hallway

Hi Cloa Yes all my members have perforce to be at least moderately fluent in English. I am a Kiwi with no language skills whatsoever.

Hi Hanoi The student in Spain is a lady and in her application she said "Im having difficulty finding a bridge class in Madrid that is convenient and preferably in English". From which I assume she may be of British extraction living in Spain

Do you enjoy sharing your Bridge Knowledge ? We are in need of additional Mentors for beginner and intermedate players keen to learn I have on the Waiting List an Intermediate SAYC player in Scotland Improving Beginner 5Card Major player in Luxemburg (CET) Improving Beginner Standard American player in US ET Improving Beginner 5 Card major player in US central Improving Intermediate 2/1 player in Spain Improving Intermediate SAYC player in US Mt If you have the time we would like to hear from you. You can read all about the BIL Mentoring Programme at My link

Do you enjoy passing on your bridge knowledge ? Do you have an hour or two a week to spare ? The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has players eager to improve SAYC players in US ET , US Central and South Africa 2/1 players in US ET , US Pacific and US Mountain Full details about the BIL's Mentor Program HERE To register to Mentor please complete the Registration Form HERE

You cant at this time but BBO could create the means of letting ( approved) Tds know when someone on their exclusion list does create new IDs Such a method seems preferable to me than allowing any and all TDs to condemn all new BBOers indiscriminately - that is what you are doing when you load that "exclude new members' option to your tourneys But then I am an old fashioned dinosaur who in spite of the undesirables and the ever present stalkers still prefers to give a newcomer a chance. As Uday said to me once long ago - "You need to toughen up M " - whenever the going seemed too rough that became my mantra and one learned to think outside the square and still be fair to those who deserved one's trust - so I say to today's TDs - 'you too need to toughen up " I just hope that some of you will now think twice before selecting the 'exclude new member' restriction.

I acknowledgde that those of us with Clubs dont of course face the problems that beset those who hold fully open tournaments. I dont use an exclusion list and I dont bother putting anyone on an 'enemy' list either I dont believe in giving them that much value ! They are told dont register in my tournaments again, if you do we will simply sub you out - what's not to understand ?( takes 2 seconds at most to do that ) However, if I was running open tournaments ( did a few back in the dim and distant past) and was being plagued by the undesirables and non of the many restrictions available helped in any way I would have requested BBO to create an Exclusion List Register. Whereby TD's with a proven track record could be given the right to register their Exclusion List When 'joeblog' signs up with a new name up comes the flag and the software automatically sends thew owner of the List an alert. One then decides do I give joeblog2 another chance ( just maybe now that he has had to go to that bother he may see the light ) or was he so bad I never want him near my players again in which case one adds his new ID to the Exclusion List Bingo! s/he has gone to the bother of creating a New ID and it didnt work, still cant get in - s/he may try again and even again to no avail and 3 months down the track one wouldnt have to start worrying about any of them turning up again in a new disguise. AND with an Exclusion Register there would be no need for any one to ever ban all new BBOers - so the innocent, very nice new BBOers could from day one come along and play, and feel welcomed. Instead it now seems that any TD can ban all new BBOers indiscriminately - even the TDs who have only just been granted permission to hold tourneys ?

So you put them in your exclusion list and then in addition condemn ALL new BBO members so that you dont have to deal with the undesirable's new BBOID for 3 months - IF it occurs to them to create one Do the undesirables suddenly become models of proprietory when their new BBOID hits 100 logins / 3 month mark ? That is NOT my experience !!!! - 'leopards never do change their spots' Oh NO I have evidence galore of that!! they will probably create a dozen new IDs at the same time so they wont have to wait anytime at all once the 3 month mark rolls in ( logging in 100 times takes no effort ) As you then add one new ID to your exclusion list they will simply switch to # 3 >>>>> Sounds to me a bit like playing ostrich - putting your head in the sand - they are not going to go away - deal with them on the day, it is no big deal to switch in a sub! and in the meantime you are going to give the WRONG message to a lot of decent people - the sort of people I thought BBO was created for. I will need a more compelling reason than that to convince me that this is a good thing for BBO Else those of us who care will have to plead for a bigger tourney description box so that we can add - NEW BBOers WELCOME HERE !

