Limey_p

4♠ in both situations. - too strong for 3♠ - too much spade strength to be prepared to defend 3♥ doubled. AP

Alas, there's no good ruling for this one, since it depends on whose alert regulations you subscribe to. Some say "alert any conventional bid" ACBL-style, a bid in a suit shown by the opponents, isn't alertable. Since you're directing, it's your call. All I can suggest is to try to make the ground rules clear in your conditions of contest. I would have little sympathy for either side here. e-w seem to be experienced enough to expect some sort of redress, so perhaps they should be experienced enough to *ask* south about his bid. And in the spirit of full disclosure, south should volunteer an explanation of his call. My suggestion is to rule against both sides: e-w get to keep their bad result n-s get (one of) a warning, a procedural penalty, or an adjusted score, depending on your reading of their methods, experience, etc. (South's call may be that of a new player, so education might be more effective than punishment.) Also, you might post in your conditions of contest "if you call the director, he may rule against *both* sides" A

Echog, you are lucky to find a sectional tornament that starts on a Wednesday. Around these parts (Philadelphia) it is almost always friday-saturday-sunday. So if you were here you'd be playing in a club game. Also, according to the tourny's web site (http://www.acekingqueen.com/nextevent.htm) it was a stratified game, meaning that players of all experiences are in the same section. Here's a link to the ACBL web site for a description of the type of pairs games: http://www.acbl.org/play/pairGamesExplained.html#25 Games are commonly one of "stratified", "flighted" or (yes) "stratiflighted" A

PMetsch has proposed another very good line, I believe the best without inferences from the opening lead. His line wins over trumpace's I think in 3% of cases, when rho has 5 diamonds with both honors and the king of clubs. On the other hand "75%" is either 74 or 76, depending if you need the honors in the same hands or split. And this difference is in favor of trumpace's line. Also I believe the opening lead suggests that one or both kings are on your left, although as Fluffy says you can never know how much effect this has. But now we are getting into those small differences that I don't expect to figure out at the table. So at this point it comes down to table feel (if you make it) or bad luck if you don't. A

I believe trumpace's line is better: eliminate spades, make a heart play, then fall back on club finesse if no luck. Fluffy's line is a bit worse than 75% - you are down almost any time rho has both heart honors *plus* sometimes you'll misguess when hearts are 3-3 with split honors. trumpace's line is never worse than 75% - you need lho to hold your chosen heart honor or the club king. Also lho's opening lead, presumably away from the spade jack, is a little "interesting". If he held equivalent holdings in spades and another suit, he might have lead the other suit. (This is yet another aspect of restricted choice). Hence there is some increased chance of lho holding one or both kings; this also helps trumpace's line. A

I smell a "Turing test" coming up. If chat is disabled, can we detect a GIB as pard or op? *This* may be worth a trial from an ambitious tourney operator! AP

I play 4 suit transfers, a la bridge world standard, and systems on over 2C. So 2N => transfer to diamonds but the real problems come later.

eek! East passes a clear opening bid; West opens on pond scum. Well this isn't the expert forum. :P I would pass as north the first round but reopen with 1S. If E-W bid sanely, north will likely be silent after: (1H) p (2H) ? Takeout double here at imps, unfavorable? I don't think I could do that. Now it is up to south to act (which I consider aggressive but normal) A

Well pard will play it in ♠ but you will in ♦ or nt, clearly the choice is between 6n and 7♦ ;) But seriously, the math supports 7♦: ♦ 3-3 or 4-2 => 36 + 48 = 84% ♥ 4-3 about 62% plus a bit more for favorable 5-2's ~= 70% 70% x 84% => 59% chance you make. the IMP odds needed are about 57%, assuming the other table is bidding slam. Go for it!

One change I like to make between weak and strong NT is this: (silent opponents, playing US-style 2 over 1, 5 card majors) After the 2 over 1, say 1♥ - 2♣: weak nt => opener's 2♥ rebid is "catch all" just denying the ability to make any more descriptive bid. Doesn't promise 6 and may include substatial extra values. strong nt => opener's 2nt is catch-all; 2♥ promises 6. A

Frances, the way I understand bridge regulations your opponents are entitled to all that information. Do you want them to have it?

I agree with Peter - I've never been able to bypass the player list. If I hit the "cancel" button it ends up as a chat request to the person under the cancel box.

