The Collector

September 17th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  5 Comments 

The Collector (Nine Inch Nails)

I pick things up

For me to feed upon

There are times, plenty of times

I wish I could let it go

But they start to make me think things I don’t wanna know.

For those who requested the actual music, I will work on it for a future blog but today I want to tell the story in photo’s of an incredible bridge ephemera collection.  Peter Hasenson lives in a lovely flat in London.  Shireen drove us over for a visit and Peter was very pleased to show us some of his collection.  He has a good collection of books and magazines although he still needs to complete his collection of Bridge World.  If you are selling your collection you might want to email Peter.

A few of Peter’s books and magazines

But a lot of his collection are interesting items associated with famous people.  Some just fun and some having historical importance.  For example, below is a master point slip which belonged to Harrison Gray.

If you are unfamiliar with Harrison Gray than here is the start of his wikipedia entry:

Maurice Harrison-Gray (1899 – 24 November 1968),^[1] known always as ‘Gray’, was an English professional contract bridge player. For about thirty years from the mid-thirties to the mid sixties he was one of the top players, and won the European Championship four times.

Peter had a huge collection of wonderful pictures of bridge players on his computer, many from world championships or other events from long ago.  It was rather fun to look at them and he Ray and Shireen scanned them for quite a while.  One of the most interesting things in his collection was a folder filled with items about the Reese Shapiro cheating scandal.

It is nice to see bridge in the news but I can’t help wondering if those were the good old days or the bad old days.  I noticed that bridge got into the news again recently when a British bridge player who argued constantly with his wife over their duplicate games murdered her.  That made the papers.  I guess negative news is where the fun is.

Peter has a large number of items with signatures.  Here is a menu from a World Championship signed by many of the stars.

I can make out a lot of the signatures including Bee and Howard Schenken, B. Jay Becker, Peter Leventritt, Sammy Kehela.  I can’t quite make out all of the menu though.  Of course Peter has many more items but I thought you might like a taste of his collection.  If anyone out there has a collection they would like to talk about then let us know.  And thanks Peter for sharing.

The Long and Winding Road

September 14th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  3 Comments 

We have been in England for two weeks now with just a few days left.  I will have lots more to say but here are a few highlights.  The first awesome thing that happened is that Shireen and Andy not only provided us with wonderful accomodations but when Ray (temporarily) lost his drivers license they offered to lend us their car for almost two weeks.  Tell me that bridge players are not the best friends.  There are no people like bridge people ….

We are hoping that they will take us up on our offer to stay at our house this summer for the Toronto NABC.

We had a terrific time in London and Shireen assures me that the ukelele is the instument of the future.  She has convinced me to try barbu.  You will hear more about barbu soon.

We met a bridge ephemera collector in London, Peter Hasenson, and spent quite a while looking at his wonderful collection.  I have many pictures and I will talk about Peter later.  He has a wonderful collection of bridge books, hundreds of pictures from long ago and many interesting items.  He may have the best such collection in the world.

We spent lots of time with Mark and Liz Horton attending their wedding where Tacchi (photographer of many world championships) was their photographer and made a speech on behalf of the groom.  Brent Manley witnessed the marriage certificate and Ray took charge of the rings.  The wedding seemed to go on for several days one way and another.  Liz was radiant and I will have to post a picture when I get home.  Brent and Donna and Ray and I spent a couple of days with the newly weds after the wedding.

Ray, Mark and I headed to Wales to watch the Buffett Cup in person.  Again I have some pictures.  It was fun to say hello to everyone and hear the Lord Mayor’s welcoming speech.  The place was lovely but there were only a handful of spectators in the Vugraph room, which was no surprise really.  Mark did the initial commentary but the position was strictly voluntary which means there will no doubt be many people coming in to contribute a session or two.

I don’t find the format easy to watch and it was hard to follow or understand the scoring in the Vugraph room.  They will need to think about a better way of presenting it in future.

In terms of site seeing I have a long list of great stuff including a surrealist exhibition in London Shireen organized along with the stones of Avebury and an expensive visit to a Moorcraft pottery factory where I was so inpressed by the way they hand crafted their creation that I had to send one home.

Thanks so much to Mark and Liz and Shireen and Andy who went so far beyond normal hospitality to make our trip wonderful.

On the road again ….

