I am not sure who atakdog is, but he (she?) was not the major person who got the time switched...I know a few things about this process, and if you want to dislike someone, I, alas, will be on that list...

I'll send a pm saying who atakdog is in this thread, but I am sure you know him

I know I am clearly in the minority of bridge players. But 1 pm, 7 pm, midnight KO was a fun schedule for me. 10 am, 3 pm, dead evening schedule feels more like work. The move to 10 am 3 pm just absolutely killed evening games.

I know I have lost this battle but I still hate it.

I too thought 1/7 was a 'fun' schedule, in some ways. However, playing bridge at midnight is out of whack for most of our circadian rhythms.

I enjoyed getting up, going to the gym, playing bridge, then going over the hands late at night.

This change was probably overdue; you can see that in the number of regionals that switched their schedule to daylight hours.

r/r imps, dealing

A85
AJT2
J75
K98

1c - x - p - p

Apart from wishing we were playing Acol, what now?

Redouble. I strongly believe it is opener's responsibility to run here, and not force responder to respond on poor hands short in clubs.

Yeah XX

I think I am going down in 1C, and so does RHO. That is a clear sign it is time to run.

Yeah, I assumed XX as an SOS bid would be the call in retrospect but didn't even check what the card said at the time and passed it in, it went well

does anyone still play this game?

Occasionally, and poorly

Same here.

wow i remember playing online with you in a former lifetime. are there anymore of those games?

Not sure. I only really play live or robodupes these days. W/ kids and higher leverage job it’s tricky. I see some of the 2p2 folks at nationals on occasion though.

Very weird spot a few days ago. Unlikely I can find the actual hand but it was something like:

Kx
void
AKxxxx
AJT9x

How do react to RHO being first seat and opening 2c?

I would overcall 2D and on the next round bid clubs. Just keep it simple and allow partner to pick a suit. You are obviously going to compete to 5C, at least.

you have to find a way to get to 6 of either clubs or diamonds. all partner needs to make a slam is four diamonds or four clubs to the 87. i would start with double first and not sto until i got to 6 of one of these

I like Gabe's approach here. The key is the extra diamond; if we had equal length, I'd just bid 4NT and make everyone guess from there. It could be a disaster to play clubs if partner is equal length, and it still might be bad if he is 2=3 and we get tapped out in clubs.

LOL? You have a club and spade loser, at the very least? I'm not even sure the hand belongs to us.

My quick Chicago NABC trip report. ****ing loathe the 10 AM start time even more, but this is a battle I've clearly lost.

At least can we get something reasonably not insane expensive close to the playing site?

10/3 is pretty annoying if you want to do anything bridge related after the sun sets but honestly not that bad for something like the pairs events. I would prefer 9/1 and have a 7 (+midnight, wishfully) but think this isn't so bad.

Chicago is pretty good location for NABC - the playing site is close to a lot of food and things to do, and its during one of the two and a half months Chicago is habitable outside.

I'm not sure on pricing, but I think it was pretty reasonable as far as these things go. Chicago is way cheaper to fly into than Providence, and there is a cheap and reliable option to either airport. Can't ask for much more imo.

If working I like 1/7 so I can work AM. But if I’m off, 10/3 is the nuts so you can go to a nice dinner. Lol @ playing 3 sets

One less drunken rant about NABC Chicago. My whole real problem was partner and I couldn't find anything close to affordable near the Chicago playing site. Providence and Atlanta we had walking distance. Chicago we had hour+ transit.

I remember brrrr at one point saying to me he never felt like NABC was worth it if it wasn't at the host hotel. I never felt that when I was somewhat close but felt that this time. There was at least two nights I would have stayed longer at the site if we weren't so far away.

On lesser notes.

Sorry missed you Myrm

Guy who joined us on our tour of Providence was a joy to play in the Roth Swiss.

About done with my partner for Nationals, and if you ask next time I might be in. Love the guy, but he just can't handle Nationals.

One last note.

I never ever ever thought I would see the auction of (1d)-1h-(1s)-all pass in the Spingold for win 10. Client bought a sick enough team we still got smacked.

Funny. What was the layout?

Bridge should be fun and provide satisfaction to you. If your current partner doesn't allow that, you must be agile and change partners. This isn't marriage, there aren't consequences. If the soon to be ex partner cannot cope with it, **** him (or her or them).

Had the auction slightly wrong. It was (1c)-1d-(1s)-all pass

client had J96/AKQJ/J3/J943
pro had Q8754/T7/KQT9/KQ

I had K3/854/A8542/A87

Trick is to end up in 3NT instead of 4S. From a beginner's perspective, I get why client passed, except for the fact you 100% can't.

I was kind of surprised pro didn't just say **** it and bid 3nt over my 1d. Except the way he bid all match kind of led me to think he had been told to bid regularly.

Funny how the mind of a bad player works. I cannot bid 1NT, because I have no stopper, I cannot bid 2H, because that is a reverse, I cannot bid 2S, because I have only 3 and therefore I pass.

The good player thinks: this is a hand to bid 2S instead of 1NT.

I haven't been on 2p2 in a while but have one from the LM pairs in Chicago.

It's Day 3, session 1. LHO is Zia, RHO is Ola.

:spade: A K J 9 8
:heart: 5 4
:diamond: A J 6
:club: T 8 7

R/W MPs, pard opens.

1:hearts: (prec) - (X) - XX - (p)
3:hearts: - (p) - 3N all pass

Zia leads :club:2. Dummy comes down:

:spade: T 4
:heart: A K J T 9 8
:diamond: 8 7
:club: A 4 3


:spade: A K J 9 8
:heart: 5 4
:diamond: A J 6
:club: T 8 7


I win the A (J from RHO), :spade:T, covered by RHO. I run the spades. LHO pitches 3 diamonds, RHO pitches :club:K. I hook the :heart:J which holds. Position is now:

:spade:
:heart: A K T 9 8
:diamond: 8
:club:

:spade:
:heart: 4
:diamond: A J 6
:club: 4 3

Standard line is clearly diamond back to hand and hook heart again, but I'm wondering for really good opponents, how hard is it to duck with Qx from RHO? +100 is going to be a clean top on this hand, but I figure -600 should also be a decent score since I would expect the normal contract to be in hearts. I'm also playing Day 3 of an event where I'm a massive dog so trying to add variance in spots within reason.

I think a hand like
:spade: Qxxx
:heart: Qx
:diamond: KQxx
:club: KJx

Is well within the range, but turning the hearts into xx makes the double fairly aggressive (even at these colors, given pard hasn't bid yet).