Elianna

Well, I still don't really understand. if you trumped with the ♦T, Doesn't that leave East with 98xx of trump, and you with AKQx (and the J and T gone)? They should still get another trick. Did he attempt to ruff the third heart and you ruffed with the dT? And to answer Jillybean's question: The tournament director should have ruled "There was no misinformation, so no adjustments will take place", or something of the sort.

You are REQUIRED according to ACBL to explain your partnership agreements, no more, no less. You fulfilled this obligation, it seems (if you frequently psych and your pard knows this, of course, that should be disclosed to opps, but I wouldn't even call this a psych, you have not grossly distorted your shape, nor even your HCP according to what I've seen many people play. I am extremely shocked that EW got anywhere with this appeal. You could have a worse hand (and more diamonds) and still made 2dx based on what it seems that their defense went (I still don't really see how you got T tricks without a little help).

It may slightly depend on partnership agreements, but with most of my partners, 2s is almost automatic. We still have ways of reaching 2nt or 3nt if partner has a heart stopper (he can bid NT, or bid 2 of a minor if he needs me to have a stopper there). Also, when partner has 6-9 points and 5 spades, 2s will usually be at least a trick better than NT. Also, sometimes the 4-3 major fit is the best place, especially when the short hand (mine) also has some suit to trump (hearts). No, the form of scoring does not affect my decision.

I was wondering if there is any way to change the way that BBO displays news. IE seems to not work on my computer, and so I have a different default browser, but BBO still tries to open new news with IE. If I have to set something internally in bbo, how do I do that, and if I can't, I'd like to suggest that in a new version, BBO should check for the default browser and use that.

I support the idea of a friendliness (non-obnoxiousness) rating system. I would like to add the suggestion that people can opt into it. This way people who are interested in playing with friendly people (and know how to be polite in leaving a table that is inappropriate for their level) can find like-minded people, and those who don't care don't have to be bothered with this. Another idea is to have, as on AIM (and I believe these forums, but haven't tried it out) a "warning" button, that one can press when a player has done something rude (left in the middle of a hand, made obnoxious comments, etc.) You could have something that when one "warns" someone, they must make a comment (so it's not frivolously pressing a button) and then after the player has been warned a certain number of times (5 maybe?) by different people, an automated email or message or something could be sent to them, telling them that their warning level has risen, and showing them the messages (annonymously). This way maybe they'll come to the realization that the names on their program are actually people. And maybe I'm too idealistic.

Hi. I'd be interested in being a mentor. I've taught people bridge (from the beginning) individually, but not a class, so I'm not sure that I'd be your best candidate for that. But I'd be more than happy to spread my enthusiasm for the game to others! :) A good way to reach me is email: eruppin@gmail.com but even better is leaving me mail in bbo. My username is elianna (I know, how unoriginal)

Hi, I'm Elianna (elianna on bbo, isn't that easy?). Like a few others here, I'm a junior, but not for long, unfortunately (my time ends in late January). I learned bridge about 8 years ago from my grandparents, and I honestly don't know what system I learned (it had 4-card majors, but 16-18 NT). I really started learning bridge 2 years ago, and having much fun with it since. My self-rating seems to change, based on my mood, because honestly, how I play is based on my mood. Going strictly by bbo's stated policy, I'm advanced, but when I'm tired (which is most of the time) I feel more like a novice! I heartily agree with the promoters of bridge camp.