pilowsky

The bigger question is why is the Eurovision song contest? But, unlike the English, the Australians still think they are Europeans. Outside Greece, Melbourne is the worlds largest Greek city. My forebears were Polish and my wife's parents were Dutch.

Bill Bryson once wrote that "Cricket is the only sport where the spectators get more exercise than the players." Yesterday, a team of footballers that should not have been permitted to compete (because they aren't Europeans) was outplayed and defeated by a better team from an actual European country. The English football fans accepted this result in their typically quiet and demure way - after all, it's just a game. Today there was an outbreak of Trumpyism: No doubt we will soon see these disgruntled Englishmen posting a thread on the Laws and Rulings Forum.

I suspect you are drawing the mark for 'reasonably knowledgeable humans' at a somewhat higher level than the average knowledge of the Bridge player on the Clapham omnibus. In any event, could you please clarify what is meant by: "even when it would be obvious to an actual human player that doing so makes very little sense". This could be construed to mean that a reasonable human player should deviate from the systemic meaning of their partner's bid if they think that their partner is not making a 'reasonable' bid. Isn't that almost by definition a secret agreement?

[hv=pc=n&e=st8754hqj862djcq3&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1d2c]133|200| I've just been reading N.Timm's excellent new edition of 2/1. Hand evaluation consumes a large part of it. This hand was mismangled by most of the EW pairs - luckily we were NS. What would you do as East? [/hv] What happened at our table for only +2.45 IMPs The hand was played at 144 tables and only 11 tables bid and made the optimal contract for -1.07 IMPs There seems to be something intrinsically unfair about a scoring system that penalises players when they get the "optimal result", but I guess that's why it's a game and not a maths exam.

I take it this post aims to highlight social Darwinism cases other than the lunacy surrounding COVID and vaccines. In which case, the following information from the USA is of interest: It doesn't surprise me that people don't want community-rated medical care in a country where people can't be bothered taking the simplest of precautions to avoid injury. The cost of paying for people's freedom to not wear seat belts, or motorcycle helmets, is unnecessarily high.

QED

any particular noise?

You are right and wrong at the same time. It is a 'fact' that someone says something. After that, you run into murky territory. Go back to the start and answer the question - in your own mind - of all the possible reasons why a person may take a certain amount of time to do - or not do something. The whole idea that a third party - who was not present at the time - can infer anything from a pause is madness. Maybe you've never been to Minnesota or seen a Pinter play. It's just magical thinking to believe that you can see into the state of mind of anyone. Outside a Bridge Club, I have never heard of the concept of "Directors" who can tell what you are thinking by the amount of time you take to think. No surprise that it's a relatively unpopular game. If you want people to spend less time thinking, put a clock on them as they do in Chess - a much more popular sport. I hope the Italians beat the English next week - that's what I'm thinking.

First, you say it's ridiculous. Then you say the TD should establish the facts. Then you say that to establish the 'facts', the TD should ask the player for a reason. In what parallel universe (outside one populated by Rudy Guiliani and Sydney Powell) would a "reason" provided by a player in this situation be termed a "fact". Is that like "A lot of people are saying that it's a terrible thing" is a "fact"? Now, who's being ridiculous? Where did you get this notion that things people tell you are "facts"? My stance is that a "reason" provided by a bridge player is not a "fact". Why do you think that electronic line detectors were introduced into tennis (and video referees into many other sports)? Probably because they did not think that utterances from John McEnroe constituted what you would call "facts".

It doesn't matter what the player says. You can't infer anything from it one way or another. People can say anything. It only matters if there is an actual understanding based on the delay/scowl/toe-tap/coffee sip. In which case, again, statistical or other methods may reveal a pattern. Suppose you are asked to come to a table, and someone complains that an opponent picks up his coffee cup every time he wants his partner to lead a card from a suit that is different from the one originally led? Now what? The whole concept of awarding penalties on this basis is bonkers. It's as if Lewis Carroll wrote the Trial. How about this for a test. When someone suggests that a delay has a specific meaning, ask yourself what the possible specific meanings might be. Make a list of all of these meanings (I can think of at least 10 immediately). When you finish you'll be asleep and the problem is solved.

