Stars

[bearmum]

Tonight (my time) was morning EST usa time

 

I played against a yellow star with NO profile(and his partner) :blink: (in a pairs event 4 rounds with SAME pard) AND I had to ASK what early bids meant! :P

 

OK They said "Polish Club" BUT I don't really know what 1C in 'polish club' means ---- and had to ask ---- then 1D response was not alerted -so I had to ask again :angry:

 

Are yellow stars and their partners excempt from self alerting bids?? ( I have NO problems asking for explainations) - BUT SURELY ALL conventional bids SHOULD be alerted - especially by "WORLD CLASS " players - which BOTH our opps were

[Trpltrbl]

Yellow stars should go out of there way to explain everything.

That's why they are yellow (to help) and have stars (to set good example).

This was very bad, a good reason to lose their yellow status and possibly their stars.....

 

Mike :angry:

[inquiry]

Yellow stars should go out of there way to explain everything.

That's why they are yellow (to help) and have stars (to set good example).

This was very bad, a good reason to lose their yellow status and possibly their stars.....

 

Mike :angry:

Hi Mike,

 

She didn't say it was a "yellow", she said it was a "yellow star," which i assume means a "gold star" not a BBO yellow who happens to also be a gold star.

 

But rather it was a yellow, a gold star, a yellow gold star, or anyone else... alerts need to be made.

 

Ben

[Trpltrbl]

Yellow stars should go out of there way to explain everything.

That's why they are yellow (to help) and have stars (to set good example).

This was very bad, a good reason to lose their yellow status and possibly their stars.....

 

Mike  :angry:

Hi Mike,

 

She didn't say it was a "yellow", she said it was a "yellow star," which i assume means a "gold star" not a BBO yellow who happens to also be a gold star.

 

But rather it was a yellow, a gold star, a yellow gold star, or anyone else... alerts need to be made.

 

Ben

I guess, that could be possible. I just took it as a Yellow with a star.

 

Mike :blink:

[spwdo]

I played against a yellow star with NO profile(and his partner) :angry:  (in a pairs event 4 rounds with SAME pard)    AND I had to ASK what early bids meant! :blink:

 

Are yellow stars  and their partners excempt from self alerting bids?? ( I have NO problems asking for explainations) - BUT SURELY ALL conventional bids SHOULD be alerted - especially by "WORLD CLASS " players - which BOTH our opps were

hi jackie

 

they went twice wrong here i think

 

1.empty profile

2.not alert

 

send it to abuse@bridgebase,com

 

i believe uday/fred want their stars to display at least a name.

As for the alerts everybody shoud alert what needs too but stars shoud be an example to all of us not so gifted players

 

 

 

spwdo

[fred]

For the past 2 months or so we have asked all new

stars to include their real names and countries in their

profiles. A few excellent players have refused to do

this and we have not assigned stars to these people.

 

There are a lot of people who became stars before we

put this policy into effect. I am not sure what to do

about them - perhaps at some point we will ask all such

people to either fill out their profiles or be prepared to

lose their stars.

 

In general, if you think that a player is not fufilling his

obligations as far as alerts and explanations of bids go,

you should contact the TD of the tournament in question.

Some TDs will not take any action and, in this case, you

can e-mail abuse@bridgebase.com if you feel so inclined.

 

Sometimes language problems or inexperience playing

against players from other countries are the reasons why

people do not alert or explain properly. The stars on BBO

certainly do not have inexperience as an excuse, but it

is quite possible that some of them have limited knowledge

of the English language.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[aisha759]

I have played against a few stars (never with) who dont alert their bids, and when they do, their explanation is incomprehensible..... i believe language has a lot to do with it... nowwww...a yellow star (i took it that as a yellow who also has a star, and those are few) should be capable of explaining their bids properly (yellows are expected to be at least semi-fluent in english, besides their own language, unless of course their first language IS English)..

