Antispades Twos is the name of a bidding convention in the card game bridge. It is a two-level pre-emptive opening based on either a 6-card suit or a two-suiter with at least nine cards distributed across any two suits.

• The 2♣ opening promises 5-10 HCP and either a 6-card club suit, or clubs and diamonds, or clubs and spades.
• The 2♦ opening promises 5-10 HCP and either a 6-card diamond suit, or diamonds and hearts, or diamonds and spades.
• The 2♥ opening promises 5-10 HCP and either a 6-card heart suit, or hearts and spades, or hearts and clubs.
• The 2♠ opening is artificial and very strong, promising either 23+ HCP balanced, or a hand of 16+ HCP and four losers or better.

The partner of the Antispades Weak Two opener has the following options available:

• Pass (with eight or more losers and 2+ cards in the suit opened)
• Raise opener's suit with 3+ card support and 7 losers or fewer.
• A pass-or-correct bid which is one step up from the opening — that is 2♣:2♦, 2♦:2♥, or 2♥:2♠.
• With a 15+ HCP hand, responder either bids the forcing 2NT Enquiry or, with 4+ spades after a 2♣ or 2♦ opening, the forcing 2♠ response.

Bidding against an Antispades Weak Two opener is difficult because the defender will probably not know what opener's second suit is, if he has one, and the defender may have more cards in the suit opened than the opener has. However a sensible defence would be:

• Double shows 11+ points. The criteria for tolerance for the unbid suits become less stringent, the more points the doubler has.
• A 'Suit Overcall shows a good 6+ card suit and seven losers or better.
• The 2NT Overcall shows a two-suited hand — in any of the three unbid suits — with six losers or better.

• Muiderberg convention

• http://www.org2b.com/games/index.php?title=Antispades_Weak_Twos

• Wilson, Gavin (2016). Antispades Twos — Open Markedly More Often. Claygate, Surrey, UK: Org2B Press. ASIN B01MRUJ8AA. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

Category:Bridge conventions

Antispades Twos convention

Francis, Henry G.; Truscott, Alan F.; Francis, Dorthy A., eds. (1994). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (5th ed.). Memphis, TN: American Contract Bridge League. ISBN 0-943855-48-9. LCCN 96188639.

• a. Win the trick with as low a card as you can.
• b. Ruff as soon as you can.
• c. Draw trumps as early as possible.
• d. Draw trumps by leading off the top, if you can.
• e. Then collect your side-suit winners off the top.
• f. When losing a trick, use your lowest card.
• g. Ceteris paribus, first hand leads low, second hand plays low, third hand plays high, and fourth hand wins the trick, if possible.

1. Count your certain tricks — i.e. those made by employing the 'Basics' above.
2. If this count matches or exceeds your contract, proceed with that as your plan.
3. If not, see whether your holdings match any of the listed patterns and then consider the appropriate techniques for establishing extra tricks and techniques for avoiding trick loss.

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• You may need to lose the lead in the side-suit in order to create a side-suit void.
  • But be aware that the defence may lead trumps when they win the lead. Plan for this if you deicde to draw some trumps before creating the side-suit void.
• Do this before drawing all the trumps.
• If you can afford to, ruff high if there is a risk of your being over-ruffed. See Ruffing High.
• If you can repeat it, return to the Long Trump hand either via trumps or a side-suit winner.

• Where possible, cash your side-suit winners first.
• Calculate how many rounds of trumps, if any, you can afford to draw first.
• Ruff low to start with, then higher.

• Lead x towards A-Q-... Play the Q unless second hand plays the K, in which case you cover with the A.
• Lead x towards A-J-10-... Play the 10 unless second hand plays the K or Q, in which case you cover with the A and then lead the J to establish the 10.
  • If second hand did not play K or Q, return to hand and lead another x, playing the J if second hand now plays low.
• With A-J-x-x-x opposite K-x-x, win the K first, then lead x towards the J for a finesse.
• With A-x-x opposite Q-x-x, lead x towards the Q. If control is less important, win the A first before executing the finesse.

• With x opposite A-Q-J-10 in a side-suit and the enemy trumps drawn, win the A. Then lead the Q, throwing a loser on it if the opponent does not play the K, and ruffing if he does.

• Choose the finesse you can perform twice — e.g. x-x opposite A-Q-J, rather than x opposite A-Q-J-10-9-8.

• With 9 cards in a suit missing only the Q, play off the A and then the K, hoping that the Q was either doubleton or singleton.

• Force out the missing honours by playing your own honours — e.g. K from K-Q-J to force out the A.
• With A-Q-x-x in dummy opposite x-x-x in hand, lead a low card from dummy!

