches to go.

Wow, what a finish. USA 2, as reported, was hammering Brazil, but Brazil put together a late rally, and it looked as though that match would finish about tied; USA 2, however, had a second burst of scoring to win handily, 15.56-4.44. Also, USA 1 crushed Japan, 15.92 - 4.08. I mentioned that Sweden probably sat too far off the pack to be a threat, and their one-sided loss to Bulgaria, 14.39 - 5.61 apparently solidified that. So after 19 rounds, Brazil sat 8th with 218.51 with a big gap between them and the top non-qualifiers - Japan, Sweden, and Denmark (204.69, 201.74, and 201.09, respectively). Denmark had sort of snuck into that latter group with a 15.19 - 4.81 win over Australia. So it look all over but the shouting with 2 rounds to play - big gap between the qualifiers and the non-qualifiers. Then came round 20.

Japan and Sweden both lost, seemingly dropping them out of contention. USA 2 lost to Singapore, but scored well enough to virtually assure qualification. USA 1 swept Guadeloupe, 20-0. But Denmark came up huge from 11th place, and the team they beat - Brazil - had the last qualifying spot, so the Danish 16.73 - 3.27 win effectively counted double, and when it was over, with round to play, Denmark was just 3.96 points out of 8th place. They just had to do a bit better than Brazil in the final match.

Round 21, Brazil needing to win by about 16-4 to clinch their spot, but they were paired against...top seeded Bulgaria! The Bulgarians crushed them, 17.97 - 2.03. So Denmark - against a mediocre-at-best Singapore team with nothing to play for - didn't even need to win their match; they just needed to not lose by a 14-6 or worse margin. Against all odds, it seemed that Denmark would vault into the knockouts and displace Brazil. The only problem is...nobody told Singapore! Playing like THEY were the team on the brink of qualification, Singapore stepped up and crushed Denmark, 16.53-3.47. So Denmark was on the outside looking in after all. So did Brazil qualify, then? Nope! Japan crushed New Zealand 18.44 - 1.56, to leapfrog over Brazil, but the only problem for the Japanese was that Sweden beat Egypt by the same margin, so it was Sweden who grabbed the last spot after losing in rounds 19 and 20. Japan finished 0.14 points behind them in 9th, with Brazil just 1.23 points behind Japan.

So the knockouts start tonight, the teams being (in order of finish) Bulgaria, China, Poland, England, France, USA 1, USA 2, and, most improbably, Sweden. Starting with Bulgaria, the highest seeded teams get to choose their opponents in the quarterfinals.