135

BRIDGE Number One Hundred and Thirty-Five

March 2014

Bernard Magee’s Acol Bidding Quiz You are West in the auctions below, playing ‘Standard Acol’ with a weak no-trump (12-14 points) and 4-card majors.



1. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A K 4 2 N ♥ A K 4 2 W E ♦ 7 6 S ♣ 5 4 3

West North East South ?



2. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 4 3 N ♥ A J 4 3 W E ♦ 6 5 S ♣ A K J 5 2

West North East South 1♦ Pass ?



4. Dealer East. Game All. ♠ K Q 3 N ♥ K Q 3 W E ♦ Q J 10 2 S ♣ 9 8 7

West North East South 2NT Pass ?



7. Dealer East. Game All. ♠ A K 7 6 N ♥ 7 2 W E ♦ A K 8 3 S ♣ 9 8 3

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass ? 8. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 2 N ♥ A K 6 5 4 3 W E ♦ A K 4 S ♣ 8 7 5

10. Dealer North. N/S Game. ♠ J 4 3 2 N ♥ A 6 5 W E ♦ A K Q 3 S ♣ 9 7

West North East South 1♣ 1♠ 2♣ ?

11. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 3 2 N ♥ 8 7 2 W E ♦ 9 5 4 3 S ♣ 8 7 6 5

5. Dealer North. N/S Game. ♠ 3 2 N ♥ K J 10 9 6 W E ♦ 7 6 S ♣ J 9 8 7



West North East South 1NT Dbl Redbl1 ? 1 The start of a wriggle – opener bids 2♣...

West North East South 3NT1 Pass ? 1 Gambling 3NT – a weak hand with a long and solid minor

West North East South 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3♠ Pass ?

9. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A K 8 5 4 N ♥ K Q 3 2 W E ♦ K 7 S ♣ 6 2

12. Dealer West. Game All. ♠ 6 2 N ♥ 5 4 W E ♦ K 6 S ♣ A Q J 6 5 3 2





3. Dealer East. N/S Game. ♠ A 2 N ♥ 4 W E ♦ K Q 7 6 5 4 3 S ♣ 6 5 2



West North East South 3♣ Pass ?

West North East South 1♥ Pass Pass 2♦ ?



Answers on page 6





6. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ 3 2 N ♥ A Q 8 3 2 W E ♦ A K 10 9 S ♣ A 5

Answers on page 9



West North East South 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♥ Pass 3♣ Pass ? Answers on page 11





West North East South 1♣ 1♥ 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 3♣ Pass 3NT Dbl ? Answers on page 13

CROATIA

NEW 7-21 May 2014

Bernard Magee

From

£1399 sharing

and his supporting team

HOTEL EDEN, ROVINJ Rovinj is situated on the western coast of Istria in Croatia, the largest peninsula on the Adriatic coastline, a one hour drive from Trieste, 2.5 hours from Zagreb. Boasting a rich, natural and cultural heritage with beautiful landmarks such as the old town, the Golden Cape Park Forest, protected islands and coastal area, Rovinj has many loyal visitors from all parts of the globe and has developed into a popular tourist destination. The climate is warm and semi-dry, with more than four months a year without wind. Such a mild microclimate is characteristic only to Mali Lošinj and the Brijuni archipelago. There are 134 sunny days in a year, which makes Rovinj the third sunniest spot in the Adriatic. At the same time, it is the least cloudy place. Hotel Eden is wedged right between a peninsula covered by a one hundred year old park forest and a quiet cove. The old city centre of Rovinj is just a 20 minute walk away. Rooms: All rooms are equipped with a direct phone line, LCD SAT TV, mini-bar, safe, bathtub or shower, toilet, hair dryer, balcony, air conditioning/heating. Suites are available, details on application. Singles: There is a sole occupancy supplement of £10 per room per night. If you are a single bridge player, please do not worry about being on your own. We will always be able to find you a partner and you can always have a game. As well as there being other singles in the same situation as yourself, there is the Mr Bridge team who will be happy to partner you if required. Entertainment and excursions: In the hotel, an evening programme of entertainment with live music and dance shows is available for those not wanting to play bridge. During the day and planned around the bridge programme there will be excursions to Venice, Pula, Postjona Caves and Opatija to name just a few. Beaches & Pools: The playful curves of the pool offer refreshment in the summer with a salty breeze coming from the natural stone and pebble beach only a few steps away. The vast outdoor pool will cool you down after a day of lounging in the freely available deck chairs. There is an indoor pool for invigorating laps or afternoon refreshments. Swirl the aches away with massaging water currents in one of the hotel’s whirlpools. Terms and conditions apply. Packaged with and bookings by Tunisia First ATOL 5933. Details of the bridge programme ( 01483 489961

BRIDGE

Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH ( 01483 489961 [email protected] www.mrbridge.co.uk shop: www.mrbridge.co.uk/ mrbridge-shop Managing Editor Mr Bridge Bridge Consultant Bernard Magee [email protected] Cartoons & Illustrations Marguerite Lihou www.margueritelihou.co.uk Commissioning Editor David Huggett davidhuggett @mrbridge.co.uk Customer Services Catrina Shackleton [email protected] Technical Consultant Tony Gordon Typesetting & Design Ruth Edmondson [email protected] Proof Readers Tony & Jan Richards Richard Wheen Hugh Williams Office Manager Rachel Everett [email protected] Events & Cruises ( 01483 489961 Rosie Baker [email protected] Jessica Galt [email protected] Megan Riccio [email protected] Sophie Pierrepont [email protected] Clubs & Charities Maggie Axtell [email protected] Address Changes ( 01483 485342 Elizabeth Bryan [email protected]

BRIDGE March 2014

FEATURES

ADVERTISEMENTS

1 Bidding Quiz

2 Croatia with Mr Bridge

4 Mr Bridge

3 Bridge Events at Denham Grove

6 Bidding Quiz Answers (1-3) by Bernard Magee

3 Rubber / Chicago Bridge Events

9 Bidding Quiz Answers (4-6) by Bernard Magee

4 Mr Bridge Just Duplicate Bridge

11 Bidding Quiz Answers (7-9) by Bernard Magee

6 2014 Festive Season with Mr Bridge

13 Bidding Quiz Answers (10-12) by Bernard Magee

7 Mail Order Form

by Bernard Magee

14 Unlicensed Gambling by Richard Wheen 16 Why is 4NT Better Than 4♣ for Ace Asking by Julian Pottage 18 David Stevenson Answers Your Questions 21 Declarer Play Quiz by David Huggett 22 March 2014 by Jeremy Dhondy 23 Defence Quiz by Julian Pottage 24 Wise Wynnfryth’s Judgement by David Bird 26 Mary’s Third Lesson by Liz Dale 27 The Diaries of Wendy Wensum 28 Julian Pottage Answers Your Questions 31 Bridge and Travel Tips 34 Opener Bidding No-Trumps by Andrew Kambites 37 Opener Bidding No-Trumps Quiz by Andrew Kambites 39 Readers’ Letters 41 Opener Bidding No-TrumpsAnswers by Andrew Kambites 43 Declarer Play Answers by David Huggett

Denham, Bucks, UB9 5DG

7 Denham Grove Filming Weekend 2015 8 Bridge Event Booking Form 8 Bridge Events with Bernard Magee 9 Bridge Events at the Ardington Hotel

10 Bernard Magee DVDs 11 Bridge Events at Chatsworth Hotel

28-30 March – £199 Just Duplicate Bridge 4-6 April – £169 Rubber / Chicago Diana Holland 4-6 July – £199 Just Duplicate Bridge

12 Bernard Magee’s Tutorial Software

Full Board No Single Supplement

13 Bridge Events at Elstead Hotel

Booking Form on page 8.

15 Bridge Events at Blunsdon House Hotel 17 Genesis Choice Travel Insurance 19 Duplicate Bridge Rules Simplified 23 Tips for Better Bridge 26 We Are Survivors Tea Towel 32 Global Travel Insurance 36 Better Hand Evaluation

RUBBER / CHICAGO EVENTS Denham Grove Bucks UB9 5DG

4-6 April with Diana Holland

37 S R Designs Bridge Tables 38 Tunisia with Mr Bridge 38 QPlus 11 39 Stamps 40 Bridge Events at The Olde Barn Hotel 40 Charity Events

44 Catching Up by Sally Brock

42 Cruise into Summer on board Voyager

45 Seven Days by Sally Brock

43 Mr Bridge Playing Cards

47 Defence Quiz Answers by Julian Pottage

Denham Grove

48 Cruise to Classical Greece and Byzantium with Voyages to Antiquity

All correspondence should be addressed to Mr Bridge. Please make sure that all letters and e-mails carry full postal addresses and telephone numbers.

The Olde Barn Marston, Lincs NG32 2HT

29-31 August with Diana Holland

£169 Full Board No Single Supplement Booking Form on page 8.

Page 3

JUST DUPLICATE BRIDGE

DONATION

I can clear most of my surplus or second-hand products by sending out emails to local clubs and/or bridge players.

27-29 June £169 The Olde Barn

To be able to include you I will need an email address, so if I do not have yours, do send it right away to: [email protected]

4-6 July £199 Denham Grove 11-13 July £169 The Olde Barn 18-20 July £199 Blunsdon House Hotel Elstead Hotel Bournemouth BH1 3QP

1-3 August £169 The Olde Barn

14-16 March £199 Blunsdon House Hotel 14-16 March £169 The Olde Barn 21-23 March £199 Chatsworth Hotel 28-30 March £199 Denham Grove 28-30 March £199 Elstead Hotel

Chatsworth Hotel Worthing BN11 3DU

12-14 September £169 The Olde Barn 10-12 October £199 Blunsdon House Hotel 10-12 October £199 Elstead Hotel 17-19 October £169 The Olde Barn The Olde Barn Hotel Marston, Lincs NG32 2HT

24-26 October £199 Chatsworth Hotel

25-27 April £199 Blunsdon House Hotel 9-11 May £199 Blunsdon House Hotel 16-18 May £169 The Olde Barn 30 May – 1 June £199 Chatsworth Hotel 13-15 June £169 The Olde Barn

Blunsdon House Hotel Blunsdon, Swindon SN26 7AS

Full Board – No Single Supplement Booking Form on page 8. Please note there are no seminars, set hands or prizes at these events.

Page 4

CLEARANCE

If this copy of BRIDGE has been posted to you and you are not yet a subscriber, it will be your last free hard copy. Up until the middle of last year, BRIDGE had been posted free, but ever-rising postal rates makes this impossible. Consider the introductory subscription rate of £20 per twelve copies as being like a donation. Please complete the subscription form on page 7 or telephone using a credit or debit card. This process will continue for the next nine months until every non-subscriber has had a final goodbye copy.

GOING UP If you want to save on postage, especially as postal rates go up again this month, try Clive Goff’s discounted stamp service. Value supplied in two stamps, combined to make up the 50p 2nd class rate, 2nd class to you at 41p. 1st class 60p, only 50p to you. Available in lots of 100. ( 0208 422 4906.

DUPLICATE I am still committed to the promotion of my Just Duplicate Bridge weekend events, see the adjacent advert. They are all full board and include a traditional Sunday Roast.

DAMAGED I have a quantity of the first set of Bernard Magee’s DVDs without cellophane wrappers and/or boxes. These are to clear at £30 including delivery, reduced from £100. This can be done using my online shop. www.mrbridge.co.uk/ mrbridge-shop/ All sets of six are guaranteed complete and unused. For multiple orders, please telephone before placing your order as priority will be given to individual orders. You may also order by telephone or by post. I tested this offer on Scottish readers. Printed below is the reaction of Mrs Jill R Stewart, of Oban, and hers is typical. I am writing to let you know how pleased I am with the Bernard Magee box set of DVDs. You did explain that the outer carton and DVD covers were damaged but, of course, the DVDs themselves are fine. As a Scot who knows a good deal when she sees one, this must be the bargain of the year.

CROATIA Bernard Magee is going to this lovely country, 7-21 May, £1399 half board, £10 per night single supplement. See the advert on page 2. BRIDGE March 2014

PICK ‘N’ MIX

All three series of six DVDs are listed on page 10 with thumbnail descriptions of their content. Playing time is an average of 90 minutes. The wonderful thing about a tutorial DVD is that viewers have a permanent record which they can re-visit over and over again. Individual DVDs, £25 each. Boxed sets of six, £100. Pick and mix. Six for only £105 including postage.

DENHAM EVENTS Bernard Magee, pictured above, will host both the Twixmas and New Year’s Eve Events at Denham Grove this year. Be sure to book early. The fifth in the series of these six part filmed events is scheduled for Denham Grove next January. Three night’s full board, six lectures, six sessions of supervised play. £399 per person, see the advert on page 7. A really interesting experience that you will never forget and something you should be part of a least once in a lifetime.

EARLY BIRD Bernard Magee will be sailing from Mumbai to Jordan on Aegean Odyssey, pictured above, next March on his 100th cruise as a Mr Bridge host. Fares from £1695 per person and there are special opportunities for early booking singles. BRIDGE March 2014

VERY MODERN

TELL ME ABOUT IT

VOYAGER

Readers may have noticed a new advertisement for Genesis Choice, which first appeared in our last issue. Genesis Choice are currently advertising their travel insurance in BRIDGE for the first time and as part of a special promotion they will be giving Policy holders a very special type of traceable luggage tag in appreciation of their business. To re-coin a phrase, ‘The Acumen Luggage Tracker Tag does what it says on the label’.

The now not so new town of Milton Keynes has a district known as Blue Bridge, presumably named after the railway bridge, built over 140 years ago, using the local blue clay bricks. It is now a listed structure of special interest.

Good news. We have a new bridge room onboard m.v. Voyager, pictured below. I am now able to recommend readers to book with real confidence. Have a look at the advert on page 42 and if a cruise takes your fancy, give my office a ring and we will send you the 2014/2015 brochure. ( 01483 489961.

With a unique bar code on the label, you can add your contact details online. Without the security risk of putting ones name and address on a suitcase, an owner can be quickly and easily identified and contacted wherever their bag is found. The tag is not limited to air travel, but can be used by all and any travel services worldwide. The great thing is that if you register bag ‘A’ and the on the next trip decide to take Bag ‘B’, it is no problem as in a matter of seconds online, you are able to re-assign your personal information to the new bag. You can also renew the label cover annually. If you want to know more about this label go to www. acumenluggagetracker.co.uk If you have ever lost your luggage, you will be only too aware of the agony, time and stress caused in searching for and retrieving the lost item. Using this 21st century technology nobody should ever lose their luggage again, as one swipe of the bar code by a baggage attendant at any airport worldwide will solve the problem.

I have asked Stewart Pye, a reader living in Blue Bridge, to find out why its roads and drives have been given names related to the game of bridge. Hopefully, he will tell us how Blackwood Crescent and Gardiner Court came to be so named.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT It is nearly twenty years since I published the first issue of BRIDGE in the spring of 1994. It is also five years since I had my government sponsored coaching to develop as a business man.

NEW MAN Members need to be sure their club is covered by insurance for small amounts of cash and their equipment as well as public liability. Just over £63 for a twelve month period for a club of up to 100 members. There are over five hundred clubs in my scheme enjoying peace of mind. There is a new contact at managing brokers, Moore Stephens. Ring Tom Harvey ( 0207 515 5270. It is the unexpected that you need to have covered.

QPLUS BRIDGE This month’s new numbers are listed below and I am preparing a full list which I will incorporate in next months issue. 5702-07 1186-01 1489-01 0652-01

There are now no bridge supplements for those booking any of our cruises or overseas holidays, so no excuses for not booking with Mr Bridge as we can match all prices.

TRAVEL COVER As I am not competent to advise on these matters, I will be carrying adverts for different providers. Make sure you read all the small print, however boring, to cover your risks while away from home, see page 17.

BETTER BRIDGE Those readers taking up the damaged DVDs offer will be delighted to learn that there is a CD available that will provide 20 hands of supervised play for each of the topics covered by the DVDs they have bought. These I am happy to offer at half price (£35). Those readers who have enjoyed using Bernard Magee’s Acol Bidding over the years will be thrilled to discover the existence of this extension to their enjoyment. As I say, half price. £35. All good wishes,

Mr Bridge Page 5

Answers to Bernard Magee’s  Bidding Quizzes 1-3 on the Cover

1. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A K 4 2 ♠ 9 8 N ♥ A K 4 2 ♥ 5 3 W E ♦ 7 6 S ♦ A K 8 5 2 ♣ 5 4 3 ♣ Q 9 8 6

West ?

North

East

South

1NT. This is a simple question: you have a bare 14 HCP and a balanced hand, so you open 1NT. It is important to follow your system on balanced hands, otherwise you will not find the right level for your final contract. Your system says that with a balanced hand of 12-14 points you should open 1NT. It revolves about the shape of your hand rather than the placement of high cards in your hand. If you open in a suit, 1♥ or 1♠, then partner responds 2♦ and, whatever you do next, you are going to be too high. If you rebid 2NT, partner will raise to 3NT. But if you bid a second suit, your partner will return to your first bid suit. With distributional hands, you can sometimes stretch the rules to fit your hand. However, with balanced hands at the start of the auction, it is important to follow the rules to give a clear picture of your hand.



2. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 4 3 ♠ A K 5 2 N ♥ A J 4 3 ♥ 8 W E ♦ 6 5 S ♦ A K 7 4 3 ♣ A K J 5 2 ♣ Q 9 8

West North ?

East South 1♦ Pass

2♣. When you have a strong hand, you should try to bid your hand’s shape. You have the strength to bid game opposite

Page 6

your partner’s opening bid, so you will be able to show both of your suits. Therefore, you should start by bidding clubs first and then follow up by bidding hearts: showing five and four. If, instead, you start by responding 1♥, your partner is more likely to place you with five hearts and four clubs, when you bid the second suit. It is only when you are weak that you bid a four-card major in preference to a five-card minor: this is because you can afford to bid only once, so you choose the more important suit. Here, by responding 2♣, you give the partnership the chance to find the best fit and explore for the best contract: 1♦2♣-2♠-2NT-3♣... The opener has shown his three suits and therefore suggested shortage in hearts, which should push you to bid towards 6♣.



3. Dealer East. N/S Game. ♠ A 2 ♠ 5 4 N ♥ 4 ♥ 9 7 6 W E ♦ K Q 7 6 5 4 3 S ♦ 8 ♣ 6 5 2 ♣ A K 9 8 7 4 3

West North ?

East South 3♣ Pass

5♣. Your partner has opened with a pre-empt and you have a weak hand too, so it looks like this should be your opponents’ hand. You have long diamonds, but they are not relevant to the hand since you have a good fit with your partner’s suit. You know your opponents have a good heart fit since your partner will not have four hearts for his pre-emptive opening. You expect to make at most two tricks against 4♥ and your partner is likely to have only one trick at most. Expecting 4♥ to make, you should make an advance sacrifice of 5♣. This stops your opponents discussing their hands to find their best fit and forces them to guess. If you pass or bid 3♦ this makes life easy for North, who probably has a very strong hand. 4♣ might do the trick, but might also allow your opponents to at least have a little conversation. Instead, over 5♣, they may have to guess – what does their double mean? Have they ■ discussed it?

2014 FESTIVE SEASON EVENTS Denham Grove

Olde Barn Hotel

Near Uxbridge, UB9 5DG

Marston, Lincs, NG32 2HT

Christmas 23-27 Dec Just Duplicate Bridge £495

Christmas 23-27 Dec Just Duplicate Bridge £495

Twixmas 27-29 Dec Seminar Event £245

Twixmas 27-29 Dec Seminar Event £215

New Year 29 Dec–2 Jan Seminar Event £445

New Year 29 Dec–1 Jan Seminar Event £345

Back to Back bookings – save £50 per booking. Booking Form on page 8.

BRIDGE March 2014

✄

BERNARD  MAGEE at Denham Grove

Mr Bridge MAIL ORDER TUTORIAL DVDs

NOVELTIES

£92.00 .........

2011 Series – £25 each

£49.00 .........

Ruffing for Extra Tricks .........