I believe though, star or not, players should have the freedom to display what they like on their profile(unless it is demanded for a particular tourney.. we all know that can be modified :angry: ) and shouldnt be punished for not having it filled out with real name etc..... this should not affect opponents.... anyway, what's in a name?

What is important,is for them to set a good example to players like myself, in manners, table presence, etiquette and proper overall attitude.

I find that players with a "star" next to their name are sometimes more humble and modest than the so called "eggsperts"....

I have also noticed they are overly "pampered "by TD's and others, and at the same time highly criticized by kibbers... Moi! being guilty of that , expecting miralces...( i suppose it comes with the territory) :P

As for why some stars do not include their country...I believe this must have to do with politics; even though i have never seen a STAR with a flag which showed "other".

 

I'm not quite sure that this post will be as meaningful as I planned it to be, but I just wanted to share the plusses and minusses from the "other side" :P (other side being the "beginner/intermediate" bridger point of view) :blink:

[fred]

I also believe that all members should be free to leave

the profiles blank if they want (or ficticious - as long as

there is nothing offensive and as long as they are trying

trying to pretend they are some other real person).

 

The whole purpose of the stars, however, is to identify the

most successful players from various parts of the world so

that less experienced players will find it easier to kibitz

what rates to be a strong game. If a strong player refuses

to identify himself that is his right, but giving him/her a star

defeats the purpose of having the stars in the first place.

 

While we are on the subject of stars, there are 2 very

common misconceptions about them:

 

1) The stars symbol is not meant to be a "badges of honor" for

good players. The purpose of the stars is explained above.

 

2) Some of our stars are among the best 100 or so players

in the world, but most of the stars are not. The star does not

mean "one of the world's best players in the judgment of

BBO management". It means "someone who has achieved

notable success in his/her country".

 

We actually have a definition for constitutes "notable success".

If any cares what that is let me know and I will spell it out.

 

As I am sure many of you can imagine, the whole star thing

causes a lot of problems for me (the giver of stars). I receive

about 10 requests for stars each week of which roughly 1/3

qualify under our definition. Only about half of the people who

get rejected are gracious about it and some people become

very rude and angry when I say no to them.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[Fluffy]

Hi aisha!

 

Its true that you don´t have to have your name in your profile, but as a star if you don´t like it, and want to be a 'phamtom' just get a new account for when you don´t want people to know its you.

[aisha759]

Heyyyy fluffy :)

If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

 

Star wannabe Aisha B)

[Cascade]

As I am sure many of you can imagine, the whole star thing

causes a lot of problems for me (the giver of stars). I receive

about 10 requests for stars each week of which roughly 1/3

qualify under our definition. Only about half of the people who

get rejected are gracious about it and some people become

very rude and angry when I say no to them.

Perhaps as the first part of the process you should automatically refuse every request.

 

Thereafter those that get angry are automatically disqualified forever B)

[bearmum]

Heyyyy fluffy :D

If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

 

Star wannabe Aisha :wacko:

LOL :o

[lucky_dom]

We actually have a definition for constitutes "notable success".

If any cares what that is let me know and I will spell it out.

I care. I'm just curious me :(

[Trpltrbl]

As I am sure many of you can imagine, the whole star thing

causes a lot of problems for me (the giver of stars). I receive

about 10 requests for stars each week of which roughly 1/3

qualify under our definition. Only about half of the people who

get rejected are gracious about it and some people become

very rude and angry when I say no to them.

Perhaps as the first part of the process you should automatically refuse every request.

 

Thereafter those that get angry are automatically disqualified forever :D

I agree 100%.

 

Mike :D

[Trpltrbl]

Heyyyy fluffy :)

If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

 

Star wannabe Aisha :D

Just move to Liechtenstein, Luxemburg or the Vatican. Should not be too hard to be topplayer in these countries, and think about all the Tax benefits too hehehe :D

 

Mike :D

[fred]

We actually have a definition for constitutes "notable success".

If any cares what that is let me know and I will spell it out.

