cruisesto classical - mr bridge online · bridge players there is a supplement of £30 per person...

BRIDGE PLAYERS There is a supplement of £30 per person for those wishingto participate in the duplicate bridge programme. Singles are made especially welcome and a partner will always be found.

VOYAGES TOANTIQUITY

DATE PORT

Oct 18 Fly to ATHENS GreeceTransfer to Aegean Odyssey

Oct 19 NAUPLIA GreeceOct 20 MONEMVASÍA GreeceOct 21 RETHIMNON CreteOct 22 RHODES Greek IslandsOct 23 DELOS Greek Islands

MYKONOS Greek IslandsOct 24 SAMOS Greek Islands

KUSADASI TurkeyOct 25 KUSADASI TurkeyOct 26 At SeaOct 27 ISTANBUL TurkeyOct 28 ISTANBUL TurkeyOct 29 SKIATHOS Greek IslandsOct 30 PIRAEUS Greece

Fly home from Athens

13 days from £1,995 including:Guided tours of ancient Mycenae andMonemvasía; Minoan Knossos; theCitadel of the Knights of St John, Rhodes;the sanctuary of Delos; Roman Ephesus;the monuments of Aphrodisias; treasuresof Istanbul; Mount Athos monasteries.

TURKEYAthens

GREECE

Nauplia

RethimnonSantorini

CRETE

Delos Mykonos

Izmir

I�anbul

LemnosSkiathos

DATE PORT

Oct 8 Fly to VENICE ItalyTransfer to Aegean Odyssey

Oct 9 VENICE ItalyOct 10 ZADAR Croatia

Cruising the Kornati IslandsSPLIT Croatia

Oct 11 SPLIT CroatiaOct 12 KORCULA Croatia

DUBROVNIK CroatiaOct 13 DUBROVNIK CroatiaOct 14 CORFU Greek IslandsOct 15 PREVEZA Greece

ITHACA GreeceOct 16 KATAKOLON GreeceOct 17 NAUPLIA GreeceOct 18 PIRAEUS Greece


11 days from £1,795 including:Guided tour of Venice including a private evening visit to St Mark’s; theRoman Forum in Zadar and Palace ofDiocletian in Split; Korcula and Hvar;Dubrovnik and Kotor Bay; VenetianCorfu; Byzantine Arta and Ithaca; ancient Olympia and Mycenae.

DATE PORT

Aug 27 Fly to ISTANBUL TurkeyTransfer to Aegean Odyssey

Aug 28 Cruising the DardanellesLEMNOS Greek Islands

Aug 29 SKIATHOS Greek IslandsAug 30 IZMIR TurkeyAug 31 IZMIR TurkeySept 1 DELOS Greek Islands

MYKONOS Greek IslandsSept 2 SANTORINI Greek IslandsSept 3 RETHIMNON CreteSept 4 NAUPLIA GreeceSept 5 PIRAEUS Greece


10 days from £1,450 including: Views of Mount Athos monasteries; visitsto Ephesus and Pergamon; the Greek islands of Lemnos, Skiathos, Santorini,Delos and Mykonos; Minoan Crete; classical Mycenae.

TURKEY

AthensGREECE

NaupliaMonemvasía

RethimnonCRETE

RhodesDelosMykonosSámos

CYCLADES

Kusadasi

Knossos

I�anbulMountAthos

Skiathos

Mycenæ

Ephesus

Aphrodisias

ITALY Dubrovnik

CROATIA

Split

VeniceZadar

Bay of Kotor

Kornati Islands Hvar

CorfuPreveza

Ithaca Athens

GREECE

Nauplia

MONTENEGRO

Katakolon

Arta

TrogirKorcula

Olympia

SPECIAL FARES INCLUDE:

PROGRAMME OF SHORE EXCURSIONS

EXPERT ANTIQUITY LECTURE PROGRAMME

WINE WITH DINNER & GRATUITIES

EXCLUSIVE COCKTAIL PARTY

SCHEDULED AIR & TRANSFERS ABROAD

Cruise in comfort, relax in styleAegean Odyssey is a premium class ship carrying just 350 passengers. Theatmosphere on board is relaxed withplenty of passenger space, a choice ofrestaurants (with open-seating dining)and generously-sized accommodations,plus the comfort and attentive service of boutique-style cruising.

Prices are per person, double occupancy, and include MR BRIDGE SPECIAL SAVINGS. *The number of cabins with no single supplement is strictly limited. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

The bridge programme is completely optional and Mr Bridge passengers can participate as much, or as little as they wish. This offer is subject to availability, is capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time.

Join us on Aegean Odyssey for a wonderful Voyage to Antiquity and discover the art, history and cultures of the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Aegean.Choose from three Mr Bridge Autumn sailings, each offering extraordinary value for money. More good news is that there are no single supplements*and all cruises are hosted by members of the Mr Bridge team.

CRUISES TO CLASSICALCIVILISATIONSBRIDGE CRUISES - AUTUMN 2012

ISTANBUL TO ATHENS AUGUST 27, 2012

VENICE TO ATHENS OCTOBER 8, 2012

ATHENS TO ATHENS OCTOBER 18, 2012

BOOK NOWCALL ON

01483 489 961 ACCOMPANIED BY

TEAM MEMBERS

ENJOY SPECIAL SAVINGS ON

3 EXCITING VOYAGES TO ANTIQUITY

NO

SINGLE CABIN

SUPPLEMENT*

1162 Mr Bridge 3itins ad Final_Layout 1 09/02/2012 13:54 Page 1

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or its Managing Editor.

Ryden GrangeKnaphill, Surrey

GU21 2TH

( 01483 489961e-mail:

[email protected]

website: www.mrbridge.co.uk

Publisher and Managing Editor

Mr Bridge

Associate Editors Bernard Magee Julian Pottage

Technical Consultant Tony Gordon

Proof Readers Tony Richards

Danny Roth Richard Wheen Hugh Williams

Office Manager Catrina Shackleton

Events & Cruises ( 01483 489961

Rosie Baker Jessica Galt

Rachel Everett Megan Riccio

Sophie Pierrepont

Clubs & Charities Maggie Axtell

[email protected]

Address Changes Elizabeth Bryan( 01483 485342

[email protected]

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

BRIDGEFEATURES

3 Bidding Quiz by Bernard Magee

4 Mr Bridge

9 David Gold says Doubling a Supported Suit is for Takeout

10 Julian Pottage Answers Your Questions

13 The End of the Auction by David Stevenson

16 The Diaries of Wendy Wensum

17 Seven Days by Sally Brock

19 Andrew Kambites says Don’t Underlead an Ace at Trick One

21 Bidding Quiz Answers by Bernard Magee

22 Modernising the Game

23 Defence Quiz by Julian Pottage

24 Defence Quiz Answers by Julian Pottage

25 Declarer Play Quiz by Dave Huggett

25 Prize Crossword 3 set by Sputnik

26 Declarer Play Answers by David Huggett

27 Lead Quiz by Andrew Kambites

28 Lead Quiz Answers by Andrew Kambites

29 David Stevenson Answers Your Questions

33 The A to Z of Bridge: J, K by Julian Pottage

39 Clubs and Clubhouses by Ned Paul

41 Readers’ Letters

43 Elegy to a Bridge Player by Richard Wheen

47 Bill’s Bridge for Three Players

ADVERTISEMENTS

2 Voyages to Antiquity Cruises to Classical Civilisations

4 Haslemere 2012

5 Christmas 2012

6 Tunisia 2012

7 Mail Order Form

8 Bridge Event Booking Form

8 Table and Tablecloths Offer

8 QPlus 10

14 Voyages of Discovery 2012 Summer Cruises

20 Bridge Events with Bernard Magee

21 Bernard Magee’s Begin Bridge CD

23 Mr Bridge Rubber/Chicago Events

27 Mr Bridge Tutorial Bridge Breaks

31 Duplicate Bridge Rules Simplified

32 Bernard Magee’s Tips for Better Bridge

35 Bernard Magee’s Interactive Software

36 Global Travel Insurance

38 Haslemere 2011 DVDs

38 Mr Bridge Playing Cards

38 Bernard Magee’s Hand Evaluation

38 Bernard Magee’s Five-Card Majors CD

40 Charity Bridge Events

44 Stamps

48 Voyages of Discovery Cruising the Timeless Baltic

Bernard Magee’s Bidding Quiz

You are West in the auctions below, playing ‘Standard Acol’ with a weak no-trump (12-14) and four-card majors. (Answers on page 21)

NW E

S

1. Dealer North. N/S Game. ♠ K 7 6 4 3 ♥ K 10 7 6 4 3 2 ♦ 3 ♣ Void

West North East South Pass 1NT Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass ?

NW E

S

2. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 4 ♥ A 9 4 3 2 ♦ A K Q 3 ♣ 9 6 2

West North East South 3NT1 Pass ? 1gambling 3NT: solid minor, little outside

NW E

S

3. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A Q 8 6 4 3 2 ♥ A 6 5 2 ♦ J 2 ♣ Void

West North East South 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 3♥

?

NW E

S

4. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ K Q J 4 ♥ K Q 10 9 ♦ J 8 ♣ K Q 5

West North East South 1♦ Pass ?

COVER STORY

Mrs Bridge and I are really looking forward to joining mv. Discovery on 27 April for a voyage, during which I will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the start of my journey as Mr Bridge. Our on board activities will resemble a festival of bridge. The lead-in price is £849 per person sharing, a little less if you are a Discovery club member. There is also a very good deal for singles, especially as all bridge fees are included. The event is exclusive, so you must book through my office if you wish to join in the celebrations and I do hope you will.

