FelicityR

I am sure you're method of calculating is as accurate as possible, and I am no whizz with statistics, but I read today that up to 20,000 of all covid-19 cases deaths happened in a care or social home environment. (Daily Mirror Online) Tragic, yes, but if this figure is factored in to R-value it distorts it greatly - surely? I think most of us will agree that the government has handled this badly, but the need to get the country up and running again is paramount now. If anything, the best way to control the further spread of covid-19 is to concentrate on the pockets of infections in the country where the R-value is increasing. The problem as I see it is that if cases are increasing when there are far more stringent safeguards to protect the most vulnerable in place as there are now - finally! - then there is the potential for a second wave to occur. Social distancing has effectively gone out of the window for many sections of society, and whilst in the early days we made a valiant effort to adhere to the 2 metre rule and not invite the neighbours for tea, etc. that seems to have disappeared with the warmer weather. I am guilty myself :( There's a big difference if the social distancing guidelines are changed to only 1 metre, and confined environments like restaurants and public houses may well be the places that further cases occur despite all the safety measures touted. All in all, very difficult to know what is right and what is wrong.

That's exactly how I was going to play it, too. Eschew any notion of finessing the ♣J because you need the outside entries for the, hopefully, good ♣s in the South hand. To me, it just looked better than playing for the split honour ♠ finesse, though that does have chances, too, as Cyberyeti indicates. Just practically at any no-trump contract I have invariably read that you need to tackle the suit with the most cards and the most honours between the two hands first to generate winners. The intermediate cards in ♠s are a distraction though I can understand why players might go for that option.

That's the funniest description of the clunky 1NT response I have heard, Vampyr. Made me smile first thing this morning :) As for the OP's forum post, my partner and I use constructive raises to the two level to show this hand: 3 card support and 8-11 HCPs. That's a way around it, if you are playing a 5M opening system.

Very, very tricky! I think it all comes down to whether the partnership is aggressive or more-restrained. I'm not even going to contemplate any sequence here because they depend on specific responses to a 2NT Ogust enquiry (if used), or with North opening 2♣ whether South thinks of his/her hand as a positive immediately (or after a waiting 2♦ response.) I believe it is easier to 'land on a dime' (to use an American expression) if North opens when the partnership are using a strong 1♣ system than a 2/1/SAYC/Acol 2♣ strong opener. It's hard for North not to be star struck with the playing strength of his/her hand which comes out as a mighty 29.0 count on the Kaplan and Rubens evaluator, though the word MISFIT must somehow also come into the equation here, too. Definitely a tough, tough hand to bid and find the right contract.

I'm not disagreeing with you as I know you are an experienced director, blackshoe, but can you clarify this further. I thought that most players using a 5M system would understand if you described a bid as a "Jacoby 2NT" in response to opening one of a major. Calling it just "Jacoby" would perhaps be wrong, but "Jacoby 2NT" is universal, or is it? Now that there are now variations where it is not universally forcing to game (as detailed above) change its meaning, and the way its alerted, in some way?

Yes, they have an opportunity, but as much as online bridge can be fun it doesn't beat the community spirit of actually sitting down with friends in a club. Your club must be a real exception to the rule with only one session available per week. BBO have proved that they can cope (to the most part) with an unprecedented number of players online, many fairly new to the notion of playing their bridge online, or players who already play online occasionally as opposed to regularly. In business terms, BBO have seen their customer base grow organically due to the pandemic. I am sure they are looking at ways of keeping these new customers. But there's a flip side to all this as when this pandemic is over, real bridge clubs will not want to lose members either. It's a delicate balancing act, that's for sure.

Delightful! Nice problem. Timing is all. Thank you for posting. Small hint. The 4th ♠ is a useful card if you can get to dummy.

Nigel's forum header, "Coronavirus. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it" is succinctly defined in this easy-to-read and short article from USA Today by a Distinguished Professor of The History of Medicine. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/05/31/lessons-1918-flu-coronavirus-social-distancing-historian-column/5283023002/

Ok. Maybe not commentating on any posts on BBO is the way forward. Goodbye all :(

I read a case yesterday of a woman who still tested positive after 55 days. Though I haven't read of any of the re-tested positives displaying a new set of symptoms - please correct me if you have read otherwise. We still do not understand covid-19 and how the virus undergoes change within the body. Given that some of the tests have been faulty - as you said - that could be the reason. I'm not surprised though. The word 'lingering' does crop up regularly within the health service. It does make some sense as general winter flu can go for months, especially in older people. They go through the worst of the symptoms for a couple of weeks but the milder symptoms stay with them for a few months, sometimes until the warmer weather. Winter flu is a virus, too. Maybe covid-19 lingers in some patients in the same way. The body cannot fight it off entirely but it is controlled as the body has now produced enough antibodies to keep the virus in check.

