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Fireside Chat
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FIRESIDE CHAT FEBRUARY 2003
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome and Announcements
Believer's FireSide Kindling
Bidding with Bridgboy
New Column -- (need a name!)
Hand of the Month
Mezzie Lends a Hand
Dealing With Dann
Special Treats
Moogal's FireSide Log
Bob's Bits
Treble's Table Talk
And Finally Kaltica
=======================================
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hi all!
Welcome to the February, 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 5:00 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.
(*starts 1/2 hour earlier on Monday night)
*******************
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 everyone!
Some exciting things in this month's newsletter --
we have a new addition to our family of writers,
be sure to check out "NEW COLUMN" for a very special
treat....
It was a blast back to the past for me reading Kaltica's
column this month -- it really is something to think
of all that has happened over the 5+ years that FireSide
has been holding bidding practice sessions now... and
amazing to see how we've all pulled together and become
friends and kept this thing going.
We have another great read from one of "you" -- be
sure to visit our SPECIAL TREATS column this month!
And remember, all of you are welcome to write and
submit materials for consideration to be featured in
one of our monthly issues... we love hearing from YOU!
If you don't feel that you are much for writing, remember
we still need jokes for our Giggle Breaks, and Moogal is
always delighted to share your news about any important
happenings in your life, whether it be bridge related
or not. Just drop her a note and she'll put it
together -- you don't have to be a professional writer,
just get your idea across!
We also have a need for some help at the FireSide sessions
themselves -- we need a full time table manager for FredW3's
Wednesday morning session, and we could use a couple of
'on call' subs who would be willing to pick up a session
last minute when one of our table managers has to miss for
any reason. If you think you'd be interested in doing either
of these, please email me at believer@firesides.net and let
me know.
Lastly, I want to thank our commentators for their dedication
and caring. The show up week after week, gently prodding at
us -- reminding us of basics we should surely remember by now!
-- guiding us toward a time where we can apply those basics
with knowledge and confidence. Please, let them know how
special we think they are. Remember that they like to be
told they done good, too, just like we do! Remember also,
when you are thinking of taking private lessons, paying a
professional to play tourneys with you, getting involved in
a group session mentoring program... most, if not all, of
our commentators and contributors to this newsletter are
available for those services. Show them how much you
appreciate their efforts by continuing to learn from them...
and how pleasant to take lessons from someone who's already
a friend thru the FireSide Bidding Practice sessions!
Take care everybody -- hope to see you soon at FireSide!
Sara
********************
You can write to Believer (Sara Stobbe) at:
believer@firesides.net
============================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Gail37 for this giggle:
A man who absolutely hated his wife's cat decided to get rid
of him one day by driving him 20 blocks from his home and
leaving him at the park.
As he was getting home, the cat was walking up the
driveway.... The next day, he decided to drive the cat 40
blocks away and the same thing happened again...... Driving
back up his driveway, there was the cat!
He kept taking the cat further and further and the darn cat
would always beat him home.
At last, he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right,
then left past the bridge, then right again and another right
until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from his
home and left the cat there......
Hours later, the man calls home to his wife: "Jen, is the cat
there? "Yes", the wife answers..."why do you ask?"
Frustrated, the man answered: "Put that SOB on the phone, I'm
lost and need directions!"
=================================================
BIDDING WITH BRIDGBOY
=====================
(Please note: As of Monday evening, February 3, Bridgboy
will be starting his sessions at 5:00 P.M. Pacific time.)
Just Say Pass!
In this age of constant bidding sometimes the best call
is a preemptive pass, allowing the opponents to get into
trouble without taking them off the hook. What fun to
receive a top by silence!
Here is a typical hand that shows off this point
clearly:
S KQTx
H J92
D T932
C A3
Partner opens the bidding with 1C, and RHO (vul)
doubles. Your call now? If there had been a pass you
would bid either 1D or 1S depending on your philosophy,
but once the double occurs has it changed at all?
I strongly contend that it has! There is no reason to
bid now -- we can pass and see where lefty is going to
rescue himself.
Yes, if he bids 1H we can then bid 1S or 1NT or anything
else for that matter, but if he bids 1D or even 1S aren't
we happy? We know he is going to bid something and there
is no reason for us to let him off the hook by bidding and
allowing him to escape.
There are many opportunities to pass and give opponents
the chance to get into trouble. We do not lose anything
by temporarily passing if our hand shows that may be the
case. For the record, on this particular hand, the top
scores would have been earned collecting plus 200 or more
against 1SX or 2H not doubled. You could play 1NT and
make that of course, but in doing that you missed a
golden chance to score a well deserved top by a quiet
pass.
It may not be as sexy as bidding a grand slam, but plus 200
when your side can only make a part score is still the most
exciting number in bridge!
********************
You can find Bridgboy (Bob Lavin) doing his FireSide
sessions on Monday evenings at 5:00 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 Joy for this giggle:
A couple was celebrating their golden wedding
anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had
long been the talk of the town.
'What a peaceful and loving couple,' a local
newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the
secret of their long and happy marriage.
"Well, it dates back to our honeymoon,"
explained the man. "We visited the Grand
Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom
of the canyon by pack of mule. We hadn't
gone too far when my wife's mule stumbled.
My wife quietly said, "That's once."
We proceeded a little further and the mule
stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly
said, "That's twice."
We hadn't gone a half-mile when the mule
stumbled the third time. My wife quietly
removed a revolver from her purse and shot
the mule dead.
I started an angry protest over her treatment
of the mule, when she looked at me and quietly
said, "That's once."
And we lived happily ever after."
=====================================================
NEW COLUMN (to be named!)
==========
We are so excited to welcome a new contributor to our
newsletter family! Please welcome Fifee (Patricia Anderson)
to our group of wonderful writers -- what a treat it will be
to learn from her!
Patricia Anderson studied Sociology at University of West
Virginia and practiced as a child protective service worker
for several years before retiring to have a family. She has 2
sons, Michael and Timothy and a chocolate lab/spaniel mix
named Ginger. The rolling hills of West Virginia are a
marvelous crime free place to raise children, but live bridge
games are few and far between. Okbridge offered her an
opportunity to study and play with the finest players in the
world. During the past 6 years, Patricia studied and wrote
books, columns and lectures with world champions, Bobby
Goldman and Paul Soloway, immortalizing their Goldway 2/1
bidding system. She currently owns and operates a jewelry shop
in West Virginia as well as being a professional bridgeplayer
and writer.
********************
(We need a name for this newest column -- if you have any
ideas, please send them in for consideration!)
********************
Troubles with Doubles
By Patricia Anderson
What a delight to bid to game or slam without any interference
from our opponents. Unfortunately, that rarely happens, so we
must learn to make the best of interference and use the
opponent's bidding to our advantage.
When the opponents enter the bidding, we actually have more
bids available to us as a result. We can double or cuebid now
as well as bidding a suit or NT. So we must discuss with
partner and set down rules for these bids so that we can make
optimal use of this interference. The Trouble with Doubles
happens when we have no agreements with partner and
misunderstandings develop.
"But partner I thought you would have 4 Hearts when you
doubled 1 Spade !" :-) It is most important in a good
partnership to have a serious discussion about doubles!
Takeout Doubles ask/urge/demand partner to bid after
opponent's suit openings and responses. Agree with partner
upper limit of takeout doubles. You might make a takeout
double through 4H. Which means if we double a bid higher
than 4H, this double is penalty(ish).
Now on to the task of deciding which hand is right for a
takeout double. Unfortunately, we don't always have the
perfect hand, but a descriptive takeout double will give
partner vital information about hand strength and shape
quickly. So what is an acceptable hand for a takeout double?
We don't want to wait til dummy comes down and partner goes
for a break to hear declarer sigh and say, "It's the only time
tonight that I knew what he had in his hand."
In an ideal world, our takeout double will show:
1. 4 card support in any unbid major
2. 3 card support in any unbid minor
3. An opening hand
4. Shortness in opponent's suit (singleton or doubleton)
If we would wait for all of these things to occur, we would
hardly ever double so we must compromise. Let's agree that we can
have no more than 2 flaws in our hand to make a takeout double.