Tony and Jan Richards, freshly returned from their 50th Mr Bridge cruise, will be leading the team of bridge directors, teachers and helpers.

And it won’t all be bridge but it can be if you want it to be.

We will be playing when in port as well as at sea. Mornings, afternoons and evenings and especially before second sitting dinner, which I know is a boon for a lot of you. There will be cut-in rubber/Chicago sessions hosted by Diana Holland and lessons for beginners led by Kate Henderson.

If you haven’t yet booked your passage, then let’s be hearing from you, otherwise the tickets I have asked to be set aside will have to be sold to the general public.

MORE FILMING

While I am away with Mrs Bridge, celebrating my anniversary on board mv. Discovery, Bernard Magee will be back at Haslemere Hall, see left hand advert. Just as last year, all six seminars will be professionally filmed by renowned TV director, Hugh Dehn and his team.

I have kept the price of the tickets to £10 per session. If you can, you really should come along and see Bernard Magee in action.

All bookings should be made directly with the Haslemere Hall booking office. ( 01428 642161.

YVIE MAGEE

In the evenings at the same venue, Bernard’s sister, Yvie Magee, will be starring in a production of Touch and Go, by Derek Benfield. This delightful farce is a well-woven tale of suburban married life and hilariously portrays the complications encountered when the two couples’ affairs catch up with them.

So, if you live anywhere near Haslemere or are staying in the area to attend Bernard’s seminars, you should book yourself in for one of the three evening performances.

Bernard Magee

at Haslemere

HallHaslemere, Surrey

8-10 May 2012

£10 per ticketFor advanced

booking, please callHaslemere Hall

Box Office

( 01428 642161Please note that all sessions

will be filmed.

Tuesday 8 May

Morning Session: 11.00 – 12.30

Leads

Afternoon Session: 15.00 – 16.30

Losing Trick Count

Wednesday 9 May


Making a Plan as Declarer


Responding to 1NT

Thursday 10 May


Signals and Discards


Endplays

GOING FORwARD

My twenty-five year landmark demands a root and branch clearout and a re-allocation of resources to prepare for the future.

If you require a bridge table, chairs or even a bridge table cloth, please order them from me before 31 March 2012. Likewise, pen sets and refills.

I still have some 2012 diaries to clear. Send in three second class stamps and receive one by return. Navy Blue only.

Finally, I have donated all the old software traded in for the latest QPlus to Little Voice. These are offered to you as follows:

QPlus 7 – £10. QPlus 8 – £16. QPlus 9 – £25.

All are guaranteed for at least for one year. Cheques should be made payable to Lucia Little Voice. Please send two 2nd class stamps to cover my cost in the posting of them to you. Order with confidence.

GOFF STAMPS

British stamps below face value must be a bargain. ( 020 8422 4906.

ANTIQUITY

In order to better cater for the demands of bridge players, I have added Voyages to Antiquity to my bridge cruise programme. These are all on boutique cruise ship, Aegean Odyssey, which usually sails with around 300 passengers.

Duplicate bridge is played, if there are no excursions, most afternoons as well as after dinner. Sessions are limited to 15 or 16 boards.

As the tours are (nearly all) included in the price, they are popular, especially the morning ones. The evening meal is open sitting and a choice needs to be made as local wine and beer are included in your fare.

Our bridge groups are exclusive, so you should book with us and book early, singles especially, as the number allocated for sole occupancy is finite.Cabins are still available:

Istanbul-Athens 25 April-4 May

Athens-Venice 16 May-26 May

Istanbul-Athens 27 August-5 September

Mr and Mrs Bridge on board

Venice-Athens 8 October-18 October

Athens-Athens 18 October-30 October

Mr and Mrs Bridge on board

In the late Autumn, Aegean Odyssey sails out of the Med to cruise the Far East. Selected magazines have been inserted with the details.

With more days at sea, the bridge sessions will certainly be longer.

100 ALREADY...

Yet another cause for celebration. Bridge Weekly has just past the century mark this very week.

IN PRAISE OF

Mrs Pam Donaghy writes: ‘I love playing bridge but because of a pelvis complaint I have not been playing at my club as yet this year. This has given me time to work through Bridge Weekly from 1-100. It has been very interesting and helpful. I realise that although I already know most of the tips, some had been forgotten. Sometimes, being out of action has a silver lining. In my case it was your Bridge Weekly.’

RUBBER/CHICAGO AT BLUNSDON

Diana Holland (above) along with her husband Brian, are hosting a rubber/Chicago bridge event for me at the Blunsdon House Hotel, see page 23.

Join them at this lovely Best Western hotel, £199 for two days full board. 31 August-2 September 2012.

AND ARDINGTON

Those who prefer to combine bracing sea air with their rubber/Chicago will find full board at this comfortable venue just what they want.

See the advert on page 23.

TABLE OFFER

As I mentioned earlier in this column, the sale of furniture ceases 31 March. My padded, black vinyl covered, metal tables are ideal for club use, as they can serve the needs of several different groups at the same venue, especially as most clubs use green table cloths.

For those who feel a green playing surface is important, I draw the special table and cloth offer to the attention of clubs and individuals alike.

The cloths are made in the north of England of locally spun cotton velvet.

One of each for only £75.

QPLUS USERS

Regular users of any series of this wonderful software should have a look at hands:

3057 – 113 to 128 inclusive.

Please write to let me know what you think.

CHRISTMAS 2012

The 2012 festive season may seem a long time away but I have special deals for both Denham and Marston venues, see adjacent advert.

Mr BridgeChristmas & New Year

2012/13

Denham GroveNear Uxbridge, UB9 5DU

Duplicate Bridge

24-27 Dec £455 Jo Walch

27-29 Dec £215

29 Dec – 1 Jan £445

The Olde BarnMarston, Lincs NG32 2HT

Duplicate Bridge24-27 Dec £455

27-29 Dec £215

29 Dec – 1 Jan £445

( 01483 489961

e-mail: [email protected]

website: www.holidaybridge.com

Please call if you would like a sample copy of the programme

TUNISIA

The political situation in Tunisia has greatly improved. Bernard Magee has just returned from another really successful holiday out there. You are urged to book early to avoid disappointment. See adjacent advertisement.

STAFF UPDATE

Rachel Everett, pictured below, has taken extended travel leave and will be out of the office for several months. Her place has been taken by Sophie Pierrepont. Zoe Wright went on maternity leave and we have recruited Rosie Baker to replace her.

Meanwhile, Leanora Adds returns from maternity leave to work part-time until her children, Felicity and Owen, pictured below, are older.

HOw MODERN

Go to my website and follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook.

wINTER CRUISES

Bernard Magee, pictured above, is hosting two cruises, back to back, from Hong Kong to Bali and Bali to Bangkok on board the boutique mv. Aegean Odyssey. Flying out from cold old London on 13 January 2013 to the warmth of Hong Kong.

Days at sea to listen to the great man as well as play bridge, as much or as little as you like. Do contact my office for full details for these exclusive bridge parties.

Those wanting cabins for single occupancy really do need to enquire and reserve their accommodation quickly.

MORE wINTER CRUISING

On the same ship, but in March 2013 I sail with Mrs Bridge from Singapore to Mumbia, joining another bridge party as I have yet to visit the Taj Mahal. If you are interested in this sailing do give us a call for the brochure. Again, if you want single occupancy of a cabin without a supplement, get on with booking.

DIARY REMINDER

Would club secretaries, who require their club’s name and logo to be printed on diary front covers, please send in their 2013 requirements asap.

THE PRESENT

In the two weeks before Christmas, I set out to test some readers’ reactions by randomly offering them a Christmas present. I offered to send Bernard Magee’s DVD, Ruffing for Extra Tricks, completely free. Just send six 2nd class stamps to cover postage and handling charges. For those who preferred more modern ways, you could order from my web shop or telephone and provide a debit/credit card number for the same cost plus a 20p handling charge. In short, £2.36.

I am extending this offer and it is now open to all readers on the same terms as outlined above until 30 April 2012.

LIVE & LET LIVE

The correspondence for and against Sally Brock’s column has now overtaken Pay2Play and those it does not suit should just ignore it. Those who like it should be assured I will be including it for the rest of the year, at the very least.

MINERVA NEwS

This lovely ship has left dry dock following a major refit. She is already cruising the Eastern Med. Book with confidence.

All good wishes,

Mr Bridge

Mr Bridge

AT THE ROYAL KENZ

TUNISIA

Two-week half-board duplicate holiday

4-18 November 2012

Golf available Tony and Jan Richards

£769*

24 Feb – 10 March 2013 Golf available

Bernard Magee and his team

£799* *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 Gatwick to Enfidha. Flights from other UK airports are available at a supplement. All prices are firm until the end of April 2012. Prices for seven-night stays (November only) are available on application.

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

These holidays have been organised for Mr Bridge by Tunisia First Limited, ATOL 5933, working in association with Thomas Cook Tour Operations Limited, ATOL 1179.

DETAILS & BOOKINGS

( 01483 489961

Mr Bridge MAIL ORDER

Prices are inclusive of VAT and postage to UK mainland. I enclose a cheque for £..........

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

Address ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

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

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

✄

✄

PLAY SOFTWAREQPlus 10 £86.00.......QPlus 10 - Trade-in £35.00.......Bridge Baron – Mac compatible £63.00.......Bridge Baron – Trade-in £36.00.......

TUTORIAL SOFTWAREBegin Bridge – Acol Version £66.00.......Acol Bidding £66.00.......More Acol Bidding £96.00.......Declarer Play £76.00.......Advanced Declarer Play £81.00.......Defence £76.00.......Five-Card Majors with Strong No-Trump £89.00.......

