HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (Jeremy Mathers)
Subject: Re: Yet another place the blame.
Reply-To: pynq@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: D. J. Dougherty & Associates
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 19:07:27 GMT

In article <7405@tivoli.UUCP> taylor@foraker.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Eric Taylor) writes:
>In article <1993Jan3.202515.27062@midway.uchicago.edu>, pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (Jeremy Mathers) writes:
>|> Vulnerability: Unknown.  Imps, West dealer.
>|> 
>|> The hands:
>|> 
>|> W) Qx,Qxx,KJx,Kxxxx
>|> N) AJxx,xxx,Qxxxx,J
>|> E) x,AKJx,Axxx,Axxx
>|> S) Kxxxxx,xxx,x,Qxx
>|> 
>|> The auction:
>|> 
>|>      1D (1) - 1S (!) - X - 2S
>|>      3C     - P      - 3S - P
>|>      4C     - P      - 6C (all pass)
>|> 
...
>I can certainly understand West wanting to open the auction.
>	Not!   :-)
It is a piece of cheese, but not (totally) unreasonable.
Precision is light opener.

>The quality of the points here are so bad I would not open
>this hand unless systemically forced.
see above.  I'm not sure it was "forced", but it was certainly within
expectations.

>Can you not open this hand a weak NT instead?
EW were vul; they do play 10-12 NT at favorable.

>West then proceeded to make a free bid over 2S.  Why?
This is a good question.  Certainly not bidding 3C here would keep
them out of slam.

Oh, and a note to various commentators - All club spots other than the
Q & J are present.  Thus, restricted choice would apply and was
available, provided declarer plays the right card first.  This can be
inferred from the wording of the original article, but as some have
questioned this, I felt it best to make it "perfectly clear".

************************************************************************
A bird in the hand is worth what it will bring.

	- pynq@quads.uchicago.edu, who is still costing the net
	  hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, every time he posts -
************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: rudy@netcom.com (Rudy)
Subject: Ah, those were the flames... Re: Bob S. (was Re: Arggggh!)
Keywords: true, ouch
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 04:52:20 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.010420.22398@leland.Stanford.EDU> altus@leland.Stanford.EDU (Steve Altus) writes:
>i just want to use up a tiny bit of net resources to say that i 
>think you people who are harshing on Bob are insane, and if you
>REALLY want to see flames then i'm sure someone can be persuaded to 
>give you an example.  

Yeah, too bad Asya's gone, she probably could have provided an example!

>okay fine, i better include some bridge content...  IMPS, both red,
>1C-p-1S to you (partner acts very aggressively at the one level) 
>you hold:   ---, AQ9xxxx, AQTxx, x   (0-7-5-1 if i miscounted x's)

One question I might ask is who are my opponents and are they likely
to trust my bidding?  In other words what are my chances of getting
doubled if I walk the dog?  I might then try 2H or even pass now, 
and bid the minimum number of hearts later.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: Professor WHO?
Subject: Re: Preemptive jump shifts
Summary: Vary it...
Originator: boyiny@kovalevskaya
Keywords: WJS, double, styles
Reply-To: boyiny@math.mit.edu
Organization: Ayatollah's Correct Bidding Lessons
X-Subliminal-Message: It is FUN to play for penalties
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 23:05:49 GMT

[Tom Andrews]
>My partner and I started playing penalty doubles over preemptive
>jump-shifts.  This works out well against most opponents playing
>the convention, because they seem to lose discipline.  Perhaps
>disciplined WJSs are more effective, but they probably don't come
>up often enough.

I hope I am not starting another old flame thread, but you can have your
cake and eat it too by playing penalty doubles (if they indeed work _that_
well) over undisciplined WJS's and normal takeout doubles otherwise...

Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: weymouth@bandts.enet.dec.com (Don Weymouth)
Subject: Re: Bridge games for IBM PC
Reply-To: weymouth@bandts.enet.dec.com (Don Weymouth)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 17:49:10 GMT


My experience with Bridge games on the PC is fairly extensive.

Grand Slam Bridge I was a very good game, you could control how aggressively 
they bid as well as a number of other parameters. We liked it so much, that 
when I got a new computer with only 3 1/2" floppies and no 5 1/4, I went
out and bought Grand Slam II. What a mistake, hands repeat constantly, the
bidding is unrealistic, and their play is really horendous.

So for Christmas, I bought Omar Sharif on Bridge (windows)for my wife. Well, 
they love to take advantage of the sound which I shut off, the bidding is pretty
good, but there seems to be a bug. They won't let North (your partner) respond 
to a Blackwood Bid, but E-W use it all the time. Hopefully they'll come out
with a fix, because its a really good game.

