nickf

The auction I saw for this hand was 1S-3C mixed making the problem even harder for the hand with all the clubs. nickf sydney

I saw it all too and as quickly as I could boot the perp it would start up under another nick. nickf sydney

We have phone free events (some nationals) in Australia, where players check their phone at the door (if they bring them to the venue). Doesnt create much drama as far as I know. nickf sydney

Funny you should say that. A few years ago I asked one of my mates who was winning national events and a couple of years later playing in our Open Team what he recommended I do to improve my game to say his level (we began playing at about the same time and as juniors there we were peers). He emphatically said dont pull a card for 6 months. nickf sydney

You're right Wayne, the match occurred during the Swiss, without screens, but I think the bidder (and Director and Appeals committee) has to look at the alternatives as well in the absence of UI and that either player could have thought before the tray was returned. My suggestion was hypothetical. nickf sydney

Playing in a different match to the one discussed, I bid 4S without a second thought. I think my opponent overcalled 4H however. Either way, 4S was clearcut. nickf sydney I don't like bidding 4♠ over 4♥. That means the auction was: 1♠ (4♥) 4♠ How does partner know if you have any values? Wouldn't you be forced to take the same action with 13 hcp and a fit? I didnt like it either to be honest, but what are your options in the face of a pre-empt? With an opening hand you cant pass and wait for partner to balance, and with this very hand you cant afford to pass either. As it happened, I bid 4S, I think the next hand bid 5H and my partner bid 6S which went just 1 off on bad lead. nickf sydney

Playing in a different match to the one discussed, I bid 4S without a second thought. I think my opponent overcalled 4H however. Either way, 4S was clearcut. nickf sydney

What if I told you the match was played with screens? Would you still be ashamed to bid 4S? nickf sydney

Here's a particularly contentious ruling and Appeal that occurred in our Nationals last week. Sitting East, you hold: [hv=d=w&v=n&s=s6432hqdq97c98543]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Your partner deals and opens 1♠, RHO overcalls 3♥, you pass (OK I wouldnt and maybe neither would you, but these are the facts), LHO bids 4♥, partner thinks for a while (was agreed by all 4 players to have been slow) then passes. East bid 4♠ and NS called the director. He established the facts and directed the auction to continue. North bid 5♥, doubled by West and this contract went two light. The director ruled that the slow pass indicated that West was considering bidding and that Law 16A requires East not to choose ‘from among logical alternative actions one that could demonstrably have been suggested over another by the extraneous information’. The director, therefore, excluded the 4♠ bid and adjusted the result to 4♥ down 1 in accordance with Law 12C2. East-West took the ruling to appeal. The Appeals Committee upheld the director’s ruling and determined that the appeal was ‘without merit’. A 1 VP penalty was applied to the EW team. Do you agree that this appeal was frivolous? nickf sydney

No you're right. My partner was the dealer. Then it went pass (forced) pass to me. Good point. nickf sydney

You are playing a 20 board match in a national teams championship at a top table against a poor team. You have an average plus card so far. Sitting North and holding [hv=d=e&v=n&s=skqt85hjdkj52ca95]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] you stupidly open 1S out of turn. East doesnt accept the bid, so you can do what you like but your partner is barred from the rest of the auction. Your call and why. nickf sydney

2010 at the earliest I've been told. nickf sydney

Only 10 more days until I make my New Years resolution to stop pommy cricket bashing but I couldnt resist a dig in light of the scores from the third test against Sri Lanka. All out for 81 indeed. nickf sydney PS I am notorious for breaking New Years resolutions.

I really spend too much time surfing. I've just discovered Bobby Wolff's personal blog. An interesting read although I dont agree with many of his views. nickf sydney

