rustysnow

Hi, I believe some events such as the recent NAOBC are high-level events played on BBO and thus to prevent any chance of self-kibitzing, the match is broadcasted on Twitch (video feed) with a time delay of usually 30mins. It will appear as though no one is playing, but all you have to do is just go to the video feed and kibitz from there. Nothing to do with your settings at all. Regards, Russell

Greetings all, hope everyone is staying safe with the ever-evolving circumstances happening around us. Recently, I came across one of my friends playing in an online casual Individual tournament that targetted novice-intermediates. Paired with a stranger, my friend opened 2NT to show 20-22 and their partner (a stranger) bid 3S. My friend, thinking that this was a convention of some sort that they might not have learned yet, used table chat to enquiry if somehow it was a minor transfer or natural. LHO of my friend then said it was improper table chat when my friend enquired partner's bid at their turn. My friend stayed calm and just guessed that it was transfer to clubs and left the contract at 4C. Dummy came down and had only an Ace of Diamonds with 5 small clubs and doubleton spade. My problem here is obviously not about bidding of course, but rather if it was really "improper" table chat. With the context of a Casual tournament (which was also free and no masterpoints rewarded), and that it was an Individual tournament, I personally think it's fine asking your P about their bids especially when it's unlike in a Pairs tournament whereby one may discuss the system beforehand if time permits (an argument on whether such table chat is appropriate in the same context but in a Pairs tourney might be less convincing). Especially on this hand whereby it went 2NT-3S as compared to 1NT-2C Stayman which is almost always agreed upon, I feel that table chat could be used to enquire, just like how some might do in a Casual table. When there is also no strict restrictions stated by TD in the Tourney description, I am more leaning towards using of table chat to enquiry bids from strangers for a better playing experience. Do feel free to share your opinions with me. Regards, Russell (Edit: Apologies should have started this topic under the BBO forum section :( Apologies if I have to trouble the mods to shift this topic.)

Greetings all, hope everyone is doing great despite the circumstances we are in. By the title of the post, one can obviously guess that I can't wait to play live bridge again soon in the future. Anyways, I am here to ask for any Bridge tournament software that TDs use all around the world. I am looking towards software for pairs and possibly individual tournaments mainly (no specific form of scoring or movement in mind). Other features such as being able to be used for teams tournament is a bonus. I do not necessarily require the software to be compatible with the Bridgemates devices as I do not have the devices. I am currently using a MacBook Air, so a bonus for recommendations would be that people have tried it on Macbooks through software such as Wine to run Windows programs (I currently do possess the Wine Installer software). Please do recommend free software too if possible; if you would like to recommend any software that works well for you but comes at a price, please do let me know :) Please do feel free to recommend alternatives that you think works perfectly fine as well, such as mobile applications or perhaps even some Excel formulas to be used. All recommendations would be much appreciated, and hopefully, others may also benefit from the responses. Wishing everyone to be able to stay safe. Regards, Russell

would love to hear the advanced players talking about this hand as I feel other intermediates like me might do the same thing. just chirping in my immediate thoughts so others can correct me too :) 1. South probably can infer that partner has some weirdly shaped 6-4 or 6-5 in hearts with solid suit other than hearts and perhaps singleton/void somewhere to show slam interest or even just prolonging the bidding. Otherwise, North perhaps would jump to 4H over 2NT with the principle of fast arrival. Perhaps South could control bid 4C (should be seen as control bid after the 2NT rebid promising 2 hearts probably but am not sure) or to play safe perhaps 4D. Only reason why South maybe is worried about slam is if North has doubleton Spade and opponents find Spade lead. Control bid from South probably would help North in deciding that slam is on the horizons. 2. North probably should keycard 4NT after 4H as finding partner with 3 aces would be enough for slam. Not even trying for slam is slightly undervaluing North's own hand. If say North is really conservative, South's response max is 5H after 4NT keycard since queen of hearts with North (and hence signoff at 5H would be possible). But South really ought to have at least two aces for GF 2D. Perhaps, in the end, both sides might be too conservative. I do not know how accurate my inferences are but I'm quite vocal and more than willing to learn so here's me just leaving my thought process here :) would be interesting to see how the more seasoned players think! Stay safe and take care! Regards, Russell

Greetings LionHeart1, not sure if you referring to this thread that addresses the problem of the notification that pops up frequently saying you are inactive from your keyboard? But thanks barmar for letting us know that it has been fixed to 1 hour limit instead of 5 minutes. Really good to see BBO still trying to improve playing experience whilst compromising in other areas to ease the increased load during such circumstances. Hope it helps. Regards, Russell

