[Povratnik]

Hello,
All my questions are tournament related, so I am posting here. Before starting with questions, I'll tell a bit about myself and my plans here, so you could understand from which perspective I'm asking those questions...
I used to play on pretty high level, but that was long time ago. I quit playing in the first half of nineties. Now I'm back. Being reluctant to contact my old partners (I'm afraid that someone could persuade me to start playing live bridge before I'm ready ), I'm on my own. Though far from beginner in the game itself, I have several reasons to feel as a beginner:
I've never played online bridge. I've never played any kind of bridge in this century. I know nothing about customs in worldwide bridge society, without clear central regulation. There is no system that is universaly accepted as natural. I haven't a clue what should I alert and what should I not...
But still, I decided to stay several months on my own. This is my plan:
- to fully reconstruct my old system
- adapt it to "new age demands"
- to start making regular partnerships

In the meantime, to play a lot of individual tourneys. If/when I somehow manage to 'fit in', I'll also play pair tournaments, with random and casual partners. Now lets go to the questions:

How long a new member carries the label "new member"?

A month? Three? Six? Or is it a certain number of tournaments? Or a combination of the two?
So far I played only the lowest kind of tournaments - "Express automated fun". Hoping that TCR80 and TCR90 versions are at least a bit better, I'm eager to try them. However, they don't accept new members and that's the reason for upper question.
Are there some more levels?
I mean - when I get rid of the "new member" status, shall I be free to play all open tournaments? Or there are some more steps to climb?

Alerting

I heard about alerting your own bid, not waiting for partner to do it. Is that custom universal on BBO, or it applies only on certain kind of tournaments? If the latter is true, how should I know?

Regular dayly/weakly tournaments open to everybody

Please, recommend me some. Clicking on various tourneys, only to find out they aren't open to me, could be pretty frustrating. I'd like to make my own scheduled list of suitable tourneys and check it every time I'm logged in.

Two specific tourneys I managed to spot, but never played

Sunday evening individual (20:00 CET, 2pm ET) for forum members, ran by diana_eva

I'm certainly going to play that one. But I need to know which system (or part of system) is assumed. If there is no assumed system, what should I know and what should I do?

Robot duplicate IMP, ran by BBO

Ten tables IMP tournament; at every table, one human and three bots. I have a very strong impression that tourney shows up in my list only AFTER it's filled. Are there anything I can do to make myself a chance to register?

Enough for now, thank you in advance

[Bbradley62]

Povratnik, on 2015-January-20, 15:40, said:

Regular dayly/weakly tournaments open to everybody

Please, recommend me some. Clicking on various tourneys, only to find out they aren't open to me, could be pretty frustrating. I'd like to make my own scheduled list of suitable tourneys and check it every time I'm logged in.

Two specific tourneys I managed to spot, but never played

There are several free club tournaments that run regularly. These generally require registering for free membership on their websites (with usually a one-day delay in activation), where you can also see their schedules. These include BBO Fans, BBO Hornets, and probably a few others. IBAA, mentioned below, is the one I was trying to think of but couldn't.

Povratnik, on 2015-January-20, 15:40, said:

Sunday evening individual (20:00 CET, 2pm ET) for forum members, ran by diana_eva

I'm certainly going to play that one. But I need to know which system (or part of system) is assumed. If there is no assumed system, what should I know and what should I do?

Generally assume a somewhat vanilla form of 2/1.

Povratnik, on 2015-January-20, 15:40, said:

Robot duplicate IMP, ran by BBO

Ten tables IMP tournament; at every table, one human and three bots. I have a very strong impression that tourney shows up in my list only AFTER it's filled. Are there anything I can do to make myself a chance to register?

Matchpoint tournaments are 25 minutes after every hour, and IMP tourneys are at :45. Registration opens exactly 5 minutes prior to each tournament. Beginning 6 minutes prior to tournament time, get a list of the free tournaments, and refresh the list every few seconds until the one you want appears on the list. Register quickly, as they fill in less than a minute (sometimes in 15 seconds).

