nickf

I recently discovered the blog by Ray Lee. I recommend it highly. Ray is the principal of Master Point Press, the world's leading publisher of bridge books, a former President of the CBF, was editor and Publisher of MasterPoint (?) the defunct monthly bridge magazine. As you'd expect he writes well, and what he writes is worth reading. nickf sydney

slightly OT but I must relate a hand that I played an hour ago. The opps opened 1NT, responder bit 2C and somewhat to my suprise the auction continued: 1NT-2C 3C-5C I asked before the auction was over what 3C meant and was told natural - fair enough I thought - some people might have these methods. So out of interest I asked what 2C was by clicking on the bid and back came an alerted response 8trefl (8 clubs). Well I thought that was a bit unusual that 1NT-2C should show 8 clubs, but who knows. Dummy hit with 3 clubs and true to the (late) explanation declarer did indeed have 8 clubs. Unfortunately our opp's command of english prevented them from answering my question what they would bid with only seven clubs. Unusual but effective methods. Back to this topic, I'd say the example I relate above is definitely a situation where 2C should be alerted. nickf sydney

1) Miaow 2) I can attest that the issue of alarm clocks is important to david. When playing with him in our National Open Teams three years ago, I accidentally had a inter-session nap and arrived 5-10 mins into the game for a 1VP fine. nickf sydney

Probably top 5 based on either most number of cliches used or most jingoistic expressions. Of course we may need to handicap some of the regular posters. nickf sydney

Did I miss something? When was Australia mentioned in any of the posts over the past few days? EDIT: Oh I get it now, Jon must be from Ottawa, Illinois. Silly me. nickf sydney

I saw Hairspray last week. A real feel-good movie. Casting John Travolta in a fat suit as the mother had little point but Nikki Blonsky in lead role was fantastic. nickf sydney

I'm not usually a fan of the LA Weekly news, but this article caught my eye. Click here. nickf sydney

http://www.fahrer.com.au/images/pic01.jpg nickf sydney

What confirmation do you have that the whole team was involved? The photos I have seen show that it was only Rosenberg who held the poster, and the poster was about 5 times the size of a postage stamp. Maybe WE DIDN'T VOTE FOR BUSH refers to her and her husband? fwiw, I think holding up a political message was inappropriate, irrespective of the sentiment. I also think it should be the npc, in particular, who should bear most of any blame, or punishment, if any is meted out. nickf sydney

- 1. How was the internet connectivity from Shanghai? Seemed good in that I dont recall many dropouts. Certainly better than previous broadcasts we have had from the region. - 2. How was the quality of the operators? Variable - clearly there were a couple of Aces and a couple who mucked up claims. Still, it's a tough job and impossible to get everything right. - 3. How was the presentation from the venue regarding internet broadcast? Not sure. If you're asking how good a job the on-site VG manager did, then it was very good. - 4. How was the co-ordination away from the venue? Good. I suppose - certainly we were kept up to date on upcoming broadcasts as soon as possbile. - 5. 6 tables per session we had. Was that satisfactory? Always a tough question. What you gain in broader exposure, you lose in smaller audience numbers and the need to use your less than "gun" operators. For some strange reason I find watching a table with small kib numbers more hollow than a table with 5000. - 6. How did you like the commentary? Variable again. Some like woolsely, swanson, jtr, bjacobs are outstanding - there are probably more really good ones that I cant recall. Once again, when you have a lot of tables, you're forced to use a lot of commentators who just arent good analysts or cant enagage in meaningful discussion. Then there was one who all too often commentated only using just suit symbols, card designations and punctuation marks. - 7. Should we continue with multiple languages? 100% yes. Maybe more. nickf sydney

Me too. I was about 5 years old when metrics were introduced in Australia. But I only know how tall someone is when you tell me in feet and inches, or how heavy they are if in stones and pounds. I can only understand horizontal distances in centimetres metres and km, temperature by Celsius and air pressure in psi not kilopascals. nickf sydney

Well everyone knows the metric system is a scam. But not nearly as much as the Dewey decimal system. nickf sydney

alright, all those who placed bets know where to find me. Well done to you all. nickf sydney

Anyone who wants to back South Africa to beat Italy with me, despite the current score (48/96 boards played) please form an orderly queue. nickf sydney