I care. I'm just curious me :D

Here are the ways you can get a star:

 

1) Represent your country in a World Championship event like

the Bermuda Bowl or World Teams Olympiad (ie an event that

you have to qualify to play in - events that are essentially "open"

like the Rosenblum Teams and World Open Pairs, while being true

World Championships, do not count).

 

2) We recognize participation in the corresponding Women's

and Seniors events with stars. The only Junior event that we

recongnize at this time is the World Junior Team Championships.

 

3) Win a major open event (such as an ACBL National event

or one of the open World Championship events referred to

above).

 

4) Represent your country in a Zonal Championship like the

European or South American Teams Championships (as in 1

above, it cannot be an open event).

 

5) Win a major invitational tournament (like the Cavendish

or the Forbo).

 

6) Come close to winning events like those described in 3)

and 5) several times. Note that this there is some judgment

involved here (mine).

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[lucky_dom]

Thanks Fred :D

[lexica]

A star is a star is a star... But so is a rose is a rose is a rose... (plagiarising shamelessly!)

1) Fred, wouldn't it be eaisier for you if Stars have a smallish, text-based, up to 100Kb dedicated space on the server where their WBF rating, national rating (updated occasionally) is available, along with some lines by_way_of_introduction? If anyone wants to nominate a new Star, constellation, black hole, white dwarf or whatever - they should send an email with this info at least?

2) would be nice if the info (WBF/national) is hyperlinked on the profile;

In this way subjectivity will be minimised and star-requests will be reduced significantly.

 

OK.. 2 (euro)cents for the piggy bank :D

[Shrike]

Heyyyy fluffy :)

If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

 

Star wannabe Aisha  :D

Tell you what: I promise to treat you like a star. I will watch you with bated breath. (Um, I mean I'll watch your bridge plays with. . . oh, you know what I mean.) I will speak in hushed tones of your successes. I will shake my head in wonderment when you do something amazing.

 

So, does this mean I can have your phone number?

[lexica]

So, does this mean I can have your phone number?

Nah... It just means:

Baby, you can drive my car

Yes I'm gonna be a star...

 

She can drive your car, that is... :D

edit 1: Or you can drive her car?

edit 2: Huh... :(

edit 3: What's car(d)s got to do with it.... :)

edit 4: Discombobulated

edit 5: Not me! There's a glitch in the system - the printer thinks it's a router, and types accordingly!

[aisha759]

After reading Fred's post on how a good bridge player gets a well deserved star, i doubt i qualify, since i only play on BBO (for now)....

 

When i do get my star, you can have all the info shrike B) i hope you are patient

 

Aisha

[Shrike]

Oh, all right. So now we need to get you that star.

 

Fred, or anyone else of that caliber: any room for Aisha on your next Spingold or Vanderbilt team? Please?

[fred]

Judging from reading her posts, I am sure it would be fun

to play with Aisha.

 

Judging from her picture, I don't think my wife would approve :rolleyes:

 

Fred

[spwdo]

Judging from reading her posts, I am sure it would be fun

to play with Aisha.

 

Judging from her picture, I don't think my wife would approve :)

 

Fred

funny fred :)

 

must agree she looked kinda pretty in the late 70`s ;) :) :)

[slothy]

Judging from reading her posts, I am sure it would be fun

to play with Aisha.

 

Judging from her picture, I don't think my wife would approve :)

 

Fred

You can play with Aisha if you so wish, Fred :P

 

In fact, how about you play with Aisha and i play with Sheri ????

 

Looking at Sheri's picture (does she REALLY have those cheek-bones ;)?? ), I dont think Aisha will approve either :) , but i can always send Aisha a picture of my anaemic, club-footed second-cousin who has acne problems and putrid body odour, Aisha'll never guess

 

We can put a bet on ( See raising money for VuGraph thread) who can come up with the corniest flirtatious remark and best bridge-play...

 

Alex

 

PS Dont judge her by her picture, man. I got her to throw that turquoise cardigan out 6 months ago as it doesnt complement her skin color