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Fireside Chat
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FIRESIDE CHAT JANUARY 2003
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome and Announcements
Believer's FireSide Kindling
Bidding with Bridgboy
Guido's Really Important Stuff
Hand of the Month
This is Your Captain Speaking
Dealing With Dann
Special Treats
Moogal's FireSide Log
Ian's Partnership Stuff
Bob's Bits
Treble's Table Talk
And Finally Kaltica
=======================================
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hi all!
Welcome to the January, 2003 issue of FireSide
Chat, our monthly newsletter written for and about
our FireSide friends and events.
We hope you enjoy all of this month's articles and
features. Please feel free to write to us with any
comments, questions, ideas, or whatever, that you may
wish to share. This newsletter is for and about you,
and we want you to feel welcome to participate. Just
email Believer at believer@firesides.net or Moogal
at Moocake@aol.com.
A special thanks to all of you who have been sending
us contributions for our "giggle breaks". We appreciate
everything you send, and use as many as we can. Keep
'em coming, please! :-)
OKbridge also offers us an email discussion opportunity,
the Discuss List. You can join that list by emailing them
at Discuss-Request@okbridge.com and put the word 'subscribe'
in the subject line. You can also participate in the
discussions via the OKbridge web site now, just go to the
members area at www.okbridge.com and you'll find the Discuss
List there at the bottom of your opening page.
You can now find our "FireSide Chat" posted at two
different web sites.
You can go to OKbridge's web site:
http://www.okbridge.com/membersclub/periodicals/fireside/
Or find it at our FireSide web site:
http://www.firesides.net/thechat.htm
If, for any reason, you do not wish to receive
these mailings, please write to Believer at
believer@firesides.net to be removed from our mailing
list.
===========================================
CURRENT FIRESIDE SCHEDULE
Day Pacific Time Commentator
MON 11:00 A.M. POOKA
MON 5:30 P.M. BRIDGBOY
TUE 11:00 A.M. BRIDGBOY
TUE 5:30 P.M. MEZZIE
WED 11:00 A.M. FREDW3
WED 5:30 P.M. DIANEW
THU 11:00 A.M. POOKA
THU 5:30 P.M. WISHTRIK
FRI 11:00 A.M. BLUEBEE
FRI 5:30 P.M. KALTICA
SAT 11:00 A.M. WINTAKA/FREDW3
Commentators may change without notice,
according to their availability.
*******************
Although there is no set fee for participating in
these "open to all" sessions, please note that FireSide
Bidding Practice Sessions operate with the support of
those in attendance. For information about how to
become a supporting member, please contact Kaltica at
kaltica@mts.net, Moogal at moocake@aol.com, or
Believer at believer@firesides.net
Thanks to all of you for supporting the FireSide sessions
in all the many different ways you have of doing so.
*******************
All articles herein (c) 2003 by FireSide Chat.
All rights reserved.
===============================================
BELIEVER'S FIRESIDE KINDLING
============================
Hi! Happy New Year!
It's just amazing to me when I sit down to put this newsletter
together every month that we still have so MUCH! The really
neat thing about this month's issue is all the participation we
have from YOU -- our readers! Be sure to check our "Special
Treats" column this month, where I'm really excited to include
contributions from Alex (Gaus271) and D'Loye (Dloye). The best
part of editing this newsletter is the anticipation of what
we'll have to share with you 'this' month -- the looking forward
to of receiving the articles and emails!
So, first, our OKb login name story for this month, which comes
from Jenna (Pringle):
I am sending in how my name of Pringle originated.
I was at my summer camp in Maine and a friend introduced me to
Ok Bridge. She set me up and registered me. When she came to
ask me what screen name I wanted, I had no idea. I looked around
the room trying to focus on something appropriate. I had a tin
of Pringles next to my computer which I kept there to entice my
little grandchildren to come see me, so told her to use Pringle.
She said that it was as good enough as any. So it has been
Pringle for 5 years.
--Jenna
(Come on, all you okb'ers -- send us your login name stories!
It's been fun reading about how folks picked their names, let
us know how/why you chose yours!)
********************
I love this story from Gordon:
A real story for you -- -- --
A few years ago our local bridge club held a Sunday afternoon
charity Swiss event. The director had her husband and a friend
of his (both fellows in the top ten players in the state) as
standbys to round out the field if needed.
At game time 2 novices strolled in and the director activated the
standbys...... and low and behold that team wins and the director
called out the winning team and named the novices out of
courtesy..
As the folks got ready to leave the novices met up with their
teammates and said "we won.!... how did you do?"
--Gordon P.S. Happy New Year !!!!!!!!!!!!
********************
Thanks to all of you for the holiday greetings and well wishes
you've sent my way over the past month or so. I hope we can all
spend many, many more holiday seasons together!
Sara
********************
You can write to Believer (Sara Stobbe) at:
believer@firesides.net
============================================
GIGGLE BREAK
This one came from Curls on OKb, via BRinker --
thanks to both of you!
Murphy's law of bridge
Whatever you bid is wrong.
When the opponents make a bad bid, it works out well for them.
When you make a bad bid, it works out well for them.
As soon as a problem arises that you have to think about, the
Director calls, "All move to the next round," destroying your
concentration.
Whenever you think you pulled all the trumps, an opponent will
have one left.
When you drop a card, spot cards fall face down and face cards
fall face up.
Whomever you play for the Queen of trumps doesn't have it.
If you lead a singleton, partner doesn't have the Ace.
Otherwise, he has the Ace and sets up the suit for the
opponent.
If there is one bidding interpretation that partner couldn't
possibly place on your bid, that is the one he will choose.
(Duplicate) On a hand where everyone else should get in the
same trouble, no one else does.
No matter how many problems you identify in a hand, one you
didn't anticipate will come up.
When the opponents bid a low percentage slam, they end up with
a big percentage score. When you bid a low percentage slam,
they end up with a big percentage score.
When you lose, it is because of your bad play; always your
fault. When you win, it is because of partner's skill and
brilliant play.
==============================================================
BIDDING WITH BRIDGBOY
=====================
Listening to the Auction
Sometimes, listening to an auction will reveal how to play a
hand when that might not be apparent on the surface. Let us
see how we can tap into the auction so that we can play our
hands better.
Playing in a regional open pairs we pick up this collection:
S JT7642
H A52
D 2
C AT3
and we hear the following auction:
RHO begins with 1D and we overcall 1S. LHO makes a negative
double and partner bids 2S. RHO competes to 3C and we try 3S,
thinking our sixth spade and decent distribution warrant
further action. Unfortunately partner cannot take a joke and
believes we really mean it by raising to 4S. No one doubles us
so it is up to us to justify our aggressive contract. I hope
partner has the goods!
The opening lead is the ace of diamonds and now we see dummy:
S K83
H 43
D J753
C KJ42
opposite
S JT7642
H A52
D 2
C AT3
Well, we have been in worse contracts but we do have some
work to do!
What do we know about the shape of the opponents' hands? The
distribution of RHO is five diamonds and at least four clubs
so far. But where are the hearts? if RHO had four of them he
certainly would have bid them in response to the negative
double, so he probably has three hearts. That only leaves him
with one spade. Now, he did open the bidding and took a free
bid at the three level, so it makes very good sense that to
justify all that bidding he has to have the ace of trumps! And
now we know how to play this hand! The spades are split 3-1,
with the stiff ace on our right and Q95 on our left. So we
ruff the second diamond lead and play a small spade towards
the dummy, duck completely and cross our fingers of course!
Our analysis allows us to only lose 1 spade trick, holding our
losers to one heart, one diamond, and one spade. Partner's
raise to game is justified by playing RHO for the queen of
clubs and scoring up the pushy game. We could not have made
all these accurate assumptions without listening to the
auction and hearing what was said (and also what was not
said.) Try putting all those facts together as part of your
repertoire when you declare any hand in the future.
********************
You can find Bridgboy (Bob Lavin) doing his FireSide
sessions on Monday evenings at 5:30 p.m., and Tuesdays
at 11:00 a.m. OKbridge time.
Anyone interested in one-on-one lessons on any topic of
the game may contact Bob at bridgboy@charter.net
===================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Benson for these 'one-liners'
The supermarket is where you spend 30 minutes hunting
for instant coffee.
The only people who listen to both sides of an argument
are the neighbors.
Why is it the loudest snorer is always the first one to
get to sleep.
I took a part time job as an opinion poll sampler. On
my very first call, I introduced myself, "Hello, this
is a telephone poll."
If Gerald O'Furnature married Patti Jones, would she be
Patti O'Furnature?
Children brighten up a home: They always forget to turn
out the lights!
The best way to keep your kids out of hot water is to
put some dishes in it.
Some people drink at the fountain of knowledge, others
just gargle.
Is a computer virus covered by Medicare?
Some people work up steam and some only generate a fog.
The severity of the itch is proportional to the reach.
===================================================
GUIDO'S REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF
==============================
Jump Shifts
I am big believer in the usefulness of strong jump shift.
Preempting in a new suit when partner has opened the bidding
and second hand has passed strikes me as preempting the wrong
side (your own). In order to be useful, of course, the strong
jump shift needs definition. Here is a brief outline based on
Paul Soloway's ideas.
The jump shift shows one of three types of hands.
1) Strong hand, Very good suit (defined as at least two of the
top three honors and at least six cards in length). A working
definition of "Strong" is at least one trick better than game
forcing. Something like AKJxxx-xx-KJx-xx is about a minimum
game force with a good suit, so add an Ace or a King and it
becomes good enough to jump to 2S over 1C,1D, or 1H. As an
aside, clearly, it is a better hand if partner opens 1D since
your diamond honors are more likely to be pulling full weight.
2) Strong hand, good five card suit, balanced. A good suit is
at least two of the top three honors (sound familiar?) and
strong is something like 17 or 18 or more hcp.
3) Strong hand, good suit and support for partner's opening
bid.
The basic rule is that once a jump shift is made, the hand
will play in opener's suit, responder's suit or No Trump.
Knowing this, opener rebids fairly naturally, but a new suit
shows a concentration of honors, not necessarily a real suit.
After 1H-2S, opener should rebid 3C with xx-AKxxx-xxx-AKx. 2NT
would put the wrong hand on play in NT. Since you are not
going to play in your second suit (well, if you are 6-6 you
might), do NOT rebid in a bad suit if you can possibly help
it. After the same 1H-2S, with xx-AKJTx-AJ-Qxxx, rebid 2N not
3C. IF in doubt between two rebids, make the cheaper call.
This leaves responder the maximum room to complete the
description of his hand.
Responder's first duty to clarify which of the three types of
hands he holds. A NT rebid shows the balanced type (Type 2).
No surprises here. A rebid in his own suit shows the 1-suited
type (Type 1). Anything else shows the supporting type (Type
3). Some (many? most?) play that to show the supporting type
you must rebid in opener's suit and a new suit is a 1-suiter
"auto cue bid." Be warned that this should be discussed with
your partner.
Since you have a hand at least one trick better than a game
force, you should be safe at a reasonably high level. It helps
matters greatly if responder's second bid is usually forcing.
