jwccsllc

What browser are you using? Generally Chrome or Firefox work well, but I'm not sure whether they're supported on El Capitan.

The problems here relate to a change in the authoritative server chain for the letsencrypt certificates used by BBL. This isn't a problem for newer Macs, and shouldn't be for iPhones or iPads with current versions of iOS. This Link describes fixes for Windows, MacOS, and various other devices. Bill

I'm running Chrome Version 88.0.4324.150 (Official Build) (x86_64) on my MacBook Pro running Mojave Mojave and a Mac Mini running Catalina with BBOalert 5.1.1.2. I have had no problems installing using Settings->Extensions. I thought you might have a problem searching BBOalert as bboalert, but it doesn't seem to be case-sensitive. Have you tried restarting Chrome after installing the extension? I have found this sometimes helps if Chrome hasn't picked up the latest stable release. I also have Firefox on the Macs with BBOalert installed, but generally prefer using Chrome.

I prefer transfer advances after we overcall as described here. Transfers allow Advancer to bid again after the transfer is accepted and describe their hand.

Generally no. The usual case where one opens 1♦ with a 3-card suit is on 4=4=3=2 hands.

I like to play this as 18-19 HCP. With most of my partners we play transfers are on after the 2NT response which allows Responder to describe their hand shape or strength of a major raise: 3♣ Transfer to ♦, Responder may pass with ♦, no ♠ fit, and a weak hand.3♦ Transfer to ♥, Responder may pass with ♥, no ♠ fit, and a weak hand.3♥ Transfer to ♠, stronger ♠ raise.3♠ Weak ♠ raise. This is described in detail in Max Hardy's book "Advanced Bridge Bidding in the 21st Century.

I've seen this on occasion with Firefox on OSX. Click on the Refresh button, and you will probably get a normal login screen.

Is there a way to simply make a copy of an existing CC which then could be edited for particular partners. I thought that one could do something with the favorites card, but it seems to only change the partner.

The BBOalert extension to Chrome and Firefox browsers is very useful for this. See the BBOalert pages on Facebook for discussion. I've been using this with several of my partners as we play fairly complex 2/1 systems with lots of gadgets, and it works very nicely.

If you use BBOalert, you can specify part of the alert to be displayed in the Chat area by putting the main part of the alert followed by a '#' then the balance to go in the Chat section. You must remember to have your chat set to go to Opponents or the chat part will go to the Table. Here's a line from one of my BBOalert file for the description of Gambling 3NT Openings. The 'Nothing Higher than Queen outside goes in the chat. I think the limit on the chat section is about 249 character. ,3N,Gambling 3NT 7+Solid !C or !D#Nothing Higher than Queen outside

There's a fundamental problem with Convention Cards and BBO's inability to let me edit mine (they show up empty) or display opponent's CCs during play of the hand. I have a fairly complete set of CCs linked to my regular partners that should be available to my opponents during play. My partial solution is to use BBOalert's shortcuts to display a URL to the appropriate CC at the beginning of each round.

My SWAG (Scientific Wild-Assed Guess) is that she has JavaScript blocked for the site. I ran into this recently with Firefox as I have the noScript add-on which had to be disabled for the bridgebase.com site. Bill

I think the issue is that in a normal KO team game, the team that's down at the half has the seating rights to change the seating.

Use the full URL https://www.bridgebase.com/v3/?lang=en Bill Campbell BBO: jwccsllc

That could be that your browser is blocking JavaScript or some such. I'm using FireFox on MacBook Pros, and couldn't get from the https://bridgebase.com/ URL to the login on one of my MacBooks, but it worked in the other. It turns out that I have noScript installed on the older machine. There's a tiny button near the top right of the browser window that allowed me to disable noScript for the BBO URLs, and that cured the problem. Bill Campbell BBO: jwccsllc

I've been using BBOalert for several weeks now, and find that Stan Mazur, the author, has been extremely helpful as I learn how to set things up for my regular partners. He has made several significant additions to it in response to our conversations. I don't do Windows so never used the Windows software. The github link above has quite a few configuration files in its Systems folder including BBO Advanced 2/1. BBOalert is available as an extension for the FireFox browser which is the easiest way to use it. It also works with Google Chrome, but that's not automatic, and requires one download the software as a zip file from the github site, and manually install it in Chrome. I use Chrome as my default browser on my MacBook Pro, but use FireFox for BBO. I have set up some shared files on docs.google.com so that my partners and I can easily keep up with the Latest & Greatest configurations we play. To use it, simply get your configuration into your clipboard (ctrl-A ctrl-C or cmd-A cmd-C on Mac) then log into BBO and press the Import tab at the top of the screen to load your configuration. Set the split screen option on BBO's Account->Settings screen and turn on Confirm Bids and Confirm Cards (a good idea in any case). As you play, alerts will automatically show up in the bid box. You can manually enter alerts for those that aren't in your configuration file. BBOalert keeps track of alerts you make manually, and will put those changes into your clipboard using the Export tab at the top of the screen in the correct format to add to your existing configuration file on docs.google.com or your system. Another very useful feature is keyboard shortcuts that are useful to describe your system, signals, carding, and things like with a couple of keystrokes.

