CarlRitner

Hi, The ACBL has shipped more books, and I'll be listing these sometime tomorrow (Monday EDT). There's some further inventory from the Truscott estate as well as other donations to the library. My total bridge inventory is now approaching 4000 items, so there's got to be something for everyone here. Thanks as always for supporting the ACBL Library and my bridge website. Cheers, Carl Ritner http://www.carlritner.com

That's true but does not invalidate anything I stated. For each declarer case (20 in all) there are 13 tricks taken, some by NS and the rest by EW. The data in the record is always the NS data, so when North or South is the declarer, the number in the record is how many tricks for the declarer. When East or West is the declarer, the number in the record is how many tricks the DEFENSE takes, since it's STILL NS data. To get the correct number for declarer, it's 13 minus that value. Each of the 20 cases have exactly 13 tricks to be won.

The important (or quirky) thing about the trick data is that it's NOT how many tricks declarer can take; it's how many tricks North-South can take. This is true even when East or West is declaring, so 13-n must be applied for the EW cases. But I'm sure you caught onto that as well.

I have a document that explains how this is encoded, if i can find it in the mess here. I know that the DD data is all referenced to south (how many tricks north-south take regardless of who is declarer) and it's held in 4-bit nibbles. Here it is: "The 5 16-bit integers indicate how many tricks can be taken by each player and in each denomination. The first integer refers to NT, and the subsequent ones to the suits. Bits 0-3 give the number of tricks that can be taken by NSwith player 0 (West) on lead; bits 4-7 the number that can be taken by NS with player 1 on lead, and so on." The suit order is naturally SHDC. Each hand is 26 bytes

Hi all, The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) maintains the Albert H. Morehead memorial library, which is supplied primarily through book donations from private individuals and estates. The overstock from this library is shipped to me for disposition through my bridge book website at http://www.carlritner.com My website features only bridge books (and some software). It offers primarily used and out of print books, plus the complete line of Marty Bergen products. Part of the net proceeds from each sale goes back to the ACBL for library purposes. I have just recently listed some new inventory received (these are on the main books page) and I will be listing more titles this week, as soon as the ACBL ships. There's a lot of Truscott material on the way. There's currently 2,014 items listed but a good portion of this is single copy, so books are always reserved in the order requests are received. Please feel free to email me ( carl@carlritner.com ) with any questions or special requests. Thanks for supporting the ACBL Library and my bridge book website! Cheers, Carl Ritner http://www.carlritner.com <-- ACBL Library Used Bridge Book Sale

Hi All, I have just updated the used book lists on my website, which partially benefits the ACBL Library. The spring shipment from the library has not arrived yet, but I thought this might be a good time for anyone interested to review what is currently available. To be honest, there has not been much in the way of additions lately, but this can change without warning. I am clearing out and discontinuing bridge magazines, due to space concerns. Anything I receive in the future will be listed as a lot item and made available for a limited time, then moved onto eBay for liquidation. I may return to listing individual issues sometime in the future, but I do not anticipate that at this time. I apologize for sometimes not being able to research your requests on particular books. I'll do this whenever I have the time; it just had been rather hectic there for a while. The ACBL Library and I appreciate your support and we thank you in advance for making it possible to continue what was planned to be a one-time event. ACBL Library Used Books Sale Cheers, Carl

Someone asked for Bridge With The Blue Team, and I accidentally deleted this email request. This is just to let you know this book, along with many others, will be posted to the website tomorrow... ... Sunday at the very latest. Christmas decorations are taking first priority, as my wife does not play bridge :) Cheers, Carl ACBL Library Used Bridge Books

One brief note - I am very low in inventory on Bridge World before 1962, and extremely low on any complete annuals (1984 is it). The focus for this season is on books, used and out of print. Of these I have several thousand in stock. Since I never know when collections of magazines will become available, this could change tomorrow. The ACBL informs me I will receive a shipment of items in the spring; in the meantime I rely on my many associates and business contacts for whatever surfaces, from ex-collectors and estate sales. Thanks, Carl

Hello All, Just a bump for the upcoming holidays. While bridge magazine supplies are dwindling, there exists a very large selection of clean, pre-read bridge books for both your gift needs and your personal advancement and entertainment. I ship worldwide, bulk orders ship very economically, and you are guaranteed my personal attention to your request. Thanks! Cheers, Carl Ritner ACBL Library Bridge Books and Magazines

Great reviews here by all. Just a brief reminder, many of these books, including those out of print, can be found at my used bridge book and magazines website, which is sponsored by (and benefits) the ACBL Library (not the product store). My inventory varies widely, depending on what is shipped to me, so please check the lists frequently, if you are looking for good prices and/or hard to find bridge books. I sell ONLY bridge books and magazines. Thanks! Cheers, Carl Ritner ACBL Library Bridge Books and Magazines