It's a quiet time around BBO forums, so I figured its time to stir the pot. Here's a chapter summary of Bobby Wolff's autobiography, due out in February. Looks rivetting: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 Firing Ira Convincing Ira Corn that the Aces couldn't succeed if he insisted on being a playing sponsor. Chapter 2 Tracing My Addiction Bobby Wolff's early years and introduction to bridge through Oswald Jacoby and other greats Chapter 3 Playing Pro Versus A Real Job Wolff's early bridge career -- playing club pro, and playing on Charles Goren's team Chapter 4 The Birth of the Aces How the team came into being, and how the personnel were selected Chapter 5 The Death of the Aces and Thereafter The great years of the Aces, and what happened after Ira Corn's death Chapter 6 Reflections Some of the celebrities the Aces rubbed shoulders with... George Burns, Omar Sharif, and others Chapter 7 ‘Serving Time’ on the Board Behind the scenes politics -- how the ACBL really works -- inventing the Recorder system Chapter 8 Blunders and Indiscretions How the ACBL Board hired and fired a series of incompetent CEOs Chapter 9 The Agony of De-Feet The inside story of the 'foot soldiers', the Italian pair caught cheating in the 1975 world championships Chapter 10 The Colossus of Rhodes Revisited! More skullduggery, this time in the 1996 championships in Rhodes Chapter 11 The ACBL... Flirting with Disaster! How the ACBL Board almost gave $2 million to an unqualified charlatan to 'promote bridge' Chapter 12 A Tale of Survivorship The three women who shaped Wolff's life Chapter 13 The Special World of the WBF How Denis Howard was ousted as WBF president, how Wolff became president, the politics of world bridge, and the recent Shanghai affair involving the US Venice Cup team Chapter 14 Losing Team Wins! The inside story of how the Canadian team was robbed in the Geneva world championship, losing a match they had actually won as a result of politics Chapter 15 Looking Out for Number One Professionalism, sharp practice, and outright cheating... Chapter 16 Paying the Piper The Nickell team -- the glory years, the break-up of the Hamman-Wolff partnership, and Wolff's firing Chapter 17 Weapons of Mass Destruction and Lesser Atrocities Full disclosure, system proliferation, and bizarre conventions Chapter 18 Professionalism, Personal Agendas and Recusals The undue influence that professionals, politicians and sponsors wield over international team selection in the USA and elsewhere Chapter 19 Even Idols Have Clay Feet Edgar Kaplan, the Blue team, the Burgay Tapes affair, and an anonymous attempt to smear Wolff Chapter 20 An Appeal to Remember The strange, often nonsensical, appeals process reflected through a tortuous recent case that caused the ACBL Board to make new policy Chapter 21 The “C” Word Cheating -- examples, cases, efforts to combat it Chapter 22 Restoring Equity and Meting Out Punishment Wolff as Appeals Chairman and National Recorder -- more cheating cases and the infamous 'Oh, *****!' ruling. Chapter 23 What’s to Become of America’s Talented Youth? Heading up the USA Junior program in the early 90s, and what needs to be done to keep the game alive amongst the young. Chapter 24 Where Do We Go from Here? The big issues facing bridge today -- money, sponsorship, professionalism, politics, the structure of the ACBL, cheating, systems development and control, the alert system, the handling of appeals... and more. nickf sydney

I think it's a good idea to spread the word about this sub-forum. I just bumped into an Aussie youth player who maintains a popular Australian Youth bridge website and he'll add a link. Andy Hung's website There's also a bucket of young people playing on the site, perhaps management can add a news item. nickf sydney

I heard this story too - Zia to join the Nickell squad, Rosenberg I think to stay with his current team. Zia-Hamman to play 5cM. nickf sydney

Well we're not all stars, but the Annual Yellows Indy is on next weekend. Fred has suggested he should be available to play. Sat Dec 8 - 11am Las Vegas Time 12 boards, 1 bd rounds, MP. Last year was great, this year will be better. nickf sydney

One thing for sure, it says dont lead a club even if you werent watching the auction. nickf sydney

Correct. I'd say however that the ABF is structured quite differently to the ACBL. Each state and territory (n=8) has two delegates that represent it at the national level. The ABF is essentially run by a Management Committee and a bunch of sub-committees comprising these people plus other professionals (solicitors, accountants) voluntarily giving their time. Day to day administration is run out of a small one-person office in Canberra. I think at last count we had about 40,000 members. We never had the merchandising and sales wing to the extent the ACBL had and what we had was disbanded about 15 years ago. nickf sydney

As one of the pioneers of BBO VuGraph broadcasts in Australia, I empathise with some of Jan comments. But all the issues of ensuring internet connectivity and finding operators etc have been addressed here by the formation of a National VuGraph Unit, whose agenda is to work with tournament organisors to provide the infrastructure and labour to run these broadcasts. The ABF has invested about $15K this year in establishing this unit - buying all the necessary equipment, training operators around the country all without burdening any tournament organisors who have enough on their plate. These outlays are marketing costs for the ABF and I'd like to think other large national bridge organisations (eg ACBL) could easily fund a similar unit. I should point out that everyone who works for the National VuGraph Unit is paid - form the National Co-ordinator right down to the operators and runners (where required). For years this was a labour of love for many of us, but that was never going to work long term. nickf sydney

I like the new feature too, if only that it saves me about 10 mouseclicks every time I play a tourney, which is almost always with the same partner. What might also be good, and another post a week ago made this suggestion is that at the beginning of each round, a summary of the system is announced, perhaps in the chat window. FD has a system summary field and I wonder if this data could be used. nickf sydney

Naff idea. I'd like to propose another petition, but I should really restrain myself. nickf sydney

the story has hit mainstream Australian press now, albeit a story picked up from an international wire. From news.com.au nickf sydney

Brilliant! We've just gone onto Daylight savings time here. Except Queensland, however, they still hold out. Something to do with the extra hour of afternoon sunshine fading the curtains. nickf sydney