Mr Bridge Torch Pen (boxed) £5.00 .........

QPlus 10 (S/Hand) £50.00 .........

Competitive Auctions .........

Bridge Baron 24 NEW £69.00 .........

Making the Most of High Cards .........

PLAY SOFTWARE QPlus 11

NEW

QPlus Trade-in

Near Uxbridge, Bucks, UB9 5DG.

Bridge Baron Trade-in for 24

9-12 January 2015

£35.00 .........

TUTORIAL SOFTWARE Begin Bridge - Acol £66.00 .........

£399

Friday – Monday

£369

Friday – Sunday

full board

Tips for Better Bridge Bernard Magee £14.00 ........

£96.00 .........

Declarer Play

£76.00

All 6 DVDs as a boxed set

Robin Hood’s Bridge Memoirs David Bird £12.00 ........

Advanced Declarer Play

£81.00

Defence

£76.00 .........

Life’s a Game, but Bridge is Serious

10 Commandments for Duplicate Players £7.00 ......... 25 Road Traffic Signs for Bridge Players £7.00 .........

l Defence

as Partner of the Leader l Strong Opening Bids

DAY 3

Leads ......... Losing Trick Count ......... Making a Plan as Declarer .........

Back In Our Day

£7.00 .........

We Are Survivors

£7.00 .........

Bridge Adventures of Robin Hood – David Bird £12.00 ........

MR BRIDGE DIARIES for 2014

Responding to 1NT .........

Red

£6.95 ........

Signals & Discards .........

Navy

£6.95 ........

Endplays .........

Club Prices 10 for £35 ........

All 6 DVDs as a boxed set

Luxury Kidrell Covers & ball-point pen: Ruby Red £14.95 ........

£100.00 .........

2013 Series – £25 each £7.00 .........

10 Commandments for Bridge Players £7.00 .........

DAY 2

£100.00 .........

2012 Series – £25 each

The Pot Boiler. A Double Dummy Problem £7.00 .........

Doubles l Defending Against 1NT

Better Hand Evaluation Bernard Magee £14.00 ........

Advanced Acol Bidding

TEA TOWELS

l Take-Out

Play & Defence of 1NT Contracts ......... Doubling & Defence to Doubled Contracts .........

Bundleware Offer Any two CDs £140.00 .........

DAY 1

Duplicate Bridge Rules Simplified £5.95 .........

£66.00 .........

Better Bridge 2011 with Bernard Magee £69.00

Topics

BOOKS

Identifying & Bidding Slams .........

Acol Bidding

Five-Card Majors with Strong No-Trump £89.00 .........

Limited places for Thursday night available. £45pp single, £65 double/twin.

Mr Bridge Pound for Life Keyring £5.00 .........

Hand Evaluation

.........

Pre-Empting ......... Splinter & Cue-Bids .........

Bottle Green

£14.95 ........

Club Prices 10 for £90 ........

SUBS

(Introductory Rates)

Avoidance ......... 12 Months £20.00 ......... Pairs Play & Defence ......... 24 Months £35.00 ......... Thinking Defence ......... 36 Months £50.00 ......... All 6 DVDs as a boxed set £100.00 ......... 12 Months Overseas:

PICK ‘N’ MIX Any 6 DVDs £105.00 .........

Europe

£50.00 .........

Outside Europe £95.00 .........

Prices are inclusive of VAT and postage to UK mainland.

l Suit

Establishment l Competitive (Aggressive) Bidding

I enclose a cheque for £.......... Mr/Mrs/Miss ..................................................................................................................................................................... Address..............................................................................................................................................................................

6 seminar sessions with Bernard1 6 sessions of supervised play2 Contact Mr Bridge to book your place or for further details: ( 01483 489961

........................................................................................................................................................................................... Postcode............................................................................. ( ..........................................................................................

Expiry: ............. CVV ........ Issue No. ........... (CVV is the last 3 numbers on the signature strip)

Make your cheque payable to Mr Bridge and send to: Mr Bridge, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH

( 01483 489961

Filmed 2Not with Bernard Magee

www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop

✄

1

BRIDGE March 2014

Page 7

✄

BRIDGE  BREAKS ♦ Full-board

♦ Two seminars*

♦ All rooms with en-suite facilities

♦ Two supervised play sessions*

♦ No single supplement

♦ Four bridge sessions**

BRIDGE EVENTS with Bernard Magee June continued 20-22 Olde Barn Hotel £245 Finding Slams

OCTOBER

Please book ..... places for me at £....... per person, Single .... Double .... Twin .... Chatsworth Hotel Worthing BN11 3DU

Name of Hotel/Centre............................................................. Date(s) ....................................................................................

March

Mr/Mrs/Miss .........................................................................

14-16 Queensferry £245 Hotel Endplay & Avoidance

Address................................................................................... ................................................................................................ Postcode .................................................................................

21-23 Inn on the Prom £245 Doubles

( ...........................................................................................

April 4-6 Chatsworth £245 Hotel Finding Slams

Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed, but we will do our best to oblige). ................................................................................................

11-13 Blunsdon House £245 Leads & Defence

Please give the name(s) of all those covered by this booking.

June

................................................................................................

6-8 Olde Barn Hotel £245 Bidding NEW Distributional Hands

Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not refundable. Should you require insurance, you should contact your own insurance broker.

3-5 Chatsworth £245 Hotel Game Tries 10-12 Olde Barn Hotel £245 Endplay & Avoidance

Blunsdon House Hotel Blunsdon, Swindon SN26 7AS

NOVEMber 7-9 Chatsworth £245 Hotel Hand Evaluation 14-16 Blunsdon £245 House Further into the Auction 21-23 Elstead £245 Hotel Doubles

Expiry: ................................. CVV......................... Issue No.................... (CVV is the last 3 numbers on the signature strip)

Mr Bridge, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH.

Queensferry Hotel North Queensferry KY11 1HP

( 01483 489961 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.holidaybridge.com

Full Board. No Single Supplement. See Adjacent Booking Form.

Page 8

✄

*on tutorial weekends only. **6 sessions on rubber/Chicago events. Please note: Just Bridge events contain no seminars and do not award prizes.

28-30 Blunsdon £245 House NEW Bidding Distributional Hands

BRIDGE March 2014

Answers to Bernard Magee’s  Bidding Quizzes 4-6 on the Cover

4. Dealer East. Game All. ♠ K Q 3 ♠ A J 5 2 N ♥ K Q 3 ♥ J 2 W E ♦ Q J 10 2 S ♦ A K 6 ♣ 9 8 7 ♣ A K 5 3

West North ?

East South 2NT Pass

6NT. Your partner has shown 20-22 and you have 13 HCP. You are 3-3-4-3 which is not good, but you do have the ♦10 to counterbalance the poor shape. Knowing that no-trumps is the right denomination, it is just a question of deciding the correct level. Points matter, not aces and kings: your queens and jacks are just as valuable in no-trump contracts. For 6NT, you require about 33 points between the two hands: you have 33-35, which suggests you should bid 6NT. If you know the denomination and the level, then bid it.



5. Dealer North. N/S Game. ♠ 3 2 ♠ A K 9 8 N ♥ K J 10 9 6 ♥ 5 W E ♦ 7 6 S ♦ A K 5 3 ♣ J 9 8 7 ♣ Q 10 6 5

West North East South 1NT Dbl Redbl1 ? 1 The start of a wriggle – opener bids 2♣...

Pass. Most club players play wriggles over 1NT (methods to escape from 1NT doubled) and with good reason at club level, because they never get hunted down. At higher levels, very few wriggles are played because your opponents are more likely to keep doubling you and you end up with a worse score. A lot of West players will call 2♥ with this hand: competing the deal, only to find that South was planning to show a five-card heart suit later in the auction: South has five points including five hearts to the queen. Had you been patient, you

Ardington Hotel Worthing BN11 3DZ

BRIDGE EVENTS 14-16 March Take-Out Doubles (Improvers) £215 11-13 April Hand Evaluation £215 Full Board – No Single Supplement Booking Form on page 8.

BRIDGE March 2014

could have doubled South in 2♥ or your partner would double any other contract. 2♥ doubled would have been great fun. Certainly more so than playing 2♥ yourself, although you should probably get eight tricks. One way you score +110 and the other you get +800 or +1,100. Once your side has doubled 1NT for penalties, be on the look out for subsequent penalty doubles, but only if you are long in their suit: you need both trumps and points to double at low levels.



6. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ 3 2 ♠ 9 8 7 6 ♥ A Q 8 3 2 N ♥ J 5 W E ♦ A K 10 9 S ♦ 4 3 ♣ A 5 ♣ K 9 8 7 2

West North East South 1♥ Pass Pass 2♦ ?

Pass. A double here would be for takeout: asking your partner to bid again despite his showing 0-5 points; aiming to compete for the hand. With your hand, you would prefer to play in diamonds, so keep quiet and if partner doubles later, then you can pass for penalties. Of course, this kind of bidding can depend on how aggressive your partnership is at competing for the partscore. A lot of Easts might pass out 2♦, but it is actually East’s job to keep the bidding open. With short diamonds, he would like to play in another suit and he can show his hand by making a takeout double. I know he is weak, but he has already expressed his weakness by passing on the first round (0-5), so within that range he is pretty strong. Competing for partscores is such an important duplicate tactic: remember that -50 will often score well. On this hand, you would pass the takeout double and hope to collect 300 points by defeating 2♦ doubled by two tricks. ■

Page 9

BERNARD MAGEE Boxed Sets of six DVDs Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

1 Ruffing for Extra Tricks

7 Leads

13 Hand Evaluation

This seminar deals with declarer’s use of ruffing to make extra tricks and then looks at how the defenders might counteract this. (74 mins.)

Bernard takes you through all the basic leads and the importance of your choice of lead. If you start to think not just about your hand, but about your partner’s too, then you will get much better results. (95 mins.)

Going beyond just the point-count is important if you want to improve. Reaching & making 3NT on 24 HCP; and avoiding 3NT on 26 HCP when there are only 7 or 8 tricks. (110 mins.)

8 Losing Trick Count

The art of pre-empting is so important in the modern game. Understanding the right types of hand to bid up on and realising the importance of position and vulnerability. (96 mins.)

2 Competitive Auctions This seminar focuses on competitive auctions from the perspective of the overcalling side and then from the perspective of the opening side in the second part. (86 mins.)

3 Making the Most of High Cards This seminar helps declarer to use his high cards more carefully and then looks at how defenders should care for their high cards. (83 mins.)

4 Identifying & Bidding Slams The first half of this seminar is about identifying when a slam might be on – one of the hardest topics to teach. The second half covers some slambidding techniques. (96 mins.)

5 Play & Defence of 1NT Contracts This seminar looks at the most common and yet most feared of contracts: 1NT. The first half looks at declaring the contract and

the second part puts us in the defenders’ seats. (88 mins.)

6 Doubling & Defence against Doubled Contracts The first half of this seminar explores penalty doubles and the second half discusses the defence against doubled contracts. (88 mins.)

Individual DVDs. £25 each. Boxed Set of 6. £100.

A way of hand evaluation for when you find a fit. Bernard deals with the basics of the losing trick count then looks at advanced methods to hone your bidding. (92 mins.)

9 Making a Plan as Declarer Bernard explains how to make a plan then expands on how to make the most of your long suits. The first half deals with no-trumps, the second with suit contracts. (87 mins.)

10 Responding to 1NT This seminar deals with Transfers and Stayman in detail. The 1NT opening comes up frequently, so having a good, accurate system of responses is paramount. (93 mins.)

14 Pre-Emptive Bidding

15 Splinter & Cue-Bids Take your slam bidding to another level. Splinter bids are a vital tool to add to your armoury & try your hand at Italian style cue-bidding. (116 mins.)

16 Avoidance Play As declarer, an important tactic is to be in control of the defenders: avoiding a particular defender getting the lead. As a defender, you can try to make sure the right player gets the lead at the right time. (88 mins.)

17 Play & Defence at Pairs

This seminar deals with Count, Attitude and Suit-preference signals: aiming to get you working as a partnership in defence. (92 mins.)

Duplicate Pairs is the game most of us play and getting used to the tactics will make a lot of difference to your performance. Making more overtricks and making sure you do not give away tricks as a defender. (90 mins.)

12 Endplay

18 Thinking Defence

Bernard takes you through the basics of the technique before showing some magical hands where you take extra tricks from defenders. In the second half, Bernard looks at how to avoid being endplayed. (80 mins.)

By far the hardest aspect of bridge, but if you can improve your defence your results will quickly improve. Learn how to think through the defence and get your mind in gear for the decisions that await you. (87 mins.)

Individual DVDs. £25 each. Boxed Set of 6. £100.

Individual DVDs. £25 each. Boxed Set of 6. £100.

11 Signals & Discards

PICK AND MIX. A BOX OF ANY 6. £105 Mr Bridge ( 01483 489961 email: [email protected]

Answers to Bernard Magee’s  Bidding Quizzes 7-9 on the Cover

7. Dealer East. Game All. ♠ A K 7 6 ♠ 2 ♥ 7 2 N ♥ A K 8 6 3 W E ♦ A K 8 3 S ♦ Q J 4 2 ♣ 9 8 3 ♣ Q J 2

fourth suit forcing: using the bid in the last suit artificially, to get your partner to bid once more and particularly to show a stopper in the suit by rebidding 3NT. This is exactly what East would do here: his club holding is enough to stop the run of the suit and makes 3NT the best contract.

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass ?

3♣. You have 14 HCP, which, opposite an opening hand, is enough for game, but which game? With three suits bid, the focus is on the fourth suit: clubs. You have no high cards in clubs and thus a no-trump bid would be dangerous. However, a diamond bid is not ideal either: 3♦ is too weak and 4♦ commits you to playing in diamonds rather than the other options. Better is to make a forcing bid and enlist your partner to help you choose the final contract. The best bid is to use



8. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 2 ♠ 6 4 ♥ A K 6 5 4 3 N ♥ 7 2 W E ♦ A K 4 ♦ 9 8 S ♣ 8 7 5 ♣ A K Q J 9 3 2

West North East South 3NT1 Pass ? 1 Gambling 3NT – a weak hand with a long and solid minor



9. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A K 8 5 4 ♠ 9 2 ♥ K Q 3 2 N ♥ 8 6 W E ♦ K 7 S ♦ Q 4 ♣ 6 2 ♣ A 9 8 7 5 4 3

6♣. Your partner is showing a solid minor suit (7+ cards) with very little (or

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BRIDGE EVENTS 21-23 March Just Duplicate £199 4-6 April Finding Slams £245 Bernard Magee 3-5 October Game Tries £245 Bernard Magee 7-9 November Hand Evaluation £245 Bernard Magee

Full Board – No Single Supplement Booking Form on page 8.

BRIDGE March 2014

no) strength outside. It is your job to place the final contract. With stops in all the suits, you can contemplate passing 3NT, but that is clearly not the case here. Otherwise, you choose the level you want to play in partner’s suit. Sometimes, it is not clear which suit your partner holds, but here it is clearly clubs since you hold the ♦A-K. Your partner has shown 7 tricks, you have four top tricks to add and surely you are likely to make a spade ruff too, for a twelfth trick. Bearing this in mind, you should respond 6♣, expecting to make it comfortably. With a ten-card club fit, there is no reason to contemplate a heart contract.

West North East South 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♥ Pass 3♣ Pass ?

Pass. A strange auction: your partner has started by showing a weak hand and then bid 3♣. Trust your partner: do not expect him to have found a lost card – he will have a weak hand and the reason he has bid 3♣ now, is that he thinks it will make the best contract, so you should pass. A 1NT response followed up by a bid of a suit, generally shows a weak hand with a very long suit – too weak to respond at the two-level initially. The reason East bids 3♣ is because he can see the potential for 5 club tricks in his hand, but little else. Played in any other denomination, the club suit will be worthless, but in 3♣, the suit does indeed make 5 tricks, which added to ♠A-K and a trick in each red suit allows you to make ■ nine tricks.

Page 11

BERNARD MAGEE’S INTERACTIVE TUTORIALS ACOL BIDDING

BEGIN BRIDGE ACOL VERSION l Card

Play Technique

l Planning l Bidding

Card Play

Balanced

Hands l Bidding

Suits

l Responding l Supporting

to a Suit

Partner

l Responding

l Opening

Bids and Responses

l Stayman

Slams and Strong Openings

l

Support for Partner

Two Opening and Response l

£66

l Doubles

l

l Defence

l Doubles

against No Trump Contracts against Suit Contracts

Overtricks in No-trumps Making Overtricks in Suit Contracts

l Endplays

l

Contract

£81

l Simple

l

Partner of Leader vs No-trump Contracts

l l

Trump Reductions & Coups Playing Doubled Contracts Safety Plays

Partner of Leader vs Suit Contracts

l Count

l

Defence to 1NT

l Two-suited

Defences to Other Systems

l

Misfits and Distributional Hands

Strong No-Trump l

Opening Bids & Responses

l

No-Trump Openings

l

Support for Partner

l

Slams & Strong Openings

l Discarding

l

Pre-empting

l

Defensive Plan

l

Doubles

l

Stopping Declarer

l

Overcalls

l

Competitive Auctions

the Hand

l

Suit Establishment in Suits

l

Ruffing for Extra Tricks

l

Entries in No-trumps

£76

l Delaying

Drawing Trumps Using the Lead

l Trump

Control

l

Endplays & Avoidance

l

Using the Bidding

FIVE-CARD MAJORS &

Minors & Misfits

£76

l Counting

Establishment in No-trumps

l

l

l

Signals

£96

Overcalls

Rebids

l Attitude

l Suit

l Hold-ups

Strong Hands

l

Signals

the Hand l

Lead vs No-trump Contracts Lead vs Suit Contracts

Squeezes l Counting

Minors and Misfits

l

l

Twos

to Weak Twos

DEFENCE

l Avoidance l Wrong

l

Auctions

ADVANCED DECLARER PLAY l Making

l Weak

l Doubles

l Competitive

l Defence

l

£66

Opener’s and Responder’s Rebids

l Pre-empting

Advanced Basics

l Defence

Openings and Responses

l Strong

l Overcalls

l

l Pre-empting

l No-trump

DECLARER PLAY

l Basics

l

l Overcalls

to 1NT

MORE (ADVANCED) ACOL BIDDING

BETTER BRIDGE l Ruffing

for Extra Tricks

l

Doubling and Defence Against £69 Doubled Contracts

l

Play and Defence of 1NT Contracts

l

Finding and Bidding Slams

l

Making the Most of High Cards

£89

l Competitive

Auctions

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Answers to Bernard Magee’s  Bidding Quizzes 10-12 on the Cover

10. Dealer North. N/S Game. ♠ J 4 3 2 ♠ K Q 10 9 5 N ♥ A 6 5 ♥ K 4 3 2 W E ♦ A K Q 3 S ♦ J 9 6 ♣ 9 7 ♣ 10

West ?

North East South 1♣ 1♠ 2♣

will go one or two off: note that two off doubled (+500) would be worth more than your game. When your hand is unexpectedly strong, it is important to try to tell your partner, before he does something foolish. His response to 3♣ would be 3♠, showing a weak overcall, or if North carries on to 4♣, East would pass leaving the decisions up to you.

will show your suit now, if you have one, or even show where your strength is. After all, he does not need much to make a slam viable. However, you finish off your perfect description by raising to 4♠ – showing absolutely nothing. Your partner passes satisfied that he has shown his great hand and therefore that a slam is not possible.