September 2nd, 2010  ~  linda  ~  1 Comment 

When you read this Ray and I will be flying to England.  We will be there for two weeks.  First in London doing some business, seeing some shows and meeting up with a relative or two.  We will be staying with Andy and Shireen.  You may know them as bridge players winning tons of masterpoints at the NABC’s they come to and you will no doubt have read Andy’s many contribution to Bridge World.  They also are into Barbu.  We may have a Barby blogger quite soon recommended to bridgeblogging by Shireen.

After that we are over to Bath to attend Mark Horton’s wedding.  Ray will be one of many best men including Brent Manley.  We will have more than enough for a spirited bridge game.  We have some more business to attend to and we will also be dropping in at the Buffet Cup which will be held in Cardiff.  If you have ever watch the BBC series Torchwood then you will know that is where the first few seasons were filmed.  We will definitely do the Torchwood tour.

I don’t know if I will blog from the UK.  I will have my beloved IPAD with me but Ray will have a small computer.  The most likely candidate will be the Buffet Cup.  The last few weeks have been quite hectic.  I finally saw a specialist about asthma which was making a nuisance of itself, I finished a book I was writing for Ray and we had a wonderful visit with my grandson Cassidy.  The most incredible memories will be of Niagara Falls.  Every time I see it I am awed.

Bridge and Sports Psychology

August 31st, 2010  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

I have been carry around a small magazine article I read a while back while waiting in the doctor’s office.  I kept it because it had some interesting ideas that I hadn’t really thought of and I wanted to share it.

So if you have ever have had some “nerves” before an important event or wanted to have your best performance for when it really counted here are some ideas.  The article was written by Performance Expert Peter Jansen who works with Olympic athletes.  It is called Be Your Best.

So the following are excerpts and quotes from the article – with some bridge examples thrown in by me.

Mental fitness is perspective, energy management, imagery and focus.  Getting mentally fit sets the table for success.  “I have a very excitable personality and learned that my excitability got in the way of performing my best in certain situations.”  “If an endeavour is at all competitive, the mind can play a huge role in success or failure.”

Understand Pressure

While competing in a world championship is stressful, you rise to the occasion because you are “ready” not because you excel under pressure.  You need to learn to manage the arousal level.  Two factors drive up the arousal level – the perception of an event’s importance and uncertainty about its outcome.  When your arousal level gets too high, you can lose focus and make mistakes.  You think Roger Federer shakes when he is down love-40 and serving for the match.  He’s aced that serve thousands of times, so he knows he can again.  That’s not pressure.

Focus on the Now

How often have you heard the cliche take it one quarter, one period, “one hand” at a time.  In high-level competition, performance expectations can be overwhelming.  Thinking about the future isn’t beneficial.  You are aware of the ultimate objective but you need to narrow your focus to “What do I need to do right now?”  It is not constructive to think about the ultimate goal (like making your yearend sales figures).  What is constructive is thinking about the next chance to perform and improve.  Just as the sales person should concentrate on the next sale.

Be Self-Aware

Be mindful of the fundamental tasks you need to do (“like planning the defense or deciding on the opening lead”.) When you are through (“for example you are dummy”) focus on controlling your emotions and staying focused. (“If you are yelling at partner aloud or in your head you are not getting reflection time.”)

Managing mind, body and feelings is a learned skill.  Whatever you are doing notice what your are thinking or saying and decide if it is helpful.  We have the capacity to step back and observe ourselves and ask what is required in this situation.

Banish the Negative

Learn the skill of reframing.  There is always more than one way to look at a situation so you might as well reframe it in a way that is positive.  Your feelings move in line with your thoughts.  So if you think negatively (you are getting a bad score on this hand) the natural reaction would be to tense up, try harder or panic, none of which will help you to excel.  This takes time to learn!  If your memories of games are filled with thoughts or notes about what not to do then you are too negative.

There is a huge difference between trying to win and trying not to fail.  Trying NOT to do something is very hard.  When you are motivated by fear of failure you eventually reach the point of diminishing returns.

Visualize to win

Do you visualize winning by thinking of medals?  No!  That’s hope, not preparation.  Instead you visualize certain situations and how you will handle them.  Image are “events” to the body.  Don’t think of the goal as winning gold.  Strive each day to be better.  That is something we all can do.

