Talk:The Bridge World

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I'm (perhaps inordinately) proud of this email, a response to a note I sent Jeff that the article on TBW had been posted:

Dear Conrad,

Thank you for your letter and for your herculean effort in putting such a complete

item on Wikipedia.

In a quick read-through, I noticed only a few tiny technicalities that might be corrected: (1) The Bridge World is the oldest *continuously published* magazine of its kind (not the oldest by date). (2) Albert H. Morehead was the editor briefly (between Culbertson and Moyse). (3) Mike Becker is now the Problem Editor, thus deeply involved in the MSC, but he has never been a director. (Old-generation guest directors included Kaplan, Morty Rubinow and Bill Grieve.) (4) There are usually three (not two) Swiss matches per year.

All in all, a superb job.

Best wishes,

Jeff Rubens

I made the suggested corrections and wrote back to note that the effort was not at all herculean, but the product of a pleasant weekend afternoon browsing through old issues of BW. Someone who uses phrases like "herculean effort" and "superb job" must be a wonderful bridge partner. Xlmvp 18:29, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I also forgot to commend you for the article Conrad; great job. I know that my words don't have the same weight as Jeff's :-) but nevertheless... Duja 07:41, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Duja. As I told JocK a while back, I'll take it every time. Xlmvp 15:26, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Someone removed PLOB from the list of technical innovations first appearing in TBW. That editor seems to think he knows more than the Editor. The editor's comment was: "(Features - Reluctantly removed PLOB from the list of TBW "innovations" (someone put it there as a gag; it stands for Petty Little Odious Bid))" It does stand for that, and it's an alternative, jocular term for New Minor Forcing, said to have been originated by Max Hardy (but he's much better known as a director than as a theorist, at least in the US). The original reference is found in the September 1968 issue of TBW, Problem B in the MSC, where Dick Walsh trotted it out as a possible answer; the MSC director in that issue, Sonny Moyse, went off the rails and described it as a "petty, odious little bid" (italics Moyse's). In "Extended PLOB" in the July 1978 issue, John Swanson dusted it off, extended its applicability, and changed the order of Moyse's wording so as to make an acronym that could be pronounced.

At any rate, while the term PLOB is indeed a gag, its placement in this Wiki article is not a gag. The convention first appeared in a generally available publication in the 9/68 TBW, and appeared with the name as given in the 7/78 issue. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.241.222.26 (talk • contribs) 17:58, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with leaving it in, but, just as a small technical point: Does it refer to all instances of new minor forcing, or only to the bid of the other minor after the opener's 1NT rebid? At some point, as our bridge coverage improves, we should have an article about PLOB. JamesMLane t c 18:08, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bearing in mind that we're talking about material that's 30 and 40 years old:

First, I dug out the 9/68 issue and found that my earlier quote wasn't quite right. Here is Moyse's comment, accurate as to both wording and formatting: "I can't imagine why anyone would want to bid two diamonds (an odious, meaningless, petty little bid if I ever saw one), and if BWS stops Walsh from using it, he should remember the magazine in his will out of gratitude."

The original NMF discussion pertained solely to bidding after opener's 1NT rebid. The 7/78 article extended the use of NMF to a subset of 4SF situations, specifically the two sequences 1m - 1H - 1S - 2om. Swanson goes on to provide treatments for opener to use, beginning with clarifying his heart holding. The treatments imply the use of a 1S opening with 5-5 in the blacks -- and here you can see how wide a net K-S cast! 40 years later, Dick Walsh must be chuckling in his castle in Switzerland. 4.241.221.128 15:54, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I raise the question whether it is appropriate to mention as a BW author "E. S. Baer," a pen name of Edgar Kaplan, which appears to have been used once, in criticizing an anonymous book on that years' world championship. One might as well mention "Saxon Fairwood" (Sheinwold) or "Bigelow Orange" (Moyse) as separate people.

Alvin P. Bluthman apbluthman@aol.com