3♣. You have a very nice hand: in fact, you may have the best hand at the table, yet you have heard everybody speaking in the auction already. It is not unreasonable to think that your side can make 4♠: even if your partner has a weak overcall, but you must avoid the temptation to jump to 4♠. It is important to predict how the auction might progress. If North bids on to 5♣, what do you think your partner will do? He looks at the vulnerability and his own hand and he may assume that they can make 5♣ and go for a cheap sacrifice in 5♠. How is he to know that it is the opponents who are the weaker side? You need to tell your partner that you are the strong side by bidding 3♣ – the opponents’ suit. You will follow up later by bidding 4♠. After which your partner will not drive on to 5♠, instead he will leave the decision up to you – a double of 5♣ works out much better. 4♠ makes ten tricks only, whilst 5♣



11. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 3 2 ♠ A K 9 8 7 6 5 N ♥ 8 7 2 ♥ A K 6 W E ♦ 9 5 4 3 S ♦ A K 2 ♣ 8 7 6 5 ♣ Void

12. Dealer West. Game All. ♠ 6 2 ♠ J 8 7 4 3 N ♥ 5 4 ♥ A 6 3 W E ♦ K 6 S ♦ A 4 3 2 ♣ A Q J 6 5 3 2 ♣ K

West North East South 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3♠ Pass ?

West North East South 1♣ 1♥ 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 3♣ Pass 3NT Dbl ?

4♠. When your partner opens 2♣ and rebids in a suit, he is showing a hand that wants to play in game even if you hold a Yarborough. You must keep bidding until a game contract is reached. Your 2♦ was the negative response and then 2NT was a second negative showing 0-3 points. Partner knows you are very weak but you still have to bid. East is taking his time to find the best contract, he is hoping you

Pass. Your partner has bid 3NT and

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Bournemouth BH1 3QP 28-30 March £199 Just Duplicate Bridge 11-13 April £215 Signals & Discards 21-23 November £245 Doubles – Bernard Magee

Full Board No Single Supplement. Booking Form on page 8.

BRIDGE March 2014



South has doubled. Should you rescue the situation? You have described your hand neatly: you have shown the equivalent of a preemptive three opening with 10-12 points. A hand that you felt was just too strong to open 3♣. If you had something very different, or perhaps if your suit was particularly weak, then you might want to take out. However, with this hand, you should leave it up to your partner. Trust him: his 3NT bid was based on his ♣K and will get you a great score. It would have been +630, but now it will be +950 for 3NT doubled plus one. South’s double is probably based on him holding 10 or 11 HCP after his partner overcalled. It is not unreasonable to double contracts like this aggressively, but you do need to know that the opponents’ long suit is not running, otherwise 3NT can be made with just 22 ■ points, as here.

Page 13

Misleading Cases Number Three

Unlicensed Gambling Regina v. Erehwon Duplicate Bridge Club before Mr Justice Diamond, at the Old Bailey After the evidence and counsels’ closing speeches, the judge summed up to the jury as follows

“L

adies and gentlemen of the jury, this case concerns, as you have heard, the Committee of the Erehwon Duplicate Bridge Club, who have been charged with using the Erehwon Community Hall for the purposes of gambling without a licence. At the start of the case, I informed prosecuting and defence counsel that I play bridge (to a very modest standard). Both sides were happy for me to hear this case nevertheless. You may have been as surprised as I was to learn that playing bridge amounts to gambling, but Mr Killjoy for the prosecution based his case on the Gambling Act 2005 where it says (section 3) that gambling includes gaming and (section 6) that gaming means playing a ‘game of chance’. But surely, you may say, gambling means playing for money and there are no money prizes at the Erehwon Duplicate Bridge Club. You may well say that, but the Gambling Act does not. Whether or not you play for money (or indeed other prizes) is apparently irrelevant to whether gambling is taking place. Now, a few people make their living from bridge; some play for their country; some for master points; large numbers for a penny a hundred; many for pure enjoyment. The notable thing is that some people consistently do much better than others when they play bridge. That does not suggest to me that bridge is a game of chance – indeed I agree with Mr Pontjoueur, defence counsel, that bridge is a game of great skill, about which, Page 14

incidentally, many learned tomes have been written, lessons taught and magazines published. I am not sure that anyone has written a book worth reading on how to win at, say, roulette. During this case, the example hand shown below was discussed at some length by counsel in arguing this point. South is playing in 3NT after West overcalled in spades. West led the ♠J and East played low. I will remind you of how this hand was played later, but to me it demonstrates clearly that skill is much more important than chance in, at any rate, duplicate bridge.

♠ 4 2 ♥ 5 3 ♦ A K 10 7 6 3 ♣ A 10 3 N

W E S



♠ K Q 6 ♥ A Q 9 2 ♦ 5 2 ♣ K J 7 4

However, as Mr Killjoy pointed out, section 6 of the Act also says that, ‘a game of chance includes a game that involves an element of chance and an element of skill,’ and not even Mr Pontjoueur would go so far as to say that there is no element of chance in duplicate bridge. Duplicate bridge seeks to avoid the element of chance as far as possible, but inevitably some

remains – which particular hands you play against which opponents, the skill of those particular opponents, the conventions they use and so on. So, strange as it may seem, you may feel constrained to conclude that, prima facie, bridge counts as a game of chance for the purposes of the Gambling Act. Mr Pontjoueur, however, then pointed out that Section 6 goes on to say that playing a ‘sport’ is not to be treated as gambling. Is bridge a sport? Mr Pontjoueur reminded us that, in the latest Olympics, England did particularly well in the sitting-down sports (rowing, sailing, cycling, horseriding etc) and the playing of bridge, also a sitting-down activity, was a natural extension of that. Indeed, the bridge authorities (not just in this country) have in recent years argued forcefully that bridge is a sport and should be included in the Olympics. If it were so included, then clearly it would fall outside the Gambling Act and the defendants would be entitled to be discharged immediately, if not sooner. Mr Killjoy responded that the key characteristics of a sportsman are fitness, speed and/or strength – none of them, as he put so eloquently, much in evidence at your average bridge club on a Monday evening. Moreover, he says, the authorities have so far failed to make their case that bridge is a sport. All in all, you may conclude that bridge does not at present count as a sport and is therefore deemed to be gambling. BRIDGE March 2014

Misleading Cases continued

But, says Mr Pontjoueur, there are a couple of other ‘safe havens’ in the Gambling Act, namely the ‘members’ club’ and the ‘private gaming’ exceptions. Again, however, I must agree with Mr Killjoy that, on careful analysis, neither of these exceptions is available here, since they require the defendants to have run the Club mainly for purposes other than gaming, or in someone’s home. Neither is the case here. At this point, I should remind you that those who, without a licence, provide facilities for gambling are, by virtue of section 33 and/ or 37 of the Gambling Act, guilty of an offence and thus liable to a substantial fine and/or imprisonment for up to 51 weeks (though in Scotland only up to six months – I wonder if this is because of the Scottish weather, the state of its prisons, the gambling culture there, the length of its weeks or some other reason?). So this is a serious matter (though apparently less so in Scotland). Accordingly, it seems that the Erehwon Duplicate Bridge Club and no doubt many hundreds of other bridge clubs up and down the land may be committing an offence by conducting illegal gambling unless they have obtained a gaming licence, which, according to Mr Pontjoueur, virtually none of them have. So, members of the jury, having heard what the law is, you must now retire and decide whether or not the committee of the Erehwon Duplicate Bridge Club are guilty of the heinous crime BRIDGE March 2014

charged. You heard what Mr Pontjoueur said, most eloquently, in their defence. If you find them guilty, you may wish to recommend a suitable punishment.” The jury then left the courtroom and returned shortly afterwards. On being asked for their verdict, the foreman said that yes, they had reached a unanimous decision, namely that none of the defendants were guilty. He went on to say that the decision had been based largely on the fact that his Lordship was a keen bridge player and they did not wish to do anything which might lead to his being charged with illegal gambling. Had they found the defendants guilty, the foreman added, the jury would have recommended two days in prison for each of them (one day if the sentence were to be served in Scotland). His Lordship then explained, for the benefit of the public, what happened on the hand discussed during the case. Dealer North. Love All. ♠ 4 2 ♥ 5 3 ♦ A K 10 7 6 3 ♣ A 10 3 ♠ A J 10 9 7 ♠ 8 5 3 ♥ K 7 4 N ♥ J 10 8 6 W E ♦ Q 4 S ♦ J 9 8 ♣ Q 9 2 ♣ 8 6 5 ♠ K Q 6 ♥ A Q 9 2 ♦ 5 2 ♣ K J 7 4 West North East South 1♦ Pass 1♥ 1♠ 2♦ Pass 3NT All Pass

3NT by South. Lead: ♠J.

“After overcalling in spades, West made the opening lead of the ♠J, won by South with the ♠K, who then, at each table led the ♦2. At table 1, South (a beginner) played off dummy’s two top diamonds (West playing ♦4 then ♦Q), then led a third diamond, hoping (if indeed he had turned his mind to the matter) that West would win the trick. Unfortunately for South it was East who won it and fired back a spade, whereupon West won four spade tricks in short order. One down. At table 2, South (an intermediate player) finessed ♦10 on the first round of diamonds. Same result. At table 3, South (a good player) led the ♦2 to ♦4, ♦K and ♦8, then returned to hand with the ♣K and led the ♦5. When West played the ♦Q, declarer played low in dummy. He made his contract easily. At table 4, when West (artfully) played ♦Q on the first round of diamonds, South could not resist the temptation (no doubt hoping that West held ♦Q-J doubleton) to win with the ♦K, again allowing East to win the third round of the suit and return a spade. Also one down. Res ipsa loquitur, as we lawyers say on these occasions.”

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BRIDGE EVENTS 14-16 March £199 Just Duplicate Bridge 11-13 April £245 Bernard Magee Leads & Defence 25-27 April £199 Just Duplicate Bridge 14-16 November £245 Bernard Magee Further into the Auction 28-30 November £245 Bernard Magee NEW TOPIC Bidding Distributional Hands

Reporter: Richard Wheen, after A.P. Herbert PS by Richard Wheen. As far as I know, the above statements about the Gambling Act are the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I would welcome views as to why bridge clubs do not in fact need a gaming licence. Perhaps the English Bridge Union could help here. ■

Full Board No Single Supplement Booking Form on page 8.

Page 15

Julian Pottage answers your Frequently Asked Questions

Why is 4NT Better Than 4♣ for Ace Asking?

T

here are two main reasons why it is much better to check on aces or key cards with 4NT than with 4♣. Firstly, whether you are missing two aces should be only one component on a slam hunt, one to do after you have checked other issues, rather than the starting point. Secondly, a bid of 4♣ has so many other possible uses that you cannot afford to sacrifice it for use as an ace enquiry. On 61% of deals, one side or the other has at least three of the four aces. Obviously, a slam is not available on anything like 61% of deals. Playing double dummy, one side can make a slam about 10% of the time. Probably only half of those slams are biddable, which gives us a biddable slam say 5% of the time. On the other 56%, a slam is either not available or is against the odds. In other words, the vast majority of the time that one side has three or four aces, being in a slam is not sensible. Even if your methods allow you to detect trump honours as well as aces, it is clear that a key card enquiry will rarely tell you positively that you can make a slam. Before checking on key cards, you want first (a) to establish what denomination you will play in (b) whether you have the playing strength to make twelve tricks and (c) whether you have two fast losers in one suit. For these reasons, it is an advantage to have the ace or key card enquiry at a high level: this gives you more time to check on (a), (b) and (c). What are the other possible uses for a 4♣ bid? For everyone, you might want to bid 4♣ naturally. For anyone who plays cue bids (and you will find it difficult to avoid bidding slams with two top losers in a suit if you do not), Page 16

you might want to bid 4♣ as a cue bid. For anyone who plays splinters (and you will find it difficult to bid slams that depend upon fit and ruffing values if you do not), you might want to bid 4♣ as a splinter. Although I can think of other possible uses of 4♣, depending upon your methods, let us concentrate on those three.

♠ 7 ♥ A K 9 6 5 ♦ 7 4 ♣ A K Q 7 4

You Partner 1♥ 2♦ 3♣ 3♠* ? *Fourth suit forcing

You want to be able to bid a natural 4♣.

♠ 7 ♥ K 5 ♦ K 7 4 ♣ A Q 8 7 6 3 2

You LHO Partner RHO 1♥ 3♠ ?

You want to be able to bid a natural 4♣. You do not want to have to jump to 5♣. Doing so could take you past the best game if partner has six hearts or give partner a horrible guess whether to raise to 6♣ if he likes clubs. On the next hand, slam prospects look quite good so long as the opponents cannot cash two diamond tricks.



♠ A K 9 7 3 2 ♥ Void ♦ J 10 4 ♣ A K J 9

You Partner 1♠ 3♠ ?

To find out whether they can cash two diamond tricks, you want to cue bid 4♣, showing the club control and leaving room for partner to bid 4♦. You do not want to have to cue bid 4♥ and then 5♣. Doing so could result in one down at the five level if partner unluckily has three losing diamonds.

♠ A J 9 4 2 ♥ A J 10 3 ♦ A 6 2 ♣ 3

You Partner 1♠ 2♥ ?

A splinter bid of 4♣ describes the hand very nicely – a sound raise to 4♥ with a shortage in clubs. If you cannot bid 4♣ because it is an asking bid, you have no equivalent way to describe your hand. If you simply bid 4♥, partner will not know whether you have a flatter hand or maybe a hand like this with the minor suits the other way round. Inventing 3♣ with a view to raising hearts later is even riskier: if partner raises clubs or gives you preference to spades, it will not even be clear that 4♥ next time shows support. ■ BRIDGE March 2014

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David Stevenson answers your questions on Laws and Ethics

What is the Time Allowed to Play a Card?

Q

We have a player (a very good one) at our club who can take up to 4 minutes (timed) to play a card, even with 6 cards in his hand. Is there any rule on time taken when playing a card? Stan Babb, Chineham, Basingstoke.

A

There is no rule over playing a single card. However, bridge is a timed game and it is up to the director to control slow play. A player who does this repeatedly should be warned and if that does not work, penalised. Players should call the director if their opponents take an inordinate amount of time. ♣♦♥♠

Q

After our annual Christmas dinner, our club always has a quick and friendly competition. Last night, an elderly North pulled out a 1♦ bid and eventually became declarer in 3♥, doubled. She made three overtricks, but during the play it transpired that

Page 18

she had only a singleton diamond. When questioned about her opening bid she said she thought she had opened 1♥ (both the light and her eyesight being a bit dull). One of the defenders refused to allow her the points for the overtricks on the grounds that her bid had influenced his defence. Declarer had made a genuine mistake of which she was unaware until the hand had been played. Was the defender correct? John Gordon by email.

A

No, certainly not, and I think the defender is completely lacking in sportsmanship. We have all made mistakes that have gained accidentally: these are well balanced by far more mistakes that have cost us thousands of points. ♣♦♥♠

Q

What should a player do, whilst the bidding is still in progress, when he realises that he has given an incorrect explanation of one

of his partner’s bids. For example, after: West North East South 1♠ Dbl 2NT Pass 3NT Pass 4♠ All Pass

After the 2NT bid, West is asked for an explanation of the 2NT bid and says that it is a natural bid, around 11 points. After his 3NT bid, but before his partner’s 4♠ reply, he remembers the agreed system and that his explanation of the 2NT bid was incorrect. The correct explanation was that partner had a natural 3♠ raise. What should this poor soul do, in order to redress his error ethically? Should he interrupt the bidding as soon as he realises his error and provide the correct explanation? Or should he wait until the bidding has finished and trust that his partner will give the correct explanation before the opening lead (and if partner does not provide this explanation, provide it himself)? Herbert Potts, Bramhall, Stockport.

A

A player who realises he has given an incorrect explanation is required to call the director and, in the director’s presence, explain his mistake to the opposition. This is to be done immediately he realises his error. His partner will have unauthorised information from his original mis-explanation and will have more unauthorised information from his correction and will have to do his best to take no advantage. In practice, players often correct without calling the director, which sometimes does not matter. With a playing director, this is often a practical solution, so long as the opponents are experienced, but inexperienced opponents need the protection of the director. In the example you gave, you realised what you have done wrong when your partner bid 4♠ and you should correct your explanation immediately, after calling the director. The director will check to make sure your partner’s 4♠ bid was not made based on his realisation that you forgot the system, perhaps he will adjust to 3NT feeling your partner should have passed 3NT.

BRIDGE March 2014

Ask David continued

Q

I was declarer in 3NT and, with three cards left in each hand, my RHO led a heart. I played a club and LHO played a small diamond. I then realised I had played the wrong card and replaced my club with the heart ace. After some friendly discussion with our opponents, my heart ace was allowed to stand, so I won the trick and I was able to play my two master clubs, thereby winning the last three tricks to make an overtrick. My partner does the scoring for our club and he decided the fairest way to score the board would be to penalise ourselves by one trick, ie scoring 9 tricks instead of 10. Is this correct? Gordon Adams by email.

A

A card played legally to a trick may not be withdrawn just because it is not the card intended. However, if the card played is not legal, ie it is a revoke, then that is different.

Revokes must be corrected, if not established and the opponents may change any cards played after the revoke, but before the correction. There is no penalty for a corrected revoke by declarer so you penalised yourself unnecessarily. Incidentally, why was the director not called? ♣♦♥♠

Q

My wife and I play a strong notrump and when either of us has 18-19 points we open 2♣. This is alerted and explained as showing 18-19 points. Partner replies 2♦, alerted and explained as a relay, keeping the bidding open. On this occasion, we were playing against the director and my wife proceeded to make a very good 3NT+1. The director then accused us of cheating and we had an argument about our system. He stated that he had attended a seminar and had been advised that this is cheating. Is our system wrong? Raymond Cook by email.

A

This is a totally disgraceful statement by the director, who

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BRIDGE March 2014

should not be directing if he comes up with ideas like this. Cheating is deliberately and knowledgeably breaking the rules in a serious way so as to gain unfairly. If what you played was illegal it would not be cheating, it merely would be illegal. However, it is worse than that: what you are playing is completely legal. There are rules for artificial strong two-bids, often repeated in this column and any hand with at least sixteen points may be opened legally with a strong artificial two-bid, whether that is sensible or not. So your director has no understanding of the rules nor does he understand the ethics of the game, which are very strongly against accusing anyone of cheating except in the most serious of cases. ♣♦♥♠

Q

At around trick 8, my RHO led a diamond, winning the trick, with his partner discarding. He played another diamond, this time his partner producing a diamond and winning the trick. At the end of play, the director asked me if the opponents had gained an advantage by revoking and I said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ He ruled that there should be no adjustment to the score. Although I suspected this was an incorrect ruling, I was happy to accept it in the interests of ‘fair play’. Can you advise what the correct ruling should have been please? Fraser McLeod, Southampton.

A

I find it incredible that the director does not know that revokes get automatic penalties. Unless the defence did not take another trick, one trick is transferred to you. Perhaps the director should start reading laws from the law book (or Mr Bridge’s Yellow book). ♣♦♥♠

Q

Can you please clarify how an ‘average’ is calculated? Having read your articles regularly in BRIDGE, I am not at all sure what scores are used to assess an average, ie the average of what? I have asked bridge friends but the replies are either, ‘don’t know,’ or a confusing reference to other scores. I am not a director and the matter has not arisen at our club. John Hamilton by email.

A

On every board there is a possible top, which is: (the number of times it is played less one) x 2, ie if a board is played eight times, a top is twice seven, ie fourteen. This is the most matchpoints you can get on the board by getting a better score than every other pair who played your cards. Average is half a top, ie seven matchpoints if a board is played eight times. It is described as, ‘50% of a top.’ Usually, average plus is 60% of a top, that is 8.4 matchpoints in our example and average minus 40% of a top, that is 5.6 matchpoints in our example. These days, scoring is generally done by computer which works the matchpoints out in this fashion.

Page 19

Ask David continued

Q

I have three questions. 1. There is no mention of the existence of the alert card in either the Laws (2007) or The Blue Book. It is mentioned in The White Book but I cannot find any indication of what to do with it after it has been shown. I see some players leave it upside down on the table. I think it should be returned to the bidding box, as leaving it on the table, to my mind, now becomes unauthorised information to partner, ie a memory jogger, ‘ I have alerted a previous bid of yours,’ and even, ‘I am anticipating another alertable bid from you.’ What should happen to the alert card after it has been shown? 2. Again no mention of the stop card until The White Book. By the wording, an interpretation is for LHO to delay his/ her bid for about 10 seconds after the stop card is shown. Another interpretation, which I consider the right one, is about 10 seconds after the stop bid is made. Which is correct? 3. Partner doubles partner with RHO having passed. TD withdraws the double and notifies partner of unauthorised information. Is there any further penalty? John Dawe by email.

