joemanjo

Teaching table has a lot of features which are useful. Some features which will make life easier for an instructor would be these. 1. When a Deal from archive is loaded which has comments embedded, as of now only the deal is loaded into the table. If you could give the instructor an ability to "PLAY" those comments as and when needed, this will save a heck of a lot of typing. Instructor may have a clear idea of how the deal should be explained and thus pre-saved comments would be useful both to save typing and also talking. I find typed comments useful as it gives time and space for readers to react to them. Voice is not replayable, so you may miss a critical comment which you are not able to "scroll" back and it is irritating to the speaker to have to repeat what was said. 2. A save chat feature - I guess this is applicable not just to teaching tables - akin to save chat feature that used to be available in Windows. Maybe you could implement it as saving a deal to history/archive with interspersed comments so that the whole session can be played back whenever this feature is asked for - something like VU Graph with comments saved in LIN. 3. Ability to convert to a MINIBRIDGE table. 4. Ability to pull deals from various sources like a played tournament (link available) or team match or even VU Graph.

I have used the .LIN format extensively, so find the Hand Editor a little unwieldy. Here are a few suggestions that can make it a lot more easier to handle. 1. Ability to assign BOARD NUMBER to the hand that you are editing. Rather surprised to not see this available as I can change the dealer, vulnerability for a board, but the board number is not available to change. 2. Ability to copy a hand viewer link directly into hand editor to make a new deal - sometimes you get only a hand viewer link without a LIN. If this copy paste is available, it can be saved without the pain of editing a hand viewer link, making a uploadable LIN out of it and then uploading it and finally editing it. 3. A "Save as" feature - at the moment if you open an existing deal from your archive, edit it and want to save it again as the same deal, it is not possible. You need to save as a new deal, go back and delete the old one. 4. Some things like new line (I found that <br> works inside the comment) can be automatically put, so also BOLD, UNDERLINE, CENTER, ITALICS and tabs for the comments. 5. At times, the hand editor link that is produced is not uploadable into a table even though you have edited it fully using Hand editor itself. Uploaded deal rejected error comes on the bottom right side in YELLOW. Not sure what causes this, must be special characters for html being interpreted inside comments wrongly. This is irritating as one has to do the whole rigmarole of editing it again. Suggestion: May be there could be an escape character produced for special characters which are typed in the comments OR A TEST button to just validate that the deal can actually be loaded into a table without errors while also highlighting the errors OR a warning (when about to export the deal) that it may not upload correctly into a table. 6. Ability to edit multiple deals (as was possible in Windows version) - maybe all deals of a folder - or pull in all deals of a tournament directly from the History section. 7. Ofcourse - maybe later, COLOUR and EMOJIS would be most welcome to make delightful presentations. Best regards, Manoj Kumar K Bangalore India

Hello Felicity, I have not read the other posts, however, I have a suggestion that might be useful to deal with the situation. I feel clubs are justified in saying what is "Highly Unusual Method" as per their patrons. Therefore you could choose to adopt what is advised against HUM systems in normal tournament circuit. Why dont you carry a written defense to your unusual methods (one copy for each opponents) and suggest that they play these? It might slow things down a little, and if your system is complicated, you will carry a lot of baggage, but then, it is only fair against opponents who are not comfortable with nasty things springing up at them. At the very least both opponents will be aware of what the other person is doing. Did you suggest this during your sit down coffee with the TD? Good luck, Manoj.

