December 2015 - 7

➺ InBox
The march of progress?

We advanced from verbal bids to
bid boxes, from travelers and entry
sheets to pads - are tablets next? No
cards, no boards, no tables, no bid
boxes, just four seated players, each
having a tablet. The four tablets would
be connected electronically to the
director's control panel. This is online
bridge at a club, sectional, regional
or national. All of your bids and plays
could be emailed to you and your
partner after the session.
DUANE FRIEDRICH
Houston TX

Dummy up

I find that Larry Legault's use of the
word "dummy" to be in error (Aug.,
pg. 8). The use of the term "dummy"
did not originate as a term referring
to someone stupid. The term dumb
refers to someone who cannot speak
due to physical deformity or emotional
distress (as in referring to someone
who is "struck dumb" after witnessing
an event so dreadful they are too emotionally stressed to speak). It was only
perverted to refer to someone stupid
when the uninformed equated physical
inability to speak to mental deficiency.
Use of the term dummy to refer to
the exposed hand in bridge is merely
referring to the requirement that the
player with the dummy hand remain
silent. Let's not abandon use of the
term lest the player with the "exposed
hand" forgets and opens their mouth
out of turn. Being the dummy does not
mean the player is stupid.
FREDERICK SCHUSTER
Madison AL

BBO fans correct the record

Arun Guha (October, pg. 8) has
missed the boat in his critique of BBO's
bidding program. When I Alert my call,
only the opponents see the Alert; my

Letters to the Editor

partner doesn't. When the opponents
inquire about the Alert, my explanation
is not seen by my partner. If my partner
doesn't understand my bid (many of
my face-to-face partners don't either!),
my partner cannot ask what it means.
Only the opponents can, and only the
opponents can see my explanation.
Mr. Guha should get his facts
straight. Playing in a four-human
ACBL tournament on BBO is exactly
the same as playing at a club or NABC.
Virtually all of the world's best
players play on BBO and many top
players accept partner invitations.
ACBL derives considerable (and welldeserved) revenue in sanctioning fees.
In a nutshell, BBO is fun, educational,
quick, convenient, 24/7, easy to learn
and a boon for those who can't get out
to enjoy our great game. No need to
fix the programming. Only a need to
understand what's already there.
CHIP BOYLE
Landrum SC
Arun Guha incorrectly labeled BBO's
software features as simplifications
to make software development easier.
Nothing could be further from the
truth, because the features the author
is complaining about (e.g., chat function) obviously took more developmental effort than if they were never created! While slightly different than live
play, I view a feature such as self-Alert
as an improvement, not a detriment.
Perhaps a future version of BBO
could partially satisfy the author's concerns by allowing chat to be disabled
in the set-up of a table. But I ask the
author: If you believe that BBO play
should more closely approximate live
play, then do you believe that additional software development to enable
leads or bids out of turn or revokes
would really be an improvement to the
BBO experience?
LARRY NOYES
Topton NC

Bridging the language barrier

Last month, my life and bridge
partner, Beverly, and I took a road trip
through upstate New York to upper
Michigan via Canada. Upon arriving at
a London, Ontario, hotel and entering
the elevator, we were greeted with the
friendly words, "So how's the bridge?"
by its lone occupant. For a few prolonged seconds, we stood speechless,
avoiding eye contact, not wanting to
offend someone with our ignorance
of not recognizing him. We then both
came to the realization that he was
simply a curious local wanting to know
how long it had taken us to gain entry
into his country.
JOE MEYERS
New York NY

Gratitude

On May 29, I fell and broke my kneecap. This resulted in two weeks in a
hospital and six weeks in a rehab facility in Victoria BC. From day one, my
bridge family came through in spades.
Many partners visited me during my
hospital stay, bringing treats, flowers
and friendship.
Once I was moved to the rehab facility, the bridge family really kicked in.
One of my partners, Ev, took a list of
my other partners, contacted them and
set up a roster of games and players. So
twice a week, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.,
three of my partners would arrive,
bearing coffee, home baking, fruit,
bidding boxes, cards and boards. We
would play a Chicago-style game, never
caring who won or lost.
Let me tell you what this meant to
me. I went from being a very active and
busy woman to being confined to a
Letters to the editor are welcome by regular mail and email.
Brevity is considered a virtue, as is subject matter with relevance
to a majority of ACBL members. Unsigned letters are not
considered for publication, so please include your name and
hometown. Letters may be edited. All letters will receive a
response. Send emails to editor@acbl.org.

December 2015 Bridge Bulletin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2015