pbleighton

"1. pass, easy: you have a ridiculous ♠ suit, wait a round unless you play FREEWILL overcalls." What are FREEWILL overcalls? It's possible I already play them, since I would overcall with one less spade ;) Peter

"It's Hersh. I don't think he's a terribly good source." Why not? He is a distinguished, respected journalist, very well connected in military and intelligence circles. Peter

3C. Peter

3NT always. Peter

"What GCC difficulties did you encounter Peter? The NF 2/1 responses are natural, so they should be fine. Using 1NT forcing (and the normal 2/1 rebids by opener) with many of the inv+ hands also seems ok, and since you can still have the weak hands that will pass or correct to 2M, this didn't violate the rule that 1NT forcing can't guarentee inv+ values." I found that losing the 2M response to weak hands overloaded the 1NT forcing response. Peter

I would double at MPs even opposite a 3rd hand opener. I would never double at IMPs. Peter

I notice in your profile you are aware of the ACBL's "oppressive regulations" - nice phrase. In case you aren't completely aware, if you want a GCC system, the regulatory deck is very heavily stacked against you if you want to play NF 2/1s. I tried to figure something out for quite a while, then gave up. Good luck. Peter

""Bridge is just a game" is no reason to think, that you or me or anybody should break the laws. " Failing to call the director in this situation is not breaking the laws. I am not opposed to calling the director, and in fact I would have in this situation, but calling the failure to call the director "unethical" IS ridiculous. You may think he SHOULD have called the director, but to say that someone who failed to take advantage of something which might have been to his advantage, and which certainly would not have been to his disadvantage, is standing the meaning of the word "unethical" on its head. Peter

"Has anyone here read Francis Fukuyama's Book "The end of History and the Last Man."? Written in the late 80's he argued that the liberal democratic state was the ultimate end (think Hegel) of the evolution of society. This was due to scientific advancement and other hystorical forces. Further, he noted some of the negative effects of this fact in the loss of indivuduals having the creative freedom to truely reshape the world (if I remember the argument correctly). E.G. No more Nietzschean supermen. A facenating book. While I personally think he discounts the importance of economics in how a society is organized (and most importantly how power is distriubuted in society) it is still a very important book, by the leading neo-conservative thinker of his age. I need to re-read this, I have not touched it since it came out 15 years ago." Just an aside... former neoconservative triumphalist Fukuyama has recently recognized that the invasion of Iraq was idiocy and is blaming his (former) fellow neoconservatives for being naive. Who'da thunk it :lol: Peter

"NOT to call the TD was unethical and unfair against the field." Unethical? Absolutely ridiculous. Attitudes like this do a lot to drive people away from bridge. Repeat 100 times, "bridge is just a game". Peter

"Fantunes play 21-22... " And Fantunes play good, old-fashioned sound openers, none of this reckless modern stuff :) Peter

"QUOTE (pbleighton @ Aug 13 2006, 08:47 AM) "I'd be happy to listen to why I shouldnt jump to game?" Do your partner's ever respond with 5/bad 6? Peter Sure they do." Then why not let them pass 2NT when they have done so instead of jumping to 3NT? Peter

Richard: Thanks. What I found striking is that most of the 25 strong club pairs (~20?) played a Precision variant, yet only 4 of them played a Precision 2D. Did you happen to notice, did many of the 1D openers allow zero diamonds? Peter

"I'd be happy to listen to why I shouldnt jump to game?" Do your partner's ever respond with 5/bad 6? Peter

jb - why is it first not good enough for a 2NT opening, and then too good for a jump to 2NT? I don't understand. Peter

3H instead of 4. Pass is OK, too. Peter

Ben: How difficult would it be to see the results when the 5cM has 7 hcp or better? Peter

"I don't claim to understand most of this, but for that last part, there seems to be a couple of possiblities... 1. People reach game more often after a 1NT opener. 2. People end up with the contract more often after a 1NT opener (ie., 1NT openers were more likely to win the contract). I'd be willing to bet it's the 2nd one." Generally agree, but I'd rather say that opening 1NT gives you an advantage in competition. You can't make a meaningful takeout double after a NT opening, and overcalls are riskier. DONT, etc., are better than passing, but don't make up for the inherent slipperiness of bidding over a 1NT opening. And even if the opps get the contract, it may be a disaster. The NT opener's partner also knows what to do in a competitive auction better (usually) than the 1M opener's partner. Peter

Anyone who boasts about their IQ is an idiot. Peter

"Called TD at this point and all they would say is connectivity issues!" You are assuming they are lying, when bad connectivity is a fact of life for online bridge. Your request "not to huddle like that" made it very clear to the opps that you thought they were lying. They should have called the TD on you for terrible manners. If you can't "smile and go on our happy ways" then maybe it's time for a new hobby. Peter

"It's not a distortion at all. Israeli lives are as precious to Israel as American lives are to Americans, and Lebanese lives are to Lebanese. Percentagewise Israel and Lebanon have lost many more lives during this conflict than USA lost on 9/11." My reference was to your obnoxious "take it like a man" phrase. "The ongoing war in the Middle East is a tragedy, as was 9/11, and yes I cheer the USA, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, etc. for trying to fight terrorism, regardless of where in the world you encounter it. This is far from easy, but in my opinion it's dead wrong just to lean back and let it happen." IMO it is dead wrong to commit a war crime, i.e. attacking a country which had not attacked the U.S. (Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11). Under the Geneva convention, any country which starts a war is guilty of a war crime. Also, collective punishment is a war crime as well (you can look it up), so Israel's intentional bombing of civilians certainly qualifies. And no, one war crime doesn't excuse another. It's also stupid, racist, and self-destructive to lump all Muslims together under the "terrorist" label, which is the practical effect of Israeli and U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. now has far more Muslim enemies than it had 3 years ago, and is far less secure. Peter

Playing with my regular pd, I would bid 1S on this hand without hesitation. Peter

"9/11 wasn't a threat to USA's existence either. So your compatriots should also just lean back and take it as men, I suppose.." A silly distortion. "What a morbid way of thinking" I suppose you are cheering the great success the U.S. is having in Iraq? Peter

"I have played weak NT all my bridge life so this is not an auction I feel confident about, but if Pass here does not show a weak NT, then what does show it, and what does Pass show?" Pass shows a minimum without a stopper, 1NT shows a minimum with a stopper. Petre

I think not being allowed to bring toothpaste, etc. in my carry-on is ridiculous. I travel a LOT (for my sins in a past life, which must have been glorious indeed), and I very much resent having to check my bag. This is much worse than having to take off my shoes, as it adds 45 minutes to an hour instead of a minute to my flight time (as it did yesterday). I don't feel one bit more secure for this nonsense, and a WHOLE lot more pissed off. Peter