Would those of you who use the 'exclude new members' option please explain the rationale behind your decision to do so. I am being asked "what is a new member" - 'when will I be allowed to play in a tourney' ?- when I enquired from one who would know - the reply was " someone with less than 100 logins and joined BBO within 100 days". If I am to keep fielding these enquiries I do need to be able to explain why one would deem it necessary to ban a new BBOer on such grounds. I have been racking my ( admittedly aged) brains and I cannot think of any justification for doing so - I have been running tourneys on BBO since they first became possible and yes I was one of the first to plead for skill level restrictions- Experts dont want my beginners ruining their game and I dont want the experts upsetting my beginners. I understand the reasons behind all the other exclusions TDs have to choose from - but not this one :( I am of course of the old school - been a member for 11 years those were the days when one got a real thrill if one logged in to find FIVE tables playing in the MAIN Bridge Club. Tournaments were a long way off. The day we tipped one hundred online was sheer euphoria ! A new name was WELCOMED !!! - a new name with beginner as a skill level was, for me, a TREASURE to behold !! # logins a reason to ban ? my personal ID says 5000 + - the log in counter only came on stream a couple years ago and didnt go back to the start so you can multiply that a few times- so that restriction wouldnt stop me registering BUT I dont even let myself play in any of my own Club tourneys ! 1 What are today's new BBOers guilty of ? - 2 What makes a player acceptable if they joined 3 months ago and have logged in once a day ? - I have members who have belonged to BBO for years, logged in 100's of times who havent yet sat at a table why are they acceptable but if my local Regional champion, a decent enough guy and not too shabby a player joined today he would not even be given a trial ? I do understand that BBO would not have used precious programming time to make such an option available to those of you who have, presumably, pleaded for it unless there is some compelling reason behind the need for it. I am obviously missing the plot. Right now it grieves me deeply to think that a BBO TD can discriminate against a fellow bridge player simply because they are a 'new' member of BBO.

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) on BBO has a German beginner player looking for a Mentor to teach Forum D as played in German Bridge Clubs If you are interested in helping this player please contact admin@bilbridge.com and I will send you full details of the BIL's mentoring programme Thank you

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has players in the UK keen to work hard to become a good bridge players Do you have a couple of hours a week to help ? Intermediate & Improving Intermediate level ACOL players Please Email me for full information Look forward to hearing from you

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has improving and upper intermediate players in the US keen to work hard to becom a good bridge player and leave the BIL to join the ranks of Advanced Do you have a couple of hours a week to help ? Please Email me for full information Look forward to hearing from you

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has a player in Sweden keen to work hard to become a good bridge player Do you have a couple of hours a week to help ? Intermediate learning SAYC Please Email me for full information Look forward to hearing from you

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has several players in Eastern Australia keen to work hard to improve their bridge. Do you have a couple of hours a week to help them? Improving Beginner learning Std American Improving Intermediate learning 2/1 Improving Beginner learning 5 CM Intermediate learning SAYC Please contact Email me for full information Look forward to hearing from you