Now let's discuss what is acceptable and define flaws. It is
acceptable to make a takeout double with 3 cards in an unbid
major, but we consider this a flaw. We would prefer 4 cards in
unbid majors.
With minor suits, it is acceptable to make a takeout double with
2 card support in an unbid minor, but this is also considered a
flaw.
If we are a point or 2 shy of an opening hand, this is considered
a flaw.
Three small cards in the opponent's unsupported suit is a serious
flaw, also. (Note: If the opponents bid and raise a suit, two
small cards in their suit is the worst possible holding and
should be considered when searching for the optimum playing
level.)
More than 2 flaws is unacceptable for a takeout double, unless
you have an exceptionally strong hand and will show this to
partner later. The more flaws we have, the stronger our hand
should be to make a takeout double. Conversely, we can make a
takeout double with minimal points and no flaws.
This is a good rule to discuss with partner, as well:
Doubles of all suit opening bids must meet the requirement of
3+ cards in unbid major suits and 2+ cards in unbid minors
(less than 4 + 3 respectively is a "flaw" but still acceptable).
NO EXCEPTIONS unless hand contains 18+ Total Points (when
considering total points, we can count shortness in opponent's
suit, only).
Let's look at some examples and see if they meet our requirements
for a takeout double.
Opponents have opened 1S and you hold the following hand. Would
you make a takeout double?
1. S 72
H AQT8
D KJ
C AJT98
This hand has 1 flaw, only 2 diamonds. It has 4 of the other
major, good opening hand, and shortness in opponent's suit. With
our guidelines, one flaw is acceptable for a takeout double.
2. S J32
H Q743
D AQ97
C AK
Flaws in this hand are:
3 cards in opponent's suit. (1 flaw)
Only 2 cards in unbid minor (1 flaw).
Although it is desirable to be short in opponent's suit,
sometimes we make a takeout double with 3 cards in their suit
when there is no other bid available and we determine that we
must take action. This hand has 2 flaws and that is still
acceptable for a takeout double. We have 16 HCP but would not
overcall 1NT with this hand because we have no stopper in the
opponent's suit.
3. S 2
H AT93
D KT32
C QJT8
This hand is a little short in High Card Points (one flaw) but
the shape is perfect. No flaws in any outside suits, so it is
acceptable to make a takeout double with this hand, also.
With the following hands, bidding has been opened by your right
hand opponent 1 Spade. What do you bid with the following? How
many flaws in each hand?
4. S 43
H AQT73
D AJT
C KJ9
5. S 3
H KJ2
D AQJT9
C QJ87
6. S KJ62
H AQJ7
D KQ
C 975
7. S Q4
H QJ97
D AJ
C KJT73
8. S --
H AJ 63
D QJ7632
C K96
Please email your bids, any questions, and answers to "how many
flaws" questions to bandersn@mountain.net . May your troubles
with doubles be few :)
Good luck at the table and remember to trust and respect your
partner !
=============================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to DelB for this wonderful offering:
I don't want to do the dishes,
I don't want to do the wash,
I sprinkled clothes a week ago
and now my iron is lost.
I don't wanna clean the pots,
I don't wanna rattle pans,
I wanna play some OKBridge,
and chat with my Fireside friends!
The table needs some dusting
and the floor could sure be mopped,
But I know if I get started
there'll be no place to stop.
The closets are so full,
things are falling off the shelves,
I wish for cleaning fairies and
magic laundry elves.
They could sprinkle fairy dust
and twitch their little nose,
And the windows would be sparkling
and I'd have no dirty clothes.
I don't know what I'm saying,
my mind is on Fireside,
I must cook that meat that's graying
and bake that apple pie!
I am running round in circles,
I am getting nothing done,
I keep thinking of the team games,
I'm missing all the fun!
I know I'm not addicted,
though I hear that all the time,
But I guess this stuff will have to wait,
'cause today I'll be playing OKBridge on line!
===================================================
HAND OF THE MONTH
=================
(A huge 'thank you' to Gail Wix for choosing this hand, and
typing it out for us! We couldn't do this without her help!)
>From The 2003 Daily Bridge Calendar. For more information
call 1-888-453-1976, or email: calendar@interlog.com
********************
Vul: E/W North
Dlr: W S T2
H 865
D A3
C Q87632
South
S AK8653
H KJ7
D K85
C 9
West North East South
1S
P 1NT P 2S
All Pass
Opening Lead... CK
South thought of bidding more than 2S on the second round and
was more than a little curious about what his dummy would have.
Seeing that game was out of the question, he relaxed a bit.
Bad habit.
West led the CK and switched to a low diamond. What South did
was play three rounds of diamonds, ruffing the third round in
dummy, and then lead a heart, hoping to make a winning guess.
Which heart should he play, the king or the jack?
S T2
H 865
D A3
C Q87632
S Q974 S J
H A9 H QT432
D 9642 D QJT7
C AKJ C T54
S AK8653
H KJ7
D K85
C 9
Contract: 2S Lead: CK
South decided that since West had the CA and CK, shown by the
opening lead, he was not likely to have the HA. So he played
the HK. West was there with the HA.
"Nice hand you have there," observed South.
West led the CA, which South ruffed. It was finally time to
get rid of the trumps but that too turned out to be difficult
since West had four to the queen. Two losers there.
"Rats," said South. South gave West his trump tricks, hoping
West would have to lead something good for South, but West
played his trumps and found another diamond to lead. This
meant South had to lead from his HJ, which meant two more
losers. Down one.
Seeing an aggrieved North, South gave the hand some more
thought and belatedly saw how he should have played. Do you
see the correct line?
At trick two, win the DA and lead a heart to the jack (or
king). Should it lose, ruff a diamond in dummy and lead
another heart. Using your diamond entries one at a time gives
you two cracks at the heart suit, not one, and that extra
chance will see you home.
********************
Hand and analysis by Michael Lawrence, 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
Thank you to Benson for this one:
Public Transport
Heard on a public transportation vehicle while in Orlando.
"When you exit this vehicle, please be sure to lower your
head and watch your step. If you fail to do so, please lower
your voice and watch your language. Thank you."
====================================================
DEALING WITH DANN
==================
[Edited by Gail Hyland (Frodo) -- thanks, Gail :-) ]
Two Suited Hands
This is my style -- there is no 'right' or 'wrong'. This isn't
straight SAYC, but an approach that works for me and hopefully
will work for you, too. (For the 2/1 types this works pretty well
within a 2/1 approach, also.)
Let's start by looking at how to bid a good two-suited hand
(ignoring HCP's right now.) The first tool/weapon is the jump
rebid.
After opening one of a suit, and hearing some response from
partner, jumping a level to a new, lower ranked suit than our
opener shows partner we have a better than minimum opener, and
expresses that our first bid suit is as long as or longer than
our second suit. You may want to read this paragraph again.
e.g. 1H-1NT
3C
tells partner we have a good hand (generally 17+ HCP's) and that
our hearts are as long as or longer than clubs. This bid implies
a 5-4 minimum shape; but 6-4, 5-5, 6-5, even 7-6 are also
possible. This response is a forcing call -- no dumping partner
here!
This method allows us to "fudge" with a really nice 6 or 7 card
major, and force partner 1 round with a response in a fake 2'nd
lower ranking suit. It also limits one-of-a-suit openers and a
jump rebid of the suit to 16+ HCP's, and makes it non-forcing.
We must fake a suit to force partner!
Here's an example of the type of hand where we might need to fake
a suit.
S AQJTxx
H Kx
D Ax
C KQx
After opening 1S, partner bids 1NT. We want to express our power
to partner but 3S is non-forcing and limited to 16 HCP's, so we
try a cheery 3C.
Other hands where we want to open and jump:
S KQTxx (open 1S and jump to 3H)
H AQJx (unless 2H from partner-4NT works!)
