Antrax

North's keycard really is atrocious. GIB uses blackwood like beginners do, as a slam invite.

Thanks for the correction - I invented a new hand which I found more interesting :)

If my partner bids slam off AK of trumps, I'm going to assume he has a lot of extras (and looking at ♣AK, a club void). [edit] Then again, he didn't, so my post makes no sense. See Zel below.

Yeah, I reported this bug before, too: http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/57308-alert-mismatch/ This similar issue was fixed: http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/66076-another-buggy-sequence/

I should've told it I'm proud of it for opening this hand at the 1-level :) Good call IMO.

I know it passes when stuck for a rebid, but I was sure either 2♠ or 3♥ would be the book bid. It has a minimum with support and its own suit to rebid, surely something fits.

GIB plays 3NT opener as 25-27 balanced, so that's out. I'd open the hand 1♣ but that's just me. I don't think it's a good 3♣ opener even vul but it does fit GIB's rules and we can't expect judgment from a computer.

Well, the alert for 2♥ said 11+ HCP, so I think it's not NFB. 3♥ is 15+ with rebiddable hearts, btw.

[hv=pc=n&s=s3hakt852dkt2ca92&n=saqt962h764dj6ckj&d=w&v=e&b=16&a=p1s2d2hppp]266|200[/hv] 2♥ should be forcing to the best of my knowledge. It seems not since GIB N shouldn't be stuck for a rebid.

[hv=d=n&v=0&b=1&a=2cp2d4c4d(5+%21D%2019+%20HCP%2023+TP)p]133|100[/hv] Responder is now in some weird hole where every bid he makes is diamond support. 4♥ and 4♠ both show 4+♦ and 5+HCP (and nothing else), 5♦ shows more diamonds in support and nothing more. Dunno if it's efficient to start looking for a fit naturally on the 4-level, but 4M should at least show some values there in addition to ♦ support maybe?

timouthy, if you have something to add to the skill level discussion, just bump the largest thread you can find with the new data or suggestion. So far you haven't said anything that wasn't said many times before.

Yeah, South's hand was something like ♠AKQJx ♥KQJTx ♦x ♣xx. Didn't want to give up on penalty in case distributions are wild all over the table.

[hv=pc=n&n=s984ht985dj87ck43&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=2dp2n(Art.%2015+)d(TO%20for%20%21D)ppp]133|200[/hv] I think North has an easy 3♥ bid - was it expecting E to bid again or something? 2NTx= was the most common result, with E holding ♠62 ♥A ♦AT2 ♣AQ98752 you get to cash your five running spades and declarer gets two aces and six running diamonds.

Bbradley, isn't that preempting the preemptor?

Good point. 4-0 clubs is more likely than 8-0 diamonds :)

This seems pretty easy, no?

Can't I double and pull spades to NT?

But... you really can't do that. Did your math teacher not know any calculus? :)

That thing you just said? That's something many people in my beginner class couldn't figure out even after several lessons. It's natural for you to identify the lynchpin suit, but for novices it can be an ordeal. After being taught how to mechanically count tricks, some of them can manage if the suits are AQxx opposite KJxx, but when suit lengths are different or an irrelevant honor is missing, they lose sight of where the problem lies. Promoting small cards posed another challenge. Figuring out that AKQxxxx opposite xxx is seven tricks was hard for them because it requires thinking ahead, and some of them found it hard to visualize things at that level. Just to give you an idea, one hand we played in class was something like Axx AKx AKx xxxx Kxx Qxx Qxx xxxx where you had to make 3NT, with the defense leading one of the triply-stopped suits. My wife and I were the only pair to attack the xxxx suit, even though there's literally nothing else that could ever work. People just played high cards at random and went down. So, I think you've overestimating beginners with no potential. If I had to teach Bridge I'd separate people with potential and teach them in-depth from day 1, and teach all the rest the Bridge maxims and correct rules to apply to different bean counts to allow them to enjoy Bridge as a social game.

Your link is screwed up. http://bridgegod.com/playprob.php?probid=256 [edit] I played poorly to make thanks to friendly defense. I play to develop club winners. After ruffing the first round I played ♠ to 9, E won K and played his ♣K. W overruffed with the trump A, and then played a heart, so I could ruff another club to hand, draw trumps, cross in spades and pitch my losers.

Since this is in "suggestions for the software", maybe the suggestion should be when people check their profile they always see five stars? That seems like a less worrying default than having nothing in there.

In the interest of fairness, the same applies to online poker rooms and one of those was caught with a backdoor that allowed some people to peek at your cards. That's why I never play against Fred, it's too likely he'll beat me by virtue of something he's built into the system.

I think it could go down in 4 by giving W a diamond ruff and their trump ace, then ducking a trump to E. So, good effort GIB but there's still room for improvement 7/10.

I played this in "anonymous play" on the iPad, so you'll have to believe me regarding bid descriptions.