The BIL is a NON PROFIT organisation manned by Volunteers. The BIL receives no grants, sponsorship or financial support of any kind – it is of necessity self supporting. As with all organisations it requires funding to function. From Sept 3,2003 it was funded by donations from members and from Aug 2007 voluntary membership fees to access certain areas of the newly launched BIL Library site. I underwrite the shortfall. When unable to do that I borrow from the Bank. By the end of 2008 the debt burden was unsupportable so with great reluctance I introduced a 60 day free trial membership with a compulsory Annual Support Fee for the membership to then remain active. As BBO can attest the current (Dec 21) active membership is 1885 of those 354 are Honorary members – Teachers /Mentors/ BIL Grads who naturally pay nothing, 246 have a trial ( free )membership - 92 are Youth members 6-15 yrs who have a free membership - 390 have gifted free memberships being those who help/have helped in some way – e.g. made donations, TD tourneys , Manage Teams , BILAssist at every lesson, assist with Admin of Beginner Bridge Programme, and Mentoring Programme, arrange Special Events, Scribblers, Translators, BILFriend group, make lesson Movies, and others giving of their time in many, many ways plus those whose exchange rate would make paying a burden. = 803 less dual logins and family groups for which only 1 ASF is requested = financial members . Where does the money go ? 33% off the top goes on Bank charges, international money transaction fees , transfer fees and Levies. The balance being used to make Payments for : Prizes , monthly charges for bulk mail handling - up to 10 publications per month. Debt reduction . Programming costs for development, upgrading and maintenance of the BIL Library and its databases and to develop, upgrade and maintain the Mentor Programme Console. Here in NZ, IT assistance is expensive, the November account cost $724 . In my day the word computer wasn’t even in the dictionary, creating web pages and uploading data are about my limit. Then there are all the usual general overheads incurred by any organisation. Neither I nor any of the good people who assist me including the teachers, mentors and guests receive any remuneration for the many thousands of hours that are collectively given to the BIL members each and every year. For me it is a 7 day week, the hours being the equivalent of a full time occupation with overtime ! I would dearly love to be able to offer the Teachers, Mentors and key personnel an honorarium, maybe in time this will be possible - as a reward, not as a prerequisite – I am only interested in having around me people who are prepared to give back to the game by helping newcomers in their pursuit of becoming good bridge players . Another dream I have for the BIL is to be able to sponsor promising new players travel and entry costs to f2f regional and national tournaments in their home countries so they can actually play with their Mentors / BIL partners – as many of my members have found bridge on the internet, and they don’t belong to f2f clubs. BIL members who do, fare pretty well according to the ACBL results. What does the BIL member receive for their Annual Support Fee ? The BIL Annual Support Fee provides the BBO Beginner, Intermediates who choose to join the BIL with • Free lessons in the BIL on BBO daily (generally 30 - 40 hours per week) • Participation in any of the special courses that ones skill level qualifies one for (usually 6 courses running) • access to all BIL Special Events on BBO (usually 2 per month, often more ) • access to all BIL sponsored Free tournaments on BBO – ave 7 a week . • Participation in any BIL sponsored Team matches • Participation in the monthly “How to Use BBO software “ session • One on one BBO software assistance from the BILFriend group Use of BIL Library: www.bilbridge.com • access to the News Noticeboard (24/7) to keep up to date with BIL activities • access to the FAQ section (24/7) - all you need to know to get the most out of BBO • Tournament details and extensive illustrated help • the Event Calendar - know what is coming up. (a paid version to provide members with emailed alerts and conversion to their own time zone) • the Forum (Alfresco café) to interact with fellow members, get advice from the Experts • Gazette archive - every gazette has articles to learn from. • The Bridge Quiz'/Crossword to participate in (24/7) currently 5 different formats • A dedicated Beginners Section with own Ask a Bridge Question and Quiz • A dedicated Youth section with own Ask a Bridge Question and Quiz Plus • the BIL Mentoring service - 6 months free!! one on one/ small group tuition • A monthly emailed Gazette (20 – 30 pages) and regular bulletins to advise of Special Events • And more The Premier Membership includes the Annual Support Fee for the term of the membership and also provides access to the otherwise restricted parts of the BIL Library I believe the BIL Volunteers and I give an extraordinary service to those who choose to join us. One member wrote recently Happy Holidays to all of the wonderful teachers, mentors, friends, and volunteers who make BIL a year-round bridge treasure :). And another said I find myself lost for words so a zillion thanks goes to everybody behind the scene for their highly appreciated work, the one and only club which has none higher, none aside, respectfully appreciated by me and many BBO'rs, who have had their first hours of bridge in the club. Of the Mentoring Programme a recent graduate who had not played f2f said When I first acquired a computer following retirement ..I quickly joined BBO and Maureen's BIL club, forever grateful to be given great mentors, first as a beginner to intermediate and thence to my present status.. I have made many bridge friendships along the way which has given my retirement life an added dimension, and which (I'm sure) helps keep the synapses firing on all four cylinders…I am grateful and thank my mentors for their dedication, humbly accepting their faith in me as being worthy of advanced status. It has been an amazing experience …. While we may not receive any monetary reward we are richly rewarded in ways that really count - In 2010 members have said on here If you have read this far and feel that the BIL does provide BBO’s beginner and intermediate players a value for money service and if you do have the skill, the time and the patience to be a MENTOR I have members who need your help. You can read all about the BIL Mentor Programme - here. The Pay ? as one Mentor told me - “ should have done it years ago, my bridge has improved tremendously !!” Seasons greetings to you all and all the very best for 2011 – watch out for the BILlies one already has a Star and several more are now acknowledged Experts. Another dream which maybe you can help me make come true - to one day be watching a BIL Graduate playing in the Bermuda Bowl :rolleyes:

Mike Lawrence ( MIKESL on BBO) will hold another 2 hr session in the Beginner/Intermediate Lounge (BIL) on BBO for Beginner and Intermediate Players on SUNDAY December 5 at 15:00 EST( New York time) All beginning and intermediate-level BBO players are welcome to join the Lawrence sessions by registering for a 60-day free membership in the BIL at www.bilbridge.com. The tutorials from his first two in BIL sessions are availabe for members of the BIL to study in the BIL Library www.bilbridge.com > Explore BIL > Teaching Sessions > Mikesl Lawrence is a three-time world champion, whose bridge career began with an invitation by Ira Corn in 1968 to join the Dallas Aces. “This was Ira’s dream,” says Lawrence, “to captain a team that would win back the world championship for the US. Our team succeeded in this, winning back-to-back championships in Stockholm and in Taiwan.” The Aces defeated the long-reigning Italian Blue Team by winning the Bermuda Bowls in 1970 and 1971. Under Ira Corn's mentorship, Lawrence started teaching bridge and subsequently writing books. He has written more than 20 books since and has received numerous book-of-the-year awards starting with his first book, How to Read Your Opponents' Cards. Lawrence’s “semi-forcing” contribution to the theory of 2/1 game forcing systems competes with Max Hardy’s "unconditional forcing" approach. Together, they wrote the book Standard Bridge Bidding for the 21st Century in 2000. He also helped develop educational bridge software with our own Fred Gitelman. (Congratulations, Fred, on Diamond Team Victory!) Lawrence’s many wins include 16 North American Championships, as well as the Cavendish Invitational—the largest money bridge tournament in the world. Lesson Format:Mike will take all 4 seats and the 2 hour Lecture will focus on ten things that new players should get right now and not have to unlearn later. For the duration of the bidding session, he won't be able to take questions but afterwards may be able to answer a few of them. CHICK ( Cornelia ) will BILAssist on the day and all questions should be sent to her via private chat - please follow her instructions. When asked a question in relation to the lecture send your answers directly to CHICK not to the table. Please Note:Everyone will need some of the yellow sticky 'post it' notes ( or similar) to be able to stick on your computer monitor to cover specific hands as directed on the day. The software does not allow you to kib both E/W hands but not see the N/S hands at a BBO teaching table. Mike wants you to be able to do that to get the most out of the lesson. Questions about the teaching sessions? Please Email me - admin@bilbridge.com BIL Membership: Processing can take 24 hours from when you fill in the Application Form on www.bilbridge.com . There will be no late entries accepted.

Mike's first visit to the BIL was very well received and enjoyed by those who attended. Summed up by one member who said what a great time with Mike Lawrence this morning - so clear, logical, and well paced. and very nice not to have time and space taken with comments from the kibs. thank you to you, Cornelia, and, of course Mike L. a terrific experience! The session focused on Bidding Take Out Doubles We are all looking forward to the 2nd part - Take Out Doubles Continuations Thursday November 4, 2010 - starting at NOON EST ( New York time) hope you can attend Kev

Mike Lawrence will be teaching on BBO for the first time! Two Thursday sessions in the Beginner/Intermediate Lounge (BIL) at 11:00 EDT on October 28 and at noon EDT on November 4. All beginning and intermediate-level BBO players are welcome to join the Lawrence sessions by registering for a 60-day free membership in the BIL at www.bilbridge.com. Lawrence is a three-time world champion, whose bridge career began with an invitation by Ira Corn in 1968 to join the Dallas Aces. “This was Ira’s dream,” says Lawrence, “to captain a team that would win back the world championship for the US. Our team succeeded in this, winning back-to-back championships in Stockholm and in Taiwan.” The Aces defeated the long-reigning Italian Blue Team by winning the Bermuda Bowls in 1970 and 1971. Under Ira Corn's mentorship, Lawrence started teaching bridge and subsequently writing books. He has written more than 20 books since and has received numerous book-of-the-year awards starting with his first book, How to Read Your Opponents' Cards. Lawrence’s “semi-forcing” contribution to the theory of 2/1 game forcing systems competes with Max Hardy’s "unconditional forcing" approach. Together, they wrote the book Standard Bridge Bidding for the 21st Century in 2000. He also helped develop educational bridge software with our own Fred Gitelman. (Congratulations, Fred, on Diamond Team Victory!) Lawrence’s many wins include 16 North American Championships, as well as the Cavendish Invitational—the largest money bridge tournament in the world. Lesson Format: Mike will have two players that he met on BBO bid five prepared hands for him. Mike will be in the other two seats and will be commenting on the points of the hand and talking with his two friends. For the duration of the bidding session, he won't be able to take questions but afterwards may be able to answer a few of them. The topic will be competitive bidding where they are faced with an opening bid. What they do and what it all means will be part of the package. Questions about the teaching sessions? Please Email me BIL Membership: Processing can take 24 hours from when you fill in the Application Form - if you miss out on the first session you will be able to attend the second one. There will be no late entries accepted.