I've getting up to speed with BBOalert for several days now, and it's been working very nicely for me. Bill Campbell <jwccsllc@me.com>

I have two MacBook Pros, both fairly old. The mid-2009 one is running OS X 10.9.5 while the newer one is running one version behind Catalina. They're both running the current version of google Chrome browser. I'm working with the BBOalert extension which requires that adblockers be off, and BBO be configured for split screen. This works fine on the older machine, but when I select split-screen in the newer machine, there's no change when I select split-screen in my account->settings. Any ideas why this would happen? Thanks.

I have hacked the BBOalert.js file to handle this here. I am working with a git clone of your site so can easily send a patch for your review. So far I'm working on creating an initial spec file for upload for the primary version of 2/1 I play with a couple of regular partners which are fairly complex (weak NT with DONT runouts, Hardy Major Suit Raises, Mohan, ...). I haven't played on-line since starting to do this so haven't been able to test to see what various things do, in particular how the various 'Option' sections work. Bill <jwccsllc@me.com>

I started looking at this today under Chrome on OS X 10.9.5 after cloning the BBOalert from github. It looks very interesting as I normally play systems that requires many alerts. An unfortunate side effect though is that every time I try to go to https://www.bridgebase.com/forums displays a message then restarts to the bridgebase login screen. This happens early in the BBOalert.js when it checks to insure lang=en in the URL. I think this would work if it scanned the URL for ?lang=en or no ?lang= at all. I turned the extension off so I could get back to the forums. I'll brush up on my JavaScript to try using a Regular Expression test here instead. Bill

You might want to look at Max Hardy's book "The Problem With Major Raises and how to fix them". I've summarized these here.

I like overloading the 2♠ as a range ask/transfer to 3♣ as described here. Opener responds 2NT if he wouldn't accept an invitation or 3♣ if he would. You lose the intermediate 2NT Super Accept of normal 4-suit transfers, but that occurs far less frequently than the invitational ask when Responder isn't interested in a major fit. I think it's more useful than using 2♠ as Minor Suit Stayman as well as it's much more likely to want to invite than to look for minor suit fits. It also has the minimizes the need for 4NT Quantitative. 2♠ Range Ask/Transfer to 3♣ 2NT Transfer to 3♦. Opener may Super Accept with 3♣ 3♣ Puppet Stayman 3♦ 5-5 minors game force 3♥ 3=1-5-4 game force 3♠ 1=3-5-4 game force The advantages of this use of 2♠ instead of 2♣ ... 2NT are: Opener doesn't disclose information to opponents.Allows Responder to more fully describe hand with game/slam interest and strong clubs.Can stop at 3NT with some Quantitative slam tries.Occurs more frequently than Responder's weak hand with long clubs.Responder's 2♣ Stayman guarantees at least 1 4-card major. The only time Responder would bid 2♣ without a 4-card major would be when playing South African Texas, and the 4♣ bid is a transfer to 4♥, not Gerber. The disadvantages are: You lose the 2♠ 2NT Super Accept in clubs.You lose the ability to have Opener play 3♣ when Responder is weak and Opener responds 2NT to 2♠. This doesn't bother me much as I frequently play weak (12-14) or baby (10-12) opening 1NT using the same responses.

I like playing major suit raises described in Max Hardy's book "The Problem with Major Suit Raises and how to fix them". Here a jump to 3♦ (Under Jump Shift) shows a 4-card limit raise with a singleton or void. North bids 3♥ asking about the shortness, and South's 4♦ bid shows a singleton diamond (there is another sequence to say it's a void). Now it's an easy 4♠ Kickback ask to find that South has one keycard.

I rarely play SAYC, mostly 2/1, and occasionally Precision. The basic question is what I plan to bid after partner's response when one has 5-3-3-2 distribution with the 5-card major. Playing 2/1, responses are pretty standard after a 1♠ opening and partner's 1NT response, where a 2♣ or 2♦ response may well be a 3-card suit. It's the 1♥ opening bid that may lead to awkward situations with 5-3-3-2 distribution. These I generally prefer to open a weak 12-14 1NT where we play 3♣ as game forcing Puppet Stayman. This means our 1♥ opening bid either has a second 4-card suit or is strong enough to raise partner's forcing 1NT response to 2NT showing 15-17 HCP. If partner responds 1♠ things are more flexible. I plan to respond 1NT with most 3=5-3-2. We play XYZ which makes partner's job easier. with 3=5-4-1 distribution, and 15-17 HCP or with 3=5-3-2 with very weak minors, I'll usually bid 2♠, and partner may make a 2NT Spiral Quantity and Quality asking bid if interested in game or slam. Playing SAYC and a strong 15-17 1NT opening range, Opener may pass a 1NT response to 1♥ with 5-3-3-2 so what would a 2NT mean?

Bill Stewart and I are an established partnership looking for teammates for KOs and Swiss Teams at the Penticton Regional 16 June -> 20 June 2015. We have about 1,300 MPs total (550 + 750). My profile on bridgewinners.com is here. Bill