SOFTWARE BUNDLE OFFERAny two software pieces £120.00.......

BOOKSDuplicate Bridge Rules Simplified £5.95.......Better Hand Evaluation – Bernard Magee £14.00.......Bernard Magee’s Bridge Quiz Book £14.00.......Bernard Magee’s Quiz and Puzzle Book £14.00.......Bernard Magee’s Tips for Better Bridge £14.00.......

TABLES, CHAIRS AND TABLECLOTHSMr Bridge exclusive design black metal chairs,

covered in black vinyl Set of four £199.00.......Mr Bridge exclusive black metal table £63.50.......Mr Bridge tablecloth

green ...... dark blue ...... burgundy ...... £29.95.......Table and Tablecloth Offer both for £75.00.......

TUTORIAL DVDsRuffing for Extra Tricks £25.00.......Competitive Auctions £25.00.......Making the Most of High Cards £25.00.......Identifying & Bidding Slams £25.00.......Play & Defence of 1NT Contracts £25.00.......Doubling & Defence

to Doubled Contracts £25.00.......All 6 DVDs as a boxed set £100.00.......

2012 BRIDgE PLAYERS’ DIARIESStandard:

Navy Blue ...... Red ...... Tan ...... Burgundy ...... Black ...... £6.95....... 10 or more each £3.50.......

Luxury cover with ball-point pen: Ruby Red ...... Navy Blue...... Green ...... £14.95.......

LUXURY PLAYINg CARDSOne red back / one blue back

in a gold-coloured drop-lid box £10.95.......2 boxed pairs of luxury cards £20.00.......10 refill packs (5 red / 5 blue) £20.00.......

PENS

Multi-suited Ball-point Pens

Boxed set of four £19.95.......

Refills set of four £2.99.......

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

( 01483 489961 www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop Fax 01483 797302

BRIDGE BREAKS

Please book ..... places for me at £....... per person,

Single .... Double .... Twin ....

Name of Hotel/Centre ............................................................

Date(s) ...................................................................................

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

Address ..................................................................................

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

Postcode ................................................................................

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

♦ Full-board

♦ All rooms with en-suite facilities

♦ No single supplement

♦ Two seminars*

♦ Two supervised play sessions*

♦ Four duplicate sessions**

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

( 01483 489961e-mail: [email protected]

website: www.holidaybridge.com*on tutorial weekends. **6 sessions on rubber/Chicago events.

Table £63.50 4 Chairs £199.00Tablecloth £29.95

prices include VAT and UK mainland delivery

BRIDGE TABLE AND TABLECLOTH OFFER

SPECIAL OFFER

Table+Cloth £75

See Mail Order Form on page 7.

QPLUS 10Really user-friendly bridge-playing software

FEATURES INCLUDE

l Updated comprehensive manual

l Displays on HD and large screens

l Minibridge option

l 5,000 preplayed hands for teams

l 4,000 preplayed hands for match-point pairs

l Improvement over two years

l New save match function

l Save deals

l Closed room – new button to view other table


£86 including post and packing

QPLUS TRADE-IN OFFERReturn any QPlus CD and booklet with your cheque for £35 and receive the very latest version of the wonderful QPlus 10.

Order with confidence.

System: 8mb RAM, CD-ROM, Windows XP, Vista or 7

When the opponents find a fit, it is more important for your side to be able to compete

than it is to penalise them.Say you pick up:

♠ A K J 6 5 ♥ 3 ♦ A 9 8 3 ♣ K 10 3

You open 1♠ at game all. LHO overcalls 2♥, partner doubles (negative) and RHO raises to 3♥. What do you call?

You do not want to pass since your side has the balance of power. You cannot bid 3♠ as partner will expect a 6+-card suit and, if you bid 4♦, partner might put you with five diamonds. The answer is to double for takeout (showing an above minimum hand).

Partner bids 4NT, presumably asking you to pick a minor, so you bid 5♦ dutifully. The full deal:

NW E

S

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

You have reached the optimum contract of 5♦ and you should make it by playing for the ♣Q to be on your left.

What do you do if you want to double for penalty? You rarely will, since they

have bid and raised, but say you do:

♠ A Q J 3 2 ♥ 2 ♦ K J 10 2 ♣ J 3 2

You open 1♠ at love all. LHO overcalls 2♦ and partner doubles (negative). RHO raises to 3♦. Here, you would like to make a penalty double but you cannot do so since double is takeout.

You must pass. Now let us have a look at a possible layout:

NW E

S

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

Here, the opponents really are bidding on tram tickets, but partner should double again for takeout and you can leave it in and collect an easy 300.

Notice that, if partner had, say, a king less and therefore passes, you will still go plus with no game on.

There is an unusual situation where doubling an inferentially supported suit for takeout is a good idea.

On our final example, partner opens 1♠ with only your side vulnerable. RHO doubles and you decide to redouble since, if the deal is a misfit, the opponents maybe in big trouble. This is your hand:

♠ J 4 ♥ K Q 10 6 ♦ 6 2 ♣ A Q 9 8 7

To your surprise, LHO jumps to 3♦ and there are two passes back to you. What do you do now?

Here is the thing – had LHO bid 2♦, then double from you would be penalty, but since LHO has jumped to 3♦, you should treat this as a supported suit. This is because RHO has implied some length in diamonds and hence, in effect, supported the suit. This means you can make a takeout double. Partner bids 3♥ and you raise to 4♥. This makes, when 3♦ would be only one down. The full deal:

NW E

S

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

To clarify – if partner opens, RHO doubles and you redouble, that sets up penalty doubles if the opponents bid without jumping. If they jump, I suggest you believe them and play takeout doubles from both sides.

So, when the opponents support each other, a double shows extra values, a desire to compete but no clear suit to bid. Remember the maxim: Doubling a Supported Suit Is For Takeout. ■

Doubling a Supported Suit is for Takeout

David Gold Says

QMy partner opened 1♥. The next hand

overcalled 1♠. I hold:

♠ 4 3 2

♥ A 3

♦ J 9 6 4

♣ J 8 6 5

I cannot bid 1NT with no spade stopper. What should I call?Tom Power by email.

A A common solution is to play that a double of the overcall is

for takeout (often called a negative double). When there is an unbid major, the double indicates four cards in that major. Here, when there is no unbid major, it suggests length in both minors.

Since the overcall means partner will get a further chance to bid, you do not have to respond on minimal values. Here, the 1♠ overcall means partner will usually need to rebid at the two level, so the double in this sequence would suggest 8+ points. With your actual hand, I would therefore pass. Make it a bit better – say changing the jacks into queens – and I would double.

It is rare that you can pick up a large penalty by doubling the opponents for penalties at the one level, so you are losing very little in playing such doubles as for takeout. Even when the overcall is at the two level, you can still pick up a penalty (playing negative doubles) if you pass and partner re-opens with a double.

♣♦♥♠

QPlaying a 12-14 1NT, I opened a weak 1NT

with this hand:

♠ A 8 6 5

♥ A 8 2

♦ K 7 3

♣ A 7 3

Did I do wrong?Eddy Kent, Tring, Herts.

A If you decide to treat a hand as 12-14 points when

actually it has 15, this is fine. Bernard Magee and I both recommend that you downgrade hands with poor shape (4333) and poor intermediates. If you read tournament reports or watch matches on BBO, you will

find that the top players make small adjustments on almost every hand.

♣♦♥♠

Q1. Do you want to be in a slam on these hands?

NW E

S

♠ Q 6

♥ K 7 5 4

♦ J 10

♣ K J 6 4 2

♠ K J 7 4 3

♥ A Q 6

♦ A K Q

♣ A 8

2. The bidding at one table went Pass-2♣-3♣-3NT-End. Who, if anyone, should have bid more?K W Angus, Gorebridge, Midlothian.

A 1. After knocking out the ♠A, you have 10 top tricks. A 3-3

spade would see you home in 6NT. If spades are not 3-3, you are likely to need a successful club finesse and either a favourable break in one of the rounded suits or a squeeze. The chance

of success seems to be well over the normal 50% benchmark, so yes, you do want to be in 6NT.

2. South’s bidding seems impeccable. Giving point count (23+) and a general picture of the hand seems better than introducing the mouldy spade suit. North was unduly cautious in passing 3NT – indeed, quite a few pairs play that a positive response to a 2♣ opening forces the partnership to 4NT. 4♥ is a possible bid or, as the hearts are not terribly good, you could just raise to 6NT.

♣♦♥♠

QMy partner and I bid 1♣-1♠-2♣-2♥. Is 2♥ forcing

to 2NT or does it show a weak hand with possibly 5/5 in the majors?Jeff Stanford by email.

A The old-fashioned way is to play the second of the two

alternatives you describe, weak and offering a choice of partscores – with a good hand, responder would have to jump to 3♥. The modern style is to play 2♥ as forcing for one round (as opposed to forcing to 2NT), so you could stop in 2♠ but not 2♥.

Julian Pottage answers your bridge questions

What Should I Call

with No Stopper in

the Opponent’s Suit?

QBoth sides are vulnerable and East is dealer.

NW E

S

♠ 5 2

♥ Void

♦ A K Q 10 5 4

♣ J 9 7 6 4

♠ 8 4 ♠ A 9 6

♥ A ♥ K 8 6 4 3

♦ J 9 8 7 2 ♦ 6 3

♣ 10 8 5 3 2 ♣ A K Q

♠ K Q J 10 7 3

♥ Q J 10 9 7 5 2

♦ Void

♣ Void

How should the bidding go and what should West lead if South declares in one of the majors?Frank Collins, Burley, Hampshire.