Let's say the bidding starts with 1S-3H; 3S. If responder can
not force with 3N or 4H he might be in big trouble. Therefore,
3N is the balanced type (forcing); 4H is the 1-suited type
(forcing). 4S is the supporting type (almost forcing, but it
denies holding the A of either minor so opener with AQJxx-Jx-
Kxx-Kxx can pass). 4C or 4D is a Q-bid showing the supporting
type. This is just about the only auction type in this family
where opener might be able to see that slam is impossible at
the level of four in responder's suit. All this means, of
course, that showing a 1-suiter by rebidding your suit denies
first round control of any suit between opener's suit and your
own.
The only other non-forcing game bid by responder is a jump to
game. 1H-2S;2N-4H or 1H-2S;3C-4S are examples. In the first
hand, responder is showing solid hearts, good spade support
and not much else. In the second, responder has solid hearts.
IN both cases, responder is denying a first round control
outside his bid suit(s).
Showing strong hands with a good suit is extremely difficult
without strong jump shifts. Considerable information is given
to opener. For example, opener knows that Kx is wonderful
support. He also knows that Aces in the two unbid suits are
valuable, but that lower honors in these suits are often
wastepaper.
Jump shifts by a passed hand are different, of course. My
favorite way to play these is as a fit jump. By the way, this
is hardly new - Goren used them! Basically, a passed hand jump
shows a good fit for partner and a good suit. 1H-3C with x-
Kxxx-xx-AQTxxx would be an example. If opener is minimum,
there might still be game if there is a double fit (xxxx-
AQxxx-x-Kxx makes game a strong favorite and opener surely has
more high cards somewhere). If opener has a good hand, he can
look for slam with fitting cards in responder's suit while
devaluing lower honors in the underbid suits. Example of good
fitting good hand: Axx-AQxxx-x-Kxxx. Slam is a wonderful
contract. Another example in the same auction: KQJx-AQJxx-KJx-
x. Slam is impossible due to the bad secondary fit. How about
jump shifts after the opponents overcall? A better case can be
made here for weak jump shifts. One opponent has shown some
strength. It might be useful to find a fit quickly, direct a
lead, propose a sacrifice, etc. in this case.
Similar reasoning applies after an opponent makes a take-out
double. It is standard here to play the jump shift as weak. My
personal preference is to use fit-jumps after both overcalls
and take-out doubles, but I am in a small minority. Actually,
my preference is to play transfers in these situations, but
that is another article.
********************
You can email Guido at: paulfriedman@attbi.com
==================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Benson for this giggle:
$500 Porsche
A man was reading the paper when an ad caught his eye:
$500 Porsche! New!
The man thought that it was very unusual to sell a Porsche
for $500, and he thought it might be a joke, but thought
it was worth a shot. So he went to the lady's house and
sure enough, she had an almost brand new Porsche.
"Wow!" the man said. "Can I take it for a test drive?"
Unlike what he expected, the man found that the car ran
perfectly and took it back to the lady's house.
"Why are you selling me this great Porsche for only $500?"
"My husband just ran off with his secretary, and he told me
I could have the house and the furniture as long as I sold
his Porsche and sent him the money."
======================================================
HAND OF THE MONTH
=================
This month we are thrilled to present our 'Hand of the Month'
feature, with a big "thank you" to Gail Wix for formatting
it for us.
From The 2003 Daily Bridge Calendar. For more information
call 1-888-453-1976, or email: calendar@interlog.com
********************
Vul: E/W West
Dlr: W S void
H KQJ874
D KQJ64
C J5
East
S AKQJ10962
H void
D void
C 76432
West North East South
P 1H 3C* 4S
Dbl All pass
*weak
Opening Lead... S8
West leads the S8 and East discards the subtle CA.
Guess who's void in clubs? Plan the play.
S void
H KQJ874
D KQJ64
C J5
S 87543 S void
H A1096 H 532
D A1092 D 8753
C void C AKQJ1098
S AKQJ10962
H void
D void
C 76432
Contract 4S doubled Lead: S8
********************
Well, West is void in clubs, East is void in spades and West
must have both red aces to justify the double. (If East had a
red ace along with those clubs, East would not have made a
weak jump overcall. Please.) Where exactly does that leave you
other than with five clubs losers!
What you must do is force West to give you red suit tricks so
you can discard some of those %$#&@ clubs. But how?
Start by playing four top spades and then the coup de gras,
play the S2 presenting West with the lead. You didn't really
think you had a solid spade suit, did you? If West lays down
a red ace, discard a club. If West bangs down another red
ace, discard another club. Now what? West has to lead a red
card, and when West leads red, you discard black. Watch what
happens if West exits with a low heart (or diamond) upon
winning the spade. Say West exits with a diamond. Win with
an honor and play the HK. If West wins and plays the DA,
discard a club. Don't look now but you have the rest. West
takes 3 tricks. East, with 5 winning clubs, gets nothing.
The Bottom Line
Sometimes using your trump suit as your throw-in suit, even
with no trump loser, is one way to force a favorable lead and
may also earn you the applause from the gallery.
********************
Hand and analysis by Eddie Kantar, courtesy of the
Daily Bridge Calendar, published by Ashlar House Inc.,
Brampton, ON, Canada. Reprinted with permission.
(Special thanks to Lee Daugherty and Dann Kramer.)
===================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
This is a copy of an email I got from PamA -- thanks, Pam!
Just got this in from a reliable source It seems that there
is a virus out there, called the Senile Virus, that even the
most advanced programs from Norton cannot take care of, so be
warned --it appears to affect those of us who were born before
1940.
Symptoms of Senile Virus
1. Causes you to send same e-mail twice.
2. Causes you to send blank e-mail.
3. Causes you to send to wrong person.
4. Causes you to send back to person who sent it to you.
5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment.
6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished the
====================================================
THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING
Missing Queen
Picture this: we have 100 marbles. 99 are red, but one is a
blue one. We throw them all in a pail and stir them up.
Now I shut my eyes and reach in and take 5 marbles out, and
place them in an envelope.
Your job is to guess where the blue one is -- in the pail or in
the envelope.
Of course the blue one is most likely to be still in the pail --
95 times out of 100 in fact.
Was that too easy for you, Sherlock?
Now change the puzzle slightly. Someone leads spades two times,
and their pard shows out on the second spade. You and dummy
have two spades each. So, now you know that the leader had 8
spades! A lot of spades!
Now picture all the cards that are not spades in opp's hands.
The opening leader has 5 unknown cards and 8 spades, their pard
had 1 spade and 12 unknown cards -- a total of 17 unknown cards
(12 + 5).
Let's call these 17 unknown cards red marbles -- except one we
will call a blue marble. That one will be the diamond queen,
and your job is to guess where to find that queen.
So, you have a pile of cards on your left with 5 cards in it,
and a pile of cards on your right with 11 cards in it now.
Where is the Queen of diamonds? It will be in the big pile more
than half the time -- 11:5 in your favor. So if you are looking
for the DQ, assume the person with long spades does not have
it -- you will probably be right!
********************
Captain is a full time instructor on OKbridge, offering
group or individual lessons for anyone ranging from novice
to advanced players.
Email Andy for more information - capta@accesscomm.ca
========================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Pringle for this one :-)
Two tourists were driving through Wisconsin. As they were
approaching Oconomowoc, they started arguing about the
pronunciation of the town name. They argued back and forth until
they stopped for lunch.
As they stood at the counter, one tourist asked the employee,
"Before we order, could you please settle an argument for us?
Would you please pronounce where we are very slowly?"
The employee leaned over the counter and said, "Burrrrrr gerrrrrr
Kiiiing."
===================================================
DEALING WITH DANN
==================
Responding With 5-Card and 4-Card Majors
Ok, the old saying relayed to me was;
"5-card suits down the line, 4-card suits up the line."
What this does in practice is allow us to find 4-4 fits fast.
Assume we are 4-4 in the majors, and pard opens 1D.
We respond 1H. If pard has 4-H he will raise, and we
have found our fit immediately! If pard does not own
four hearts, he will bid a 4-card spade suit (1S!) and we
have found our 4-4 spade fit -- right at the 1 level.
Note -- a rebid of 1NT denies a 4-card major (1C-1D-1NT,
1D-1H-1NT, 1C-1H-1NT) if room exists at the 1 level.
When we hold one five-card suit and a 4-card suit then
"Length Before Strength" comes into play.
We respond our 5-card suit first; IF we have enough values
for the required level. eg: 5 clubs and 4 spades and pard
opens 1D -- our response depends on our high card points.
With 10+ we respond with 2C; then pard can mention 4-card
majors at the 2 level (this is not a reverse -- if pard has
"broken the barrier" to the 2 level, we shape out below
2NT.)
If we hold fewer than 10 points we respond 1S -- lacking
the values to "break the barrier", we can not! (ie: we
can't mention our clubs.)
Hope this clarifies any problems with responding to pard
opening a suit.
Now for the tricky one -- pard opens 1NT, and we have both
majors - how do we handle this?
First Question is "is either major only 4 long?"
ie: some 4-5, 4-6... up to 4-9
Then we use our old standby -- Stayman. This allows
us to find a fit for the 4-card major -- pard will bid it
if he owns it!
If pard doesn't bid a major-- ie: 1NT-2C-2D-?
we can bid game in our 6+card major -- pard has minimum of
2 for 1NT, so we know fit and right level -- just do it.
With a 5-card major, we can now bid our major seeking 3-
card support from the NT opener.
With 5-4, we start with Stayman -- and if we get 2D
(no 4-card major) 2S/3H (notice 3H, not two...) by the Stayman
bidder asks for 3-card support; with 3 and minimum NT we raise
the bid suit. With no fit, we return to lowest NT, but the
special case is when we (NT opener) have 3 trump for pard
(Stayman bidder) and a Max NT -- we cue bid a suit, promising
3 trump AND the ace in the bid suit.
eg: 1NT-2C
2D- 2S
3C (club ace and 3 spades-and good NT)
*note -- this is extremely helpful if we have a close decision,
with a 6+ long suit, between jumping to 6 or bidding only game
-- we can ask pard for 3 card support and find out about a
better fit/max NT before making decision.
As usual, Happy Bridging All! And email any questions.
Dann (POOKA) Kramer
*******************
You will find Pooka (Dann Kramer) doing his FireSide
sessions on Monday and Thursday mornings, at 11:00 a.m.
OKbridge time.
Dann is available for one-on-one lessons, group mentoring
sessions, and/or tourney play.
For more information, write Dann at: Dann-Kramer@shaw.ca
===================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thank you Luc for this one:
A company, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hires a new CEO.
This new boss is determined to rid the company of all slackers.
On a tour of the facilities, the CEO notices a guy leaning on a
wall. The room is full of workers and he thinks this is his
chance to show everyone he means business!
The CEO, walks up to the guy and asks, "And how much money do
you make a week?" Undaunted, the young fellow looks at him
and replies, "I make $400.00 a week. Why?"
The CEO then hands the guy $400 in cash and screams, "I pay my
employees to work, not stand around. Here's a week's pay, now
GET OUT and don't come back!"
Feeling pretty good about his first firing, the CEO looks around
the room at the shocked expression on everyone's face and asks,
"Does anyone want to tell me what that slacker did here?"
With a sheepish grin, one of the other workers mutters. "He's the
pizza delivery guy"
===================================================
SPECIAL TREATS
==============
From Our Readers
(You're in for a real treat -- Alex (Gaus271) did a wonderful job
with this article!)
HAND EVALUATION
I.) INTRODUCTION
This is the first in what I hope shall be a helpful series of
articles on different methods of hand evaluation for intermediate
players. I can personally assure all intermediate players that
these techniques are workable for at least one of us.
