[Chamaco]

Hi all,
I am getting interested in the "Bourke Relay" and its variation, and I am trying to gather the best possoible description.

So far I have found the following descriptions:

-from the RGB archive, this post by Chris Ryall:
http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/~heng/.../conv/slbrk.txt

- from the Bridge World web site, this article by Jeff Rubens on "TSAR", a variation of Bourke relay:
http://www.bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=e...ica&f=TSAR.html

- a couple of BBF threads on "TSAR", and Phil Clayton's and Hannie's recent threads on responder's "next step forcing" after 1m opener rebids his minor after a 1 over 1 response;


However I would like to collect more descriptions, if possible, and I am looking for anything else might have been publkished either online, or on hardcopy, ar in any other possible form (verious Forums threads etc.).

So I would greatly appreciate any suggestion on available material on the Bourke relay, given the sources I found in my research. So far, I could find out that there are:


1) an original paper by Bourke, published on the July 1996 issue of The Bridge World; do you know if I can buy an electronic format, or if I have to buy the hardcopy (long overseas delivery time to Italy, additional shipment fees, bla bla... all feasible, but annoying )

2) Tournament ACOL (David Bird & Tim Bourke, 1995) : in the description of this book, they mention the Bourke Relay.
The questions on this book are the following:

Question 1
I am not an ACOL player: I play 5 card major 2/1 and/or Precision according to partnership.
So, if I purchased "Tournament ACOL ", my main interest would be the Bourke relay.
Is the discussion of bourke relay worth the price of the book ? (see also question 2)
Or, are there are good bidding tools translateable into other systems ?

Question 2
is the Bourke relay discussed in depth or is it just mentioned "en passant" ? I have found that in many commercial books, the most sopisticated methods are just mentioned briefly, and not discussed in detail, in order not to scare intermediate reader, and in order to spare pages to discuss other more mundane situations.
As a consequences, most often, advanced methods are dealt more superficially in commercial books than in articles in specialized magazines such as The Bridge World.

------------------

Thanks all !

Mauro

[Double !]

Could be someone else, but I've seen a star next to the BBO screen name TBourke or something like that on BBO, and the profile name says Tim and Margie Bourke. You might have the opportunity to go right to the source. Otherwise, you've already listed the sources I know. Good luck.

[Cascade]

TimB is Tim (or Margaret) Bourke. He sometimes commentates in vugraphs.

[Flame]

Reading ambra might help you, since they use such a relay.