Bridge 7 is also quite nice, but a little elementary in bid and play.


--
Internet:                           	Donald G. Weymouth           
WEYMOUTH@BUFFER.ENET.DEC.COM	    	Digital Equipment Corporation
					Law Enforcement & Justice Integration
						Services
					U.S. Services
Fax:                                	40 Old Bolton Road - OGO1-2/W11
(508)496-0308                      	Stow, MA 01775-1215
					(508)496-8735 
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: courtel@cenatls.cena.dgac.fr (Nicolas Courtel)
Subject: Re: Bidding Opinions Sought
Organization: Centre d'Etudes de la Navigation Aerienne, Toulouse, France
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:36:10 GMT

>>>>> On 7 Jan 1993 16:41:20 GMT, kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com (Ken Koellner) said:

KK> IMPs, White/White, Dealer: West
KK> You sit South holding:
KK> 	s x
KK> 	h JTxx
KK> 	d KJxxxxx
KK> 	c x

KK> The auction start out:
KK> 	W	N	E	S
KK> 	p	1NT	p	?

KK> What's the best reponse?  
KK> What's the best way to proceed for each of the probable rebids by
KK> opener?

Playing strong NT, I bid 2C and then 3D, to play 4H, 5D, or possibly 6D (not 6H)
if partner looks *very* proud of his hand; he might have for example:

        S - J x x x
        H - A K
        D - A x x x
        C - A x x

--
Nicolas Courtel - courtel@dgac.fr

>>>           The human race has one really effective weapon,         <<<
>>>           and that is laughter.            -- Mark Twain          <<<
From: desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Arggggh!
Date: 8 Jan 93 02:46:11 GMT
Organization: IDA Center for Communications Research, Princeton

R.G. Walters <mbrgw@s-crim1.dl.ac.uk> writes:
> S  -                    You open 1NT (20+, any shape), and LHO leaps in
> H  K Q T                with 4S, passed round to you.
> D  K Q J 9 8
> C  A K Q 2              Pick a bid.

R.G. Walters <mbrgw@s-crim1.dl.ac.uk> writes:
> Vul vs not          9
>                     A x x
>                     K Q 10 9 x
>                     A K Q 10 x             or similar).

I want to make a serious proposal.  If you find that you have
erroneously posted a hand with a number of cards not equal to 13 (or an
illegal bidding sequence or play), then you should refrain from posting
for one week.  If you do it again, refrain from posting for one month.
If again, for one year.

I am frankly offended that people are willing to waste my time with
articles on which they are not even willing to make the most elementary
checks for correctness.  I've posted several hundred articles to rgb
over the years, and I've made my share of analytic errors, but at least
I've been able to follow the rules of bridge so that my postings made
sense to my readers.  I feel other contributors owe me the same
courtesy.

                                        David desJardins
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao)
Subject: Re: What's your call?
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept of Computer Science
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:49:00 GMT

In article <C0CsMI.DI4@deshaw.com>, baseggio@deshaw.com (Franco Baseggio) writes:
|> In article <C0Cp8D.CnG@deshaw.com> I write:
|> >Flt B swiss, early round, white on white.  You, south, hold
|> >KT965
|> >AQ5
|> >A
|> >KT93 [ACTUALLY AT93!!!]
|> >
|> >South  North
|> >1S     1N
|> >2C     4S
|> >?
|> >
|> >1N was forcing, but limited to 12 HCP.  4S means that North was going
|> >to make a balanced 3 piece limit raise, but liked your 2C bid.
|> >
|> Make that AT93 of clubs.  Sorry.

Ummm that makes quite a difference!  Now its quite simple...

Essentially I need help in both black suits.  I will raise to
5S and that should convey this message pretty clearly (I cannot be
open in BOTH red suits to make a slam try, and if I needed help in
one red suit, I would cue the other -- ergo, my red suits must be
good shape).  Partner
will pretty much discount his red suit values (OK, the HK could be
very useful, shrug).  Looking at SAQ and CQJ or even at SQJ and CKQ
he will bid 6S...