The approach will be to give a fairly brief explanation of a
method of evaluation and, because no method is perfect, an even
briefer analysis of that method's defects. Then, we shall look at
one or two types of situation where the method happens to be
particularly effective.
The purpose of hand evaluation is to help choose among different
bids. In other words, it is most important in those ambiguous,
but all too frequent, situations where you could reasonably
choose to be either cautious or bold.
Before proceeding to specific methods of evaluation, it must be
admitted that they represent only one element of the judgment
that goes into bidding. An even more important element is to
adapt your bidding to your partner's style. For example, suppose
that the auction has proceeded P/1H/ P to you and that you hold:
S AJ
H Kxxx
D QTx
C Qxxx.
Playing Jacoby 2NT, you have two very different choices for this
12-point hand: a 3H limit bid, cautious and perhaps a slight
underbid, and a 2NT game force, bold and clearly a slight
overbid. Before starting into any complex evaluation, the first
question is how does your partner open the bidding. Compare how
you might think if Dianew were your partner versus if Bridgboy
were your partner. Diane's style is to open almost all hands with
a five card major and 11 hcp's. Robert's is to open few hands
that do not have a minimum of 2 1/2 quick tricks. Consequently,
I would recommend 3H with Diane to give her a chance to decline
game with an utter minimum. And I would recommend 2NT with Robert
to make sure that we get to game.
We shall not deal further with the issue of adapting to your
partner's style, but it is a constant qualification to all that
may be said on hand evaluation.
Assuming Believer and Moogal do not fire me before then, we shall
discuss five different methods of evaluation over the coming
months.
II.) COUNTING SURE WINNERS (OR PLAYING TRICKS)
This common sense method was presumably used even in the days of
auction bridge: simply imagine that you are counting your tricks
as declarer in a trump contract when dummy has no tricks.
A.) How to Do It
Mentally, pick your best suit as trump. Assume that partner has
the most probable number of cards in that suit and that the split
between your opponents is also the most probable. Now count how
many tricks you will make if you draw trump by leading FROM your
hand. Then, for each side suit with one or more honors, count
that side suit as providing the number of tricks you will make by
leading it FROM your hand TOP down. Finally, for each side suit
headed by an ace that you counted as 1 or headed by a king that
you counted as 0, add 1/2. Let's take as an example:
S xx
H AKJTx
D Kxx
C xxx
Leading hearts from hand will develop four tricks if hearts are
trump. (You have 5 so partner probably has 3 or 2. If partner
has 3, the suit will usually split 3/2; if partner has 2, the
suit will usually split 4/2. In either case, your fifth card
is a trick. You will probably lose just one trick, to the Q.)
The diamond suit headed by the K is worth 1/2, for a total of
4 1/2 tricks. That is certainly easy to do.
It is all very obvious except for the addition of 1/2 for some
side suits headed by an ace and king. The reason for this
adjustment is that an ace or a king in your hand may make an
otherwise dubiously valuable honor in partner's hand truly
valuable, and that a king in your hand that cannot develop a
trick if led by you may still win one on the opponents' lead.
The simplest example to show the logic of the adjustment is to
imagine an ace in your hand and a king in partner's. If you
count 1 and partner counts 0, summing to 1, the two of you
together will underestimate the partnership assets, which are
two winners. If you count 1 1/2 and partner counts 1/2, summing
to 2, you will get the right result.
B.) Critique of the Method
The weaknesses of this approach are threefold: it ignores fit, it
ignores potential ruffs in dummy, and it assumes dummy has no
relevant honors. For example, if your longest suit has four
cards, counting winners as outlined above will estimate NO long
card winners; if, however, your partner has four cards in that
suit and it is trump, you will get a long suit trick over 2/3 of
the time and may get ruffing tricks to boot.
In short, counting winners this way is overly conservative.
Consequently, it is very useful as a reality check.
C.) Counting Winners for Preempts
You have a six or seven card, or even longer, suit in an
otherwise weak hand. The temptation to preempt is strong.
Temptation calls for the reality check of counting winners. This
will tell you with fair reliability whether or not you should
pre-empt and, if so, how high to do it.
Let's digress for a few moments to discuss the logic of
pre-empts. A pre-empt does two things: it warns your partner that
you have little or no trick taking power outside your bid suit,
and it takes bidding room away from your opponents. If partner
has enough tricks to prevent your opponents from making game,
you need to be able to avoid going down more than one in your
preemptive bid. If, on the other hand, partner is also weak (so
that your opponents are likely to make game or even slam), then
partner may elect to interfere with their auction even further by
increasing the level of the pre-empt. In the latter case, you may
well end up being declarer in a doubled contract without many
high cards. Whether partner has a decent hand or a weak one,
you are hoping to generate tricks from having your long suit be
trump. That is precisely what the counting method outlined above
permits you to estimate.
The old fashioned way of evaluating preempts was to bid at a
level equal to your winners + x, where x = 3 at favorable
vulnerability, 2 at equal vulnerability, and 1 at unfavorable
vulnerability. That is, if you can count 7 winners with clubs as
trump, then open 4C at favorable vulnerability but only 3C at
equal vulnerability, and do not preempt at all at unfavorable
vulnerability. The logic behind this is that if partner has
nothing and you are doubled, you will still score better down
three at favorable vulnerability or down two at equal
vulnerability than if they bid and make game.
The counter to that logic is that if partner has no tricks at all
and you have less than a quick trick outside your long suit, your
opponents may have a slam in their suit. If they do, going down
doubled by more than the x above will still be profitable
relative to their bidding and making slam. Furthermore, the
opponents will not always double your preempts. So, if living a
bit dangerously appeals to you, bid three level preempts with
five winners at favorable vulnerability, six at equal
vulnerability, and seven at unfavorable vulnerability. (This
guideline is more aggressive than it appears: with a seven-card
suit, you can count four winners even if your suit is headed only
by the 8. So, at favorable vulnerability, it suggests a preempt
at the three level with A7xxxxx and no outside tricks.)
If partner has a sure trick, this more aggressive approach will
put you right where the old fashioned rule says you should be.
But if partner has no tricks, the old fashioned rule in fact is
too conservative because it ignores the possibility that the
opponents can make a slam. My personal view (this from Alex the
non-expert) is to stick with the old-fashioned rule for preempts
above the three level because such super-preempts are far more
likely to attract a penalty double and to use the more modern
rule for preempts below the four level.
Whichever rule you prefer, note that it is based on counting
winners.
D.) Counting Winners to Open with Game Forcing Two Clubs
You have this lovely hand, with a nice six-card suit and 20 HCP.
The temptation to force to game by opening 2C is very strong.
Again, temptation calls for the reality check of counting
winners, which will tell you with fair reliability when you
should force with 2C and when you should not.
Again, let's digress, this time to the logic of 2C openings. The
primary purpose is to make sure that partner does not pass the
hand out in a partial after you open. This implies that a
partial is an underbid even if partner has very little. In
other words, you can almost make game from your hand alone.
But that is precisely the kind of estimation that counting
winners permits you to make.
Back in the days of Culbertson and Goren, the rule to open strong
2's was that your count of winners should AT LEAST equal one
fewer than the tricks needed for game in your suit, that is, 9
winners if your suit was a major and 10 winners otherwise. The
logic was quite straightforward. If partner has two possible
high card tricks, two kings say, then partner will almost always
respond to a bid at the one level. The only logic in forcing
partner to bid to game with fewer than two potential tricks in
partner's hand is if you need at most one trick from partner.
Modern bidding is far more aggressive than the Culbertson system,
but I doubt it is right to open 2C if your hand is two full
winners shy of game. If you open 2C with only 8 1/2 winners
in a major suit, or only 9 1/2 winners in a minor suit, you still
need partner to have something to make game. I agree no one will
blame you if you end up in a failing contract; they will all
mention bad luck, etc. Personally, I prefer a good score to
sympathy. If you need at least two tricks from partner to make
game, do not force partner to bid game with nothing: down two
is not good bridge.
End of This Month's Episode (Come back next month for the Further
Perils of Alex)
======================================================
Quickie Giggle:
Thanks to Benson
After my husband and I had a huge argument, we ended up not
talking to each other for days.
Finally, on the third day, he asked where one of his shirts was.
"Oh," I said, "So now you're speaking to me."
He looked confused, "What are you talking about?"
"Haven't you noticed I haven't spoken to you for three days?" I
challenged.
"No," he said, "I just thought we were getting along."
======================================================
(We want to thank D'Loye (Dloye) for letting us share the
following piece with you -- we know you'll enjoy it as much
as we did!)
Conception, Birth: Eat, Sleep, Work, Play, Procreate, Die.
As for play, my game of choice is bridge. In its various forms
it is a wonderful pastime, though it can easily, in my case at
least pass way too much time.
Yesterday, while playing a team game online, my partner called me
"Ma'am." Now that always makes me feel downright antique, but
Sara is about my age, so I didn't bother with getting my britches
crinkled, but just laughed about a memory of a live bridge game.
We played facing each other across a table before computers.
When I started to play Duplicate Bridge there was a game here in
Slidell, which I found pretty snooty and intolerant of a
beginner's ignorance. But in New Orleans, Dotty Toledano had a
novice game on Tuesday evenings. That little four or five table
game was where I really got addicted. I met some wonderful folks
there, and when we wandered into the bigger games, we met some
real characters.
"Ma'am" bubbled the memory of one of those characters to the
surface. There was a woman who I only noticed as a supremely
cranky character. She was in a perpetually bad temper, but her
husband was a quiet unpresupposing man, who just jollied her
along as best he could. He looked like he was about 15 years her
junior, and someone whispered to me at some point that he just
married her for her money.
It has been observed that playing bridge you learn a lot about a
person in 15 minutes. Some things you learn would take a lot
longer in any other setting are quickly evident at the table.
Unfortunately for me the game requires more focus than I can
usually muster, and so what is quickly learned about the writer
is that a person can be amazingly oblivious!
But after being told that Casper Milktoast married The CRANK for
her money, I started looking at her clothes and baubles. Yes,
she did have nice things. Blouses made of silk that would have
done a ceremonial kimono proud, and some pretty fine sparkly
pieces, all tasteful, but not recent fashion, and not showy.
Pretty things somehow failed to make her happy. But she could
buy a bit of happiness by bossing and criticizing all the other
three people at a bridge table and making them all miserable.
Bridge players as a group are into solving the problems presented
by the cards at hand, and watching for clues from table presence,
and such. Putting up with a CRANK is not what we do well.
One of my acquaintances from the novice game was a lady nearing
retirement age, recently separated from her husband. She played
bridge as much as anything at that point to be out and focused on
something she could deal with rather than worrying about things
she could do nothing more about. But she had raised a good sized
family, and took no stuff from no one. So when the CRANK started
badgering her, she made some quick retort, followed by an
emphatic, "MADAM"
The crank bristled with the full intensity of a spirited girl
slapped hard enough to get her attention, and said, "I AM NOT a
MADAM." Wow.. whoa. What was that?
So after the bridge game, it is time to go over hands -- head to
the bar or coffee pot and discuss what happened. Novices don't
remember the hands, but the amazing reaction got mentioned. And
the hearer's eyebrows went up, and jaw went just barely slack.