There is a widespread belief amongst some Bridge players - who obviously know nothing about "theory of mind" - that it is possible to tell what a person is thinking from the duration of their pauses. You find these stories in a book by a Bridge Humorist because they are stories. They have no basis in reality. If you are the sort of person that feels that you can draw inferences from the amount of time a person takes before playing a card, then you are mistaken. It is, of course, possible for players who have a great sense of timing to develop a system where the duration of a pause does mean something. Such pairs will be quickly detected using standard detection techniques. If this is not possible, then they aren't cheating. Asking a bystander who wasn't there to guess about the meaning of something they didn't see is a bit like asking a basketball to eat with a knife and fork. You can go through the motions but in the end, you will be waist-deep in mixed metaphors.

Great idea.

But if they were like Mr H Dumpty, then the shell would be crackable. Interestingly, the central character in the first (of several) versions of the film was played by Kevin McCarthy.

I have just downloaded a study on the political meaning of whiteness for liberals and conservatives by Deborah Schildkraut from Tufts (published in The Forum (2019) 17(3):421-446. http://bit.ly/PoliticalWhite. It is an excellent study - with actual data - about the attitude towards race in politics in the post-Obama - Trump era. It differs from the opinion pieces available via Google. It is a scholarly attempt to understand the extent to which 'whiteness' is or isn't important to groups with different political leanings. I read this after watching the excellent NYT reconstruction of the murderous attack on congress. What struck me was how well documented the attack was and that everyone spoke English. In this way, it was more "immediate" in its impact than seeing footage of similar scenes where I cannot understand what the people are saying. It reminded me of Kristallnacht, where an enraged mob - driven forward by the ravings of a madman - decided that Jews/homosexuals/disabled people/blacks were responsible for all of the problems they faced. Anyone but themselves. Right down to the smashing of windows. I have spoken to many Trump supporters (yes, we have them in Australia). They are all like the pod people in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They walk, they talk, but something is not quite right. They have an unshakeable encapsulated delusion that isn't based on reality. You can read Nortons Masters thesis about the film here http://bit.ly/NortonSnatcher. The pop-culture concepts dramatised in Body Snatchers have recrudesced in the idea that the Chinese communist party attempted to disrupt the wonderful west (epitomised by Superman, Batman and Captain America - Christ, the lone moral agent and the patriot) released a plague onto the Earth. People willing to cleave to this idea will believe anything that doesn't disrupt their desire to better themselves and their families - no matter the cost to anyone else. To them, other people are cattle.

I've read a few things about reverses. The thread here by Mike suggests >18HCP - but a few, with morals loose (http://bit.ly/SwarthmoreMorals) - may be a little louche. Here's the auction with 2♦ by West alerted as a reverse with 21- HCP and 18-22 total points. [hv=pc=n&s=saj74hq93dkt87ckj&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1cp1sp2dp2np3cp3nppp]133|200[/hv] What the West robot had:

Let's try and do this as a syllogism. It is a fact that some people believe that being a member of a particular ethnic group MEANS as a logical consequence that the person is better, smarter or more worthy than another person. If a person believes this, then they are racist. If they don't believe it, then they are not racist. What if they don't believe it but also don't believe that anyone else believes it either? Such people are not 'woke'. They may also be racist - I don't know - I haven't met all of them. I once met a Professor from Mississippi. At the time, he was one of the most revered scientists in the world. He told me that "on average black people were not as smart as white people". This happened in 1986. Not woke and a racist. If he was asked to conduct an employment interview and two equally well-qualified people were candidates, I doubt the black woman would get the job. I just checked. The Department website where he worked has a group photograph of 50 people. Three of them are black. Here are the population demographics for Mississippi: Mississippi Demographics ~ White: 58%, Black or African American: 38%, Other: 14%. In the continental USA Mississippi has the largest percentage of African-Americans of any state (2019 census). Clearly, black people in Mississippi do NOT have the same opportunities to gain education and status in that part of America. On the other side of the coin, when people learn that I am Jewish, I am commonly told that I should feel lucky because Jewish people are smarter. Some people even believe that Jews are God's chosen people, which would be great if I wasn't an atheist. Places where this particular form of racism does not occur include South Africa, England and most of the Middle East. Come to think of it, next time someone says it, I'll ask for a list of places (outside Israel) where most people believe this universal truth. When the pandemic finishes, I might visit. What kind of democracy is it when people believe that you have to 'earn' the 'right' to vote, get health care housing and education, but the 'right' to be alive, free and happy (and own an assault rifle) is unalienable?

