[bearmum]

Tonight (my time) was morning EST usa time

I played against a yellow star with NO profile(and his partner) (in a pairs event 4 rounds with SAME pard) AND I had to ASK what early bids meant!

OK They said "Polish Club" BUT I don't really know what 1C in 'polish club' means ---- and had to ask ---- then 1D response was not alerted -so I had to ask again

Are yellow stars and their partners excempt from self alerting bids?? ( I have NO problems asking for explainations) - BUT SURELY ALL conventional bids SHOULD be alerted - especially by "WORLD CLASS " players - which BOTH our opps were

[Trpltrbl]

Yellow stars should go out of there way to explain everything.
That's why they are yellow (to help) and have stars (to set good example).
This was very bad, a good reason to lose their yellow status and possibly their stars.....

Mike

[inquiry]

Trpltrbl, on Apr 26 2004, 11:38 AM, said:

Yellow stars should go out of there way to explain everything.
That's why they are yellow (to help) and have stars (to set good example).
This was very bad, a good reason to lose their yellow status and possibly their stars.....

Mike

Hi Mike,

She didn't say it was a "yellow", she said it was a "yellow star," which i assume means a "gold star" not a BBO yellow who happens to also be a gold star.

But rather it was a yellow, a gold star, a yellow gold star, or anyone else... alerts need to be made.

Ben

[Trpltrbl]

inquiry, on Apr 26 2004, 12:17 PM, said:

Trpltrbl, on Apr 26 2004, 11:38 AM, said:

Yellow stars should go out of there way to explain everything.
That's why they are yellow (to help) and have stars (to set good example).
This was very bad, a good reason to lose their yellow status and possibly their stars.....

Mike 

Hi Mike,

She didn't say it was a "yellow", she said it was a "yellow star," which i assume means a "gold star" not a BBO yellow who happens to also be a gold star.

But rather it was a yellow, a gold star, a yellow gold star, or anyone else... alerts need to be made.

Ben

I guess, that could be possible. I just took it as a Yellow with a star.

Mike

[spwdo]

bearmum, on Apr 27 2004, 12:20 AM, said:

I played against a yellow star with NO profile(and his partner)   (in a pairs event 4 rounds with SAME pard)    AND I had to ASK what early bids meant!

Are yellow stars  and their partners excempt from self alerting bids?? ( I have NO problems asking for explainations) - BUT SURELY ALL conventional bids SHOULD be alerted - especially by "WORLD CLASS " players - which BOTH our opps were

hi jackie

they went twice wrong here i think

1.empty profile
2.not alert

send it to abuse@bridgebase,com

i believe uday/fred want their stars to display at least a name.
As for the alerts everybody shoud alert what needs too but stars shoud be an example to all of us not so gifted players



spwdo

[fred]

For the past 2 months or so we have asked all new
stars to include their real names and countries in their
profiles. A few excellent players have refused to do
this and we have not assigned stars to these people.

There are a lot of people who became stars before we
put this policy into effect. I am not sure what to do
about them - perhaps at some point we will ask all such
people to either fill out their profiles or be prepared to
lose their stars.

In general, if you think that a player is not fufilling his
obligations as far as alerts and explanations of bids go,
you should contact the TD of the tournament in question.
Some TDs will not take any action and, in this case, you
can e-mail abuse@bridgebase.com if you feel so inclined.

Sometimes language problems or inexperience playing
against players from other countries are the reasons why
people do not alert or explain properly. The stars on BBO
certainly do not have inexperience as an excuse, but it
is quite possible that some of them have limited knowledge
of the English language.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[aisha759]

I have played against a few stars (never with) who dont alert their bids, and when they do, their explanation is incomprehensible..... i believe language has a lot to do with it... nowwww...a yellow star (i took it that as a yellow who also has a star, and those are few) should be capable of explaining their bids properly (yellows are expected to be at least semi-fluent in english, besides their own language, unless of course their first language IS English)..
I believe though, star or not, players should have the freedom to display what they like on their profile(unless it is demanded for a particular tourney.. we all know that can be modified ) and shouldnt be punished for not having it filled out with real name etc..... this should not affect opponents.... anyway, what's in a name?
What is important,is for them to set a good example to players like myself, in manners, table presence, etiquette and proper overall attitude.
I find that players with a "star" next to their name are sometimes more humble and modest than the so called "eggsperts"....
I have also noticed they are overly "pampered "by TD's and others, and at the same time highly criticized by kibbers... Moi! being guilty of that , expecting miralces...( i suppose it comes with the territory)
As for why some stars do not include their country...I believe this must have to do with politics; even though i have never seen a STAR with a flag which showed "other".

I'm not quite sure that this post will be as meaningful as I planned it to be, but I just wanted to share the plusses and minusses from the "other side" (other side being the "beginner/intermediate" bridger point of view)

[fred]

I also believe that all members should be free to leave
the profiles blank if they want (or ficticious - as long as
there is nothing offensive and as long as they are trying
trying to pretend they are some other real person).

The whole purpose of the stars, however, is to identify the
most successful players from various parts of the world so
that less experienced players will find it easier to kibitz
what rates to be a strong game. If a strong player refuses
to identify himself that is his right, but giving him/her a star
defeats the purpose of having the stars in the first place.