A

1. I think your suspicions are totally unjustified. Many

Page 20

players leave alert cards on the table because they find it easier. The EBU regulations do not cover when it should be withdrawn which I find curious: at one time they said it should be withdrawn before partner calls again. I think in practice this is not an area where you should be worrying about how people display the card so long as both opponents are alerted clearly. 2. Players are required to delay their next call for about ten seconds after a jump bid. Correct procedure is for the stop card to be left out for this time so that the person who made the jump bid controls the time, not his opponent. Sadly, a large proportion of club players, while displaying the stop card, put it away immediately, which is wrong. The next player is still required to wait to avoid unauthorised information problems. 3. Certainly. Law 36 says that the original doubler is silenced for the rest of the auction and there may be lead penalties. ♣♦♥♠

Q

Recently, I was playing with my partner and the following incident occurred. We play that a jump raise to 2NT over a one-level major suit opening shows 12+ HCP and a minimum of 4-card support. We also play that, if there is an overcall following the one-level major suit opening, then a call of the overcalled suit shows the same support. We also play that, at other times in the auction, a call of the opposition’s

suit asks if partner has a stop in that suit. All these agreements are shown on our convention card. So now to the incident. Partner opened 1♥, my RHO intervened with 2♣ and I bid 3♣. LHO asked for the meaning of the 3♣ bid and my partner said, ‘asking if I have a stop in clubs.’ My LHO passed. Partner bid 3♦, meaning clearly to me that he did not have a club stop and my RHO asked me for the meaning of the 3♦ bid. I was aware that I could not pass information to my partner by saying his explanation was incorrect and that if I said it showed no stop in clubs then it would not be in line with our partnership agreement. What should I have replied? How should I have treated my partner’s bid when deciding what to bid? Peter Chapman by email.

A

Your partner’s wrong explanation is unauthorised information to you, so you must make every effort to avoid gaining in any way from it. However, you must always explain partnership agreements fully and correctly, so if you are asked what 3♦ means, you tell them as per your agreement. If that confuses opponents so be it: they will probably work out what is happening. Will your explanation wake your partner up to what has happened? Certainly, but your explanation is unauthorised information to him and he must make every effort to take no advantage. So if, for example, you play 3♦ as a game try asking

for help in diamonds then you tell the opponents that, and you bid accordingly and let partner worry about his own ethics. Giving unauthorised information to partner is not illegal: it is only illegal if he uses it. But giving misinformation to opponents is illegal, so you must not do that. ♣♦♥♠

Q

I made 5♣ doubled +1 (vulnerable) to score 950. Someone else made 4♣ doubled +2 to score 1,110. Why does the higher contract not yield the larger score? Patricia Jones, Blackpool.

A

When a doubled contract makes, the trick score is doubled, which often means that cheaper contracts become game contracts, hence term ‘doubling into game’. Overtricks, on the other hand, score considerably more when doubled; thus a smaller contract, if making the same number of tricks, will often score more because it includes more overtricks. The breakdown is as follows: 4♣ doubled +2: Trick points: 4x20x2=160 Overtrick points: 2x200=400 Bonus for making contract: 50 Game bonus: 500 Total: 160+400+50+500 =1,110. 5♣ doubled +1: Trick points: 5x20x2=200 Overtrick points: 1x200=200 Bonus for making contract: 50 Game bonus: 500 Total: 200+200+50+500 =950.

BRIDGE March 2014

Ask David continued

Q

I have two queries which I would like your opinion on please: 1. The bidding started:

West North East South 1♥ 1♠ Pass 2♠ 2♥

South pointed out that 2♥ was insufficient, East changed his bid to 3♦ and the bidding continued. West North East South 1♥ 1♠ Pass 2♠ 3♦ 3♠ Pass Pass ?

Is East permitted to bid again? 2. South is in 4♠ and this is the position at trick 7 (no trumps out):



♠ — ♥ ­­— ♦ A K J 9 x ♣ x N W E S



♠ x ♥ — ♦ Q 10 x x ♣ A

Declarer played the small club from dummy and ruffed it in hand, then played the ♣A. East declared a revoke and demanded a twotrick penalty. South would have made all the remaining tricks even without the revoke.

South was set to make 11 tricks, but ended up with 9 giving a resounding bottom. The director was called but didn’t know the answer. Should South have been penalised 1 or 2 tricks? Ann Bennett by email.

A

1. If players give rulings at their own table without the director, then they should make sure they are correct and read them from the book: this seems very strange and unnecessary to me. However, since South has accepted the 3♦ bid, that makes it legal and East and West can bid whatever they like. The ruling would have been different if the director had been called, but East would still have been able to continue bidding: the penalties tend to be against his partner. 2. The law is quite clear: if the revoker wins the revoke trick by ruffing, it is a two-trick penalty: it is a little strange the director could not find that in the law book. ♣♦♥♠

Q

West opened 3♣, North passed and East doubled. The director stated that: (a) West was silenced for the rest of the auction (b) East could make ‘any legal bid’. Does this mean East cannot pass? Claude Stokes by email.

A

In fact, the player who doubled may make any legal call, not just any legal bid, so that ■ does include pass.

E-mail your questions on bridge laws to: [email protected]

BRIDGE March 2014

DECLARER PLAY QUIZ by David Huggett (Answers on page 43)

Y

ou are South as declarer playing teams or rubber bridge. In each case, what is your play strategy?

1.

♠ 5 3 ♥ K Q J 6 ♦ K 7 4 ♣ A 7 5 4

3.

N

N

W E

W E

S



♠ A K J 10 6 2 ♥ 10 2 ♦ A Q J 3 ♣ 2

You are declarer in 6♠ and West leads the ♣J. How do you plan the play?

2.

♠ 6 5 4 ♥ A 2 ♦ A Q 10 7 6 5 ♣ K 7

S



4.

N

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠7. East plays the ♠J. How do you plan the play?

♠ 7 4 3 ♥ K Q J 3 ♦ K 8 4 ♣ A K 2 N

W E

S

♠ K Q 9 ♥ K 6 5 ♦ J 9 3 ♣ A 5 3 2

♠ 2 ♥ A K Q 3 ♦ A 10 9 8 ♣ Q J 6 4

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠Q. How do you plan the play?

W E



♠ A 7 5 3 ♥ 8 4 ♦ K Q 7 3 2 ♣ 10 5

S



♠ A K J 10 2 ♥ 10 7 ♦ A Q J 3 ♣ 6 5

You are declarer in 6♠ and West leads the ♣Q. How do you plan the play?

Page 21

2014 with Jeremy Dhondy, Chairman of the EBU

March 2014

E

ducation, Education, Education, as Tony Blair said about 15 years ago. He wasn’t talking about the future of bridge but he might as well have been. If you look around your club on a normal night, there is a danger that the average age will be well over 60 and the result of that in 25 years time is fairly clear. Some clubs ignore this and I am sad to say that two EBU clubs closed their doors in 2013 because their attendance had fallen to a point where hiring the hall was no longer viable for the three-table Howell. There are clubs who have realised that teaching people both to play and improve is going to give them the life blood that they need. There have long been programmes to teach the young for the first time and it is hard to deny the importance of these but it is not the only area which can be fertile for finding new students. Some of the more successful clubs are teaching much older people, perhaps those who are close to retiring and looking for new activities to indulge in with their increased leisure time. The local U3A often has a bridge section. One problem is having the right teachers teaching the right material. I listened to two bridge teachers arguing about the importance of teaching their beginner students whether to open 1♣ or 1♦ with 4-4 in the minors. The arguments were fervent and I left them still at it wondering why they thought it was in any way relevant. I can see the arguments for both, but I would not worry about it with students unless they had been playing for several years and possibly not even then. It is a good idea to have a basic syllabus so beginners learn in a structured way and also to have teachers who are qualified and sensible. There is probably still, somewhere, the teacher who wheels out Beasley as the standard method and indeed, it was standard in about 1936. It might not stand the test of time today. Try this. Partner opens 1♠: Page 22

play an odd system then so what, but if, routinely, you still misplay:

♠ K x ♥ A Q x ♦ A J 10 9 x ♣ A K x

A pretty good hand and you would expect to bid at least a small slam, but your partner might look at you and wonder if you had imbibed too much gin if you wheeled out the standard Beasley response of 6♦. Time moves on and methods change. Two helpful things the EBU can do are to have a recognised syllabus, which approximates to what is played in the majority of clubs and to have a method to accredit teachers so that, when the club or an individual wants to employ a teacher and know if they might be any good, there is a quality mark. Can you teach an alien system or one with many modifications to standard English? Of course, you may teach well without a badge or certificate, but you do need some way of judging and the teaching arm of the EBU (EBUTA) is one way to have a quality mark which can be helpful. Some local authorities, but by no means all, expect an EBUTA qualification from those whom they employ. From April, the education part of the English Bridge Union will be a part of a new charity which will, hopefully, make it easier to raise funds to further this critical part of our game. There is evidence that, when older people keep their mind active with games such as bridge, it delays the onset of mental deterioration. In our society today, that seems to me to be a pretty good advertisement for the game. The education programme is not just about teaching the young or even the old, it is also about giving those who play a chance to improve. You don’t have to have a desire to play internationally to want to play better. If you have been playing for 40 years and you have never wanted to



♠ A K x x x N W E S



♠ J 9 x

when you need four tricks, then you might consider whether you want to do something about it by learning a few of the more common suit combinations*. When computer dealing came in, it caused ire in some quarters and part of that was because the way the cards were distributed resembled what you would expect mathematically far more often than when the pack had had a lazy and cursory shuffle. Those who played for the 3-3 break instead of a finesse were, theoretically, taking a very inferior line (36% instead of 50%), but the bad shuffling made it a lot closer and also gave rise to the school who, faced with a two-way finesse, always played for the queen to be over the jack. If you hope your club will be thriving in years to come, then teaching is one of the key ways to make it happen and having a national organisation that gives it a priority will help. One last thing though. Once you have taught the beginner and he or she is ready to take their part in the game they will be nervous, slow and prone to make mistakes. If the first time they do so they are harangued, told off for failing to follow etiquette or bellowed at to speed up, I don’t expect they will be back quickly. That is perhaps a topic for next time. *To save you looking it up, cash the ace and play low to the nine. If you have constructive comment or feedback on these or other topics, I will be pleased to hear from you at [email protected]. ■ BRIDGE March 2014

DEFENCE QUIZ by Julian Pottage



(Answers on page 47)

Y

ou are East in the defensive positions below, playing teams or rubber bridge. It is your turn to play. Both sides are using Acol with a 12-14 1NT.

1. ♠ K 5 ♥ K J 2 ♦ Q J 10 5 3 ♣ A K 7 ♠ A 10 7 4 3 2 N ♥ Q 9 5 W E S ♦ A 6 ♣ 5 4

3. ♠ J 9 8 ♥ Q 8 7 3 ♦ K Q 9 5 ♣ J 10 ♠ N ♥ W E ♦ S ♣

West North East South 1♦ 1♠ 1NT Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

West North East South 2♠1 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass 1 Weak

Partner leads the ♠9, covered by the ♠K. What is your plan?

2. ♠ Q 10 8 3 ♥ 8 2 ♦ A K Q 5 ♣ 8 7 3 ♠ N ♥ W E S ♦ ♣

76 Q75 876 A J 10 9 4

West North East South Pass Pass 1NT 1 Pass 2♣2 Dbl 2♥ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass 1 12-14 2Stayman

Partner leads the ♣Q. What is your plan?

BRIDGE March 2014

A Q 10 7 3 2 K2 10 7 432

Partner leads the ♠6 and dummy plays low. What do you do?

4. ♠ J 4 ♥ 10 9 2 ♦ A K Q 5 3 2 ♣ K 7 ♠ 10 7 N ♥ Q75 W E S ♦ J 10 7 6 ♣ A 9 5 4

West North East South 2♠1 3♦ Pass 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass 1 Weak

Partner leads the ♣J and dummy plays low. What is your plan?

Bernard Magee’s Tips for Better Bridge 65 invaluable tips in 160 pages Bidding Tips 1 Always consider bidding spades if you can 2 Bid more aggressively when non-vulnerable 3 Always double when the opponents steal your deal 4 A takeout double shows shortage in the suit doubled 5 ‘Borrow’ a king to keep the auction open 6 After a penalty double, don’t let the opponents escape 7 Halve the value of a singleton honour when opening 8 Only add length-points for a suit that might be useful 9 Isolated honours are bad except in partner’s suit 10 Use the jump shift sparingly 11 Consider passing and letting partner decide 12 You need two top honours for a second-seat pre-empt 13 Put the brakes on if you have a misfit 14 Strong and long minors work well in no-trumps 15 One stop in the opponents’ suit can be enough for no-trumps 16 Keep your two-level responses up to strength 17 Use your normal methods in response to a 1NT overcall 18 Don’t overcall just because you have opening points 19 Overcalls can be quite weak, so be prudent when responding 20 Weak overcalls must be based on strong suits 21 6NT requires 33 points not 4 aces and 4 kings 22 Raise immediately, if weak with four-card support 23 In a competitive auction, show support immediately 24 Bid to the level of your fit quickly with weak hands 25 With strength and support, use the opponents’ bid suit Declarer Play Tips 26 When your contract depends on a finesse, think ‘endplay’ 27 Consider what a defender might be thinking about 28 Always take your time at trick one 29 Establish extra tricks before cashing your winners 30 Use your opponents’ bidding to your advantage 31 Avoid the ‘baddie’ gaining the lead 32 Use the Rule of Seven when holding up in no-trumps

33 A low lead usually promises length and an honour 34 When declaring 1NT, try to be patient 35 Duck an early round when you are short of entries 36 Lead up to your two-honour holding 37 Do not always assume a suit will break well 38 Drop a high card to put off the defence 39 Play your highest card to tempt a defender to cover 40 Draw trumps first unless you have a good reason not to 41 Do not waste your trumps 42 Consider leaving a lone defensive trump winner out Defence Tips 43 Keep four-card suits intact whenever possible 44 Give count on declarer’s leads 45 Keep the right cards rather than signal 46 Take your time when dummy is put down 47 High cards are for killing other high cards 48 Do not waste intermediate cards 49 Pick two key suits to concentrate on during the play 50 If in doubt, cover an honour with an honour 51 If a lead is from two honours, it is best not to cover 52 Keep your honour to kill dummy’s honour 53 Try to show partner your solid honour sequences 54 Lead the normal card when leading partner’s suit 55 Never underlead an ace at trick one in a suit contract 56 Be wary of leading from four cards to only one honour 57 Lead a higher card from a suit without an honour 58 Lead through ‘beatable’ strength and up to weakness 59 Cash your winners before trying for a trump promotion 60 Be patient when defending 1NT 61 Trump leads can be safe throughout the play General Tips 62 Do not put important cards at either end of your hand 63 Avoid being declarer when you are dummy 64 Before you lead, ask for a review of the auction 65 Enjoy the Game!

£14 including postage and packing from Mr Bridge, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH. ( 01483 489961

Page 23

Robin Hood’s Bridge Adventures by David Bird

Wise Wynnfryth’s Judgement

T

he Thursday night duplicate game, taking place in the Drunken Partridge ale-house, had reached the half-way stage. The next arrivals at Robin Hood’s table were two of his outlaws, Friar Tuck and Nazir the Saracen, well known for his fighting ability when using a razorsharp sword in each hand. Friar Tuck took his seat at the table, depositing a half-eaten game pie before him. ‘Did you not take supper with us before we left the forest?’ queried Robin Hood. ‘One or two morsels,’ Tuck replied. ‘I didn’t trudge all this way to turn down one of the tastiest pies for miles around. Hare and venison always work well together. Do you want a piece?’ Robin Hood declined the offer and sorted through these South cards:

Marian smiled happily at Robin. ‘Six Spades,’ she said. This was the full deal: Dealer East. E/W Game. ♠ K Q 5 ♥ A 7 6 ♦ J 9 8 3 ♣ A K 8 ♠ 9 6 2 ♠ 4 N ♥ 5 W E ♥ K Q J 10 8 ♦ 7 6 4 S ♦ K Q 2 ♣ J 10 7 5 3 2 ♣ Q 9 6 4 ♠ A J 10 8 7 3 ♥ 9 4 3 2 ♦ A 10 5 ♣ Void

West

Nazir





♠ A J 10 8 7 3 ♥ 9 4 3 2 ♦ A 10 5 ♣ Void

Friar Tuck opened One Heart on his right. At least, it sounded like One Heart. It was difficult to be sure when his mouth was full of game pie. ‘Two Spades,’ said Robin Hood. He was a bit short of points for this bid, the way the outlaws played it. Still, Marian would make allowance for the fact that the vulnerability was favourable. ‘Pass,’ said the black-eyed Nazir. Page 24

North

East

South

Maid

Friar

Robin

Marian

Tuck

Hood

Pass 6♠

1♥ 2♠ All Pass

Nazir led his singleton heart and down went the dummy. ‘I have a fine hand for you, my love,’ said Marian. For once, Robin Hood had to agree. If they were too high on this one, it would be his fault. ‘Ace, please,’ he said. Hood paused to assess his prospects. Six trump tricks and four top cards in the side suits brought his total to ten. To create any more tricks, he would have to develop the diamond suit. If the diamond honours were split, he could afford to lose a diamond trick to

West – the safe hand who would have no heart to play. Still, Tuck’s opening bid made it more likely that he held both the missing diamond honours. What could be done in that case? Robin Hood soon found the answer. ‘Three of diamonds, please,’ he said. Swallowing his mouthful, Friar Tuck played the ♦Q from the East seat. Hood won with the ♦A and continued with the ace and king of trumps, East throwing a heart on the second round. He next played the two top clubs, discarding the remaining two diamonds from his hand. When he led the ♦J, Friar Tuck covered somewhat reluctantly with the ♦K. Hood ruffed high in his hand and returned to dummy with the queen of trumps. Two hearts were discarded on the established ♦9-8 and the slam was made, declarer conceding a heart trick eventually. ‘If I have four diamonds, I can defeat you,’ observed Friar Tuck. ‘Can you?’ said Hood ‘I don’t cover the second round of diamonds and you’re stuck,’ Tuck continued. ‘Nazir still has a trump. I duck the next diamond too and he can ruff if you discard another heart.’ A round or two later, Hood and Marian faced Wise Wynnfryth, an ancient but much admired soothsayer in these parts. No-one had doubted her evil powers since the time five years ago when one of her pigs had gone missing. A neighbour had been found mysteriously dead, slumped over his dining table. Beside him on BRIDGE March 2014

Robin Hood continued

a platter was the well-picked bone of a large pork chop. ‘I’ve had no business from you recently, Robin,’ declared Wise Wynnfryth. ‘You don’t need no harm comin’ to no-one?’ Robin Hood eyed the old woman respectfully. ‘When I do, I’ll come to your door,’ he replied. ‘My prices are fair, you know that.’ The players drew their cards for this deal: Dealer South. Game All. ♠ 10 8 3 ♥ Q 6 ♦ J 9 7 6 4 ♣ 9 6 3 ♠ 4 ♠ 7 6 2 N ♥ K 9 7 3 W E ♥ J 10 8 4 2 ♦ A K 8 3 S ♦ Q 10 5 2 ♣ J 10 8 2 ♣ 4 ♠ A K Q J 9 5 ♥ A 5 ♦ — ♣ A K Q 7 5

