hallway

I agree 100% Players SHOULD read the Tournament description . One has to presume that they DON'T :- My Director and I actually cancelled our Friday tournament immediatley after the start and reset it in order to get rid of the invaders. I had set it to restrict to my members - and checked & double checked !! - somehow (software glitch) that wasn't happening. The astonishing thing was that the name of the tournament said BEG/INT LOUNGE - now even supposing that someone didn't translate that to mean Beginner Intermediate I had also typed into the description panel - Restricted to members of the Beginner Intermediate Lounge !! There were dozens of them that had totally ignored that !! This was the second time that this has happened and I think it is probably a bit like the tournament countdown clock - unstable until within 24 hrs of the start time. So I will be checking that from now on as well as the clock. Nothing though can make me understand why anyone would even attempt to enter any tournament unless they meet the criteria laid down by the TD. Players have to learn to respect the time GIVEN to them by the TD's If booting them out of Tournaments (when their Profiles clearly show that they do not meet the restrictions for that Tournament ) is the only way to educate them - THEN BOOT THEM !!

3.5.3 Chat log = double spacing = fantastic 3.5.4 Chat Log = 'run on' = nightmare - a 3.5.4 bug or have I done something ?

It seems to me that people could save themselves a lot of 'grief' simply by accepting the responsibility of being the Host a. When they set up the table b. When they become the host by default when the table initiator leaves. We have the Table Description facility - we should USE IT !! Spell out the requirements for the table: any system or a particular system chat or no chat this language or that language whatever it is that makes bridge enjoyable for the Host. Then quite simply when a new person sits ask them ' have you read the Table Description ? " IF they reply "What ??" <duh> tell them to Click on Table (black button rhs of screen) hold cursor over Host name - and read it !! Now they have 3 options - 1. Leave probably (hopefully) with a 'sry not my style' 2. Stay probably (hopefully) with a 'great , how's my profile for you?' 3. Stay anyway The point is that at any time during the course of play if there is any form of dissent the Host can simply refer the dissident to the Table Description . If they stay and persist in their unacceptable behaviour then they are simply asking to be to be asked to leave and/or Booted . When becoming the Host of a table by default by clicking on the Table Button the description can be modified if need be. Be a responsible Host.

Read someplace that the Private Club Description panel was now stable. So redid the B/I Lounge one. Saved it on my PC this time - just as well ! it lasted two days - gone this morning !

I stand to be corrected, of course, but what I think emelnl is saying - is that as the TD I should not be permitted to choose to make it so that the Kibitzers cannot talk publicly to the table in play. The software gives me that choice and so I will exercise my right to make that choice. For all BIL events I shall always select the option that denies Kibitzers the ability to talk to the tables. Allow Kibs Silent. I allow Kibitzers for two reasons : (a) It gives their fellow members the chance to watch their peers in action and , hopefully, they will decide that they too can do this and will enter next time. (:) It gives my member's Mentors the opportunity to watch their proteges in action, to make notes etc. to better advise them when they next hold a mentoring session with them back in the BIL. These events are Tournaments !! NOT Social Gatherings - for social gatherings the members can open their own tables and/or chatrooms where ever and when ever they like. The Directors who give up their freetime to run these tournaments for my members do so in order to Help my members by giving the members the opportunity to test themselves (and all that they have learned from the many teachers who strive to improve the members bridge playing skills ) by playing in a competitive enviroment. That means applying themselves , focusing on what they are doing - not having their concentration broken by unsolicited comments from the kibitzers - even if it is well meaning ! Besides which , IMO, it would be grossly discourteous of me (as a kibitzer) to disrupt the play of three strangers in order to address a personal comment to a fourth . If an Event warrants comments from the Gallery I will invite , then enable as a Director guest speaker/s to address them. I will be entirely happy if the default is changed to Allow Kibs Silent.

I have seen this quite often in the B/I Lounge. I have been meaning to mention it . An empty table and when you join it you find yourself talking to yourself ;) as the Host seems to have departed into cyber space Seems to stay there for hours and hours

