pdmunro

I am about to start high school teaching tomorrow. It is the start of the school year here in Australia. I am a contract teacher who is returning to the classroom after a number of years in other employment. I know that the school has chess. There is an inter-school chess competition. The students basically run it themselves. I doubt that I can introduce bridge. For me, the basic problem is that teaching science and maths will take all my time and energy. But just in case an opportunity arises, I keep thinking about how to make bidding simpler for beginners. The simplest bidding system, I can think of, involves counting your aces, kings and queens as winners. Say, each player wrote down the total number of aces, kings and queens that they held on a bidding slip in the middle of the table. For instance, this hand, K x x x K Q x x A x x x x, would write AKQ = 4. The total round the table would sum to 12. How could the players use this information to bid?

Oh boy, thanks Gerado, not the first time that I have got in trouble for calling a women by the wrong name.

Judit Polgar (the chess grandmaster) has been actively involved in promoting chess to children in the US. She and her manager, Paul Trong, have some interesting ideas about marketing games to children. In an article on "Marketing Chess" by Paul Trong http://chessville.com/Editorials/MarketingChessInC21.htm, two ideas stand out: 1) Girls play games to meet friends; boys play to win. Games have to be marketed differently to the two groups. Girls want a social experience; boys want a sense of achievement, of getting better. Males have dominated the organization and aims of games to an extent that many females find off-putting. 2) "Another must-do activity is to create a comprehensive and easy to understand universal/standard chess teaching system to introduce people of all ages to chess. It should be readily available, for free, to download or view on the web." Judit Polgar writes, http://www.chesscafe.com/polgar/polgar.htm "The chess format on TV has to be shortened. It can be done with faster time control or via excellent editing, exciting commentaries, thorough explanations and simple to understand tips. However, there has to be a good plot." "The relationship between the fans and the professional players is an incredibly important part of promoting chess. That is why I have traveled across the country to meet countless chess fans of all ages." Here in Australia, chess is having a resurgence in schools. Bridge has never really got a foot in the door. Perhaps chess has something to teach us.

This looks a really interesting feature. However when I tried it (8 boards), I only get the play to the first trick in the PBN file. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong? Ah sleep, again it works its magic. I have just woken. I think you had the stop button (bottom right) depressed. This pauses the program at the end of every trick. Give it a click to change this mode. And try everything again.

