pdmunro

One of the key issues for me is "who doubled?" In the bidding shown, it was West originally. But now that the seats have been reassigned, it is East who doubled. And that ♦J lead by East is probably a singleton. All too confusing.

When paying to play the robots, if the declarer is North, the software swaps seats for the players, but now there is a mismatch with the bidding. This has confused me a few times.

Thanks. Not sure when/how I changed settings. Back to better size now though.

I prefer the 2021 size for the suit symbols. Larger is better for me with my poor eyesight. https://imgur.com/42QByoc

Matthew Weingarten has just now saved his Twitch commentary of his recent NAOBC games to his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/MatthewWeingartenbridgeoverlord201/videos. I'm glad he did this. Unfortunately, Twitch videos get deleted after a short time, whereas YouTube videos are a much more "permanent" record. His commentary has certainly been an excellent learning experience for me. I think of them as "thoughts from the heat of the battle".

more tributes https://bridgewinners.com/article/view/justin-lall-1986-2020/

While playing a casual game last Thurs night, there were a number of ejections by the computer. I assume this is because of "slow play". We were actually four friends who were discussing the bidding and the play at the end of each hand. This ejection hadn't happened in the four previous Thursday nights. Has the time, that the computer allows you to discuss the hand, been reduced? (Or maybe our discussion have become longer.) If so, how long do we have, before we have to start the next board?

Original poster here. Another suggested sequence made to me privately was 2C - 2D (wait) - ; 2NT - 4C (Gerber) - ; 4D (0 or 4 aces) - 6NT -; Partner, knowing I have 4 aces, can view her ♥K as an entry and bid 6NT.

>> For us 2♣-2♦-2N-3♠(variety of minor suited GF slam inv hands)-3N(forced)-4♣(single suited clubs) and via any of a number of routes onwards to 6♣/6N. >> many pairs will bid 3♣ (initially Stayman) and then follow up with 4♣ (again 100% forcing) to show a club suit. Thanks for the suggestions. Personally, if I was West, I would take partner for 7 top honours and just jump to 6♣ with her cards. My partner's mind is better organised than mine and she wants a route to slam.

Any suggestions on how to bid this deal? We play 2NT opening = 20-21; so here, 2C then 2NT = 22-23. http://keepcount.net/images/bid-01.png

Matthew Weingarten (bridgeoverlord201, coolbeans) has been streaming on Twitch. Entertaining (and educational!). Warning: some frank comments. Hey, but that's where the entertainment kicks in. https://www.twitch.tv/bridgeoverlord201/videos PS Part of the education is seeing the use of signals in action. Coolbeans and vreemde are using low encouraging and reverse count (high-low shows odd number in suit). The other thing I do is stop the video and see if I can work out the hands: locate missing high cards and determine suits' distribution.

re playing Matchpoints on the landing page - that is, not logging in, just playing Matchpoints anonymously on the landing page. Previously when North won the bidding, I would get to play as North. Now the computer plays. Was it something I said that has caused the software to gazump me?

Wow! 20 different results for the same board Traveller Best result Made all the right deductions about West's holding.

[hv=pc=n&s=skt3ha6dajt532cqt&n=sahjt872dkq6caj53&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=p1dp1hp2dp3cp3nppp]266|200[/hv] This hand makes a slam in diamonds. A number of tables bid the slam. Some Norths jumped directly to 6D over South's 3NT. Some partnerships explored their options by bidding their aces. We stayed in 3NT for a poor result. How could North justify jumping straight to 6D?

Did a bit of searching with "My BBO > Convention Cards" re the sequence 1H - 2C; 3NT, Found this: System - Meaning of 3NT BBO Advanced (2/1): 3NT = 15-17 doubleton or less in clubs SAYC: 3NT = Non-forcing Std English ACOL: 3NT = Non-forcing. 19HCP Balanced to play. Goren KISS: 3NT = Non-forcing. 19-20 bal I know that at the club I have done the jump to 3NT with 16 pts (and a feeling of unease).