West

Jake

Bligh

North Maid

East Wise

Marian Wynnfryth

South Robin Hood

2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♠ Pass 4♠ Pass 6♠ All Pass

When Robin Hood heard of spade support opposite, he lost no time bidding a small slam. A grand slam might be possible, but it would be difficult to bid it with any certainty. Jake Bligh, a muscular 24-year-old, was an unlikely partner for Wise Wynnfryth. Although no-one would dare suggest it openly, it was widely assumed that she had cast a spell over him. Every time he looked at his decrepBRIDGE March 2014

id partner, he eyed her as if she were a nubile 18-year-old. A strange business, indeed. Bligh led the ♦A and down went the dummy. ‘Not much for you, my love,’ said Maid Marian. Robin Hood was happy with what he saw. If clubs broke 3-2, all would be easy. In fact if trumps were 2-2 also, he would be able to discard a heart from dummy and then ruff a heart for an overtrick. What if trumps were 3-1 and the clubs were 4-1? That would be more of a test but perhaps he could survive if it was East who held the singleton club. He could then lead towards his club honours, preventing old Wynnfryth from ruffing one of his honours. Since he might need to use dummy’s top trumps as entries, Hood ruffed the first trick with the ♠J. He then cashed the ♣A. Crossing to dummy with the ♠8, he embarked on his plan of leading towards the club honours. ‘Small club, please,’ he said. Wise Wynnfryth sniffed the air. Should she ruff this trick? It seemed that declarer must hold a black two-suiter. If she ruffed in second seat, the clubs might be established, allowing declarer to discard a heart from dummy eventually and ruff a heart. She sucked in air through her remaining teeth. What to do? Eventually, she discarded a heart. Robin Hood’s eyes lit up. East had started with a singleton club. It seemed that his splendid plan had been necessary. He returned to

dummy by overtaking the ♠9 with the ♠10 and led another club towards the queen, his last honour in the suit. Wise Wynnfryth faced the same dilemma as before. Once again, she chose to discard and Hood won with the ♣Q. This position had been reached: ♠ 3 ♥ Q 6 ♦ J 9 7 6 ♣ — ♠ — ♠ 7 N ♥ K 9 7 W E ♥ J 10 8 ♦ K 8 3 S ♦ Q 10 2 ♣ J ♣ — ♠ A K Q ♥ A 5 ♦ — ♣ 7 5

Robin Hood smiled to himself as he realised that his work was not yet over. When he led a fourth round of clubs, West’s ♣J appearing, he realised that he would go down if he ruffed with the ♠3. East would overruff and there would be a further loser in hearts. ‘Throw the six of hearts, will you, my love?’ he said. The contract could not be defeated then. West’s ♣J won this trick but nothing could stop declarer from ruffing a heart in dummy to bring home the slam. Wise Wynnfryth paused to evaluate what had happened. Declarer had needed two trump entries to dummy to lead towards his clubs and, eventually, a third trump to take the heart ruff. She turned her piercing eyes in the direction of her unfortunate partner. ‘You drooling buffoon!’ she shrieked. ‘Lead a trump and he can’t make it!’ ‘But, but… I had the ♦A-K.’ ‘Let him make a vulnerable slam, would you?’ cried the old crone. ‘You can sleep in the back yard tonight!’ ■ Page 25

Beginners’ Bridge Corner

We Are Survivors (For those born Before 1940 . . .) We were born before television, before penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, videos and the pill. We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens, before dishwashers, tumble driers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes . . . and before man walked on the moon. We got married first and then lived together (how quaint can you be?). We thought ‘fast food’ was what you ate in Lent, a ‘Big Mac’ was an oversized raincoat and ‘crumpet’ we had for tea. We existed before house husbands, computer dating and sheltered accommodation was where you waited for a bus. We were before day care centres, group homes and disposable nappies. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, artificial hearts, word processors, or young men wearing earrings. For us ‘time sharing’ meant togetherness, a ‘chip’ was a piece of wood or fried potato, ‘hard­ware’ meant nuts and bolts and ‘software’ wasn’t a word. Before 1940 ‘Made in Japan’ meant junk, the term ‘making out’ referred to how you did in your exams, ‘stud’ was something that fastened a collar to a shirt and ‘going all the way’ meant staying on a double-decker bus to the terminus. In our day, cigarette smoking was ‘fashionable’, ‘grass’ was mown, ‘coke’ was kept in the coalhouse, a ‘joint’ was a piece of meat you ate on Sundays and ‘pot’ was something you cooked in. ‘Rock Music’ was a fond mother’s lullaby, ‘Eldorado’ was an icecream, a ‘gay person’ was the life and soul of the party, while ‘aids’ just meant beauty treatment or help for someone in trouble. We who were born before 1940 must be a hardy bunch when you think of the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder there is a generation gap today . . . BUT

By the grace of God . . . we have survived! Printed in the UK on a 100% cotton tea-towel £7 from Art Screen Prints ( 01287 654481

Page 26

Mary’s Third Lesson by Liz Dale

I

t had been Anne her daughter-in-law’s idea for Mary to move nearer to Liam, her son, and family after the loss of Peter two and a half years ago. Anne was anxious to return to her career in the bank – quite a highly paid job, and she thought Mary might like to help out with David, Mary’s Grandson. ‘Make Mary feel wanted and useful,’ was what she said. The bridge lesson on Tuesday morning caused a problem for Liam and Anne. There always seemed to be such a fuss made about who would take David to school on a Tuesday morning. And now David had been ill in the night. Mary had said she would take over after 12.30pm but Liam and Anne weren’t at all happy about this arrangement. Feeling more than a little bit guilty, Mary arrived at the bridge club. She couldn’t seem to lift her spirits this morning, not since the phone call. Everyone had completed their homework. Alasdair (the teacher) felt that today they were all ready to progress from mini bridge to bridge proper. Cries of, ‘Why? But we like mini bridge. We don’t want to progress. We’re happy with mini bridge. Do we have to?’ Mary said nothing. Just listened to them, admiring their exuberance.

It seemed the main difference between mini bridge and bridge proper was that you didn’t announce your high-card point count (HCP) but you still had to identify partnership HCP by making a ‘Bid’. And with this bid you promised certain criteria. If you, as dealer, passed, then you promised partner you hadn’t got the required 12 HCP for opening the bidding. If you, as opener, made the first bid, for example, 1♣, 1♦, 1♥ or 1♠, then you promised three things. 12-19 HCP, at least four cards in the suit bid and, thirdly, you promised to rebid if partner changed the suit. If opener’s partner made a bid, then at least 6+ HCP were promised. Fewer than 6 HCP meant that partner should pass. ‘Yes, pass’ said Alasdair, ‘Don’t try and rescue partner – it doesn’t work.’ The number of tricks you were expected to make was the same as with mini bridge. If the partnership had 21/22 combined HCP, you were expected to make seven tricks. With 23/24 HCP, the expectation was eight tricks and if the partnership had 25/26 HCP, then nine tricks in no-trumps or ten tricks in hearts and spades. The ‘mentor’ at Mary’s table was working hard this morning. Why was it so hard to remember that as opener

you had to have 12 HCP, but that, as opener’s partner, you needed only 6 HCP to reply? Alasdair, whilst giving out the homework sheets, said that maybe the group would find it helpful to divide the homework into two sessions. The first session could be done in one sitting, that of going through the exercises, counting up the HCP and slotting the figure into the homework sheet, without worrying about what the correct bid and responses should be. Then, the second session could be devoted to a time when you were feeling relatively fresh and you could tackle the bidding sequences straight off. Mary tried to give her attention to the new principles of bridge proper, but it wasn’t easy. Her concentration wasn’t at all good this morning. She was feeling very low. Couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that she had somehow let Anne and Liam down. She would have to work very hard on the homework exercises if she was to keep up with the rest of the class. Mary really liked coming to the lesson. It was the first real opportunity she had for meeting new people since moving to the area and she thought that maybe, with time, she might, even, make some good friends. She really hoped ■ so.

Open the bidding with 12 HCPs or more and reply to partner’s suit opening with 6 HCPs or more.

BRIDGE March 2014

The Diaries of Wendy Wensum Episode 23: Different Paths Part 1: St David and the Saints

I

t was a long car journey from Norfolk to Pembrokeshire for a short holiday of bridge. Spouse and I arrived at the hotel near St David’s in time for dinner and the first session of bridge. We were not at our best and were disappointed with our performance. At breakfast next morning, we discovered that bridge players were not the only guests. A group of walkers were also based at the hotel and Spouse and I were persuaded to join them on the first walk of their holiday. The group leader promised us a short warm-up stroll. So it was that a dozen or so walkers and two invited bridge players set off in a mini-bus to St. David’s. We alighted near the impressive cathedral and made our way from there along a track to St. Non’s Bay, named after the mother of St. David. The weather was ideal for walking; light clouds, dry and little wind. We took the coastal path overlooking St. Bride’s Bay and rounded the peninsula. By Ramsay Sound, we saw seals basking in a small inlet and, further along, dolphins swimming with the nature reserve of Ramsay Island as the backcloth. At St Justinian’s, we turned inland and returned by flatter tracks and footpaths to St David’s. We enjoyed the nine mile walk thoroughly, but pointed out to our new friends’ amusement that such a distance with the ups and downs of the Welsh coastal cliffs was rather more challenging than the same distance in Norfolk. After dinner, I suggested that as a sign of mutual respect, the group should join us for bridge. I have never seen so many walkers disappear so fast. However, with social rubber bridge experience, although novices to duplicate and rather nervous about the prospect, Sally and Dave accepted the invitation. Spouse and I offered to split our partnership and they agreed BRIDGE March 2014

with alacrity. After the exertions of the day, Spouse and his new friend Dave were sampling pints of local real ales, discussing each beer with the affected tones of wine connoisseurs, while Sally and I sipped our glasses of wine quietly and set out our system card carefully. This was a board of interest: Dealer East. Love All. ♠ Q 10 9 8 7 3 ♥ K J 10 7 2 ♦ 3 ♣ 4 ♠ K 6 4 ♠ J 5 N ♥ 8 6 3 W E ♥ A ♦ K Q J 9 S ♦ A 10 8 2 ♣ Q 7 3 ♣ A K 10 8 6 5 ♠ A 2 ♥ Q 9 5 4 ♦ 7 6 5 4 ♣ J 9 2

Sally and I played North-South and this was the auction: West North East South Sally Wendy 1♣ Pass 1♦ 2NT* 3♦ 3♥ 4♦ 4♥ All Pass *Both majors

West led the ♦K. When dummy appeared, the gentleman sitting West was not a happy bunny and called the director, complaining that Sally had overcalled with six points. I explained that we were a new partnership and our only arrangement was that the 2NT bid was of the two-suited variety showing both majors. The TD saw no problem. The hand had only six losers and contained useful intermediate cards. Its strength was only six high card points, but it reached 17 ‘opening points’. West was still clearly unhappy

and mumbled to himself about walkers and bridge. I ruffed the second diamond and played a top trump losing to the ace and then the ♣A. I trumped the diamond return and played a heart hoping for a 2-2 break. It was not to be. I took the spade ace; West took the king. I ruffed his club return and played a winning spade. My two remaining trumps gave me eight tricks in total for two down. As Sally filled in the traveller West said, ‘Shouldn’t that be 200 to us? The vulnerability is red.’ ‘No, it’s green; the score is 100,’ interceded his wife, sitting East, ‘No wonder you have trouble with traffic lights. I’d better do all the driving in future.’ ‘Why didn’t you double?’ her husband retorted before starting to mumble again, but now the subject matter concerned wives and woman drivers. When Spouse and Dave played the board, there was no intervention from opponents. The bidding was: West North East South Dave Spouse 1♣ Pass 1♦ Pass 3♦ Pass 4♣ Pass 5♣ All Pass

South led the ♠A and, with only that trick to lose, Spouse made his contract with an overtrick for a good score. One pair had bid and made a slam in diamonds. Both our pairs finished in the top quarter of the field and Sally and Dave admitted they had gained a lot of confidence from the session and had enjoyed themselves immensely. Afterwards, Dave and Spouse continued their beer drinking, while Sally and I sipped herbal tea healthily at Sally’s recommendation. I made a mental note of suggesting that to Millie. It had been a good day. We had walked in dry weather and been successful at the table. The Pembrokeshire saints were smiling on us. ■ Page 27

Julian Pottage answers your bridge questions

Is the Fourth Suit Still Forcing After a Double?

Q

You are South, playing a weak no-trump with 5-card majors and fourth suit forcing to game:



♠ A Q 9 6 3 ♥ 5 ♦ K 10 2 ♣ A J 9 2

West North East South 1♠ Dbl 2♥ Pass* 3♣ Dbl 3♦ *Alerted as a penalty pass

The point of the dispute was in relation to North’s 3♦. Was this fourth suit forcing in this rather strange sequence? Michael Harris by email.

A

It is quite common to play that with most responses you ignore the double. I would also feel inclined to ignore the explanation of East’s pass over 2♥; perhaps West did not see North’s 2♥. Despite the unusual auction, I think 3♦ should be fourth suit forcing as usual. Given the way the auction progressed, I imag-

Page 28

ine North regretted not having redoubled 1♠. ♣♦♥♠

Q

I opened 4♦ with this hand and ended up making 6♦ doubled after the opponents bid to 5♠.



♠ Q ♥ K 8 4 ♦ A K Q 10 9 8 7 6 ♣ A

What would you open? Doreen Y Parrington, Lytham St Annes.

A

4♦ as an opening bid is a weak bid, showing a preemptive hand, which you do not have. If you play natural strong two bids, you could open 2♦. If you play 2♦ as something else, opening 1♦ would be fine. ♣♦♥♠

Q

This comes from a Mr Bridge weekend. Two pairs bid 6♠; everyone made 13 tricks. I put it in

QPlus, which bid to 6♠.



♠ K Q 3 2 ♥ A 8 6 5 4 N ♦ K 8 W E ♣ Q 3 S

♠ A 9 7 6 5 ♥ Void ♦ A 6 2 ♣ A K 10 7 4

Should you reach 7♠? How would you bid it? 1♠-2♥-3♣ was a common start. Patrick Dunham, Coleorton, Leics.

A

The grand slam is a good contract, albeit not laydown. A 4-0 trump break or a 5-1 club break could cause problems. I recommend playing 2NT as a game forcing raise; 1♠-2NT gets you off to a better start than 1♠-2♥3♣-4♠. After the artificial 2NT, with a 5-loser hand and first-round control in all four suits, East will insist on reaching at least 6♠. This leaves plenty of space for exploring grand slam possibilities. Whether the players are sufficiently confident of the club position to bid 7♠ is debatable; at least you are in with a chance. With my regular partner, we might bid 1♠-2NT-3♥ (shortage)-3♠

(waiting)-4♣ (cue)-4♦ (cue)4♥ (cue)-4♠-5♣ (second cue in clubs so must be ace-king)-6♣ (cue, showing third round control)-7♠. ♣♦♥♠

Q

We play Acol with key card Blackwood, cue bidding and splinters.



♠ K J 7 ♥ Q 9 7 4 3 ♦ A 10 6 ♣ A Q N W E S



♠ Void ♥ A K 5 ♦ K Q J 7 3 ♣ J 9 7 4 3

North South 1♥ 2♦ 2NT 3♣ 3NT 4♣ 4NT 5♦ All Pass

Should I have rebid 3♥ rather than 2NT? What else do you suggest to reach 6♦ or 6♥? Ray Andrews by email.

BRIDGE March 2014

Ask Julian continued

lose more than a spade, a diamond and a club. ♣♦♥♠

A

The first four bids are correct. The 2NT rebid shows the balanced nature of the hand and does not deny five hearts. A jump to 3♥ would suggest six good hearts, not five poor ones. North should have supported diamonds at some point, probably over 3♣ and certainly over 4♣. As the hearts are poor and it is cheaper to bid 3♦ than 3♥, I prefer 3♦ to 3♥ over 3♣. By failing to give South a chance to support hearts and in failing ever to support diamonds, North’s bidding made life very difficult. South might reasonably assume from the repeated no-trump bids that North had a lot of wasted values in spades. A possible auction is 1♥2♦-2NT-3♣-3♦-3♥-4♥-6♦.

Q

How should we have bid a grand slam with these hands? We failed comprehensively.



♠ 9 3 ♥ A Q 6 ♦ A Q 7 5 ♣ A 10 7 6 N W E S



♠ A K Q J 8 7 ♥ K J 8 4 ♦ K J 10 ♣ void

North South 1♠ 2♣ 2♥ 3NT All Pass

Q

Should you open a weak two with both majors? My partner and I disagree. Irene Symes by email.

A

If you make any type of pre-emptive bid, a weak two included, you are saying that your hand will be worth far more with its long suit as trumps. If you have a two-suited hand, especially if your second suit is the other major, this is unlikely to be the case. While some say never to pre-empt with four cards in an unbid major, you can apply a bit of common sense.

Hand 1 ♠ K Q J 10 9 3 ♥ 6 4 3 2 ♦ 6 2 ♣ 4

Paul Jesper by email. ♣♦♥♠

Q

With a strong hand, can I open an Acol 2♣ with fewer than 23 points? Brian Davenport by email.

A

The requirement to hold 23 HCP applies only if you have a balanced hand. If you have a powerful game-going hand with five quick tricks, you can open 2♣ with fewer HCP. With this hand it would be correct to open 2♣:



♠ K Q J 10 6 3 ♥ A K ♦ 4 ♣ A K 10 8

Even facing a Yarborough, it would be unlucky to

BRIDGE March 2014

A

This is not an easy hand to bid in Acol. However, you should certainly reach at least a small slam. The upper limit for North’s jump to 3NT really ought to be 15 points. With this strength hand, going via fourth suit would seem better, especially as South might have held five hearts. In any case, South’s pass of 3NT is exceedingly cautious. With a four-loser hand and the likelihood that North has the missing diamond honours, South should envisage a slam. A jump to 6♠ would be a better shot than passing 3NT. North might or might not find the raise to the grand slam on the strength of the three aces.

Hand 2 ♠ K 10 7 3 ♥ A J 8 6 4 3 ♦ 6 2 ♣ 4

Hand 1, with very good spades and terrible hearts, should play well enough in spades even if partner has a heart fit. Hand 2, in contrast, with the ace in your long suit and good spade support, might well play far better in spades than in hearts. While it would be sensible to open 2♠ with Hand 1, you should not open 2♥ on Hand 2. ♣♦♥♠

Q

Please tell me how we bid to reach 7♦ on these hands. North is dealer.



♠ A 7 4 ♥ A ♦ A K Q J 10 9 8 3 2 ♣ Void N W E S



♠ K Q 6 3 ♥ K J 7 4 ♦ Void ♣ K J 7 4 3

Martin Ison, London N3.

A

Grand slams are often difficult to bid. So are freak hands. The combination of the two makes things especially difficult. North will be looking for South to hold the ♠K and either the ♠Q, ♥K, or ♣A. The ♦7 and certain honour combinations would also be good enough – though no known method of bidding will tell you about the ♦7. On the actual layout, if North can find out that South has three kings, it will be easy to count 13 tricks: two spades, two hearts and nine diamonds. The problem is that a two king reply to 5NT will take the auction to the seven level. North might not risk doing that, especially if South has bid clubs and then cue bid hearts, making it likely that the two kings would be the ♥K and ♣K. One way of trying to bid this is 2♣-3♣-4♦. Following your 2♣ opening with a jump rebid shows a self-supporting suit and invites cue bidding. ♣♦♥♠

Q

Playing redsuit transfers, if my partner opens 1NT and I respond 2♦ (showing hearts), should my partner always bid 2♥? John Hiles, Elveden, Norfolk.

Page 29

Ask Julian continued

A

While many play that opener always bids 2♥, others permit opener other options beyond simply completing a transfer. With a maximum, four-card support and a ruffing value, many people would ‘break’ or ‘super-accept’ the transfer. Playing a weak no-trump, some break into a small doubleton. Perhaps more common, especially for those who play a strong no-trump, is to break into a strong side suit. Some play that a jump to three of responder’s suit shows four trumps but not a maximum. ♣♦♥♠

Q

6♠/6♥ make on these hands. Should you reach it playing Benji and RKCB?



♠ K J 2 ♥ K Q 10 9 8 3 ♦ Void ♣ J 10 8 3 N W E S



♠ A 10 9 8 4 ♥ 5 ♦ A 8 7 6 ♣ A K Q

Mary O’Connor by email.