Like all computer things, I would start small. Below is what I get with 2 deals. It auto generated all the deals and play. I simply set the bidding as 1H-3H-4H. Interestingly, when it rebid Board 2 the program did not bid on to 4H. [Event "#"] [board "1"] [Dealer "E"] [Date "2006.01.11"] [North "WBridge5"] [East "WBridge5"] [south "Joueur"] [West "WBridge5"] [Vulnerable "Both"] [Deal "N:.J985.AT753.QJT3 AK975.T7.J86.954 632.AKQ64.K9.A62 QJT84.32.Q42.K87"] { Nord S: H: J 9 8 5 D: A10 7 5 3 C: Q J10 3 Ouest Est S: Q J10 8 4 S: A K 9 7 5 H: 3 2 H:10 7 D: Q 4 2 D: J 8 6 C: K 8 7 C: 9 5 4 Sud S: 6 3 2 H: A K Q 6 4 D: K 9 C: A 6 2 } [Declarer "S"] [Contract "4H"] [Result "12"] [score "NS 680"] [Auction "E"] PASS 1H PASS 3H PASS 4H PASS PASS PASS [Play "W"] H2 H5 H7 HA H3 H8 HT HK D2 D3 D6 DK C7 C3 C4 CA D4 DA D8 D9 DQ DT DJ H6 S4 H9 S5 S3 S8 D7 C5 C2 ST D5 C9 C6 C8 CQ S7 H4 SJ CT S9 S6 CK CJ SK HQ SQ HJ SA S2 [Event "#"] [board "2"] [Dealer "E"] [Date "2006.01.11"] [North "WBridge5"] [East "WBridge5"] [south "Joueur"] [West "WBridge5"] [Vulnerable "None"] [Deal "N:KQJ3.T942.4.Q875 9762.83.A732.A32 54.AKJ76.QJ5.K64 AT8.Q5.KT986.JT9"] { Nord S: K Q J 3 H:10 9 4 2 D: 4 C: Q 8 7 5 Ouest Est S: A10 8 S: 9 7 6 2 H: Q 5 H: 8 3 D: K10 9 8 6 D: A 7 3 2 C: J10 9 C: A 3 2 Sud S: 5 4 H: A K J 7 6 D: Q J 5 C: K 6 4 } [Declarer "S"] [Contract "3H"] [Result "9"] [score "NS 140"] [Auction "E"] PASS 1H PASS 3H PASS PASS PASS [Play "W"] CJ C5 C2 CK H5 H2 H8 HA DK D4 D7 DQ CT C7 C3 C6 C9 CQ CA C4 SA S3 S7 S5 DT H4 DA D5 HQ HT H3 HK D6 C8 D2 DJ S8 SJ S2 S4 ST SK S6 H7 D8 H9 D3 H6 D9 SQ S9 HJ As I wrote previously, the analysis is fairly slow. This is a function of the simulations it attempts. I think it does about 10 per sec at any one turn. There is a bit of a pause after the autoplay of deal 1. Maybe you needed to wait a bit. Use Notepad to see what the pbn or lin files look like. They are just text. Excuse me if I am just telling you things you already know. Perhaps just play a few games of random deals yourself. There may be something I did that is a normal part of the program that I am not telling you because I do it without thinking. There are some Help files in English on the main web site. http://perso.chello.fr/users/y/yvescostel/index.htm I also use the translation tool that Google provides in order to translate their web pages.

I haven't tried that. Not my cup of tea. I think you would be able to tell what's involved from the free demo version.

Play SAYC or add your own bidding system I dowloaded the free demonstration copy of Micro Bridge http://www.threeweb.ad.jp/~mcbridge/dload_e1.htm It is great. An excellent interface. The free version has SAYC, as well as Acol. There is no time limit as far as I can tell. A good aid for beginners is the System Summary. First choose the bidding system, the computer is to use, by clicking "Tools | Bidding System Manager". Next look at the meaning of any bids you are not sure of, by clicking "Bidding | Summary" If you print it out, you get a very complete SAYC system. This may be useful to someone constructing a Full Disclosure file. The version, that you buy, allows you to set up your own bidding system. I think this function is unique to Micro Bridge. Quite an achievement.

Autogenerate Teaching Hands It seems Yves Costel's WBridge5 has a unique capability. It can be used to generate hands that conform to a bidding sequence. It can then autoplay those hands. The deal and play are saved as PBN files. Open WBridge5 and click "Donne | Donne Manuelle... | Oui" to get a screen titled "Saise manuelle de la donne" (Manual entry of deals) At the top left, choose "Donneur" (Dealer), by clicking, say, "Est" (East). Now click "Encheres" (Bids) from the top-bar options. Next, click on the bid options, lower-right, to generate, say, a limit raise - 1H - 3H - 4H - - - Click "Save" (floppy disk symbol). You are asked for a filename; how many deals you want; and "Avec Jeau de la carte" (whether you want the cards autoplayed). It can take a while to play the cards. A teacher might want to upload these pbn files to BBO and add commentary. A few points 1) To get WBridge5 to bid 1H-3H as a limit raise I had to first uncheck various conventions such as Truscott 2NT. This is done from the main screen. Click "Option | Encheres..." and uncheck "2SA Truscott; 2SA & 3SA fitté; 2SA spécial; and Bergen". 2) Importing files to BBO-online-MOVIE raises the dealer and vulnerability issue. The best options seems to be to set up a teaching table because you can specify the number of the deal you are uploading. Looking at the following table re BBO numbering, you can see that a deal where N is the dealer and NS are vulnerable has to be numbered 5 or 21. Brd Brd Dealer Vul 1 17 N Nil 2 18 E NS 3 19 S EW 4 20 W Both 5 21 N NS 6 22 E EW 7 23 S Both 8 24 W Nil 9 25 N EW 10 26 E Both 11 27 S Nil 12 28 W NS 13 29 N Both 14 30 E Nil 15 31 S NS 16 32 W EW 3) If you wanted to go in the reverse direction and play BBO files on WBridge5, you would need to use Wayne Burrows' lin-to-pbn converter. http://www.ebridgenz.com/download.html

