nickf

I'm going to need some clarification here. do you mean: - how many actual medals does Australia win compared with the USA or - how many medals per 100,000 population or - how many medals per $1million dollar spent on sports funding? nickf sydney

You beat me to the punch again Frances, however may I respectfully correct you. I think the Swedes are better than us at Curling and damn it I dont care that the Americans play better gridiron football than us. nickf sydney

Dean, you have done well my friend, very well. nickf sydney

I'm speechless. I am without speech. nickf sydney

Bring on the Ashes baby, bring 'em on. nickf sydney

I think the hand is a mandatory 3C opening but I should qualify this by saying I also have a strong belief that you mix up your pre-empts as well. It's no good your opponents getting a grip on your style because they'll know when to nail you when it's right or brush aside your pre-empts when they'll profit from playing the hand. As for the responding hand given, I think you will gain more than you lose in the long run by bidding slam. nickf sydney

That's a very good question. And where would the players keep their conventions cards and pencils? nickf sydney

Not quite, Bob and Zoly play a strong club system. I think Bob hates system. But dont hold that against him, he's nonetheless a top shelf player with the best nose I've ever seen. nickf sydney

Goren/ Smith pulled out a few days ago. nckf sydney

great hand. I was chatting to one of BBO's leading players the other day about the bots and he affirmed that the key to playing with GIB is not to confuse it. GIB does play well but I'd say it hasnt been programmed to deal with a 6D opening. Hope it was a play money tourney. nickf sydney

I think opposite a limited opening, 3C is enough. However, I'm curious though - did this person become your ex-partner before or after this match? nickf sydney

I'll willingly be corrected but I thought strong jump shifts when out with lace up boots didn't they? nickf sydney

if you want to read some really funny e-correspondence between these types of people and someone with a lot of time on their hands, go to The Spam Letters nickf sydney

There endeth the sermon. nickf sydney

fwiw, here's the Australian Bridge Federation's guidelines for captains. http://www.abf.com.au/events/playoffs/npc/NPCDuties.pdf nickf sydney

right, this is the nub of the problem. you expect the field to be in 3NT (usually), so if diamonds don't break and you stay in 5D, already you're beating those that stopped and failed in 3n on a likely spade lead. So do you gamble on pd having xx, Ax, Qxxx, Axxxx which I think makes slam pretty cold, or bid slam opposite xx, Ax, Kxxx, Kxxxx which requires a 2-2 diamond break or take a pretty sure plus position in 5D ? I think passing 5D is the best bet. nickf sydney

Unnatural? We're not in Kansas now Dorothy. nickf sydney

Pd opened 2C, natural, 10-14, 15 very rarely. Thes rest was a relay auction. The problem is given the relayer knows partner holds either: xx Ax Kxxx Kxxxx OR xx Ax Qxxx Axxxx what should he do now? nickf sydney

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=sa5hkq942daj853c9]133|100|Scoring: Butler Pairs[/hv] Playing a strong club system, you have relayed to find partner holds: xx Hx Hxxx Hxxxx where H = 1/3 honours. You also know he holds 7 slam points where Ace=3, King=2 and Queen = 1. Partner's last bid was 5D (which finally showed the honour in C,D,H but none in S and denied a second club honour ie he cant have AK, AQ or KQ) What now? nickf sydney

me and my big mouth. nickf sydney

I'm not convinced a double of 6S cancels the previous message. Your double of 5H has entered your partnership into penalty mode, not that this forces either of you to X 6S for penalties. It merely suggests a heart lead could be best. I think the double of 6S says this contract is not making and to help the defense along, I'd prefer you lead a heart. nickf sydney

i spend far too much time valuable time reading blogs. My favourite at the moment is Boing Boing. What other non-bridge blogs are worth reading? Serious poltical to down-right trivial OK. nickf sydney

hi - i'm trying to find a URL (if one exists) for a tourney in Istanbul this week or next that a mate has flown over for. any help appreciated. nickf sydney

I can't recall. But I do remember once diamonds were bid they quickly became the agreed suit and those that bid and raised spades went negative. nick sydney

I saw a similar hand about 10 years ago in our national Butler and the only pair to bid to a grand opened 1D. I think the theme of hands like this is "don't bid bad suits with good hands" nickf sydney