I think some of these ideas are good advice for bridge players at all levels.  I know that some times new players are afraid to play dummy.  I know that some times I just don’t want to go down and compete.  Some times you start to panic when you have a bad result and have another one.  But I believe that we can borrow from sports psychology and learn techniques that will make the game more fun and improve our performance.

Peter Jansen has written a book called Igniting the Third Factor if you want to read more.

Fund Raising for Canadian Teams

August 25th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

Some of you may have noticed a reference to the CBF Fund Raiser planned for September 2011 in the comments to Nadar’s blog about Canadian Team Selection.  There will be lots more publicity about it later on but I did want to say that the work has started.

We have a date approved for a fund raiser next year.  It will be a cross country simultaneous, a one session sectionally rated event on Saturday afternoon.  We are hoping that alongside it will be other things like expert auctions, silent auctions and the like.

And you know that I need some help.  Being committee chairperson is a lonely task without committee members.  So far Pamela Nisbet and Michael Yuen have agreed to help out but I do need a lot more help than that.  So if you are interested in helping let me know.  There are many different ways that people can help.  But if I call or email you and ask for help don’t be too surprised.  I have learned that waiting for the telephone to ring is not very effective.  (Is it waiting for email to beep?)

I have been busy editing a new pocket guide.  It has now been handed off to Ray who is quite grumpy about it.  He doesn’t understand why I can’t follow the style guide and why I can’t write to length.  I admit that I could make his life a bit easier.  But anyway the great moment is when it moves off my desk and on to his.

Between that and a few projects I am working on and ebook creation and policy I have not been playing much or blogging much.  My grandson Cassidy is arriving for a visit on Friday along with a return visit from my girl friend Victoria who decided she needs a break from life in the South Carribean on a gorgeous sailboat.  Okay I guess so.  She misses the fitness club!  And just after that we are off to England to attend Mark Horton’s nuptials along with various meetings.   Then there is New York and Philadelphia and then Orlando.  Hmm.  I really miss home when I traveling this much.  But Orlando should be nice since Colin, Luise and their children will be coming along.

Back to asking for help… why should you care about the bridge teams?  That is a question I think about some time.  How can I ask people to raise money for teams when there are people who are homeless or there are some terrible diseases and so on.  Is it really worthwhile?  I think that our teams provide inspiration to young players and really to us all.  It allows the best players to aspire to something.  It can make us proud.  It is no different really than the Olympics or the World Cup.  Intellectual sports are just as important as the jock kind.

So if you have any suggestions, any ideas and especially if you will help please let me know.

eBooks: Will you love them or leave them?

August 23rd, 2010  ~  linda  ~  8 Comments 

Although eBooks have been around for quite a while they are only just now starting to become part of the mainstream.  Things are still changing very rapidly for eBook retailers, publishers and readers.  Apple’s entry into the eBook market with the launch of iBooks and the iPad has indeed been a game changer.

If you are a bit of a skeptic, I’m here to tell you that eBooks do have some advantages.  Because they are electronic they can be loaded onto several devices.  You can carry hundreds of books with you and reference them whenever you want.  If you see a book you want you don’t have to wait.  You can download your book to your reader and have it in a few minutes.  eBooks can also provide some enhanced features like links, definitions, audio, videos and more.

If you decided to join the eBook world there are a number of readers to chose from based on price and features.  The two most famous right now are the Kindle and the iPad.

The Kindle is a pure reader and that is its only function.  The Kindle is easy to read.  Like all readers you can adjust the font size (so you don’t have to squint) and look words up in the built-in dictionary.  One thing that people really like about the Kindle is that you can get your book (from Amazon only, though) from any location where you can get access to the phone network (although a small fee applies for each use).  With WiFi, you can also mail books to your Kindle from other sources.  However, you will have to convert your books (via Amazon) if they were bought elsewhere unless they are a PDF.  Until recently the Kindle was quite expensive, but competition has caused Amazon to drop the price significantly.

I love the iPad.  The advantage is that it is multifunctional.  You can play games, read a newspaper, listen to music, read your email, watch a video, type notes and so on.  Oh yeah, you can read books too.  You can buy books from Apple but books bought at the Apple store, right now at least, can only run on an Apple device.  However, you can load books from other sources in ePub format or PDF format.  To read books on the “i” device, you simply download a free copy of iBooks and add your .epub or .PDF books to your library in iTunes.