A If EW play a weak 1NT opening, a possible

auction is as follows:

West North East South

1♥ 1♠1

Pass 2♦ Pass 4♠2

End 1With such a freak shape, South

can afford to start slowly. 2Once North bids, South cannot

bid hearts naturally.

If EW play a strong no-trump, it might go like this:


1NT 2♣1

Pass 2♠2 Pass 4♠

End 1Landy, both majors22♦ would be asking for South’s

better major

On the first auction, West will surely lead the singleton ♥A. On the second, East will

surely lead a top club. Only if South has shown both majors would West find a trump lead. 4♠ is makeable, even on a trump lead, if declarer guesses the heart position (unlikely I admit).

♣♦♥♠

QWhat should I open with this hand?

♠ Void

♥ A 10 8 6 2

♦ Void

♣ A Q 10 8 7 5 4 3

I opened 1♣, rebid 3♣ over 1♠ and pulled 3NT to 4♥. I made 12 tricks in 4♥ when partner had K-Q-x and there was just one club to lose. Should I have used the 2♣ opening with such a distribution?Michael Mance by email.

AWith only 10 HCP, it would be grossly misleading

to open 2♣. In any case, unless you find a fit, the hand will not play well. Opening 1♣ seems fine.

Freak hands are always very difficult to express. Your sequence of 1♣, then 3♣ and then 4♥ seems as good as any.

Realistically, you are not going to reach a slam. 5♣ is the safest game since you might lose control in 4♥ if the hearts are 4-1.

♣♦♥♠

QOur local bridge club is now using computer

dealt cards.Do you know how the

computer deals please?There does appear

to be some bias – disputed by some.Joyce Munden, Wheathampstead, Herts.

A Typically, computers use a random number generator to

decide which cards go where. So long as the random number generator really is random and the program using it is sound, there should not be any bias. Any of the standard dealing machines will have had rigorous testing and should be fair to use.

A simple computer program uses 51 random numbers per deal. The first determines who has the ace of spades, the second who has the king of spades and so on. For each card, the program will make the chance it goes to a particular player the same as the number of cards still to go into that player’s hand divided by the total number of undealt cards. Thus for the ace of spades, each player would have a 13/52 (or 1/4) chance of picking up the card. For the king of spades, three of the players would have 13/51 chance of picking up the card, while the player who already has the ace would have a 12/51 chance.

Modern software tends to be more sophisticated than this. Ed Marzo says that Dealmaster Pro, www.dealmaster.com, uses 52 2-digit random numbers (one corresponding to each card) and a string of just over 700 random numbers. The program looks through the long string for pairs of numbers matching those for a card and, when it finds a match, deals that card to the next player in rotation ie going round the table as in manual dealing. While there is a slight doubt as to whether Dealmaster can

deal every possible deal in bridge, there is no doubt about whether the hands it produces closely match the expected probabilities. Tests of 750,000 deals have proved that they do.

♣♦♥♠

QWhat are the advantages of a weak

takeout over partner’s 1NT opening? What are the requirements for the call?Paul Hobbs, Egham, Surrey.

A If you have a weak hand with a long suit, your hand is

likely to make more tricks with the long suit as trumps than it would as dummy in a no-trump contract.

NW E

S

♠ Q J 10 8 4 3 ♠ 9 2

♥ 7 5 ♥ A K 8 4

♥ J 4 ♦ K 8 5 2

♦ J 10 4 ♣ K 9 3

If you are playing in a spade contract, you expect to make four spade tricks. Moreover, the fact that you will be able to get to your hand by ruffing something (say the third round of hearts) means you can lead up to tenaces in partner’s hand. You might well make eight tricks with these two hands.

Playing in no-trumps, by contrast, you would be lucky to contribute more than one trick. 1NT would probably go three down – quite a difference.

The requirements are a five-card suit or better and a hand too weak to be thinking of game (a maximum of 9-10 points). You can make a weak takeout with no points at all.

Ask Julian continued

QWhen I held this hand, dealer on my

left opened 3♠ and two passes followed.

♠ Void

♥ A K Q 10 9 7 3 2

♦ A K Q 10

♣ 3

Even though I play Gerber and Blackwood, am I right in thinking that there is no way I can find out about the ♣A? I just bid 6♥.David Wigley, Burton on the Water, Gloucestershire.

A For practical purposes, you probably are right.

If you bid 4NT, partner would take that for the minors. If you bid 4♣, that would be natural (or, if you play non-leaping Michaels, a heart/club two suiter). You could double with the intention of bidding 4NT over partner’s reply. The trouble is, partner might leave in the double, denying you the chance and probably leaving you with a paltry penalty instead of a slam.

The only way you might reach 7♥ if partner has the ♣A is to start with 4♠ and rebid 6♥. Even that would not be a sure thing.

♣♦♥♠

QWest thought East should have bid only 2NT,

while East thought West had shown 15-17 points (playing a weak no-trump).

NW E

S

♠ Q 9 7 6 ♠ 10 5

♥ K 6 ♥ A Q 10 2

♦ K J 4 3 2 ♦ 9 8 7 6

♣ K 8 ♣ A J 6


1♦ 1♠ Dbl Pass

1NT Pass 3NT End

On a favourable layout, this ambitious contract made. Peter Cartwright by email.

A The usual rule is that opening one of a suit and rebidding 1NT

shows a hand that is out of range for a 1NT opening. In other words, when you are playing a weak no-trump, a 1NT rebid shows a hand too strong to open 1NT. Assuming your methods allow a double of 1♠ with six points and four hearts, I do not see why this sequence should be any different.

You and your partner could agree to play stronger negative doubles or to play a wide-ranging 1NT rebid, either of which would allow West to rebid 1NT. In the absence of such an agreement, West has to rebid 2♦ (or open 1NT in the first place).

♣♦♥♠

QThe hand on my right opened a weak 1NT.

♠ J 10 9 8 7 5 4

♥ 8 6

♦ 7 5

♣ A K

I elected to defend the final 1NT contract, believing I could get it down. Although my partner had a few

Ask Julian continued points, including the bare ♠K, declarer made the contract with an overtrick. Should I have bid 2♠?Martin Epstein by email.

AWith an unbalanced hand, it is usually better to play

than defend. So yes, you should overcall 2♠. Another advantage of the overcall is that it makes life harder for responder, who can no longer use Stayman or bid a suit at the two level.

♣♦♥♠

QWe play Benjamin with a 2♦ relay response to a 2♣

opening. North dealt.

NW E

S

♠ A K Q J 10

♥ 7 3

♦ A K J 10 9

♣ 5

♠ 4 2

♥ A K 10 8 4

♦ Q 6 2

♣ Q 4 2

North South

2♣ 2♦

2♠ 3♥

4♦ 4♠

End

How should we have bid the laydown spade slam?Paul Jesper by email.

AMany pairs who use a relay response to a 2♣ opening

permit responder to take a different action when holding a five-card suit headed by two of the top three honours. If South had responded 2♥ rather than 2♦, this would effectively have saved a round

of bidding. It could then have started 2♣-2♥-2♠-2NT-3♦-3♠-4♦, all natural apart from the 2♣ opening. South could then cue bid 4♥, showing the ♥A and agreeing diamonds, after which you should reach a slam (4♥ must be a cue bid rather than an attempt to play there because South would have bid 3♥ on the previous round with six hearts).

Incidentally, 6♠ is not quite laydown. On a club lead, you will lose control if spades are 5-1. Playing teams or rubber bridge, you would rather finish in the safer 6♦. With only 29 HCP, playing in 6♦ will be no disaster, even at pairs.

♣♦♥♠

QPartner opens 1♦. The next hand passes.

♠ J 9 7 6 5 2

♥ Q 8 4

♦ Void

♣ 10 5 3 2

Should I mention my spades despite the low point count?Pamela Clover, West Sussex.

A The textbook approach is to pass on hands with fewer

than 6 points. That way, you will not deceive your partner about your hand’s strength or find yourself in a position of passing a ‘forcing’ bid later in the auction. However, hands do come along when your instincts will tell you to break the rules. With your void in diamonds, your LHO may hold quite a few and be planning to pass out 1♦ if given the chance. If you respond 1♠, this is likely to improve the contract unless partner rebids diamonds.

QPlease enlighten me about the difference

between the ‘Odd Even’ and ‘Dodd’ discarding systems.Iain Edwards by email.

A There are two differences, one of which is highly

significant. With Odd Even discards, the odd cards are encouraging. With Dodd discards, the even cards are encouraging.

The other difference is what the discouraging cards mean. With Odd Even, the even cards are suit preference. With Dodd, the odd cards ask for the suit of the same colour as the one discarded.

♣♦♥♠

QIf, as declarer, I hold A-10-x-x opposite Q-x-x,

is it better to play ace, then small to the queen, or to lead the queen and let it run if not covered?Peter Calviou by email.

A A great piece of (free) software for analysing suit

combinations is Suitplay. http://home.planet.nl/~narcis45/SuitPlay/

It says that, if you do not have a specific number of tricks in mind (for example if you are playing matchpoints and it is just a question of how many overtricks you make), you should cash the ace first before leading to the queen. If, however, your target is three tricks, you

should lead up to the queen without having cashed the ace. Unless you think there is a singleton jack on your left – rather unlikely – leading the queen is never right.

♣♦♥♠

QMy RHO opened 1NT (12-14) and played

there. I held:

♠ 9 6 4

♥ Q J 8 3

♦ A K 10 5 2

♣ 7

I led my fourth highest diamond. Dummy held J-x and declarer Q-x; 1NT made with an overtrick. Was my lead wrong or was I just unlucky?Tom Boothy, Buxton.