I know , I know Club Managers should be impartial . I am pleased for any member when they triumph BUT today I am THRILLED !!! Over the Moon !!! I am going to get into trouble but I am going to tell you their story. I introduced Tiny to BBO about a year ago and she has attended Cascade's Acol sessions regularly. And is now learning Sayc & 2/1 . Until then although she had a PC she had only ever used it for a couple of family emailings. So along with suddenly finding that her Senior level f2f bridge was anything but Senior on BBO she has had to learn to use her computer as well.! She became a BBO addict. Then Mangaro wanted to do it too. So in the middle of this year she bought her very first PC . The first thing I had to show her was BBO - she took to it like a duck to water . She too soon found out that being a Senior at the Club was not going to 'cut the mustard ' on BBO so along with taking herself off to PC lessons (once I became too busy with the BIL) she too started attending/participating in Cascades Acol lessons and Olivers Precision lessons and watching vugraph etc etc Today these two entered the BIL's Mink's pairs Matchpoints Tournament and they WON - 67.31% Nothing to get excited about I hear you thinking - My oath it is - Tiny is 77 and Mangaro is 82 ;) So you YOUNG BILlies you have some work to do ;D Did I say I am THRILLED ? - I AM thrilled !!!

I for one am like a kid with a new toy today as I explore what I can and cannot do. I LOVE my sending mail buttons :D Sorry to all those folk who got 'frozen' as I put them to the test :-[ seems like sending out a mass mailing to approx 2000 is not a good idea at the moment. BUT it worked a treat ! I have promised Uday to be good today and just settle for using the Chat to (all members online) which is a positive treasure . I used it a short while ago and what I got back were all nice mail from members :D not a single demand from a non member wanting to join the tourney !! as the message cannot be seen by the Lobby . ;D Ofcourse as is the case with all humans - 'the more we have the more we want' and so message to Uday - that friends/enemies thingy on my profile is great but it would be MAGIC if I could have one in the Club Table facility - then I could split the membership into sections and then the various 'groups' would not get what amounts to Club Spam :( But both he and Fred know where I stand on this - I have had to keep reminding them as my Wish List went from 9 pages to 17 pages to ......... don't know :o I ASK - I DO NOT EXPECT if I do not Ask - I cannot hope !! I am glad the case of the missing Club profiles has been solved - got an awful shock to find that so carfully worded document (which I had not saved to my computer :( ) had vansihed . I have noticed that Clubs without a profile have an applications form while those with a profile do not - wondered why I had been able to log in and out with gay abandon for 12 hours without a single application. When one has grown accostomed to an average 50 a day I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms ;) The Leave Mail Messages are a delight I can now park them anywhere I want and they follow me around until such time as I am ready to deal with them and as far as I can tell none have 'gone' wherever thay used to go . And with the reply window ready and waiting (no more having to type in weird and wonderful ID's and get Mail error then you have to try this that and the other >:( ) it's like getting one's Xmas cake early :D There are some other things I know have been fixed but won't go live until the public release - the challenge then will be to retrain the brain not to use the work-arounds one dreams up. Must get back to discovering what else I can find . Thanks

Steve & Team From the opposite end of the bridge playing spectrum I wish you every success in your endeavours. If the general membership take pause and think about the opportunity your efforts (and believe me it is going to take effort ) can provide for them they too will see that TOP FLIGHT can /will add a WHOLE NEW DEPTH to all that BBO makes possible for the world wide bridging community. I am sure that the Beginner Intermediate Lounge membership will become avid Kibitzers - mind you it is my desire that they become GROUNDED in the BASICS before aiming to take FLIGHT ********* Just a quick word to the wise :- "the title says it all ......it is for Gold Stars" hmmmmm well I too thought my Private Club's Title of Beginner Intermediate Lounge said it all ! - it has been suggested that I should change it to "Bridge Under Construction" - the door is in splinters thanks to the rampaging hoard of NON beginner intermediates who have battered their way through it.

I paste into the Chat dialog box nearly all day everyday (or so it seems at times) ! From any where I have tried e.g. BBF/ MS Word / Outlook etc. I just - highlight Ctrl C then Ctrl V only catch is there is a limit to how much text the Chat dialog box can handle so it pays to do some editing first. Though interestingly when I tried doing that on another computer it didn't work (?) and I woke the household up with all the clattering of the keys as I typed out some 50 odd messages at 5.30am - lol my daughter-in-law was less than impressed with my committment to BBO !! I just WISH I could figure out how to copy the Leave Mail Messages that I pick up every time I log in !! having to copy them onto bits of paper (with a pen !!!! ) before I touch that ok tests the patience ! but as the old grey cells just won't remember them all that is what I have to do because once they are gone they are gone for good ! So if someone has figured that one out I will be very happy to read about it.