D A
C KTx
S Ax (here 1H and then 3C should get us rolling)
H AKQxxx
D x
C AJTx
The flatter the hand, the greater the point count needed to jump.
If 5-4-2-2 then we want a pretty decent hand to be suggesting
shape and values -- 17 HCP probably isn't enough.
S AJTxx
H KJ
D Qx
C KQTx
The 17 HCP's in this hand are nothing like our other examples and
will play way worse! So, jumps tell partner shape, values, AND
promise an ok playing hand, i.e., the values are in our suits if
marginal and we have no wasted stuff in short suits.
In the last example 1S-1NT is the best choice, followed by a
quiet non forcing 2C -- if partner does something. After 2C,
we can move forward from there, but mark time first with 2C.
That's it for Part One of this topic -- come back next month
for Part 2!
Have Fun!
Dann
*******************
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
Thanks to JJH for this giggle:
Little Johnnie goes up to his Dad who is engrossed in his puter;
"Dad, say Ribbit"
"No son, I'm busy"
"Come on, say Ribbit"
"I told you I was busy"
"Oh come on Dad, say Ribbit"
"Why do you want me to say Ribbit so badly?"
"Cause Mum says when you Croak we're all going to Disneyland!"
===================================================
SPECIAL TREATS
==============
This month we have part two of Alex's (Gaus271) great series on
hand evaluation. Anyone who is a regular at Kaltica's Friday
night FireSide sessions will be very familiar with the subject
matter! Thanks again, Alex, for a very well done article.
********************
HAND EVALUATION
III.) DREAM TRICKS
A.) How to Do It
This method works best if partner's bidding has shown strength
spanning a range of 3 to 5 hcp. The first step is to divide
partner's MAXIMUM hcp's by 4, ROUND down if necessary to a whole
number, and ASSUME that that number shows the number of crucial
honors in partner's hand. The second step is to count how many
tricks you will take given your hand and those crucial honors
that you hope partner has.
Counting winners is a bit different now. You assume, just as
before, that partner has the number of cards in your long suit
that is probable GIVEN THE BIDDING. Again assume that the
opponents' cards in that suit are split normally given the
bidding. But you can now assume in addition that you can lead
toward your honors, with the number of such leads dependent on
how many entries you are assuming partner has. Finally, you no
longer need make any adjustment to your count for aces and kings
in side suits. Let's take a pair of examples:
Hand A: S xx
H Axxxx
D Kxx
C xxx
Hand B: S xx
H Axxxxx
D Kxx
C xx
Assume partner opened the bidding with 1D and raised your 1H to
2H, with the opponents silent. The question is whether you should
make a try for game. Let's apply the dream trick method. Partner
may have as many as 18 hcp's. Dividing by 4 and rounding down
gives 4 dream tricks. Let's give partner three aces and the king
of trump as dream tricks. Partner may have only three-card
support, but probably has four or even more. That means for hand
A that you have about equal chances for 4 or 5 winners in trump
(depending on whether the queen of trump falls) plus 4 outside
winners, for a total of 8 or 9 tricks. For hand B, however, you
are more likely to have 6 trump winners than 5, plus 4 outside
winners, for a likely total of 10, with only a possibility for as
few as 9. So pass with Hand A; make a game try with Hand B.
(Other methods of hand evaluation would give the same result:
only Hand B is worth a game try.)
B.) Critique of the Method
The weakness of this approach is obvious. You are assuming that
partner has a maximum consistent with the bidding and that
partner's high cards fit perfectly with your hand. As the very
name implies, counting dream tricks is optimistic. In the example
given above, Hand B was worth only a TRY for game even though it
counted to game under the dream trick method.
Consequently, the method is most useful in identifying when it
would be productive to engage in exploratory bidding. The
clearest example is deciding when it makes sense to explore slam.
Another example is when you suspect your hand has great playing
strength due to a long, solid suit.
C.) Exploring Slam
Consider any situation where it is clear that you and partner
should be in game. If game is certain, there must be some chance
for slam. Most people know that it is theoretically worthwhile to
bid a slam that has at least a 50% chance of making.
Unfortunately, you never know precisely what your chances are so
this theoretically correct knowledge is useless in practice.
Although it is a bad result if you miss slam, it will be a worse
result if you bid past game while exploring slam, determine that
slam is impossible, and then go down. The benefit of the dream
trick method here is primarily negative: if, under the optimistic
assumption that partner has maximum values and perfect fit, slam
is not then virtually a laydown, bid game directly and avoid
slam.
Let's take an example.
On both hands C and D shown below, you open 1H and hear partner
raise you to 3H, showing at least 4 hearts and more strength than
a raise to 2H, but less than an opening hand.
Hand C: S Qx
H AKxxx
D AQxx
C Kx
Hand D: S xx
H AKQxx
D AKQx
C xx
Both hands count to 18 hcp's, and both have 2/5/4/2 distribution.
Partner has announced a good 10 to a bad 12 points and at least 4
hearts. Applying the dream trick method, divide 12 by 4, getting
3 (on days when your math is working.) With hand C, the most
useful cards for partner to have are the two black aces and the
DK. Assuming partner has that, you will take five heart tricks
52.5% of the time, three diamond tricks plus either a fourth or a
diamond ruff, two clubs, and one spade, for a total of twelve
with only 52.5% probability. So slam is nowhere close to solid
even with PERFECT cards from partner, and partner may not have
perfect cards. So the probability of making 12 tricks is too low
to warrant going beyond the sure game. As Omar said, take the
cash and let the credit go, nor heed the beating of a distant
drum. Bid 4H.
Now consider hand D. Again give partner three dream tricks; in
this case it will be two black aces and a black king. You will
make 5 trump tricks (90% of the time), 4 tricks in diamonds
(perhaps 1 being a ruff), plus 3 tricks in the black suits, for
a (virtually sure) 12 tricks. So bid 4D to start the cue bid
process. If partner responds 4H (denying any interest in slam),
pass. If partner bids 4S (showing a control in spades), bid 5D
(showing two diamond controls and denying a club control) and let
partner figure out if slam makes sense. If partner bids 5C
(showing a club control but denying first round control over
spades), sign off in 5H. In this example, the dream trick method
has alerted you to the possibility of slam; now you can use your
slam bidding techniques to explore whether that possibility is a
probability.
The optimism inherent in assuming partner is maximum and has
perfect fit means that the most frequently appropriate use of
this method is identifying when to EXPLORE going higher.
D.) Finding Games Based on a Solid Suit
Everyone knows that having a long suit headed by an honor
sequence has value beyond what the hcp count indicates. Sometimes
it is possible to determine that a game, especially a game in no
trump, has good prospects even with a lower than typical combined
hcp.
For example, playing standard sayc no trump openers, your partner
opens 1NT, and you hold:
Hand E: S xx
H xx
D AKxxxx
C xxx
Evaluating this on hcp's, you may say to yourself, "Oh we have 24
hcp's at most; game is unlikely so let's pass and take the sure
plus." But if you apply the dream trick method, you get 4 dream
tricks for partner (17 divided by 4 and rounded down gives 4.)
OK, let's give partner 3 aces and the DQ. Partner has at least
two diamonds in all for the no trump opener. So you have at least
a 68% chance of making six diamond tricks and three outside
tricks for a total of 9 tricks. You and partner may have special
agreements to explore this kind of situation (such as 2NT by
responder is a diamond transfer that is to be "broken" if the no
trump bidder has good support for diamonds;) most of us have no
such agreements. If you have such an agreement, now is the time
to give it some exercise; otherwise, bid 3NT and hope partner's
"typ" is sincere.
You can use the dream trick method to diagnose possible games in
a suit as well, but for that, there is usually a better method of
evaluation.
End of This Month's Episode (Come back next month for the Further
Perils of Alex)
=====================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to Luc for this giggle:
The Rehearsal
Her wedding was fast approaching, and my friend was delighted
to hear that her Mom, emerging from a nasty divorce, had
finally found the perfect mother-of-the-bride dress. Two days
later, she was shocked to learn that her new young stepmother
had purchased the same dress. She asked her stepmother to buy
another dress, since her Mom had already altered her purchase.