There are other readers you might also want to consider, for example, the Kobo is a low cost reader which works well.

eBooks and Bridge Books

It is relatively hard to convert bridge books to ePub format, since the hand diagrams and auctions have to stay together and you need to incorporate special suit symbols.  It takes time and know-how.  If you buy a non-Master Point Press title, be warned, it may not be readable.  It’s a hard job to create good bridge eBooks (believe me, we know!).  PDF’s are much easier to work with and most books in that format should work well on most devices.

PDF’s are most suitable for use on a computer and ePub format (or equivalent) are best for readers, although both can be used with suitable software on either device.  Most vendors charge separately for each format.  But at Master Point Press we plan on providing purchasers with both formats at no extra cost, so you can enjoy your book effectively on your PC or your reader, whatever way you want.

At the moment most vendors will be very helpful.  If you have a problem, lose a book or get the wrong thing, they will provide a replacement.

If this all sounds a bit complicated, it really isn’t.  Even if you only have a computer you can download a PDF version of your book and read it, or download an ePub version and read it that way (you will also need to download a free ePub reader).

Printing: All Master Point Press PDF’s can be printed.  If you want a printed copy use your PDF version and print it from your PC (or just print out that critical page or two).  This is generally true of many PDF’s from other sources (although some may be locked to prevent printing).

Free Downloads: There are lots of free downloads around that you can read on your reader.  www.eBooksBridge.com has a number of books and other material.  If you look around you will find there are free books in all formats available, especially books that are no longer in copyright.  Robinson Crusoe anyone?

Pricing: eBooks almost always cost less than the comparable paperback.  After all, there is no printing cost so the publisher can charge a bit less.  But the cost of developing a book is the same and with a retailer, an author, an editor, a designer and more to pay, well-produced books will still cost more than a few cents.  At this point the business arrangements between the publishers and online retailers are in flux so not every book will be available from every source.  All Master Point Press eBooks (and some others) will be available at www.eBooksBridge.com as well as other sources upon completion.

If you are interested in selling a bridge eBook contact us at [email protected].  We have a program for publishing bridge books as eBooks with a high return to the author.  For more details refer to the Honors eBooks FAQs at www.eBooksBridge.com.

Dear Caroline … don’t give up yet

August 18th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  10 Comments 

I noticed that I got a recently comment on a blog I wrote a little while ago called Why Bridge Is Dying Part 1.   At the time I suggested that complex conventions were not really the problem because you could play and enjoy bridge playing a very simple system.  I just received an interest comment from Caroline:

If you would like to know why bridge is dying, I will give you my experiences in trying to learn it. The first time, the players supposedly “teaching” me would play entire hands at lightning speed, then say, “So you see what we did and why?” and then zoom into the next hand without ever explaining anything. The second time, my husband and I tried learning together. The experienced players treated us as a nuisance at best, and at worst as so much bloody meat in the water for them to butcher. THEY had a fabulous time; we were disgusted at how cut-throat and hypercompetitive they were.

Maybe if experienced players would actually want to take the time to explain every single thing patiently, newbies might stick with it. As for my husband and I, we ditched Bridge and decided to stick with Rummy and Pinochle–less complicated, more friendlyl

I would suggest you take some classes (not online at first) with some of the wonderful gifted teachers that are around.  You might run into somebody coming into class in costume to emphasize a point or they may have lots of ways to make it fun and easy.  If you unsure of where to find a teacher near you the American Contract Bridge League has a  Find A Bridge Teacher feature.  But ask around.  Just like all other classes there are some teachers that are going to give you the best experience.  You could look at the facebook page for the Bridge Teacher of the year for 2010 which has all of the nominated teachers and their location.  These are teachers who have really enthusiastic students.

Now once you have found a good teacher and learned even a bit they are likely to have games and classes with other people of your level.  I have never seen one of these games be anything but friendly and entertaining.  They are a great place to meet people too.  Bridge does not need to be complicated.  My mom has played bridge for almost 50 years and while she has added a convention or two it is much the same still.  It is wonderful to see how excited and enthusiastic she has been when she has done well with a bridge hand.  And losing never bothers her; “I didn’t get the cards,” she says.

If you chose to become a serious competitor things change.  Bridge is a complex game and you can become better and better at it.  There is always something new to learn.  That will be true even if you become a true master of the game.  That is the best thing about the game really.  I like rummy and it can be fun to play.  I know that I became better at it over time as I learned to watch and understand discards and track and remember what had happened.  But it is not a challenge in the same way that bridge is.

