Cave_Draco

Awards promote "unethical" behaviour, >:(. If a pupil of mine beats me? I delight & am confident that it was done ethically. Bidding, Declarer play, Defence & Ethics... The 4 key aspects of bridge. I remember when the Olympics was an amateur event... IMO, golf has more right to be included than, say, tennis?

"Personal satisfaction", Ben? One player can lose any game of bridge, it takes TWO to win, :).

As I said, people's brains work differently... Ben is right, bridge players don't count sheep, they count hand patterns. I don't remember learning to count, I do remember the turning point: I was representing my school... in 6NT, is the CT a boss? Dunno! Must count! The rest is history. It still amazes me: live bridge, you take your cards from the board & what is the first thing you should do? There is no simple solution, but counting the cards is a gigantic step to better bridge, :).

I would assume that PIPS refers to spot cards, in which case... YES! There are only 13 cards in 4 suits, with time they all become "old friends". If you had 52 "old friends" divided into 4 rooms? I'm sure that you could remember who was in which room! Or an officer in charge of 4 squads of 13 "men", could you remember who is who? IMO, counting is the "soul of bridge"; count everything: before playing to the first trick, count winners & losers; count suit distributions... If opps bid/passed, count their hcp. As for keeping track of 52 cards, how about starting with 20, AKQJT in every suit then extend it to the 9s, etc. People's minds work in different ways but eventually counting becomes a habit. I no longer consciously count, I just ask myself "Has the Club 4 gone? Yes, played by West at trick 3." Basic plays like Elimination & Throw-in require counting; the first time you see it done, it's like magic... All done with counting, ;D.

Why not just have a "chess clock"? If the move is called with an uncompleted hand, automatically assign average- to the slow pair & average+ to the speedier pair, 8).

If the hand is 2-6-3-2? One suited! I would extend the distinction that I apply to 5-3-3-2s, if the 5 is a minor, it is balanced. If the loser count is <6+ & the Milton Work count <15? at best semi-balanced; never explored the correlation but it seems a starting point?

Read Bridgeguys on the Multi, http://www.bridgeguys.com/Conventions/Mult...woDiamonds.html The Weak 2H/S are just too valuable to give up & bundle in with awkward hands, B).

The whole question of level is muddy waters; if you can imagine a Dragon riding a bicycle... A 20-year gap and... I don't play nearly as well as I used to, :-[. Then there are the divisions: 1) Bidding... SAYC? Beginner, not student because I only play it when I must, ;D: Precision? Intermediate, I used to play against it! 2) Play... An Intermediate counts the cards, a Novice doesn't and a Beginner recognises the value but hasn't acquired the habit. If there were an, apologies to oldfogey, an Old_Fogey category... ME, ME, ME, B).

I notice that I did the same as PB, B). Try: xx-x-Kxxxx-Axxxx or xx-x-Kxxx-Axxxxx Lol.

The bidding can go... 1H-2C-2D-any bid you like, although I would have to think about 1H-2C-2D-4S!!! All 2C says is "I am unbalanced ;), but have another bid P"

A double of 3C is, almost, always take-out; a double of 4S is, almost, always penalty. There is a sliding scale in between. You could play Fishbein on that hand but you would need a partnership understanding of 4H & 4S overcalls! i.e. 4S = single-suited, Spades; 4H = two-suited, Spades & a minor. If you play Fishbein, on that hand, you have to bid 4S! You are not asking partner a question.

It's easier to give a minimum... 1H-p-2C on xx-x-Kxxx-Axxxx Pass 2D/H; bid 2NT over 2S... generally suffer your punishment; good enough to give partner the opportunity of a rebid, before opps mention Spades!

