On Jul 10, 4:00=A0pm, David Stevenson <brid...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> =A0 =A0 =A0 Advice on style for contributions to rec.games.bridge
> =A0 =A0 =A0 *****************************************************
>
> Last modified: 2004-06-03
>
> GENERAL
> =A0 The quality of a newsgroup will benefit if its community adheres to
> certain conventions in presentation and style. =A0In this posting we
> provide some suggestions concerning contributions to rec.games.bridge.
> We claim no authority, but hope that contributors to RGB will be able
> to use these suggestions to their advantage.
>
> =A0 RGB is a *text* group. =A0Like chess, RGB has some particular
problem=
s
> due to presenting hands and auctions. =A0It is all too easy to make your
> article difficult to read on other members' computers. =A0However using
> the formatting tips given herein will avoid such problems and keep
> discussion flowing smoothly. =A0There are a few things in particular
that
> recur and should be avoided:
>
> 1) Do not use tabs in formatting as this in particular can ruin hand
> records with certain news readers.
> 2) Do not use pro****tional fonts for the same reason. =A0(If your reader
> is presently set to pro****tional the example deals below will not align
> correctly).
> 3) State where you are posting from as the answers to many laws and
> bidding questions will depend on this.
> 4) Include the form of scoring and vulnerability if asking how to
> bid/play a hand.
> 5) Post using a text format. =A0No binaries, no HTML, no attachments, no
> files, no pictures, no music, no MIME do***ents.
> 6) When posting complete hands, check and recheck that they have exactly
> thirteen cards, and that no cards are duplicated between two or more
> hands.
> 7) Do not use hands from online bridge games before they have been
> retired by that game.
>
> =A0 These are discussed in more detail below.
>
> =A0 Richard Pavlicek has also written a Bridge Writing Style Guide with
> much good advice. =A0It may be seen athttp://www.rpbridge.net/7z69.htm.
> Alternatively you can download a PDF version
athttp://www.rpbridge.net/p/=
7z69.pdf.
>
> INFORMATION ON THE WEB
> =A0 This posting is not the rgb.FAQ, which was a separate do***ent for
th=
e
> group containing 'frequently asked questions' (FAQ), but is no longer
> available. =A0Here is a quick to various online information:
>
> =A0The Laws of Bridge =A0 =A0 :http://blakjak.org/lws_lnks.htm
> =A0International Appeals =A0:http://home.worldcom.ch/~fsb/appealse.html
> =A0ACBL home page =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 :http://www.acbl.org
> =A0Great Bridge Links =A0 =A0 :http://www.greatbridgelinks.com
> =A0Bridge Newsgroups =A0 =A0 =A0:http://blakjak.org/br_ngrps.htm
> =A0Online Bridge =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
=A0:http://www.greatbridgelinks.com/gblP=
LAY/
> =A0National organisations :http://blakjak.org/brg_lnkn.htm
> =A0Rulings forums =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 :http://blakjak.org/iblf.htm
>
> NETIQUETTE
> =A0 The newsgroup news.announce.newusers regularly provides an
> introduction to the general rules and etiquette of net use. =A0You will
> find there much commonsense advice: your postings reflect upon you,
> compose your text carefully, be brief, use a descriptive subject header,
> summarize previous posts to which you are responding, don't quote more
> material than is necessary, restrict your lines to 72 characters, sign
> your articles. =A0You will find there also a discussion of the disease
of
> mushrooming meta-discussions, suggestions about when to use private
> email rather than the net, suggestions about ignoring or dealing with
> postings that are deemed inappropriate, obnoxious or silly, advice about
> proper procedure in quoting previous posts and private email, and much
> else.
>
> =A0 It is im****tant that you use a text format and a Fixed Font: details
> of how to do this with Outlook Express may be found
athttp://blakjak.org/=
out_exp.htm. =A0Do not use HTML or post MIME do***ents,
> and do not include any attachments, so no binaries, no files, no
> pictures, no music.
>
> =A0 RGB is an international group, and it helps particularly to identify
> your country in postings, as many issues may be specific to it. =A0It is
> polite to give your real name, and Town/City. =A0A short sigfile such
as:
>
> --
> John B Doe - Cambridge Mass. USA
>
> ... will make replies to your query or point much more meaningful.
>
> =A0 General Netiquette asks you to restrict sigs to maximum 4 text
lines.
> The special "-- " (3 character line) prefix [called a "sig separator"]
> allows good news programs to snip out the sig automatically when others
> reply. =A0Unfortunately some Microsoft products [eg Hotmail via a web
> browser] will forcibly change a "-- " line in a posting into "--",
> making the sig separator ineffective.
>
> =A0 When responding to a post you should include enough of the question
s=
o
> that people know to what you are replying but delete enough [called
> "snipping"] so that people do not have to read large chunks they have
> already read earlier. =A0Such editing can be quite an art. =A0Look over
> other postings to see what is excessive editing, or clutter from too
> much repetition. =A0You should nearly always edit out sigfiles if your
> reader does not do this.
>
> =A0 Try to snip in such a way as not to misattribute quotations, and
> especially when quoting someone in order to disagree with them, try not
> to distort their position through careless cutting.
>
> SUBJECTS
> =A0 Some people put problems in the subject lines. =A0For example, the
> subject might read "What do you bid with AKQx Jxx xxx xxx?".