Then the whisper, "But she WAS a Madam!"
It wasn't long enough after the days of legalized prostitution in
New Orleans but what it may have been true.
===========================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Wheels for these:
Proverbs for 2002
Here are some profound thoughts for the year just ended
1. Home is where you hang your @.
2. The e-mail of the species is more deadly than
the mail.
3. A journey of a thousand sites begins with a
single click.
4. You can't teach an old mouse new clicks.
5. Speak softly and carry a cellular phone.
6. Oh, what a tangled website we weave when first
we practice.
7. Pentium wise, pen and paper foolish.
8. Too many clicks spoil the browse.
9. The geek shall inherit the earth.
10. There's no place like http://www.home.com
11. Don't byte off more than you can view.
12. Fax is stranger than fiction.
13. What boots up must come down.
14. Windows will never cease.
15. Virtual reality is its own reward.
16. Modulation in all things.
===========================================================
MOOGAL'S FIRESIDE LOG
======================
FIRESIDE NEWS
It's always sad to say goodbye to a commentator! We'll miss
Andy (CAPTAIN) and thank him for his many hours of patient
instruction. I am planning to twist his arm to come back as a
guest from time to time tho. :))
As you know, James (MEZZIE) has taken over Andy's Tuesday
night slot. And starting now, FredW3 will be doing Andy's
Saturday afternoon session (still shared with Bill (WINTAKA) )
The Saturday schedule for January, as it stands now (and
always subject to change):
Fred: Jan 4th, 18th
Bill: Jan 11th, 25th
*************************************************************
Condolences go out to Chuck (GUNNE) on the recent death of his
wife who succumbed peacefully after a long and painful
struggle. Chuck wishes all could have known "her inner
beauty; a pure clean sweetness that had been there all these
years of her life." He would also like to thank those who
have been concerned by his absence from OKB, and appreciates
the prayers and sympathies of his Fireside friends. Our
thoughts are with you Chuck, and may her memory be a blessing
and comfort to you.
*******************************************************
OKB TOURNEYS
A hearty well done to all our Fireside friends who
excelled in the tourneys this past month!
Thu Dec 5 18:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 dloye/Frodo 67.71 12
Sun Dec 8 15:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 luckylu/pama 70.46 12
Sun Dec 8 10:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 pomo/raija 65.74 26
Wed Dec 11 19:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 pomo/raija 4.00 12
Wed Dec 18 19:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 Kaltica/moogal 3.24 12
Sat Dec 28 16:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 pringle/Unicorn 1.98 26
Mon Dec 30 13:00 2002
Rank Team Score Boards
1 bbotje/edro1 1.96 12
*************************************************************
NOVICE MENTOR TOURNEY
Congrats to Laura and Mary Ann, and all our top finishers in
the 5'th Chair Novice-Mentor Tourney this month:
Rank Team Score
1 LBrown/tcbm 62.86
2 leonardo/Patricia 59.32
3 arrow/ojab 58.53
4 ckkchan/sannick 56.80
5 lydia/lynkos 56.50
6 pookie/sonrisa 56.40
7 curls/gladys 55.22
8 AndyEdw/Sue1 54.37
9 brahminb/explorer 54.09
10 Kaltica/Tara 51.56
***NEW! Starting in 2003! A second tournament to accommodate
more players from more time zones! It will take place on the
third Saturday of every month at noon.
So, mentors and novices, join us this month on the 9'th and on
the 18'th - email Sandra at sandree@attbi.com if you would like
to find a partner ahead of time. We'll do our best to match you
up! I promise you a fun evening.
*************************************************************
MENTOR CUP GAME
December 1: Team GAUS271: Gaus271, Toddy, Judydee and Breton
December 15: Team GAUS271: Gaus271, Ysal, Judydee, and Breton
December 29: Team BOBOWEN: Bobowen, Queenhrt, Pringle
and Unicorn
Well done to all!
Visit our website at www.firesides.net/mtc.htm for info and
lists of all our top placing stars. To get on the email reminder
list for these games, contact me moocake@aol.com - all welcome!
*************************************************************
Deal yourself a hand A,A K,AKQx,AKQT98.
Now lay them in four layers with a b standing
for a blank space as follows:
bbbA
bbAbK
bAKbQx
AKQbT98
and if your spacing is not messed up by your
email server, you should get the following
A
A K
AK Qx
AKQ T98
Merry Christmas (with a lot of trimmings), belated
though it may be
pascha
***********************************************************
I hope you didn't toss out your Demember Bridge Bulletin yet as
you were cleaning for those holiday parties. Go grab it again
and take another look at Kokish's column. The letter to
which his entire column is devoted was written by none other
than our own Eric....ETSAND! Now if only I could use my powers
of persuasion to have Eric spend his time writing for *us*
again.:)
*************************************************************
Starry, Starry Night by Richard Pavlicek
"Shadows on the hills.
Sketch the trees and daffodils."
All bridge players are invited to participate in this new
bidding poll for January. There are six problems from a
past tournament, and all you have to do is click a checkbox
next to the call you prefer. As a side challenge, you may
wish to guess when and where the tournament was held from
the clues. Try it! It's fun.
http://www.rpbridge.net/7y17.htm
Results of the December play contest "Visions of Sugar Plums"
(ending December 31) will be posted January 3.
Quiz: http://www.rpbridge.net/7x09.htm
Analyses: http://www.rpbridge.net/7x16.htm
Scores: http://www.rpbridge.net/7x15.htm
Overall: http://www.rpbridge.net/7v97.htm
Bot Results: http://www.rpbridge.net/7x97.htm
In keeping with the glow remaining from the holiday
season, here's a story from Richard's website with
Rudolf in a starring role!
Reindeer Invade OKbridge
========================
The North Pole Regional, once a glorious affair, has been
dormant for several years for lack of a playing site. Local
hotels steadfastly refused to host the event because of damage
costs in the millions due to the uncontrollable reindeer
antics. If the Arctic bridge rivalry would continue, the
organizers could see only one solution: OKbridge! The Planning
Committee contacted Matthew Clegg, owner and founder of the
famous on-line bridge club, to ask about membership. Although
skeptical at first, Clegg finally conceded, "I guess a few
reindeer won't matter; we already put up with those Gib
machines and shouldn't discriminate against other non-humans."
The next major hurdle was setting up the hardware. Each
computer required a special heavy-duty keyboard and a
Microsoft "HoofMouse" (a floor-mounted input device), plus the
monitors had to have tempered glass screens. The last
condition arose out of painful experience, as a number of
previous monitors had exploded from antler gouging.
Rudolph and Ronald were the first to test the new equipment.
They connected to the Internet and logged on to OKbridge as
Rudolph3 and Ronald4. They were bewildered when they saw all
the lobby chat, but then noticed someone had typed:
"Expert opps needed at Musher!"
Could it really be? There was only one way to find out so they
joined the table. Sure enough: It was their Eskimo rivals Mush
and Slush, slightly disguised by their login names. There also
were over 100 spectators, but the North-South seats were
vacant.
"Oh geez," typed Musher. "What idiot let you guys in here?"
"Clegg's the name I think," typed Rudolph3. "Come on, let's
play. We'll go easy on you."
Before anyone could say no, Ronald popped into the North seat
and Rudolph sat South. The cards instantly appeared and the
bidding proceeded as in the diagram. Rudolph opened his
"better minor," and shortly found himself in slam. The
spectators were impressed. Pretty good bidding for a couple of
reindeer! (Ed. Note: Richard explained to me they were playing
SARC (Standard American Rudolf Card) where 3D by North was
forcing.)
Contract 6D by South
N-S Vul
S A43
H 3
D KJT984
C AK3
S Q862 S T97
H JT8 H KQ542
D 65 D 32
C T865 C QJ9
S KJ5
H A976
D AQ7
C 742
Musher Ronald4 Slusher Rudolph3
West North East South
1D
Pass 3D Pass 3NT
Pass 4C Pass 4H
Pass 6D All Pass
Musher was not going to fall for the old "unbid suit" caper,
so he led the heart J. The spectator chat was intense,
debating whether the slam could be made, when all of a sudden
Rudolph ducked the opening lead. Had this reindeer lost his
mind? Did he even have a mind?
Musher knew something was fishy and shifted to a club, won by
the king.
Rudolph crossed to the diamond A, ruffed a heart and led all
the trumps to reach:
S A43
H -
D -
C A3
S Q86 S T
H - H KQ
D - D -
C T8 C QJ
S KJ
H A9
D -
C 7
The spectators were still abuzz, and Rudolph made their jaws
drop as he won the A of spades and led a spade to the king,
squeezing East out of a club. Then the A of hearts squeezed
West in the black suits. Way to go, Rudolph! Now you'll go
down in OKhistory, too.
Curiously, the contract cannot be made if the heart A is won
on the first trick. Try it. And Happy Holidays!
***************************************************************
The Chat Challenge
You may remember I asked you to enter a contest last month:
the new Chat Challenge. Well, you were shy. But I am not
deterred! Let me show you the two entries I got, and then
give you a new challenge for this month. Might I be
picking up some of Colin's stubborness? (He claims he is
'determined', by the way.:))
Here were the instructions and the example from last month:
Take a book or movie title, change one letter, and give us a
synopsis of that bridge story we don't want to miss.
Example:
"West Ride Story"
Rival bridge teams rumble at the world championships after West
lets his J ride to bring home an unmakeable slam.
********************
Our first entry is from Kaltica:
1) My partner held:
S-xxx H-Jxx D-KQx C-xxxx
He raised my 1H opening to 2H. When I
bid 3D Partner signed off in 3H, where I
made two easy overtricks. I started to
explain:
"Well, I did try..."
"My patience!" Partner retorted.
I didn't press the issue. Bridge is,
after all, "The Trying Game". :)
Kaltica
********************
Our second entry from Andre55:
2) " 9 1//2 Weak?" (From the obvious "9 1/2 Weeks")
Imps, Vul.: EW
Dealer: South
North
Ax
Axx
AQxx
xxxx
West East
QJ10x xxxx
QJ 9x
xxx Jxx
QJxx AK10x
South
Kxx
K10xxxx
Kxx
x
With my 3 Kings, and this great H10 in this six card suit,
for at least 9.5 HCPs , I opened a Weak 2H, West passed, my
partner, via a 2NT, raised me to the game in hearts.
On Q of Spade lead, I played A of Spade, small Spade to
King, ruffed a Spade, A of Hearts, small H to King , K of
Diamond , small to AD , QD and throw my little C on the 13th
D, for 13 easy tricks. Great satisfaction, you can call it
an erotic hand!
"Deep Threat" (From the obvious "Deep Throat")
Imps, Vul.: EW
Dealer: South
North
Axx
Axx
AQxx
xxx
West East
QJ10x xxxx
QJ9x void
xx J10xx
QJx AK10xx
South
Kxx
K10xxxx
Kxx
x
Some hands later, a very similar hand appeared; With my 3
Kings, and this great 10 of Heart in this 6 cards suit, for
at least 9.5 Hcps , I opened a Weak 2H, West passed, my
partner, via a 2NT, raised me to the game in Hearts.
On the Q of Spade lead, I played A of Spade, A of Heart,
big OOOpps, losing 2 Hearts, one Spade, 1 club for down one!
Yep the "erotic" 9 1/2 HCPs this time was hidden
in West's hand! Now you can call it Pornography!!
