Cromlyn

Do the robots play (and respond to) an Unassuming Cue Bid? I am sure this has been asked before but I cannot find it so apologies if it is a repeat question.

The concept may have a lot of merit but measuring compatibility on anything other than bridge systems, signalling agreements and expertise is unhelpful. How does this system cope with those of us who enjoy playing different systems with different partners? It would be better to give more useful information on the profile, including a wider range of ability. I know some people feel they must upgrade their skill level because otherwise they have difficulty finding someone to play with. So I think this new gimmick will increase their difficulties. If it is just to help tournaments why not just have it show up at the tournament desk?

Apologies if this has been asked before but how do you claim when playing on an ipad?

uday said: ‘My original intent in running the survey was to understand why our solitaire games ( all available for anonymous play on our website at www.bridgebase.com ) are so popular’ and I would like to address this. There is a school of thought (probably originating with rubber players) that if one plays a basic game of bridge (basic as in bidding with very few conventions) but being proficient in declarer play and astute in defence one can play with a great number of partners. If BBO had an area which could accommodate a natural bidding system with minimal conventions it might encourage club players out there to play online. In such an environment these players would gain experience of internet bridge, meet other like-minded people and form partnerships and some hopefully would progress to more competitive bridge. In the UK we have some competitions known as ‘no fears’ where one is only allowed to use minimal conventions. I personally do not like these but players who would not dream of playing in competitions enter these. I can, however, see the appeal to those who do not have serious partnerships and it would also have an appeal, even to me, when you are going to play with a pickup partner.

4,4,4,1 (any singleton) is difficult in most systems. I am guided by my likely rebid before I open. If I have 15+ hcp I have the possibility of a no trump rebid but with 13 or 14 hcp perhaps the lowest suit in the hope I can rebid at the one level which would not promise additional values. Originally Acol bidding books always advocated ‘open the suit below the singleton’ but that only works if you have the strength to rebid no trump! With this distribution and 12 hcp I pass.

It is embarrassing to receive a trophy for a card game. Non bridge players are distinctly unimpressed while your fellow bridge players think the trophy should have been theirs . . . I once won a trophy that had gone missing - no-one had bothered to make a note of who had won it the previous year. It was really embarrassing not to be able to produce it the following year! If there has to be a prize lets have something useful. But I would much rather have nothing - the pleasure of playing bridge is an end in itself.

Could someone please outline the system known as 'Forum D'? If it is a natural system in what way does it differ from Acol?

I would imagine that women take just as much risk as men do where there are no safety or money issues at stake

OldPlayr said: ‘Trying to use the 'view tables' function is near useless, as seats come & go so fast. By the time you have viewed a profile, the seat is likely gone.’ I would like to add to this that I find the most annoying aspect of the ‘OPEN TABLES’ option is to join a table to find everyone is leaving. Could BBO have some function for the host to close the table if ALL the players are leaving?

What does the cue bid mean? The bidding goes 2D (weak) P P X P 3D ? And what would an immediate cue bid mean? 2D 3D ?

I was hoping to broaden this topic out into whether or not one should display the flag of one’s country or the flag of where one is living? The flag only serves the purpose of letting one know where the person is and therefore what language they might speak, the time zone they live in and the system they may play. For example if ‘Acol’ is on the profile it will be a completely different system if it is on a profile of someone from the Netherlands or someone from Australia. Perhaps someday it would be possible for the profile to be redesigned to allow things like time zones, languages, etc to be included? Actually I am not concerned about whether we have flags or not, my post was just a query about why I had the flag of my country in one version and not the other.

I wonder why my country's flag appears in the old version of BBO but not the new one? (It is just blank on the new one)

This is so in other areas too. For example English is the mandated international language of aviation.

