Laird

Hello All I play at small clubs ..usually 8 - 12 tables and it seems to me that aggregate scoring is an unfair means of deciding success at the table. If you are fortunate to gain a slam ( say luckily against weakest team ) then you gain a high aggregate score against the rest of the field... However if you have that score against you there seems to be a double whammy in that not only are you penalised once but twice in that that high score is then subtracted from the rest of your scores ...they may have been good but are now swamped because of the slam against you. In a Mitchel movement would it not be reasonable to have say an east/ west total without then subtracting the north/ south totals from it...that way you have a score for east/ west and a separate score for north/south..... not sure about the Howell movement? Is there a better/ fairer way of scoring ? Thanks ....John

Hello All ..thanks for helful replies.... an older lady had started to count her cards absentmindedly face up and before she was stopped several cards were exposed.... it was then the 14 cards were also discovered... :-)) John

Hello all help please .. What should be the ruling where opponent counts out her cards face up and discovers she has 14 cards .... Thanks John

Hello all thanks for your replies... The way our TD(several in fact ) decided to resolve the dilema was to ask my partner to complete her bid lho then didnt accept and in the interests of keeping the club functioning an average was assigned... probably to the offenders advantage as she bid 'stop 2nt' ,,, as that was all that could be made as others failed in 3nt attempt... Still not sure if this is a correct ruling? As one responder mentioned. ''saying ; stop' as being no different to saying 1... does not seem to be correct either? What if it had been 2,or 3 or 4 or some other such number 6 even... ? kind regards John

Hello all A situation arose at local club where my partner made a bid out of turn... how should this be reolved please? Partner placed stop card on table, and before she made her bid lho told her it was not her bid... How should this be resolved as I had received partial information but not full knowledge of bid ? It was really my turn to open the bidding ? Thanks John

Hi Fred Product1... I didnt see the Sky program when it was aired, but a few club members did and there was no great sign of interest,,, the general impression I got was that the program was interesting enough but there was little regarding bridge play. Personally I enjoyed seeing some of the BBO people in your photos from Instanbul, that satisfied my curiosity regarding bridge personalities. Product2 .. hate to say this but I have never seen deal of the week, old or new, I must try to make that a new year resolution. Its probably why I keep repeating the same old mistakes, but with all the interactive stuff available there isnt enought time in a day,sorry. What I would like is a book form of your play bridge program for SA ... its such an excellent program but I like an easy look up reference... maybe A4 size and good size printing and colourful. Also what about a similar program for 2/1 .... just the natural Scot in me coming thro' again.... Some kind of reference booklet on Ben's Squeeze play, again something easily digested and that you can look up from time to time would be useful I think. Wishing you and all at BBO the very best for 2005 Laird

Hi Al ..'be cautious when doubling' ... Agree completely... I have an unenviable history of doubling opps into games or 5 level doubles for top scores. Some sneeky player may double you without any of the outstanding trumps, their partner sitting smuggly with the others. Time and again I see my carefully layed plan collapse with my first attempt to remove trump... How do you really know how to tackle the problem once you have been doubled... where are the oustanding trump cards :-)) Used to be said 'if you cannot put opps down by 2, then don't double for penalties'... but now it seems with the optional double much more competitive? John

Hi Steve nothing wrong with your reasoning that I can see..... the double caused the problem.... change 2 of the top clubs into spades and another of the 3 suits and its a much better prospect. 2!D or even a nt bid would better show the pattern of your partners hand.... John

Hello All Im starting to get confused again. Can someone please explain in simple terms the differences between a negative double and a sputnik double. When do they become penalty doubles. Perhaps a simple explanation of both would help. I usually double ops Spade as sputnik to say ops have prevented me bidding hearts ..is this too simplistic? John :rolleyes:

Hi Wayne When I first started playing Acol, we were encouraged to play 16 - 18 nt as a safe beginners nt, avoiding too much trouble. Gradually 12 -14 nt was adopted as the norm when playing Acol with safeguards such as weak - take out, transfers,emergency re - double etc. One successful club pair use 10 -12 nt nv and 13 - 15 nt v....but the rebid structure is pretty robust I believe involving 5 card suits and the like:-) Currently I play 15 -17nt Standard American which seems ok ..but not so exciting to play as 12 - 14 and as u say doesn't have the premptive nature of 12 - 14 nt. Another club pair play Standard American, with 12 - 14 nt again quite successfully at local club level. Hope this is of some use from a non - expert John

Hello All... thanks for replies. Ben says. .... 'but most experts like to get them out of 1NT and will bid with any reasonable excuse, especially not vul'. My recent experience of using Brozel is that I only succeeded in getting ops out of 1nt and pushing them into successful other Major contract. :) How does Brozel compare with Woolsey Defense as a convention ... John

Hello All In the Brozel convention used against opps no trump openings, the following responses are stated X = 1 suited ( take out to 2C to find suit) 2C = Hearts and clubs 2D = Hearts and Diamonds 2H = Hearts and Spades 2S = Hearts and Minor 2NT = Both Minors. My question is what would typical shape and texture of such responses be :- a. when vul b. when not vul c. when playing against strong nt d. when playing against weak nt What does single suited mean? Again the use of this convention seems to alert the opps to other possibilities for their contract. ty John

Hello All At a club game against 2 female friends the following conversation was heard after she went 1 down in 3nt... ' Sorry partner. He was trying so hard to get me on the table. I knew as soon as I let him do it there was nothing I could do'.. When I smiled and gave her an 'old fashioned look' of mock surprise, we all burst out laughing at what she had said. Yes, I find that getting ops to win in dummy and play thro, their own hand into partners strength can sometimes be rewarding both in a bridge sense and as a source of humour.. John

Thanks for help ..couldnt work it out myself ..sorry

Hello All Thought I would like to ask the advanced/ expert players how they would have competed for the following 2 hands from recent SBU Simultaneous Pairs event ... board3 e/w game dealer s North S! AKQ H! AKJ9 D! AQ82 C! 76 South S! 8 H! 87642 D! 957 C! 8432 East S! J1042 H! Q1053 D! J4 C! AQ10 West S! 97653 H! D! K1063 C! KJ95 Bidding .... 2c P 2d p 2h ...p p p 9 tricks made. Strange looks and non - verbal tuts prevailed at the table as well as perhaps a little bit of smug looks,but I merely said to them .."Trust your partner" but secretly I too was a little bit surprised at the lack of adventure shown .. but then was glad of her sensitivity to the situation. The other board was also interesting ... Board 12 Game All Dealer North North S! 96 H! 1098 D! AKQJ52 C! 43 South S! 2 H! AJ876432 D! 6 C! A102 East S! K108 H! Q D! 109843 C! Q987 West S! AQJ7543 H! K D! 7 C! KJ65 Bidding w n e s p p 1s 2h 2s 3h 3s 4h p p 4s 5h p p x p p p the outcome 12 tricks for nice 1050 .... but I belive we go away lightly and advanced / expert opps would have sacraficed in 6s.