tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242643622009-06-22T19:59:24.004-07:00This blog provides supplementary thoughts and ideas to the www.bridgematters.com site. If you haven't seen the main site, there is a lot there including the Martel and Rodwell interviews, photos, and articles. This blog is focused on advancing bridge theory by discussing the application of new ideas.Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.comBlogger203125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-38652488420601146862009-06-22T19:02:00.001-07:002009-06-22T19:59:20.397-07:00

Tiny Meckwell You can watch Meckwell and all the other stars of the Vugraph on a phone, as long as you don't mind them being a touch tiny. Here's one of this morning's matches on my new iphone: ............Now for comparison, here is the iphone and part of the monitor running BBO on Windows: ............Here is the iphone with BBO running in a browser, and I'm using Google's Chrome browser since

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-27316156098217043322009-06-20T05:24:00.000-07:002009-06-20T06:43:02.014-07:00

Discussions The USBF announced their decision in the Nickell team concern.To quote the USBF site:As a result of Dick Freeman's illness, and his inability to play in the finals to determine USA2, the USBF, in accordance with its General Conditions of Contest, named a Tournament Committee to review the circumstances and recommend a course of action to the USBF Board. Led by John Sutherlin, the

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-29470979145792069992009-06-12T05:46:00.000-07:002009-06-13T05:55:07.501-07:00

CNTCsThe Canadian Nisbet Team Championships (aka the Canadian Women's Team Championships) was won by the Nisbet Team:Pamela Nisbet, Karen Cumpstone, Joan Eaton, Barbara Clinton, Kismet Fung, Susan CulhamLast year I wrote about how Pamela owns this event:http://www.bridgematters.com/bridgematters/2008/05/here-are-last-three-winners-of-canadian.htmlThis year's team is a super strong six, and I have

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-4983372747652826932009-06-10T19:54:00.000-07:002009-06-11T06:50:34.942-07:00

The BoardIt was a stunning comeback, the ten boards in the middle of the last set were wild, and the focal point was "The Board" - this amazing board is already being discussed on BBO forums (as a lead problem), and I really don't need to blog about it, as you will see it all over the net, and then in any newspaper that has a bridge column, and in all the best bridge magazines.It was the round of

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-90638127327754280832009-06-09T15:00:00.000-07:002009-06-11T06:00:44.075-07:00

Quant thisThinking about Jonathan Weinstein's line of work (see previous post) and team trials, I decided to do some quant work on the Canadian open team trials, with the round robin ending today. The quant theory I used was that teams in bad/awful/impossible playoff position tend to care less about their final day bridge, while teams in the hunt tend to bear down (the careless/bear theory).

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-4821650000263098352009-06-09T10:28:00.000-07:002009-06-09T10:55:13.049-07:00

Must ReadsIt's not easy being a Weinstein playing in the US trials - Steve, Howard, or Jonathan. Jonathan is playing the 4th of 6 segments right now on the BBO vugraph, and he is listed as Howard as I type this (but has since been corrected).Jonathan's blog is at:http://jlwbridge.blogspot.com/Check out his older posts too, such as is posting that begins:Have you noticed that your partners and

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-67407082989985341682009-06-06T06:49:00.000-07:002009-06-09T05:53:33.322-07:00

True Expert Monday night found us playing an IMP league make-up match with playoff implications. Here's a problem for you:S: A987H: KJT87D: 32C: Q4It goes 2D weak on your left (could be a five card suit), 2NT by partner, pass by RHO.You bid 3D, Stayman in your methods. LHO passes, and now partner announces 3D as a transfer, and then bids 3H. RHO passes, and then you bid ?The expert with the above

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-78058200833242107372009-05-16T20:17:00.000-07:002009-05-18T07:46:45.124-07:00

Two Clubs: Artificial, Strong, Forcing, and useful! I received a question about Two Club (2C) openers as strong, artificial, and forcing.Let me walk through the 2C opening and structure concerns:1) 2C: Strong, Artificial, OpeningOften played as 22+ balanced or any game force. It does not come up enough: one is not getting sufficient value out of the bid. Adding a weak option, such as a weak two