A Neither side vulnerable is a great vulnerability

for declaring rather than defending (anyone going down does so at only 50 a time), so I am not sure I would have passed over 1NT. I assume that you were playing Landy and reluctant to bid 2♦ with only five diamonds. Playing Astro, you have an easy 2♣ overcall.

Assuming I decided to pass, I would lead a high diamond, even though the usual rule is to lead low with this holding. If partner is long in diamonds, you might be able to drop the opposing honours, as in the case you describe. If partner is short in diamonds, you might want to switch to a heart. Leading high gives you both options. ■

Ask Julian continued

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

After the auction ends, what hap-pens next? In

many cases, players sweep the bidding cards into their boxes, the player on lead takes forever to find her pen and glasses so she can write the contract down, everyone else waits impatiently and declarer decides he wants to know about the defenders’ bids.

Now the leader makes the lead and dummy has taken out his scorecard, so everyone waits again. I think players would be horrified if I suggested that what they are doing is both rude and illegal, yet it is.

Let us consider what should happen at the end of the auction. First, the bidding cards should stay out. That is a requirement by regulation, not to mention commonsense, so anyone with questions to ask can look at the whole sequence and consider it.

Next, the first thing the opening leader does, after asking any questions he wants to, is to choose a card and lead it. It is impolite and unnecessary to write the contract down and make everyone wait: he can do that after the lead while dummy is going down and declarer is studying it. The same applies to the BridgeMate: if the opening leader is in charge of the BridgeMate, he leads before entering the contract in the BridgeMate.

He must lead face down, of course, for two very good reasons. First, if he has made a mistake and is not on lead, he has done no harm: he just puts the card back in his hand.

Second, this is the moment when his partner can ask questions. Note that the cards are still there to remind him of the bidding. If he has no questions (or no more questions), he says, ‘No questions’. Only then may partner turn the lead face-up. Note that it is also impolite to sit there saying nothing when partner has led face down.

Once the opening lead is face-up, the players put their bidding cards away. This is important and it is easy to get into a good habit. Do not spoil it for other people by bundling your cards away too early.

What should dummy do? Well, if the opening leader takes a long time to lead, it is fine if he writes the contract down, and puts it in the BridgeMate. Once the lead appears, his job, after putting his bidding cards away, is to put dummy down. He will have plenty of time after that to enter the contract into his scorecard and the BridgeMate.

It is easy for the other two players to enter the con-tract into their scorecard and BridgeMate while the opening leader decides on the lead and dummy is go-ing down. They, too, must leave their bidding cards until the lead is face up.

Certainly this game needs tolerance, but it is easy to get into good habits, so remember that putting the bidding cards away before the opening lead is faced is illegal, as well as easy to get right. It is the same with entering contracts into scorecards and BridgeMates.

The End of the Auctionby David Stevenson

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Bridge_114_Summer 12 DPS..indd 1-2 17/02/2012 16:13:01

There had been plen-ty of bridge in the last few days, so I

was happy to miss the fi-nal event of the holiday, the mixed pairs. I lingered over dinner on the balco-ny and then lounged in a comfortable chair, sipping an excellent glass of Rioja while watching the sunset over a tranquil Mediterra-nean Sea. As darkness fell, I returned to the bridge room where the evening session was in full swing. The hand being played at the corner table was:

NW E

S

Dealer South

♠ 9 7 5

♥ J 8 7 5

♦ A J 10 7

♣ A 7

♠ J 6 3 ♠ Q

♥ 6 4 ♥ 10 9 3 2

♦ 9 8 6 ♦ K 5 3 2

♣ Q J 10 8 4 ♣ 6 5 3 2

♠ A K 10 8 4 2

♥ A K Q

♦ Q 4

♣ K 9

North South

2♠

3♠ 4♥

5♦ 5♥

6♠

On the obvious lead of the queen of clubs and with just a trump to lose, de-clarer had no difficulty in wrapping up the slam by playing three rounds of trumps and ditching the

losing diamond on the jack of hearts.

I followed the board to the next table where Millie and her partner, Justin the handsome stranger, were sitting. As the red-faced colonel and his wife ap-proached the table, Justin reminded Millie that their new opponents played a Strong Diamond system in which a bid of one diamond showed 17+ points. ‘Don’t forget we play the Univer-sity defence,’ said Millie, ‘Double for both majors; one no-trump for both mi-nors.’ Justin looked doubt-ful. ‘If it’s good enough for professors, it must be OK’, Millie asserted. Now he looked distinctly dubious, but nodded agreement.

‘Director!’ called the even redder-faced colonel, ‘We can’t start. This part-nership is still discussing its system.’ The director was conciliatory. ‘They probably haven’t come across the Strong Diamond before,’ he speculated. As South, the colonel opened one diamond. Justin over-called one no-trump, alerted by Millie. ‘Direc-tor!’ shouted the magenta-faced colonel; ‘They are using their fancy defence already.’ ‘It’s just as well they agreed it then’, offered the director with a hint of exasperation. ‘What is the meaning of the one no-trump bid?’ thundered the colonel glowering at Mil-lie. ‘It shows both minors,’

announced Millie serenely. ‘Is it legal?’ the purple-faced colonel enquired of the TD with some venom. ‘Perfectly,’ responded the director, anticipating the challenge with the Orange Book already open in his hand. The full auction was:


Justin Colonel’s Millie Colonel

Wife

1♦1

1NT2 2NT3 3♦ 4♠

Pass 5♣ Pass 5♥

Pass 6♠ End1Strong Diamond2Both minors310-12 balanced

The Colonel ducked the diamond lead from West. Millie won with the king, and the declarer still had a trump to lose for minus one. ‘Well bid, Millie,’ said Justin. Millie beamed. ‘Di-rector!’ screamed the puce-faced colonel, but the score stood. I asked Justin later about the one no-trump bid. ‘Well, I never did fully understand the University defence, but I held more minor cards than major cards,’ he explained suc-cinctly without giving fur-ther detail.

In the bar afterwards, players mingled, saying their goodbyes. I glanced across the room to where he and Millie were chatting like old friends. In that moment, I knew we had not seen the last of the handsome stranger.

The Diaries of Wendy Wensum

Episode 6: A Spanish Jaunt

Part 3: The Multicoloured Colonel

Sally’s Dramatis Personae

Sally Brock lives in High Wycombe with her two teenagers, 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 16-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son.

Ben is Sally’s 35-year-old son who is married to Gemma. Hayden is their two-year-old son; they live in Waltham Abbey.

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.

Nicola Smith is Sally’s current international bridge partner. They formed a last-minute partnership in 2008 to join the England women’s team for the World Mind Sports Games in Beijing where they won the gold medal. Nicola has been playing international bridge since she was 17, which is rather a long time ago.

Susanna Gross is the bridge columnist for the Spectator and Literary Editor of the Mail on Sunday, who has been Sally’s partner in the Lady Milne, the women’s home international, for the last two years.

Mike Scoltock is one of Barry’s regular bridge partners.

Richard and Gerry are two of Sally’s regular online bridge clients. Richard lives in North London and Gerry lives in To-ronto. Every week, Sally plays against them for a couple of hours, stopping to discuss problems that arise – some-times with Barry if he is not working, and sometimes with herself (when she usually is almost flawless).

Jack Mizel, Richard Bowdery and Steve Eginton (Eggy), regular teammates particularly in Berks and Bucks events.

Catching UpThe period between the world cham-pionships and the start of my Seven Days has been quite successful …

Barry and I played in the Tollemache for Berks & Bucks and, although we failed to qualify for the final, we played well and headed the Butler pairs scoring. In the London League, Nicola and I played in Kitty Teltscher’s team and we won that. Then there was our second visit to Beijing…

This was to play in the SportAccord World Mindsports Games. To start with, we had business class flights. I have never travelled business class before and it made a huge difference. We had oodles of space, oodles of champagne and could lie flat when we wanted to. Perhaps most impressive, though, was how speedy it was to get through all the airport controls. I live about 20 miles from Heathrow and from the time I got into my taxi to the time I got to the airport lounge was 35 minutes. This was a very high standard event with just four countries represented: us, China, France and the USA. It would not have been a disgrace to come last but we managed to finish second in the double round robin qualifying round, beating both China and France (reigning world champions) and losing narrowly to the USA. This qualified us for a head-to-head final against the USA, which we lost. The only other medal was when Nicola finished second in the individual. Overall, we won several other minor prizes and came home with a significant profit.

Then there was Christmas. This has not really been a good time for us since 2006. At this time of year, we

TuesdayMore of the same really. I am also looking towards the Lady Milne trials at the weekend. Susanna, who has been playing little bridge recently, is anxious to get as much online practice as she can manage – so we have an hour or so in the morning. While an appointment at Specsavers in the afternoon breaks up the work schedule, it is mostly work, work and more work.

WednesdayBriony has only one lesson this morning and then she can come home on study leave, so I go and pick her up at 11.15, after I have had another hour with Susanna. In the afternoon, I have an online bridge session with Richard and Gerry. Barry is not working either so we can play together against them (High Wycombe, Shepherds Bush, Muswell Hill and Toronto). This is a session we all enjoy and today we duff them up a bit. I double their weak no-trump in fourth seat, we defend accurately and declarer is a little careless so we beat it five (1,100) even though dummy has a flat 5-count.

In the evenings, I have been working on my laptop in front of the television, so, as well as getting important things done, I have managed to catch up on programmes I have recorded and not got around to watching (that is in between Briony’s choice of Big Brother, Got to Dance, etc).