...for this government to put some concrete proposals forward, as you have done cherdano. Well done. It's the procrastinating and keeping us all in the dark that is now making things worse. Even if they have to move the goalposts as things develop, it's better to have something on the table than nothing at all. What could well happen is that the lockdown will be slowly eroded by civil disobedience if people cannot see a way forward. Giving the general public a specific road map will inspire confidence. Trotting out the same tired excuses and explanations is beginning to grate. Treating us all as if we are part of a 'Nanny State' is both insulting and unproductive. Most people will take responsibility for their actions: it's only the minority out there who are ruining it for the majority. It's about time the Police and the Courts concentrated their efforts on fining heavily those idiots who disobey the covid-19 lockdown rules wholesale. Paltry fines and verbal warnings are just not effective. We all have enough time to take on board the restrictions that are in place. They are in place for a very good reason. Those that want to disobey them should be held to account.

Yes, it is a very considered piece of journalism. Not scaremongering but stating the facts. However, I have a feeling once the lockdown is over for most life has to go on. Pockets of coronavirus out there or not. The Dalai Lama said something along the lines of "Choose to be an optimist. It feels better." Did people stop flying due to 9/11? For a short time after they did, but gradually with all the safeguards now at the airports they came back. I know coronavirus is different. But there will be safeguards in place initially. Every country will have to adapt: that's saying the obvious. Two World Wars didn't extinguish the human spirit. People will suffer due to coronavirus even after the lockdown is lifted, and perhaps for years after, that's a fact. But it's happening all around the world. This is a time for world leaders to be united to get the world back on its feet. If the politics of jealousy, envy, division and hate get in the way then we have no hope. Let's hope it's a new beginning, not the beginning of the end.

Thank you, Peter. I read the Guardian (amongst others) online but completely missed this :( (How? Goodness only knows.)

I'm surprised - well, I haven't been able to find any journalist who has speculated thus - on whether Boris Johnson's own personal experience with being ill with coronavirus, including hospital treatment and prolonged recuperation, will effect how he now views the UK's own covid-19 epidemic. The Sunday online papers just basically indicated he will be back at the helm soon, and it's been confirmed that he is already back at 10 Downing Street as I write. There was a feeling amongst many people in the UK that without Mr Johnson the government went into the doldrums, repeating basic diktats that the public must obey during the lockdown. The Conservatives, despite their daily briefings with Cabinet figures, seemed rudderless without Johnson. However, I wonder if what has happened to him will change the course of the future policies of controlling this epidemic. Yes, he will still have senior politicians and scientists to advise him, and Boris Johnson has always been a bullish character, but I have a gut feeling that he's now going to err on the side of caution, having experienced the epidemic on the front line himself. There's an undercurrent of feeling in this country that if we can't get the country back on its feet quickly, both the general public and the financial sector will suffer enormously. Already there has been a human cost beyond coronavirus with many hospital appointments and treatments for ill patients, including those with cancer, cancelled. I have spoken to quite a few people over the past few weeks, and many of the younger ones are worried about debt, (un)employment, rising costs, etc. in a country where people have taken on large debts already to maintain a reasonable standard of living. The fallout from what happens next could be far worse than what has happened in the previous three months. It will take time to restart all aspects of society, I feel, and despite the best efforts of the Boris Johnson and the government, whatever they decide, it's going to a long road of recovery for many people probably for many years to come.

Nice squeeze. Thank you for posting. Well done Nigel. Good to see that Lithuanian players have adopted the British standard of the weak no-trump, too :)

Surprisingly, inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis) can lead to a stroke for many younger people. And whilst coronavirus doesn't directly cause sinus problems - as far as I am aware - given that the pathogen is air-based, it's probable it is contributing to strokes in a similar way. Even general inflammation in the body can lead to strokes, and we are now aware that younger healthy patients have been subject to cytokine storms as a result of contracting covid-19.