Much agreement here with bearmum, and I'll repeat myself a bit. IMO its never enough to click "alert" on bbo - provide an explanation immediately. IMO the software should support a context-sensitive drop-box of explanations. IMO "what should be aleratable" should be set by community norms, and this applies to f2f as well as bbo. At time of writing this, I couldn't find the poster who used the terms "rat's ass" and "alerting stayman". Regardless, I think I care a bit more about rats than he does.

Responding to Vlado's post ... when GIB runs locally, does than mean I can cripple him by making my machine run slow? Next question: if more than one GIB at a table, do they both run on same client's machine?

Roland, I am a big fan of the viewgraph broadcasts, and I want to say "thank you" for all your efforts. But beyond my own amusement, I feel they do a great deal to promote the game of bridge worldwide. Certainly you have opened my eyes to not only bidding systems but also tournament arrangements that differ across the globe. I've not voted in this poll, however. I'm a native english speaker so broadcasts in other languages are, broadly speaking, irrelevant to me personally. two thoughts: 1. You, Roland, know much better than me if it's worth the trouble. (Some of us perhaps prefer to live in a benevolent dictatorship rather than a democracy?) 2. The benefits of non-english broadcast go beyond the number of spectators who make that choice. It makes a point to the whole community, and to the english speakers in particular, that bridge is an international game that has transcended its anglophone roots. A.

Chamaco - I love the question. Although it is heretical to some of my partners, I am on the b side of this - a 4 card major is possible. I like to draw analogies to other sequences to help save my memory. Playing 2 over 1 responding to 1♥, you will sometimes want to start with a minor suit rather than responding 1♠. When? when it suits your bidding plan to establish a game force right away. I like to view the inverted minor response the same way - suppress the 4 card major on the first round when you feel it will lead to a more descriptive auction. AP

Here's a suggestion: rather than look for rules as to what is "alertable", ask yourself a question about the bid you are making: Is this a common situation where agreements frequently differ significantly? If so, always announce your agreement. Examples of this would be opening NT range; two level transfers or natural bids in response to 1N; 1N response to a major suit opening. By doing this you will: - get in the habit of "full disclosure" - have no worries about drawing inferences from a failure to alert, at least in common situations. If no explanation is provided, you ask for one. - save the mental strain of worrying about what's alertable (and perhaps you won't even need to read this thread :D) - find yourself providing education to newbies in situations where explanations are expected. But it's along the lines of "please explain" rather than "you broke a rule" Further notes: 1. Alerting regulations are not laws handed down from on high. They are social rules that we choose to follow. AND, given the newness of on line bridge, we have the opportunity politically and technologically to break the mold of face-to-face regulations. 2. Don't think of it as an alert. Think of it as providing your opponents with the information they are entitled to. AP

One of the big, big advantages on line bridge has over f2f is in the area or alerts/announcements - my pard does not see what I tell the opponents. In order to make it easier for me to fully disclose, here's a suggestion: - Have the software maintain a list of the explanations I've previously provided in a drop-down list. I should be able to edit the list when I'm away from the table, much as I do a convention card. A direct tie-in to the convention card in some way might be nice but might not be necessary. Also it might save the odd second or two if some standard explanations were available too - like "transfer", "one round force", etc. AP

In f2f bridge, I decide when to return my hand to the board - and I think that some of my rights (contesting a claim, for example) may change when I do so. On BBO, the next deal appears, too suddendly IMO. Two suggestions: 1. Add a "dissolve" like some TV scenes use to visually introduce the new deal 2. Give me an on-screen countdown (with a "stop" or "hold" button) so I can keep the old deal on-screen. In addition to rules-related reasons, sometimes we *enjoy* a friendly postmortem. AP

I assume the sequence has these meanings: 1♣ - strong and artificial 1NT - natural, something like 8-12 HCP 2♣ - something like stayman 2♠ - natural, 4 card suit This sounds so much like an ordinary 1N sequence that I'd like the 4♣ bid to have the same meaning as after we've opened 1NT. And I'd want to play it as a splinter in support of spades - I'm no great believer in ace asking. Andy

Voice is GREAT! I use it in the viewgraph to speak the bids - that way I can tell when a new hand is under way. The ACBL announcements are bizarre when spoken aloud, and I am a member. I can only imagine what non-US players think of them. Can we prevail on the BBO ACBL reps to change things so they sound reasonable? "Diamond diamond club diamond diamond sign up now ... hyphen hyphen hyphen greater than ACBL" doesn't make it.

awm said it. You started with a bare limit raise and that's what you still have. Involve pard and complete the description of your hand. If 3N is right, pard can bid it.