ManUtdNZ

Hi I'm a retired Mathematician/Teacher based in New Zealand. I'm willing to fit into a Northern Hemisphere/USA timeframe though if need be. I've played Bridge for a lifetime and, in particular, 2/1 for the last 5+ years. I've read Dan O'Neil's "Standard Modern Precision (Meckwell Lite)" book as well as Dennis Lawson's "Santa Fe Precision" and would be keen to find a partner to play Meckwell Lite with on-line. Played a lot in BBO under a previous name but mostly socially and would now like to be playing more competitively. Please contact me if you are interested. Cheers

Hi In regard to opener's shape. We know it is 4=4=1=5 [ which is 14 cards ] less 1. So opener could only have one 4 card major.

Hi Folks Thanks for your thoughts. In general, after 2D-(3D), East has options apart from Pass: X: Penalty or asking for West to pick a 4 card M? If the latter, West can show Max and 4=4=0=5 with a 3N bid with this hand. Also, if not a penalty X, 3H would be GF surely. 3H: Is it INVIT and therefore could be passed or GF? If the latter, West can show 4=4=0=5 with a 3N bid - any strength - with this hand. 4D: Has to be asking for a 4 card M. Don't see the point East choosing this option with a known 9-10 card fit in H with this hand. So, my brain is straining to find a suitable, logical and sensible structure. Giving up the penalty X feels like the lesser of two evils. I ask myself how often would I be in a position to take down 3D and profit by it in comparison to being in a part score / game. However, I'm happy to submit to wiser points of view.

Sorry, hands in full are as shown: [hv=pc=n&s=s53ht2da632ck7532&w=s8642haj98dcaqj86&n=sjt7hqdkjt9754c94&e=sakq9hk76543dq8ct&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=2d3d]399|300[/hv] It would be nice to know that 3♥ was a forcing bid. I'd have thought invitational in which case game might not even be reached on some hands. However, I'm no expert. A raise to 4♦ over 3♥ by East gives West the freedom to show his void and the path to 7♥. I'm struggling to think of a GF bid apart from 4N and that seems ugly. Hence, I believe your 3♥ bid is the only solution. Many thanks

West is the dealer playing Meckwell Lite. NS VUL EW NV. Playing IMPS. [hv=pc=n&w=s8642haj98dcaqj86&e=sakq9hk76543dq8ct]266|100[/hv] West bids 2D and North overcalls 3D. West has shown 11-15 HCP and 4=4=1=5 less one card. But for the overcall, bidding the shape to 7♥ isn't a problem. My questions are: a) What are the options available to East to progress the hand to a slam? B) Is there any way for West to show his void during the upcoming bidding?

Hi A general thanks to all of you for easing my pain. I've researched the ELC mentioned and will read up on this. My mind is a lot clearer. Appreciate the feedback. Brian

Hi I'm having trouble with this shape in certain circumstances so I'd like to ask for help. Hand 1: ♠AT3 ♥AQJ84 ♦QJ92 ♣3 Hand 2: ♠AT3 ♥QJ92 ♦AQJ84 ♣3 My Partner and I have discussed X vs bidding 5-card suit. So, I was wondering if more experienced players could offer advice in the following 4 scenarios. In each case, you are sitting East with these hands and North opens: Scenario 1: 1♣ Scenario 2: 1♠ Scenario 3: 2♠ Scenario 4: 3♣ I had Hand 1 in scenario 4 and X. It didn't go well.

Hi I much appreciate your very detailed response. At this stage, i'm converting our System notes to HTML so my partner can access them via a shared Dropbox folder and a scripted dropmenu structure with links to various html pages. Each one being an element of our system eg 1C, 1D etc. I've never heard of Cryptpad until you mentioned it nor many of the other suggestions. Certainly food for thought. The idea of BML taking a simple text file and applying heading, subheading, tabulation and code conversions such as !D, for example, seemed preferable to me creating a Word document which would then have to be saved as a Web Page. I produced 1C to 1S pages and then got stuck on formatting my output as I wanted for 1N when I had this idea to ask if there is a more sensible way to achieve my objective. Have a nice day whilst I contemplate my next step. Brian Rowlands

Hi I'm eager to put my system notes onto HTML pages. I've tried: Bridge Markup Language [ BML ] in GITHUB by both https://github.com/Kungsgeten and https://github.com/gpaulissen/bml/commits?author=gpaulissen which are almost identical. However, I struggle to get the layout as I would want. For example, line comments I can't seem to get displayed. I have written to both authors but never received replies. The old email addresses may well be obsolete by now. Has anyone come across alternative methods they could share with me please? Cheers Brian Rowlands

Just spotted your response. I tried creating a text file on Notepad and then running the bml2html.py converter but that seems a very crude way for me to make my html files and I made so many mistakes. The Lakebeach NT page has some nice dropdown links that appeal to me. I've downloaded Emacs and I'm prepared to take the time to use it. Any chance of getting any updated bml2html.py converter or the converter for Emac files you might have I could use on my Windows 10 PC and perhaps any other updates that could help me? Many Thanks Brian

Hi I've come across this idea whilst browsing for a way to present my system notes. Have you done any more on this concept? Cheers Brian

Thanks so much for the help. I will investigate the XY-NT and see how we go. Appreciate you taking the time to respond. Regards Brian

Hi [hv=pc=n&s=st9hk875daqj85ck5&n=sakj7653ha9d3cat4]133|200[/hv] South opened the bidding in 2/1 with 1D. As North, I bid 1S to both give S room to be descriptive and because I couldn't think of an alternative. South responded 1N and it is here we became unstuck. I wanted to make a GF bid and at the same time get specific information from my P. I used 4N and he passed thinking it was a quantative 4N. Can someone suggestion corrections that would have got us to a slam - either a small slam or a GS? Many thanks Brian