Thank you for your helpful answers but perhaps I should have been more explicit. When I joined the table the opponents were speaking English but after several boards they started to speak in a language I do not understand. So what I really want to know is: (1) Is everyone supposed to keep to English during the BIDDING or PLAY of a hand? (I did think I had read somewhere that because BBO is an American site that English was the ‘default’ language but I cannot find any source to support that. ) (2) Would it be rude or wrong of me to ask them to speak English? I think Wank has misunderstood :rolleyes: - I have no problem whatsoever with people speaking in their native language I merely wish to know what the correct protocol is. (It might have been better if I had phrased my query regarding talking during the bidding or play - I never have a problem with pick-ups ironing out their queries but when it is not understandable I become uncomfortable.) I think too there is a difference between playing against people who can speak English and those that don't. Perhaps I should also have mentioned this in the first place but I was really only looking for the correct protocol. I think it is wonderful that I can play with someone from anywhere in the world and strongly support standardisation so that language is no barrier to this. :D

I was enjoying myself in the Main Bridge Club when after a few hands the opponents started talking in a foreign language. I have no idea what they were talking about and it could have been quite innocent but I thought everyone on BBO was supposed to use English? Is this correct? If so what should I do when this happens?

Yes it is addictive! But you have a decision to make and that depends what you want out of bridge. Do you want to play ‘at the top’? If so you need a special partner with whom you have lots of agreements and you will probably play teams as well as pairs events - note that teams, duplicate and rubber all have entirely different philosophies. OR do you want to play ‘recreationally”? Then you want to play simply, using the most common system being played wherever you want to play so that you can play comfortably with lots of partners. Whatever is right for you you should decide how much time you want to spend playing and stick to this (I do not include reading about bridge) and train yourself not to think about the hands you have played in the evening until the next day. It is only a game, a very special game and a wonderful pastime, but no matter how much you try to improve the results will always be affected by what others do and what hands are dealt to you. BBO is a wonderful place to play bridge. All levels are catered for and there are even lessons available!

If this question refers to face to face club bridge I would tend to praise partner when changing opponents so as not to appear to gloat. If I am praised I just say a simple ‘thank you’. If this question refers to playing on one of the BBO clubs - like the Acol Club, where it seems to be deemed to be good manners to acknowledge declarer’s efforts. We would routinely use the ‘wpp’, ‘gtp’, ‘wpo’, etc, and partner would simply acknowledge the compliment with a ‘ty’, ‘typ’, or ‘thx’ - see BBO’s abbreviations - http://www.bridgebase.com/help/v2help/common_abbreviations.html However, in the Main Bridge Club, or the Relaxed Bridge Club, where pick-up partners come and go there is very little comment, or even salutations, given. So when in Rome . . .

As an Acol player trying to play Sayc and 2/1 this is very useful. Is there something similar for 2/1?

I have been told that there is a flash player that can be obtained for the apple ipad called photon flash player. Does anyone know if this would allow me to play bridge on bbo with my ipad?

I open 1H with this hand: KJ6 K9843 A KJ52 My partner holds: - AQ62 K865 AQ974 1. Should he splinter with 3S, bid a Jacoby 2NT or make a waiting bid of 2C? 2. Whichever response you opt for how should the bidding proceed?

Link to Modern Standard American- http://www.acbl.org/learn/ltpb.html

Playing Modern Standard American if responder bids 1NT he is showing 6 to 9/10 hcp but if he bids 2NT he is showing 13 to 15 hcp. What is he showing if he bids 2NT for his second response? For example: 1♣: 1♦: 2♣: 2NT And is this forcing?

As an Acol player, when the opponents intervene over our opening 1NT, all our bids are now natural (unless I am playing Lebensohl over their suit bid or Helvic over their double). In SAYC if the transfer bid is still available is it normal practice to use it?

I have been asked by someone wishing to take up bridge in Brazil what the game is known as? Can anyone tell me what it is called there please :rolleyes:

If you don't trust his 'general bridge knowledge' it might be better to just bid game and not put him to the test of playing a slam.