Her stepmother refused. After two more weeks of frustrating
shopping, the bride's Mom found a dress that was not as nice
as the first, but would serve. When asked by a friend what she
would do with her original dress, she grinned and replied,
"I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner!"
===========================================================
MEZZIE LENDS A HAND
===================
Well ex-squeeze me!!
The word "squeeze" conjures up images of deep, dark,
labyrinthine caverns of expert declarers' brains. The
average player often doesn't realize the numerous
times s/he has inadvertently applied pressure on the
defenders by cashing out the long suit. The tricks
that appear out of thin air at the end of a
discard-filled hand are often the result of pseudo or
actual squeezes functioning without any thought or
preparation. Let's take a look at a hand which finds
declarer in a very optimistic contract, and see the
thought processes involved in planning a squeeze after
a fortuitous defense.
Vul, you find yourself in a reasonable 6H after a
highly forgettable auction. LHO leads a trump.
S J9
H J3
D KQ6
C QT9765
S AKT7
H AKQ876
D T9
C A
First thing's first. Count our tricks. 2 spades, 6
hearts, a diamond and a club. That's only 10 tricks,
so we need to set up 2 more somehow. We can't possibly
avoid a diamond loser, so we have to get rid of our
spade losers somehow.
What are the options? Well, we can't ruff 2 spades in
dummy because of the annoying trump lead. One ruff
would boost our total to 11 tricks. What about playing
for the diamond ace or jack onside? That's no good,
because if we lead a diamond before ruffing a spade,
opps will surely play a 2nd trump, preventing the
ruff. And if we ruff a spade before touching diamonds,
opps will be able to cash a spade when they win the
diamond ace.
Hmmm.. How about the club suit? If club are 3-3, we
can set them up, but don't have an entry to reach
them. And Kx in an opps hand will again only set up
one extra trick.
There's always the spade finesse available. Yes,
surely that must be the best play. But it can't hurt
to play a diamond before touching spades or drawing
trumps. West might, after all, go up with the diamond
ace and shift to another suit. No such luck. west
follows low on the diamond lead, we put up the king in
dummy, and east takes this with the ace. Then a
strange thing happened. East, rather than returning a
trump, returned the 8 of clubs. Obviously, we must win
this perforce with the ace in hand, but what does this
tell us about the club distribution? Surely east would
not play a club if he had the king, giving us a chance
of no club loser if we held Ax in clubs. So west has
the club king. Now, if we assume east has the spade
queen, as we planned to take the spade finesse, that
means the spade finesse is no longer necessary! We
have time to play 2 rounds of spades and ruff a spade,
as west may hold 3 spades to the queen. No luck there,
but at this point, we don't even care! We ruff a club
back to hand, the king not falling, and draw trumps,
finding them 3-2. We now hold:
S -
H -
D Q6
C QT
S T
H Q8
D 9
C -
So, we have 4 cards in each hand. East holds the spade
queen and 3 other cards. West holds the club king and
3 other cards. What next? Well, think about it this
way. Surely one opponent still holds at least 2
diamonds. What happens if we play another trump at
this point, throwing the club 10 from dummy. Now
everyone holds 3 cards.
S -
H -
D Q6
C Q
S T
H 8
D 9
C -
West holds the club king and presumably 2 diamonds.
East holds the spade queen and presumably 2 diamonds.
Now, let's cash the last trump. West throws a diamond,
keeping his club king. That means our club queen in
dummy is useless, so we discard it. East also throws a
diamond, so it looks like our spade 10 is useless too.
Is all lost? Well, think about it this way. Everyone
now holds 2 cards. We hold:
S -
H -
D Q6
C -
S T
H -
D 9
C -
West still holds the club king and one other card.
East holds the spade queen and one other card. But, we
have 2 diamonds in dummy! So we play a diamond to our
queen, and lo and behold, the 6 of diamonds in dummy
is good! Making 6 on a double squeeze. West kept his
club king, east kept his spade queen, so nobody could
keep 2 diamonds (except dummy!). Well done! Of course,
anyone who took the spade finesse also made 6, but we
gave ourselves the extra chance of bringing down the
spade queen with west on the 3rd round of spades,
knowing that if east ended up holding the spade queen,
she could be squeezed out of it. Lucky defense, you
might say? Sure, but we had the tools necessary to
take advantage of it.
********************
You will find Mezzie doing his FireSide sessions on Tuesday
evenings at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.
James is available for on-line instruction, and is also
available to play in OKb tourneys. You can email him at:
james_mesbur@yahoo.com for more information.
=============================================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks to BobW for this one:
Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her
kindergarten students put on his boots? He asked for help and
she could see why. With her pushing and him pulling, the
boots still didn't want to go on. By the time the second boot
was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when
the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet."
She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier
pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She
managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the
boots back on - this time on the right feet. He then
announced, "These aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather
than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say
so?" like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him
pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They're my
brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn't know
if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace and
courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.
She then said, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I
stuffed them in the toes of my boots."
Her trial starts next week.
===================================================
MOOGAL'S FIRESIDE LOG
======================
Fireside News
Please make note of the new time for our Monday
night session. Bob (BRIDGBOY) will be enlightening
us, starting at 5:00 PM OKB time, a half hour earlier
than before. Note: all other evening sessions will
remain as before, starting at 5:30 PM.
**********************************************************
OKB TOURNEYS
Well done to all our Fireside friends who excelled in
the tourneys this past month!!
Wed Jan 1 19:00 2003
Rank Team Score Boards
1 irac/tuna 3.99 10
Sun Jan 19 18:00 2003
Rank Team Score Boards
1 Kaltica/moogal 72.16 12
Thu Jan 23 18:00 2003
Rank Team Score Boards
1 pomo/raija 70.70 11
****************************************************************
NOVICE MENTOR TOURNEYS
Congrats to Patricia and her partner Schammy, and to Bonnie
(TARA) and her partner Dixie for winning the two Novice Mentor
tourneys in January. Bonnie now has the distinction of being
the first winner of the NEW 3'rd Saturday of each month NM
tourney!
Thu Jan 9 19:00 2003
Rank Team Score Boards
1 Patricia/schammy 63.67 20
2 David100/joebacon 60.97 20
3 camster3/taxlady 59.89 20
4 iains/lagringa 58.92 20
5 Kaltica/loki 58.50 20
6 gandalf/jundith 57.71 20
7 pascha/Sarah 55.95 20
8 BadBoy/janwa 54.49 20
9 SIDR/Tara 52.25 19
10 andre55/JanetE/TournNov 52.18 16
11 macc2/moth 51.04 20
12 raven99/tom-v 50.28 20
Sat Jan 18 12:00 2003
Rank Team Score Boards
1 dixie/Tara 64.30 20
2 brdgmstr/JanetE 62.69 18
3 petitefl/ron1 58.54 19
4 CamilleH/LSMFB 56.25 20
5 graytona/TheBman 53.92 20
6 helenz/papapit 53.19 20
7 Evvy/stella 52.56 18
8 trondh/ximena 52.38 20
9 LFoss/moe_007 52.13 16
10 dkogut/Patricia 51.15 18
11 chrism/Phush87 51.02 20
12 jerryb/lynkos 50.73 20
13 grahamg/helrazor 50.01 18
***NEW! 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 13'th and on
the 15'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
January 12: Team ARROW: Arrow, Ojab, Norrie & Jflow50
Well done Team Arrow!
There was only one game this month, due to the postponement
on Super Bowl Sunday. The next game is Sunday, February 2,
and every two weeks thereafter. Mark your calendars with
this correction!
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!