Let me add my two bits worth to what has been said already. I teach Bridge, mostly offline but sometimes online as well. I have hundreds of LIN files that have been taken and edited to make "Learn to Play Bridge" software styled Book/Chapter/Lesson styled menu and presentations using features of the LIN scripting language. For making these LIN files, for me, the windows client is absolutely essential. The client provides the MOVIE feature where by each deal can be constructed and saved for further editing to make interactive presentations. A feature provided in the Flash browser version to migrate LIN files is a joke, it does not work for lesson presentations. I had posted a bug report on a separate forum for that, some Yellow ids tried to help there, but they too gave up saying Fred knows best. If the Windows client is being discontinued, it would be good if a "downgraded" client can be made available where LIN movie editing can be done without a net connection (at the moment it needs a login). There was a nuts and bolts LIN presentation creator for Windows earlier, can someone post a link to it to help out folks like me to go forward? Secondly, one singularly helpful feature in Windows client is the "Save all chat" and "Save played deals" feature. I could use the first to make notes from online discussions to send to students, the second feature could be used for editing the played deals and send in self teaching lessons with interactive questions on areas where the student should have applied more thought. Both these could be used without any need for being online. There is nothing even close to these features in the Flash browser version. Chat rooms were also a good feature. I used to direct tournaments using Windows client, however I tried my hand with the browser version and found that some of the nifty features in the Windows client made life so easy for TDs. A strange "feature" (read bug) that I noticed was that if you are in a teaching room, your student is in browser client and you load a LIN file with a prepared deal, the deal which the student sees is completely different. I do not know if this is because I used 64-bit Windows and the Windows client software loading the deal was 32-bit, didnt have time to investigate, it is perhaps due to that. If both student and teacher used Windows client, there was no issue. Manoj.

Folks: Last year, around Christmas time, there was a post from Uday Ivatury asking for suggestions and feedback on how to make Bridge more popular (perhaps thru the medium of BBO?). I can neither recall nor find the original post to see what was in it, but I have what I wrote in response to it; it is reproduced below. I am sure that Uday would have received many suggestions from the user community, so he could not reply to each one who gave suggestions. I wd like to know, has there been any follow up on the suggestions given by all of us to Uday? Were there posts after that collating the suggestions received with comments by Uday? I am not a BBO Forum user or follower, so would appreciate if anyone can point me to or brief me about what they saw as discussion and developments which followed. I had offered to help in anyway I can. I certainly hope these suggestions are collated and made available to everyone and any action taken on the same by BBO management be, as far as possible, made visible to the Bridge community at large. Best wishes to everyone for a enjoyable holiday season ahead, have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year 2016. My original post/response (edits in parenthesis) to Uday: "I will focus on your questions from a software writers point of view, both of us are in that field while being Bridge players. The Learn to Play Bridge (LTPB) software produced by ACBL written by Fred (and you?) has enough potential to bring forth new Bridge players. The main issue I found in teaching is this. 1. The software is not available in a mobile phone platform (MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS outnumber Internet users two to one) - a cell phone has much more chance of bringing up a new bridge player than an internet download of a windows only program. 2. Bidding followup - while we have enough and more play teaching software (like Bridge Master for beginners by Audrey Grant, Sands Janitschke etc), there is hardly any software that gives enough "problems" for people to exercise with the Basic Bridge system taught in LTPB. People have no way of knowing what is right and wrong without a teacher at hand. 3. BBO Bots do not play (the simple) Basic Modern Standard taught by the LTPB software. So how does one practice, question asked by my students after the preliminary Bridge course?" If we address these few issues, then this is a much more user friendly, freely available, self paced (and comprehensive) learning platform. Manoj.

I have an old version of DF, circa 2000. It does not have any bells and whistles, only Win and Loss marked against each card in the hand on lead, does not give number of tricks plus/minus like GIB. The solver had no issues in identifying the lead which beats it and subsequent play as well.