I would like to start a topic, Software Reviews. I have been impressed with some recent software I downloaded. Have a look at the list on http://www.jackbridge.com/ewkprt.htm

I dowloaded the free demonstration copy of Micro Bridge http://www.threeweb.ad.jp/~mcbridge/dload_e1.htm It is great. The free version has Standard American, as well as Acol. There is no time limit as far as I can tell. The version you pay for allows you to set up your own bidding system, a function unique to Micro Bridge, I think. Jack has reviews of the programs that have competed in the World Computer Bridge Championships (WCBC): http://www.jackbridge.com/ewkprt.htm Micro Bridge gets a good rating. These days all the top computer programs simulate possible hand holdings to make better decisions: http://www.greatgameproducts.com/articles/...ge_article.html And, in defence, you have to signal properly to help your computer partner. It seems the WCBC contest has led to these improvements.

Suggestion: Click the bar at the top of the page to "temporarily allow popups". You may also have to click it a second time to be able to "download a file". These are security measures of WindowsXP. You can send me a personal message if you wish. Click my name "pdmunro" at the side. Another site with EasyBridge (and other bridge software) is http://theoretica.informatik.uni-oldenburg...i/software.html The copy of EasyBridge there is the penultimate version.

EasyBridge is freeware. WBridge5 is freeware. It won the 2005 Computer World Championship. (But Jack will be back!) It is in French. If you have Google Toolbar installed you can right-click your mouse to get a translation of the web pages. My French is very limited. I am guessing that the abbreviations R, D, V correspond to Royale=King, Dame=Queen & Vassal=Jack. That is, a suit is A R D V 10 9 8 .... I haven't tried WBridge5 yet. Has anyone? Any tricks to the setup?

Try PostFree Bridge Books http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/postfree/books/authL.htm http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/postfree/books/authF.htm

A really delightful post by Frances Hinden. Her whole description makes one want to jump on a plane and head to Peebles. As my bridge is exclusivley BBO these days, I need reminding of what I am missing with f-2-f bridge. And good to see Roland letting off a bit of steam. Failure is the main spur to improve things. I have been kibitzing the World Chess Cup 2005 the last couple of weeks. It is being held in Siberia(!), in Khanty-Mansiysk, one of the world's newest cities, with an obviously great internet connection - a bit of a contrast to Peebles' dialup connection. One very interesting feature of the World Chess Cup site are the interviews with the players. Maybe it's just the fun the Russian interviewer/translator had with the English language, maybe it's the way he teased the players into talking about what was going on in their heads, but I found these some of the best interviews I have ever read. I wonder if the top bridge players would be as interesting to interview?

What features would you like to see Power Board have? One key feature that I would like is some means of keeping track of good posts I have read in the past.

Flame, I see from your profile that you are in Israel. I am not sure what books you can get there. Is there a local author who has a good book? In the USA, I think Audrey Grant's books would be the main books used for beginners. I would check out the ACBL website. In Australia, we mostly use Paul Marston's "The Language of Bidding". It has all the main bids. However when I learnt, my bridge teacher wrote his own lesson sheets, each one focusing on a central bidding topic. I think this helped to keep us coming back for the next installment. My experience with bridge books - I probably have about eighty - is that I use them as references rather than reading them from cover to cover. The only books I have read completely are a couple of very simple books on play. Have you tried making up a one page bidding chart? I think all beginners want to have a one page system. :-)

I was grateful for Walddk mentioning the link to the Swan games scoreboards and leaderboard. I checked it regularly while I was watching the vugraph on BBO.