****************************************************************
Many of us can point to a moment when we realized how much
enjoyment we got from this game of bridge. We will likely
never win a National Championship but maybe we pulled off a
squeeze for the first time or were the only ones to bid a
cold slam at our club. Hal (TODDY) shared such a moment with us:
Many years ago, our town in Albany, Georgia had a sectional ACBL
tournament. I was in charge, and entered a team with two ladies
from my wife's beginning ACBL club. They had no points at all,
my wife had about 10, and I had the largest total of points on
our team with about 50. We beat two serious minded teams of life
masters and finished second overall! Have loved team games ever
since!
--toddy
(What was the moment when you realized you would be a bridge
player for life? Email me and let's share the smiles!)
****************************************************************
Congratulations to Janie (BCCPAVE) on the birth of
her first grandchild, a little princess named Morgan
Eileigh Moser! Janie beamed that she is beautiful with
a headful of medium blonde hair.
Best wishes to the grandparents, parents and the rest
of the extended family!
****************************************************************
Eric Sandberg (ETSAND) ran across a bidding problem last winter
and submitted it to The Bridge World. His memory is fading fast
and he can't remember where it came from, but at the time he was
watching more bridge than actually playing, so it may have come
from bidding practice at Fireside.
From the January '03 issue of TBW:
mps, nv. vs. nv.
in fourth seat you hold:
K8 632 AQ72 AKQT
1H-P-P-?
your bid?
Michael Rosenberg (Zia's partner) wrote: "This problem should
have come with a government health warning and a couple of
sleeping pills."
If you are not already taking more than two medications everyday,
you might try it. The panel's choice with scores is listed at end
of newsletter.
****************************************************************'
I've just received my February Bridge Bulletin, and I take
great pride in noting that two of our commentators are in
the lists of big time finishers at the Phoenix NABC on
pages 22-23 -- Lynn Deas in the Sternberg Women's Board-a-
Match teams, and Bill Treble in the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs.
Firesiders are beaming.:)
****************************************************************
Have Cards, Will Double by Richard Pavlicek
Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?
All bridge players are invited to participate in this new
defensive-play contest for February. The stakes are high,
as each contract is doubled. All you have to do is choose
your next lead as East. Try it! It's fun.
http://www.rpbridge.net/7x17.htm
Results of the January bidding poll "Starry, Starry Night"
will be posted February 3.
Quiz: http://www.rpbridge.net/7y17.htm
Analyses: http://www.rpbridge.net/7y24.htm
Scores: http://www.rpbridge.net/7y23.htm
Overall: http://www.rpbridge.net/7w97.htm
Bot Results: http://www.rpbridge.net/7y97.htm
See if you can use logic to defy mathematical odds in this
deal from Richard's website:
This deal, from a recent practice match, illustrates the use of
bridge logic to choose the correct play. See if you can determine
declarer's rationale for making the winning guess. All four
players were experts.
Contract 4H by South
Both Vul
S AJT86
H 2
D K963
C A32
S 972 S KQ5
H T3 H A6
D AJT7 D Q82
C KQJ5 C T9876
S 43
H KQJ98754
D 54
C 4
Lead: C K
West North East South
4H
All Pass
The opening bid exhibits the modern preemptive strategy known
as the "rule of two, three or four": Overbid by two tricks
at unfavorable vulnerability; three tricks at equal
vulnerability; or four tricks at unfavorable. South can win
seven tricks on his own, so with both sides vulnerable (equal)
he contracted for 10 by bidding four hearts. This was passed
out.
West led the club king, won by the ace, and declarer led a
heart to his king as East ducked. The heart queen was led to
East's ace (declarer threw a spade from dummy), and East
returned a club which South ruffed. A spade was led to the
jack and queen, then another club was returned and ruffed.
Declarer cashed two more trumps to no avail. Then he faced the
crucial decision: Should he take a second spade finesse,
hoping that West has the king? Or should he lead a diamond,
hoping that West has the ace? The former is correct by
mathematical percentages; but declarer defied the odds. He won
the spade ace (just in case the king dropped), ruffed a spade
and led a diamond -- making four hearts. Was this a lucky
guess? If not, what was declarer's reasoning?
Declarer did some logical thinking: What situation am I
playing for? What could the opponents have done about it? If
West held the spade king, he could have foiled declarer's
opportunity in spades by playing the king on the first round
-- a play that a good player would find. (This would prevent
declarer from winning more than one spade trick because dummy
held no outside entry.) Why didn't West do this? Obviously,
because he does not have the spade king. Therefore, the only
chance is that West has the ace of diamonds.
Winning tip: A knowledge of mathematics may be helpful, but it
is no match for logical deduction.
****************************************************************
Registration is presently being accepted for the Seventh Annual
Junior Collegiate Team Championship to be held on Okbridge. This
annual event pits college and university bridge teams from around
the world in online competition. The Fifth Chair Foundation and
OKbridge are the organizers of the event, which will be held
Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, 2003.
For complete details including Conditions of Contest and
information on how to register your team go to:
http://www.fifthchair.org/college/2003announce.html
****************************************************************
Fireside commentator Bill (WINTAKA) Treble had a good
tournament at the Polar Bear Sectional in Winnipeg a couple of
weekends ago. In the four events he played in, he won three
of them -- two pairs events with Marlene Pontifex (NANTICA)
and Bob Todd (BOBTODD). He also combined with Bob Todd, Bob Kuz,
Jerry Mamer (MAMERJ) and Kash Andreychuk (KASH), to win all eight
matches in the Swiss Teams. As a matter of fact, the ONLY blemish
on Bill's perfect record was the Saturday afternoon session he
played with Colin (KALTICA) Ward. They roared out of the gate
with a blazing start but the boards flattened out at the end and
the opponents did some good things so they wound up sixth. As
Bill lamented, "some loads are just too tough to carry", as he
could be seen wincing from severe back pains that resulted from
his futile effort to drag Colin kicking and screaming into the
winner's circle. :)
Bill reports an amusing hand from his session with Colin,
where he held (no one vul):
S AJxx
H KJ
D J9xx
C xxx
His RHO opened 1NT, pass by Bill, 3NT on his left, 4C by Colin.
"Alert!", Bill shouts as his RHO, looking somewhat perplexed,
enquires about the meaning of the bid. "Well," Bill
responds, "Since I am a pretty fair bet to lead clubs against
any 3NT contract when I'm not sure what to do, this CAN'T be a
natural bid by partner (those familiar with Wintaka's ravings
will recognize CANT as the acronym "Clubs Against NoTrump"). I'm
not sure what exactly he has, but it sure isn't clubs. Walter
doubled, and now Bill, relieved of the obligation to bid, passed
it back around to Colin, who redoubled, clearly SOS. Bill
now bid 4D, pass, pass, double, all pass. LHO led a trump and
Colin laid down this superlative dummy:
S Txxx
H 98xx
D KQ8x
C x
No lie, that was REALLY what he had. The play went two
rounds of trumps, won on table and a spade to the Jack and Queen.
LHO now played back a heart to the Ace and a third trump
followed. Bill shrugged, played a spade to his Ace as the King
fell on his right, cashed the heart King as LHO played the ten,
went back to dummy with the T of spades and ruffed the last
heart, felling the Queen. Dummy now had a good spade and a boss
heart, so our heroes actually got out for a miraculous down ONE
on the hand, and after they left the table Kaltica was chortling
about racking up another great score.
"What do you mean?" Bill remonstrated, "A diamond lead carves up
3NT for down one.". "Yeah, right", Colin sneered, "But it's cold
on any other lead and you, the apostle of NEVER leading diamonds
against 3NT, were ACTUALLY going to lead one on THIS hand? You'd
have a better chance of selling me marshland in Florida than
you'd have of convincing me of THAT." "Every rule has it's
exception", Bill stated calmly, "and my LV (Little Voice) was
telling me to lead a diamond."
So what do you think, readers? Was Bill REALLY on the level when
he assured Colin that he was going to lead a diamond against 3NT,
or was he messing with Kaltica's mind? Easy to see why these two
get along together so well. :)
Here's another hand that Bill posed to one of his internet
partners, Pam Michael (PAMELA). Not vul against vul opponents
you hold:
S xx
H KTxxxx
D void
C AJT9x
Your RHO (Bill) opens 1S, you overcall 2H (yes, Michaels is
certainly an option), lefty raises to 2S, pass by partner, 3C on
your right, a help suit game try. Doesn't look as if partner has
much that's useful, so you pass and LHO now jumps to 4S.
