[mikeh]

whereagles, on Apr 21 2009, 03:47 PM, said:

mikeh, on Apr 21 2009, 08:35 PM, said:

Idiosyncratic ideas can become mainstream... when they prove their value in real life. Some people dismissed as nutcases are in fact merely ahead of their time, possessed of greater insight than the adherents to current orthodoxy.

See, you do know some stuff. Now, if only you could stop seeing things in a prejudicious way, we could get along much better.

I'm not mainstream but at least I give arguments why I think my ideas make sense. You simply dismiss them as rubbish, preferring to adhere to mainstream lore without questioning it. (Aside the fact that, on top of that, you're not particularly polite.)

I understand your point of view, but I find this "join the bandwagon" attitude wrong. In bridge it is somewhat innocuous. In life it may be DANGEROUS.

I find that funny... a number of my ideas are not mainstream... thus I often argue against blackwood, I like stronger 2/1 bids in competition than almost everyone else does, I like 2 way stayman over weak notrumps, and so on... and I probably write the most detailed posts of anyone on the forums, explaining why I bid/defend/play as I suggest.. and why I disagree with someone else. I even, on occasion, post that i have changed my mind due to the arguments of others.

I admit that I am impolite to you... but, and this may be very unfair of me, I get the distinct impression that you have never been a successful bridge player, are not close to expert status, and yet always posture as an expert... one reason I make this inference is that you rarely, if ever, post any answer to a tough play problem. It is relatively easy to spout semi-coherent stuff about bidding, since lesser players lack the knowledge to see through your ideas, and no one hand proves anything about bidding. But in play... when there is a tough technical problem, there is usually only one 'best' line and, when that is thoroughly explained by a justin or a frances or a waldkk, etc (and i do not mean to slight the others here who routinely post analyses of these problems) the inferior lines are understood by all to be just that.

I don't reject your ideas because they are not mainstream... I reject (most) of your ideas because they are fundamentally flawed.. thus, here, biddng 3N as north is idiotic.... and your statement that you have never seen the opps run clubs in such an auction adds to my belief that you don't play in serious competition. if you don't play and have never played in serious competition, you are most unlikely to be an expert.

BTW, as a player who for 10 years lived 500 miles away from the nearest expert, I got accustomed to being the local 'gun', who didn't realize how inept he was until he moved to a city with real experts I am sure that I was even more insufferable then than I am now

[whereagles]

Michael, we're way off topic here. I'll carry on tomorrow, by private message.

Whether I'm an expert or not, I leave it to others to judge. I did play for the national junior team several times, though.

[Phil]

whereagles, on Apr 21 2009, 04:58 PM, said:

Michael, we're way off topic here. I'll carry on tomorrow, by private message.

Whether I'm an expert or not, I leave it to others to judge. I did play for the national junior team several times, though.

Nuno, no one said you were a *bad* player, but I would really pay attention to things that Mike says. Spouting attitude about "innovation" is a dead end and does not do anything to endear you to others.

There's a lot of good players on here. I would guess I'm in the top 1/4, but frankly I come here to get advice from people like Mike.

In turn, if I help out a lesser player or provide a different perspective, I've done my job.

[whereagles]

I do pay atention to what mike says. It would be silly not to admit to his good skill at this game. He's clearly a better card player than I am and, although we disagree on bidding, that disagreement is more on the theoretical side. In bidding judgement situations, he tends to get stuff right more often than I do (though there are cases where I get it right and he doesn't).

I played a couple mind sports so far and came out somewhere in the top 1/5. With some effort maybe I could come to 1/7 or 1/10. But almost certainly not above that. Right now I only do bridge

[dake50]

Slamming with 10 of 12 control points, 30hcp, no 'good' fit, no short? Must enjoy playing 42% slams; and the auction problems when one/both partners have no extras but still push up. Passify opponents by showing them we can give this match away --you don't need to try to win.

[benlessard]

1S-------2H
2S-------3D
3H-------4C
4H-------5C
5H------ all pass.

all bid are fairly clear imo.
we are not lacking a lot to have a good slam here, but its not there.

I strongly suggest to play 2/1 except when suit is repeated. So that

1S----2H------3H is gf

1S-----2X------2S-------2NT is GF

imo 10-11 pts that want to bid 2/1 should always have a very long suit. I dont see the point in bidding 2H with 11 pts and a 5card suit.

Bidding 3NT with xxx in clubs or wanting to stop at 3NT with a nice 18 is nonsense.