geoffff

I am also having trouble with history. I click on other tables and get the position at that time but it doesn't update as more hands are played as my old version did. Is there anything I can do to resolve this?

I lead Ace diamonds. Always worry about partner being finessed if I lead from a couple of small trumps. In this case, worried about declarer/dummy being short in diamonds and me not making Ace. I almost never underlead an Ace.

A number of issues go through my head: 1. Bidding with GIBs can be a bit fraught as ordinary bids or doubles are sometimes misinterpreted and trying to put things right always seem to lead to bidding getting out of control. 2. Max of 10 points between W and N so no great support expected. 3. At least 2 of Q ♥, Q ♦ and K♣ should be to your right, but you are likely to be leading from hand most of the time which may nullify this advantage. 4. East doesn't have a 5 card major so may be 10 between W and N. Thus distribution may be tricky all round. In view of above, don't get carried away with enthusiasm.

4H non Vul, 3H if Vul. There are 32 points available for other 3 hands. Opps could well have game but would have to be brave to bid it. That is the point of preemptive bids

Since I don't place much faith in self description of Expert, Advanced, Intermediate etc., I doubt that we would learn much by asking for more detailed self-assessment. There are many who say sayc, 2/1, or whatever, even 'I'll play your system' and then don't! Most of it, unless you have played with someone before, is a case of pot-luck and make the best of good partners and make a note to avoid bad ones in the future.

I was the first to pass. Being vulnerable, there are too many ways in which the hand could go wrong: a) No five card suit, b) Know nothing about diamonds c) 7 hearts to right with possible K Q and an outside entry. Going 2 down doubled in 3NT or a black suit is far worse than 'giving them' 3 H (and possibly getting them down).

There can only be 3 robots that play throughout a tournament, so there is not any real benefit from showing their scores.

Don't like 3H. Mainly due to the weakness below honours. If LHO has 4 hearts to 10 and 9, you could be completely undone. Hand is strong enough in points but shape is very poor.

I would always open 1s with this. In my view, 2 would definitely indicate 6 cards and (taking the singleton into account) a weaker hand. I always look for what would be my second bid depending on what my partner responds. There is a clear second bid - depending on systems used. A pass might miss out on a valuable part-score, even if partner is weak.

Two consecutive hands this morning convinced me to go to a forum and get things off my chest. I hope I am in the right place, never having started a thread before: I was playing the Express Free Automated Fun tournament. First board, we were in 3 No Trumps. I had 6 clubs A,K,Q xxx with no other entries. Declarer had 2 clubs, leaving 5 between the opponents. Small club to dummy results in A,K,Q being led in turn and opponents, split 3 and 2 being left with no clubs. Does declarer take my 3 xxx tricks? No! We go one down while almost everyone else ends up 3NT+3 or 3NT+4. Therefore 0% Next board.partner pre-empts 3 Clubs. Next player bids 3 NT. All pass. My lead and I have K,Q,x of clubs. I expect that with my three and partner's seven clubs, declarer has Axx. I lead K expecting declarer to hold off the Ace, but see 2 small clubs in dummy (Funny I think!). Partner plays low and declarer pops up with J. Second trick is Q clubs. Partner overtakes with Ace and proceeds to win 5 more tricks in a row, making 7 all told. This with a random Ace and King gives us 9 tricks, i.e declarer is 5 down by bidding no trumps with a singleton against a pre-empt. Therefore 94% So, in two hands I experienced both the penalty and bonus of playing an automated tournament with random partners and opponents. I just can't remember two such hands consecutively before. Any other odd experiences so close together?

I agree with some of the comments. If in doubt, go for the slam. I don't leave tournaments as I try to protect my TCR. 24 boards would be a nightmare if you get off to a bad start - sometimes the cards seem racked against you, aces on the wrong side of kings, all finesses failing. I prefer random hands. I don't know exactly how it works, but a pool of hands taken at random sounds good to me. The hands aren't all the same for obvious reasons, but I am sure a program could be written that equalises the relative opportunities of the 8 hands in terms of opponents making a contract or the player getting the cards to make a part-score, a game or a slam. I still have issues about how robots play no trumps - very badly in my view!

I try to blow my fuse internally. My wife turns round when I shout ‘Stupid idiot’ at my laptop, but I normally hold back on going into chat mode during or after the tournament. I have also been on the receiving end, having, from time to time a) Made a complete horlicks of my bid or play, b) Had a sensitive mouse misclick in tournaments with no undo or c) Just made an honest but not cataclysmic mistake – I can’t be the only one who sometimes can’t remember whether the jack has gone or not, can I? It is rare to be roundly abused and mostly unfair, but ALWAYS contrary to the spirit of the game

As an intermediate player, I find leads the most difficult part of the game. I sometimes lead from a doubleton - but should I lead the higher or lower one first (this is based on two moderate cards, say 8, 5). My dad also told me if you haven't got a good lead, lead from a heap of rubbish, e.g. 9,5,4,2. Is that sensible?

I am an Intermediate player. I was playing an instant automated tournament, I opened 1 club with 14 points, 6 clubs and a singleton spade. Partner replies 1 NT. I followed with 2 clubs. Opponents had bid 2 hearts, followed by 3 hearts over my club bid. I decided to retire from the auction with a modest response from my partner and a limited hand. At this point my partner decides to bid 3 spades. Oh well, I think, he has 6 of them and we have a chance of sorts. Opponents bid a 4 hearts game (which can be made as it turns out). My partner then bids 4 spades, gets doubled. My mind is saying ‘I hope you have got 7 spades’. It turns out he has 4 spades queen high and 5 clubs. 5 down doubled. I think ‘he must be a so called expert’ Some expert. Note: he ran away during the hand – quelle surprise Fortunately, 2 hands later my opponent manages to bid 5 hearts over our unachievable 5 diamonds, which we double and he goes well down. I checked – he was another expert! So I managed to retain a mid-table position. Would you trust an expert?