[onoway]

It has been mentioned from time to time that intermediate takes in such a huge range that it is largely a meaningless category. Aside from that, to refuse to play with someone on the basis of their self rating is imo silly..I know of a number of really fine players who frequently sport even novice on their profile.

You can get a better idea from looking at their profile..not much on it can mean anything (many "real" experts dont have anything at all about bridge there) but anyone advertising stayman and transfers to majors only says something entirely different than someone who claims Leb etc. This doesn't mean the people actually know how to play the conventions on their profile but at least it's a start.

[1eyedjack]

onoway, on Aug 30 2010, 05:28 PM, said:

It has been mentioned from time to time that intermediate takes in such a huge range that it is largely a meaningless category.

I tend to agree with this. If you look at the strict definition of "advanced" according to the BBO guidelines, I would hazard a guess that a low proportion of BBO players would qualify as better than intermediate. As such the definitions are not very helpful if their intent is to be of value in creating pairings or to help a table host in populating the table. It might be more helpful if the categories subdivided the population into slightly closer to equal tranches. Defining the definitions to comply with that ideal is no easy task, of course. However you define the terms, it is up to the goodwill of the players to comply with the assigned definition. As to what comes first between (1) poor definitions and (2) poor compliance, I am not sure - probably a bit of both.

Returning to the OP, I think that you are unlucky to sit opposite a partner who reads a cue as anything other than Michaels, but until I had explicitly agreed Michaels with a pick-up partner I would accept that I am taking responsibility for any consequences if I choose to use the convention opposite such a player who self-assesses as intermediate and it blows up.

[jillybean]

billw55, on Aug 30 2010, 08:26 AM, said:

Maybe I wasn't clear, but yes, that's exactly what I meant.  I certainly cannot compare to real experts.  But BBO experts?  That's a different story.  I have seen quite a few that are below my level.  Anyone who has played much on BBO has observed this.

With a little bit of searching you will find real experts on BBO, why not align yourself with these players? Anyone who rejects a player based soley on 'skill level' is not someone I want to play with anyway so I have no qualms what so ever at having intermediate on my profile, sorry if I am lowering the standard

[billw55]

jillybean, on Aug 30 2010, 11:48 AM, said:

With a little bit of searching you will find real experts on BBO, why not align yourself with these players?

Real experts are too good to play with me!

But I get your point, and I have marked about a dozen good partners as friends. I only rarely catch them online for a game though.

Quote

I have no qualms what so ever at having intermediate on my profile, sorry if I am lowering the standard 

Clearly you are raising the standard for BBO intermediates

[W Kovacs]

Not to de-rail the current discussion, but something said earlier piqued my interest. How does one go about checking the avg imps/board on a particular opponent, or on myself for that matter?

Right now I am transferring all of my boards played into an excel spreadsheet, but that method is clunky (although more permanent, I imagine).

And I might have to move my self-rating up a notch. Although it's only based on 70 boards, my partner and I are averaging a healthy 1.3 Imps/board. I think we need slightly stiffer competition. The one day we played against "expert" players, we averaged -0.1 Imps/board, which sounds about right. They probably WERE experts.

[pooltuna]

W Kovacs, on Aug 30 2010, 01:27 PM, said:

Not to de-rail the current discussion, but something said earlier piqued my interest.  How does one go about checking the avg imps/board on a particular opponent, or on myself for that matter? 

Right now I am transferring all of my boards played into an excel spreadsheet, but that method is clunky (although more permanent, I imagine). 

And I might have to move my self-rating up a notch.  Although it's only based on 70 boards, my partner and I are averaging a healthy 1.3 Imps/board.  I think we need slightly stiffer competition.  The one day we played against "expert" players, we averaged -0.1 Imps/board, which sounds about right.  They probably WERE experts.

BBO hands website

Enter your BBO login name (or any login for that matter)

Select the intervals you want and hit enter and you get something that looks like this

Main Bridge Club hands Tourney/Match hands Tourney/Match hands
Hands played by W Kovacs since 2010-08-29 00:00:00 to 2010-08-31 00:00:00
2010-08-30
Nº Time North South East West Result Points Score Movie Traveller
1 12:11 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs hoebeke kas21 6♥S+1 1460 4.60 Movie or Lin Traveller
2 12:13 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs hoebeke kas21 4♠E-1 100 6.20 Movie or Lin Traveller
3 12:18 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs hoebeke kas21 3NE-1 50 0.87 Movie or Lin Traveller
4 12:22 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs hoebeke kas21 4♠N= 620 6.67 Movie or Lin Traveller
5 12:27 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs hoebeke kas21 5♣xW-2 500 8.27 Movie or Lin Traveller
6 12:31 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs kot50 kas21 6♥W-2 100 -0.13 Movie or Lin Traveller
7 12:37 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs kot50 kas21 2♠S+1 140 2.00 Movie or Lin Traveller
8 12:40 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs kot50 kas21 6♠W+1 -1460 -11.13 Movie or Lin Traveller
9 12:48 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs kot50 kas21 3NN-2 -200 -5.93 Movie or Lin Traveller
10 12:53 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs willamc ntl 2♥W+2 -170 -0.73 Movie or Lin Traveller
11 12:56 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs willamc ntl 6NW-1 100 11.40 Movie or Lin Traveller
12 13:01 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs xyz123abc ntl 5♠W+1 -680 3.53 Movie or Lin Traveller
13 13:04 Ispoof6270 W Kovacs xyz123abc ntl 3NE+1 -430 -3.87 Movie or Lin Traveller
IMPs Total 21.75 13 IMPs Hands
IMPs Average 1.67

[W Kovacs]

Thanks, pooltuna. That's a feature of BBO I was unaware of. I'll have to start using it in the near future.

[billw55]

W Kovacs, on Aug 30 2010, 01:27 PM, said:

And I might have to move my self-rating up a notch. Although it's only based on 70 boards, my partner and I are averaging a healthy 1.3 Imps/board. I think we need slightly stiffer competition. The one day we played against "expert" players, we averaged -0.1 Imps/board, which sounds about right. They probably WERE experts.

My guess is that anyone serious enough to be regularly posting in the forums is going to be above average on BBO.

In addition, playing with a regular partner is an advantage. Most players on BBO are playing with pickup partners, which naturally leads to misunderstandings and guessing.

Even so, +1.3 IMPs per board is good stuff

[W Kovacs]

Yeah, that 1.3 per board isn't going to stick around forever. We've been lucky to have a mix of:

a) some weaker opponents
runs of good hands that we've made the most of
c) opponents that haven't been very willing to compete (that's the one that'll change most as we play better competition. The better players LOVE to interfere in precision auctions.)

Still, my partner and I strive to play good defense on all hands, which should keep us competitive with just about any pair.

[ggwhiz]

Interesting (to me anyway) the discussion on how to find an appropriate intermediate partner.

As a bridge teacher, I often play in individuals as a way to keep in touch with the thinking out there and find them to be a hoot. More than enough time for a beer run between rounds too.

Earlier today, an opponent chatted a friendly hi to my pard and set up a future game. They were both true "Intermediates" and apparently found each other through the Indy's.

If you have the time and the sense of humour, it might work.

[jocdelevat]

I play in those free tournaments where most of the players are b/i and I can say imo that Micheals Cuebid will not be standard. I can say that even take out double if you see it on some of b/i it means they have a lot of cards in the op suit and is penalty.
To billw55 I saw a lot of advanced players in BBO either with bad biding and playing. I suppose they do like you put on level higher to get good partners. You should not post in a forum with the name Beginner and Intermediate Bridge Discussion and say all intermediates are bad.