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Nactation notes — S as a substitute for Z

Posted By: Taper_Mike
Date: Monday, 23 January 2012, at 5:07 a.m.

In Response To: Nactation notes — S as a substitute for Z (Nack Ballard)

You seem to be laboring under a false premise. Your assignment of 51Z to 23/22 13/8 is not a mistake. It is a perfectly acceptable option.

From my original Nactation note:

In general, S is preferred as a substitute for Z, whenever the normal S family is empty. It allows you to say (out loud), "Split!" instead of, "Zplit!" (No drooling, please.) Once again, it is not an error to use Z.

As you can see, I fully understand the premise. It is only my explication that is poor! My intent is to use S as a substitute for Z whenever possible (because that it what I believe you do). When I fail to do so, then I have made a mistake, which is to say, I have not carried out my intent.

That said, if you use 21Z, 41Z and 51Z on the opening play or reply, I believe many people will feel disoriented or won't like it. (If that surprises you, feel free to test it out.) Admittedly, it's not so much that they are in love with the convenience clause or even that S is the first letter in Split (although I'm pretty sure that's part of it for some people); rather, it is that they have become accustomed to seeing opening 21S, 41S and 51S written that way and see no good reason to change.

This is clearly the best reason to stay with S. Of course, if you find Z unacceptable for opening moves and replies, but acceptable in the middle game, you have the problem of where to draw the line. In the third roll, can I use Z? Is the answer conditional? Is it “no” when the play is a standard split, but otherwise “yes?” What about the fourth roll? And so on.

When Nactation was young, and its ambitions more limited, it was natural to allow S to stand in for Z. Now that Nactation has been expanded to cover all sorts of middle and end-game positions, the hidden price for this decision must now be paid. For those who are determined to nactate the way Nack does, that means doing the extra work to check the S family for any play that would otherwise be nactated Z.

Mike

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