BBO Discussion Forums: Fill in the Blank - BBO Discussion Forums

Jump to content

Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

Fill in the Blank

Poll: Fill in the Blank (27 member(s) have cast votes)

"In general, there is _________ correlation between a player's skill level and the likelihood of his answering 'Blackwood' to a random question about the meaning of 4NT in a given bidding sequence."

  1. a strong positive (0 votes [0.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.00%

  2. a positive (2 votes [7.41%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 7.41%

  3. no significant (6 votes [22.22%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 22.22%

  4. a negative (14 votes [51.85%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 51.85%

  5. a strong negative (5 votes [18.52%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 18.52%

Vote Guests cannot vote

#1 User is offline   mgoetze 

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 4,942
  • Joined: 2005-January-28
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Cologne, Germany
  • Interests:Sleeping, Eating

Posted 2010-November-17, 00:41

Higher skill levels = stronger player, so option 1 ("a strong positive") means that stronger players are much more likely to consider a given 4NT call to be ace-asking.

For purposes of this poll, please consider only players who have learned at least one convention where 4NT is somehow ace-asking (i.e. ignore absolute beginners), and assume a context where some form of Blackwood/RKCB is played in some sequences (i.e. you are not asking Fantoni/Nunes about their system).
"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision"
    -- Bertrand Russell
0

#2 User is offline   Free 

  • mmm Duvel
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 10,728
  • Joined: 2003-July-30
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Belgium
  • Interests:Duvel, Whisky

Posted 2010-November-17, 03:25

In some cases weaker players will say 4NT is ace asking while advanced players will use it for something else. But the difference is marginal if you ignore absolute beginners.
"It may be rude to leave to go to the bathroom, but it's downright stupid to sit there and piss yourself" - blackshoe
0

#3 User is offline   Siegmund 

  • Alchemist
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 1,764
  • Joined: 2004-June-15
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Beside a little lake in northwestern Montana
  • Interests:Creator of the 'grbbridge' LaTeX typesetting package.

Posted 2010-November-19, 01:32

There was a time the answer was pretty strongly negative. But at present, the RKC disease is so heavily upon the advanced players of the world, in some ways the habit of using it on the way to almost every slam is stronger now than it ever was in the past. I voted "no significant" - used about twice as much as it should be at all levels of the game.

Admittedly I have something of a bee in my bonnet about people who refuse to continue to cuebid at the 5-level after being so happy to use it at the 4-level.
0

#4 User is online   Cyberyeti 

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 13,896
  • Joined: 2009-July-13
  • Location:England

Posted 2010-November-19, 04:16

With spades as the agreed suit, not a lot of difference, with any other suit agreed, experts may be using kickback/minorwood or something other than 4N as the ace ask, so a more significant difference.
0

#5 User is offline   han 

  • Under bidder
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 11,797
  • Joined: 2004-July-25
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Posted 2010-November-19, 08:58

Among forum posters there is a positive corrolation. There is a large group of posters that think the best way to look like an expert is to say that RKC is overused, and that the best way to become a better slam bidder is not to use blackwood for a year. They overly complicate simple hands by cuebidding a few more times than necessary, often doing so at the 5-level.

I did not include mike777 in my dataset.
Please note: I am interested in boring, bog standard, 2/1.

- hrothgar
0

#6 User is offline   han 

  • Under bidder
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 11,797
  • Joined: 2004-July-25
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Posted 2010-November-19, 09:02

By the way, I may not have been entirely honest in my comment and vote because I think the question in itself is entirely uninteresting. It makes me wonder if asking such questions is also a sign of the wannabe-expert-forum-poster.
Please note: I am interested in boring, bog standard, 2/1.

- hrothgar
0

#7 User is offline   mgoetze 

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Advanced Members
  • Posts: 4,942
  • Joined: 2005-January-28
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Cologne, Germany
  • Interests:Sleeping, Eating

Posted 2010-November-19, 10:40

View Posthan, on 2010-November-19, 09:02, said:

It makes me wonder if asking such questions is also a sign of the wannabe-expert-forum-poster.


I would like to make it clear that I only reason I even post anything in the A&E forum is that I consider myself "advanced" by BBO standards. I do not necessarily consider myself "advanced" by other standards, and I do not consider myself "expert" by any standard. :P
"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision"
    -- Bertrand Russell
0

Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

1 User(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users