While we are on the subject of stars, there are 2 very
common misconceptions about them:

1) The stars symbol is not meant to be a "badges of honor" for
good players. The purpose of the stars is explained above.

2) Some of our stars are among the best 100 or so players
in the world, but most of the stars are not. The star does not
mean "one of the world's best players in the judgment of
BBO management". It means "someone who has achieved
notable success in his/her country".

We actually have a definition for constitutes "notable success".
If any cares what that is let me know and I will spell it out.

As I am sure many of you can imagine, the whole star thing
causes a lot of problems for me (the giver of stars). I receive
about 10 requests for stars each week of which roughly 1/3
qualify under our definition. Only about half of the people who
get rejected are gracious about it and some people become
very rude and angry when I say no to them.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[Fluffy]

Hi aisha!

Its true that you don´t have to have your name in your profile, but as a star if you don´t like it, and want to be a 'phamtom' just get a new account for when you don´t want people to know its you.

[aisha759]

Heyyyy fluffy
If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

Star wannabe Aisha

[Cascade]

fred, on Apr 26 2004, 07:38 PM, said:

As I am sure many of you can imagine, the whole star thing
causes a lot of problems for me (the giver of stars). I receive
about 10 requests for stars each week of which roughly 1/3
qualify under our definition. Only about half of the people who
get rejected are gracious about it and some people become
very rude and angry when I say no to them.

Perhaps as the first part of the process you should automatically refuse every request.

Thereafter those that get angry are automatically disqualified forever

[bearmum]

aisha759, on Apr 28 2004, 09:45 AM, said:

Heyyyy fluffy
If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

Star wannabe Aisha

LOL

[lucky_dom]

fred, on Apr 27 2004, 12:38 AM, said:

We actually have a definition for constitutes "notable success".
If any cares what that is let me know and I will spell it out.

I care. I'm just curious me

[Trpltrbl]

Cascade, on Apr 27 2004, 04:09 PM, said:

fred, on Apr 26 2004, 07:38 PM, said:

As I am sure many of you can imagine, the whole star thing
causes a lot of problems for me (the giver of stars). I receive
about 10 requests for stars each week of which roughly 1/3
qualify under our definition. Only about half of the people who
get rejected are gracious about it and some people become
very rude and angry when I say no to them.

Perhaps as the first part of the process you should automatically refuse every request.

Thereafter those that get angry are automatically disqualified forever

I agree 100%.

Mike

[Trpltrbl]

aisha759, on Apr 27 2004, 03:45 PM, said:

Heyyyy fluffy
If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

Star wannabe Aisha

Just move to Liechtenstein, Luxemburg or the Vatican. Should not be too hard to be topplayer in these countries, and think about all the Tax benefits too hehehe

Mike

[fred]

lucky_dom, on Apr 29 2004, 07:36 PM, said:

fred, on Apr 27 2004, 12:38 AM, said:

We actually have a definition for constitutes "notable success".
If any cares what that is let me know and I will spell it out.

I care. I'm just curious me

Here are the ways you can get a star:

1) Represent your country in a World Championship event like
the Bermuda Bowl or World Teams Olympiad (ie an event that
you have to qualify to play in - events that are essentially "open"
like the Rosenblum Teams and World Open Pairs, while being true
World Championships, do not count).

2) We recognize participation in the corresponding Women's
and Seniors events with stars. The only Junior event that we
recongnize at this time is the World Junior Team Championships.

3) Win a major open event (such as an ACBL National event
or one of the open World Championship events referred to
above).

4) Represent your country in a Zonal Championship like the
European or South American Teams Championships (as in 1
above, it cannot be an open event).

5) Win a major invitational tournament (like the Cavendish
or the Forbo).

6) Come close to winning events like those described in 3)
and 5) several times. Note that this there is some judgment
involved here (mine).

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[lucky_dom]

Thanks Fred

[lexica]

A star is a star is a star... But so is a rose is a rose is a rose... (plagiarising shamelessly!)
1) Fred, wouldn't it be eaisier for you if Stars have a smallish, text-based, up to 100Kb dedicated space on the server where their WBF rating, national rating (updated occasionally) is available, along with some lines by_way_of_introduction? If anyone wants to nominate a new Star, constellation, black hole, white dwarf or whatever - they should send an email with this info at least?
2) would be nice if the info (WBF/national) is hyperlinked on the profile;
In this way subjectivity will be minimised and star-requests will be reduced significantly.

OK.. 2 (euro)cents for the piggy bank

[Shrike]

aisha759, on Apr 27 2004, 02:45 PM, said:

Heyyyy fluffy
If i get a star, i will put my name, phone number, home address, and even a map on how to get there (he he) call me desperate!

Star wannabe Aisha 

Tell you what: I promise to treat you like a star. I will watch you with bated breath. (Um, I mean I'll watch your bridge plays with. . . oh, you know what I mean.) I will speak in hushed tones of your successes. I will shake my head in wonderment when you do something amazing.

So, does this mean I can have your phone number?

[lexica]

Quote

So, does this mean I can have your phone number?

Nah... It just means:
Baby, you can drive my car
Yes I'm gonna be a star...

She can drive your car, that is...
edit 1: Or you can drive her car?
edit 2: Huh...
edit 3: What's car(d)s got to do with it....
edit 4: Discombobulated
edit 5: Not me! There's a glitch in the system - the printer thinks it's a router, and types accordingly!