A

The North hand is a bit too good for a weak 2♥. I would open 1♥. Even so, I would not expect to reach a slam with these hands. In 6♠, you would be missing the ♠Q and an ace, which RKCB will establish. In 6♥, again you have a problem in the trump suit, with the jack

Page 30

missing as well as the ace. A possible auction is 1♥-1♠-2♥-3♦-3♠-4♣-4♦-4♠. If South bids 4NT instead of 4♠, you still stop out of a slam because the ♠Q and an ace are missing. Possibly even better is if North employs the principle of fast arrival and jumps to 4♠ over 3♦, giving 1♥-1♠-2♥-3♦-4♠-End. ♣♦♥♠

Q

How should you respond with this hand after partner opens a weak 1NT?



♠ 9 5 4 ♥ Void ♦ A Q J 9 7 5 4 2 ♣ Q 7

At the table, I was concerned someone might hold up the ♦K in 3NT, so I bid 5♦. Partner held the ace-king in each black suit, so a slam was on. Nobody found the heart lead to beat 3NT. David Lawrence by email.

A

Freak hands are often difficult to judge accurately. The extreme shape suggests that the suit game may be better. Indeed, on a quick computer simulation, 5♦ made 54% of the time, 3NT 43% of the time. At matchpoints, a further consideration is that 3NT making 10 tricks outscores 5♦ making 11 or 12 tricks. Then again, 5♦ is unlikely to go many down, whereas 3NT might go several down. You need not worry about holding up the ♦K. Only if diamonds are 3-0 with the king offside can an opponent

afford to hold up. ♣♦♥♠

Q

My left hand opponent opened 1NT (12-14) and, after a pass from my partner, my RHO bid 2♠, understood to be a transfer. I held 16pts including ♠A-Q-J-10-x so I doubled, intending it to be for penalties or for a lead if they played in no-trumps. My partner took this for take-out. Who was right? Keith Boothby, Buxton.

A

If 2♠ was a transfer to clubs, there are two ways of playing the double (i) asking for a spade lead (ii) showing a hand that would have doubled 1NT. (i) is the more common agreement and is what partner ought to think if you have not discussed the situation. Unless specifically agreed otherwise, a double of an artificial bid is not for take-out.

A

With only 11 HCP, I would not consider a 2♠ opening with the North cards. 1♠-2♣-4♠ seems a reasonable auction. The jump to 4♠ shows a hand too good for a 4♠ opening. Actually, if you were vulnerable, it would not be ridiculous for North to open 4♠, which would give an even shorter auction. ♣♦♥♠

Q

Playing Acol, how would you recommend bidding the following hands?



♠ J 4 ♥ A K 9 6 3 ♦ Q J 4 2 ♣ 10 8 N W E S



♠ A Q 8 2 ♥ 4 ♦ A K 10 ♣ A K Q 9 7

♣♦♥♠

Q

North was the dealer playing Acol twos.



♠ A Q J 8 6 5 4 2 ♥ 7 3 ♦ A ♣ 10 2 N W E S



♠ Void ♥ A Q J 8 4 ♦ Q 8 ♣ K J 9 7 4 2

Our auction started 2♠-3♣. How should the bidding have gone? Mrs Eede, Chepstow.

North South 1♣ 1♥ 3NT All Pass

3NT made 13 tricks. All the other pairs played in 6NT, although with the opposition card layout, 7NT, 7♦ and 7♣ all make. How should you bid these hands? David France by email.

A

With 22 HCP and some useful shape, 5.5 defensive tricks and only 3 losers, the South hand would seem to tick all the boxes for a 2♣ opening. 2♣-2♥-3♣-3♦-3NT-6NT seems a good sequence.

BRIDGE March 2014

Ask Julian continued

Having decided to open 1♣, South should rebid 2♠. A jump in a new suit is forcing and shows a strong hand. As it happens, that would not have helped as there is no fit and North will never believe that South has this many points or controls. ♣♦♥♠

Q

South opened 1NT (12-14), and E/W were using Asptro.



♠ A K 5 4 ♥ A 10 9 7 2 N ♦ K 3 W E S ♣ 7 5

♠ J 8 6 ♥ J 8 5 4 ♦ J 10 5 4 ♣ K 3

West North East South 1NT 2♦ Pass 2♠ End

Is the bidding correct? With the simpler Landy convention, we would have reached 2♥ quickly. Lloyd Lewis by email.

A

Yes, playing Asptro it is usual to anchor to the weaker suit, the result being the occasional auction like the one you cite. If you watch VuGraph broadcasts on BBO, hardly anyone plays Asptro – this tells a story. ♣♦♥♠

Q

My partner and I play 4♣ as asking for aces, unless clubs have been bid naturally, in which

case we use 4NT. On one deal, my partner opened 1♣. I, with 14 points and a balanced hand, replied 3NT. Partner then bid 4♣, which I took as natural and raised to 5♣. She had in fact wanted to know how many aces I had and whether she could make 6♣, which we did. How should we have reached the slam? Name and address supplied.

A

On this particular auction, I am afraid your partner has no direct way to ask you for aces. Having opened 1♣, 4♣ is clearly natural. Since it would be a raise, 4NT would be natural too. Had you cue bid something rather than raised to 5♣, your partner might have been able to bid 4NT next time to ask for aces. Please bear in mind that with clubs as the agreed suit, a 4NT ace enquiry is of limited value since most replies will take you past 5♣. ♣♦♥♠

Q

The response of 1NT to my partner’s opening bid of, say, 1♦ shows 6 to 8 points, no support for partner’s suit and denies a 4-card major. If RHO intervenes at the one level, does this affect my 1NT response? Susan Hoddinott, Chart Sutton, Kent.

A

After the overcall, there are two subtle changes. Firstly, the range is more like 7-9 than 6-8 or a poor 9. Secondly, you are showing a stopper in ■ the opposing suit.

E-mail your questions for Julian to: [email protected]

BRIDGE March 2014

Bridge and Travel Tips

PREPARING THE WAY Bridge tip from Sally Brock: Before making the key decision on a hand, try to get as much information as you can.

T

his advice comes into its own when you are trying to find a queen. If you can discover who is more likely (or certain) to have the length in the suit, then that player is also more likely to hold the queen. Here is a rather extreme example – a hand played by the dear, departed Sam Stayman.

Dealer South. Game All. ♠ A 7 ♥ Q 8 4 ♦ A Q 2 ♣ A Q 10 9 3 N W E S



♠ K Q 5 ♥ A K 10 2 ♦ K 10 4 ♣ K 6 4

The contract was 7NT, reached after South opened a 16-18 1NT and North just checked that all the aces

and kings were present before bidding the grand slam. West led the ♠J. How would you play? This is not the time just to bash out your top clubs and hope for the best. Stayman saw that he had twelve top tricks and thirteen if either hearts or clubs came in. What he did was win in dummy and cash the ♣A. He then cashed his spades, dummy throwing a club on the third, while East pitched a diamond. He now tried the hearts and East showed out on the third round of those too. He then cashed the ♦K and ♦A, both opponents following and paused to take stock. He knew that West had started with six spades, four hearts, two diamonds and therefore only one club. So he ran the ♣10, then played a club to his king and a diamond back to dummy’s queen to cash the ♣Q, his thirteenth ■ trick.

Travel tip from Emma Thomson:

‘B

e Prepared’ is the Scout motto – and wise words too. Researching your destination prior to travel not only deepens your enjoyment of the country, but it always prevents you from making a cultural faux pas. In America, giving a ‘thumbs up’ means ‘OK’, but in South America, it’s hideously offensive; in Europe, it’s perfectly polite to finish an entire plate of food, but in China, it’s customary to leave a small morsel to signal the hosts gave you enough to eat; in India, nodding your head means ‘No’, and shaking your head is agreement. It’s also polite to learn a few of the basics – ‘thank you’, ‘please’ and so forth – in the local lingo. Pick up a guidebook before you leave and have a thumb through the background information – it’ll pay dividends.

Page 31

G L O B A L 

T R A V E L  I N S U R A N C E

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Things You Should Know by Andrew Kambites

About Opener Bidding No-Trumps A

s opener, you should classify your hand as either balanced or unbalanced immediately. Balanced hands have no singleton and not more than one doubleton. There are three balanced shapes: 4333, 4432 and 5332. (By 5332, I mean any hand with a 5-card suit, two 3-card suits and a doubleton.) The only unbalanced hand shape without a 5-card suit is 4441. This shape is fairly infrequent: only about one hand in 30. ♣♦♥♠

B

alanced hands should be either opened with a notrump bid or opened with a suit bid with the intention of rebidding no-trumps. I will assume you are playing a weak no-trump (12-14 points), and that your 2NT opening shows 20-22 points. You will see below that all no-trump rebids show hands in the range 15-19. The consequence of this is that if you are dealt a balanced hand in the range 12-14, unless you open 1NT you will never get another opportunity to bid no-trumps, without partner thinking you have a stronger hand. This leads onto my third point. ♣♦♥♠

I

f you are dealt a balanced hand in the range 12-14 points, you must open 1NT.

Page 34

You should not waste energy worrying about flaws, just do it. The whole system depends on it. The dangers are far less than you think and you will see later that the hidden rewards are huge when you don’t open or rebid notrumps. Hand A Hand B ♠ A Q 6 5 ♠ 4 3 ♥ A K 7 6 ♥ K 7 6 ♦ 9 4 3 ♦ A Q 10 3 2 ♣ 10 2 ♣ A 7 6

Hands A and B are obvious hands to open 1NT. I will consider 5332 hands with a 5-card major at the end of this article. ♣♦♥♠

Y

ou can often get away with murder in 3NT, particularly if your bidding was short and sweet and gave your opponent no clues as to what to lead. If you are still worried about opening 1NT with a small doubleton, remember: (i) Just because you open 1NT doesn’t mean the final contract will be in no-trumps. Partner can use Stayman or transfers. (ii) If you are weak in a suit, partner may have strength in it. (iii) Even if both you and your partner are weak in a suit, the opponents may not lead that suit.

If you still need convincing, try looking at the next layout. West is dealer. What do you think is the best contract for East/West?

♠ 8 7 ♥ A Q 3 N W E ♦ A Q 6 5 S ♣ 8 4 3 2

♠ 6 4 2 ♥ K 5 4 ♦ K J 3 2 ♣ A K 7

You have 26 points so it is fantasy to imagine that you are going to stop below game. 5♦ has no chance whatsoever: whatever they lead, you will lose two spade tricks and a club. The practical contract is 3NT, but only if the bidding has gone 1NT-3NT, leaving North with a blind lead. If the missing spades are 4-4 you are safe. They can take only 4 tricks and you have nine winners to pocket the rest. Suppose the missing spades are 5-3 (or worse). If North has five spades, he will lead one and you will go off. However, if South has five spades why should North lead a spade from a three card holding, unless your bidding has told him to do so? ♣♦♥♠

W

ith a 4441 shape, with a red suit singleton open the suit below the singleton: with a black suit singleton open the middle of your three touching suits.

BRIDGE March 2014

About Opener Bidding NT continued

You might wonder why I am introducing 4441 shape hands (which are unbalanced) into an article on notrump bidding. The reason is that, if you accept my ideas so far you will see there is a very valuable implication that if opener introduces two suits, the first has at least five cards. However, 4441 hands are an exception to this, so this needs to be understood. Hand C Hand D ♠ A Q 3 2 ♠ A Q 3 2 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♦ J 8 7 6 ♦ 4 ♣ 4 ♣ J 8 7 6

Hand E Hand F ♠ A Q 3 2 ♠ 4 ♥ 4 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♦ J 8 7 6 ♦ J 8 7 6 ♣ A Q 5 4 ♣ A Q 3 2

With Hand C, open 1♥. You intend a 2♦ rebid over a 2♣ response. With Hand D, open 1♣. You intend a 1♥ rebid over a 1♦ response. With Hand E, open 1♦. You intend a 1♠ rebid over a 1♥ response. With Hand F, open 1♦. You intend a 2♣ rebid over a 1♠ response. Notice that you never open a 4441 shape hand with 1♠ and the only time you open a 4441 hand with 1♥ is if you have a singleton club. ♣♦♥♠

T

he consequence of your decision either to open or rebid all balanced hands with no-trumps is that, with the exception of the comparatively rare 4441 shaped hands, if you open a suit and rebid a new suit your first suit has at least five cards.

BRIDGE March 2014

Auction G Auction H West East West East 1♠ 2♣ 1♥ 1♠ 2♥ 2♣ Auction J Auction K West East West East 1♥ 2♣ 1♦ 1♠ 2♦ 2♣

In Auction G, West guarantees at least five spades because it is never correct to open a 4441 hand with 1♠. In Auction H, West guarantees at least five hearts; if West was 4441 shape for his 1♥ opening, his singleton would be in clubs. Therefore, he would have four spades and would raise spades rather than rebid diamonds. In Auction J, West will usually have five hearts but he could have Hand C. However, it will pay East to assume that West has five hearts and accept that occasionally that will not be the case. In Auction K, West may be 4-4 in the minors, but it does less harm to mislead partner about the length in a minor suit than a major suit. To summarise: if partner opens a major suit and rebids a new suit, assume he has five cards in the major.

West East 1♥ 1♠ 1NT 2♠

Do you really want East to pass 1♥? Or do you want to play this at the three level after a 2NT rebid? (ii) Since a 2NT rebid can be 19 points (and should be played as game forcing unless East passes), it gives further room for investigation. For example:

♠ K 8 6 ♥ A Q 7 6 N W E ♦ J 10 6 S ♣ A K Q

♠ Q J 10 5 4 ♥ K 4 2 ♦ 8 4 ♣ 8 6 4

West East 1♥ 1♠ 2NT1 3♥2 3♠3 4♠4

18-19 points. 2 I have three hearts (hoping for a 5-3 fit). This makes the auction game forcing. 3 I haven’t got five hearts but I do have 3-card support for your spades. 4 The correct contract. 1

♣♦♥♠

A

1NT rebid shows 15-17 points. A 2NT rebid with a jump (ie after a one level change of suit) shows 18-19 points. I can almost hear the howls of protest. Yes, I know that most of you were taught that a 1NT rebid shows 15-16 but things have moved on. There are huge advantages: (i) It isn’t sensible to have to jump to 2NT to show 17 points. Although 17 opposite 6 will often make 2NT, it certainly isn’t guaranteed. It also makes it a bit safer for responder to try to improve the contract with fewer than six points, for example:

♠ 9 7 6 ♥ A Q 7 6 N W E ♦ A Q 6 S ♣ K Q 3

♠ Q J 8 5 4 3 ♥ Void ♦ 8 4 3 ♣ 9 6 5 2

If West had to jump to 3NT to show his 19 points, none of this investigation would be possible, without bypassing 3NT. East would have to pass 3NT, which has little chance because the defenders will have two chances to attack diamonds. ♣♦♥♠

I

f you have a 4432 shape, too strong for 1NT, you must open one of your suits, intending a no-trump rebid. If you have a major and a minor, it is best to open the major. If you have both majors, open 1♥. Prefering to open the major to the minor just reflects the priorities between major and minor suits. Prefering to open 1♥ with both majors makes it easy for partner to respond 1♠ if he has four spades, so you shouldn’t miss a 4-4 major suit fit. Page 35

Opener Bidding NT continued

If you open 1♠, he cannot respond 2♥ without five hearts so you are likely to miss a 4-4 heart fit. Note that some pairs choose to rebid no-trumps with a singleton. This is perfectly legal. It is also legal to open 1NT with a singleton, but partner should announce: ‘12-14: could contain a singleton.’ It is a legitimate attempt to avoid bidding two suits with a 4441 shape but it does need extensive partnership discussion. ♣♦♥♠

A

2NT rebid without a jump (ie after a twolevel response) shows 15-19 points. This needs looking at from a purely logical stance. Responder has at least ten points (or a well fitting nine) to change suit at the two level. Opener has at least 15 points for the no-trump rebid. That adds up to game values. And once you decide 2NT should be game forcing, it makes no sense to restrict it to 15-16 or 15-17.

♠ A K 6 3 2 ♥ A Q 2 N W E ♦ 9 7 6 S ♣ K Q

♠ Q J 8 ♥ K 4 3 ♦ 8 4 ♣ A 10 7 4 3

West East 1♠ 2♣ 2NT1 3♠2 4♠3

15-19 points. Game forcing. 3-card spade support. 3 In that case we have a 5-3 fit. 1

2

Page 36

Now, consider what would happen if West had to jump to 3NT because he had 18 points. Presumably, East would have to pass, leaving the contract at the mercy of a wide open diamond suit. Jumps to 3NT tend to be very destructive. Since a natural jump to 3NT is never needed with my suggested range of no-trump rebids, some pairs play it as showing a solid 7-card suit and a few bits and pieces outside. Often the hand will contain a singleton in responder’s suit, for example:

N ♠ 2 W E ♥ K 8 7 S ♦ A K Q 8 7 6 2 ♣ Q 3

♠ Q J 6 4 ♥ A 3 2 ♦ 9 3 ♣ J 9 6 5

West East 1♦ 1♠ 3NT Pass

♣♦♥♠

Y

ou have a decision to make about how to handle 5332 shapes with a 5-card major. If you are strong, it is easy to open your 5-card major and rebid no-trumps. However, I am returning to such hands in the 12-14 range. Hand L ♠ A Q 10 3 2 ♥ 4 3 ♦ K 7 6 ♣ A 7 6

Hand M ♠ K 4 3 ♥ A Q 10 3 2 ♦ 7 6 ♣ A 7 6

Hand N ♠ 4 3 ♥ A Q 10 3 2 ♦ K 7 6 ♣ A 7 6

Better Hand Evaluation Bernard Magee Introduction

Andrew Robson, probably the best player in the country, would certainly advocate opening them all 1NT. Such an approach certainly lends itself to simplicity, an attribute not to be underestimated. My approach is to open the major if I am happy with my rebid, otherwise I open 1NT. With Hand L, I have no problem in opening 1♠. If partner responds 2♣, 2♦ or 2♥ I will rebid 2♠ and he cannot expect more than five spades. He will have ten or more points (enough to continue with 2NT if he dislikes my spades) or a well fitting nine points. If he has only nine points and dislikes my spades (eg a singleton), he should have responded 1NT. I have more concern with Hands M and N. Suppose I open 1♥ and partner responds 1♠. He may have to do that with just six points and a void in hearts. What can he do if I rebid 2♥? Only pass, leaving me in a really stupid contract. For this reason, the sequence 1♥-1♠2♥ should show six hearts. So with Hands M and N, I cannot rebid 2♥ if I open 1♥ and the response is 1♠. With Hand M, I am prepared to open 1♥ and raise a 1♠ response to 2♠ with just 3-card support. Therefore, my personal choice is to open 1♥. If I were not prepared to raise spades to the two level on 3-card support, I would open 1NT. With Hand N, I do not have this option. I open 1NT. ■

Better Hand Evaluation is aimed at helping readers to add greater accuracy to their bidding. It deals with auctions in which you and your partner, against silent opponents, can describe your hands fully to each other and, by evaluating them accurately, find the best final contract. The emphasis of all good, accurate bidding is on hand evaluation. There are two general types of auction: a) a fit is found and b) no fit is found. When you do not have a fit, you are aiming to describe the strength of your hand as soon as possible, most often using no-trump bids. This book begins by discussing balanced hand bidding in Acol, as it is very important that both members of a partnership have an accurate knowledge of how to show hands of different strengths. When a fit is found, there is much re-evaluation of the hand to be done; point count, though still important, needs to be evaluated together with distribution. The best way of reaching an accurate assess­ ment is to use the Losing Trick Count; this is an important method of hand evaluation and takes up a number of chapters. Finally, we move on to different forms of evaluation including game tries and splinter bids. You can never know enough methods of hand evaluation; the more you learn, the better you get at judging your hand. Although the Losing Trick Count is used more easily in tandem with your partner, a large proportion of the ideas in this book can be used by an individual. For example, evaluating your hand to be worth an extra point is going to help anyone you partner – as long as you get it right.

£14 including UK postage See Mail Order Form on page 7.