Bridge keeps you young.  Bridge keeps you thinking.

So give it another chance.  If you want to play online some time I would be happy to mentor you and I promise to do my best to do better.  Email at [email protected] even if you just want to chat.

And I know that despite all of our grumbling some of the time all of us who write or read these blogs want to welcome you to be part of our little village.

Mentoring .. the mentor is not always right

August 13th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  6 Comments 

I admit that when I am mentoring a decent player I don’t prepare lessons.  My new approach now with Cora is that I pick a bidding area (yesterday’s was strong hands) and we practice bidding and then we play random hands.  Lately we have been using the robots.  The robots are an interesting experience.  In some ways they are perfect opponents.  They play very fast, well really too fast.  They give full disclosure on every bid.  They never fight or argue or complain.  They play rather well.

The problem with playing random hands is that you have to be ready for everything.  Most of the time this is fine.  But sometimes … Here is one of the sometimes.  We were not vulnerable  versus vulnerable (although I don’t know if the robots really play the vulnerability).  I held:

I opened 1NT and it went pass, pass.  Now the Righty Robot balanced with 2♠ showing 4 or more spades and an unknown minor.  I passed and this is how the auction went

What does this double mean?  I admit at the time my brain was in sleep mode and I didn’t give it proper thought.  Partner was not good enough to bid over 1NT so no more than 7 points. If I think about it partner is unlikely to have more than two diamonds.  With three spades one imagines that Lefty Robot would pass out two spades and LR has 3 or more diamonds.  There are not enough diamonds left for partner to have more than two.  Partner is quite likely to have spades though.  If I go through this logic partner probably has spades, hearts and clubs and a maximum pass and is doubling for takeout.  In which case I should bid 3♥.  Should the bid be for takeout always.  I am deducing some of this by looking at my own hand.  Yes, probably.  So I completely goofed when I passed.  Partner made a good bid.  Not only that but when asked I said the bid was penalty.  My brain still asleep.

Here was Cora’s hand.  (It’s true she might have bid over 1NT in the first place).

We probably wouldn’t have reached the best contract of 4♥ after the original pass.  That was the normal result.  But it would have been better than 3♦ doubled making.   So Sorry Cora – You Were Right.

I am not turning in my mentoring credentials just yet.  But I will try to think about my bids and my answers more and avoid sleep mode.

Vugraph Commentary … something for everybody (or nobody)

August 10th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  4 Comments 

Most commentary these days is done online and provided by a large group of volunteers.  There is also some commentary done live at world championships and possibly other locations which have in recent days been hosted by Barry Rigal.  There is commentary done in Chinese on their own site.  I did once try to look at it but the installation at the time was very complex and I have never tried since. since.  Other tournaments and countries may have commentary as well but I am not familiar with it.

The live commentary hosted by Barry Rigal is done quite professionally.  It is accurate and there are often some interesting insights into bidding or play.  They are usually familiar with the bidding systems of the players.  There are often expert guest commentators there especially in the latter stages when some teams have been knockout of the competition.  It is good, competent but often lacks the joie d’vivre of the old days.  But maybe we all look back and remember things with rosy glasses.

The online commentary varies a lot depending on who is doing it.  All of the commentators are decent players but not all are really world class (including your humbler writer).  Some times some very good commentators join in like Michael Rosenberg or Larry Cohen.  Some times especially in lesser events you can get some pretty run of the mill people.  I am a better analyst then some and I can usually provide pretty decent commentary about play and defense although still not as good as the aforementioned.  But it is hard to do really accurate commentary even if you are modestly competent.  Back to that in a bit.

What is the purpose of the commentary?  The online audience varies from beginners to experts.  The beginners want a fair bit of explanation about what is happening.  I get lots of questions from them about why somebody bid something for example.  Some of the audience are experts who primarily want to know the details of the players bidding system or isn’t some complex line of play fractionally better or what inference players can draw from a bid or even a hesitation.  Most are probably in the middle.  They do need some explanation of what is happening and why during the bidding and play.  But I see Vugraph as being primarily entertainment.  I like it best when players tell stories, make jokes, give insights into the players and so on.