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-59123191724159176072009-04-29T10:29:00.000-07:002009-04-29T15:26:45.077-07:00

Is it all gold?I had a chance to hold an Olympic gold medal last week and I was impressed by how heavy it is - I thought it would be some trinket but instead it is a solid circle of metal. I was told that it was pure gold, but the Internet says it is approximately 244 grams of silver covered by 6 grams of gold (that is some cover-up - the last gold medals made of all gold were for the 1912 games)

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-69742320396292871832009-04-16T05:55:00.000-07:002009-04-16T21:12:13.798-07:00

Magic Jeff Smith and Ross Taylor won last Saturday's top flight Open Pairs in Toronto, as reported by Linda here:http://linda.bridgeblogging.com/?p=1054A hand that Ross Taylor played many years ago had a profound effect on me, even though I wasn't there to see it played and it was never published.I was in a school cafeteria when my regular partner shows up to give me this hand, saying "Ross

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-65087207666357925272009-04-05T07:00:00.000-07:002009-04-05T09:30:19.962-07:00

A Great WeekIt was a great week for bridge blogging. I'm thrilled when articulate and talented bridge players start blogging, especially if they are relatively young since that means they may continue to bridge blog and/or publish for many decades.One new blog is by 30-something Sartaj Hans:http://theimpchimp.blogspot.com/He already has a masterpiece of a posting:http://theimpchimp.blogspot.com/

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-55751350797240474622009-04-01T10:42:00.000-07:002009-04-01T10:49:43.477-07:00

Twit for a dayThe New Liskeard regional committee is having an emergency meeting as I blog this.In the Stratiflighted (A/X/Z) pairs yesterday, after the first round in the evening a player twittered "I made 6S on board 18". Even worse the player was using software that automatically posted status updates to Facebook from twitter.The next three rounds proceeded as expected, all three pairs making

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-12175074485991733592009-03-27T13:46:00.000-07:002009-03-27T14:32:10.670-07:00

Vandy Lead Fred Gitelman at the end of his comments about the Vandy Lite posting, suggested using BBO's handviewer program. Let's give it a try here, comparing to pictures.You have: ....And the bidding is: ...Or, the same hand/bidding with handviewer:What do you lead?I would like to mention some nice people I know that finished first in their ACBL categories given in the April ACBL bulletin:

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-75041645271765045832009-03-26T10:07:00.000-07:002009-03-27T06:37:23.747-07:00

Playoff dramaI was under-the-weather for yesterday's IMP league playoff match, and even more under-the-weather today so forgive the mistakes, typos, and drivel you are about to read if you don't stop right HERE.We started the match down 1.75 IMPs, due to a small loss in the round robin. We played the boards out of order (sharing with the other three tables), and we had some verbal fireworks when

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-84438110303507343472009-03-22T19:31:00.001-07:002009-03-24T15:57:45.183-07:00

Vandy LiteThe Katz team unveiled a new tactic for the Vanderbilt - a smaller team! As today's bulletin from Houston notes:... Sadek said he and his partner, both rather large men, had two reasons to thank Jacobs for inviting them to play. First was the chance to win, which they did. Second, the invitation gave them an incentive to get in better physical condition to be able to stand the rigors of

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-30605378461603564602009-03-05T18:02:00.000-08:002009-03-05T18:08:21.152-08:00

BlastedTo reduce confusion emanating out of the blog I last referenced, two items need to be noted:1) If you play support doubles, your pass, instead of making a support double, is not alertable in the ACBL, even though some may shout so in CAPS.2) The "far less" alerts procedure was approved by the ACBL Board of Directors in Las Vegas 2001. The committee responsible for the alert procedure is

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-43077082292719386212009-02-27T18:52:00.000-08:002009-02-27T19:08:02.953-08:00