• It may be necessary to overtake a top honour — e.g. K opposite A-Q-10-9-x-x — when you have only one other entry. In this example, you will succeed if the enemy holding is no worse than 4-2.
• With A-x-x-x-x opposite x-x-x, duck twice before winning the A.

• A long side-suit may be set up by ruffing the losers. You may establish the 5th card in the suit.

• With x-x opposite A-J-x, or A-x-x opposite J-x-x, refuse to win the K lead.

• Established high cards won't win tricks if you cannot reach them. If the hand containing them is otherwise weak, consider discarding a top card in another suit in your hand in order to preserve the entry.

• Eliminate all safe exits for your opponents — e.g. by clearing a suit — then throw them on lead with your prepared exit card. They will then be forced to choose between leading into the suit you did not want to tackle yourself or giving you a ruff and discard.

• Particularly when you have a 4-3 trump distribution, it is often better to discard a loser rather than ruff in the long-trump hand.

• If no other distribution will allow you to make your contract, then play on the assumption that this distribution is the case.

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• With A-Q-x opposite K-x-x-x-x, win the A and Q first, then lead towards the K.

• Withhold your control card by ducking the correct number of tricks. Duck (7 minus X) rounds before winning your A, where X is the number of cards you have in the suit.
  • With A-x-x opposite x-x, for instance, duck the first two rounds.
  • And even with A-K-x opposite x-x-x, duck one round.
• With LHO leading x into your J-x opposite A-x-x, play the J from dummy, but only play the A on the third round of the suit.
• With LHO leading x into your x-x opposite K-J-x, cover (if you can) whatever RHO plays.
  • If RHO plays the Q, RHO is now the danger hand. You can lose the lead to LHO, but not to RHO.
  • If RHO plays the A, withhold your K until the third round of the suit. LHO is now the danger hand.

• When:
  • one opponent has a suit to run in 3NT in which you have no stopper but his partner has no cards, and
  • you have all other suits stopped, and
  • you can afford to lose one trick, then
  • you should take a finesse into the safe hand.

• When you hold A-x-x opposite K-Q-J-10-9, ruff with the A if there is any risk of your being overruffed.

• With LHO leading x into your Q-x opposite A-10-x, play low from dummy and cover whatever RHO plays.
• With LHO leading x into your J-x opposite A-x-x, play the J from dummy, but only play the A on the third round of the suit.

• Often it pays to leave the last (top) trump out, rather than use two trumps to force it out.

• When you have no outside entries, but a long side-suit to cash, you must prevent an enemy ruff.

• With a 9-card holding and all the top cards, except the J, down to the 9, and with the top honours split: play a top honour from the hand containing two of the top honours.
• Q-x-x opposite A-x-x on the lead of the 10. Try the Q, and cover the K if played.
• J-9-x opposite A-Q-10-x. Lead the 9. If the K does not appear, let it run and lead the J.
• x-x opposite A-Q-x-x-x-x and no other entries in the long hand. Play x to x on the first round, then finesse the Q.
• You hold ten cards missing K-10-x. Lead Q from Q-x-x-x, or J from J-x-x-x.

• Play a higher spot card when losing the first trick to opening leader's A or K — e.g. 4 from 4-2 — to encourage leader to believe his partner has the 2. His failure to play the card suggests he is asking leader to continue the suit.
• Even with x-x opposite A-K-9-5-3 and a Q lead, try losing the trick with the 5. LHO may continue the suit, giving you a likely 4 tricks.