The ID Created dates for both my hallway and BILmanager IDs are incorrect They both say 1/3/2005 Rain tells me that is because that is when the data started being collected so because we have been around since way back when ours wont display correctly. Here am I telling all my members that the BIL will be 7 years old September 3, 2010 and now the BILmanager profile is officially announcing to the world that the BIL was created on 1/3/2005 - therfore only 5 years old :ph34r: - makes me look a liar :( Can the created date and number times logged in be expunged from the profiles of those who joined prior to 1/3/2005 - both have no relevance Instead of it saying 1/3/2005 have it saying unknown / unknown

A BILlie in the States wants to help a young relative in Spain He says I have a "Great-Nephew" lives in Majorca, Spain. I have him interested in Bridge ! ! ! (15 yrs old ) & we plan on Skype calling. When he gets home ( to Spain) & downloads BBO his version will be in Spanish - I do not speak. < is that correct ? does BBO now display automatically in the language of the country ? - I thought one had to choose a language ? - but he goes on to say > When I went to Mexico & got on BBO it was in Spanish & IT Tech's tried to see if the English version could be downloaded. The Hotel IT Tech's could not. Is it possible now for him to download the English version? ...... We will practice w/BOTs & PShip Bidding Rooms. His English is very good btw. How can his nephew get the English versions of BBO on his home computer in Spain ? What difference does it make if using BBOWIN5.2.6 or if one is using the BBO Web Client ? We always introduce new players to Fred's Learn to Play Bridge 1 and 2 and I havent been able to find those on the Web Client. The BIL's Beginning Bridge Programme uses a variety of 'bridge movies' (LIN files) for study purposes and they need BBOWIN5.2.6 Thanks for any help you can give - this 15 year old could be a future Champion :(

I have a Beginner and an Intermediate player keen to learn to study and improve - both reside in Germany and play Forum D If you can help please fill in the registration form for the BIL Mentoring Programme at - Beginner Intermediate Lounge Thanks

I have 2 players keen to improve their playing skills Both reside in Germany and are learning Forum D One is an Intermediate player and the other a Beginner Do you have an hour or 2 to spare each week to help them ? If you do please fill in the registration form - click on Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) Thanks in anticipation

My grateful thanks to the 4 who have joined the BIL's Mentoring Programme who now have their quota of students to work with. I have amended the list above to show the waiting list as it now stands Jan27. ACOL , FORUMD and STD AMERICAN teachers being those urgently needed. You dont necessarily have to reside in the same country - The differences in availability / time zones can often make a match possible . One of our new mentors resides in England I was delighted thinking that I had found someone for all the ACOL players however his availability and theirs just did not make a match possible. Fortunately he also teaches SAYC and the 3 players I had waiting in Australia now have a mentor as the time difference and their availability made meeting possible.

Do you have some time to spare say an hour or 2 a week to Mentor one on one BIL players keen to improve their play ? I need mentors for BIL players in the following areas CANADA (Atlantic) - SA - Improving Beginner (1) - SAYC Intermediate (1) CANADA ( (Est) - 5CM - Improving Beginner (1) CANADA (Est( - SAYC - Improving Beginner (1) ENGLAND - Acol - Improving beginner (1) Interemdiate (1) Upper Intermediate (1) GERMANY - ForumD - Beginner (1) - Intermediate (1) HUNGARY - Std American - Beginner (1) ITALY - 5CM - Improving Beginner (1) NETHERLANDS - Precision - Intermediate (1) USA (Est) - Acol - Intermediate (1) USA (Est) SA - Improving Beginner (1) USA (Central) - SAYC - Beginner (1) Improving Intermediate (1) USA (Central) - SA - Upper Intermediate (1) USA ( Mountain) - SA Improving Intermediate (1) WALES - 5CM - Intermediate (1)) They are all keen to work hard and do any homework set for them If you can help please fill in the registration form on http://bilbridge.com/ApplyForMembership/BI...Form_mentor.php BIL Bridge A BIL Player wrote : - Again this year I met (yet another) person whose time, enthusiasm and effort stimulate us to keeping on learning. ... so I have made this my New Years resolution I played with a gal in the BIL T'was an expert and full of good will Her advice, "Don't play faster, T'will end in disaster," So I promised to THINK and I will. Thank you

hooray for Sheri :lol:

1st Fred 2nd Uday 3rd Walddk 4th Sheri 5th Inquiry