Conclusion: In bridge, like in real life, the difference
between Erotism and Pornography is in the eyes of the
Analyst! ROFL!
********************
Thanks Andre and Colin....love them!!
Now the rest of you...while you are dummy, open your email and
enter this one:
Send me an entry for the bridge player's dictionary.
Example:
Slam dunk: When 5-0 distribution pours cold water on your
perfectly bid grand.
Make me happy, email me at moocake@aol.com with your entries.
Please don't make me beg.:)
************************************************************
Tales from Pheonix!
Our crew had some good results at the Phoenix Nationals!
I tried to find as many as I could in the main results....if I
missed anything, please email me and I will get it in next
month. I do my best.:)
Fred (FREDW3) was a busy guy!
FRI/SAT/SUN AM SIDE PAIRS 20 Pairs
A B C
1.28 4 Jim Haws, Tampa FL; Geo. Fred
Williams III, Knoxville TN
95.70
Fri Int Fund Zip Swiss 10 Teams
A B C
2.63 3 Brian Hingerty - Geo. Fred Williams
III, Knoxville TN; Jim Haws - Jim
Relihan, Tampa FL
85.00
PAUL CULLEN MEMORIAL KO 3
16 Teams
20.77 3/4 Geo. Fred Williams III, Knoxville TN; Jim
Relihan, Tampa FL; Deborah Drury, Vero Beach FL;
Jill Wooldridge, Buffalo NY
2nd Fri Fast Pairs 66 Pairs
3.12 5 Fred Williams, Knoxville TN;
Roberto Verthelyi, New York NY
291.00
Consolation K O Bracket 1
8 Teams
3.29 3 Geo. Fred Williams III, Knoxville TN; Jill
Wooldridge, Buffalo NY; Jim Relihan, Tampa FL;
Deborah Drury, Vero Beach FL
Ruth (KITKAT) is trying to place herself out of the
Novice/Intermediate events!
sat afternoon 50/10/5
36 Pairs
A B C
2.94 1 Ann Rutledge - Ruth Ruyle,
Roseville CA
102.50
1st Sat Eve 50/20/5 Pairs 22 Pairs
A B C
2.21 1 Ann Rutledge - Ruth Ruyle,
Roseville CA
105.50
1st Sun AM 300/200/100 TM
12 Teams
A B C
1.52 1 Ann Rutledge - Ruth Ruyle,
Roseville CA; Becky Moores - Diane
Deming, Houston TX
41.00
1st Sun Aft 100/50 Pairs 26 Pairs
A B
0.50 5/6 Haven Williams, Surprise AZ; Ruth Ruyle,
Roseville CA
144.50
Mon Eve 50/20/10 Pairs
16 Pairs
1.06 3 Ann Rutledge - Ruth Ruyle,
Roseville CA
68.50
Judi Trention is MsLizzy
1st Sat Eve 300/200/100 28 Pairs
A B C
153.50
1.59 5 3 2 Tim Murray, Sun City West Arizona;
Judi Trenton, Hartland MI
151.00
1st Sun Eve 300/200/100pr 34 Pairs
A B C
1.58 5 4 2 Judi Trenton, Hartland MI; Cheryl
Evans, Houston TX
98.00
Deb Phillips is DebMW, Alex is her son:
Sat-Sun KO Bracket 5 16 Teams
16.82 2 William Walker, Houston TX; Deb Phillips - Alex
Phillips, N Little Rock AR; Michael T Pierce,
Fairfield OH
You knew Lynn (WISHTRIK) would appear!
Marsha May Sternberg WOMEN'S B-A-M TEAMS Monday
18 Teams
61.88 3 Cheri Bjerkan, Elmhurst IL; Sue Weinstein,
Las Vegas NV; Lynn Deas, Schenectady NY; Beth
Palmer, Silver Spring MD; Renee Mancuso, Los
Angeles CA; Pam Wittes, Venice CA
36.77
North American Swiss Team
79 Renee Mancuso - Leonard Holtz, Los Angeles CA; Lynn Deas,
Schenectady NY; Shawn Quinn, Richmond TX
Bill (WINTAKA) had a great tourney, placing eighth in
masterpoints won from his District (2)
Sun-Mon KO Bracket 1
16 Teams
36.23 2 Barry Harper, Regina SK; Dave Schouweiler,
Bismarck ND; David McLellan, Thunder Bay ON;
William Treble, Winnipeg MB; Ian Boyd, Calgary
AB; Warren Foss, Pierre SD
Long Beach K O Bracket 1
16 Teams
17.25 3/4 Barry Harper, Regina SK; Carolyn Jackson, Sugar
Land TX; David McLellan, Thunder Bay ON; William
Treble, Winnipeg MB; Paul Stern, Oak Creek WI;
Warren Foss, Pierre SD
EDGAR KAPLAN BLUE RIBBON PAIRS sponsored by Cabot Cheese
104 Pairs
16.76 59 David McLellan, Thunder Bay ON; William
Treble, Winnipeg MB
1336.43
I. Rubenstein Strat Teams 58 Teams
A B C
5.08 3/4 John Russell, North Barringto IL;
Chuck Said, Nashville TN; William
Treble, Winnipeg MB; David
McLellan, Thunder Bay ON
Dann (POOKA) also made a good showing!
Sun-Mon KO Bracket 2
16 Teams
20.70 3/4 Lyle Kinsey, Midland TX; Earl Knipfel, Moose Jaw
SK; Janet Dunbar - Dann Kramer, Calgary AB; Judy
Chapman, Edmonton AB
Gail (GAIL37) and Judi (MsLizzy) finished side by side:
Mon Eve 300/200/100 Pairs
34 Pairs
A B C
Gail Wix, Salt Lake Cty UT
160.50
1.32 5 Betty Richards, East Orleans MA;
Walter Yllo, North Attleboro MA
158.50
1.98 6 3 1 Judi Trenton, Hartland MI; Cheryl
Evans, Houston TX
153.00
Gail, Lyn and Judith (GAIL37, LYNKOS and JUNDITH) also had a
win in the KOS:
Long Beach K O Bracket 5
12 Teams
9.28 1 Lynette Koski, Pewaukee WI; Mary McCormick,
Oconomowoc WI; Gail Wix, Salt Lake Cty UT; Judith
Hess, Fairfield CT
Well done to Bob(BRIDGBOY), Helen(HELENT), PATRICIA, and to
Bob's other partners.
(Apologies to Patricia for not having the clips with her name)
Wednesday Morn Side Pairs
46 Pairs
A B C
3.76 2 Robert Lavin, East Longmeadow MA;
Helen Turman, Reno NV
99.00
Fri AM Thu/Fri/Sat Side
48 Pairs
A B C
5.16 1 Robert Lavin, East Longmeadow MA;
Alan Cooper, Setauket NY
114.00
Thur-Sat Morn Side Game
197 Players
8.33 1/2 Alan Cooper, Setauket New York
126.57%
8.33 1/2 Robert Lavin, East Longmeadow Massachusetts
126.57%
30 Pairs
A B C
1.20 5 Robert Lavin, East Longmeadow MA;
Alan Cooper, Setauket NY
155.00
Whew, again, if i missed anyone....just let me know, plenty of
room in my column next month! And check out some photos that
David (DAVIDRG) took at:
http://www.firesides.net/phoenix.htm
Of course, I can always count on Gail (GAIL37) to send me a
report! Thanks Gail, we appreciate it.
Just back from Phoenix and what a great time I had! Saw
lots of old friends -- er, friends of long standing, I
mean-- and met some new ones :)) But let's start at the
beginning.
My F2F pd (Paul, not on okb) also went down, and we played
in the Non-Life Master event. We made it to the semis (on a
fluke). It's a 2 day event, generally, but there were only
6 tables, so they shortened it to a one-day, playing
afternoon and evening. We did not win, but did place
respectably. The pair who did win were our first opponents
in the afternoon, and one of them made Life Master w/ that
win. :))
Between those sessions, my roommate, Helen Turman (HELENT),
arrived. Hugs, of course. We roomed together in Toronto.
So good to see her again!
While we were waiting to start the evening session, Judi
Trenton (MSLIZZZY) showed up out of nowhere! Hugs (per
ususal) and we made arrangements to play a session on Monday
afternoon. We had played in Toronto and play on OKB now and
then, too. We finished about middle of the pack, not a
stellar performance.
Then Judy Hess (JUNDITH) showed up. She had stayed with us
in Washington this summer. More hugs, of course. And we
made arrangements to play Swiss Teams with her friend and
Paul. Now, Paul and I were not doing well at all. Paul had
caught cold somewhere along the way, was dosing himself with
over the counter meds, and feeling rotten. It's amazing
that he could play at all. Anyhow, our poor play continued
and we did not do well in those Swiss either, much to
everyone's chagrin.
However, at dinner that night, Judy said she needed a pard
for the morning KO's starting Monday (4 session event,
mornings only). Well, I could play... we'll get knocked out
on the first round, right? My luck has been so bad and I'd
already planned on playing Monday afternoon with MSLizzzy,
and a friend (Meg, not on OKB) from San Francisco was coming
and we had planned on playing Monday evening, too. I'm not
a 3 session player. Anyhow, our teammates were Lynnette
Koski (LYNKOS) and her F2F pd from Wisconsin. We made
Lynnette captain cause she is tall (5' 10", a giant by my
standards) and can see over the crowd and find out what
table! First session was a round robin, and we beat both
the teams we played. Oh, I have to get up tomorrow morning
too? arrrrgggghhhhh! And Meg and I had planned on KO's
starting Tues afternoon/evening. Well, surely we'll get
knocked out Tues morning! or Meg and I will get knocked out
of our afternoon or evening session. As long as I don't
have to play 3 sessions a day, I'll survive.
That night David Greenlees (DavidRG) shows up. More hugs!
Gosh I love these NABC's... I get 6 months worth of hugs in
5 days! Unfortunately, David and I don't get to play
together. However he did play with Patty Tappan (PATTY).
Oh, and more hugs when Patty showed up! I didn't get to
play with Patty either, as she had filled her dance card
already :((
Tues morning, Helen (being a good alarm clock/mother) gets
me up in time to play. At the half, we're down 15 imps.
Not insurmountable, but if this continues I won't have to
play tomorrow morning. It's a win, by 13 imps! arrrrggghhh
playing tomorrow at 9. So Meg and I play our Tues afternoon
session, with a pick-up pair for teammates. They are an
"experienced pair", except she's only been playing 9 months.
And we win there, too! And we win the evening session!
Well, surely, we'll get knocked out tomorrow! No such luck,
up and ready (?) to play at 9 am... and we win again... my
gosh we're in the finals!. Wed, Meg and I win the afternoon,
and we're in the finals! OMG! How did this happen? TWO
finals?
And let me tell you about the weird hand we played that
afternoon. It goes 1C by W, Meg (N) overcalls 1H, and E
passes.... I look at my hand AKxxxxx AKxxxx void void. My
immediate thought is 6H, but wait, maybe we can even make a
grand? So I cue 2C, LHO bids 2D, Meg doubles (what does
that mean? she has a stack of D's -- penalty? I'm not sure
but I'm bidding again!) And RHO passes, so I bid 4H since
Meg has been known to overcall light. P, P, 5D by RHO, 5H by
me and all pass. I'm not sure about Meg's full hand but she
is holding QJ tight of S, an honor in H, and the C A. It's
a laydown grand :(( Darn, we'll really get fixed on this
one. At the other table, W (our player of 9 months) opens
3C (she has 6 or 7 headed by the QJ), N X's, E passes, and S
says 3S, all pass!!
