byroner53

Thanks John, ... for reminding me! Of course, "Sputnik" doubles were negative doubles not t/o as I wrote in my posting. But I guess you know me and my memory :) Cheers, Charlie

Having read the postings re: Acol with interest & as an Acol practitioner of 25+ yrs I should like to add my 'two-penny-worth' to the discussion. I dissagree with Draco that weak NT (12-14) is generally Tournament Acol but it is probably appropriate to playing casual bridge on BBO with non-regular partners - a feature of on-line bridge. I can well understand Orla being a "scaredy cat" (doesn't sound your style :)) of being left in 1NT with little support from ptr. In my experience this should seldom occur; either ptr will trans. for weak t/o or ops will intervene. It also seems to me that you have everything to gain by making a weak 1NT opening, esp. when non-vul. against vul. ops. I would go so far to say that the limit should be extended to 11-14 hcp when 3rd in hand. It may be possible to engineer a profitable sacrifice with little risk: often ops will not be able to collect a large enough penalty to compensate them for loss of their vul. game Concerning weak NT being a feature of Tournament Acol, in my opinion to use weak NT, irrespective of vul., in Tournament (playing for imp's) or rubber (playing for money) bridge, is foolhardy. Yes, bidding a weak NT when non-vul. makes certain hands (bal. 11-14hcp) easy to bid, but I am strongly of the opinion that when you are vul. you must treat it with respect. For this reason when playing with a regular ptr. I prefer the variable NT ref. to by Gordon who started this thread. Note of caution! .. this is fine playing with a regular 'understanding' ptr., but is difficult in BBO with casual ptrs as all responses have to be modified accordingly. Incidentally, does anyone remember when t/o doubles were ref. to as "Sputnik" doubles, or is my memory playing tricks :-/ Cheers, Charlie

Hiya John, Didn't think you needed this sort of info. but just to keep you busy (and off the 'Old Course') try ~ www.gwilliams.org.uk/bridge/conventions cheers, Charlie :D

Re: Short and Sweet Tips Orla, my first tip to you must be: Come back to Ireland, we need you! :'( My second, perhaps easier, is drawn from the Bols Bridge Tips Competition which owed it's existance to Herman Filarski, the Dutch author & bridge expert. This competition was first won by Terence Reese in 1975. His advice to declarer was to follow early discards and ask: From what holding would the defender most readily have made those discards? The answer will often resolve a cricical guess. Reese wrote as follows: "A defender who holds A-5-3-2 or K-5-3-2 will discard more readily from that suit than if he/she held Q-5-3-2 or J-5-3-2. This will give you a clue where a finesse is needed to make a contract." As so often: "The discard tells the story." :)

In answer to Hallway (Maureen's) question as to which book helped me most to understand the fundamentals of the game, I should like to refer to "Common Sense Bridge" by Rixi Marcus. (cost 4/6d) Those of you having had the misfortune to be my partner, may find this hard to believe. ::) This is a super addition to an already brilliant site. Well done John :) ... Charlie