Bill's opponent at the table, holding these cards, led a trump.
Pam embarked on a different tack, figuring dummy had a fit for
clubs to accept the game try, and led the ace of clubs, hoping to
establish a defensive crossruff in clubs and diamonds. On the
Ace of clubs lead, it looks as if this plan is going to work
like a charm, as dummy has:
S Qxx
H xxx
D A9xx
C Kxx
So you confidently place a LOW club on the table at trick
two, asking for a diamond shift when partner ruffs in. The King
is put up from dummy, partner FOLLOWS, and declarer SHOWS OUT,
pitching his singleton heart and making the rest, his hand being:
S AKJxxx
H Q
D KQJTx
C x
When questioned by his partner about his 3C bid after the game,
Bill answered, "Hey, we had to find SOME way of convincing the
opponents to let us play 4S, right?" At most other tables, West
bid 3D or jumped directly to game, and North bid 5C, finding a
good sacrifice as partner has AJx of hearts and Qxxx of clubs.
Bill recently sent Pam some CDs of his favourite music, and
she quickly became a Stan Rogers fan (Stan is also one of
Kaltica's heroes and Colin actually once saw him live at a
local bar before he hit the big time). One song that she really
enjoys is "White Squall", a story about a veteran of the Great
Lakes ships who sees one of his mates thrown overboard in a
raging storm. One of the verses goes:
"But I tell these kids a hundred times, don't take the Lakes
for granted.
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem
enchanted.
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the
wall,
As her lover's gone into a white squall."
When he told Pam the entire story of the above hand, she
messaged him back with the following revision to Stan's lyrics.
"But I tell these kids a hundred times, don't take Bill T
for granted.
He'll turn your top to a bottom board so fast he seems
enchanted."
****************************************************************
While Pamela echoes many of our thoughts concerning Bill's
bridge prowess, the prevailing wisdom is that it is best not
to consult him concerning the temperature!
A couple of weeks ago, Bill dropped by on his lunch break at
Colin's home in Winnipeg. Bill has grown up in these parts,
whereas Colin is an "import" from Ontario. Colin asked what
the weather was like outside and the reply was "crisp"
"Oh" Colin replied bleakly, and when his dog Cora barked to be
taken for a walk he yelled, "Denise! Our Corgi wants to go
out!". About three years previously, Bill came in and told
Colin the same thing, and out he went, never to repeat that
experience.
According to Colin, if it were, indeed, "crisp" outside,
Cora would have been barking to NOT be let out. Time to put
our local newspapers to a far better use than READING.
Here's the breakdown on the quaint Manitoban expressions for
the weather as furnished by Bill, with a translation for
non-native Manitobans provided by Colin for the benefit of
other outlanders:
"Brisk" -- usually refers to the late fall or early winter,
where you wear a light parka or heavy fall outerwear
and be able to live to tell the tale.
Brisk = The Byrd expedition died in a warmer
clime.
"Nip in the air" --full winter parka, the warmest you
have. The type of weather kids love and parents
hate
Nip in the air = Those are Innu you see
heading southward.
"Fresh" -- same as above but with one or two layers
of clothing underneath the parka, a long-sleeved shirt
and a heavy sweater as well.
Fresh = Time to consider the advisability
of a ski mask.
"Raw" -- you do not go outside with ANY part of your
flesh exposed whatever. You bundle yourself up like
a mummy before you venture out the door.
Raw = Proper etiquette demands a suicide note
before venturing outside.
"Crisp" -- going outdoors is NOT an option. It's time
to be a couch potato and hope the heating system is
working like a charm. Either that or make hasty
arrangements to reschedule that winter jaunt down
to Mexico, it could be that NOW is the time to do
that.
Crisp = All activity stops--at the molecular
level. In numeric terms: -10. Kelvin.
Bill's friend Sharron added her learned-from-experience
opinion:
I've seen what Billy wears in the winter. For all categories
except "crisp", he wears a light jacket (spring and fall
type jacket). On the days that qualify as "crisp" he wears
the same light jacket but adds gloves! I value his bridge
judgments, but will not be consulting him further on
matters concerning the weather or my wardrobe. :)
****************************************************************
Wish me luck, I'm off to the Houston Regional next week to
play with Eric (ETSAND) over the weekend. Hopefully I'll
have some fun stories to relate next month. Until then, be
happy....and see you at Fireside!
Hugs....Janice
P.S. As promised above, here are the expert poll responses
to Eric's bidding problem:
Double = 100
Pass = 90
2C = 60
2NT = 30
1NT = 20
2D = 10
*********************************************************
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.
**********************************************************
February Events: (All times Pacific)
===============================
NOVICE/MENTOR TOURNEY:
Thursday, February 13, 6:00 P.M. and Saturday,
February 15, 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. February 2 and 16.
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
Hearing about a dinosaur alive in the rain forests of
South America, a professor launches a scientific expedition.
After several weeks he stumbles upon a little man wearing
a loincloth, standing near a 300-foot-long dead dinosaur.
The scientist can't believe his eyes. "Did you kill this
dinosaur?" he asks.
"Yep," replies the rain-forest native.
"But it's so big and you're so small! How did you kill it?"
"With my club," the primitive fellow answered.
"How big is your club?"
"Well, there are about 100 of us..."
========================================================
BOB'S BITS
==========
Three of a Major over 1NT Openings
Many players use 3 of a major over 1NT to indicate 5-5 holdings
that are either game forcing or invitational hand types. Last
month we talked about making Stayman work even with poor hands so
we do not have to guess and perhaps play on a 5-2 fit when a 4-4
major fit is possible.
When partner opens 1NT you find yourself looking at a hand
pattern that has game values but may be unsuitable for NT play.
You have something like this:
(1a) S 7
H K83
D AJ965
C KT83
or
(1b) S K83
H 6
D KJ965
C AT83
You may be able to make 3NT, 4 of a major, perhaps 5, or even 6
of a minor suit. How does your partnership handle this hand
pattern when you have opened 1NT? Do you guess and call 3NT and
hope a major suit lead will not see the opponents taking the
first 5 or 6 tricks, only to discover after the hand is over you
had an easy game or even slam?
Most players today readily open 1NT with all balanced 15-17
hands. It is common to see a hand like this:
(1a) S Q65
H A4
D KQT7
C A942
(1b) S AJ642
H Q94
D A4
C KJ7
On hand (a) your side is cold for 5 of either minor most days,
and hand (b) you would prefer to play 4S. In fact the hands could
even look like this:
(1a) S Q93
H AJT4
D KT2
C AJ9
In this last example 3NT will be fortunate to make 9 tricks but
4H is quite likely to make 10 tricks on a 4-3 fit.
Let's suggest that when you have these 5-4-3-1 hand patterns
with exactly 5-4 minor suits, you call 3 of the short major
showing this exact pattern. Now the NT opening hand knows your
hand shape has a flaw for NT play. They can convert to a number
of different games. While it may be true that any game will
fail, at least you have a fighting chance. Do you think you
will be any worse off than the pair at the other table who
guessed to play 3NT? This method also allows your side to
reach a slam when others are going down in 3NT or struggling to
produce 9 tricks. You have the advantage of playing in a
5-3 major suit fit, or 4-3, from the right side of the table.
********************
You can email Bob at: bobmcphee@hotmail.com
==============================================
GIGGLE BREAK
Thanks again to Benson for another great giggle:
A young man who was also an avid golfer found himself with a
few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured if he hurried
and played very fast, he could get in nine holes before he had
to head home. Just as he was about to tee off an old
gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could
accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being
able to say no, he allowed the old gent to join him.
To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't
hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't
waste much time. Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and
the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a
large pine tree right in front of his ball - and directly
between his ball and the green.