I get the same email periodically, and I agree that it seems to be designed strictly to generate traffic. What bothers me is they want me to link directly to their main website, which has "bridge" in the URL, but they only offer to link back from their "sister" website, which has "games" in the URL. My website is BRIDGE only. I consider it a non-issue. Cheers, Carl

This is getting ridiculous. 4♣ is always Gerber. No exceptions. Show me all of your aces. 3♣ is always mini-Gerber. Show me some of your aces. 2♣ is always negative Gerber. Don't show your aces. Cheers, Carl P.S. I am on vacation until July 1st. All book requests will be processed then. ACBL Library Used Bridge Books and Back-Issue Magazines

No, but I have tried the "Nothing But Pass" system and it's almost amazing how well it works, depending of course on how quickly the opps catch on. Carl

Falsecards and Invitation To Annihilation, I still have copies available, if you are interested. ACBL Library Used Bridge Books & Magazines I also have back-issue sets of the ACBL Bulletin, which covers all aspects of cardplay, beginner to advanced. Ask me and I'll help you find what you are looking for. Cheers, Carl Ritner

Thanks for the great reviews. There was a fourth book in the Godfrey series, this one was the first, actually: Our Man Godfrey: Tales From The Bridge Table George published this after Bid to Win, Play for Pleasure and it was another theory book, but on general systems, not Romex. It was written in the conversational style and is quite a good read. It does not carry Phillip Alder as a co-author but as contributor, and that small injustice was corrected for the rest of the series. Quite a few Rosenkranz books are available on my website. Cheers, Carl ACBL Library Used Bridge Books

Since November of 2003 I have hosted the ACBL Library Bridge Book and Bridge Magazine sale on my website at http://www.carlritner.com - with the kind permission of Fred and Uday, I am providing the members of Bridge Base Online with this update. Please note there is no business relationship between Bridge Base and myself. While there has not been a recent shipment of books from the ACBL Library, there remains a large inventory of bridge books and magazines available. I have added some Bridge World back issues this last week. A portion of all sales benefits the ACBL library directly. Shipping outside the USA can be as low as US $1.00 per pound weight when you request 10 pounds or more. Thanks as always for supporting the ACBL Library sale and my website (which remains exclusively bridge). I hope you find just what you were looking for! -- Cheers, Carl Ritner carl@carlritner.com ACBL Library Used Bridge Book & Magazines

There's a program called Bridge Buff that lets you do this, among other programs available, but Bridge Baron was never configured to do this (at least not commercially). Bridge Buff claims that you can define your own system to the degree that you'd like (which is always incomplete) and then let the internal database handle the "holes". While I have not done more than fooled around with this, it sounds promising. It also sounds time consuming... In the meantime, it would seem that spending a few hours with GIB and learning the quirks could pay off if you are going to spend a lot of time betting "for keeps".

I'm not ready to agree with that. If the bots were more consistent and predictable, that would solve a large part of the problem. Better still, if there were a way to describe your particular bidding system (like you do with FD) and let GIB use that file in the bidding routine, then you can essentially tailor the bot to your style, and have some sort of bot disclosure method that actually makes sense. The current GIB explanations are inadequate for both sides. Unfortunately, GIB is not currently configured to permit outside bidding scripts. It is theoretically possible to do this and not lose proprietary information, but it is not a trivial change. Cheers, Carl ACBL Library Bridge Books & Magazines

It's possible GIB doesn't make any doubles that are purely for penalty. It seems to me they are almost all cooperative, in that partner will always evaluate the pros and cons of sitting or pulling, and GIB does like to bid. Carl

My hovercraft is full of eels

Thank you, Uday, for answering my questions. Cheers, Carl

1) What system approach are the GIBs set to use? 2) Are the human players supposed to (or required to) bid within the expected confines of the system? e.g. can I open 1NT on a different range than what the card says? I'm curious about that because GIB does at times. 3) What might help a lot of folks is a mini version of system notes for GIB. The convention card just barely scratches the surface of what guides GIB in the auction. This auction can be frustrating after the first few times... GIB - oppo - Human - oppo 1NT - (pass) - 3NT - (pass) 4NT - (pass) - ??? Cheers, Carl

What system is currently being used? This was debated but I don't remember seeing an announcement -- of course there might be a whole new forum for this topic and I wouldn't know. The GIB explanations are generic text and are limited to simple lines; this is "full disclosure" at its' worst. Not stated to sling arrows, it's just the nature of the situation. GIB has a very wide range of overlap between bids and simulation can exaggerate this. GIB is not getting worse, it's just luck of the draw as to what sort of deals will arise. Some of the auctions get to be humorous. That's worth something in the big picture, I would imagine. Cheers, Carl

Excuse my ignorance, but is BridgeBrowser able to tell you which of these are due to a strong club system? It seems if one cannot separate systems in a structured query, the data becomes much less valuable. Carl

Never mind; our posts crossed. Carl