Bharat
|> Franco
|> 

-- 
R. Bharat Rao                         E-mail: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu
AI Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
405 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801   (217)-333-5978 (O), 337-6498(H)
Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: baseggio@deshaw.com (Franco Baseggio)
Subject: Re: How many ways?
Summary: Here's one
Organization: D. E. Shaw & Co.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 16:08:10 GMT

In article <1iufgjINNo1m@s-crim1.dl.ac.uk> mbrgw@s-crim1.dl.ac.uk (R.G. Walters) writes:
>A slam hand from the Gold Cup.
>
>At adverse vulnerability, you hear LHO open 1 spade, and quickly find yourself
>bounced into this seven club contract:
>
>  Q 7 6                    (Well, not quite - they chickened out of the
>  K 9 8                     sacrifice and let us play in 6C)
>  A Q 7 5 3
>  K 8                       How do you play on a small diamond lead?
>
>  -                         What about a low heart lead?
>  A 7 6 5 4                 
>  2                         Is there more than one way to play the hand?
>  A Q J 10 4 3 2
>
How about playing LHO for AKxxx/xxx/Kxxx/x or something similar.  Take
the diamond finesse, play DA (pitching a heart) and ruff a diamond.
Now run 7 clubs reaching this position:
     Q
     K98
A    7       any (except K)
QJT          no more than 2
J            none
-    -       none
     A765
     -
     2

Pitch the H8 regardless of what LHO pitches.  If a heart is pitched,
take your heart tricks.  If a diamond, you have an automatic squeeze
(HK, D7, LHO has no pitch again).  A spade pitch leads to a similar
fate. 


Franco
From: taylor@foraker.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Eric Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Bidding Opinions Sought
Date: 8 Jan 93 22:27:28 GMT

In article <C0Hvx4.2AM@irvine.com>, adam@irvine.com (Adam Beneschan) writes:
|> In article <1ihmfgINNhg2@transfer.stratus.com> kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com 
|> (Ken Koellner) writes:
|> 
|> >   IMPs, White/White, Dealer: West
|> >   You sit South holding:
|> >           s x
|> >           h JTxx
|> >           d KJxxxxx
|> >           c x
|> >
|> >   The auction start out:
|> >           W	N	E	S
|> >           p	1NT	p	?
|> >
|> >   What's the best reponse?  
|> >   What's the best way to proceed for each of the probable rebids by
|> >   opener?
|> 
|> I'm assuming 1NT is 15-17.  (This information needs to be included in
|> posts.)

Don't overlook the possiblity that the opponents might be cold for game in spades.
If you pass here, you might score a tactical victory.
If you bid and partner competes in diamonds, the opponents might be able
to figure out that they have no wastage there and bid on to game.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: altus@leland.Stanford.EDU (Steve Altus)
Subject: Re: Computer Bridge and the Law
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 06:29:13 GMT

In article <7803@tivoli.UUCP> taylor@foraker.tivoli.com (Eric Taylor) writes:
>
>On related notes, in a computer game, should a player be
>forced to wait after a skip bid warning?


and on related notes, in a REAL game, should a player be forced
to wait after a skip bid warning?   :-)

playing recently in a sectional with bidding boxes, i placed the
stop card down, and made my bid, and lefty IMMEDIATELY passed.
RHO now said to me quite condescendingly:  "you need to pick that up!"

and i said, "and SHE needs to hesitate before bidding...  what are ya
gonna do, call the cops?"

oddly enough, she spared me the speech about how she's been playing since
before i was born (which i usually hear after people tell me what i "need
to do"...)


--steve altus




Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (Jeremy Mathers)
Subject: A moderately interesting defensive problem
Reply-To: pynq@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: D. J. Dougherty & Associates
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 05:21:44 GMT

Playing in a club game (match points),
against absolutely archetypical Little Old Ladies {tm}.

You hold: xx,Qxx,Qxx,QJ9xx

Your vulnerable opponents bid: 1C (by RHO)-1H,2N-3N

You decide to try your 4th best club, and dummy hits with: Qxx,KJxx,Kxxx,xx

Partner produces the club king (thank goodness!) and declarer wins the ace.
Declarer crosses to the spade queen, then plays the king and a little
diamond to her jack and your queen (not the best play so far).

Now, at this point, you can place every high card in the deck except for
the heart ace (& the spade jack).  You pick up their card, and look at
the ranges of their notrump openings, and see 15-17 and 20-21 (for 1N
and 2N, respectively).  So, you sit back and try to count her points.
She has 7 or 8 in spades, 5 in diamonds, and 4 in clubs, for a total of
16 or 17 outside of hearts.  With the heart ace, she has 20-21, which
should be a 2N opener.  Without it, she has a classic 1N opener.
And we know how much these LOLs like to open 1N.

So, which is more likely?  What do you do?

************************************************************************
La plus belle fille du monde ne peut
donner que tout ce qu'elle a.