This post has been edited by Bbradley62: 2015-January-21, 13:52

[diana_eva]

Povratnik, on 2015-January-20, 15:40, said:

Hello,
All my questions are tournament related, so I am posting here. Before starting with questions, I'll tell a bit about myself and my plans here, so you could understand from which perspective I'm asking those questions...
I used to play on pretty high level, but that was long time ago. I quit playing in the first half of nineties. Now I'm back. Being reluctant to contact my old partners (I'm afraid that someone could persuade me to start playing live bridge before I'm ready ), I'm on my own. Though far from beginner in the game itself, I have several reasons to feel as a beginner:
I've never played online bridge. I've never played any kind of bridge in this century. I know nothing about customs in worldwide bridge society, without clear central regulation. There is no system that is universaly accepted as natural. I haven't a clue what should I alert and what should I not...
But still, I decided to stay several months on my own. This is my plan:
- to fully reconstruct my old system
- adapt it to "new age demands"
- to start making regular partnerships

In the meantime, to play a lot of individual tourneys. If/when I somehow manage to 'fit in', I'll also play pair tournaments, with random and casual partners. Now lets go to the questions:

How long a new member carries the label "new member"?

A month? Three? Six? Or is it a certain number of tournaments? Or a combination of the two?
So far I played only the lowest kind of tournaments - "Express automated fun". Hoping that TCR80 and TCR90 versions are at least a bit better, I'm eager to try them. However, they don't accept new members and that's the reason for upper question.
Are there some more levels?
I mean - when I get rid of the "new member" status, shall I be free to play all open tournaments? Or there are some more steps to climb?

Alerting

I heard about alerting your own bid, not waiting for partner to do it. Is that custom universal on BBO, or it applies only on certain kind of tournaments? If the latter is true, how should I know?

Regular dayly/weakly tournaments open to everybody

Please, recommend me some. Clicking on various tourneys, only to find out they aren't open to me, could be pretty frustrating. I'd like to make my own scheduled list of suitable tourneys and check it every time I'm logged in.

Two specific tourneys I managed to spot, but never played

Sunday evening individual (20:00 CET, 2pm ET) for forum members, ran by diana_eva

I'm certainly going to play that one. But I need to know which system (or part of system) is assumed. If there is no assumed system, what should I know and what should I do?

Robot duplicate IMP, ran by BBO

Ten tables IMP tournament; at every table, one human and three bots. I have a very strong impression that tourney shows up in my list only AFTER it's filled. Are there anything I can do to make myself a chance to register?

Enough for now, thank you in advance

Welcome to the Forums! I love your intro

You will be considered a "newbie" for a month, after that you will be able to join any non-newbie tourneys - no extra levels

Alert your own bids as long as you expect partner to understand them as such. For example:
- if you make a weak 2 opening, and you expect partner to take it so, you can explain it as "weak" if someone asks.
- If you play 2/1, notice your partner also plays 2/1, even if you haven't specifically agreed to play 2/1 you could assume your pd will take a 1M - 1NT sequence as forcing for 1 round, so it's OK to alert that.

Otherwise, when playing with some random partner, no need to alert any bids that you do not expect partner to understand. If you make some game try or cue on your own, and have no idea whether partner will understand them as such, it's acceptable to say "no agreement" if someone asks.

As for the tourneys, what bbradley said. I'd be happy to see you in our weekly Sunday BBF tourney. Most players are 2/1, but those tourneys are pretty much a socializing event, so you can just agree on table when the round starts, on what system, carding, etc. you play with that partner.

[Mbodell]

About alerting on BBO, in case it isn't obvious, when you alert your bids only your opponents sees the alert and any text you write about the bid (in the bidding box). So there is no worry about partner seeing it during the hand (although they can see it after the hand if they review the hand). If you want to talk and explain more, you can do so, but make sure it is clear who you chat to. You can send messages to everyone, just your opponents, or just a specific opponent depending on how you configure who you are talking to in the chat section. You can also ask the opponent about a bid by clicking on it (and if an opponent does this to your bid, you'll get a dialog asking about the bid).

So in this way online bridge can sort of be like playing with screens. Except both opponents are on your side of the screen, but yet they can't see each other.