Immediately after the Event I was shattered, devastated amongst all the accolades, congratulations & praise it seemed to me that it had in fact degenerated into nothing more than just - another Tournament. It was never meant to be a Tournament - Richard's idea was that the Members could benefit by rounding out all the learning they do attending mentoring sessions/lectures in the Lounge with an actual playing experience where they would have one on one help from 'their own Expert'. I could not figure out how I could arrange it within the Private Club's facilities so I opted to use the Tournament Section (software) to make it happen. Unfortunately that meant I had to keep using the word Tournament All the feedback I received in the first 24 hours afterwards , while complimentary, was all focused on the 'tournament' aspect. In my report to my members I described it as a "Spectacular(thx for the accolades) Failure (it was NOT a tournament) " !! I am EXTREMELY gratified to have now received reports back from a number of Members for whom the Event turned out to be ALL I had wished it to be. Their 'Pro' took time out to talk to them , practice with them, and help them during the playing of the hands and some have even offered to play a few boards with them from time to time in the future. NOW I can call it a Spectacular Success It is for us the Members of the Beginner Intermediate Lounge to THANK ALL THE 'PROS' who gave of their time and shared their knowledge. For the record 71 'Pros' which included some 9 World Ranked * Players took part. The Winners - every member who had the courage to grasp the opportunity offered to them. - (not all did, some of the 'Pros' were disappointed that their partner 'chickened out' ) The BIL is laying claim to what must be the record for the least disconnects during a Tournament. I did not do a single Substitution !! I haven't checked with Viki yet but she only had a couple of Director calls which may or may not have been due to disconnects.. AGAIN MY THANKS TO ALL THE 'PROS' WHO TOOK PART - should any of you have any 'bright ideas' on how you may be able to be of assistance to the "BILlies" in the future I will be happy to ADD you to the BIL's Honorary Member List and re-enable 'the key to the door'. I could not have done it without the ASSISTANCE of a number of people who rallied to my call to help 'round up' sufficient 'Pros' . I could not have chosen a worse date it seems !!! My sincere THANKS to ALL of you.

It is for us the Members of the Beginner Intermediate Lounge to THANK ALL THE 'PROS' who gave of their time and shared their knowledge. For the record 71 'Pros' which included some 9 World Ranked * Players took part. The Top Scoring Pair were Mandy & JKJ with 31.76 The Winners - every member who had the courage to grasp the opportunity offered to them. The BIL is laying claim to what must be the record for the least disconnects during a Tournament. I did not do a single Substitution !! I haven't checked with Viki yet but she only had a couple of Director calls which may or may not have been due to disconnects.. AGAIN MY THANKS TO ALL THE 'PROS' WHO TOOK PART - should any of you have any 'bright ideas' on how you may be able to be of assistance to the "BILlies" in the future I will be happy to ADD you to the BIL's Honorary Member List and re-enable 'the key to the door'.

Claus I use that link - it is on all the BILounge schedule pages in the Lounge Club News section - direct to the meeting planner which is ideal for my members sorting out their own times to attend teaching sessions. M

Am I the only one who has a problem with the time left to the start as shown in the Tournament Listing and the actual time of day that one has scheduled the start for ?? Every tournament I have done I have encountered these discrepancies. Now my Math is pretty rusty so it has been a case of - oh well one is prone to Senior Moments !! BUT after changing it twice in the past hour I watched it for sometime and while my computer clock ticked over 5 minutes - the Tournament time to start stayed the same :-(

Beginner Intermediate Lounge Mentoring Sessions: A typical week now sees some 15 + two hour sessions covering systems such as BridgeBase Basic Sayc 2/1 Acol Precision others focus on specific subjects Conventions Defence Counting Doubles Slam Bidding Playing of the Hands Plans are being put into place now for the 2004 schedule with members proposing the topics they want to see featured. [glow=red,2,300]The members are truly grateful to all those who give of their time and knowledge[/glow] Special Events November features two Events the first was held on 22 nd. The members were treated to a session involving a group of expert players who took turns playing and commentating discussing their reasons for bidding and playing what they did. They were asked to fucus and comment mainly on the defensive aspects of their play. I had a hidden agenda for the session. This was not intended to be a Lesson as such. My purpose was for the members to come to realise that each and every action by all four at a table has to be thought about and factored into their decision making. Thinking develops Judgement and imo Judgement is what seperates the Good bridge player from the ordinary. The BIL philosophy is to give the members the means of gaining a rock like foundation of the Basics of their System of choice and then to present those who wish to go forward the opportunities to expand that knowledge base . The members that attended were to use a popular comment "riveted". [glow=red,2,300]Our sincere thanks to those who put themselves on the line to make this, indeed, a Special Event.[/glow] Pro/Am Tournament 29 November 16:00est Richard's good idea became Maureen's nightmare. However, some 70 + members now have 70 + partners and it is now up to them to make the most of the opportunity being offered to them. Apart from the experience of playing with a partner proficient & skilled in the Art of Good Bridge the hands will be used as an ongoing teaching tool. The only director calls permitted on the day are for Substitutions ONLY - there will be NO adjustments of any kind for any reason . The score line for this Tournament is immaterial. The WINNERS will be those that make the most of the opportunity the "Pros" are offering them - overheard - goal setting, Bermuda Bowl 2028 (I liked that !) [glow=red,2,300]To all those who accepted our Invitations to assist the BIL in this endeavour - THANK YOU [/glow] !!!

