nickf

you hold: [hv=d=n&v=&s=shaxxdakxxxxcqxxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] partner deals and opens 1S and you respond 2D (promising 5). Partner bids 5NT and you reply 7D and it goes pass pass double. Your call. nickf sydney

I think South's failure to alert is reprehensible. The spirit of the alert regulations and bridge in general are such that it is our obligation to explain bids that wouldnt otherwise be normally understood. I can mildly condone players for being too lazy to alert a strong 2C opener or even eg a Jacoby Transfer or Stayman but the example in the cited hand is too woeful to go unpunished. We need to take a step back and remember we are playing a game based on full disclosure. nickf sydney

Neither. But I would say North's bidding is closer to Uranus. nickf sydney

I should have nipped this in the bud earlier. North opened 1NT (15-17), South transferred to Hearts then bid spades naturally. nickf sydney

Who said East had a good diamond suit? How do you know his diamonds weren't AKx? Go back 2 spaces. nickf sydney

North declares 4H after an uninterrupted auction. [hv=d=n&v=n&n=saq9hj84dq87caqj2&s=sk753haq976dj6c75]133|200|Scoring: Swiss Teams[/hv] East begins with DA, DK, D2. Over to you. nickf sydney

I rule East is a goose, among other things. Wouldnt his partner play the SK if he had it to smother dummy's Q? nickf sydney

without question Side one of Led Zeppelin IV nickf sydney All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine

stepped out last night for my biennial ftf game with mrs nickf and struck an interesting bidding problem. matchpoints, weak field, all vul Conditions - you play 4 card major standard, majors before minors, open 1C with 4-4 in the minors - this implies diamonds will be 5 unless 3343 - major suit quality irrelevant Partner deals and opens 1C and you hold: ♠ Q73 ♥ Q2 ♦ AJ762 ♣ T96 How do you respond and why? nickf sydney

I'd like to encourage you go to: Bridge is Cool video Am i just an uncool 41-year old or does everyone else cringe as well? But more importantly, will this video be a successful vehicle for encouraging its target market (15-25 year old wannabe gangsta rappers I guess) to spend hours on end holding little bits of cardboard with people who remind them of their grandma in Plains, Georgia? nickf sydney

Hi, the poles in sydney last month and I think a couple of the Nth American pairs were playing transfer responses etc after intervention following an opening bid. If anyone has some decent notes on these, can they please PM me a copy preferably in .rtf or .pdf format? Not sure how relevant it is, but i would like to tack these onto a 4cM system, majors before minors. thanks in advance. nickf sydney

How far away Nick? well in the post-sydney letdown, we've all been getting on with our lives but I heard a couple of days ago that a DVD of the photos has been preparted. don't hold your breath, but it wont be too far away now. nickf sydney

html links? think porn, think viruses, think propoganda, think political bullsh*t. My guess is this suggestion wont be implemented in your lifetime or your granchildrens'. nickf sydney

Here's a couple of snaps I took just as USA1 finished scoring up after the playoff. click here for Photo 1 Left to right: Ishmael (fish) del'monte (Australia, chief Vugraph commentor) (in the black jacket) Ari Greenberg (USA1) Vince Demuy (Canada) (with the cap on) Daniel (thekid) Lavee (Canada) (black t-shirt) John Hurd (USA1) (facing) hugging John (the maniac) Kranyak (USA1) Joe Grue (USA1) (with glasses) Joel Wooldridge (USA1) (blue top) Justin Lall (USA1) (black jacket) click here for Photo 2 Left to right: John (the maniac) Kranyak (USA1) Daniel (thekid) Lavee (Canada) (black t-shirt) Vince Demuy (Canada) John Hurd (USA1) Joel Wooldridge (USA1) Joe Grue (USA1) Justin Lall (USA1) Ari Greenberg (USA1) (blue shirt) We have hundreds of photos from the 10 days from the opening and closing ceremony, excursion to Koala Park, Harbour cruise and playing venue. All coming to a website near you soon. Stay tuned. nickf sydney

I feel qualified to comment on this hand as I was closer to the players than anyone else (about 30cm). Here are the facts as I saw them. Kranyak's X of 4S muddied the RKC auction and Kalita incorrectly responded 4NT. Some time in the next five minutes he wrote a note to Grue (behind the screen of course) that he had made a monumental mistake and that he had an extra Ace. Kotorowicz took several minutes to bid 6H and then Kalita with an extra Ace also a few minutes to bid on to 7D. Kotorowicz pulled to 7NT and after the lead, Kalita dropped his hand on the table and claimed 13. Grue and Kranyak were not annoyed at the bids after the long hesitations, just that the Poles had fallen more or less into a 17 trick 7NT. Grue explained the Kranyak under the screen what Kalita had written and they moved onto the next board. nick sydney