BRIDGE March 2014

Things You Should Know About Opener Bidding No-Trumps Quiz by Andrew Kambites (Answers on page 41) 1 You are playing Acol with a 12-14 1NT. With Hands A to F you have two 4-card suits: (i) What is your opening bid? (ii) If you don’t open 1NT, state your rebid if partner introduces a new suit at the lowest legal level.



Hand A ♠ 6 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ J 5 4 ♣ A K J 3

Hand B Hand C ♠ 6 3 ♠ A 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ K 10 5 ♦ J 5 4 ♣ A K J 3 ♣ A K J 3



Hand D ♠ A 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ K 10 5 ♣ A K J 3

Hand E Hand F ♠ A K J 3 ♠ A K J 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♥ K Q 10 6 ♦ J 5 4 ♦ K 10 5 ♣ 6 3 ♣ 6 3

2 You are playing Acol with a 12-14 1NT. With Hands G to K you have just one biddable suit. (i) What is your opening bid? (ii) If you don’t open 1NT, state your rebid if partner introduces a new suit at the lowest legal level.



Hand G Hand H ♠ 4 3 ♠ 4 3 ♥ K 10 8 ♥ K Q 8 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♣ K Q 4 ♣ K Q 4

Hand J Hand K ♠ A 3 ♠ A 3 ♥ K Q 8 ♥ K Q 8 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♣ K 5 4 ♣ K Q 4

3 With Hands L to P you have 4441 shape. (i) What is your opening bid? (ii) What do you rebid if partner responds in your singleton suit?



Hand L Hand M ♠ 9 ♠ 9 ♥ A Q 8 7 ♥ A Q 8 7 ♦ K 8 6 5 ♦ K Q 6 5 ♣ K J 6 5 ♣ K J 6 5

BRIDGE March 2014

Hand N Hand P ♠ A Q 8 7 ♠ A Q 8 7 ♥ K 8 6 5 ♥ K Q 6 5 ♦ K J 6 5 ♦ K J 6 5 ♣ 9 ♣ 9

Page 37



QPLUS 11 Really user-friendly bridge-playing software

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Mr Bridge AT THE ROYAL KENZ TUNISIA Half-board Duplicate Bridge Holidays

Hans Leber, QPlus designer and chief programmer writes, ‘These 16 FAQs* deal with most of the questions I am asked for both QPlus10 and QPlus11.’ FAQ 1 – Players At any time, you can change other players to ‘human’ players and operate them yourself. This can be done either by the menu item: Configuration/Players or by clicking with the right hand mouse button on one of the players. FAQ 2 – Record During play, you can see the bidding and the cards played so far by opening the record window in the menu: View/View record of current deal or by the i-Button in the South-West corner. FAQ 3 – Bidding Info During the bidding, you can click with the right hand mouse button on a bid which is marked by ‘~’ or ‘.’ and get a short explanation for this bid. Information for any bid is also available via the ‘Evaluate’ and the ‘i’ buttons. FAQ 4 – Card Display If you prefer the suits displayed in the sequence, spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds (rather than spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) then select this option in the program menu: Configuration/ Preferences/ Hand display. FAQ 5 – Mouse Handling In the program menu: Configuration/ Preferences/ Mouse Handling you can specify whether you prefer to select bids and cards with one of two mouse clicks. FAQ 6 – Cards Movement Cards can ‘jump’ or ‘move’ from the hand to the table – this can be selected in the program menu: Configuration/ Preferences/Hand Display. FAQ 7 – Pair Tournament Deals When you select, in the Match Control Window (menu item: Deal/Match control), Pair tournament file as deal source you get a comparative matchpoint score of your result against the results of the other tables. FAQ 8 – Repetition After you have played a deal you can repeat it yourself or let it repeat by the computer by selecting the menu item: Deal/Repeat deal.

FAQ 9 – Remarks You can enter remarks to the deal in the window which is opened by the menu item: View/Edit remark. This makes sense if you print (File/Print) or save (Own deals/Save to file) the deal. FAQ 10 – HTML Besides printing (menu item: File/Print) you can also export a deal in HTML format (menu item: File/ Export to HTML. The resulting .htm file can be loaded to an editor (eg MS-Word). This way you are able to get a deal with picture cards in the editor. FAQ 11 – Playing Strength The playing strength is not a fixed property of this program but depends on the PC. It has initially been set during the installation but you can change it in the menu: Configuration/ Playing Strength. If the program plays rather slowly on the PC you should decrease the playing strength. FAQ 12 – Bidding Systems QPlus Bridge has a wide choice of bidding systems and conventions – the program dialog: Configuration/ Bidding Systems shows the list of systems and the button View or Modify in that window shows the agreements and conventions in detail. FAQ 13 – Checking User Actions The program is able to ‘complain’ about bids and cards played by you when it considers them poor. You can turn this feature on or off in the menu: Extras/Check user actions. FAQ 14 – Signals If, during defensive play, you are interested if cards played by North have meanings as signals, select the button Evaluate and then ‘South about North’.

Crombie & Helen McNeil

£899* 2-16 November Tony & Jan Richards

£789*

FAQ 15 – Save Match If you need to leave the program and the PC but have not finished the match, you can exit the program by the menu item: File/ Save match + Exit. Then, at the next start of the program, the match will be continued.

*per person half-board sharing a twin-bedded room and is inclusive of bridge fees. Single supplement £6 per night. These prices are based on air travel from Heathrow to Tunis. Flights from other UK airports are available at a supplement. Prices for seven-night stays are available on application.

FAQ 16 – Stop Sign If you do not want jump bids marked by the stop sign you can turn this off in the menu item: Configuration/ Preference then sub item ‘Bidding Display’.

Pay £70 per fortnight per person extra and have a garden-facing room, tea & coffee making facilities, bath robe and a bowl of seasonal fruit.

See mail order form on page 7 or www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop System Requirements: Windows XP or later, CD-ROM. *Frequently asked questions

Page 38

30 March – 13 April

£92

including VAT & UK postage

These holidays have been organised for Mr Bridge by Tunisia First Limited, ATOL 5933.

DETAILS & BOOKINGS

( 01483 489961 BRIDGE March 2014

READERS’ LETTERS

each time with a different guest. (Mike, Angela, Susan, Hazel and Martin). Strangely enough, playing at my local clubs, I am not usually that successful. Mr Cedric Cohen, New Barnet, Herts.

BRIDGE BOOKS UNHAPPY BUNNY I am beginning to wish I hadn’t paid for a 3-year subscription for your magazine. It is being ‘dumbed down’ at such an alarming rate. The February edition has among its content: Wendy Wensum Pause for Thought Mary’s Second Lesson Lords v. Commons Charity Bridge Climb Every Mountain Catching Up and Seven Days. All these contain only tiny nuggets of useful bridge information and advice embedded in large amounts of dross. Your remarks under the heading, ‘Truth will Out’, suggest that you have already received complaints about the David Bird and Richard Wheen articles. Your defence of them is not convincing. You cannot reasonably contend that ‘A

Pause for Thought‘ enables a difficult aspect of bridge law to be better understood. On the small point of bridge law involved, two panels of eminent players have opposite views and neither panel gives any reasons for its decision. If David Stevenson were to consider the same situation, I am sure he could give a clear and reasoned ruling in a fragment of the space wasted on Richard Wheen’s article. I hope that future editions will move back to a more serious content.

Thank you for publishing my letters concerning the availability of my catalogue of bridge books. I still have electronic copies available. If any of your subscribers have changed email addresses since they last contacted me, perhaps they could let me have their new address should they require a copy. My third catalogue will be available towards the end of April and will contain a good selection of back issues of various bridge magazines, as well as the usual number of books.

Mr Geoffrey Fairhall, Folkestone, Kent.

Gordon Bickley, Card Game Books

ON TOP FORM

[email protected] ( 01614 274630

I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise on m.v. Minerva up and around the mouth of the Orinoco river. Crombie and Helen McNeil were great hosts. Now I have just returned from Christmas at Denham. During the course of the cruise, I came top five times,

REDUCE THE COST OF YOUR POSTAGE Postage stamps for sale at 90% of face-value, all mint with full gum. Quotations for commercial quantities available on request. Values supplied in 100s, higher values available as well as 1st and 2nd class (eg 2nd class: 100x37p+100x13p)

(/Fax 020 8422 4906 e-mail: [email protected]

BRIDGE March 2014

TELEPHONE I think that your initial response to Bill Seymour summed it all up. Use a telephone..., see Readers’ Letters, BRIDGE number 131. Websites, etc. are all very well, but you cannot beat talking to someone when trying to get information. When I moved down from Lincoln to Sussex ten years ago, I was given telephone numbers by my Lincoln bridge partner. I spoke to the lady chairman of Framfield Bridge Club. I received a warm welcome and I am still a member. So a telephone contact is a must, but it is obviously up to the club officials. If you want new members and most clubs do, then you have to work at it. You also have to clearly

say where and when the club meets plus a few details about the club, eg, do you need a partner? Are learners encouraged? I remember you were kind enough to give my club a plug some time ago. All and any publicity helps. Clubs also need to make some for themselves. Leaflets, ads in church magazines, libraries, on local authority websites and run a ‘free evening’. The avenues are boundless. However, the best adverts are your own members. Encourage them to play their part by spreading the word locally. Keep up your good work. All good wishes to Bill Seymour and Orpington Bridge Club members. Gerald Makeham, Chairman. Framfield Bridge Club, Sussex.

( 01273 480730

ANOTHER FAQ In March, Bebington Bridge Club will hold its annual dinner, followed by bridge. Do you have any suggestions for making the bridge session more fun and ‘party-like’? A few suggestions would be much appreciated. Jackie Theeten, Bebington, Wirral.

See ‘Our Party Bridge’ by Colin Payne, on page 25 in BRIDGE number 122. To be found in my website library www.mrbridge.co.uk/library.

NOT YET I have purchased many of your excellent tutorial CDs, but would like to take them on holiday with me. I now own an iPad. Is there any way that I could download them from my Windows computer to my ipad? Margaret Bawden, Amersham.

The short answer is: No.

Page 39

The Olde Barn Hotel Marston, Lincs NG32 2HT

READERS’ LETTERS continued

Maura Brady, Belfast.

Thank you.

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14-16 March £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 25-27 April £179 Will Parsons Further into the Auction 9-11 May £179 Gwen Beattie – Overcalls 16-18 May £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 6-8 June £245 Bernard Magee NEW TOPIC Bidding Distributional Hands 13-15 June £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 20-22 June £245 Bernard Magee Finding Slams 27-29 June £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 11-13 July £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 1-3 August £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 29-31 August £169 Diana Holland Rubber / Chicago 12-14 September £169 Just Duplicate Bridge 26-28 September £179 Declarer Play 10-12 October £245 Bernard Magee Endplay & Avoidance 14-16 November £179 Will Parsons – Doubles

Full Board No Single Supplement Booking Form on page 8.

ON-LINE BRIDGE



As a direct result of reading an article in the January issue of BRIDGE, I have started playing bridge online at BBO. Thank you, Jeremy Dhondy, for drawing my attention to an enjoyable new experience.

2 Friends of Girlguiding Oxfordshire Eynsham Village Hall. 10 for 10.30am. £15. Bridget Walton ( 01993 702934 [email protected]

Brian Barrett by email.

I recently returned from travelling in IndoChina and this photo shows me about to board our boat for a two day journey down the Mekong river in Laos. From close inspection of my rucskack, you will see BRIDGE carried so it was easily accessible at all times. Thank you for your excellent publication. D Clive Norman by email.

SUBSCRIBER I am enclosing a subscription for £20 for a year’s supply of BRIDGE. For nigh on four years I have been struggling with this most absorbing and intriguing game. Indeed, I enjoy the challenge. That’s not to indicate any improvement, though we are called ‘improvers’; so I look forward to the light that your magazine sheds which will illuminate some of the more obscure ‘language’ of bridge. You mentioned that you had once lived near Comber, so last time I was baby-sitting, I picked up the enclosed local paper with reports of the recent storm and flood damage

ABC OF BRIDGE I have recently started going to duplicate bridge, but I am finding ‘bridge language’, like computer language, hard to understand. I have also been reading your BRIDGE magazine which gives me no clues. Mrs M Halley, Towyn, Conwy.

See the series, ABC of Bridge, which started with ‘A’ in BRIDGE number 105. You will find this and so much more in my web library. www.mrbridge.co.uk/library

ASKING A LOT I used to enjoy getting every copy by post, but am now getting used to reading the magazine on an iPad. Some articles have answers on later pages. On a tablet, these articles are not easy to follow when one has to chase back and forth to read them; they would be much easier to read if the answers were on the next page. Would it be possible to bring the answers closer to the questions? Richard Cavendish, Ashburton, Devon.

Write to Mr Bridge at: Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH or e-mail [email protected] E-mail correspondents are asked to include their name, full postal address, telephone number and to send no attachments. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Page 40

CHARITY EVENTS

in the area. Just thought you might be interested.

■

MAY

8 BURGHLEY ROTARY CHARITIES Stamford Bridge Club. 1.45 for 2.00pm. £8.00. Alan Kinch ( 01780 444276 15 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE ROTARY CLUB Outlane Golf Club. 12 for 12.30. £48.00 per table. Rtn Sam Smith ( 01924 492540 samuelsmith396 @btinternet.com 16 MS THERAPY CENTRE Huntingdon, Cambs. £14.00. Hemingford Abbots Village Hall. 10.00 for 10.30am. Jenny Lea ( 01480 455810

JUNE 13 ST MARY’S CHURCH Eaton Socon, St Neots. 10.00 for 10.30am. £13.50. Malcolm Howarth ( 01480 212910

JULY 3 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE ROTARY CLUB Outlane Golf Club. 12 for 12.30. £48.00 per table. Rtn Sam Smith ( 01924 492540 samuelsmith396 @btinternet.com 11 GREAT BARFORD CHURCH Village Hall, Great Barford. 10.00 for 10.30am. £13.50. Derek Fordham ( 01234 870324

AUGUST 15 ST IVES DAY CARE CENTRE Hemingford Abbots Village Hall. 10 for 10.30am. £13.50. Don Moorman ( 01480 463444 E-mail your charity events: [email protected]

BRIDGE March 2014

Answers to Opener Bidding No-Trumps on page 37 1 You are playing Acol with a 12-14 1NT. With Hands A to F you have two 4-card suits: (i) What is your opening bid? (ii) If you don’t open 1NT, state your rebid if partner introduces a new suit at the lowest legal level.



Hand A ♠ 6 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ J 5 4 ♣ A K J 3

Hand B ♠ 6 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ K 10 5 ♣ A K J 3



Hand C ♠ A 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ J 5 4 ♣ A K J 3

Hand D ♠ A 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♦ K 10 5 ♣ A K J 3



Hand E Hand F ♠ A K J 3 ♠ A K J 3 ♥ K J 10 6 ♥ K Q 10 6 ♦ J 5 4 ♦ K 10 5 ♣ 6 3 ♣ 6 3

Hand A: (i) Open 1NT. You should open all balanced hands with 12-14 points with 1NT because huge benefits result. Hands B, C and D: (i) You are too strong to open 1NT but your hand is balanced so you intend to bid only one suit, (rebidding no-trumps at an appropriate level unless partner supports your suit). Major suits take priority over minor suits so open 1♥. Hand B: (ii) Rebid 1NT (15-17 points) if partner responds 1♠. Rebid 2NT (15-19 points, game forcing) if partner responds 2♣ or 2♦. You might be tempted to raise 2♣ to 3♣ but that will mislead partner who will expect you to have an unbalanced hand and hence five hearts. Hand C: (ii) Rebid 1NT (15-17 points) if partner responds 1♠. Rebid 2NT (15-19 points, game forcing) if partner responds 2♣ or 2♦. Hand D: ( ii) Rebid 2NT (18-19 points) if partner responds 1♠. Rebid 2NT (15-19 points, game forcing) if partner responds 2♣ or 2♦.

BRIDGE March 2014

Hand E: ( i) Open 1NT, as with Hand A. Note that opening 1♠ and rebidding 2♥ guarantees 5 spades. Hand F: (i) This time you are too strong to open 1NT. With 4-4 shape in the major suits, it is best to open 1♥, allowing partner to introduce spades cheaply if he has four spades. Note that if you open 1♠, you will never find a 4-4 heart fit: partner cannot respond 2♥ because that shows five hearts. You cannot open 1♠ and rebid 2♥ because that guarantees five spades. Hand F: (ii) Rebid 3♠ if partner responds 1♠. Having found a 4-4 major suit fit, you don’t need to stress that you are balanced. Rebid 2NT (15-19 points, game forcing) if partner responds 2♣ or 2♦.

2 You are playing Acol with a 12-14 1NT. With Hands G to K you have just one biddable suit. (i) What is your opening bid? (ii) If you don’t open 1NT, state your rebid if partner introduces a new suit at the lowest legal level.



Hand G Hand H ♠ 4 3 ♠ 4 3 ♥ K 10 8 ♥ K Q 8 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♣ K Q 4 ♣ K Q 4



Hand J Hand K ♠ A 3 ♠ A 3 ♥ K Q 8 ♥ K Q 8 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♦ A J 6 5 2 ♣ K 5 4 ♣ K Q 4

Hand G: (i) Open 1NT. Your hand is balanced. With 13 points, unless you open 1NT you will never get another chance to bid no-trumps because every no-trump rebid shows 15+ points. Hands H and J: ( i) Open 1♦. Hands H and J: (ii) Rebid 1NT (15-17 points) if partner responds 1♥ or 1♠. Rebid 2NT (15-19 points, game forcing) if partner responds 2♣. Hand K: (i) Open 1♦ Hand K: (ii) Rebid 2NT (18-19 points) if

partner responds 1♥ or 1♠. Rebid 2NT (15-19 points, game forcing) if partner responds 2♣.

3 With Hands L to P you have 4441 shape. (i) What is your opening bid? (ii) What do you rebid if partner responds in your singleton suit?



Hand L Hand M ♠ 9 ♠ 9 ♥ A Q 8 7 ♥ A Q 8 7 ♦ K 8 6 5 ♦ K Q 6 5 ♣ K J 6 5 ♣ K J 6 5



Hand N Hand P ♠ A Q 8 7 ♠ A Q 8 7 ♥ K 8 6 5 ♥ K Q 6 5 ♦ K J 6 5 ♦ K J 6 5 ♣ 9 ♣ 9

I t is worth reinforcing why 4-4-4-1 hands are included in an article on balanced hands. There are only three hand shapes without a 5-card suit. 4-3-3-3 and 4-43-2 hands are either opened 1NT or rebid 1NT (unless an 8-card major fit is found). The problem with 4-4-4-1 hands is that they are an exception to the invaluable principle that if opener bids two suits, the first has at least five cards. The principle for 4-4-4-1 hands is summarised as follows: With a red suit singleton, open the suit below the singleton. With a black suit singleton, open the middle of your three touching suits.

Hand L: Open 1♦. Rebid 2♣ over a 1♠ response. Hand M: Open 1♦. Rebid 2♣ over a 1♠ response. However, with 15-17 points some players would prefer to rebid 1NT over 1♠. Hand N: Open 1♥. Rebid 2♦ over a 2♣ response. Hand P: Open 1♥. Rebid 2♦ over a 2♣ response. However, with 15-19 points some players would prefer to rebid 2NT ■ over 2♣.

