Source: for BridgeWinners by Jan Martel
The WBF has entered into an agreement with OurGame that grants OurGame exclusive rights to broadcast the finals of the events in Sanya. WBF officials assured me that the Vugraph broadcast will be available using a web browser, will not require registration, and will have English commentary. Despite these assurances, I have short-term, long-term and philosophical concerns about this. I want to be absolutely clear that these opinions are mine alone and are not USBF positions.
Short-Term Concerns
At the moment, if you want to watch Vugraph on OurGame, you must register at their site and download software to your computer. In order to register, you must have a Chinese identity number. The OurGame website is in Chinese. See <http://bridgewinners.com/article/view/ourgame-for-non-chinese-speakers for more information on the current state of affairs re OurGame.
The World Bridge Series takes place in Sanya in two months. When it comes to computer software, it often seems that things take longer than expected and don’t work as well as expected. I hope this instance will be different, but I am concerned that those of us who are not Chinese will in fact not be able to access Vugraph from the finals in Sanya on a web browser.
At the moment, as far as I know, there is no English commentary on OurGame broadcasts. I know very well how hard it is to get good commentators for Vugraph. Even on BBO, we often have problems, and OurGame doesn’t, at least now, have the sort of connections and history with the excellent commentators who help us make BBO Vugraph more interesting. I have no idea whether they have the capability for voice commentary, and although I only rarely have the opportunity to listen to that (it would be too distracting when I am working as a Vugraph operator or organizer, even if I were able to listen to it without having any “leakage” to the room), I know it is very popular with the Vugraph audience, and I hope it will be available from the finals in Sanya.
Long-Term Concerns
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