ThursdayAfter the gym, spend an hour with Susanna, then pick Briony up from

particularly miss Raymond as well as my sister Amanda, who died in 2009. We went to my parents for a couple of nights but left most of our presents at home to open on Boxing Day when we had our own mini-Christmas. On the 29th and 30th, Barry and I played in the Year End Congress. We won the Mixed Pairs and then, in the teams, I played with Susanna (practice for the Lady Milne trials) with Barry and Mike. We finished a respectable 6th.

MondayWake up a bit bleary eyed after driving back from Manchester where Barry and I had played in the congress. After taking the kids to school, it is off to the gym. I have been a bit lax about this. I went a couple of times in Beijing – there was no gym in our hotel but we could use the one in the hotel next door for a while, until they changed their minds. Then it was too close to Christmas to get into the habit when I got back. However, after lots of uncontrolled eating, the low-carbohydrate diet and the gym are essential. After a very quiet period, I have masses of guidebook work: Jordan and Borneo, plus a small, full-colour book on the eclipses of 2012 and 2013. At this time of year, I also have another large project: the Yearbook of the British Guild of Travel Writers.

The children have exams this week so I am more generous than usual about taking them and picking them up from school (partly from guilt about leaving them when I went to China and partly because of the exams). When I am not ferrying them around, I am working. Stagger to bed after midnight.

Seven Daysby Sally Brock

school. Her first exam went OK so she is reasonably happy. Squeeze in finishing off Luxembourg and an Ethiopia reprint before another online session in the afternoon. Barry comes over later on. While it is good to see him, he has a cough that is getting worse so maybe he will come down with a cold. In the evening, we have a Berks & Bucks knockout match. One of our team, Jack, is in bed with the flu; so instead of having Barry and I play with Jack and Richard, we have to get a substitute: I play with Richard, Barry with Eggy. Although it is a quarterfinal match, it is surprisingly easy. I enjoy this hand:

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Dealer East. N/S Game.

♠ A K 10 3

♥ 9 6 2

♦ Q 9 5 4

♣ K 4

♠ 9 8 5 ♠ Q 7 2

♥ A 5 ♥ Q 10 8 4 3

♦ 8 7 2 ♦ A 10 6 3

♣ Q J 8 6 2 ♣ 3

♠ J 6 4

♥ K J 7

♦ K J

♣ A 10 9 7 5


Pass 1♣

Pass 1♦ 1♥ 2♣

Pass 2♥ Pass 2NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

Richard does well to avoid the heart lead, choosing instead the nine of spades. Declarer ducks in dummy; I win with the queen and switch to the ten of hearts (a ‘surround’ play). Declarer plays the jack and West the ace; a second heart establishes the suit. Declarer has no real option but to play a diamond and I cash my hearts, two down. To have any chance of success declarer needs to duck the heart switch entirely, thus blocking the suit. In the other room, South opens a

weak no-trump so East does not get the chance to bid. Again, West leads a spade (from the three-card suit); this time East switches to a low heart and, when declarer plays low, he is home.

FridayAfter the school run, I do a bit of workand then it is off to London. I work in the afternoon and then go to the Young Chelsea for the first session of the Lady Milne trials. Our first three matches are rather flat and we end the day with a modest plus score.

SaturdayFour matches and then a break. It is all going moderately well, a bit up and down. We are plus thirty-something and looking well placed if not yet in the top three. This continues for a couple of matches but then we lose two matches – by around 12 IMPs each – which sends us tumbling down the field. We have not played with much luck yet. I went down in one game I should definitely have made on Friday and Susanna has defended a couple of partscores poorly; other than that, generally reasonable decisions have often led to poor results. This is a low point. I hold:

♠ A Q 5

♥ A 7

♦ Q 8 3 2

♣ A K 10 6

I am fourth in hand at favourable vulnerability. After three passes, rather than open 1♣ or 1♦ and give the defenders information about my hand, I decide to borrow a point and open 2NT; Susanna raises to 3NT. After the king of hearts lead, my only hope seems to be that the defenders block the heart suit; it is more likely that they will do that if I win the first heart rather than make a seemingly pointless duck at trick one. So I win the heart and knock out the ace of diamonds. Imagine my chagrin when hearts actually break 7-2: had I ducked the heart, I would have got home. I ask my opponent why she had not opened

2♥ or 3♥ with her K-Q-J-x-x-x-x; she says that she needs more to bid against me. Of course, had I opened a minor instead of 2NT, she would surely have overcalled and we would have either bid the making 5♦ or else I would have made 3NT. Our hands were:

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♠ J 4 2

♥ 10 2

♦ K J 10 6 4

♣ Q 4 3

♠ A Q 5

♥ A 7

♦ Q 8 3 2

♣ A K 10 6

At the end of the day, we are plus 11 and will need a very good day tomorrow if we are going to qualify. A crowd of us go out for dinner in an Italian restaurant on Earls Court Road and then it’s home to bed.

SundayOur good day does not materialise. We have our moments and at one stage look as if we might pull through; in the end, we do not. Although we could certainly have played better, luck has not been with us either. In the final round, when we need a big win, Susanna fails to see my opening bid of 1♦. She thinks I passed and she opens 2NT. Unfortunately, a 2NT response to 1♦ is natural in our system; so I pass with my balanced 12-count and we play a slam in a partscore. Anyway, congratulations are due to Jane Moore and Gillian Fawcett, who won the trials, closely followed by Frances Liew and Belinda Bridgen, followed by Nicole Cook and Chris Duckworth. Good luck for the Lady Milne in Wales in April. Just in case you are worried about missing out on tales from this year’s Lady Milne, think again. I am branching out into a new field: that of captain of the English team – so I shall be able to report from a very different perspective. ■

Seven Days continued

Don’t Underlead an Ace at Trick One

Andrew Kambites Says

How many spade tricks do you think declarer should take in layout A?

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Layout A ♠ K 8 2

♠ A 5 4 3 ♠ J 10 9

♠ Q 7 6

The crucial point of this layout is that West’s ace has an important role, and it is not just to win a trick. West’s ace is sitting after South’s queen and its role is to neutralise South’s queen. If the ace wins a trick in a way that just takes small spades from North and South, declarer will take two spade tricks. If the ace waits patiently for the queen, declarer will take only one spade trick. West might fall from grace in a variety of ways.1 West can just cash the ace.2 West can underlead the ace. This

allows South’s queen to escape from its clutches. The queen wins the first trick and the king can take a trick later.

3 West can jump in with the ace if declarer leads a spade from hand. Of course, another maxim: second hand plays low applies for that.

For the maxim of this article, we are mainly interested in the second of these errors. Our maxim is this: at trick one, don’t underlead an ace against a suit contract (and do not lead the ace either).

Of course, a lead from a holding like ♠A-8-5-4-3 against 3NT is often an excellent lead. You might concede an extra spade trick but, if you end up scoring two length tricks, you will regard it as ample compensation. Length tricks don’t come into play when defending against a suit contract because declarer can trump them. You might lose your ace if you underlead it.

People who underlead aces against suit contracts don’t just give away tricks; they induce their partners to err.

Would you like to hazard a guess as to how the defenders allowed declarer to make 4♠ on deal B? No, West did not lead a club.

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Deal B ♠ Q 9 4 ♥ Q 6 2 ♦ Q 9 8 ♣ A K 9 7 ♠ K 8 5 ♠ 7 6 ♥ A 7 3 ♥ K 10 8 5 4 ♦ A 7 4 ♦ 6 5 3 ♣ Q 8 4 3 ♣ 10 5 2 ♠ A J 10 3 2 ♥ J 9 ♦ K J 10 2 ♣ J 6

West North East South 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 4♠ End

I can sympathise with West’s dilemma. He wasn’t keen on any of his possible options. I would have started with a low trump, but he decided to lead the three of hearts. Declarer played low from dummy and East had a problem. If West had led from a holding like ♥J-9-7-3, declarer held a singleton ace of hearts and it would clearly be right to withhold the king. East gave it some thought but decided that his partner would never underlead a side-suit ace at trick one. Therefore, he decided to keep his king to deal with the queen. He played the ten and a surprised, if grateful, declarer scooped up trick one with the jack.

Notice that our maxim warns against underleading an ace against a suit contract at trick one. As with all the defensive maxims, the more the play

progresses, the more logic takes over.On deal C, West led the queen of

hearts, covered by the king and won by East’s ace. What should East do next?

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Deal C ♠ K J 2 ♥ K 8 ♦ A K J 10 3 ♣ 10 9 8 ♠ 10 9 ♠ 8 7 3 ♥ Q J 10 9 ♥ A 4 3 2 ♦ 8 7 6 ♦ 5 2 ♣ Q 7 6 3 ♣ A 5 4 2 ♠ A Q 6 5 4 ♥ 7 6 5 ♦ Q 9 4 ♣ K J

West North East South 1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♠ Pass 4♠ End

East should ask himself how he might find four defensive tricks. Dummy is strong: it is highly likely that, as soon as declarer gets the lead, he will be able to draw trumps and throw any losers he has on dummy’s diamonds.

If South holds anything like a sensible opening bid, West can have at most two points to go with his queen and jack of hearts. At duplicate pairs, East might get this far and decide to settle for three tricks by cashing his ace of clubs and returning a heart.

What should you do at rubber bridge or teams-of-four, when you can afford to give the odd overtrick in trying to beat the contract? The only real hope seems to be to take two heart tricks and two club tricks quickly. East should return his two of clubs at trick two, hoping West holds the queen but not the jack. If declarer misguesses who has the ace and queen of clubs, 4♠ will fail. ■

PROGRAMMEThis is the format for

all Bernard Magee hosted events.