In SAYC, what is the point range for 3NT in the sequence 1S-2C; 3NT? *********** I am assuming these NT point ranges: 1NT open = 15-17 2NT open = 20-21 1D-1H; 1NT = 12-14 (lowest NT rebid) 1S-2C; 2NT = 12-14 (lowest NT rebid) 1D-1H; 2NT = 18-19 (jump rebid to 2NT) ******* So is the 3NT, in the sequence 1S-2C; 3NT, equal to 18-19 (jump rebid), or 15-17 (enough points for game), or something else?

I agree, but couldn't dummy do both jobs; play the requested card, then make a record with 2 taps (suit + value) on the tablet? I wonder if the whole play record could be reduced to 26 taps, by using the UI I suggested originally. If it were available, it's an app I would like to use when next I teach beginners. PS I'm still pursuing an automated solution. I'm going to ask around the electronics workshops here in Brisbane, regarding how a cheap barcode scanner might be adapted. PPS It's predicted to be 35C (95F) and 38C (100F) here on the weekend, so your suggestion of a "pub discussion" is starting to look a lot more inviting. :-)

Thx Barmar. I guess it's this software, http://bridgetab.com/. I'll try contacting them to see if they have considered adding functionality for dummy to record the play.

Yes, a problem. Still tablets could perhaps be trialed on at least one table to see what the pluses are. Hah, you have got an advantage over me there. Typically we, in Australia, drive to our club and head home straight afterwards. There's no convenient stroll to a pub. Yes, it seems a bit of a chore to have a pencil and paper record. Perhaps, beginners when learning would do it - maybe, have a rotating kibitzer who does it? Basically, I want to be able to do what I do when I play online: that is, compare my bidding and play with what happens at the other tables. I really learn a lot by doing this, and lack of this facility is one reason I rarely go to the local club any more. (The other main reason is the 4 hr time commitment required.) I just feel if there could be some simple means of automatically recording the play, that it would be a big plus for the clubs.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I agree - tablets are also my preferred option, something I have wanted for many years. However, if it had a compelling use case, surely it would have been adopted in some clubs by now? So what is the barrier? I guess people want to feel the cards. To start at the beginning, "Why do I want to record the cards?". The simple fact of the matter is that I prefer to play online, because then I can compare both my bidding and play with what happened at the other tables and, hence, see why I got the score I did. When I play at the club, it frustrates me not knowing what happened at the other tables. (Too many unknown, unknowns. ;-)) I have been trying to think through a way to record the card play at the table. My thoughts were in this order: scanning a barcode on the card, optical recognition*, back to barcode recognition, using an app (as per my original post above). Now, of course, it popped into my head that dummy could just write down the card play with pen and paper and enter it on a computer later (the cheapest method). As I say, the frustration of not knowing what happened at the other tables and, hence, why I got the result I did, is one key factor that keeps me away from the club. I just wish the play could be easily recorded. Gnashing of teeth. *I note that https://www.playbridgeworld.com/ has just released an app, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.topdealer1.iDealer, that uses optical recognition to deal set hands at home. The results are collated and compared online.

I was wondering if there is a smart phone app for recording the play at my local bridge club. Something with a simple UI such as this. I envisage dummy doing the recording. http://www.keepcount.net/images/play-record-02.png

My favourite bridge software is Double Dummy Solver http://www.bridge-captain.com/downloadDD.html (free). I have just downloaded the latest version and I see that it comes with some warning that "This program is not commonly downloaded and could harm your computer". That is a very unfair warning. The program has been a labor of love by Bob Richardson for many years. It is like the GIB analyser that BBO uses, but it runs on your desktop. It looks at all four hands and shows you best plays and all makeable contracts. I also endorse Paul Marston's "Principles of Card Play". It's the only bridge book that I have read in it's entirety (a number of times). It's a book for beginners. It goes through the fundamentals. Some chapters include: Play in No Trumps Long Suit Tricks; Establishing Tricks by Finesse; Hold-Up Play; Entries; The Danger Hand; ... Play in A Suit Contract Drawing trumps; Discarding Losers; Setting up Side Suits; Entries in Suit Contracts; ... Defence Second hand Play; Discards; ... These are the fundamentals of correct card play. You can expect to get all the exercises correct with a little thought. I see that it is selling in the US for exorbitant prices. Perhaps, you can get it shipped from the author in Australia at a cheaper price, http://www.grandslambooks.com/books.html Or maybe get a second-hand copy. I think the number #1 card play book is "Card Play Technique or the Art of Being Lucky" by Victor Mollo & Nico Gardener. I could never quite get all the way through it, but I have used it as a guide to my improvement. When I came back to it after a few years break, I found the end of chapter exercises easier. That means I must be improving, right?