	- pynq@quads.uchicago.edu, who is still costing the net
	  hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, every time he posts -
************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao)
Subject: Re: Arggggh!
Keywords: true, ouch
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept of Computer Science
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 02:23:54 GMT

In article <1ifn8mINNc5t@transfer.stratus.com>, tnh@sw.stratus.com (Tim Hill) writes:
|> Dear Bob,

|>      Playing your favorite methods with your favorite partner, if you open
|> 2C in third seat (Chicago, they're vulnerable with 60 on) and LHO overcalls 4S,
|> what are your partner's options?  In particular, what would pass, double, and
|> 4NT mean?

I play that over game level interference, pass is forcing -- so partner's pass
over 4S is an offensive oriented hand but no great suit (or he would bid).
A double by partner would be a bust (the meaning of pass and double are
switched around for interference below game -- i.e. below 4H).
 
|>      If your partner and RHO pass, what would you call with:
|> 
|>      9
|>      KQT
|>      KQJ98
|>      AKQ2
I would open 1D, not 2C.  This is not even close to a 2C opener.

|> 
|>      K4
|>      A62
|>      A
|>      AKQJ743
|> 
|> (You would open both these hands with 2C, wouldn't you?)

Only the second, and I will bid a simple 5C.  Partner will move on
if he has SA and HK (or DK) so there is no need for me to worry.

|>      Thank you!

You are welcome!
|>                                     Tim
Bharat

-- 
R. Bharat Rao                         E-mail: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu
AI Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
405 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801   (217)-333-5978 (O), 337-6498(H)
Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana
From: paul@sco.COM (Paul Jackson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Yet another place the blame.
Date: 4 Jan 93 16:30:43 GMT
Organization: SCO Canada, Inc.

In article <1993Jan3.202515.27062@midway.uchicago.edu> pynq@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>Vulnerability: Unknown.  Imps, West dealer.
>
>The hands:
>
>W) Qx,Qxx,KJx,Kxxxx
>N) AJxx,xxx,Qxxxx,J
>E) x,AKJx,Axxx,Axxx
>S) Kxxxxx,xxx,x,Qxx
>
>The auction:
>
>     1D (1) - 1S (!) - X - 2S
>     3C     - P      - 3S - P
>     4C     - P      - 6C (all pass)
>
>(1) EW are playing Precision, and require a four card major in order to
>open 2C when holding only 5 clubs.  Thus, the diamond opening frequently
>contains better clubs than diamonds.
>
>Down one when declarer failed to guess trumps.  After ruffing the second
>spade, he played small to the king.
>
>Assign the blame among any or all of the following:
>East's bidding, West's bidding, the declarer play, bad luck, the opps
>having overcalled on a 4 card suit, and/or anything else you can think of.

In your system is west allowed to open 8 loser flat hands with little
distribution, few quick tricks, lots of losers and not many high card points
and then re-bid at the 3 level opposite a negative double with no known fit?
If yes, then E/W each share the blame for playing a poor system. If not.
then West gets all of the blame.

Over 3S, is West systemically supposed to bid his better minor if lacking a
NT stopper? If not, why is East prefering clubs to diamonds? Surely west is
slightly more likely to have better diamonds than clubs even with the
nebulous diamond opening.

The opponents spade overcall is enterprising but hardly absurd. Precision is
vulnerable to pre-emption, it pays to get into precision auctions with any
reasonable excuse. Judging by the south hand only finding a single raise I
suspect that N/S have an agreement to overcall very light in this sequence.
I would think such an agreement to be alertable so you may have been damaged
by a non disclosed N/S agreement.
From: nstraguz@atl.ge.com (Nick Straguzzi)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Bidding Opinions Sought
Date: 8 Jan 1993 22:44:39 GMT
Organization: GE Aerospace, Advanced Technology Labs
NNTP-Posting-Host: dinsdale.atl.ge.com

In article <1ihmfgINNhg2@transfer.stratus.com> kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com (Ken Koellner) writes:
>IMPs, White/White, Dealer: West
>You sit South holding:
>	s x
>	h JTxx
>	d KJxxxxx
>	c x
>
>The auction start out:
>	W	N	E	S
>	p	1NT	p	?
>
>What's the best reponse?  
>What's the best way to proceed for each of the probable rebids by
>opener?

I'm assuming a 15-17 NT, standard methods.