Beginner Intermediate Lounge Mentoring Sessions: A typical week now sees some 15 + two hour sessions covering systems such as BridgeBase Basic Sayc 2/1 Acol Precision others focus on specific subjects Conventions Defence Counting Doubles Slam Bidding Playing of the Hands Plans are being put into place now for the 2004 schedule with members proposing the topics they want to see featured. [glow=red,2,300]The members are truly grateful to all those who give of their time and knowledge[/glow] Special Events November features two Events the first was held on 22 nd. The members were treated to a session involving a group of expert players who took turns playing and commentating discussing their reasons for bidding and playing what they did. They were asked to fucus and comment mainly on the defensive aspects of their play. I had a hidden agenda for the session. This was not intended to be a Lesson as such. My purpose was for the members to come to realise that each and every action by all four at a table has to be thought about and factored into their decision making. Thinking develops Judgement and imo Judgement is what seperates the Good bridge player from the ordinary. The BIL philosophy is to give the members the means of gaining a rock like foundation of the Basics of their System of choice and then to present those who wish to go forward the opportunities to expand that knowledge base . The members that attended were to use a popular comment "riveted". [glow=red,2,300]Our sincere thanks to those who put themselves on the line to make this, indeed, a Special Event.[/glow] Pro/Am Tournament 29 November 16:00est Richard's good idea became Maureen's nightmare. However, some 70 + members now have 70 + partners and it is now up to them to make the most of the opportunity being offered to them. Apart from the experience of playing with a partner proficient & skilled in the Art of Good Bridge the hands will be used as an ongoing teaching tool. The only director calls permitted on the day are for Substitutions ONLY - there will be NO adjustments of any kind for any reason . The score line for this Tournament is immaterial. The WINNERS will be those that make the most of the opportunity the "Pros" are offering them - overheard - goal setting, Bermuda Bowl 2028 (I liked that !) [glow=red,2,300]To all those who accepted our Invitations to assist the BIL in this endeavour - THANK YOU [/glow] !!!

QUOTE Gweny says:- "Chat do not work on click - you must click "chat' to send " I am So pleased to hear I am NOT the ONLY one that happens to !! It also happens from time to time at other than Tournament tables .

Do not DESPAIR Ron is BACK 7.30pm AUSSIE time Friday 7 November in the Beginner Intermediate Lounge Maureen :)

On the schedule page in the Lounge Club News I have put a link to a World Clock Meeting Planner - Just put the date / New York - if you want to use the EST time I give you / Your place Scroll to the time listed and it will tell you your time even easier it defaults to UTC / enter your place / scroll to UTC time as listed in my schedule. I LOVE the fact that the Tournament's software gives the time in days , hours, minutes I only have to set the minutes to start time from my clock/my time :P and not have to worry about what time it was yesterday in New York and/or UTC time (NZ being up to a day ahead of the rest of world is a worry :-) At least with the Tournaments I know that all any of the members have to do is add the days/hrs/mins to the time on their computer clock and they will KNOW what time it starts at their place (no daylight savings on/off to worry about either)

Denis, Glad to see you are reading the Lounge Club News :P Oliver says: What I'm intending to teach is closest to Eric Jannerstern's, which is fairly close to Classic CC Wei Precision. Some information about Wei Precision can be found at www.gwilliams.org.uk/systems/precision.html

Last night we had the following hand . Turns out that we were the only ones in the room to have bid the Slam ;D Made us feel like a pair if dizzy teenagers of course ::) However, now in the cold light of day we realise that with everyone else stopping in 4S that maybe our 'thinking' was flawed. Ask THE BOYS says Robyn so :- North- Dealer N/S - Vul North 73 K984 AK9843 5 East AKJ109862 A103 void K10 South 54 J652 7 J87643 West Q Q7 QJ10652 AQ92 So the question is - How SHOULD the bidding have gone ?