Final that evening and lo and behold we WIN!!!! Truly
amazing! Next morning, I'm up and ready to play another
final. Our opps are one of the teams we beat in the round
robin. But lets not get over-confident here! (Meg and our
team beat them in the semi's of our KO, too.) Truly
amazing! We won that one too!. Now Lynnette is only 10 pts
away from life master, and 3 of those need to be gold. And
she asks me to play in the compact KO's as her pd is not
feeling good and doesn't want to continue on that afternoon.
Since she's so close and really needs a pard, I agree.
Unfortunately, we didn't do as well there, winning only one
and tying one. :(( However Lynnette is staying til the
bitter end, and I'm sure she managed to find those few
points she needed.
All during the tourney, I kept running into Dann Kramer
(POOKA). At one point, he stated he was playing "one session
KO's". LOL He made it through the qualifying rounds of the
Blue Ribbon pairs, but then had a bad day :(( I kept
running into people I'd met at earlier tourneys. And that's
always fun, too. Most of them are not on OKB.
Saturday nite, Helen had game planned with Barb (BLISS). As
Helen and I walked to Civic Plaza, we saw Bliss waiting
outside. I waved, but she couldn't figure out who I was,
til I got right up to her! MORE HUGS!!!! I sure do love
Nationals!
Oh, and we had a really nice time at the OKB dinner on Tues
nite. Bridgboy was there, Helent (of course), Patricia,
Hoffman, and all the folks I've mentioned earlier. Was nice
to meet Matt Clegg again.
All in all I had a great time. And if I keep going to these
tourneys, I am going to be dragged kicking and screaming
into that Life Master club! And remember, despite what
anyone might say, I did NOT win those KO's by myself!
There were 3 other players on the teams!
P. S. I'm thinking about Philadelphia already and trying to
formulate a plan. Easier said than done, obviously. But
I'm thinking about driving as opposed to flying. I'm going
to visit my daughter and her family on Long Island on this
trip, as well. I know there are lots of folks between Utah
and New York who I'd love to meet. I have a few on my list
but I know there are lots more between here and there. So
if anyone reading the newsletter would absolutely LOVE to
have a guest and meet me, lets gimme a holler, OK?
Email me at gail37bw@att.net
hugs to all
gail
**********************************************************
Hope you all had a perfectly wonderful holiday season. I've
been running around a bit...first my younger daughter came
home, dazed from her first semester of law school exams. A
few days later my older daughter, married and a teacher in
New York, came home with her new husband. (Remember this
folks...your kids never really leave home, they come back
and bring other people's kids with them!) Busy, but it's
been fun to have them both home again.
A gentle reminder for the new year: if you have anything
left after paying your holiday bills, send a check to
Fireside! While Fireside is free to everyone, surely you
realize how much your support is appreciated and
*needed*....and allows us to keep the wonderful slate of
commentators we now have.
That's it my friends....all my warmest wishes for good
health and happiness in 2003. May all your finesses be
onside in the new year....except when you didn't bid the
game.
Hugs to all...Janice
*********************************************************
Can't remember if this is a Mentor Cup week or when the next
Fireside session is? Get the complete schedule of events at:
www.firesides.net/whatsup.htm
Bookmark this page, and check back often. You don't want to
miss anything!
For those of you who use a credit card to support Fireside,
it's easy now! Go to:
www.firesides.net/support.htm
********************************************************
And if you haven't had a chance to check them out yet,
here are some links to some of the quizzes that Colin has
developed to enlighten us:
www.firesides.net/staymantest.htm
www.firesides.net/sayctest.htm
www.firesides.net/sarctest.htm
www.firesides.net/spectrumtest.htm
www.firesides.net/bidstest.htm
www.firesides/net/IGITSAP.htm
(Note that IGITSAP must be in CAPS.)
Give them a try! They are fun and instructive.
**********************************************************
January Events: (All times Pacific)
===============================
NOVICE/MENTOR TOURNEY:
Thursday, January 9'th, 6:00 P.M. and Saturday, January
18'th, at 12:00 P.M. A low-key introduction
to the tourney experience, sponsored by Fifth Chair...
see www.fifthchair.org for more info on this and
their other services, including getting a mentor.
MENTOR CUP TEAM GAME:
Sundays, 5:00 P.M. January 12, and 26.
See www.firesides.net/mtc.htm for info and lists
of past winners. To get on the mailing list for
this game, email me at moocake@aol.com.
OKSCRIPT SEMINAR:
OKScript seminars are held as demand warrants.
Email Kaltica to schedule a session, usually available
on the same Sunday as the Mentor Cup Game, at 2:30 p.m.
OKScript is an add-on program that saves you many
keystrokes while playing on OKB by sending
prepared text to the table, opps, or lobby at the
push of a button. Try to download the program BEFORE
the seminar by going to www.firesides.net/okscript.htm.
For more information, email Colin at kaltica@mts.net.
FIFTH CHAIR INSTRUCTIONAL EVENTS:
=================================
Interested in getting a mentor to play with you periodically
in your learning of this wonderful game? Please contact
tarsh1@mindspring.com and ask for a mentor.
SAYC Novice Team Game:
Saturdays, at 8:00 a.m. PACIFIC. Newcomers very
welcome! In addition to the team game, there will be
an open table for those waiting to join the team game.
This table will also have a commentator.
2/1 Team Game for intermediate players:
Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Pacific. Novices are welcome in
spectator mode.
Look for the words FIFTH CHAIR beside the server's name,
in the table notes, to attend either of these sessions
You can also go to the Fifth Chair Foundation webpage:
www.fifthchair.org if you have any bidding questions.
After clicking on the webpage, find the Ask Anything section.
Write an email to Lucy, and she will be most happy to answer
your questions.
********************
Moogal (Janice Kofman) stays busy collecting all sorts
of news about our FireSide family members to share with us.
Please help her out by emailing her any news or stories you
are willing to share with the group.
Janice's email address is moocake@aol.com
=====================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Benson for these:
ONE LINERS!!
Sky diving is good to the last drop.
Let him who is without aim cast the first stone.
If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.
If it wasn't for plumbers, you'd have no place to go.
Driver carries no cash. He's married.
Karaoke bars combine two of the nation's greatest evils; people
who
shouldn't drink with people who shouldn't sing.
I drive far too fast to worry about cholesterol!
========================================================
IAN'S PARTNERSHIP STUFF
=======================
A Guide for Jumpers
What does it mean when one of our side jumps during the
bidding? Well, it depends...
If the opponents are silent
---------------------------
Jump rebids by opener are strong, and, with few exceptions,
natural:
- a jump rebid of opener's original suit shows 6 or more, a
good suit, and extras: e.g. with 54 AQJT64 AKJ KT, open
1h and rebid 3h over a 1s or 1NT response
- a jump NT rebid shows a balanced hand too strong for a
1NT opener: e.g. with K4 AQJ62 AJ5 K76, open 1h and rebid
2NT over a 1s response. Raise a 1NT response to 2NT (not
a jump, but showing these values)
- a jump to game over a single raise may be a strong hand
(e.g. 54 AQJT64 AKJ KT), or a preemptive strike on a fair
hand with good shape (e.g. 5 AQJT64 KJ876 4); these would
both rebid 4h after 1h-2h
- a jump rebid in a new suit ("jump shift") is natural (i.e.
4+ in the suit) and is forcing for one round: e.g. with
K4 AQJT64 AKJT T, open 1h and rebid 3d over a 1s or 1NT
response
- a (non-jump) rebid of a higher-ranking suit than the
original opening ("reverse") is natural (i.e. 4+ in the
suit) and forcing for one round: e.g. with AKJT AQJT64 T K4,
open 1h and rebid 2s over a 2c response
- an unnecessary jump (i.e. one more level than a jump shift
or a reverse) shows a shortage in the suit bid, a fit for
responder's suit, and game values: e.g. with 5 AKJT AQJ64
K76, open 1d and rebid 3s (one more than a reverse) over
a 1h response
Jump responses in new suits are strong; of opener's suit are
limited; and NT are natural or conventional depending on whether
the opening was a major or a minor:
- a single jump in a new suit ("jump shift") shows a good
suit (5+) and may be one of three types:
- a solid single-suited hand with slam aspirations
- a strong hand with a good suit and a fit for opener
- a strong balanced hand with a good suit, e.g. with
5 AK KQJT54 KQ32 respond 3d to an opening bid of 1h
- a single jump raise of opener's suit shows enough trumps to
raise (3+ major, 5+ minor) and about 10-12 HCP. It denies
holding an unbid 4-card major: e.g. with 542 AK64 54 KT32,
respond 3h to an opening bid of 1h
- a double jump raise of opener's suit (usually a major) is
preemptive. It shows at least 4 trumps (major) and ruffing
values. It denies holding an unbid 4-card major: e.g. with
542 AK643 4 T932, respond 4h to an opening bid of 1h
- over a minor suit opening, jumps in NT are game forcing but
limited:
- 2NT with 13-15 balanced (no 4-card major)
- 3NT with 16-17 balanced (no 4-card major)
- over a major suit opening, a jump to 2NT is conventional
(Jacoby): e.g. with 542 AK42 A4 KT32 respond 2NT to an
opening bid of 1h (see SAYC notes for responses to Jacoby 2NT)
- over a major suit opening, a jump to 3NT is subject to
partnership agreement.
Jump responses by a passed hand carry the message "your last bid
improved my hand significantly". For example, with 5 AK32 KT542
654:
- as an unpassed hand respond 3h (limit raise) to an opening
bid of 1h
- as a passed hand respond 3d (fit-showing jump) to an opening
bid of 1h
If the opponents overcall
-------------------------
The overcall takes away some of our bidding space. In
compensation for this, we now have a cuebid of their
suit available. Although several structures are available,
here's my suggested approach:
- direct raises of opener's suit are preemptive (OK, a single
raise isn't highly preemptive)
- with a limit raise, or a powerful hand difficult to express
otherwise, cuebid
- new suits, either bid simply or with a jump, have the same
meaning as in uncontested auctions
- NT bids are natural and show at least one sound stopper in
the overcalled suit
- jump cuebid is an unnecessary jump and is therefore a
splinter raise
- double is negative, showing one or more unbid 4-card majors
- (with a penalty X of the overcalled suit you must pass and
await partner's reopening X)
If partner overcalls
--------------------
If we are the overcalling side, the only forcing bids available
to overcaller's partner ("advancer") are cuebids of the opening
side's suit(s). Again, several structures are available, but I
think this is sort of standard:
- raises of overcaller's suit are preemptive
- new suits are encouraging but not forcing (logically, must
be a good suit or support for overcaller)
- NT bids are natural and guarantee stoppers; must be sound
since overcall may be a wing & a prayer
- cuebid of opening side's suit(s) is forcing, usually a raise
of overcaller's suit
- double is undefined (a neat idea from Rosenkrantz is to use
this to show a high honour in overcaller's suit)
--Copyright (c) Ian M. Wilson 2003
********************
You can email Ian at: ianmwilson@earthlink.net
============================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
In the beginning...
In the beginning God populated the earth with broccoli and
cauliflower and spinach, and green and yellow and red
vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and
healthy lives.
Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's
and Krispy Creme. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with
that?" And man said "Yea." and woman said, "And another one
with sugar sprinkles."
And they gained 10 pounds.
And God created the healthful yogurt that woman might keep the
figure that man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white
flour and combined them. And woman went from size 2 to size 6.
God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented
Thousand-Island Dressing and garlic toast on the side. And man
and woman unfastened their belts following the repast.
God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and
olive oil in which to cook them."
And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried
steak so big it needed its own platter. And man gained more
weight and his cholesterol went through the roof. God then
brought running shoes so that his children might lose those
extra pounds.
And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not
have to toil changing the channels. And man and woman laughed
and cried before the flickering light and gained pounds.
Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and
brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful
skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried
them. And man gained pounds.
God then gave lean beef so that man might consume fewer
calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created
McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said,
"You want fries with that?" and man replied, "Yea! And super
size 'em." And Satan said "It is good."
And man went into cardiac arrest. God sighed and created
quadruple bypass surgery.
And Satan created HMOs
=====================================================
BOB'S BITS
==========
Making Stayman Work
Many players feel that you require some values to bid stayman.
While having values would be nice, there are plenty of hands
that come along where you have both majors and few values.
What should you do?
I have used the following method and had suitable results.
When I am 5-4 with no values I use stayman, and pass my
partners major suit response. When pard bids diamonds, I
simply call 2H on all hands that have less than invitational
values, even when I have 5 spades and 4 hearts. For example,
I have this hand;
S J9653
H Q862
D 97
C 84
My partner opens 1NT, I respond 2 clubs, and when pard calls 2
diamonds I simply bid 2 hearts. "Partner, I am weak with both
majors, pick your spot".
Let's increase the value of the same hand to a hand like this;
S KQ963
H QJ86
D 97
C 84
The bidding begins the same with partner responding 2 diamonds
to my major suit inquiry. Hands that contain invitational
values such as this one, I now bid 2 spades showing five, and
both majors.
What about partner, the one who opened 1NT? I suggest that when
they hold equal length in both majors (3-3) they convert all 2
heart calls to 2 spades. When 3-2 in shape they take the obvious
choice, passing or correcting. The advantage here is that the
strong hand will play all major suit part scores. You will not
"guess" to transfer to your 5 card suit and miss the 4-4 fit.
The drawbacks -- frankly I do not see many drawbacks to this
method except that from time to time you might fall into playing
a 4-3 fit rather than a 5-3 fit. For example you may hold a hand
that looks like this;
S Q862
H J9653
D 97
C 84
Partner opens 1NT and you do your Stayman thing, hearing pard
respond 2D. Again you call 2H --" partner I am weak with both
majors, pick your spot please". Dear partner holds 3-3 majors
this time and of course bids 2S as suggested. So big deal.
You have given up playing in the 5-3 fit and stumbled onto a
4-3 instead. So we played in the second best spot this time.
However, look what you have gained. You find all of the 4-4
fits rather than taking time out to play a possible 5-2 should
you have chosen to transfer. Bet that alone is worth the risk
of the occasional 4-3 rather than 5-3, and besides, keep in mind
that these contracts are low level part scores.
The approach can also be used when the responder has 5-5 majors
and game going hands in addition to the part score hands. This
also allows you to cover the invitation hands that are 5-5.
Same auction with the enemy passing.
1NT 2C
2D 4D* "partner, I have at least 5-5 majors and I am game-
going or better, pick a major please".
The advantage here is that you have gotten right back into the
transfer idea, except you did not have to make a choice; you
have used both heads to help make the best decision. Now, how
bad can that be?
On this auction the invitational hands could still call 2S when
5-5. Let's assume partner bids 2NT; we can continue on now to
3H and get the message across, "partner I have 5-5 with
invitational values".
Those of you who are currently making use of 3H/S calls over 1NT
to indicate a 5-5 hand that is either invitational when calling
H, or forcing when you call S, can replace that call with
something else. I'll get into that next month.
Happy Holidays to all
********************
You can email Bob at: bobmcphee@hotmail.com
==============================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Tara for this giggle:
Drunk?
The drunken wino was stumbling down the street with one foot
on the curb and one foot in the gutter. A cop pulled up and
said, "I've got to take you in, sir. You're obviously drunk".
The wasted wino asked, "Ociffer, are ya absolutely sure I'm
drunk?"
"Yeah, buddy, I'm sure," said the copper. "Let's go."
Obviously relieved, the wino said , "That's a relief - I
thought I was a cripple."
=======================================================
TREBLE'S TABLE TALK
===================
The Closest Shave of Your Life
Yes, I know this sounds like an advertisement -- in fact I
think it may be a rip off of a quote from a Gillette
commercial I once saw. However, it's a perfect description
of some of the bridge that was played during the recent Fall
Nationals in Phoenix.
I went down to play for eight days with one of my regular
partners, Dave McLellan of Thunder Bay. During the week,
we played in the Blue Ribbon Pairs, and in three knockout
teams as well. We certainly wanted to do well in the Blue
Ribbon Pairs, which is a three-day event in which you have
to finish in the top 44% of the field that began the day's
play in order to advance on to the next two sessions.
We managed to make it all the way to the final and place in the
overalls, and that will be the focus of next month's article.
However, there may have been even more drama in the knockout
events we played in. They were all pretty strong fields, as
we were in Bracket 1, and in the first one we made it all
the way to the final, were up 1 IMP at the half and 1 IMP
down at the end, to finish second.
In the morning KO's, we played against a team that had two
players that frequently play on the Indonesian team at world
championships, and one of the leaders in this year's Barry
Crane top 500 masterpoint race. Our fortunes were at a low
ebb at the halfway point, as we were down by 31 IMPs. In
the second half, good things started happening and we had
stormed back to recover all of our deficit and tie the
match, which now had to be decided in a four-board playoff.
We did well on the first three hands, and survived a slam
the opponents made off two cashing tricks in the heart suit
(we had bid spades), and won by 3 IMPs to move on to the
next round. In that event, we made it to the semifinals and
lost there, to finish tied 3rd/4th.
After the Blue Ribbon Pairs, we played in a final knockout
game, and had a tough draw in the first round, going up
against a team that had a former Bermuda Bowl champion,
Freddy Hamilton, along with three other well-respected
players, John Sutherlin, Jim Krekorian and John Rengstroff.
We had a couple of Americans for teammates, John Russell
from the Chicago area, and Chuck Said.
In the first half, Dave and I played against Rengstroff and
Krekorian and had much the best of it in the first six
boards, but they hung in and made some good decisions later
on, and at the midway point we had a useful, but hardly
insurmountable, 13 IMP lead.
Sutherlin and Hamilton came in for the second half to play
against Dave and I. We were sizzling on defense, picking
them clean for down three and down four on a couple of
partscore hands. However, they had a major gain when I
picked up the following hand:
S xx
H void
D AKxxxx
C QJ10xx
not vul against vul opponents. RHO opened 1H, I bid 2NT,
unusual for the minors, LHO jumped to 4H and now partner bid
5C. Some thought on my right, and now 5H by opener. It
looked as if my two diamond tricks were cashing, so I
elected not to forge on to 6C, as partner could easily have
a trick and the opponents were bidding under pressure and
were clearly behind, so it was no guarantee that 5H would be
making. It turned out that 5H DOES flutter home, and 6C
would be only down two for -300. Our partners raised only
to 3H with my LHO's hand and then doubled 5C instead of
taking the push to 5H. So we were going to be losing on the
hand anyway, although I could hold the loss to 5 IMPs
instead of 11 by continuing on to 6C.
Going into the second last board, the match still hung in the
balance as Fred and John picked up these hands:
North (Hamilton):
S Q10xxx
H QJxx
D void
C Axxx
South (Sutherlin):
S AKJ
H A10x
D AKJxx
C xx
The auction proceeded:
North East South West
(Fred) (Dave) (John) (me)
pass pass 2NT pass
3C dbl 3D pass
3H* pass 4D pass
5C pass 5H pass
6S pass pass pass
3H was alerted as Smolen, showing four hearts and 5+ spades.
Sutherlin now cuebid 4D, which was not the greatest news for
Fred, but after considerable thought he ventured a 5C
cuebid, which resulted in the slam being reached.
I led a club, and since I was clutching the Kxxx of hearts
and the guarded Q10xxx of diamonds, the slam had no play and
went down two.
The last board was flat, so we headed back for the
comparisons, and had won by the 13 IMPs we gained on this
board when our partners had subsided in game. So it was on
to the next round, right? Not so fast, as our opponents
decided they wanted a director's ruling on the slam hand, as
there was a glitch in the bidding at the other table:
North East South West
pass pass 2NT pass
3C dbl 3D pass
3S* pass 4H pass
pass pass
Our guys had the agreement to play Smolen after a 1NT
opening, but had no previous discussion on whether to use it
in 2NT auctions as well. So North bid 3S, intending it as
natural with longer spades than hearts. But SOUTH alerted
it, and upon being asked, explained it as Smolen, with 4
spades and 5+ hearts. Responder knew at this point there
had been a foul up and passed 4H instead of retreating back
to 4S. However, if you as North are playing with screens OR
an OKB tourney, you will see only partner's 4H bid and will
NOT be aware that he had alerted your 3S.
So what does 4H by the 2NT opener mean? Unlikely that he'd
want to play a 4-3 fit when 3NT is certainly a playable
spot. And IF partner lacks the club stopper to play in 3NT,
he might well head for a 5-2 spade fit instead of the 4-3 in
hearts. IF bridge logic suggests that the only choices in
terms of GAME contracts are 4S and 3NT, then 4H by opener
would be a cuebid in support of spades, trying for slam. If
that is what opener is doing, then responder with a void and
an ace in the two minor suits SHOULD reveal one of his
controls, bidding 5C as Fred did at our table. After a 5C
cuebid, OPENER will always go on to slam now, having lots of
help in the majors and a good diamond suit to boot.
Complicating the issue somewhat is whether opener can REALLY
have a 4H cuebid and lack a control in both minor suits,
having promised 20-21 HCP AND voluntarily shown a diamond
suit over the double of 3C. If responder judges that opener
HAS to be in possession of some minor suit controls yet has
not bid 4C or 4D, then he MIGHT have a case for passing 4H
on the basis that partner must have forgotten their
agreements. However, we CAN put together a hand for opener
that is consistent with a 4H cuebid, bypassing the minors:
S AKJ
H AKx
D Q10xxx
C Kx
Opener would be too strong for a 4S signoff, so in the North
American style of cuebidding would show the heart ace right
now, and maybe the club king later on. THIS hand actually
produces some chance for 13 tricks opposite responder's 9-
point collection. Several directors conferred and decided
that North DID have to partner's alert of the 3S bid, treat
4H as a cuebid agreeing spades as trump, and therefore
cuebid 5C, which propels his side into the slam that was bid
at our table. The ruling meant this board was a push and
now the match was tied after 24 boards.
So the result had to be decided in ANOTHER four-board
playoff, our second of the week. The fun had JUST begun, and
there were more thrills and chills in store for us.
The first hand of the playoff was 2H played at both tables,
making four. Game is always cold, but with a combined 23
points it's really difficult to find any sensible way of
bidding it.
On hand 2, I picked up:
S Ax
H AKxxx
D Kxx
C Q10x.