Despite no public announcement, I understand that the OzOne programme has been terminated. This was a privately funded venture (initial donation - $1m) but continued support was subject to good results in domestic and international competion. The squad won a minor national event in a weak field (the Autumn National Open Teams in Adelaide) but apart from that no first places, anywhere. There's a little bit left in the kitty and this will used to fund some youth scholarships. nickf sydney

Firstly, I can't explain why Australia is performing so well. Certainly they were not rated among the top half of competing teams. The NPC of the team, David Stern, has commented in his blog that he has never captained a team who have put so much work in. Of their 6 players, I think it's fair to say only one, maybe two could be considered even bordering on world class. The others are very very good national level players. I would, however, suspect that a proportion of their success can be attributed to David's captaincy. David is a very experienced international NPC and never approaches any task with less than 100% effort and committment. I dont know to what extent he has motivated his players but I know a lot of careful consideration has gone into the match by match lineups and pre-match preparation. In respect to the OZ1 programme, I think Bruce Neill was in the squad for a while but that's not to say the others would not have been selected had they applied. Andrew Peake, Murray Green and Warren Lazer all have full time jobs with the usual four weeks annual leave, so committing to overseas and interstate travel to play in bridge tournaments was out of the the question. Bruce Neill and Pauline Gumby are retired and I'm not quite sure what Richard Jedychowski does. After 18 matches, it looks likes Australia will qualify for the QuarterFinals, however a real test of their mettle will be R19 when they play Italy. nickf sydney

And yet another blog... Bermuda Bowl blog written by David Stern, NPC of the Australian Open Team. nickf sydney

Sadly, Tim Seres died today, Sep 29. Tim was one of the all time great bridge players the world has ever seen. One of my great joys was taking off from work early on a Friday to kibitz his rubber bridge game. No doubt an obituary will be posted on the ABF website in the next few days www.abf.com.au nickf sydney

Perhaps I dont fully understand awm's argument but is he saying that carrying out activities that are legal or decriminalised in another country where they are not in one's home country is ethically somewhat questionable? Is that like me driving on the other side of the road when I go Europe? In Australia it's illegal to drive on the right side of a two way street. Is it unethical for me to do so when I go to Europe? How about hookers in Bangkok? Exactly what is the ethical transgression here as long as the transaction is carried out in a safe manner? Dope in Amsterdam? My understanding is that cannibis is decriminalised in The Netherlands. Again, what's the ethical dilemna? Who governs the ethical standards of travelling junior bridge players in any case? I'd have more concern about the consumption of alcohol or nicotine than a few joints in Dutch cafe. But I shouldn't should I, as these are legal under USA jurisdiction. nickf sydney

It's pretty bad - but only in so far as I dont get it and I dont think there such a word as alearther. You're being a bit crytpic - can I have a clue ? nickf sydney

Oops, misleading opening post. In Australia the majority also throw in an Acol 2NT to their 2D multi. I guess this throws out the need to act immediately with a weak NT or other ordinary hands posters have mentioned like 4441M hand or 5m4M31 with a bad minor. In response to Gerben - rarely passed. nickf sydney

I've been playing the following defense to 2D Multi (weak 2 in either Major) X = I have a 5 card Major, competitive+ values 2H = a good 3C overcall 2S = a good 3D overcall 2NT = natural 3C = 6+ clubs, say 9-11ish 3D = 6+ diamonds, say 9-11ish 3H = a really good hand with 6+ hearts 3S = a really good hand with 6+ spades Any opinions ? (and as a pre-emptive strike, I am not fishing for your preferred methods over 2D multi). thanks. nickf sydney

An insight of how we locals view the absurdity of the heightened security. We have a local politico-satircal show called The Chasers War on Everything. Yesterday they pulled a stunt masquerading as a Canadian motorcade and entered a restricted zone near GWBs hotel. They were eventually stopped by the police and arrested and charged. See http://www.smh.com.au/ go to Video News on the right hand side and click on Chaser breach APEC security. nickf sydney

Has President Bush's current visit to Sydney rated much of a mention in mainstream US media? Have you seen the over the top security measures our state government has put in place for the APEC meeting? How does this compare to when President Bush travels around the states. The CBD of Sydney has been fenced off with a 3m high steel perimeter and is effectively a no-go area without good reason. Attempts at peaceful demonstrations have been all but quashed. nickf sydney

you just cant pass with ten counts. Either bid 3C as F1 or make a negative double correcting to hearts when its your turn next. nickf sydney