India, Played with bidding boxes and screens. N and E are Indian international players or with international exposure. South and West are experienced players (10+ years of regional and national play), West is a non-regular these days. Both partnerships are new. All know each other well. The final league of a regional tourney (after qualification of top six teams). All pairs have been told to carry filled convention cards. [hv=pc=n&s=sj52h7dk97ckt8542&w=sk64hjt9dq53cq973&n=sthaq86daj8642caj&e=saq9873hk5432dtc6&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1d2d(Micheals%20%5B%3C%3D10%20or%2016+%5D)p2s3d4s5d(South%20places%20bid%20on%20tray)]399|300[/hv] South turns to West to confirm that 4S distributional after placing 5D bid on the tray. West says that this is strong Micheals, so 16+ hcp. South informs West that he should have alerted the same. West apologises for the same. South indicates to West that he wishes to withdraw his bid and places Pass on the tray. The auction goes all pass. [hv=pc=n&s=sj52h7dk97ckt8542&w=sk64hjt9dq53cq973&n=sthaq86daj8642caj&e=saq9873hk5432dtc6&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1d2d(Michaels%20%5B%3C%3D10%20or%2016+%20hcp%5D)p2s3d4sppp]399|300[/hv] After dummy comes down ... South calls the TD and informs about what transpired. TD verifies the facts and asks for play to go on. EW are 1 down. TD is called back again and told the result. South informs that 5D makes and that he had bid the same but for the changed information. East informs her that he had other bids like 4C/4D to indicate stronger hands. EW dont have any convention card filled in on both sides of the screen as they played together due to non-availabilty of a player for that session. Facts as transpired are not disputed by any of the players. TD informs players to go ahead with the next deal while she consults for a ruling. TD comes back and gives the ruling as 4S-1. NS appeals giving all the explanation. Appeals committee meets while the next round is in progress, does not call either side and gives the signed verdict that "North-South did not protect their rights at the appropriate moment. The result stands. Procedural Penalty for EW of -3 IMPs for not carrying the convention card. Appeal money to be refunded." This while the next match was in progress. TD had very few players of similar experience to consult outside those in contention in the league. Even AC would have been constituted without availability of players of similar experience. Your comments are sought on the same. Firstly, what is the established practice for the A/C - It is necessary to call all players for a hearing in this case? Is it so evident that they can deliver a verdit as they did without meeting NS and EW in this case? Secondly, what is the right time for South to call the TD in this deal? Is the A/C contention that NS did not protect their rights at the right time correct? Thirdly, what do you think of the ruling of TD and A.C. Thanks in advance. Manoj Kumar K

NB: I corrected Arvind's BBO Id below. The people involved were Arvind Vaidya (arvindv22 figo), Rajesh Tibrewala (r_tibre) and Jitesh Agarwal (chief organiser of Indore tournament). It was the formers persistance that led to the villagers landing up at the tournament site and also getting the whole thing reported on NDTV (a leading Indian TV News Channel). I and many who played the tournament, did not see the program, work is afoot to get the video report so that it can be uploaded in a Bridge site. Manoj.

Was done by an Indian channel NDTV 24*7. So certainly possible. Where would your crew be coming from?

Phil, In a departure from the article you pointed me to, the date of my report does not coincide with that one day of the year. In any case, thank you, that one made a good read too, until I spotted the date sometime when I turned to the third page. :) Manoj.

Gonzalo, Muchos Gracias. Please do as you propose.

From Jan 6th 2011 to Jan 9th 2011, some of us partcipated in a high prize money (Rs 11 lakhs or about $25,000 total prize money) tournament at Indore, the capital of erstwhile Holkar Kingdom. The tournament itself was named after one of the most famous rulers of this dynasty and sponsored by the Kalani Industries. It was a cold and misty Sunday morning on the 9th. It would have passed by as another prize money tournament and gathering of Bridge friends, that day being the last day of the tournament. 23 out of about 130 pairs who participated would play the IMP Pairs finals. There was a side event for the non-qualifiers. As we walked into the venue, we were all surprised to see a few gentlemen in rustic village dresses. All of them were from this village about 200 Km from Indore city. These were 8 pairs of never before seen players who appeared on this Sunday morning. On enquiry, we found that they had come from a village called Raibeedpura belonging to the Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh (part of the old Indore kingdom). Most of them were local farm owners or farm labourers. They must have got up at an unearthly hour of about 3:00 am, caught a bus to the district headquarters at Khargone (about 20 Km from the village) and then another bus to Indore to reach the tournament venue at 9:30 am. Here is the story as was told to me by one Mr Ramesh Mukati, aged 40 years. Bridge was played even before his birth in this village. Many people who are 30 years or more and have primary school education (all Men folk only) play Bridge here. They have an old building which is empty where the serious ones get together and play. Those who are not able to get there play informally at multiple "chowpats" (literal translation - where four roads meet) as casual games. Origin of Bridge at this village is shrouded by passage of time. Most old timers remember Bridge being always played there. It is known that Bridge was taught by a teacher (called Khan "Saab" - a school Master named Khan) at the local school. He is now no more, so we do not know from whence he came or how he got to know the game. Some more details were revealed on conversation. They play a strong club system with weak NT and two level natural minor openings. None of the modern advances in the game is even known there. Bidding system as taught by the mystic Khan Saab is preserved pristinely maybe with some local advancements. I do not think they have a system document, they probably follow the age-old and time tested method in India - by word of mouth - from one generation to another. They admitted that all play for enjoyment and passing time. They had no clue on the scoring systems we used, or even the right way to score a hand in Contract Bridge. What a contrast, this years Indore tourament was the first time ever in India when all the boards were computer dealt and multiplicated, and scoring was done by Bridgemates at all tables with VU Graph for the team KOs. None of the villagers have ever played a tournament before, they didnt know that we existed!!! By now I am sure you must be curious to know just how good they play. The best performers at Indore were one Mr Mulchand Jawra and Mr Kemal Verma who, after being -7 IMPs at the end of first session (they were sheepish when they admitted that they were slighlty overawed in the first ever tournament they played), pickedup +43 IMPs in the second session to finish with a tally of +36 and a respectable 21st out of 79 pairs who participated. I do not know who was responsible for getting them to participate in the first place, whoever it was, the entire bridge community should be thankful to him or her. I was told that there are about 300 to 400 people who know the game and about 200 regular players in this village of about 5000 people. Unfortunately, there is no internet facility with computer at the village, so e-mail communication is not possible. The only way that Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh (state) Bridge associations can keep them updated is by way of normal post. Most people have mobile phones, I suppose that is the way to go for disseminating information. There is a saying that "India lives in its villages". Certainly, for Bridge as a game to live beyond this new century in India, it should live and floursh in villages such as Raibeedpura. I suppose, it is a little sad, but that can also be true for many other parts of the world. As an after thought, as a pure comparitive exercise, it would be interesting to look at the demographics of this village vis a vis a few neighbouring non-bridge playing villages. Afterall Bridge play is supposed to have many indirect benefits in all areas of life. Reported by Manoj Kumar K (joemanjo on BBO) Bangalore India

