[thepossum]

Hi all

I don't have an example on hand but it happens very regularly that GiB responds to Blackwood with two keycards and the queen when it doesn't have the Queen. I appreciate I have never had to write code for Bridge playing bot which uses sims to work out likely outcomes but along with counting points accurately (for NT) and counting keycards accurately one would think knowing whether you have the Queen or not is fairly simple code. I know more often than not the person asking has it if GiB doesn't but its highly amusing. As are cue bids showing Aces or Kings sitting in your hand

Is there some reason for inaccurate answers in Blackwood? Do sims suggest that its a better bid? Does it not want you to stop in 5 perhaps?

P

[smerriman]

GIB never gets the queen response wrong.

As you know based on several of your threads on this in the past, it "shows the queen" when there is a guaranteed 10+ card trump fit, just like humans do.

[thepossum]

smerriman, on 2022-February-04, 21:05, said:

GIB never gets the queen response wrong.

As you know based on several of your threads on this in the past, it "shows the queen" when there is a guaranteed 10+ card trump fit, just like humans do.

That's not how I learned to play cards Merriman. We don't all have unwritten conventions in our heads. That fits my question about one possible explanation in my original question, does it not? I will try to remember it next time

PS While I am here is there a list of these unwritten conventions for future reference please, or is it "if I think we can make it..." etc

I have explicitly searched Google and found a page on BridgeWebs referring to said unwritten convention but its not written on some other pages I use

[pescetom]

thepossum, on 2022-February-04, 21:19, said:

That's not how I learned to play cards Merriman. We don't all have unwritten conventions in our heads.

Yes we do, just waiting for confirmation from others. A convention is a logical fix to a problem in our system, if you are capable of seeing the problem you should be capable of envisioning a solution, or at least accepting and embracing one when somebody else suggests it. If it doesn't make sense to you then someone is wrong, seek help from others to figure out whether it is you, preferably once

[smerriman]

In bridge every convention has to be written in your head - referring to notes is cheating!

Everyone will make mistakes and forget things. The key is not just learning a new 'rule' that is easily forgotten (show the Q with a 10 card fit), but making sure you understand why it applies (partner is trying to know if you have an extra potential loser in trumps; you don't with AKxxx with xxxxx).

Then when that situation reoccurs, it will be easier to remember how to respond even if you forget the rule - just take a couple of extra seconds to think about what partner is asking for.

This was covered in the first two threads, but there you were focused more on everyone else being wrong than why they were right. Based on your response this time you're making progress

[pescetom]

It is also true that there is some syndrome of "Emperor's new clothes", whereby obvious holes in the most popular conventions are glissed over in many official descriptions. So among decent players "everyone knows" not just that you can show the Queen without actually holding it, but also that you shouldn't play RKCB as 0314 in hearts with the stronger hand asking, or that Stayman needs Smolen or something similar, or that the standard 2nt response to a strong 2♧ opening is worse than useless, u.s.w. They know it either from discussion with good players or from simple observation. It takes time for these things to filter down and for a new consensus to mature and be documented. In the meantime, people don't like official descriptions with lots of exceptions and caveats.