Day 2 – Internet journey to better bridge

Readers of this BLOG will know that I love Bridge World so I decided to start with the Bridge World site today at www.bridgeworld.com

It does have a few interesting things: the most fascinating is the Bridge Glossary, a very good list of bridge terminology and one of the few on the web.  Some were fun like Bagel – score of zero on a board.  It was hard to find any I didn’t know but here is one.  Do you know what a Bluhmer is?  Answer later.  Bridge World Standard 2001 is listed in detail.  This might be useful for some but I am currently working on at least 3 bidding systems (none of which are like BWS).  I sign up for Bridge World Extra – an online magazine and move on to the links.

I can’t resist going to Hugh Darwen’s home page. I have a weakness for bridge puzzles and Darwen is one of the master puzzle creators.   Do you think doing double dummy problems actually helps your dummy play?

This is an awesome site.  I love it.  It is full of double dummy problems. 

http://www.doubledummy.net/

The top of the site has a double dummy contest problem.  Has Deep Finesse, the double dummy hand analyzer destroyed double dummy contests?  Anyway I am going to resist the STRONG temptation to use deep finesse and try this without any aids.

I am not going to post any problems, just follow the link for endless fun.  By the way, Hugh, it would be helpful to provide a bit of a scratch pad.  Maybe some people can do DD problems completely in their head but I need to be able to cross out cards as I go.  Alright I suppose I can print it out.  That will help a lot. 

I bookmark the site for when I am NOT trying to fall asleep.  I follow a link to Richard Pavlicek’s website.  I have been here before and I know it has a lot of great stuff.  I am sure I can learn something at this site.  http://www.rpbridge.net/

There is so much to love on this site I know I will be back again and again.  I start with the bridge calculators

I find out my own personal deal by entering my name, birthday and city.  Can you believe I am a partscore!  I try my husband Ray and find out that he is a slam.  This is a bit depressing.  I move on to system notes.  There is a lot here including 7 different sets of Pavlicek system notes.  If I had my own page I know I wouldn’t publish my notes but then I didn’t invent 12 bidding ideas.

We have been talking about major suit game tries in auctions like 1M-2M so I look at Richard’s idea of using relays.  I decide this convention is not for us. 

I move to bidding polls and contest.  The poll I try (yesterday, once more) has a lovely picture of the Carpenters at the top.  I am participant number 202.  I have the song on my computer so I play it while I do the contest.    These are impossible problems – bidding problems with no clear answer.  I score 54 out of 60.  The average score is 46.16 so I don’t feel too bad but several people scored 60.  I read the analysis.  I know part of the problem is that this is matchpoints and I really don’t feel comfortable playing matchpoints any more. 

Here is a problem I think is clearcut but it didn’t receive the top score (based on results in 1978 and 2000).

You have

S 102 H 109843 D J10852 C 10

Partner opens 2NT 21-22 and RHO bids 3S vulnerable against not.  Your choices

pass, 4H, double and 4D.  (None of these are transfers).  I just don’t think RHO is suicidal and he can easily have a black 2 suiter and make 2S 21-22 high card points or not.  So the question becomes what is the difference between a direct bid and passing.  I think that partner should expect that if you pass you are interested in a penalty and that you will pass a reopening double OR maybe something else (pass and pull).  So if you pass you should pass his double.  Otherwise his double has no meaning since it would be very rare that he could do something else.  So I bid 4H.  That got a score of 8 out of 10 with pass being the top bid.

For example David Sterling for the passers said – “I still don’t know what I will do after partner reopens with a double, as he most certainly will”.  

Some of the doublers think partner will pass the hand out.  Does that make sense.

Karen Walker speaking for the 4H bidders says ” looking for a safe spot over 3S, which could easily be cold.  4D might be slightly safer but you might as well go for the game bonus”.

Karen and I are on exactly the same wavelength and so is Richard Pavlicek.  I decide that I need to clarify my notes after interference over 2NT.  I don’t think I have any but in today’s hyperactive bidding world it is a good idea to have something.

I have learned something and I can spend the rest of the day doing problems and having a great time at the last two sites.

A Bluhmer is a call, often a jump bid, that encourages high-level action by denying values opposite partner’s short suit.