My apologies. I always assume a 2/1 auction except if stated. However, the only way I feel that game does not get reached is if West fails to open. That is, if someone is still playing Goren standard :( Have to agree with Nigel again that even with 11 HCPs, 3 quick tricks make it an opening hand. Kaplan & Rubens evaluator for what it's worth puts it a tad over 12. Once West opens, East staying out of game seems impossible. Furthermore, East is probably thinking that she is bringing a few goodies to the party with the ♠Q and ♥Ax in her partner's suits. It's just one of those hands where 100% of modern players will end in game, but game cannot be made if the opponents find the right lead/defence.

3♣ seems a superfluous bid. Was East hoping that West was 5-4-0-4 shape and a slam in ♣s was possibly going to be missed if he/she didn't bid 3♣? I agree with Nigel: 2NT was a far better bid here. Even after 3♣ instead of 2NT, West is never going to raise the bidding above 3NT as 3♣ is invariably seen as 4th suit forcing, not a new playable suit. Maybe a slight flaw with bidding a minor suit as 4th suit forcing at the three level in this type of auction.

This does limit you but my regular partner and myself have an agreement that both 3♦ to 3♥ transfer, and, a 3♥ to 3♠ transfer are forcing to game. So you never get to play in a major suit three level part score, but then again you could be playing in a 5-2 fit at the three level, too, with a weak transfer when 2NT is the best contract. If partner has a good fit - effectively the equivalent of a superaccept - for the suit transferred, and a good 2NT opener he/she will cue bid instead of transferring immediately. You then know as responder immediately how good opener is, and whether you are playing in a 9+ card fit. The British player, Jeremy Flint, used a 3♦ rolling transfer bid (Flint Convention) over 2NT a long, long, time ago where either a weak ♥ or ♠ hand could be played at the three level after a 2NT opener. The convention disappeared quite quickly, as far as I am aware, because it didn't turn up that often.

Donald Trump has just no idea. Suggesting UV light and disinfect to kill the virus inside the body just shows us how ignorant and uninformed the man is. On a more positive note: https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-hospital-cuts-covid-19-death-rates-with-black-boxes-for-sleep-disorder-11977789 Tracheostomy and ventilator intervention is commonplace in hospitals (especially in ICU units) but puts some patients at risk. Using a non-invasive CPAP machine for less severe corona cases could become the norm as time goes on.

Whilst covid-19 might be the cause of additional ailments for the over 85s, any serious infection for anyone in that age group causes problems generally. People in that age group have weakened immune systems, and poorer lung and bowel health. A bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) which is common amongst seniors causes delirium and confusion. That's why in later life it is so important to follow a good diet together with sensible vitamin and nutraceutical supplementation as the body is less able to repair itself on its own.

Duck looks best. That fifth ♥ in dummy could well be the 9th trick. As partner didn't lead a ♦ in preference to a ♠, his/her ♦s aren't that solid. I would expect partner to be 5-1-5-2 shape from the bidding and the play so far. Though I would like to know if the opponents open 1♣ with 4-4m as opposed to 1♦ here for clarity.

2♣ always. Pass or 1NT don't even enter the equation.

There's a strange irony that most western countries now rely on China, and other low-income Asian countries, to manufacture everything from corona testing kits to PPE and everything else in between. Yes, I do get it as it is all about profit margins and that's what big business is about. But when the items are not reliable, faulty or just rubbish - and don't worry I have bought British and European items that have been far from perfect - surely we should change suppliers? I realise that this is not quite possible given the urgency of the coronavirus epidemic, but there are plenty of pharma/biotech companies in the EU and the USA that could provide low cost kits. However, they need approval from the FDA and EU bodies, which begs the question how did we all end up buying so many duff Chinese kits? And how have the genuine Chinese kits got approval so quickly, too? I have a gut feeling there are a small amount of people making a killing and profiteering at others expense here. The scandal with the lack of PPE is bad enough. Now there are other shady dealers milking the urgency to supply corona testing kits in various forms. Next will be the vaccines. We might berate individuals selling over-priced hand sanitiser on eBay, but what happens at a corporate and governmental level is 100x more obscene.

It's a great computer tool to predict rates of infection, however the only drawback is that you have to be reliant on people downloading the app and entering the data. I am sure there are people who cannot be bothered with doing this together with other people who do not have the wherewithal to do so, e.g. the elderly. But given that half-a-million people have used the app - thank you - it's at least a promising indication of where we as a nation are heading, plus further confirming that the lockdown measures are at least working in the main.