After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot the old
man finally said, "You know, when I was your age I'd hit the
ball right over that tree."
With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung
hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree
trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where
it had originally lay.
The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was
your age that pine tree was only three feet
=======================================================
TREBLE'S TABLE TALK
===================
Hodgepodge
During our recent sectional and local club games in the last
few weeks, I've been treated to a number of enchanting hands
that illustrate the fine line between exhilaration and despair
at bridge. Four hands in particular grabbed my attention, and
show the value of taking the 'pause that refreshes' and looking
deeper into the situation instead of reflexing out what seems to
be the automatic bid or play.
The first hand was one that I played on Monday night and got a
fairly decent result on. One of my friends, who's been playing
duplicate bridge for three scant years but has made huge strides
and has a wonderful enthusiasm for the game, played the same
direction as me and asked my opinion on the hand. We held:
S AQTxx
H QJ
D Qx
C AKxx
At my friend Marielle's table, she opened 1S and her partner
responded a forcing 1NT. She jumped to 3C and reached
4S opposite partner's:
S Kx
H 9xx
D AT8xxx
C xx
There was simply too much work to do on the hand, and the
contract failed by a trick.
Our auction started out a bit differently, as my RHO opened
a weak 2H. I briefly considered doubling and then bidding
spades next time around, but I rejected that choice because
of the nebulous values in the red suits, and settled on
a 2S overcall, which ended the proceedings.
This hand, particularly with the first, unimpeded auction,
illustrates a misconception that many people have about
simple new suit rebids by opener. They feel that with
18 HCP, the hand is too strong for just a 2C rebid after
partner's forcing 1NT response. Whereas rebidding hir
original suit or raising a suit partner has responded in
to the two level shows 12 to a bad 16 points, the range
when opener introduces a new suit at the cheapest level
is somewhat wider, and could be as much as 18 points.
Renowned bridge teacher Audrey Grant, in her Club Series,
specifically describes the range of opener's hand in
the auction 1S:1NT:2C as 13 to 18 points, and that a jump
shift MUST be 19 or more points, willing to play in game
opposite a bare 6 point response in partner's hand. I'd
venture to say that most experts would fudge this just a bit
and use their judgment to go with the more aggressive view on
SOME 18 point hands.
My experience is that while most advanced players and experts
are aware of the requirements for a jump shift by opener,
newcomers, and even a substantial number of intermediate
players, are rather fuzzy on this. The confusion lies, I
think, in that they KNOW that in a sequence like 1H:1S,
opener can jump to 3H, hir original suit, or 3S, strongly
raising responder's suit, on 16 to 18 points. If we
are supporting responder's suit or showing a long, strong suit
of our own, we have enough strength in the probable trump
suit to be at the three level, and besides, these actions show
good hands but are non-forcing.
The glitch is that a lot of people regard a jump in a new
suit as a similar action, and will do THAT on similar values,
16-18, that they'd have for the 3H and 3S jumps. However,
since a playable trump suit is NOT a given when opener jumps
to a new suit, he needs a much better hand to justify what is
essentially a game-forcing bid. Since responder must continue
on to game if hi cannot preference either of opener's suits,
the jump shift must be a sufficiently good hand to play game
opposite a minimum response.
Now, is THIS 18 point hand worth a jump shift? I don't
really think so. In borderline hands such as these, choose
the aggressive course when the hand is extremely shapely and/or
the points are concentrated in the long suits. I'd jump shift
on something like:
S AKJ9x
H ATx
D x
C KQJx
OR a hand like
S AKQxx
H Kx
D x
C AQTxx
These 18 counts are quite powerful in trick taking ability
and don't require a lot from responder to visualize game
coming home.
The hand WE are looking at, though, is NOT that good, since
opener doesn't have the body in hir core suits that would
we'd expect from a jump shift. Put it this way, partner had
an Ace AND a useful card in spades and game STILL didn't make.
Also, if our opposite number has a truly wretched hand and
passes 2C, that is really not going to be a revolting
development, and could easily be the best contract. After
a 2C rebid, the partnership would have avoided game easily
with this auction:
1S 1NT*
2C 2D
2NT pass (or 3D)
Opener's 2NT would show a moderately unbalanced hand of
16-18 points, and responder would know there aren't enough
combined values for game.
Now for a hand that I messed up from the same game. As
South, I picked up:
S AQxxxx
H x
D xx
C KJxx
The auction proceeds:
East South West North
1H 1S 2D 4S
5C pass 5D pass
5H pass pass double
pass pass pass
Even though I had two potential club tricks, I elected not
to double 5C, as I had no defense in the red suits and that
was the ONLY contract I had any confidence of defeating,
especially since partner's jump to 4S could easily be
preemptive and doesn't require a lot of high card points,
just good support and some distribution.
I briefly fingered the killing lead on this hand, then put
it back and led the mundane Ace of spades, after which the
contract can't be defeated.
There are actually some clues to the winning defense on this
hand. First, since we have a ten card fit or better in spades,
we DON'T have more than one winner in that suit, and one of
the opponents could easily be void in the suit. Second,
partner doubled 5H, but FAILED to double 5D, as he would have
with stuff in BOTH red suits. So dummy may well have solid
diamonds. Third, partner should have at least one trump
winner for the double. WE have two potential tricks in clubs.
If we can REMOVE declarer's cards in diamonds before trumps
are drawn, we should be able to collect our winners in the
club suit. Taking all this into account, we should reject the
spade lead and shoot out our doubleton diamond instead, trying
to kill dummy's long suit. The entire hand is:
North
S KJxxx
H Axxx
D xxx
West C x East
S xx S void
H 9x H KQJT8x
D AKQJxx D xx
C xxx South C AQTxx
S AQxxxx
H x
D xx
C KJxx
On the Ace of spades lead, declarer ruffed, forced out
partner's trump ace, and was now in control, taking five
hearts, six diamonds and the Ace of clubs for making six.
On a diamond lead, however, declarer is toast. North gets
out a second round of the suit when he gets in with the trump
ace. Declarer is able to take ONE club pitch on the third
round of diamonds, but on the fourth round of the suit, North
ruffs in, and East is left with two clubs to lose and is down
either one or two.
The winning defense seems rather obscure, but the key is
partner's non-double of 5D, which makes it imperative
that we maroon declarer from dummy's winners in that suit.
Third hand up is:
S J8xx
H Axxx
D xx
C AKQ
You are charmed to hear partner open 1S, and you respond
the Jacoby 2NT, a forcing raise in spades. Opener now bids 3C
to show short clubs, and it's your move. Another friend asked
me about this hand, and she bid 3H, heard 4D from partner and
now bid 4S, which finished the auction. I ran this hand by
about three or four other people, and their choices ranged
from an immediate signoff in 4S over partner's 3C, to a mildly
encouraging 3S or the more aggressive 3H cuebid. Despite
partner's shortness in our AKQ of clubs, this may still be a
good hand if opener DOESN'T have four hearts. If partner has
only three of them, your two club winners will take care of
any heart losers opener might have. In fact, partner's hand
was:
S KQT9x
H Jxx
D AKTx
Cx
6S wraps, as there are no rounded losers and declarer can
ruff the third and fourth diamonds with the 8 and J of spades,
losing only to the trump ace.
However, move a diamond from partner's hand over to hearts,
changing it to:
S KQT9x
H Jxxx
D AKT
C x
and slam has no play at all. It's not clear that even 3S by
responder will get hir side to slam, as opener has no extras
and will probably sign off in 4S. Once my friend chose the 3H
cuebid, however, I think she was committed to taking another
cuebid, which gets hir side to 6S on a momentum auction:
1S 2NT*
3C 3H
4D 5C
5D 6S
Even here, it isn't clear-cut to bid the slam, as responder
has to depend on there not being two levels in the trump suit.
If hi signs off in 5S over 5D, opener may be too concerned
about heart losers to forge on to the slam.