I opened 1NT and partner jumped to 3D, showing at least 5-4
either way in the minors a limited hand of 10-13 HCP. He
also guarantees shortness in ONE of the majors. With a
double fit and quick tricks in the majors, I bid 5NT, asking
partner to pick a minor suit slam in his longest suit. Dave
now bid 6C, holding:
S xxx
H x
D AQJx
C AJ98x.
Slam is very good without a spade lead, as declarer has time
to work on the hearts. John Sutherlin led a spade, however,
but the contract still had a 50% chance of success and would
make if the club finesse won. Alas, the K of clubs was
offside and we went down one. Although we'd reached a decent
contract, I suspected this slam would NOT be bid at the
other table, so it looked as if we had just lost 11 or 12
IMPs with only two boards to go.
On the next hand, not vul against vul, I was reminded of the
"ghoulies" that local hero Kenny Sired deals, sorting out this
rather freakish hand:
S QJ1098xx
H Kx
D void
C Q109x.
RHO opened 1NT, 15-17, and my initial thought was to pre-
empt some number of spades, perhaps even shooting out a 4S
bid. However, we DIDN'T need a push result at this point,
so I merely overcalled 2S, natural and usually one-suited,
to see what happened next. The auction concluded thusly:
North East South West
(Fred) (Dave) (John) (me)
1NT 2S
2NT* pass 3C** pass
3NT*** pass pass pass
2NT was Lebensohl, forcing 3C, and responder's 3NT showed a
game raise with a spade guard:
Now put yourself in declarer's seat, on the Q of spades lead:
North
S Axx
H 10xx
D KQx
C Jxxx
South
S xx
H AQJxx
D AJxx
C Kx
I know, it was a pretty bizarre 1NT when opener can just
begin with 1H and rebid comfortably in diamonds. Be that as
it may, John found himself in 3NT and ducked the Q of spades
as Dave won the King and returned a club. From the non-
spade return, you KNOW RHO only has one of them and there's
a potential major swing floating around on this hand, as the
contract will likely be either 4H for N-S or 4S by E-W at
the other table. So does overcaller have the Ace of clubs,
in which case you must duck, or does he have the Q of clubs
and the King of hearts, in which case you must rise with the
King?
Your move. You will either win the match comfortably or
lose by 1 IMP depending on whether you make the right guess.
For those of you that want to vote, send in your play to
this trick to my email address at: bbtreble@mts.net. Being
the cad that I am, I will leave you hanging in suspense for
a month and give you the entire hand and the result in the
lead-in to next month's article.
********************
You can write to Wintaka (Bill Treble) at: bbtreble@mts.net
You will find Bill doing his FireSide sessions on Saturdays
at 11:00 A.M. OKbridge time.
Wintaka and Kaltica present classes on:
SAYC (Rainbow Series)
2/1 (Spectrum series)
Precision (Prism Series)
and other selected bridge topics (Kaleidoscope series).
They also offer private/group lessons and/or supervised play
sessions. Email Bill (bbtreble@mts.net) or Colin
(kaltica@mts.net) for more information.
================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to JustJill for these:
After putting her children to bed, a mother changed into old
slacks and a droopy torn blouse and proceeded to wash her
hair. As she heard the children getting more and more
rambunctious, her patience grew thin. At last she threw a
towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting
them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room,
she heard her three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who
was THAT?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mother was telling her little girl what her own childhood was
like "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from
a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony.
We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was
wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd
gotten to know you sooner!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you
know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo
while I asked, "No, how are we alike?" "You're both VERY old,"
he replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When my grandson, Billy, and I entered our vacation cabin, we
kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from
attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us
in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use,
Grandpa. The mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When my 4 year old grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly
replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandma," he
advised. "Mine says I'm four."
===================================================
AND FINALLY KALTICA
===================
Bidding Fool
************
At our Firesides, we concentrate on how to
bid "intelligently". In general, "intelligently"
means bidding in a manner which is most informative
to Partner so that our side can bid to the proper
level and strain while, in competitive auctions,
driving the opponents to unattainable levels.
This article isn't about that. :)
Here, we look at common situations where
such sensible actions are ill-advised.
Yes, there are, in fact, instances where we
have to bid with considerably less caution and
restraint. In short, there are times when we
must bid like an idiot. As it happens, this
is my own particular area of expertise. :)
There are four common circumstances
where truly silly bidding is called for are:
1. When Partner's contribution can best be
described by an opponent--effectively
removing Partner from the equation!
Regard this deal from one of our very
own Firesides:
South: S-AK107654 H- 103 D- KQ C- 94
After 1C-Pass-1H comes around to us, many
would overcall 1S. But what is the rush? We
have the master suit. We are going to win
this auction. We will simply pass whatever
forcing bids we hear, letting the opponents
tell us as much as we care to learn about
their hands, and then climb in at whatever
level we must. On this hand we see the
following auction:
LHO Pard RHO Us
*** **** *** **
1C Pass 1H Pass
1NT Pass 2C 2S
Pass Pass Pass
The non-forcing nature of 2C brings
us out of our doldrums and into the auction
with 2S.
"But wait," one might ask, "doesn't this
pass-then-bid approach show a good hand with
a BAD suit?"
Yes, it does. But here it doesn't
matter, since we plan to bid and rebid our
Spade suit until the opponents shut up!
The length and strength of our Spade suit
allows us to virtually remove Partner from
participation.
okb Dlr: West
Board 8 S 83 Vul: None
H 954
D A9765
S Q92 C K82 S J
H AK H QJ8762
D 8432 D JT
C AQ65 S AKT7654 C JT73
H T3
D KQ
C 94
Result: Made 3 Score: 140
2. When misdescription of our hand can enhance
our defensive chances while causing the
opponents to draw incorrect assumptions
about *their* partner's hand.
Consider the following hand:
S- J8743 H- J43 D- KQ C- 863
The opponents are vulnerable, us not.
IMPs. After 1H-2NT-3H, some might like
their chances on defence. But wait. There
is one more factor to consider: you partner
is Moogal! Clearly, then, Partner has bid
the Unusual 2NT on a near bust hand. So
what do we do here?
Passing may be sensible, so we eliminate
that option without further thought.
4C comes to mind next, but that will have
no lead directing value. Many experts, then,
will psyche 3NT here and THEN bid 4C so that
the delayed 4C all will not carry with it any
lead directing implications. Clever. But we
aren't looking for clever calls, we are looking
for truly dumb ones!
The winning choice was 4D, aiming for 5C
if doubled there. The lead directing value of
4D is clear, but there is another, far more
devious effect of our free 4D call here. By
"mislengthening" our fit we catch Opener
looking at:
S- A92 H- KQ962 D- A973 C- A
Our Diamond bidding virtually assures
Opener that Responder will have 0-1 Diamonds.
It would seem to Opener that Responder's
values are likely in the majors and that
Opener's Diamonds can be ruffed in dummy
without loss. Sure enough, Opener leapt
to 6H (as I would), only to be starkly
disappointed:
IMPs moogal Dlr: West
S 6 Vul: None
H A
D JT542
S A92 C KJT954 S KQT5
H KQ962 H T875
D A973 Kaltica D 86
C A S J8743 C Q72
H J43
D KQ
C 863
West North East South
1H 2NT* 3H 4D
6H Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: DJ Result: Down 2
Score: 100 Points: 9.10
3. When we are desperate for a good result.
It is the last round of an OKBridge IMPs
tourney. The good news is that you have landed
at Table 1 with its usual throng of spectators.
The bad news appears on the scoreboard: your
opponents (i.e. the leaders) are WELL in front
of you. But there's more: Your partner is 51st
on the annual overall Pond Pointers list and
would dearly love to crack the top 50. Hey, no
pressure here, right? :)
Holding S-KQ975 H- KJ4 D- QJ C- J97
you are wishing you were looking at a hand with
wilder distribution, but maybe this will do.
You open 1S after 3 Passes and it proceeds
1S-2H-2S-3H back to you. Your call?
Well, pass is clear, so we eliminate
that. 4S? Can't be ten tricks. 3S is worth
considering but how are you going to win a
bushel basket of IMPs that way? 3NT! Now
THERE is a truly moronic shot in the dark.
Pairs moogal Dlr: North
Board 25 S A82 Vul: E-W
H 72
D T842
S 63 C KT62 S JT4
H T9653 H AQ8
D AK73 Kaltica D 965
C Q8 S KQ975 C A543
H KJ4
D QJ
C J97
North East South West
LHO Moogal RHO Kaltica
Pass Pass Pass 1S*
2H 2S 3H 3NT
Pass Pass Dbl Pass
4H Dbl Pass Pass
Pass
Opening lead: H7 Result: Down 4
Score: 800 Points: 11.55
Incredibly, 3NT will make! And before
you can double 4H, PARTNER does! Easy game,
this bridge.
4. When we have a weak hand but a huge
fit with Partner.
S- xx H- Jxxxx D- 10xxx C- xx
After 1H-1S, with their side vulnerable,
most will leap to 4H. In practice, this
will evoke a 4S "Texas Idiot Transfer" from
Advancer (LHO). 4S will likely make and,
if it doesn't, 4H might! But what idiocy
can we create that might prevent a 4S call
here?
Having eliminated the orthodox 4H leap,
we have to come up with something more, uh,
"imaginative". Free calls of 2C or 2D might
work, in that they might cause RHO to think
that this suit is stacked behind them. The
problem with 2C or 2D appears if LHO has
these suits. Our ploy will backfire,
ENcouraging agressive bidding from the
opponents when we hope to DIScourage it.
So let's think about this from our
OPPONENTS' perspective. When we overcall,
what free bid by LHO do we find most
intimidating? No trump ones, right? Yup,
since they create the impression that any
trump honours are bound to be offside. So,
over 1H-1S, we might consider the old "No
Tricks No Trump". Given that this is likely
their hand for 4S, do we care how many we go
down in 1NT undoubled? Hardly!
And that is all that we need to know
about how to become a true "bidding fool".
Now, back to our regular programming... :)
**********************
You'll find Kaltica (Colin Ward) doing his FireSide
sessions on Friday evenings at 5:30 P.M. OKbridge time.
Kaltica and Wintaka present classes on:
SAYC (Rainbow Series)
2/1 (Spectrum series)
Precision (Prism Series),
and other selected bridge topics (Kaleidoscope series).
They also offer private/group lessons and/or supervised
play sessions. Email Colin (kaltica@mts.net) or
Bill (bbtreble@mts.net) for more information.
=====================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to BobW for these:
Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!"
Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!"
One day, the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to
hold short of the runway while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed,
rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee.
Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and
said, "What a cute little plane. Did you make it all by
yourself?"
Our hero the Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by,
came back with a real zinger: "I made it out of DC-8 parts.
Another landing like that and I'll have enough parts for another
one."
There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority
landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit
peaked". Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was
number two behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. "Ah",
the pilot remarked, " the dreaded seven-engine approach".
A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While
attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked, "What was
your last known position?"
Student: "When I was number one for takeoff".
Taxiing down the tarmac, the DC10 abruptly stopped, turned around
and returned to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally
took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant,
"What was the problem?"
"The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine,"
explained the flight attendant," and it took us a while to find a
new pilot."
"Flight 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 degrees ... "
"But Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make
up here?"
"Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a
727?"
=====================================================
Fireside Chat Issues
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