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• One hand contains fewer trumps than the other and has a side-suit shorter than in the other. Go to Ruffing in the Short Trump Hand.
• You hold all the honours in trumps, e.g. A-x-x opposite K-Q-J-10-9. Go to Ruffing High.
• One of your hands contains A-Q-.. in a suit, your other hand has an x to lead towards it, and the defence has the K. Go to Finessing.
• One of your hands contains A-J-10-.. in a suit, your other hand has x-x to lead towards it, and the defence has the K and Q. Go to Finessing.
• One of your hands contains A-J-x-x-x in a suit, and your other hand has K-x-x. Go to Finessing.
• J-9-x opposite A-Q-10-x. Go to Finessing.
• One of your hands contains A-x-x in a suit, and your other hand has Q-x-x. Go to Finessing.
• You have two finesses to choose between. Go to Choice of Finesses.
• You hold 9 cards in a suit, with the only missing honour being the Q. Go to Playing for the Drop.
• You hold 9 cards in a suit, missing only the J. Go to Suit Combinations.
• Q-x-x opposite A-x-x on the lead of the 10. Go to Suit Combinations.
• You hold ten cards missing K-10-x. Go to Suit Combinations.
• x-x opposite A-Q-x-x-x-x and no other entries in the long hand. Go to Suit Combinations.
• A-x-x-x-x opposite x-x-x. Go to Establishing a Long Suit.
• x-x opposite A-J-x, or A-x-x opposite J-x-x, and a K lead. Go to Bath Coup.
• A-Q-x-x in dummy opposite x-x-x. Go to Establishing High-card Winners.
• One of your hands contains A-Q-x in a suit, and your other hand has K-x-x-x-x. Go to Unblocking.
• x opposite A-Q-J-10 in a side-suit and the enemy trumps drawn, win the A. Go to Ruffing Finesse.
• Between your holdings, you are missing a top honour — e.g. K-Q-J-x-x opposite 10-x-x. Go to Establishing High-card Winners.
• You have a weak holding in a suit they are attacking in 3NT, e.g. A-x-x opposite x-x, or x-x-x opposite K-J-x, or even A-K-x opposite x-x-x. Go to Cutting Their Communications.
• With LHO has led x into your Q-x opposite A-10-x. Go to Keeping a Weak Suit Stopped.
• With LHO has led x into your J-x opposite A-x-x. Go to Keeping a Weak Suit Stopped and Cutting Their Communications.
• You have a choice of finesses available: one from hand, one from dummy. Go to Cutting Their Communications.
• You have a shortage in each hand, in different side-suits, and you have a trump fit. Go to Cross-ruff.
• K-J-x-x opposite A-Q in one suit; K-Q opposite A-x in another. Or Q-J-x opposite A-10-x in one suit; Q-J-10-9-8 opposite A-x in another. No other high cards or trumps in the original hand. Go to Preserving Entries and play off both Aces on the first round of each suit.
• Trump holding of A-x-x-x-x opposite K-x-x and a need to score a ruff in the short trump hand. Go to Leaving one Enemy Trump out.
• You have a long, solid side-suit to cash and no outside entries. Go to Not leaving the last enemy trump out when you want to cash a long, solid side-suit.

• You would rather the opponents continue their initial suit rather than find a more powerful switch. Go to Encouraging them to continue the suit to avoid a more damaging switch.
• All their trumps drawn, plus a safe exit card for you, plus all safe exits for them removed. They have either to give you a ruff and discard or lead the frozen suit you were unwilling to lead yourself or to clarify a finesse in your favour. Go to Elimination Play.
• One opponent has a suit to run in 3NT in which you have no stopper but his partner has no cards, and you have all other suits stopped, and you can afford to lose one trick, and you have an either-way finesse available — e.g. K-10-9-x-x opposite A-J-8-x. Go to Finessing into the Safe Hand.
• Your trumps are distributed 4-3 and the opponents are inviting you to ruff from the long-trump hand. You also have an inevitable loser in a side-suit. Go to Refusing to Ruff by playing a Loser-on-loser instead.
• You are at least 4-4 in trumps and you have a lon side-suit — e.g. A-x-x-x-x opposite x-x. Go to Establishing a Side-suit by Ruffing.
• K opposite A-Q-10-9-x-x and only one side-suit entry in 3NT. Go to Establishing a Long Suit.
• Only one distribution — e.g. the opponent holding breaking 3-3 — will enable uou to make your contract. Go to Playing for a Required Distribution.

• Flint, Jeremy and North, Freddie. BRIDGE: THE FIRST PRINCIPLES (1985).

wraltechwire. com/unions-call-for-reorientation-at-ibm-in-joint-statement/13592277/

Bottom line: Less talk about earnings per share of $20 by 2015 and more talk about the value of employees.

"The greatest invention ever created by IBM is the IBMer." So said Palmisano in 2003, the unions point out, in their joint statement that was issued Thursday. The statement is a collaborative effort of Alliance@IBM in the U.S. (a Communication Workers of America local) along with the IBM Global Union Alliance, with the UNI, and IndustriALL. The unions met earlier this month in Europe to discuss strategy after IBM spent some $800 million on a "workforce rebalancing" (primarily layoffs) program in the first quarter.

The statement cites IBM "Roadmap" strategies set out in 2010 and 2015 to drive up earnings per share and management's sticking to those goals as leading to job cuts, low employee morale, lack of raises, and spending billions on share buybacks rather than in what the unions call more "meaningful investments."

"Since the announcement of the Roadmaps 2010 and 2015, IBM has mutated into a company dedicated to financial management. The most important asset of IBM, the IBM employee, has degenerated as a means to an end. Earnings per share (EPS) have become the corporation’s most important goal. Lack of appreciation of its own employees threatens to undermine the corporation from the inside out. The employees who have made the IT giant a driver for innovation and the world-record-holder in patent applications [have] already begun to lose faith in their own employer. The fact that IBM has not published the results of the recent staff survey for six months is a strong indicator of poor morale and motivation of the workforce."