One of our top local players elected to have opener bid a
second suit naturally over their forcing raise, and they'd be
able to reach slam rather quickly:
1S 2NT*
3D 3H
4D 4NT
5S 6S
Once responder hears partner has nine cards in the pointeds,
he can be certain there are NO rounded suit losers, and the
later diamond cuebid is all he needs to launch into keycard.
Finally, this was a matchpoint decision I had in our recent
sectional, playing with Marlene Pontifex (Nantica) against two
top players, Bob Todd and Kai Cheng. As West, with both sides
vul, I held:
S AJTx
H xxx
D Jx
C K9xx
East South West North
1D 1H dbl 1NT
pass pass ?
Kai was North, an extremely fine card player whose bidding
is sound but lacks the adventurous spirit.
Bob is usually a solid bidder but will sometimes take a
view. The decision I had to make when 1NT came around to
me is whether or not to double. I could trust partner's
first seat opening bid, for certain. As for the opponents,
I was pretty sure that Kai would not bid 1NT on less than
full values after my negative double. So it was quite
possible that RHO could be rather light for his 1H overcall.
The problem with doubling is the unappealing heart holding.
On a bad day, the hearts might run and the opponents might
chalk up a make in 1NT doubled. Even if we ARE beating 1NT,
I have to consider what I'd do if they ran out to 2H. I
finally passed on the theory that if RHO HAD come in with a
rambunctious 1H overcall, that action was probably not going
to be duplicated by the other Souths in the field, and that
a two or three trick set in 1NT with them vul would be a
pretty decent result for the white hats.
It turned out that Bob had bid 1H on:
S Qxx
H ATxxx
D Tx
C Jxx
and we beat 1NT three tricks. We got a 11.5 out of 12
matchpoints for down three, as very few players were dredging
up an overcall on that pile of dung. Also, the heart holding
was Qx of declarer's hand and KJx with partner. Move the J
of hearts from partner's hand to RHO's, and we may not even
beat 1NT.
IF the opponents had scurried out to 2H, who do you want to
double, me with 9xx or partner with an apparently onside KJx?
The moral of this hand is recognizing this might be an
unduplicated auction at the other tables and that the heroic
and bloodthirsty double of 1NT is NOT absolutely required to
get us a good result.
That's our collection of odds and sods for this month, we'll
be back at the grindstone for the March issue. See you then!
********************
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
Thank you to Justaboz for these:
1. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach
that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for
weeks.
2. Some people are like Slinkies . . . not really good for
anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one
tumble down the stairs.
3. I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get
to the end and I think, "Well, that's not going to happen."
4. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in
hospitals dying of nothing.
5. The other night I ate at a real family restaurant. Every
table had an argument going.
6. Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days
no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
7. According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they
notice about a woman is their eyes, and women say the first
thing they notice about men is they're a bunch of liars.
8. Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
9. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no
attention to criticism.
10. Have you noticed that a slight tax increase costs you two
hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty
cents?
11. In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird. Now
the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
12. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I
have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to
the first.
13. There is a theory which states that if ever anybody
discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here,
it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even
more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which
states that this has already happened.
14. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but
it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
===================================================
AND FINALLY KALTICA
===================
The Firesides: Past, Present and Future
****************************************
A little more than five years ago the Firesides started
when Richard "OneDown" Ternouth told me about Practice Mode
on OKBridge. The table server could see all the hands,
everyone could talk back and forth with spectators and the
hands would become visible as soon as the auction was done.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that this "operating
theatre" environment would be perfect for teaching bridge
bidding. It certainly sounded like a great idea--until we
actually tried it. The first outings were unmitigated
disasters compounded by bad connections, frequent and
repeated disconnections, massive confusion ("What is going
on here?"), a madding (not to say maddening) crowd, premature
departures and unfamiliarity with some of the quirks--not
the least of which was the ability of one player to
accidentally bid for another!
After these two fiascos there almost wasn't a third
Fireside! The Fireside's saviors were Ste, Cavu, Believer,
and the rest of the volunteer Table Managers who stepped
forward to take the organizational burden off the shoulders
of the Commentators. Sheesh. You'd think this son of an
air force officer would already know the value of a co-pilot!
Later another saving grace came along: OKScript.
Mike Mardesich's wonderful program allows both Commentator
and Table Manager to automate many of the segues, sayings
and greetings. Without these macros, the task of orientating
dozens of newcomers would be impossible.
Progress continued with Sara and Jan launching this
Fireside Chat. Tuna told us that this is the best online
bridge publication around and I, for one, agree. Between
the giggle breaks, news, personal glimpses and articles,
the Fireside Chat seems to strike a wonderful balance
between education and entertainment. In essence, it
makes us a family.
Innovation continues. Today we are announcing our
latest venture: Lesson Test sites. These are web sites
where you can go to learn and test your knowledge of
specific subjects. For example, did you know that
Samuel Stayman did NOT invent the convention that bears
his name? Learn more about it out at:
http://www.firesides.net/stayman.htm
...and then take the online test at:
http://www.firesides.net/staymantest.htm
Would you like to test your knowledge of Standard
American bidding? Try your luck at:
http://www.firesides.net/sarctest.htm
...or, to explore the eccentricities of SAYC:
http://www.firesides.net/sayctest.htm
Or perhaps your tastes run towards 2/1-GF? Not
a problem. Read the 2/1-GF Spectrum system notes at:
http://www.firesides.net/spectrum.htm
...and take the test at:
http://www.firesides.net/spectrumtest.htm
Suppose you transfer and rebid 4NT. Quantitative,
right? Well...better check out our Jacoby Transfer
Lesson Test site at:
http://www.firesides.net/jtrans.htm
Would you like a very simple rule as to when
4NT is Blackwood and when it is quantitative? One
which will preclude you from EVER wondering whether
or not 4NT is Blackwood? Take this Lesson Test:
http://www.firesides.net/rkc.htm
Now, I know many will be skeptical about this
next one: Did you know that it is possible to bid
slams WITHOUT Blackwood? And without fear of being
off 2 Aces? Hard to believe, right? But it's true!
You can read about yourself at:
http://www.firesides.net/cues.htm
...or you could check out this hand from
a recent mentoring game:
MPs North Dlr: North
S AKQJ6 Vul: Both
H J North East South West
West D T762 East
S C 853 S T9875 1S Pass Pass Dble
H KQ97652 H AT3 Pass 3C Pass 3H
D AK43 South D Q Pass 4H Pass 4S
C K7 S 432 C AQ42 Pass 5C Pass 5D
H 84 Pass 5NT Pass 7H
D J985
C JT96
When 1S came around to West he was too strong for
3H--which shows about 15-17 in the passout seat. The
void and the seven card Heart suit would convinced West
to double first. 3C was encouraging so 3H was forcing.
Over 4H West could have cuebid 4S and, over 5C, 5D.
Now comes the critical call: 5NT, cuebidding a
top honour in trumps (Hearts). This would allow West
to drive to 7H.
What is it that we keep telling you? Oh, right.
I remember now:
"Easy game, bridge." :)
**********************
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 again to Pringle for this giggle:
Lessons we can learn from a dog
If a dog was your teacher, you would learn stuff like:
When loved ones come home,always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in our face
to be pure ecstasy.
When it's in your interest, practice obedience.
Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your whole body.
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt
thing and pout... run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and
nuzzle them gently. .
=====================================================
Fireside Chat Issues
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Ocbober, 2001
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November, 2001
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December, 2001
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January, 2002
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February, 2002
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March, 2002
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April, 2002
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May, 2002
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June, 2002
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July, 2002
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August, 2002
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September, 2002
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October, 2002
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November, 2002
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December, 2002
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January, 2003
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February, 2003
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March, 2003
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April, 2003
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May, 2003
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June, 2003
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July, 2003
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August, 2003
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September, 2003
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October, 2003
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November, 2003
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December, 2003
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January, 2004
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February, 2004
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March, 2004
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April, 2004
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May, 2004
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June, 2004
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July, 2004
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August, 2004
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September, 2004
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October, 2004
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November, 2004
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December, 2004
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