Greetings pescetom, feels like to me adding one round of boards in between the tournament and allocate that round as a pause seems really logical. I have yet to try it for myself as usually I try to simulate actual tournament conditions and time formats, but your suggestion seems perfectly reasonable. I do know that if one table does not finish their boards their results show "A=" if I'm not wrong? I guess if everyone skipped that round ideally maybe the results show "A=" for everyone and that it would be automatically adjusted to 50% for everyone such that the end results are not affected? My guess is that it should not affect since everyone were to skip the board. However, we probably have to make it clear to the players that the particular round is designated as a break and that no one shall play the boards. Players not complying with this would be fine in small scale tourneys, but it would be a painful hassle for TDs to adjust the scores in the event players do not comply in tourneys with greater number of participants, especially for those TDs who are participating in the tournaments themselves. Regards, Russell

Greetings all. Hope everyone is taking good care of yourselves in the midst of these unfortunate circumstances. Was playing with one of my peers today. Partner opened 1NT (15-17), RHO Robot bid 2H Cappelletti showing Hearts and a Minor, and I doubled the 2H bid to ask Partner to Jacoby Transfer to 2S. Our partnership was not really that close without all our bids outlined and all, we were just casual partners who play together once in a while due to our academic workload. Anyways, my Partner misread my double as a Takeout Double and bidded 3 Diamonds. Outcome didn't matter as we played in 3NT just like the others. Just curious, what is the more optimum treatment of the usage of doubles over here? Double showing your intention to make the bid that RHO has bidded, or Takeout? Or maybe a mix of both eg only double over 2C for Stayman, treat others as takeout doubles? Interested to hear your thoughts and would be much appreciative! Take care of yourselves and have a wonderful day. Regards, Russell

Hi all, Sanya (Curls77) has shared privately with me some tips in running more small-sized tournaments, which should be of increasing trend in the days to come since more of us are likely to hold small tournaments for our friends and family. 1. In small-sized tournaments take note of the disadvantage of using unclocked movement whereby fast players will play with the same faster members whereas the slow players will play with the same slower players. 2. In the event whereby one wants to create an individual tournament for small groups of people and everyone gets paired up with one another at least once (eg tournament for eight members), 7 rounds of 2 boards each does not guarantee everyone pairing with one another to happen. Instead, use 14 rounds x 1 boards. 3. Sanya has kindly shared the link which IAC has created for their TDs (https://iac-td-web-bbo.site123.me/). Really simple summary and good for beginners like me to grasp the essentials of directing with clear navigation of details. The link features an older version of BBO but much has remained the same. Would like to thank Sanya for taking time off to share the tips and resources. I am sure there are others who have read the thread and are just like me, new TDs that would like to create tournaments for be it our loved ones or club members. TD resources are quite limited in quantity and might not be as easy to navigate, so hopefully with this thread more of us are in better shape to start organising and directing our own tournaments :) Also, BBO Tournament Directors Forum features some resources too that can be quite useful for us beginner TDs. Lastly, have fun in tournaments, playing bridge, and most importantly stay safe, and hopefully, this situation dies off eventually and we can all play offline peacefully soon. Take care and do feel free to add on this thread if any ideas arise. Cheers! Regards, Russell

Hi helene_t, thank you for your response! That is definitely an option! However, say on the other hand, my club members are rather more keen on playing against one another (perhaps fearing strangers too as I do know that my members' playing level is close to novice/ beginner) and do not mind the sitouts. Any settings to take into consideration when creating the tournament? As mentioned in my original post, I'm not sure whether BBO will help me format such that after the four rounds, everyone would have played with one another, or whether there is a particular setting I need to change to allow such arrangement of pairs, and that whether there is a particular or more suitable movement (unclocked/clocked) that would allow me to achieve my purpose. Any clarification is greatly appreciated! Regards, Russell

Hi all, recently just got granted the privilege to be able to run tournaments by the BBO Support Team! Really grateful that now at least there is BBO to serve as a platform to play bridge when there is the ongoing virus situation. (Everyone please do take care!) Would just like to ask how I should create my tournament to be held within members of my school bridge club since I'm pretty new to the TD scene. Any help is appreciated! Context: Would like to hold an individual tournament for eight members. 2 boards per round and after end of each round switch partners. Hence, there shall be 7 rounds of playing, so that everyone ends up partnering up with someone else exactly only once throughout the entirety of the tournaments. Currently, I am clear in the some aspects of creating the tournament such as setting the time limit and only allowing those in my include list to register, but one main concern I have is whether Clocked or Unclocked movement will affect how the tournament is carried out! Someone can help me to clarify my understanding of these movements, as I am worried if I used Unclocked movement the faster table will just continue the second round of play. Is there also anything else I should take note of? Also, say I would like to create a Pairs Tournament, but on a certain day, there might be only five pairs that registered, so one pair is to be a "sitout", is that right? (not too sure about the meaning of a sitout as it seems to me that it is a different thing compared to people being offline but when I see the document for TDs sent by the BBO staff, they still have to be replaced and hence quite puzzled) If that is so, is there any specific settings that I would need to alter to ensure all five pairs will be able to play against one another? Say I set up four rounds of 2 boards each, with a certain time limit and only people in my include list can register (just like the previous situation). Will BBO help me automatically set the format of the tournament such that all five pairs can play against one another, or is there a certain setting I ought to take note of? Any other advice for running this Pairs Tournament is also greatly appreciated! Thank you for all responses in advance and have a nice day, cheers! Regards, Russell