For starters, bid 2C Stayman.
    -- Over 2H, jump to four.  Don't even bother showing the diamonds.
       The opponents have half the deck and a fistful of black cards,
       and you don't want to give them any ideas.  If 4H goes down
       when 5D makes, c'est la vie.
    -- Over 2D or 2S, bid 3D and later 4D.  I'll have to check with my
       partners, but I think we play 1NT-2C 2x-3m is forcing to 4 of
       responder's minor rather than to game.  A direct 4m rebid would
       be a splinter, at least in my methods.

Are you overbidding?  Damn right.  But you're 7-4 and it's IMPs and
you're red.  Besides, if you can't make ten tricks in a red suit, the
opponents might easily be able to make ten in a black suit...if, that
is, you advertise weakness and invite them into an auction that they
would otherwise stay out of.  (BTW -- keep your fingers crossed that
2C gets by LHO without a double.  If not, it's showtime.)

Nick
-- 
 Nick Straguzzi / GE Advanced Technology Labs / Moorestown NJ / (609) 866-6646
---------- nstraguz@atl.ge.com ----------- #include <stddisclaimer.h> ---------
                "Got no use for the tricks of modern times..."
							- Al Stewart
From: paul@sco.COM (Paul Jackson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Inverted minors : was Re: Bob S
Keywords: FAQ
Date: 11 Jan 93 16:14:04 GMT
Organization: SCO Canada, Inc.

In article <C0JMrv.8u7@cs.uiuc.edu> bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao) writes:
>A note -- Perverted minors.. sorry inverted minors:-), have long been
>something I disliked.  I have no objection to playing them when I am
>white, but think that when red, you are sometimes end-played into
>distorting your hand when you would like to make a simple raise,
>but can;t risk venturing to the 3 level on what could be a 4-3 fit..
>The 1m-P-2m bid can be an effective preempt and I hate to give it
>up...  Since, I dislike playing overly complex stuff, and *KNOW* that
>if I played inv-minors when white and off when red, the first time
>it came up I would be sure to do the wrong thing... :-)

I used to agree with this analysis but experience has convinced me that it
is wrong (at least for matchpoints). The forced NT bid on the weak minor fit
actually seems to gain at least as often as it loses. 1NT is a moderately
pre-emptive action anyway and it is often the highest scoring contract. The
opponents know that the NT bidder has at least one of the minors but don't
know which and will often not defend optimally as a result. And, sometimes
it lets me buy the contract for 3 of a minor when otherwise I wouldn't be
able to. Eg, the auction goes
1D P 1NT P   as opposed to	1D P 2D 2H
P 2H 3D P			 P P P
P P

In the first, the opponents don't want to commit to the 3 level opposite a
balancing action with a suspect minor contract by the opponents, in the
second everybody thinks that they've bid enough. I KNOW that this doesn't
seem completely logical but it does happen.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: courtel@cenatls.cena.dgac.fr (Nicolas Courtel)
Subject: Re: How many ways?
Organization: Centre d'Etudes de la Navigation Aerienne, Toulouse, France
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 17:46:50 GMT

>>>>> On 12 Jan 93 13:02:11 GMT, mbrgw@s-crim1.dl.ac.uk (R.G. Walters) said:

RW> A slam hand from the Gold Cup.

RW> At adverse vulnerability, you hear LHO open 1 spade, and quickly find yourself
RW> bounced into this seven club contract:

RW> S  Q 7 6                    (Well, not quite - they chickened out of the
RW> H  K 9 8                     sacrifice and let us play in 6C)
RW> D  A Q 7 5 3
RW> C  K 8                       How do you play on a small diamond lead?

RW> S  -                         What about a low heart lead?
RW> H  A 7 6 5 4                 
RW> D  2                         Is there more than one way to play the hand?
RW> C  A Q J 10 4 3 2

As there are only 10 top tricks, and the hearts can't be setup without losing a
trick, we need to make 2 extra diamond tricks, and then try for a S-H squeeze
for the 13th.

The diamond king is probably in the opener's hand, so it must be third. East
must also have AK of spades, and at least 3 hearts. The miracle hand is
something like:

S  A K J x x (x)      Take the (x) you want to make 13 cards
H  Q T x (x)
D  K x x
C  (x)(x)

The play goes: D Ace, D ruff, C King, D ruff, 4 rounds of C, throwing 2 S and a
H, coming to:

S  Q
H  K 9
D  Q 7
C

S  -
H  A 7 6 5 4
D  -
C  -

And now H to the king, D queen, and East is squeezed on the D 7.

RW> Sorry if this got posted twice (in slightly different forms).

RW> Robin Walters.

Nicolas

--
Nicolas Courtel - courtel@dgac.fr

>>>                    Inside every large program                     <<<
>>>             is a small program struggling to get out              <<<