That is why you can feel free to self=alert fairly freely in BBO.

[scarletv]

diana_eva, on 2015-January-20, 16:16, said:

You will be considered a "newbie" for a month, after that you will be able to join any non-newbie tourneys - no extra levels

Are you sure? I never saw anyone registering with less than 100 logins when I have that restriction in my tourneys.

Concerning the tourney completion you have to play 10 tournaments within 60 days to get an initial calculation. Before that you will not be able to register in any tourney where that is required. After your TCR is once calculated that should be no more a big problem.
http://www.bridgebas...tion_rates.html

Registering in a one or more of the clubs is a good way to have access to more tournaments and better run tournaments as well.

Most country/language related tourneys are not restricted for tourney completion rate, so it depends from where you come if there might be a chance for you.

Hosts that run at least some of their tourneys without the restriction of TCR are:
friend12
anba
B4F2 : most are open (Jukebox, Midnight fun et al) but not all
anaversic
tapaskk
Louise1940 (A seniors moment)
IBAA (Bridge addicts)
free fun (Goulash tourneys)
H B G ("Fun for all" only)
Rosetown
bilmanager (restricted to level)
free fun

Pay tourneys should give you access too like ACBL or SKY. Additional some of the robot tourneys.

Unfortunately the list of tourneys will show you only 2 hours in advance. It would be really helpful it that could be expanded.

[Povratnik]

Thank you all, you were very helpful! The chaos in my head has been halved; if I think some more, it may be quartered. I might reopen some questions, but - for now - enjoy your well deserved peace ...
There are some simple things, however, I could address them now:

scarletv, on 2015-January-21, 03:22, said:

diana_eva, on 2015-January-20, 16:16, said:

You will be considered a "newbie" for a month, after that you will be able to join any non-newbie tourneys - no extra levels

Are you sure? I never saw anyone registering with less than 100 logins when I have that restriction in my tourneys.

We'll see the answer very soon - my first junction point (end of the first month) is in less than a week...

Bbradley62, on 2015-January-20, 15:57, said:

... and IMP tourneys are at :45 ...

That was extremely helpful! I did as you told and almost succeeded. Now I have a realistic hope. Repeated tries should bring me to the goal...

Bbradley62, on 2015-January-20, 15:57, said:

Generally assume a somewhat vanilla form of 2/1.

You gave me a nice opportunity to ask now, what was one of my future questions:

When Mike Lawrence says "2/1" he has a normal 11+ hand in mind. But my intuitive impression is that today "2/1" exclusively means "2/1 game force". Is it so?
(I play 1NT non forcing and 2/1 11+. So if someone asks me whether I play "2/1", I should answer "no, absolutely not"?

[Bbradley62]

Povratnik, on 2015-January-21, 12:37, said:

So if someone asks me whether I play "2/1", I should answer "no, absolutely not"?

I think your answer should be something more like "not yet, but I intend to learn".

[diana_eva]

scarletv, on 2015-January-21, 03:22, said:

Are you sure? I never saw anyone registering with less than 100 logins when I have that restriction in my tourneys.

You are right, over 100 logins required too.

[barmar]

Povratnik, on 2015-January-21, 12:37, said:

When Mike Lawrence says "2/1" he has a normal 11+ hand in mind. But my intuitive impression is that today "2/1" exclusively means "2/1 game force". Is it so?
(I play 1NT non forcing and 2/1 11+. So if someone asks me whether I play "2/1", I should answer "no, absolutely not"?

There are two general variants of 2/1: Mike Lawrence and Max Hardy. The main difference is whether the 2 of a minor response is game forcing or not. If responder's second bid just repeats his suit at the 3 level, he's just showing invitational strength. You can find some more information about optional agreements in 2/1 here:

http://home.comcast.....htm#variations

[Povratnik]

Povratnik, on 2015-January-21, 12:37, said:

Thank you all, you were very helpful! The chaos in my head has been halved; if I think some more, it may be quartered. ...

Well, it did. I guess my view is now as clear as possible, without actually playing a few dozens of tourneys...
I'll play forum individuals and I might even show up tomorrow on the pairs.

Once again, thanks to everybody