greetings all! am currently trying to understand and learn how to endplay and squeeze my opponents, with constant usage of the "Bridge Master" feature. does anyone have any advice in helping beginners like me in regards to this aspect? whilst i can understand the basic theory like eliminating a suit to cut out opp's communocation, i am still struggling with actually spotting endplay and squeeze opportunities. would appreciate any advice! cheers, russell

Hi all, I am quite a beginner in terms of understanding how people fill up convention cards and hence would greatly appreciate if anyone could help me out! I am participating in my first bridge competition in real life (exciting times hohoho) and this individual tournament uses the WBF Standard as the standardised system across all players. The aspect I am trying to understand is focusing on the left side of the card (unfortunately I have not learnt or mastered how to insert photos into these forum posts). Under the "1NT Overcalls (2nd/4th live; responses; reopening) it says 2nd position= 16-18 and responses are "bid as 1NT opening" followed by a "Natural" on the next row. I do not understand the significance of the word "Natural" when it has already said "bid as 1NT opening", so if anyone could educate me that will be great! It then says 4th position= 10-14 and responses: Natural. I'm supposed to infer it as a balancing 1NT and that systems are off, in contrast to when overcalling in 2nd position, amirite? Also, what does "4th live" exactly mean then? The other aspect I have troubles understanding is the section below, named "Jump Overcalls: (Styles; responses; unusual NT). It is written "2-Suit:- 1♣-2♦=5♥/5♠". I thought it was describing distribution, but is there not Michaels over 1♣? Are they saying its a weak jump overcall??? Also, it states, "Reopen: Cue=any good two suiter. 2NT=19-21". Is it referring to original opener cueing the overcall bid to show good two suiter, if I am understanding correctly? Sorry for being rather naggy here, especially to those who are certainly more experienced and trying to help this rookie here. Hopefully, with all your help and good wishes, I will be able to perform to the best of my abilities during my upcoming competition! Have a nice day, Russell

Hi all, would like to organise a small bridge tournament within my team to see their standards and train them better. Any good resources out there that have a comprehensive set of boards testing different bidding and playing techniques? If you would like to share your own collection of hands that would be greatly appreciated! The more boards the merrier! Have a nice day! Regards, Russell

Hi all, I have not posted anything on the forum yet so hopefully this post turns out to look just fine. If the post turns out to be awful eg board cant be seen, pls give me advice on how to improve or at least correct my mistakes thanks! so, i recently played a 16-board IMP challenge with robots and this board appeared really interesting especially on how the robots played. [hv=pc=n&s=sk762hqj95d2ct432&w=saqt9hak72dkqj4ck&n=s85ht3d98763c9876&e=sj43h864dat5caqj5&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=p1dp2nd(Takeout)p3cppdpp3h(took%20a%20gamble%2C%20tried%20to%20escape%20from%203CX%20esp%20vul)p(doubled%20clubs%20with%201%20club%2C%20but%20passed%20with%20four%20hearts%3F)pp]399|300[/hv] I was sitting South and robots made several questionable bids as I have (hopefully) shown above. Apparently, West double 3C shows 13-21 HCP, 2+♣, 3+♦, 14-22 points, and hence am guessing East might have thought West to have just min opening strength, especially with my "takeout double" over 2NT which showed 11 HCP, when actually I just wanted partner to bid new suit. (Please feel free to give me any comments on my play, personally thinking maybe my double isn't really the best esp with unfavorable vul?) Contract ended up 3♥S-7 for a score of -700. I thought I was doomed initially, until when i saw the screen which showed at the other table it went 6NTE+1 for a score of -1470 for the NS pair, giving me a whopping 13 IMPs. On the other table, South did not intefere after 2nt, West bid 4♣ gerber, East bid 4♠ showing two aces, West jumped to 6NT. I thought it was really interesting at my table, why the opps did not double my 3H bid. Also, I can slightly understand if the robots think I have 11 HCP with my takeout double (on the verge of disagreeing as I passed at the start), but are the robots that inflexible to think that I just dont want diamonds? And then because they thought i have 11 HCP and hence they couldnt try slam? I mean if that was how it turned out I can understand logically but I guess that's a flaw in the robot's logic. Let me know your thoughts! Have a great day, Russell