True - there should be a nullve-moderated category. It's getting out of hand.

It's definitely illegal in Bridge. The coffee would go everywhere and the cards would get wet.

That's amazing!! Can you provide the links to these hands - or at least a few of them. Are you sure this wasn't the weekly free instant tournament?

The incident happened during a game of pyjama cricket in a match organised and paid for by the Packers. Its relationship to actual cricket was disputed at the time. In the 1980s people (including me) regarded ODI's in the same light as some here refer to "BBO experts". Greg Chappell knew exactly what he was doing when he instructed his brother. He didn't care. Possibly he didn't think it was 'cricket' anyway.

Go to Hand records and use your student's name instead of your own. Here are your records for the past month: https://www.bridgeba...username=relpar At the end of the link substitute the student's name for yours. The link in full looks like this //https://www.bridgebase.com/myhands/hands.php?traveller=14773-1623190200-12569323&username=relpar just remove the "//" from the start. If you want you can also copy the record and paste it into a spreadsheet which you can share to discuss individual hands: It will look like this: 20 2021-06-09 08:15 grrc2018 Sun Rex nettie new dnewleen 1NW+2 150 61.54% Movie or Lin 21 2021-06-09 08:15 Mmlevin44 Magliocco relpar robin28 1NW+2 150 61.54% Movie or Lin 22 2021-06-09 08:15 marilyndie scuol7550 yayasfo1 hklove 2♦N-3 150 61.54% Movie or Lin But in the spreadsheet, all the links will stay active. If there is an access problem get the student to copy and paste the data into a spreadsheet and then share it with you.

True, but the EBU has a functional database system that also provides a ranking and other useful comprehensive data to maintain player interest. The ABF platform updates once a month (assuming the responsible agent at the club remembers the cut-off date). Masterpoints are the currency that keeps TD's and Admin in paid employment. The purpose of the post is simply to suggest a way that would enhance the commercial activity of BBO. It's worth remembering that a Bridge tournament or match is nothing more than an old-fashioned maths exam. All games are the same: chess, go, pick-up sticks, whatever. The 'gamification'[1] and provision of analytics generates interest. All I'm suggesting is that tweaking the gamification model might be commercially beneficial and enhance player experience. I am not commenting on the intrinsic value of masterpoints - a topic that has been done to death elsewhere. [1] Gamification is a field of academic research that started around 30-40 years ago.

"It's" All the same, some people find it to be part of the fun. As noted above BBO hands out exactly 20% less of a bushel than others. Where are these 12 board tournaments? All the ones that I've played in recently are challenge format and reasonably enjoyable - possibly even cute.

One element that makes tournament play appealing compared with, say practice, or casual play, is the opportunity to accrete masterpoints. I notice that the 'floor' in the ACBL and Australia is set at the 50% mark, but in all BBO tourneys, it is set so that only the top 40% get something for competing. Bridge is unusually stringent in that for most 'examinations', 90% of the candidature pass. From a commercial perspective, my understanding is that the objective of masterpoints is to encourage people to play. Why not put BBO at least on par with other jurisdictions? Since points are handed out on a log scale and playing ability is (likely) normally distributed. This doesn't seem to be a big ask. One could even argue that for the accretion of masterpoints to represent current skill, they should be awarded so that a very high percentage of players get something - however small. For those of you old enough to remember 'persistence' in oscilloscopes, there could also be a slow 'apointosis' to coin a word. Such an approach would have many advantages. A player would then have a 'lifetime' masterpoint record and a 'moving average' that would reflect current skill over the past X competitions. BBO and any other jurisdiction would benefit because the incentive to compete would be greater.

Ok - fair enough. A big thing was made of this question in ACBLworld for a long time and generated a lot of heat in many quarters when the stricture that you can only open 1NT with at least a singleton honour (however it was phrased) - was introduced. It is possible that in New Zealand it was not previously allowed and now is - like underarm bowling. You give an example of a required announcement. Where is this announcement required BBO, Global Club, ACBL Auckland, Essex? What happens if a pair doesn't follow your requirement? Is it a protocol, law, ruling, regulation, guideline, suggestion or something else?