Style is NOT alertable in today's ACBLIt'll be, better than before, yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.-- Fleetwood MacThere's an interesting thread at Judy Kay-Wolff's blog, titled "ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR (but not BRIDGE)":http://judy.bridgeblogging.com/?p=172I've disagreed with Judy, who has argued that you have to alert if the opponents might otherwise assume something. Here is my latest

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-30032643465695539752009-02-27T05:40:00.000-08:002009-02-27T06:08:51.559-08:00

Battle against the bestOn Wednesday night we were up against the leading team in the IMP league. They fielded three national champs, and their fourth player had recently finished second in a big NABC event, playing with one of our teammates.It was a rock 'n roll first half and we were up 11 at the break. I switched the ipod to avant garde jazz in the second half, and that was a mistake.We had

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-90962577298923370532009-02-16T07:17:00.000-08:002009-02-16T08:07:41.594-08:00

Half RiteIn ACBL General Convention Chart events (most events) you can employ a half transfer method over your 1C opening:1D: transfer to Hs1H: any game force, 1S is now waiting, asks responder to describe game force1NT: 6-10 balanced, no 4cM2C: 4+Cs, no 4cM, up to game invite values, may have longer Ds, balanced only if game invite2D: 6+Ds, no other 4+ suit, less than a game invite2NT: game

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-29944408623427239882009-02-03T06:36:00.000-08:002009-02-03T06:51:42.959-08:00

Audrey Grant pointsKaren and I use what we call "Audrey Grant points" or "length points", which simply is to take the high card points, and then add a point for every card in a suit longer than 4. In a practice match last night, a Mr. Audrey Grant hand had a couple of these length points.Now I should note Mr. Audrey Grant hates to be called that. Would you call Brad Pitt, Mr. Jolie? No, not

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-75420985935077628662009-02-01T08:24:00.000-08:002009-02-01T08:41:45.148-08:00

Two StepsYesterday Karen and I played in the ACBL-wide International Fund game, and when I got home I wanted to blog about it. Then I realized other time zones might not have yet played the boards, so I left the blog until another month.Frank Stewart provided the hand analyses in the post-game hand-out. When I had the opportunity to play a little bit with Frank on Okbridge, I found that he was

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-57920772607014921672009-01-24T07:09:00.000-08:002009-01-31T08:46:19.589-08:00

Make the Okay PlayThe local IMP league runs on Wednesday nights, and is the primary testing grounds for the top local players. For many years the IMP league was dominated by a few teams composed of the very best players, and participation dwindled as other teams knew they had little chance. The top players then made a very wise decision - they disbanded the elite squads, and instead created teams

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-17897368813214752702009-01-15T06:27:00.001-08:002009-01-15T07:18:39.083-08:00

Board 12sPaul Gipson of the The Beer Card bridge blog referred to the recent excellent set of posts by Stacy and Linda here:http://thebeercard.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-are-you-reading-today.htmlI hope both are still okay. After the justsaying blog mentioned moi (here: http://pokerandbridge.blogspot.com/2009/01/he-wears-skirt-to-play-bridge-say-what.html ), including a picture, I was unable to

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-34338585536351856262009-01-04T06:48:00.001-08:002009-01-04T07:05:21.912-08:00

DisguiseIn the Colts-Chargers game (for those watching the Colts-Raiders game, please get a better cable package), we saw the Chargers use disguise as a tactic.For the Colts, Peyton Manning usually lines up his offensive unit, looks over the defensive formation, and then makes an audible (i.e. shouts the play call to his team) that he thinks will work against the opponents. During yesterday's

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24264362.post-39310129304161597902009-01-03T08:19:00.000-08:002009-01-03T08:44:57.404-08:00

Playing ProfitablyOn a random and infrequent basis I update my non-bridge blog, which I just did a few minutes ago:http://www.bridgematters.com/glenashton/blog.htmlSome combine everything into one blog, and I quite enjoy that - you never know what a post will be - however I'm going to keep this blog bridge related, so when I can't come up with a viable or tenuous reason to relate a topic to

Glen Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705543534132372375noreply@blogger.com1