[HeavyDluxe]

Hi all... Thanks for the many fun posts on here. I'm enjoying reading and learning on here, though anyone stuck with me as a pard might say I need a lot more learning. :-)

These are some follow-up questions to the "Play like Helgemo" thread over here.

Let me start with an analogy to chess if I can... While all elite chess players must have good memory and calculating skills, those skills express themselves differently between two players. For example, Karpov would slowly squeeze you to death like a player like Shirov complicates the game to ridiculous levels and then emerges with an advantage.

With that analogy, in mind:

1) Who are some of your favorite world class players?

2) What about them appeals to you more than others? Is it nationalism, or some other element of their play?

3) Why do you think they express that particular table personality?

Just curious. And thanks.

Aces, Dluxe

[Echognome]

1) My favorite players are Hamman, Rosenberg, Simon De Wijs, and Bauke Muller.

2) The reasons are varying. I like Hamman from all I've read about him (including his own book and his mention in many other title). His ability to concentrate on every hand and forget the past makes him a "dream" partner. He also plays the spots off the cards. I like Rosenberg's dizzying mental analysis. When you read how he analyzes a hand, it is amazing all of the various aspects he can bring into the picture. It is fun and enlightening to see how he thinks. I like the Tarzan guys because I play a system similar to theirs. Simon is also a fantastic guy that I have had the pleasure to meet and discuss system with. I bounced several ideas off of him and he was always pleasant and willing to help. It is fun to watch them play as I understand their bidding, even if I do not have the judgment that they have. It is useful to see how to judge hands within the contexts of the system I play.

3) I don't know *why* they express their table personality other than guessing it is what works for them.

[Gerben42]

Quote

1) Who are some of your favorite world class players?

2) What about them appeals to you more than others? Is it nationalism, or some other element of their play?

3) Why do you think they express that particular table personality?

1. Fulvio Fantoni (fulvio2002), Sabine Auken (jcmax)

2. Easy to approach, relaxed about the game and yet playing so well. In addition the braveness to play an unusual system and stick to it.

3. The love of this game.