1) It's a marginal opening; partly because it only has 12 cards, ;). Add a 6th Heart & 1H everytime; add a Spade & 1H; add a Diamond & 1H; add a Club... tricky, I would be tempted to open 1NT at least 50% of the time! 2) Any 6-card suit is rebiddable; any 5-card suit is rebiddable if neccessary, bear in mind that not all 4-card suits are "biddable". I would also draw your attention to http://bridgeguys.com/ACOL/Crowhurst.html Some Acol players find it useful, :)

1) Balanced 10-11s are not usually opened; if you have distribution? You ain't balanced. 2) You don't open 1S on any 4-4-4-1 hand; the suit below the singleton, unless Clubs when open 1H. 3) 2/1 responses depend on the opening: consider 1H-p-2C? Responder has denied 4+ Spades, a NT response (2NT is, usually 11-12 balanced) and a 2H response but keeps the bidding open! However, 1D-p-2C especially if playing Inverted Minors? Much less forcing... Partner is showing distribution & values. So, yes; normally, a one-round force but doesn't guarantee 10+hcp. There are more inferences to be drawn from an Acol sequence than the equivalent playing 5-card majors, ;D.

< Ron - thanks for the link. It's the best I've seen for my purposes.> Just before they went on an extended vacation in Europe, I had an e-mail chat with Raymond of Bridgeguys, he said & I quote: "In the last several days we have been reviewing our efforts to provide information about the Acol System, with which we are not that well versed." The Warwick site is "more" correct, ;). However, the Bridgeguys site is excellent.

Kibitzers should be neither heard nor seen, default chat for kibitzers should be other kibitzers. If one Kibs a table, one is obliged to wait for a convenient moment before saying "Hi" &/| "Bye". All of the above is just IMO. B).

I agree with Ben, except for <While "everyone" plays 3C as stayman over 2NT>. Baron is also common, at least in the UK. I would just bid 6NT. If you go via Gerber & have an Ace missing? Odds still favour 6NT!

The BIG problem with the Alcatraz Coup is that it is not illegal according to the Laws, it just takes advantage of a loophole! It is specifically banned. I don't know it's point-of-origin but, even before it was banned (when it wouldn't have been cheating), it would have been unethical.

<So, back to my original question. What rules should apply to opponents who have learnt about a card declarer holds because they corrected a revoke?> I don't know of a totally satisfactory answer, :-[. Players are obliged to behave ethically, which is a pretty useless statement in itself. Persistent unethical behavour can be noted, but the odd lapse is only human. Players are not allowed to take advantage of Unauthorised Information and should bend over backwards to avoid doing so. In the cases cited, the Director (or a Director) should "stick around" to make sure that no advantage accrues to the offending partnership; if such an advantage does accrue, it is within the Director's powers to "award" a score. The Director's decision is FINAL; even if it is wrong. In my experience, calling the Director is not done as often as it should be! Players should NOT rely on "We are all people of good will!" It is normally true, but the Director is in charge of the Tournament. The last paragraph <If declarer is reasonably experienced, he KNEW an opponent had revoked (because he can count to 13) and chose not to ask the opponent to correct> opens a real can of worms! If Declarer has a "count" of RHO's hand and "knows" that s/he has revoked? Call the Director before playing a card?

Redress? The Director decides... Look up the Alcatraz Coup, anyone attempting it is BANNED! If someone makes an honest mistake? Average minus is enough. In the case cited, the offender did the best s/he could, if the subsequent cards made a difference... trust the Director.

Interesting... Members List>View Top 25 Posters... How do we catch Ben, hide his keyboard? :).

Close but... http://bridge.ecats.co.uk/BiB/b7/the_laws/...pter6.asp#law63 Calling the Director is always correct, ;D.

Thanks Uday, Netscape 7 is happy with that, ;D.

I tried both IE6 & Netscape7, no problems :). A question though... IE opens the file with the right application but Netscape keeps asking which program to use... I tried setting NetBridgeVu as a "Helper Application" but it insists on knowing the MIME type. What is the MIME type?

I would be interested in such a conversion program, but not interested enough to write the software, :). I did set up one BBO session as a Tournament for Jack 2.0; time consuming... P.S. My P is better than Jack, :).