I've been on site all tourney and spoke to Grue in the bar last night. He played Araszkiewicz to be 1-2 in the reds and did not play the hand on any huddles albeit small by Buras. Breaks in tempo are often the fault of the operator not the player. nickf sydney

thanks for the kudos on behalf of the on-site organising committee. Not only do we key in every auction and lead and every score from every board from every match a few minutes after they are played but we're now catching up with also keying in card play where recorded. But keep in mind this is 18 tables of 20 boards per match, no small job. This service might give you some indication eg as to *how* Australia scored +1680 (6NTx) in Match five with two missing Aces. ;) It's all fun here, the juniors are having a great time visiting one of the world's most beautiful cities and the bridge is getting exciting. Stay tuned. nickf sydney

Let me preced this by saying I have already contacted abuse@ Just played a 8 board IMP tourney. My partner and I bid and raised [a s sui]t- the opponents were on their way to a club slam but cue bid [our suit] along the way. Oops! This was passed out. Of course I butchered the defense to to only take this 4 off vulnerable. The next hand was dealt then a message flashes on our screen - Bd 7 Score adjusted to [contract making for side that didn't bid it]. I thought this was a bit odd, so i tried to contact the Director. And guess what - he was the chook who had passed his partner's cue bid. I suggested to this playing Director that he shouldnt be adjusting his bad results then in a cloud of smoke he [adjusted the next board too]. amazing stuff. nickf sydney

Seeing as I'm deeply involved in the upcoming World Juniors in Sydney, I'd thought I'd illustrate the event with a blog of my own. http://www.dummytracks.blogspot.com Check it out for pics, hands and all the antics of the juniors down under. nickf sydney

I've seen way too many young talented bridge people on this side of the world drop out of uni and attempt to make a living out of bridge. Some of them had an awful lot of talent but you need to make contigencies. It's a real pity to see them now in their 30s+, burnt out and often without two coins to rub together, or so it seems. Get a trade, get a partner, have some kiddies if that's your scene. I have a mate from my junior days who now plays internationally. I asked him years ago for some input into a strategy for me to attain his level in the bridge scene. He said simply: give up bridge for 6 months. I can't do that but I am sure he is right. nickf sydney

Uday is proabably right here - but should this the business of the director or any one who witnesses the unusual? And where do we draw the line? I mean, I'd like to report the guy this afternoon who had a blackwood accident, wound up in a grand off three keycards and caused me to lose 5 imps against the average. At least I *think* it was accident. But who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men (or however that saying goes?) But get my point ? nickf sydney

I saw this the other day too - after an auction 1D - 7NT - X - XX ///. This was the last board of the tournament I also played in. I had been playing fast and was one of the first finished so as usual I was cruising through the other tables to see what was going on the last hand. The auction described above was clearly retributional. On the previous board the 7NT bidder had opened a strong NT and his partner had raised to 6NT on some balanced 14 hcp filth. This drifted three off. As soon as I saw the auction on the last board I pmed the Director, asking him to examine the auction on Bd X at Table Y. He pmed me back to say he would look at the board. I don't know if he adjusted the score but I wonder if consideration can be made for eliminating the top (or top 2) scores in each direction when averages are calculated? This eliminates the effect of unusual scores and is the principle we employ in Australian events. nickf sydney

I had cause to call the Director during a tournament recently and received a ruling in my favour. After the tourney I was bombarded with private chat from one of my opponents (from the table where the director was called). The simple solution was to simply make this person an enemy so that all chat from him would be bounced in future. However, when I next logged in, I found a message had been left for me by the same player. I'd prefer not to have any further communication with this person and think it would be logical to bar the sending of messages to people who have designated you an enemy. nickf sydney

I don't agree with this notion. And I also can't think of any precedent in any sport where someone has all previous accomplishments stripped. Other sports dont automatically ban particpants found guilty of cheating for life so why should the bridge administrations. nickf sydney

I don't really care for who's right or wrong, apart from a general inclination to make sure justice prevails. An important, but so far overlooked, point is the impact upon bridge should Mme Lavazza seek to withdraw the level of sponsorship and support she affords Italian and world bridge in general. Bridge will be the loser then. nickf sydney