Time for the rant

[CSGibson]

Re-ranting. OK, so we're in the national pairs game, sitting at 15th going into today. We get into an auction where I've shown an intermediate 2 bid (9-14 HCP, 6+ hearts) on this hand:

 

[hv=pc=n&s=sak654h5dakqt8ck6&w=sj8h92dj95cqj9854&n=s73hat87643d6ca32&e=sqt92hkqjd7432ct7&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=2h(9-14%20HCP%2C%206+%20%21H)p2n(game%20force)p3c(some%20singleton)p3d(asks)p3s(stiff%20diamond)p3n(4%20minute%20tank)ppp]399|300[/hv]

 

So partner goes into the tank for 4 minutes - timed by opponent - before bidding 3N. Then he makes a nullo play to go down in 3N, and blames me for not correcting to 4H with the 7th heart - after he's effectively barred me from using any judgment by tanking for so long, suggesting that 3N is not our best contract.

 

We did not place.

[Phil]

Is renecro a word?

[blackshoe]

Is renecro a word?

It is now. :P

[TimG]

So I really wish people would stop trying to have fun when they have a fit and just pre-empt to the limit instead. Taking up space always causes the opponents problems. Bidding suits you haven't got in auctions (or redoubling with no values) where it's a well known tactic usually doesn't. This is one of the best known auctions for responder's psyche and 99% of decent players know how to deal with it.

I think there must be a difference in bridge environments between ACBL and where Frances is playing. I don't think there are many players in the US that would even think about getting cute on a hand like this. Psyches, even "baby psyches" are rare beasts over here.

 

I also disagree with the "99% of decent players know how to deal with it" estimate. Since we rarely, if ever, see such things, we are generally unprepared for them.

 

But, maybe I'm off in my estimation of what a "decent" player is.

[keylime]

If I pulled off a baby psyche in some of the clubs here, people would become quite upset.

[kenrexford]

I have a lot of sympathy for this situation and the "Baby Psyche" used.

 

It is true that some baby psychics might not be effective in a given sequence. It is aloso true that an alternative to a baby psyche might wrk better. However, the mere fact that a specific layout made the "baby psyche" ineffective is not a good reason to conclude that the baby psyche was a bad idea. For, using that rationale, a Weak 2♥ opening is a bad idea if the opponents blast past that to 4♠ without problems. The preempt did no good but disclosed information -- a bad thing. So? Other times, it might work.

 

Of course, the questuion is then whether the theory is good to begin with. Well, to a degree personal experiences might convince a lot of people that this form of baby psychic is so infrequently successful that its merits are unuestionbly lacking, which is a fair assessment, just like Mini-Roman or any other move. That would be a fair analysis. But, one thing I do notice is that in no sequence did the opponents do anything consructive, it seems, as it seems that the sequences were bashy or muddled. Only the blast to 4♠ seems to have been truly effective. Thus, the 3♠ preempt was to a degree as ineffective as the baby psychics, and to a degree equally "effective."

 

 

 

I have no idea what to take from all of this.