Dear Bridge Players,
I've got two things to tell you, one important, the other not so important.
It's with great pleasure that I'm announcing the first publically available Bridge Hand Database. This is something that I've wanted for years and in the end I had to create it myself.
This bridge tool allows you to search through hands played by the world's top experts. It should prove invaluable to system designers who want to copy or build on the best of current expert knowledge.
Whats the web site???
How does it work?
You simply register with a Username and Password and your email. An activation link is sent to the same email address which, when confirmed allows you to login and search.
Credit
I want to pay credit to Fred Gittleman & Bridge Base Online for the data, Richard Pavlicek (for his article on bridge databases) and Nickos Sarantakos (Viewgraph Project)
End Bit
Finally, the useless piece of information - My real name!
My apologies to all of my friends that I've lied to (saying that I am not the Rabbit) over the last 18 months.
Have a good game,
James Heneghan aka Rueful
Monday, 24 November 2008
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Announcement
Dear Bridge Players,
Apologies for my silence over the while. I've been hard at work burrowing for carrots and looking after the family.
In my spare time, I've been working on a bridge application. This bridge tool will (to the best of my knowledge) be the worlds first publically available application of its kind.
Once launched on my website, I'll take off my rabbit mask.
I'll be relying on my followers to beta test and report on bugs etc.
Have a good game,
Rueful
Apologies for my silence over the while. I've been hard at work burrowing for carrots and looking after the family.
In my spare time, I've been working on a bridge application. This bridge tool will (to the best of my knowledge) be the worlds first publically available application of its kind.
Once launched on my website, I'll take off my rabbit mask.
I'll be relying on my followers to beta test and report on bugs etc.
Have a good game,
Rueful
Sunday, 26 October 2008
New man in town ...
Dear Bridge Players,
There is a new player in town! And he has a blog! Any idiot can start a blog but it takes effort, talent and a fresh view to maintain an audience. I enjoy this new one for the quality of the writing and humour. I wish him the very best and I'll be checking in regularly.
http://bridg2nowhere.blogspot.com/
Here is he raison d'être :
Have a good game,
Rueful
There is a new player in town! And he has a blog! Any idiot can start a blog but it takes effort, talent and a fresh view to maintain an audience. I enjoy this new one for the quality of the writing and humour. I wish him the very best and I'll be checking in regularly.
http://bridg2nowhere.blogspot.com/
Here is he raison d'être :
Rueful
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Vitruvian Man
Dear Bridge Players,
Todays I feature another Italian artist at work. Leonardo Cima (nickname 100dog) played this hand on BBO on the 28the Sep 08. He was playing on the Stars team Vs Jimmy Caynes team.
The Hand:
The Bidding:
The Play:
North lead the D8 and South (Jimmy Cayne) won the Ace and switched to his singleton club and
all eyes were on on Leonardo. He won the club perforce in dummy and cashed the HA and ruffed a H and finessed with the trump queen.
At this point Leonardo realised that the contract was makable. South has 7 diamonds and most likely to have a singleton club. If he holds two trumps, Leanardo was cold for the contract.
Accordingly, he cashed the ace of trumps, cashed the HK and two more top clubs, ruffed a h and scored a diamond ruff.
The crowd went wild.
Have a good game,
Rueful
Todays I feature another Italian artist at work. Leonardo Cima (nickname 100dog) played this hand on BBO on the 28the Sep 08. He was playing on the Stars team Vs Jimmy Caynes team.
The Hand:
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||
|
The Bidding:
| West | North | East | South |
| 3♦ | |||
| p | p | X | p |
| 3♠ | p | 4♠ | p |
| p | p |
The Play:
North lead the D8 and South (Jimmy Cayne) won the Ace and switched to his singleton club and
all eyes were on on Leonardo. He won the club perforce in dummy and cashed the HA and ruffed a H and finessed with the trump queen.
At this point Leonardo realised that the contract was makable. South has 7 diamonds and most likely to have a singleton club. If he holds two trumps, Leanardo was cold for the contract.
Accordingly, he cashed the ace of trumps, cashed the HK and two more top clubs, ruffed a h and scored a diamond ruff.
The crowd went wild.
Have a good game,
Rueful
Lorenzo The Magnificent
This deal comes from BBO and was played on 28th Sept 2008.
It features Lorenzo 'The Magnificent' Lauria who sat North and declared the hand. His partner was Jimmy Cayne the high flying financier who lead Bear Stearns until recently. I always enjoy kibitzing Lauria and he never lets his fans down.
The Hand:
The Bidding:
The Scene:
Some kibitzers were tickled that the contract would fail because it looks like declarer has to lose a Diamond a Heart and a Spade. In isolation, in a 9 card fit missing the queen, the odds marginally favor dropping the Queen.
Needless to say, you would not see this hand unless Lorenzo had the last word.
The Play:
The HA was lead and a heart continued. Lorenzo cashed the SA and played a club to the king, Club to the Ace and ruffed the QC low. Then he cashed the HK, discarding a diamond and finessed in trumps.
At this point he has guaranteed the contract. If East wins from Qx of spades, he is endplayed - facing the prospect of giving a ruff-sluff or playing into the AQ of diamonds.
Lorenzo Lauria could have played this hand in his sleep such is his skill but I like the aggressive bidding and clever play. His reward? 1 IMP! The opponents bid and made 4 at the other table.
It features Lorenzo 'The Magnificent' Lauria who sat North and declared the hand. His partner was Jimmy Cayne the high flying financier who lead Bear Stearns until recently. I always enjoy kibitzing Lauria and he never lets his fans down.
The Hand:
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||
|
The Bidding:
| West | Lorenzo | East | Jimmy |
| p | 1♠ | p | 3♠ |
| p | 4♣ | p | 4♥ |
| p | 4NT | p | 5♣ |
| p | 5♦ | p | 5♠ |
| p | p | p |
The Scene:
Some kibitzers were tickled that the contract would fail because it looks like declarer has to lose a Diamond a Heart and a Spade. In isolation, in a 9 card fit missing the queen, the odds marginally favor dropping the Queen.
Needless to say, you would not see this hand unless Lorenzo had the last word.
The Play:
The HA was lead and a heart continued. Lorenzo cashed the SA and played a club to the king, Club to the Ace and ruffed the QC low. Then he cashed the HK, discarding a diamond and finessed in trumps.
At this point he has guaranteed the contract. If East wins from Qx of spades, he is endplayed - facing the prospect of giving a ruff-sluff or playing into the AQ of diamonds.
Lorenzo Lauria could have played this hand in his sleep such is his skill but I like the aggressive bidding and clever play. His reward? 1 IMP! The opponents bid and made 4 at the other table.
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