[aguahombre]

A pair on line announced they play "Italian OE". Assuming this is some form of odd/even, please someone explain how it works.

Expecting the jokes, but maybe an answer somewhere in there.

[ArtK78]

Nothing special.

Odd/Even discards used to be commonly referred to as Roman discards. No doubt that is where the "Italian" part of the name your opponents used came from.

[DJNeill]

Hi all,
I've heard of Italian discards as a synonym for o/e. But one treatment that is particular to some players from Italy is using o/e when following suit, e.g. by 3rd hand at trick one. Odd encourages, even discourages with suit pref. Not sure if this was wide-spread but I think it is not a misunderstanding by some players but a real agreement.

Thanks,
Dan

[aguahombre]

Ok, I knew they used to be called Roman. So, now they are nationalized. I thought maybe there was a new twist. Using them when following suit is extremely interesting, DJ. Hopefully they always have enough of the suit for that to be usable on a trump lead.

[blackshoe]

I'd not be surprised if Roman signals and Roman discards are fairly common in Italy, since they were part of the Roman system the "Squadra Azura" used so well half a century ago. However, in some places, the ACBL in particular, only the discards are legal. The ACBL General Convention Chart says

Quote

Dual-message carding strategies are not approved except on each defender’s first discard.

The same provision applies to the Super-Chart and MidChart. Online, of course, it's up to the Tournament Organizer.