[billw55]

barmar, on 2012-July-10, 12:10, said:

What level is this? Have we been told that this was something other than a club game? Or do you mean he should play in novice-only games until he learns basic bidding? What if there are no novice games around?


I'd like to hear East's explanation for his bid. Even if it's not a psych, it's very aggressive.

I think what may bug people about this hand is the old "rule of coincidence" thing: East bid aggressively at the same time that West bid poorly, and they happened to land in the best spot as a result. It seems too perfect to have been an accident, so it's natural to look for a nefarious explanation. The rule of coincidence is not a valid legal principle, but it's an intuitive one, like circumstantial evidence in real life.

Fluffy mentioned something about 50+ boards and French international players. That says at least something about the level of the event.

As for the "rule of coincidence", it doesn't apply when one player is doing it most of the time. From what was said, this is likely the case with west's poor bidding.

[Fluffy]

You mean that open tournament is not actually open to everyone?

[barmar]

Fluffy, on 2012-July-10, 14:25, said:

You mean that open tournament is not actually open to everyone?

Would you recommend a rank amateur tennis player enter the US Open? If a random were to play against someone like Federer, he'd be lucky to return any serves, so it would be a waste of both their times.

On the other hand, bridge isn't tennis. One of the nice things about bridge is that amateurs can play competitively against experts -- the divide isn't as great as in physical sports. They may not have a high expectation of winning the match, but they can still enjoy winning a few boards and learn from the experience.

[TimG]

barmar, on 2012-July-11, 08:19, said:

Would you recommend a rank amateur tennis player enter the US Open? If a random were to play against someone like Federer, he'd be lucky to return any serves, so it would be a waste of both their times.

I'm pretty sure that the US Open isn't open in the sense that anyone can show up at Flushing and enter the tournament. It's open in the sense that amateurs around the country can play in qualifying events and eventually a handful can play their way in. Federer gets to skip that process (or has qualified through results in other tournaments). At least that is my guess.

[TimG]

lalldonn, on 2012-July-10, 10:27, said:

One other thing, as with most lines of work "professional" does not automatically mean "good".

I'm guessing Fluffy was East and has posted this in the 3rd person.

[RMB1]

I don't think there should be any restriction on players who make mistakes like West from entering tournaments: OP says that the pair were doing well (had beaten some good pairs).

I think it is a mistake to psyche opposite a partner who is known to mistakes like this - there is too much danger that partner's odd mistake will look like fielding.

[barmar]

Telling West that they shouldn't enter this level of competition is a suggestion, not a restriction.