pbleighton

Yes. Peter

Mike (and any other 3C bidders), do you consider 3C to be forcing? Peter

Matchpoints, unfavorable. You have K8-AQ1098-9-AJ872.You open 1H, and it goes P-1S(your P)-2D. Your call? Peter

4S. 5D is not out of the question, but I would rather try to take 10 tricks rather than 11. Peter

Claus: You obviously fundamentally misunderstand alerting requirements. A player is required to alert any conventional bid, except for those rare exceptions a jurisdiction has deemed to be the norm (Stayman, Blackwood, and 2C strong and artificial in the ACBL). 2C-2H as artificial and weak is not one of those exceptions. The TD is either lazy, incompetent, or both. Peter

"I have a gadget for this hand: 2N-3C-3S-4S." That's weird, I play the same thing. Peter

"I disagree with this, and believe that we are not obligated to look at the opps CC to protect them from their failure to alert." I agree 100%. Hoewever, as far as non-alertable and non-pre-alertable bids go, we certainly have no recourse if we fail to look at the opps' cc. Peter

6S, because I am feeling unreasonable optimistic today :P Peter

"Ok, well how about going to war because God told him to?" This is a war crime ( any war not fought in DIRECT self defense is a war crime under the Geneva conventions), but it is not a violation of the constitution per se. Peter

I pass 2S with regret, as a hole in the system, but no question. Peter

"How do you protect against cheating?" You don't, at least with present technology. IMO, we will need much better technology before there are any prestigious tournaments online. Peter

I believe that directors aren't required to enforce zero tolerance. The guy at my club certainly doesn't, though he certainly wouldn't countenance any nearly this extreme. Peter

"I just ask people if they want to win in Iraq? Is winning possible by any reasonable definition? I get the impression sometimes that for many the answer is no to both these questions." Well, having asked twice and not received an answer, I give up, and accept that you don't have a strategy for "winning" :) Now I ask, do you have a definition of "winning"? If you give me your definition, I will tell you if I think it's possible, how, and by when. Peter

"You sound like Leslie Gelb(sp?) he was wrong on Vietnam and now seems to think pulling out will result in the best result possible." Ah, but I was right on Vietnam... :) Mike, what strategy do you think will result in "the best result possible"? And why? Peter

"Interestingly in Woodward's new book he mentioned right after 9-11 a Kitchen cabinet was set up by Bush, call it a bunch of neocons maybe, who said they expected the war on terror to last 40-60 years with many setbacks along the way." But not Iraq... that shocked the hell out of them. Peter

An interesting idea, Richard, peaceful ethnic cleansing. I share your doubts. Some form of partition seems to be what will happen, but it could involve decades of war, particularly if the Shiiites and Kurds try to screw the Sunnis out of the oil money. Peter

"It does seem if we withdrawal we will have another million bodies in the streets of Iraq is that better? It seems the answer for many is yes. Are we just going to turn around and go back in when Taliban like cells set up in Iraq? Or we are just going to do nothing? It seems the answer for many is Yes we are going to do nothing." 1. I hear an unspoken implication that things will be worse (not just immediately but over time) if we leave than if we stay. Is my hearing OK? If so, why do you think this? For the record, I think things will get worse whether we go or stay, and that overall they will be less bad the sooner we leave. I base this on the fact that the longer we stay there, the worse things have gotten. 2. You don't like doing "nothing", what is the "something" you would do instead? Bush is now claiming that he never said we should "stay the course" (a proven lie, BTW). Is your strategy to stay his course, or do you have something else in mind? Are we going to stop a civil war by force? Peter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6102701487.html

Easy 4H. Peter

"Then you can tell me how much 3♣ shows" I assume it shows 5-5, any strength. Peter

1S. Peter

5C is enough, in spite of the nice hand. It looks like we're stiff in each other's major suits. Peter

"I plan to reverse in Spades and then show extra Heart length." Richard: You don't play a reverse as showing 6-5? Peter

1C, because my rebid after 1H-1NT is 2H. Make the hand AQxx-AKQxxx-xx-x (a better hand), and I open 1H, planning on 1H-1NT-3H or 1H-1S-3S. Peter

5D. When I have an eight card suit, I want to declare. If my pd has DQx and out, we have 9 tricks on offense, and perhaps only one on defense. Peter