Some people are so wildly out in their profile skill levels that it makes playing with/against them difficult. The other day I played against a self proclaimed "World Class" player who was surprised to find that P played his cards when he was dummy!! Could I suggest that all members be encouraged to adopt a common basis for asessing skill levels. Beginner less than 6 months palying experience Novice 6-12 months experience It would be helpful if such players stayed in the relaxed bridge club and that (if possible) their scores did not influnce that awarded to other players. As it is, I think that some of the extreme range of results we now see is caused by such players getting things completely wrong. Intermediate Probably the majority of players; typically average club standard. Advanced Represented their club in a competition a a decent standard, won cups or other open tournaments or reached say top 10 in competition such as the Charity Shield. There might be subclasses AS and ES for players who had reached that standard but found that advancing age took the edge off their concentration and judgement. (Basically, they know what to do, but can't always manage to do it) Expert Regularly represented their state or (major) city. World class Represented the country at internationa level. (personally, I do not think such players would find BBO enough of a challenge to interest them, except perhaps for teaching)
