[SoTired]

I still haven't figured out why it is so difficult to tell a cylon from a human if cylons are robots. It makes the story line difficult for me to believe. Also, the episode extolling the virtues of suicide bombers and mentioned "jihad" in a positive sense kind of turned me off.

[shubi]

i am sure we all know everytime we use a conventation we give up a natural bid. for instace to adopt bergen's 1s 3s prem we have to incoporate JORDAN'S OR similar conventions. to give limit raise over opps dbl we must bid 2nt to limit raise, or cue bid over bid interferense. just a thought.

[mike777]

SoTired, on Mar 29 2007, 10:12 AM, said:

I still haven't figured out why it is so difficult to tell a cylon from a human if cylons are robots. It makes the story line difficult for me to believe. Also, the episode extolling the virtues of suicide bombers and mentioned "jihad" in a positive sense kind of turned me off.

Why not? What are robots made out of?

Good second point, If Jihad is a Holy War, can it be negative? What does negative mean?

[whereagles]

mike777, on Mar 28 2007, 10:09 PM, said:

whereagles, on Mar 28 2007, 04:59 PM, said:

Flash Gordon also? He's like.... 1000 years old

Ok you are on Ming's list now, if you know who that is.

http://en.wikipedia....g_the_Merciless

Dood, I saw that movie when it first came out, a million years ago

[Al_U_Card]

I am watching BG (2nd season) in french version. I never saw the 1st season (any language) but I did watch the original with LG, RH and DB way back when. In a recent episode, Richard Hatch is in the new version! Didn't Dirk Benedict play Starbuck in the original and RH was Apollo? (Or is my memeory that bad?) Not that I mind a somewhat hot but androgynous female in the Starbuck role......

[jchiu]

Bergen raises is one of few popular conventions that I will not agree to play. The primary reason is that it destroys game try sequences by using most of the room between 2M and 3M. The length of trump support does nothing to indicate the degree of fit in the remaining three suits. While the ninth trump in our hands helps the thin game come through, its effect pales in comparision to a working double fit, or a working shortness in the responder hand. To this end, I play direct single jump shifts as either fit-showing jumps or minisplinters.

1♥-3♣ = 4+♥, robust 5+♣, INV or better values (fit)
1♥-3♣ = 4+♥, 0-1♣, INV values precisely (minisplinter)

Note that in either of these cases, the most balanced length is the most common alternative, and opener should assume such a shape for his rebid.

The game tries that I play were originally developed by Kokish. They are dubbed help suit game asks and short suit game tries, and are intended to reveal the absence while hiding the prescence of cards in opener's hand. For example,

1♥-2♥-2♠ = asks the cheapest suit in which responder accepts a game try
2NT = accepts a spade game try
3♣ = rejects a spade game try, accepts a club game try
3♦ = rejects game tries in the blacks, accepts a diamond try
3♥ = rejects all tries (see note below)
1♥-2♥-2NT = short suit game try in spades
1♥-2♥-3m = short suit game try in the minor m
1♥-2♥-3♥ = trump game try, analogous to traditional 1♥-2♥-2NT

Note that the sequence 1♥-2♥-2♠-3♥ may show a trump accept if you choose to play 2♥ as constructive, namely as a hand where there is at least one game try that you would accept. Hands that would not accept game tries are routed through the forcing notrump sequence 1♥-1NT-2m-2♥. Also observe that after responder answers the help suit game ask, opener may bid any in-between steps to make a game retrial. It may be artificial (not too dissimilar from competitive sequences where their suit is two ranks below ours), or may ask responder to consider the suit bid more closely than the unbid suit.