From the point of view of the commentators it is often impossible to know the details of the players system.  Even if you have access to their card it often doesn’t contain the details you need.  Even when I actually know the players and have played against them frequently they can enter parts of the system I don’t know quite easily.  Some times this is remedied by the players themselves who explain their system and the operator can let us all know.  Another problem I find is that I can make mistakes like talking about a slam when the hand is off two aces.  Yes, I have done that.  I just am not concentrating as much as I should, I type too fast (typing is much slower than talking).  I also can’t always coordinate my comments with others because  we are both entering our response at the same time and this lag causes my comment to come up before I have seen theirs.  I also have people walk into my office and distract me.  They don’t always see commentary as a job that cannot be interrupted.

My biggest problem however is one of style.  Some commentators and viewers resent the fact that I am explaining too much (“you don’t have to chatter” and “how do I turn you off”) when I am trying to explain things after several request from intermediate players.   Some just don’t like any jokes at all.  Some commentators are quick on the analysis which is either double dummy or just plain wrong.

The rewards are very small.  Once or twice I have received formal invitations to attend tournaments in far off places.  Some times people say thank you.  Some times I feel that I have done a good job and I feel proud.  Mostly I get to watch very good bridge and just enjoy the match (which I could of course also do as a spectator but this time I put it in my calendar and set the time aside).

So I would miss it if I stopped.  I would probably “shudder” write more blogs about bridge hands.  I love the beauty of some complex hands.  Bidding is okay but it is the intricacies of the play and defense that draw me.  It is also the psychology of the match.  The ups and downs of the momentum.

So I will persist as long as they will have me.

Yes I miss the old days of talented commentators but you could never fill all the huge number of slots of games shown on BBO with top talent.  There has to be some journeymen who fill in the gaps.  And if you don’t like what I have to say then do as I recently told a spectator who complained … put me on ignore.

Our Local Meter Man

August 9th, 2010  ~  linda  ~  10 Comments 

In our neighborhood we have a fellow whose job it is to ticket people who are illegally part either by overstaying the parking meter or parking for more than three hours on a residential street or some such offense.  He was always very zealous and even in the beginning would literally run up and down the street checking the meters carefully and gleefully doling out tickets.  After awhile anybody local knew about him and has a plan if they just want to stop for a minute or two.  Usually I sit in the driver’s seat ready to pull out if needed while Ray runs into the store.  But he does capture quite a few visitors.  He was so good at it that they rewarded him with a bicycle so he could do his circuit even faster.

That brings me around to bridgeblogging.  A bunch of us were out to dinner yesterday and Fred Lerner, a long-time friend asked me why I hadn’t blogged (I had only missed a couple of days).  He said he missed my blogs.  Wow!  That made me feel really good.  And when I answered I realized I was a bit like the local meter man.  There can be only one reason to do blog for no pay, no fame, many times a month for many years.  You like doing it.  That local meter man must really like his job, strange as that may seem.  Maybe there is a bit of a competition going on among the meter fraternity in which case I would bet on him.

Now I have been a subscriber to rec.games.bridge, the premier bridge forum, for years.  Lately I haven’t read it all the time but I was glancing at it today and thinking about how much lots of people like talking, writing and reading about bridge.  Here are some threads I found interesting:

In the ACBL, am I allowed to play one system white, yet another

completely different one red? Obviously, this would be pre-alerted.

As a quick example – say EHAA when white, and 2/1 when red.

Cheers,

Kurt

A variety of people provided the answer: Yes you can but it is pre-alertable.

I know some people who used to do something like although not quite EHAA (Every hand and adventure).  Somebody wondered if you could play more than two.   I could see up to eight depending on seat and vulnerability and if you were a computer and not a “mature” person.  Apparently you are not allowed to change systems during a session for example playing one thing against weaker players and one against stronger.  Ray and I used to play weak notrump against everybody but a fellow called John Rayner which apparently is not allowed in a single session.

Most of the entries are about questions about specific bids or a play problem but some ask broader questions.  The answers are sometimes serious and sometimes as in the one below whimsical

My partner and I are considering using REVOLVING  LAVINTHAL  discards in NT contracts. Any suggestions or comments.

Response:

Most clubs do not provide the swivel-chairs that make playing these most effective.–Will in New Haven

I confess I was on the board looking for a particular topic.  The infamous second last board of the Spingold which I wrote about along with many many others.  Ray will be writing about this particular bridge phenomenon I think so I won’t here.  But the comments on the board were quite interesting.

I suppose the same point about why do people do commentary on Vugraph and so on.