>
> =A0 If you do this, it is im****tant to repeat the content in the body of
> the article. =A0If a hand is included then it is im****tant that is
> repeated in a way that is easily readable - see next
> section.
>
> HAND DIAGRAMS
> =A0 It is helpful to your readers if you follow a minimal standard
format
> when posting a hand or a deal. =A0Count the cards! =A0Check there are no
> duplications! =A0List the suits in the order S, H, D, C. =A0In a diagram
=
of
> four hands, place South at the bottom and rearrange the directions to
> make South declarer unless there is a special reason not to. =A0Do not
us=
e
> the tab key to compose a diagram, as the diagram may become misaligned
> on other people's screens and is very likely to become misaligned if
> your text is quoted and indented. =A0If only two hands are shown it may
b=
e
> better to place them side by side as West and East, and a single hand
> can be specified inline. =A0Please do not use pro****tional fonts: this
is
> also im****tant.
>
> =A0 The exact distribution of small cards is often relevant for
signallin=
g
> and for communication between the hands, so please do not use xx's to
> represent small cards when discussing a play problem, and in a bidding
> problem use xx's only when they may truly be understood to represent the
> smallest cards in the suit. =A0If you are posting a deal from actual
play
> and you've forgotten all the small cards, then it may be best to make
> them up in some way so that this newsgroup has a precisely specified
> problem to consider.
>
> =A0 There are some defensive problems where one wants to "filter out"
> signalling issues, emphasizing inferences from bidding and declarer's
> play. =A0In such cases, use of xx's may avoid peripheral concerns.
>
> =A0 Here are some minor points to improve readability. =A0The symbol "T"
=
for
> 10 is common and its use is recommended, particularly if you don't use
> spaces between cards. =A0In the auction, use P or Pass and X or Dbl
rathe=
r
> than PASS and DBL. =A0A vertical layout for the suits in the North and
> South hands is difficult to read, please don't use that format. =A0Cards
> are always specified suit first and bids level first (so D2 is a card
> and 2D is a bid or contract). =A0Please capitalize the symbols AKQJT and
> use lower-case "x" for the unspecified small cards.
>
> =A0 When recapping the auction, make sure that East's bids are to the
> right of West's, else readers may associate the bids with the wrong
> hand. =A0The recommended format is to list the bids in four columns in
th=
e
> order W-N-E-S. =A0Note all alertable bids and explain the bid in
context.
> Do not explain a bid by convention name if it is not one of the standard
> bids or if you play some variation that is not standard. =A0You can
avoid
> confusion by describing a bid rather than naming it.
>
> =A0 Some people have small screens, and it is helpful if they do not
have
> to continually scroll up and down to read a hand. =A0Thus a helpful
> diagram is quite small. =A0Height tends to be more of a problem than
widt=
h
> and the example below (in a 72 character width) will be legible almost
> anywhere. =A0Note that if its columns don't line up then your news
progra=
m
> needs setting to fixed font!
>
>
=A0----------------------------------------------------------------------=
-
> =A0Brd: 1 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 S KT83 =A0 =A0Pairs =A0 =A0 | =A0W =A0 =A0
=
=A0 N =A0 =A0 =A0 E =A0 =A0 =A0 S
> =A0Dlr: N =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 H A5 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0| =A0
=
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A01C(1) =A0 P =A0 =A0 =A0 1H(2)
> =A0Vul: NS =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0D AJ62 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0| =A0P =
=A0 =A0 =A0 P =A0 =A0 =A0 P
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 C J73 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 |
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0S A97 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0S J652 =A0 =A0 =A0|
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0H T832 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 H K7 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0|
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0D KT75 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 D 943 =A0 =A0 =A0 | (1)
ale=
rted, explained only as
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0C 98 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 C KQ65 =A0 =A0 =A0| =A0
=
=A0 "could be short"
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 S Q4 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
=A0|
> =A0Opening =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0H QJ964 =A0 =A0Result: =A0| (2) less than
1=
0 points,
> =A0 lead: D5 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0D Q8 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0+140 NS | =A0 =A0
non-for=
cing, not alerted
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 C AT42 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0|
>
> =A0 =A0N/S are playing a system where you need a five card suit to open
1=
D,
> =A01H or 1S. =A01C is marked as forcing, 13-15 if balanced.
>
=A0----------------------------------------------------------------------=
-
>
> =A0 Play problems where only two hands are shown are easier to read if
> declarer is shown as West and dummy as East. =A0For example:
>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 A97 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 J652 =A0 =A0 =A0| =A0 West
de=
als and opens 1NT.
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 AT32 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0K7 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0| Everyone
=
p***** and North leads
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 KT75 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0943 =A0 =A0 =A0 | H5. =A0How
=
do you play?
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 J8 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0KQ65 =A0 =A0 =A0|
>
> ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
> =A0 When you post a bidding problem, supply the method of scoring, the
> vulnerability and the position of the dealer. =A0Do this even if you
thin=
k
> the information is superfluous; it seldom is, and takes up very little
> space.
>
> =A0 When you post a play problem, again, as a matter of routine, mention
> the method of scoring and the vulnerability. =A0It is normally right to
> provide the bidding too. =A0Whenever
> ...
>
> read more =BB
It would be nice if multiple problems be put into separate threads.
Eric Leong
|