FRIDAY1500 Mr Bridge

Welcome Desk open Afternoon tea/coffee

1745 to 1830 Welcome drinks reception

1830 to 2000 DINNER

2015 BRIDGE 1 DUPLICATE PAIRS

SATURDAY0800 to 0930

BREAKFAST

1000 to 1230 SEMINAR & SUPERVISED PLAY of SET HANDS (tea & coffee at 1100)

1230 to 1330 COLD BUFFET LUNCH

1400 to 1645 BRIDGE 2 TEAMS of FOUR or FURTHER SUPERVISED PLAY of SET HANDS

1815 to 2000 DINNER

2015 BRIDGE 3 DUPLICATE PAIRS

SUNDAY0800 to 0930

BREAKFAST

1000 to 1230 SEMINAR & SUPERVISED PLAY of SET HANDS (tea & coffee at 1100)

1230 to 1400 CARVERY LUNCH

1400 to 1645 BRIDGE 4 FURTHER SUPERVISED PLAY of SET HANDS or DUPLICATE PAIRS

APRIL 2012

20 – 22 The Olde Barn Hotel £245 Squeezes

27 – 29 Inn on the Prom £245 Losing Trick Count

JUne 2012

8 – 10 Blunsdon House £245 Playing Suit Combinations

15 – 17 Chatsworth Hotel £245 Doubles

OCTObeR 2012

5 – 7 The Olde Barn Hotel £245 Suit Establishment

12 – 14 Blunsdon House £245 Landy Defence to 1NT

19 – 21 Chatsworth Hotel £245 Signals and Discards

nOveMbeR 2012

2 – 4 Blunsdon House £245 Squeezes

9 – 11 Inn on the Prom £245 Declarer Play

Full Board – No Single Supplement See booking form on page 8

The Olde Barn HotelMarston, Lincs NG32 2HT

Chatsworth HotelWorthing BN11 3DU

Inn on the Prom St Annes-on-Sea FY8 1LU

2012 BRIDGE EVENTS with Bernard Magee

NEW SEMINAR

NEW SEMINAR

NEW SEMINAR

Blunsdon House Swindon SN26 7AS

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1. Dealer North. N/S Game.

♠ K 7 6 4 3 ♠ Q 9 8

♥ K 10 7 6 4 3 2 ♥ Q 8 5

♦ 3 ♦ A 8 7

♣ Void ♣ K J 9 2


Pass 1NT Pass

2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass

?

4♥. You tried Stayman but not surpris-ingly had no success. Only six points, so you might do best to sign off in 2♥. Hold on a minute – this is no ordinary 6 points – you have a certain 9-card fit and prob-ably an 8-card fit as well – put partner with aces in the three highest suits and you could be making a slam. Signing off at the two-level is too weak. No, you have enough to fly to game; since part-ner has denied holding four spades, you know that your best fit is in hearts, hence you bid game there.

For those of you who like the losing trick count – you do have a fit, so you can use it – you have just five losers, which explains why game is definitely the right place to be. While you are not certain to make 4♥, the odds are with you.

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2. Dealer East. Love All.

♠ 4 ♠ 6 2

♥ A 9 4 3 2 ♥ 7 5

♦ A K Q 3 ♦ 9 2

♣ 9 6 2 ♣ A K Q J 7 5 3


3NT1 Pass

?

1gambling 3NT: solid minor, little outside

6♣. The first thing to notice is that, be-cause you have good diamonds, your partner’s solid suit must be clubs. You do not want to leave him in no-trumps be-cause the spade suit will be wide-open. So clubs must be the suit to play in – but at what level?

That is easy: you simply add up the tricks. Partner has seven club tricks; you have four top tricks and, as long as part-ner has more than one spade, you should make a spade ruff: 7 + 4 + 1 = 12.

With belief in your own addition, you bid 6♣. Even if partner has a singleton spade, he might have an eighth club or the ♦J – or you might set up a long card in one of the red suits.

The play is simple. Win the heart lead, draw trumps in two rounds and play three rounds of diamonds. Away goes dummy’s heart loser on the third round, after which you simply ruff a spade.

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3. Dealer West. Love All.

♠ A Q 8 6 4 3 2 ♠ K 9 7

♥ A 6 5 2 ♥ 8

♦ J 2 ♦ Q 9 7 6 3

♣ Void ♣ J 4 3 2


1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 3♥

?

Answers to Bernard Magee’s Bidding Quiz on page 3

4♠. To make, or as a sacrifice, this must be the right bid.

Partner has at most one heart – this means that, if he holds just K-x-x in spades, you may well make 4♠. With the above layout, 4♠ will surely make – and so most likely will 4♥.

As you can see, our idea of sacrificing was right; the extra bonus is that you ac-tually make. Let them guess what to do over 4♠.

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4. Dealer East. Love All.

♠ K Q J 4 ♠ A 9 7 2

♥ K Q 10 9 ♥ J 5 4

♦ J 8 ♦ A K 6 4 3

♣ K Q 5 ♣ 9


1♦ Pass

?

1♥. Your partner has opened and you have 17 points– time to get excited.

Take your time – with no long suit, you should just respond at the 1-level – thus you bid your lowest 4-card suit: 1♥.

Partner will rebid 1♠, which excites you a little more – you will then have to rebid something stronger than 4♠: either use fourth suit forcing or even Blackwood. It is not too bad a hand for the ace-ask; af-ter partner just shows two aces, you will settle for 5♠.

3NT is a poor bid (over 1♦) and could go down if North has the ♣A and South the ♥A. ■

BEGIN BRIDGE – ACOL VERSIONAn Interactive Tutorial CD with Bernard Magee

See Mail Order form on page 7.£66

The EBU has been giving consid-eration to bringing the game of bridge more into the 21st Cen-

tury, to make it seem less ‘fuddy-dud-dy’ and to appeal more to the young. It will shortly be putting out a ‘green paper’ canvassing specific suggestions. Those readers who are members of the EBU will be receiving their copies in due course but, meanwhile, I can re-veal that the green paper will include a few tentative suggestions by the EBU itself, notably the following:l To vary the number of cards in a

pack, 52 being such a strange num-ber. Obvious candidates for replac-ing this number would be 40 or 80 (ie 10 or 20 per suit), but apparently 60 is at present the EBU’s preferred choice. The advantage of 40, how-ever, is that this would speed up the play quite a bit, which would no doubt please directors. The other suggestion of increasing the num-ber of suits from four to, say five or six, did not apparently find favour with the board of the EBU as being too difficult for other elderly people to come to grips with.

l To allow a contract to be played partly in one denomination and partly in another. The details of this would need to be worked out but, for instance, the declarer, at the end of the bidding (say the contract was 3NT), could elect that the last four tricks be played in spades in-stead. To be fair to all concerned he would, in exchange, have to give up a trick or two, and maybe this choice would have to be made be-fore dummy went down.

l To give some specific duties or op-portunities to dummy, who other-wise sits there doing nothing and gets bored. Particular possibilities include:lon any club evening, the first

four people to end up as dum-my on each round would go to an empty table and play a hand of their own, the results of that hand being factored in to the ‘mainstream’ results. While this sounds quite complicated, the

EBU has been assured that the usual bridge scoring programs could be adapted easily to accom-modate it. The objection that this would slow things down is, ac-cording to the EBU, easily met by reducing the number of cards in the pack they use to less than the norm (see above); and/or

lthe various dummies in the room at any one time would combine to become a sort of composite di-rector if the director is him/her-self playing that evening, or as an appeal body if the director was not playing (although no dummy should adjudicate on any matter involving his own table). Deci-sions would be by majority vote, as with, for instance, lay magis-trates; and/or

lto invite another club or group (such as a singing club or yoga group) to share the room for the evening, so that dummy could go and join in with their activity whenever he had nothing else to do. This would no doubt appeal to club treasurers as the rent for the room would be shared.

lTo replace the traditional pictures on the court cards with the faces of celebrities such as pop stars and footballers (not forgetting that, at the moment, one would need twice as many males as females). And/or one could change the jacks to prin-cesses (keep it in the Royal Family and have more female faces). Fur-thermore, why not make the Aces into court cards, possibly making them emperors (or empresses) or even, say, Roman or Greek gods?

lIn pairs events, to increase the number in each ‘pair’ from two to five – not as silly as it sounds, and derived from the way Ameri-can Football is played. The idea is that you would have two of the five members of the team conduct-ing the bidding. A third player (of-fence) would take over as declarer if his team won the auction, while the fourth and fifth members of the team (defence) would step in if the

opponents won the auction. If this suggestion found favour, it would probably be trialled initially in in-ternational pairs events. The ben-efits of this suggestion include the following:lReal experts and enthusiasts

would be playing each phase of the game and it would save play-ers from having to understand all of the bidding, declarer play and defence. The EBU’s paper goes on to say that, in time, this suggestion might also be useful for teaching beginners how to play: they would not learn the bidding (as this is such a difficult aspect of the game to teach and learn initially) and would only need to learn to play the hand, ei-ther as declarer or defender. It is recognised, however, that bridge teachers might not welcome this suggestion.

lThe four bidders, having bid a hand, could go straight on to bidding the next hand, thus re-sulting in a huge saving of time and, again, being very popular with directors.

lIn this digital age, to have your hand displayed on a small screen in front of you instead of holding cards in your hand. Just like BBO except that you are sitting round a table. This would have many ad-vantages, not least that the com-puter would do the scoring and pre-vent revokes, bids or card play out of turn and certain other common infractions of the rules. You could also programme the system to make recommendations as to what card to play or bid to make, and to play for you while you get a drink at the bar. Indeed it is suggested that the director might have a device to make a particular table’s computer bid or play the cards on its own, for use when that table is running late.

We shall be trying out some of these suggestions and will report back.