There is an interesting web site about "male/female" brains. It contains the ideas of the Cambridge research team led by Dr Simon Baron-Cohen. One of their hypotheses is that the autistic brain represents the extreme male brain. Try the Autism Quotient test: http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/tests/default.asp It has helped me to better understand myself and my maths/science colleagues. On the same page you will find the Eyes Test. It tests whether you can read people's feeling from pictures of their eyes. I took the Eyes Test first. I wanted to find I was normal, before I did any other self-testing that might reveal otherwise. :-) ================================================ I put in the above division to separate off my own thoughts. I find this hard to write. I want to produce something that is perfect, but don’t have the time. So these are just ramblings. I think women are generally more attuned to their surroundings. I could live in a house of grot and not even see it most of the time. My wife has directed the renovation of our house to improve its run down nature. I walk into my computer room and hardly see the mess; my mind is concentrating on the computer tasks I have to do. They say that if the fridge door is closed the male mind has no idea what is in it. That’s why my wife does the shopping. That’s why I have to have things spread out. I can remember where I left them. Tidy them up and put them in a cupboard and I find it harder to remember. I think the evolutionary reason women are more attuned to what is going on around them is for safety reasons. Two responses to danger are either fight or flight. Being the “weaker sex” the female’s first response is flight. The male’s adrenalin rush urges him to fight. For this to be effective he must focus on the danger. He needs to find the enemy’s vulnerable point as he attacks. The females heightened perception of her surroundings gives her nonverbal clues that we guys just don’t pick up. Her intuition is based on information that we guys are not aware of. So it is better than an even-money guess. One idea I read is that a person who is trying to hide something inevitably changes their behaviour. Say a person is trying to hide the fact that they have the missing King. If they normally move about in their seat, they will become still. If they normally sit still, then they will start to move. Perhaps a women knows this subconsciously. I am fascinated by how the brain works. Of most interest to me is how people learn. Thanks 42 for the observations you have made and for raising these issues.

Linda Lee (Canadian Women's Team) wrote an interesting article "Be Prepared". You can find it on claire bridge links in the "Psycholgy" section.

Richard Pavlicek has a huge database of hands that he has solved double dummy. Go to http://www.rpbridge.net/rpbr.htm and look under "Bridge Utilities" for "RP Deal Finder". The database can be interrogated with questions such as yours.

Let's compare two SA-YC sites. Site 1 http://mania.floater.org/bidding/systems/SAYC.html "NOTE: Responder promises to bid again if he responded with a new suit at the two level unless opener's rebid is at the game level." Site 2 http://www.annam.co.uk/sayc01.htm "NOTE: In an uncontested auction any new suit bid (where it is not preemptive) at the 3 level is 100% forcing - This applies to both opener’s and responder’s calls. SAYC, in common with all versions of Standard American, adheres to the new-suit forcing principle ie., a new suit by responder is forcing for 1 round, unless reponder has previously passed or either player has bid notrump. (my emphasis) Having said this, very few 1st/2nd round bids in uncontested auctions are 100% forcing in SAYC – J2N, a jump shift, and a new suit bid at the 3 level are forcing. If responder makes a 2 level first round bid then he usually promises a rebid." OK I don't want to write a whole bidding book. I want to keep this short. Site 1 (from a booklet on the ACBL site!) is WRONG. Responder has bid a new suit at the 2-level. This forces opener to bid again. It is NOT a promise by responder that he will make any further bids. Of course, he often does, but that is not the point of his bid. He wants his partner to further describe her hand. If EITHER player wants the other to keep bidding, he bids an unbid suit. This says his points are not-yet limited. Partner is required to keep bidding. If EITHER player wants to limit his points, he rebids his suit or supports his partner's suit. Rebids and support bids are non-forcing. Examples: Opener wants responder to bid again, so he changes suit. 1M-2C 2D = forcing Opener limits his hand. 1M-2m 2M = a minimum opening, non-forcing This is what site 2 is explaining.