Page 41

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YOUR CRUISE FARE INCLUDES: All meals and entertainment on board All onboard gratuities All onboard service charges All port and pre-paid airport taxes Guest Speaker programme Cabin category Cabin location and number Complimentary return chauffeur service* Car parking at port or coach transfers on selected no-fly cruises Full Bridge programme

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Additional cruises & Grand Voyages available Call 01483 489961 for brochures & bookings Fares shown are per person based on the lowest cabin category currently available, are subject to availability and include all applicable discounts for new bookings only. Fares shown include current fuel supplements correct at time of printing, but subject to change. Onboard spend applies per cabin. All offers are subject to availability, cannot be combined with any other offer or loyalty offer, are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time. See brochure for full terms and conditions. Voyages of Discovery is a trading name of All Leisure Holidays Ltd. 14_0414

Answers to David Huggett’s  Play Quiz on page 21 1. ♠ 5 3 ♥ K Q J 6 ♦ K 7 4 ♣ A 7 5 4 ♠ 8 N ♥ A 8 5 4 W E ♦ 10 8 5 2 S ♣ J 10 9 6 ♠ A K J 10 6 2 ♥ 10 2 ♦ A Q J 3 ♣ 2

♠ Q 9 7 4 ♥ 9 7 3 ♦ 9 6 ♣ K Q 8 3

You are declarer in 6♠ and West leads the ♣J. How do you plan the play? With a certain loser in hearts, you have to hope that you don’t lose a trump trick. On the surface, it might look right to play off a top spade before taking a trump finesse, but that is wrong. It is true that playing a top trump first will gain whenever West has a singleton queen, but it will lose whenever West has a singleton 4,7,8 or 9 because you will be unable to capture East’s queen. So win the lead in dummy and play a spade to the ten. If that wins, re-enter dummy with a diamond and repeat the finesse. You will have to lose the ace of hearts but your contract is secure.

2. ♠ 6 5 4 ♥ A 2 ♦ A Q 10 7 6 5 ♣ K 7 ♠ A 10 8 7 2 ♠ J 3 N ♥ Q 10 8 ♥ J 9 7 4 3 W E ♦ 8 2 S ♦ K 4 ♣ J 9 4 ♣ Q 10 8 6 ♠ K Q 9 ♥ K 6 5 ♦ J 9 3 ♣ A 5 3 2

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠7. East plays the ♠J. How do you plan the play?

BRIDGE March 2014

If the diamond finesse is working, you have more than enough tricks for the contract, but are you in danger if it doesn’t work? Well, you are if you inadvertently won the first trick. East will win the diamond and play back a spade and, if West started with a five-card suit, you will lose four tricks in spades and the king of diamonds for a one trick defeat. The answer, of course, is simple; just duck the jack of spades at trick one. If East returns the suit, he will either have no more spades left when he wins the diamond or the spade suit will have broken 4-3 which means you would lose just three spades and a diamond. But you still have nine tricks.

3. ♠ A 7 5 3 ♥ 8 4 ♦ K Q 7 3 2 ♣ 10 5 ♠ Q J 10 8 4 N ♥ J 9 7 W E ♦ 4 S ♣ A 9 8 3 ♠ 2 ♥ A K Q 3 ♦ A 10 9 8 ♣ Q J 6 4

♠ K 9 6 ♥ 10 6 5 2 ♦ J 6 5 ♣ K 7 2

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠Q. How do you plan the play? When a contract looks too easy, it is good practice to look for hidden dangers and this is the case here. With apparently one spade, three hearts and five diamonds, there seem to be nine easy tricks and, although a 4-0 diamond break could prove problematic, there is a far greater danger that they break 3-1 with the jack being in the three-card holding. Then, you will find the diamonds are blocked with no entry to dummy to enjoy the fifth winner in that suit. But how about ducking the opening lead? Then, later, you can discard a diamond on the ace of spades and the suit becomes easy to run for five tricks.

4. ♠ 7 4 3 ♥ K Q J 3 ♦ K 8 4 ♣ A K 2 ♠ Q N ♥ A 9 8 2 W E ♦ 10 7 6 2 S ♣ Q J 10 7 ♠ A K J 10 2 ♥ 10 7 ♦ A Q J 3 ♣ 6 5

♠ 9 8 6 5 ♥ 6 5 4 ♦ 9 5 ♣ 9 8 4 3

You are declarer in 6♠ and West leads the ♣Q. How do you plan the play? This hand might look very similar to Hand 1, but in fact it is very different. Again, with a certain heart loser, you have to play spades in the optimum fashion and you should realise that the contract is unmakeable if the suit breaks 5-0. But what about the 4-1 breaks? If East has the queen in a four card holding, you can pick up the suit without loss, but the difference this time is that you can afford to play a top spade off first in case West holds the singleton queen. If nothing happens when you play the ace, then enter dummy with a club and take a trump finesse and if West shows out, you still have the king of diamonds in dummy to allow you to take a repeat finesse. ■

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Page 43

Catching Up by Sally Brock

T

he day after I returned from Phoenix, I went to pick Briony up from Luton. She seemed to have had a great time in Paris. We had a fairly quiet time for a week or so and then things started to heat up. The second weekend of December was the Gold Cup final. Our team was Barry and me, and Chris Dixon and Taf Anthias. In truth, we were pretty pleased to have got as far as the semifinals. Our draw for that was not too scary (though I’m sure our opponents thought the same): Brian Senior, Ed Jones, Sandra Penfold, Joe Fawcett and Glynn Liggins. We got off to a terrible start and, at the halfway point, we were 68 IMPs down. At that stage, all we were thinking was how humiliating it would be if we had to concede. However, things then turned around. Having clawed back a lot of the deficit, we entered the last eight boards 30 IMPs down. The last set seemed too flat for us to have a chance but, when Barry and I finished our boards, we found that things had gone well in the other room. There was one board where I had been worried because I thought I might have made four spades, but, in the other room, Taf had doubled and declarer had inexplicably gone two down for 500. That left us 2 IMPs down with one board to go. This was the deal:

♠ K 9 6 ♥ Q 9 8 2 ♦ Q 10 8 5 ♣ J 4 ♠ Q 10 2 N ♥ K J 10 3 W E ♦ K 7 2 S ♣ 10 9 3 ♠ A 7 4 3 ♥ 6 5 4 ♦ A 6 4 ♣ A K Q

Page 44

♠ J 8 5 ♥ A 7 ♦ J 9 3 ♣ 8 7 6 5 2

At our table, South, Brian Senior, had opened a 15-17 1NT. His partner, Ed Jones, had used Stayman and bid 2NT over the 2♠ rebid. Brian passed, no doubt expecting his partner to have bid 3NT with most 9-counts, and not wanting to push for a thin nonvulnerable game. Expecting a fourcard heart suit in the dummy, I led a club. Brian won and played the ace of diamonds and a diamond to dummy’s queen. After this start, there was no way we could take more than four defensive tricks (if we attacked hearts declarer could set up a heart trick for his ninth trick, while if we didn’t, he could establish a long spade). In the other room, Taf was declarer in three no-trumps, after the Acol auction: 1♠ – 2♠ – 2NT – 3NT. Here, West led the jack of hearts, covered by the queen and ace. This is a very complex deal. To beat the contract against any play, the defenders have to concentrate on taking a spade, a diamond and three hearts. To that end, East needs to play a spade or a diamond now. In practice, though, East switched to a club, which looks fairly natural. Declarer won and played on diamonds, actually getting the suit wrong because he wanted to cater for West holding K-J-x-x. Now he was doomed and went two down. Actually, he shouldn’t have been playing on diamonds at all. He should first establish his heart trick. He plays a heart, West plays a club, declarer plays a heart and West plays a club. Only now does declarer play on diamonds – and he has to play a diamond to the queen to prevent East from gaining the lead. So, it was not to be. We had lost by 8 IMPs and our run in the competition had come to an end. If our semi-final wasn’t close enough, in the other half of the draw Allfrey, the eventual winners of the competition, beat Irens by only 0.4 IMPs. The last weekend of December saw

Barry playing in the senior trials for the European championships. Again, he played with Chris and Taf, but this time in partnership with Rob Sheehan. They led throughout but unfortunately fell at the final hurdle and didn’t make the play-off stage. While he was busy with that, the children, Toby’s friend Tom and I went to stay in a rented cottage near Winchester for three nights. The plan was that the boys could do what they liked during the day (ie play on their Xbox/computers all day or watch TV without our nagging), but would be more sociable in the evenings, when we would have dinners in and play games together (mostly Risk). On the Friday, Briony and I went to Winchester for shopping and the Christmas market and on Saturday went to Portsmouth for more of the same. Sunday was Toby’s birthday and in the evening we all (with Barry too) went out to a Mexican restaurant. Christmas was at my parents’ house in north Wiltshire (though Barry does not believe in Christmas and spent his at home spring cleaning the kitchen and experimenting – not entirely successfully – with pigs’ trotters for Christmas dinner). They have an Aga, which I find very difficult, so I had agreed to cater for everyone (all 21 of us), but not in the traditional way. We had plenty of starters, then the choice for the non-vegetarians was steak and kidney pie or breaded chicken fillets, followed by desserts contributed by all and sundry. Even though most things were already cooked, it was still pretty difficult to get it all hot on the Aga. The appeal of such ovens is lost on me I am afraid. Anyway, it was good to see family members who we hadn’t seen since the previous year. And, more importantly, my parents had a great time. We came home on Boxing Day, to open all our presents to and from each other. Then Barry joined us and we had goose for dinner. ■ BRIDGE March 2014

Seven Days by Sally Brock Saturday

Monday

Today is Briony’s Christmas present – a day’s shopping with me and my credit card. She has slimmed down a lot recently and is desperately short of clothes that fit her. Predicting mayhem in Westfield, we get up early and leave the house about 8.15am. The first thing we do when we arrive is have breakfast at our favourite place – Carluccio’s. Suitably fortified, we head for the shops. I am pleasantly surprised at how quiet it is and we shop happily with no queues for fitting rooms or tills. At lunchtime, we meet up with Debbie and daughter Tess, to swap stories of Christmas and keep up with each other’s family news. A couple of hours later, we return to the shops, a bit busier now but still not too bad. When we’re done, Briony drops me off at Barry’s where he’s prepared something of a feast and we have a nice evening doing nothing in particular.

It is the Swiss teams and my first outing for a while with Susanna. This is the beginning of the process of preparing for the Lady Milne trials at the end of January so I start by meeting her for breakfast at Starbucks in Hammersmith. We have a brief discussion about the system, reminding ourselves of what we used to play, what we want to drop etc. Barry plays with Rodney who has come down from Manchester for the day. Again, no-one seems to be on good form. We win a couple of matches narrowly but generally are on the losing side. Susanna and I have the chance to bid and make back-to-grand slams. This is Board 22:



N

Sunday Today I am playing with Barry in the Mixed Pairs at the Year End Congress. We meet friends for breakfast and then it’s off to play. Somehow, we are not quite in form. We have plenty of luck and could easily have won but we had too many disasters – the low spot was when the opponents had a mix-up and bid 7NT with an ace missing, but I led the wrong suit and then a revoke let it through. A bit tired of lots of rich food and evenings out, we just go home and have bread and cheese for supper. BRIDGE March 2014

Dealer East. East-West Vul. ♠ K J 10 5 4 ♥ K Q 3 ♦ 10 6 4 ♣ Q 10

W E S



♠ A Q 3 2 ♥ A J 10 8 7 6 ♦ A ♣ A 4

North South 1♥ 1♠ 4♣ 4♥ 4NT 5♦ 5NT 7♠

When Susanna confirms the presence of all the key cards, I know I should bid the grand slam on the strength of (a) my excellent heart holding, and (b) my fifth spade. There are no problems in the play and thirteen tricks roll in. As it happened, we played Board 24 next:



Dealer West. Both Vul. ♠ J 10 9 6 ♥ A 6 4 ♦ A K 10 6 5 ♣ 10 N

W E S



♠ A K Q 7 4 3 2 ♥ Q 10 9 8 ♦ Void ♣ A 2

West North East South Pass 1♦ 3♣ 3♠ 5♣ 6♠ Pass 7♠ All Pass

A spirited auction. Susanna wins the club lead and, in no particular order, draws trumps, ruffs a club in dummy and ruffs diamonds. Had diamonds broken or someone held Q-J-x she would have been home, but it is not to be. Surprisingly, it is East who holds the five diamonds and she discovers that his distribution was 1-1-5-6, so she can play him for either the singleton king or singleton jack of hearts. What would be your guess? She chooses to play him for singleton Page 45

Seven Days continued

king and goes one down. I can see no real reason to do one rather than the other, but I think I would have run the queen, just because it looks flashier. And I would have succeeded. After a below-average finish, we drown our sorrows in Cobra at an excellent Indian restaurant in Shepherds Bush.

Tuesday After a scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast, Barry takes Rodney to catch his train. We slob around all day: reading (I read a whole book on my Kindle), watching TV and doing puzzles. Then, it’s time to glam up a bit and go out to Chris and Brian’s for New Year’s Eve dinner. There are seven of us and we have an excellent evening with delicious food and good company. There is a quiz in which Barry and I do so embarrassingly badly that we have to pretend we weren’t really paying attention. At about 1.30am, we find it surprisingly easy to get a taxi and head back to Shepherd’s Bush.

Wednesday New Year’s Day. We get up slowly and after lunch, I head back to High Wycombe on the train. Briony picks me up from the station and I collapse in front of the TV. She makes me a lovely vegetarian dinner – I need a few months of healthy eating after all that Christmas excess.

Thursday Today, we take Toby back to Bradford. We leave at about 9.30am and the plan is more or less to go straight there and back. We go in Briony’s car so we can share the driving, but I do the lion’s share and feel pretty tired by the time I get back at 5.30pm. Barry arrives a bit later and we have lamb chops and stir fried vegetables Page 46

for supper. There is a bit of excitement as the lamb chops catch fire under the grill and we discover that we have a smoke alarm. We never knew that. Then it’s out to Amersham Community Centre for a league of eight match. We are playing the weakest team in the division and beat them comfortably – by 125 IMPs over 24 boards. Talking of grand slams, we enjoy this one: Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A Q 4 3 ♥ A Q 10 9 5 2 ♦ K 10 9 ♣ Void ♠ K J 9 7 6 5 ♠ 8 2 N ♥ K 8 4 ♥ 3 W E ♦ 4 S ♦ 8 6 2 ♣ 8 7 4 ♣ A Q J 9 6 3 2 ♠ 10 ♥ J 7 6 ♦ A Q J 7 5 3 ♣ K 10 5

East opens three clubs, I overcall three diamonds and West bids three spades. Barry can’t think of a way to find out if I have the king of hearts, but he thinks it is most likely that I have it, and failing that, then it is more likely West has it than East. Consequently, he surprises the whole table by leaping straight to seven diamonds. West leads a diamond, I draw trumps and take the heart finesse, soon claiming my grand slam. We just have time for a quick drink in the bar before Barry drops me home and heads back to London as he is working tomorrow.

Friday I am determined to get to the gym today – I have been terrible recently and, over the past couple of months, have only gone three or four times. I have been in the habit of going three times a week for the past ten years or so and it would be a pity to let that drop. I notice that I have lots more aches and pains around my hips, legs and back when I don’t go. We are having a new boiler installed

today so the plumber arrives at 8.15am. I wait to get him settled and then Briony takes me to the gym and goes on to do a bit of food shopping before picking me up. Then its work, work, work: first this article, then the start of the British Guild of Travel Writers’ Yearbook which will keep me busy for most of the month. Briony is out in the early evening and we manage a couple of hours of TV before bed. ■

Dramatis Personae Sally Brock lives in High Wycombe with her two teenage children, her husband Raymond having died in early 2008. She works partly as a bridge professional, occasionally playing for pay but more often writing (she is the bridge columnist for The Sunday Times) and teaching online; the rest of the time she works on the production of travel guides – hence the occasional reference to rather obscure countries. She has been a member of the British/English women’s team on and off since 1979. Briony & Toby are Sally’s 18-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son. Barry Myers is Sally’s new partner, both at and away from the bridge table. He is a criminal defence barrister and lives in Shepherd’s Bush. Debbie is a good friend and occasional bridge partner who lives in west London. Her eldest daughter and Briony are a similar age and the two families have been on holiday together several times. Susanna Gross is bridge columnist for the Spectator and Literary Editor of the Mail on Sunday and has been Sally’s partner in the Lady Milne, the women’s home international for three of the last four years. Rodney Lighton is an old university friend of Barry’s who lives in Manchester. Chris and Brian are Chris Duckworth and Brian Callaghan, friends and London bridge players.

BRIDGE March 2014

Answers to Julian Pottage’s  Defence Quiz on page 23 1. ♠ K 5 ♥ K J 2 ♦ Q J 10 5 3 ♣ A K 7 ♠ 9 6 N ♥ 10 8 7 4 W E ♦ K 9 4 S ♣ J 10 6 3 ♠ Q J 8 ♥ A 6 3 ♦ 8 7 2 ♣ Q 9 8 2

West Pass All Pass

♠ A 10 7 4 3 2 ♥ Q 9 5 ♦ A 6 ♣ 5 4

North East South 1♦ 1♠ 1NT 2NT Pass 3NT

Partner leads the ♠9, covered by the ♠K. What is your plan? Your plan should be to set up and run the spades. You have one entry (the ♦A) and, as South probably has ♠Q-J-x and hence two stoppers, you hope partner has an entry too (most likely the ♦K). To effect this plan (a) partner must get in before you do and (b) partner must have another spade to lead. You should duck the first trick to keep communications open, playing the ♠7 to encourage. Later, you duck the first diamond, allowing partner to win and continue spades.

2. ♠ Q 10 8 3 ♥ 8 2 ♦ A K Q 5 ♣ 8 7 3 ♠ K 5 4 2 ♥ K 10 4 3 N W E ♦ 9 4 3 S ♣ Q 5 ♠ A J 9 ♥ A J 9 6 ♦ J 10 2 ♣ K 6 2

BRIDGE March 2014

♠ 7 6 ♥ Q 7 5 ♦ 8 7 6 ♣ A J 10 9 4

West Pass Pass All Pass 1 12-14 2 Stayman

North East South Pass Pass 1NT1 2♣2 Dbl 2♥ 2NT Pass 3NT

Partner leads the ♣Q. What is your plan? While you would like to set up and run your suit, as on the previous deal, you know it is not going to happen this time. The ♣Q lead indicates a doubleton, so declarer can always shut out the club suit (by ducking if you do). Your plan should be to make two club tricks, two heart tricks and a spade. You play the ♣J (or the ♣9) at trick one, obliging declarer to hold up. You can win the next club and switch to the ♥5. Partner wins with the ♥10 and continues hearts, making the ♥K and ♠K later.

3. ♠ J 9 8 ♥ Q 8 7 3 ♦ K Q 9 5 ♣ J 10 ♠ 6 4 N ♥ 10 4 W E ♦ A J 6 4 3 S ♣ K 8 7 5 ♠ K 5 ♥ A J 9 6 5 ♦ 8 2 ♣ A Q 9 6

♠ A Q 10 7 3 2 ♥ K 2 ♦ 10 7 ♣ 4 3 2

West North East South 2♠1 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass 1 Weak

Partner leads the ♠6 and dummy plays low. What do you do? With the ♠4 and ♠5 missing and spades not supported, the ♠6 is likely to be from a doubleton. In any case, even if it was a singleton, the ♠A and ruff would leave you in need of two more tricks.

Your trump holding means that declarer cannot draw trumps quickly. It may well be necessary to play the suit from dummy. This being the case, you can afford to bide your time. To keep open the possibility of a trump promotion on the third round of spades, you should thus play the ♠10 at trick one. When declarer wins and plays on diamonds, partner steps in smartly with the ♦A and continues spades. Whatever declarer does on the third round of spades, your side ends up with a trump winner of some description.

4. ♠ J 4 ♥ 10 9 2 ♦ A K Q 5 3 2 ♣ K 7 ♠ A Q 9 6 5 3 ♥ 4 N W E ♦ 9 4 S ♣ J 10 8 3 ♠ K 8 2 ♥ A K J 8 6 3 ♦ 8 ♣ Q 6 2

♠ 10 7 ♥ Q 7 5 ♦ J 10 7 6 ♣ A 9 5 4

West North East South 2♠1 3♦ Pass 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass 1 Weak

Partner leads the ♣J and dummy plays low. What is your plan? Having got used to holding back an ace, you may feel tempted to do so now – here to stop the ♣K and ♣Q from making separately. A glance at dummy’s diamonds should warn you of the need to think differently. Since partner might well have led a singleton diamond, the odds are that the singleton is on your left and that discards are coming. Take the ♣A and switch to the ♠10. You score the ♥Q as you overruff the third spade. This defence would also work if partner held ■ the ♠K and ♥A.

Page 47

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