Got in the tail end of all the posts, so I do not know if this point has been made. As I understand it, the 2D multi call was made at the table when one of Meckwell called TD. At this point in time, they surely would have discussed many many Multi defenses, I have no doubt about that. Only, they may not have FINALISED which one they will use against MULTI FOR THAT MATCH. Given this situation, I think it is right for them to call TD since they would be greatly disadvantaged if each partner was on a DIFFERENT PAGE. By insisting that a prepared defense be given, Meckwell ensured that they would not have any misunderstanding arising from their lack of agreement on WHAT TO PLAY - atleast they would play the prepared defense on BOTH SIDES of the screen. In the process, if the opponents got the rough end of the stick, too bad! Manoj.

Hi all: Pass Out of Rotation when Offenders partner is dealer and no call has been made so far. Law says Offender must pass at his next turn. Can the Offenders Partner (holding a very weak hand himself) take into account of his partners PASS and make a bid such as a wild preempt "knowing" that the other side has Game or Slam going values? In effect, when the bidding reverts back to Offenders Partner, is the fact that his partner had PASSed out of turn Authorised Information? Thanks, Manoj.

This is a suggestion for an improved format of the .LIN file. When you are playing at a table, you click Movie (Call this Movie A) and you can see all the deals which you played so far and further all the results at every the other table for a deal. Next, when you play a tournament, the same facility is not available in Movie (Call this Movie B ), THAT IS you cannot see what happened at the other tables for a deals which you played (I cannot see a reason for this though). For team matches, there is a new type of Movie (Call this Movie C) which has facility to show Open Room and Closed Room. It appears that for Movie C, there is a ready made .LIN format that gets stored locally, for Movie A and Movie B there is no such storage and it only possible while you are online and at a table either as a player or as a kibitzer. To me, it appears that Movie A is a superstructure of Movie B and Movie C. So if a format for local storage (ie. .LIN) of Movie A is arrived at, that would be a simple way for studying the hands played by each person - a .LIN for every table, tournament and team match with complete cross-references to other results for every deal. It will also enable study of every instance of the bidding, play and defense for EVERY computer dealt DEAL in one place. The Movie viewer can be enhanced to filter your deals by giving the id. At the moment, in MyHands link, there is a .LIN stored/generated for every deal played in every table. If a superstructure .LIN format is arrived at as mentioned above, then only one .LIN per tournament needs to be linked to. The Movie link will download the complete record of play, so the second link "Travellers" will not be required since the entire information is available in the Movie (in the downloaded .LIN). I wonder if this is already in the dream list :unsure: Anyway thought it worthwhile to put down the thought when it came to me. Manoj.