A Great Win for a Great Guy
Ashdown4 wins NABC Online Summer 2018

NABC Online Summer 2018 has concluded. In gamespeak, this season has found it's winner - Ashdown4 (Alex Perlin of NJ), the nicest guy you will meet in the world of Bridge. Alex wins 48 ACBL Masterpoints and steps on the podium to receive his NABC Online Championship Title, becoming only the 3rd person in this universe to win the event. Alex wasn't the only winner, just the main one.

Overall Winners:
  • A: Ashdown4 69.21%, Zhenya__S 68.71%, Dannymiles 68.29%
  • B: Lastrose 66.51%, Quarky 65.62%, Wcneumann 65.47%
  • C: Lastrose 66.51%, M_Brown 62.62%, 4bridge4 61.68%

    • We will be taking a breather before returning for the final NABC Online this year during the fall. There is a lot of great feedback and suggestions that we hope to be able to implement, if not for the Fall event, then in 2019. (Because the Fall NABC Online's main format has already been largely decided. This is an ACBL event and ACBL plans ahead!) I'm sure everyone wants to hear from the winner, so here's an interview with winner Ashdown4 so we can bask in the afterglow of his win. In the next few days you'll also see a bonus interview with Dannymiles, overall 3rd place winner and another super nice guy. He is Canadian afterall! Danny's interview will be published in the BBO news.

    It is my fondest wish the players who participated in this NABC Online enjoyed themselves and the bridge, no matter their final standing on the leaderboard. You've run a grueling race, now relax and enjoy this interview with our newest winner, Ashdown4.



    Ashdown4 with future bridge and chess champion Leo
    Picture the nicest bridge expert you know in real life. Then double the niceness quotient, add a dash of MIT level geekiness and you get the 3rd NABC Online winner Alex Perlin of NJ, who goes by Ashdown4 on BBO. Alex is a solid player based in the Northeast, known to almost everyone in the New York/New Jersey expert circle. He is bridge's biggest fan, an addict's addict. Despite juggling a packed schedule of family obligations plus working in Manhattan's financial industry plus tutoring gifted young mathematicians in the area, he still manages to always fit bridge in, even if practices now mean playing BBO's various tournaments on his 1.5 hours commute each way to NYC or squeezing in a Daylong game at 1 AM, the one free hour he has to himself.

    This is Alex's first NABC title, but surely not his last. His path to this victory was similar to that of the first winner from NABC Online Summer 2017 Nickd - both are experts who favor consistent bidding and results instead of more...imaginative contracts. After Day 1, he was in 9th place. By Day 2, he had moved into 2nd place overall with another outstanding session, and then when then leader Dannymiles slipped up with just an above average game, Alex was able to capitalize his way to the top spot. You can see the results of everyone who played in ACBL Live or use this link for all the results.

    Here's a short interview with Alex, the nicest guy you'll ever meet in the land of Bridge.

    Did you expect to win when you joined? Walk us through your 3 sessions, and tell us when did it feel like you might actually be able to win?
    At no point did I expect to win. My Probability training gives me heightened awareness of how merciless the math of winning high participation events truly is. My average game was never going to be sufficient to win, but robots patiently kept feeding me with more and more luck all the way to a fluky top on the penultimate board.

    I did appreciate what a stupendous window of opportunity I had been dealt. I left a lot at the table during session 1. I clearly remember thinking that if somebody truly good like Jiang or Andy Stark got this amazing progression of boards and generous matchpoint tables, they would claim the event with just regular sessions 2 and 3.

    And then session 2 was even luckier. After it was over, I thought: "what is this score??? i'd better get some coffee for the final set." I later estimated that if I played every online NABC, my luck would be this good only once in 13 years.

    What was your strategy with the robots? Any psychs that worked out, or down-the-middle play?
    You can call me a down-the-middle player, but my strategy with robots is just to _survive_ the auction, just like it is in real life. My bidding has long been a source of frustration for partners and also a subject to biting jokes. "If Alex is dealt an opening bid, he should open the bidding". "Alex bids and drives like an old woman". This time I mostly survived.

    Do you play with robots on BBO normally, or did you train for this event in particular?
    I play with robots a lot. I was not training for anything. Just for fun. My friend Igor sometimes says he is a robot too. So I get extra practice.

    Any thoughts about the robots? Players do seem very divided in their opinion.
    I love robots. They are not as weak as people say.

    A few years ago I found a couple of declarer play hands which robots got right and more than 90% of humans playing a tournament got wrong. BBO does not get nearly enough praise and credit for all the wonderful products they created around robots. All these challenges, practice with friends vs pair of robots, various daylong tournaments, and so on. Thank you BBO!!

    How does this compare to your IRL tourney experiences, especially the NABCs.
    Both are great in different ways.

    Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do in real life, are you a pro, or is bridge a side-activity for you?
    I am a mathematician by training. I am originally from St. Petersburg, Russia and did my undergraduate studies there. Came to the States to do my PhD. In my opinion, USA has the best graduate schools in the world. Nowadays, I am a quant in a financial company. A quant is mostly glorified word for "data scientist".

    Other than Bridge and Data, my other passion is teaching. I have been volunteering as an instructor of a Maths circle for more than 10 years. I have met and taught some of the most mathematically gifted kids in NYC and suburbs. It's very rewarding. It feels like passing a torch to the next generation.

    What's your favorite live bridge tournament?
    My favorite event is Reisinger at the fall nationals. It's completely unbelievable how many top partnerships you get to play against in one day. I organize online BAMs between friends to help prepare for it, but so far Reisinger has not loved me back. I failed to qualify for day 2 eight times out of eight. Whichever partner helps me break this curse is going to get a very nice dinner at my expense. I am starting to think the teammates will deserve it too.

    Any final thoughts about the online NABC format and serious online tournaments.
    There has long been a debate in online community whether it's possible to average 70% in serious robot tournaments over a long of stretch of time. The winners of NABC online have been in 68-69 range. Based on experience this time around, I think 70% is possible for a strong player with the right amount of luck. My prediction is that in the next 3 or 4 NABCs the 70% barrier will be broken by the winner.

    Several of my partners are terrific robot (and real-life) players, so I have already asked bridge gods to arrange it so that the first person to crack 70% be my partner or teammate. This way I can shake his or her hand and celebrate together. Suitable sacrifices to bridge gods are forthcoming.

    Would you play again?
    Yes, absolutely. Back in 2013 my friend Walter "winkle" Lee and I were fortunate to finish 2nd in Goldman Pairs, a 2-day regional in New York City. When we sat down to play the same event in 2014, Walter wryly observed. "I am sure we will play better than we did last year, and our result will be worse". He was correct on both accounts. In this spirit, I will return to robot nationals. I won't post another score like this, but with work I hope, I will get a little better as a bridge player.



    		All updates