I am no expert so take my suggestions, as just that, suggestions. I am a scientist/math teacher. I explore things a bit like a scientific experiment. Let me tell my story. I went to bridge lessons for a couple of years. Okay, that taught me the bidding. But my eyes opened after a few years when my partner said, "Didn't you know I had the ♠K?" I thought, "Well no I didn't, because I wasn't even trying to work out what you had partner." But that simple question set me on the journey to try to work out how to work out what partner held. Prior to that quest, I was simply doing standard plays: these seem to work fine 80% of the time, but improvement comes from working out what partner and the opponents hold. Just like in poker. On this forum, as in club play, there are players who like to try different bidding systems. They feel that this gives them an edge. And there are players who like to concentrate on the play of the hand. I wonder where your preference will lie. As I said, I am no expert, just a club player who has an occasional win, but I do know a thing or two about how to learn difficult subjects. The key to learning is to play around with a key concept in your head. Play with it in both a backwards and forward direction. I am sure you have done this as part of developing your own strategies at poker. For myself, I latched onto the idea of the losing trick count and developed my own ideas of a winning trick count, the mirror image of the losing trick count. So I look at my hand and quickly count the number of aces, kings and queens I have. These are my winners, plus the 4th 5th etc. card in my suit. This is in addition to assessing my hand in terms of point count. So I am applying two filters to my hand: winners (the mirror image of losers) and point count, including length/shortage points. I need these two complementary filters. Rather than just counting my points, I found that counting my aces, kings and queens naturally led me to think about who held the missing honors. See, now I am starting to think about who might hold that missing ♠K! Maybe partner has it? And a common occurrence is that if the opponents haven't bid, it is highly likely that the missing honors are divided equally between them, so I can plan the play accordingly. Note that, after the dummy comes down that this is the time to plan your declarer play. The key technique is bridge is to plan your declarer play before calling for a card from dummy to the first trick. An important reason to go to a bridge teacher is to learn the etiquette of the game. When you may enquire about the meaning of an opponent's bid. When to call the director for a ruling, etc. The other idea that players use is to think in terms of hand patterns. For instance, common hand patterns are 5431, 5332 and 7321, etc. Okay, 7321 is not the most common distribution of cards, but when a player makes a 3♥ opening bid, a premept, they most probably have that shape. Thinking in terms of hand patterns helps you to plan the play. The key count, of course, is the trump suit. Seeing 5 trumps in your hand and three in dummy and thinking 5332 leads to the thought that three rounds of trumps should draw all the opponents' trumps. Is this any more efficient than simply counting "that's 4 trumps on the first round, another four on the second round, they must have one left"? Who knows. In summary, my journey was 1. a teacher to learn bidding; 2. reading to learn card play; 3. self-exploration to develop a quick method to count the cards. Have I perfected any of those? Far from it, but it is an enjoyable journey. And if you can, go to a bridge club. It's fun.

Fluffy, I agree. Maybe questioning whether bidding or play is more important in bridge is like asking whether sex or money is more important in marriage.

A very interesting analysis of the European monetary crisis by Yanis Varoufakis, a Greek economist http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3276182.htm I really loved this sentence: "This is how Europe works, it dithers, it delays, it makes cowardly small steps towards the truth and at some point that which it has admonished as impossible it embraces as inevitable." He comments: "It's a crisis that has spread well without the limits of Greece. It has, as of course you all know, moved to Ireland and from there south to Portugal; recently it has contaminated Italy and Spain. Currently it's spreading its wings over Belgium, the French banks and so on." He advocates three immediate steps: 1) "The first thing we need to do is unify the banking sector. It's preposterous to have France responsible for the French banks, it's like ... having Wall Street supervised and recapitalised in times of crisis by the state of New York." 2) "We need a common bond. Something like the US Treasury Bills"; and 30 "If you have a Eurobond, at the European level, you could co-finance a Marshal Plan for the whole of Europe using the European Investment Bank, which is twice the size of the World Bank."