I agree. This is how I play SAYC. For me, 1M-2m 2NT = "Partner, if you have any more points than the bare 11, bid 3NT. If you only have a bare 11 (10 HCP + 1 for your 5th minor card), then pass." Years ago the 2NT counted as a reverse and showed a game-forcing hand. But, nowadays, my experience is that SAYC players commomly use 2NT as an invite to 3NT. 1M - 2m 2M = "I have opened with 12-15 points and long hearts. Just be aware that I might only have 12 points and 5 hearts. There you know my hand, partner, so don't get too carried-away. You decide what to do. You can PASS. You can bid a new suit to get me to bid again. You can bid 2NT to invite me to 3NT; you can jump to 3NT yourself if you have the points. You can bid 3M to invite me to game in the Major; you can jump to game in the Major. Goodness knows, you might even have enough for slam. I have described my hand. You decide. " 1M-2m 3m = "I have 5M and 4m, and a minimum opening hand, 12-15. There you know my hand, partner. Look at your hand and decide what to do. You can pass. You can bid 4m to invite me to game. You can bid 3NT if you have the right cards." 1M-2m 4m =" I have 5M and 4m. I have about 16 points, counting 3 points for a singleton. We have at least 26 points: we can make 4m. If you have 13 points, we can make 5m. You make the decision, partner."

I have thought a little more about my request that we not be excluded from a mini-BBO because it is full. My request relates to the full-nightclub, empty-restaurant phenomenon. Everyone wants to be in the full nightclub, " where the action is". Whereas, no one wants to dine in an empty restaurant: "Is there something wrong with the food?" When I played on Microsoft's "The Zone", there would be some "full" rooms of 100 tables which you couldn't enter. The other rooms would have only a few players in them, making it difficult to get a foursome together. (Of course, the "bots" would always play in the empty seats, making for some interesting bridge.) So to come to my latest idea. Could you have a concept like bacterial growth operating: a mini-BBO fills and fills, then when it reaches a certain size it divides? That way there would be no "full" mini-BBO's, and no empty ones either.

You may find these useful. They are two sets of help files for BBO. http://bridgebase.com/help/3/ (These help files can also be reached by clicking HELP when you are in BBO.) http://bridgebase.com/clubs/bil/ (This set comes courtesy of the BIL club. Click "Helpful Hints" at the left.) Some new players ask others for help when at the table. That can work well. I think I mainly clicked a few buttons to see what effect that had. There are a couple of things, such as 1) TABLE "reset the score", and 2) TABLE "remove a player" (whose connection is poor) that generally have to be explained to newcomers.

When bridge was whist, you scored a point for every odd trick, i.e. tricks in excess of your book of 6. Then Vanderbilt took a cruise from the US West Coast to Havana, Cuba through the 10-year-old Panama Canal. And he really changed the scoring: what with more points per trick (did he add the zero?), more bonuses for contracts bid and made, the idea of vulnerability, slam bonuses, etc. Now along come computers and online bridge and everyone's getting their IMPS routinely calculated. And at roughly 40 points an imp, it all seems to say that if you are an imp a board better, on average, then, on average, you are taking a trick more per board than your opponents. And we have gone full circle, back to the whistful days of yore. (But hey this argument doesn't really allow for game bonuses. Or does it?) But just to think that we are a trick better per board than the opps. To dream ... :-) PS Harold Vanderbilt took his cruise in October 1925. 80th birthday coming up. PPS I just checked in "Culbertson" by J Clay (1985). He reckons the birth date of Contract as 1 Nov 1925. That day, "as their ship made its way along the Panama Canal .... Vanderbilt stayed in his cabin putting the finishing touches to his new game." (page 78)