Key points include:

• A roadmap that does not focus on the EPS, but is concentrated on the appreciation of IBMers.
• The participation of all IBMers in a new jam about IBM's future.
• Meaningful investments instead of focussing on the EPS.
• Good working conditions, fair evaluation systems, appropriate participation of all IBMers in the success of the corporation by salary increases and other benefits of IBM for its employees.
• Worldwide recognition of trade unions as partners in social dialogue and partners for collective agreements.

IBM employs some 7,500 people in North Carolina. Most of those are based in RTP. Approximately 2,000 of those are expected to be transferred to Lenovo if government regulators approve Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's x86 server business.

itjungle. com/tfh/tfh042114-story04. html When Oxford Was Obnoxford

As the Gerstner regime moved into services, customers were spending a third or more of their information technology budgets on what became packaged and sometimes ad hoc services delivered by IBM. Gerstner's IBM persuaded customers that it was safe and indeed prudent to trust IBM's personnel with the support, maintenance and even the applications development efforts that had formerly been done by a combination of user company employees, specialist consultants and independent software vendors willing to tailor their offerings to users' requirements.

As it turned out, IBM had a valid point. Users who turned to IBM for services got satisfactory results from the computer systems they owned, rented or paid for as part of their services contracts. This boost in IBM's business allowed Big Blue to contemplate disposals that would otherwise have been unthinkable, such as the sale of the company's disk drive manufacturing business and its PC division, and continues to allow IBM to sell off its X86 server production and chip fabrication. But rapid growth in services as IBM's customers transformed in-house efforts to outsourcing is now over; organic growth of this aspect of IBM now occurs at a slower pace.

But along the way, it has become clear that IBM does not have divisional leaders who are able to lead the invention of new modes of computing and sell their groups' development up the line at IBM headquarters.

Unfortunately for IBM, its shareholders, and its customers, much of the growth in information technology during the past several years has come from companies that appear, at least to outside observers, to far more closely resemble Oxbridge-type universities than traditional manufacturing concerns. Apple has allowed invention to bubble up from its various design and development groups in the form of the iPhone and iPad. Google has turned its concept of data monetization, its vast mapping and geolocation prowess, and its love of gadgets from robotic automobiles to wearable cameras into appealing products and services. Amazon has opened up the work of groups that built its infrastructure for use by others, along the way becoming a computer services powerhouse, a media distribution goliath, and an admired creator of computing tablets, media terminals and, soon, phones.

IBM has somehow managed, or perhaps mismanaged, to invent little of what is shaping the future while boasting that it is the world's most prolific registrant of patents. There is, it seems, a difference between helping patent attorneys pay for their children's education and getting tens of millions of people to talk to a robot named Siri.

Traditional industrial companies, including IBM, often have several divisions, each with its local management. There is bound to be inter-divisional competition for budget funds and other corporate rewards. And company employees are likely to have pride in their divisions and the company as a whole. But in traditional industrial organizational models an individual's career is overwhelmingly governed by the employees' relationships with superiors and perhaps to their ultimate bosses at surrounding corporate levels. The outside world often appears separate, even out of reach from within their roles at work. This can reduce employees to cogs in a vast machine. This attitude may be tolerable for a worker on an assembly line whose output is a well-performed mechanical task. But it isn't going to foster the atmosphere of creativity and invention and participation in society that is needed to make an industrial company great.

At IBM there is unquestionably an ongoing effort at every level to improve the capability of IBM's hardware and software products. But a great deal of that effort has been devoted to reducing the cost of the same basic technology that IBM has been offering for decades. This would be worthwhile and commendable if the functionality and value provided by IBM's offerings was a significant determinant of the success of the company's customers. But that is rarely the case these days. What used to work for IBM worked in a different time and place. What works now, what fuels the revenue and profitability of companies in the information technology realm, are services based on myriad tiny transactions, whether eyeballs spotting small ads on an iPad screen or on-the-move purchases of low value goods and services.

IBM has achieved visible, inventive leadership in that low-value transaction universe in only one truly important services area: mobile phone funds transfer. IBM's work on behalf of mobile telecommunications services providers in Africa and Asia is, perhaps improbably, the brightest star in IBM constellation.

IBM, overwhelmingly an employer of personnel in third world countries, has, astonishingly, failed to bring its accomplishments in that geopolitical segment to the ever-hungry markets in the post-industrial states. The company's failure stems from its inability to get ideas to bubble up from its various divisions. .

It is time for IBM's managers and directors to shake up the company, to get it to be more than the museum of the mainframe.