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BGonline.org Forums
Q's for Danish Players (way too long)
Posted By: Christian Munk-Christensen In Response To: Q's for Danish Players (way too long) (adambulldog)
Date: Sunday, 12 July 2009, at 9:14 a.m.
1) 1000 players in Copenhagen is an exaggeration. I reckon that 6-700 players play in the leagues in Denmark. My guess is that 400 of these players are based in Copenhagen. We have seen a decline in recent years. DBGF has around 900 paying members most of which play in the leagues. Previously we had 12-1300 members in Denmark.
2) Teams consist of 4 players. Any paying DBGF members can form a team and enter the leagues. Most teams have 6-7 players and then pick the starting 4 from these 6-7 players. International players can play too as long as they are members of DBGF. Magriell, Serge Rived, Katja Spillum, Achim Müller and Mochy are examples of foreign players who have enjoyed playing in the Danish leagues. I think part of the attraction to these players is to come and try their luck against the best in Denmark.
3) There is a hierarchy of leagues with relegation and promotion like in European soccer. Only the best league, called "elite division", is nation wide. 12 teams play in the elite division. The bottom 2 teams are relegated and substituted by the winners of the 2 1st divisions. Nr. 3 and 4 from the bottom go to play offs with the runners up from 1st division west and 1st division east (1st division is split in 2 halves in a west and east league due to geography). These 4 teams play for 2 spots in the elite division.
4) Low stakes. In the leagues which is the back bone of Danish Bg we play for pride. In the elite division it's 700$ to enter a team. The winning team takes home 4300$. In all the lower leagues it's only 100$ to enter a team.
5) In the elites the 12 teams play each other twice. Hence a team has to play 22 team matches during the season which runs from autumn to mid February. As previously mentioned a team has 4 players. So in a season a team plays 88 singles. The winning team is the team that wins the most singles. If 2 or more teams are equal the tie breaker is number of team points (2 points for 4-0 and 3-1, 1 point for 2-2). If this is also equal 2nd tie breaker is how the teams have done in their "internal" matches. No consultation in the Danish leagues.
6) The teams meet once a week in the Copenhagen area. In the elite division some mathces are played on thursdays (when it's 2 Cph teams) and some matches are played in weekends where we play 2 on saturday and 2 on sunday. This latter bit is to reduce travelling.
7) Impossible to answer this question. In Denmark most players play bg because of the game bus also for the social aspects. People like to discuss positions which occur (discussions after completion of the match). Everybody likes to study the game via discussions with good players. I guess this is why Denmark has so many good players.
8) Very few clubs have coaching nights. I reckon that a typical club night in most clubs would look like this: First a low stakes tournament. Then chouettes as players exit the tournament. Like in the leagues players share positions with their friends and other players. Some clubs would start the evening by looking at 1 or 2 positions and do a small theory session of maybe 15 -30 minutes but this is not the typical scenario.
9) Beginners are welcome. We try to make beginners comfortable and do what we can to make them wanna come back. Some beginners like a bit of tuition. Others think they're oh-so-good that tuition is not needed. We give tuition and tips to those who would like it.
10) To my knowledge 4ish teams are sponsored.
11A) This is true. Bg is played across the country in cafes like in Greece or Turkey. Most Bg clubs are based at a cafe and have their club nights at the cafe.
11B) BG is not really that big in Denmark. It may seem big because the Danish players are usually very good. As mentioned we are less than 1000 paying members in DBGF. Denmark has a population of 5 million people so 1000 members is not really anything special. Bridge and chess boast many, many times more members in Denmark. BG is not taught in Danish schools as some might believe. Some math teachers might do a couple of bg sessions during a year but in general BG is not part of the annual "to do list" in school.
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