Beginner Intermediate Lounge Our Celebration Event was FANTASTIC THINK with FRED An awe inspiring session as FRED partnered by Cascade and Opposed by JRG and Inquiry played board after board. FRED explaining to the members the information the bids were conveying to him therefore what cards he assessed the others as having. Then onto the playing of the cards He commented on the use of signals when to and when there was no need to ! It will forever be mystery to me how anyone can think - commentate via keyboard and play the cards as he does. No wonder then that members kept asking me - puzzled - 'can he see the four hands ?' !!! as time after time he would say ' partner will have ........ AND partner DID !! or Opps will have ........and Opps DID have !! What a wonderful experience that was for all those who were able to attend - even if only for part of the time. I do hope that it has inspired in you all a DETERMINATION to work hard at improving your understanding of this incredibly complex but fascinating game and to practicing your playing skills. (In the Lounge , of course !) To become a good player . let alone a great one, takes dedication and committment. Maybe........ if he sees that you are making good use of the Lounge , playing there , attending sessions, competing in our tournaments......... maybe........ we will be able to have him back one day. It was a great privelege and a Grand way to celebrate. From all the Members FRED we THANK YOU. Thank you too to those three brave souls Wayne, Ben, John who undaunted (they won't confess to knocking knees ) played their part with skill - NOT easy when you know your every decision is being commmented on and all those eyes around the world are watching every move !!! Thank you too to Rado, Roland & Dwayne for their input and fielding all the member queries. The Beginner Intermediate Lounge is indeed Launched and now the Champions of tomorrow will begin their climb to the TOP.

Ben Goes nicely with your [glow=red,2,300]1111 [/glow]posts !!!!!

Membership Applications NOTE: I will CEASE taking applications for Membership at 14:00 EDT on Thursday 23rd October. Any received after that time will NOT be acted upon until Friday 24th !! There will be NO exceptions !! I have not played nor kibitzed a single hand nor been able to pay attention to any sessions since I started the Lounge :'( I WILL be kibitzing this session :D Advanced/Adv+ ........PLEASE do NOT apply for membership >:( - you may email me if you have a proposal to put forward that will Help the members :) I have sought advice from my 7 year old grandson Louis - I asked him to write down what the following words mean - Beginner Intermediate Lounge after giving me one of his considering looks he asked , "Why?" - a very inquiring sort of a child ::) Because, I said, "I need to know whether people should be able to understand me". This is what he said: Beginner - primers - aka - year 1 and 2 at school Intermediate - room 8 and 9 - aka 12 & 13 year olds Lounge - the place to play video games < I shall have to have words with his Mother > - aka - to play computer bridge. 'Whoa' I said, "before you go what about Advanced?" with a look that spelt out very clearly - "gawd GrandMothers are gormless" he wrote - college kids of course! - and dashed off to see to important matters such as finding out what is inside that dead snail ;) NO COLLEGE KIDS ALLOWED [glow=red,2,300]To:[/glow] Beginner Intermediate Lounge BBO Administrators, Honorary Members and Members [glow=red,2,300]S P E C I A L E V E N T [/glow] 17:00 EDT FINAL REMINDER Thursday 23rd October MEMBERS may access the full details of this EXTRA SPECIAL EVENT from the Lounge Club News Now talking about the Lounge Club News - I have got it pretty well usable now so the 'honeymoon' is over ...............no more using up BBO's valuable resources sending you out reminders. !! You will still get notifications of new Events/Tournaments/Sessions as they are scheduled. The choice is yours write them down as you receive them or go to the Lounge Club News to remind yourselves. ::) Do NOT be asking the Teachers when the next session is - they are worn out from teaching you , let them leave in peace ::) There is now a link on the schedule page so you can do your own time conversions too 8) SEE YOU ALL THURSDAY - TO CELEBRATE did I say 500 - no wonder I can't play bridge - can't count :o let's just say [glow=red,2,300]1000[/glow]

Well now I still fancy my H6 You see Ben got us visualising hand shapes instead of counting sheep ::) And this is what I see - (of course this won't be the actual hands Ben was quoting from :'( ) Opener J74 732 K954 AKJ Weak NT 12-14 Me T985 QJ96 QJ8 T9 LHO AK6 T85 AT76 Q87 no 4/5 card majors 13+ pts Partner Q32 AK4 32 65432 My Lead H6 P takes it with the A Partner KH Partner 4H I take it with the QH Me JH ;D now how does Declarer stop either myself from taking a trick with my QD and/or my Partner from taking a trick with her QS ?? I have run out imagination now - but I am happy with my lead ::) This learner will need to learn a lot more before she gives up on 4th longest/strongest against NT (even with no guarantees) You see what can happen when you stop counting sheep :)