Register your interest with Mr Bridge and he will send you a copy of the green paper when it is ready. ■

MODERNISING THE GAME

Mr Bridge

RUBBER / CHICAGO

Ardington Hotel, Worthing BN11 3DZ

20-22 April 2012 hosted by Sheila Rogers

3-5 August 2012 hosted by Sheila Rogers

23-25 November 2012 hosted by Ann Pearson

Blunsdon House Hotel, Swindon SN26 7AS

hosted by Diana Holland

31 August – 2 September 2012

Please note there are no seminars or set hands at these events.

£199 Full-boardNo Single Supplement

Please see booking form on page 8.

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1. ♠ A 10 5 2 ♥ K Q 8 ♦ 7 5 ♣ A 10 6 2 ♠ J 4 ♥ 7 6 5 4 ♦ Q 10 8 2 ♣ Q 8 7

West North East South 1NT1

Pass 2♣ Pass 2♥ Pass 3NT End112-14

You lead the ♦2, letting your side take four tricks when partner has ♦A-K-x-x. Dummy throws one card from each black suit, declarer a club. What do you lead at trick five?

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2. ♠ J 5 2 ♥ A K 8 7 4 ♦ J 7 5 ♣ J 6 ♠ Q 9 ♥ 10 9 6 5 ♦ A K Q ♣ Q 8 7 2

West North East South 1♠ Dbl 2♥ Pass 2NT Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ End

You lead the ♦A-K-Q, to which all follow. How do you continue?

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3. ♠ A K 7 6 ♥ A K 7 ♦ Q ♣ J 8 7 5 3 ♠ J 9 8 3 2 ♥ 9 5 ♦ A 8 7 6 ♣ 9 4

West North East South 3♦ 3♥ 5♦ 6♥ End

You lead the ♦A. East plays the four and South the ten. How do you continue?

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4. ♠ A J 7 6 ♥ K Q J 7 3 ♦ Q 3 ♣ K 7 ♠ 9 3 ♥ 9 5 ♦ K 10 9 7 6 ♣ Q 9 5 4

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ End

You lead the ♦10 – three, ace and eight. Partner re-turns the ♦2 – jack, king and queen. How do you continue?

DEFENCEQUIZ

by Julian Pottage (Answers overleaf)

You are West in the defensive positions below. It is your turn to play. Both sides are using Acol with a 12-14 1NT.

Answers to Julian Pottage’s Defence Quiz on page 23

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1. ♠ A 10 5 2

♥ K Q 8

♦ 7 5

♣ A 10 6 2

♠ J 4 ♠ Q 8 6 3

♥ 7 6 5 4 ♥ 9 2

♦ Q 10 8 2 ♦ A K 6 3

♣ Q 8 7 ♣ J 5 4

♠ K 9 7

♥ A J 10 3

♦ J 9 4

♣ K 9 3


1NT (12-14)

Pass 2♣ Pass 2♥

Pass 3NT End

You lead the ♦2, letting your side take the first four tricks when partner has A-K-x-x. Dummy throws one card from each black suit, declarer a club. What do you lead next?

Partner has at most 3 more points, so you will have to wait for the setting trick. A lead from either of your black honours is highly risky, giving away the contract if declarer reads the position correctly. You should simply exit with a heart, which cannot possibly give anything away. The fact that South has bid hearts should not deter you from doing so.

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2. ♠ J 5 2

♥ A K 8 7 4

♦ J 7 5

♣ J 6

♠ Q 9 ♠ 10 6 4

♥ 10 9 6 5 ♥ Q 3

♦ A K Q ♦ 8 6 4 3

♣ Q 8 7 2 ♣ 10 9 4 3

♠ A K 8 7 3

♥ J 2

♦ 10 9 2

♣ A K 5


1♠

Dbl 2♥ Pass 2NT

Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠

End

You lead the ♦A-K-Q, to which all follow. How do you continue?

Again, you are looking for one more trick. Again, you can work out that you will have to wait to make it.

Since South has shown at least 15 points, East can hold at most 2 points. A lead from either of your queens would be highly dangerous.

If you lead from the trump queen, declarer puts up dummy’s jack and goes on to ruff the third round of clubs.

If you lead from the club queen, dummy’s jack scores; declarer can then drop your queen of spades and make the rest.

Your safe exit is a heart. Apart from the fact this is the one suit where your partner might hold the queen, you have a safe holding from which to lead. The five of hearts is best. After this, declarer cannot ruff a club in dummy without losing a trump later. Nor is it possible to set up and cash a long heart.

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3. ♠ A K 7 6

♥ A K 7

♦ Q

♣ J 8 7 5 3

♠ J 9 8 3 2 ♠ 5

♥ 9 5 ♥ 8 4

♦ A 8 7 6 ♦ K J 9 5 4 3 2

♣ 9 4 ♣ Q 10 6

♠ Q 10 4

♥ Q J 10 6 3 2

♦ 10

♣ A K 2


3♦ 3♥

5♦ 6♥ End

You lead the ♦A. East plays the four and South the ten. How do you continue?

Could partner have a void in spades? Several things say no. With a singleton in dummy, partner could have dropped a huge diamond to ask for a spade switch. Besides, partner could have doubled 6♥ to ask for an unusual lead. Safety is therefore the order of the day.

It looks like a diamond continuation would be a ruff and discard – nearly always a bad idea. A club is also horrible if partner holds Q-10-x or K-10-x and declarer reads the layout. Your safe lead is a trump, say the five.

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4. ♠ A J 7 6

♥ K Q J 7 3

♦ Q 3

♣ K 7

♠ 9 3 ♠ 5 2

♥ 9 5 ♥ 8 6 4

♦ K 10 9 7 6 ♦ A 5 4 2

♣ Q 9 5 4 ♣ A J 6 3

♠ K Q 10 8 4

♥ A 10 2

♦ J 8

♣ 10 8 2


1♥ Pass 1♠

Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠

End

You lead the ♦10 – three, ace and eight. Partner returns the ♦2 – jack, king and queen. How do you continue?

The crash of the jack and queen of diamonds suggests that declarer and dummy are now both void. A diamond continuation would thus be unsafe. This time, you should not be looking to play safe anyway. Look at those hearts in dummy. You should attack with a low club, hoping that partner has the ace-jack or just the ace but declarer misguesses. ■

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1. ♠ K 6 4 2

♥ 8 7 3

♦ A 6 5

♣ Q 10 2

♠ A Q 10 9 3

♥ A 6 4

♦ K 4

♣ K 9 3

You are declarer in 4♠ and West leads the ♥10. How do you plan the play?

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2. ♠ 9 4

♥ J 10 3

♦ A J 3

♣ Q J 10 6 4

♠ A Q

♥ A 9 6

♦ K Q 10 4 2

♣ 9 8 5

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

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3. ♠ 6 2

♥ 9 6 4

♦ 5 4

♣ A Q 7 4 3 2

♠ A Q 7 3

♥ A K 5

♦ A K 7 6

♣ 8 5

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠5. East plays the ♠K. How do you plan the play?

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4. ♠ K 10 4

♥ 8 7 5

♦ Q J 5 2

♣ A 5 4

♠ A Q J 3

♥ J 3

♦ A K 6 4

♣ K 6 3

You are declarer in 4♠ and West leads the ♥A-K-Q. How do you plan the play?

DECLARER

PLAY

QUIZby David Huggett

(Answers overleaf)

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

ACROSS

6 A type of Mitchell that produces a single winning pair (9)

7 Defeat a contract (3)

9 An uneven distribution of opposition cards (3,5)

10 That famous road in West Hampstead (4)

11 _ _ _ _ _ _ ludorum , the winner of the game (6)

13 Point count minimum for raising a weak NT (6)

15 Ordered from Dorset (6)

17 The number of cards held in a particular suit (6)

19 Worth two finesses ? (4)

21 What accurate players aspire to be (8)

23 A term for a small card (3)

24 Access between declarer and dummy may be difficult due to these (9)

DOWN

1 Boris partnered Terence for many years (8)

2 A sacrifice that results in a greater success (6)

3 Almost a label for winning players (4)

4 Meckstroth and Rodwell, US experts, have a nickname (8)

5 A rabbit’s frequent score (4)

8 100 below the line (4)

12 A possible call for partner to run (8)

14 S—t—a—y—m—a—n ? (8)

16 Experts achieve many, rabbits few (4)

18 A historic 4NT convention (6)

20 Surrender the lead (4)

22 Everyone in breaches of the rules (4)

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

8

9 10

11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24

PRIZE CROSSWORD 3set by Sputnik

Send your solution to Mr Bridge, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH before the end of April 2012.

Answers to David Huggett’s Play Quiz on page 25

NW E

S

1. ♠ K 6 4 2

♥ 8 7 3

♦ A 6 5

♣ Q 10 2

♠ 7 5 ♠ J 8

♥ 10 9 2 ♥ K Q J 5

♦ J 9 8 7 3 ♦ Q 10 2

♣ A 7 5 ♣ J 8 6 4

♠ A Q 10 9 3

♥ A 6 4

♦ K 4

♣ K 9 3

You are declarer in 4♠ and West leads the ♥10. How do you plan the play?

At first sight, it might appear that you have to locate the position of the jack of clubs; in fact, this is not the case. As long as the trumps are not 4-0, the contract is cold. Win the heart, draw trumps (cashing the ace or queen first in case they do break 4-0) and then eliminate diamonds by cashing the king and ace before ruffing dummy’s last card in that suit in hand. After that, simply exit with a low heart. Although the defenders can take two tricks there, they will ultimately have to open up the clubs or give you a ruff and discard. In effect, you make the opposition find the jack of clubs for you.

NW E

S

2. ♠ 9 4

♥ J 10 3

♦ A J 3

♣ Q J 10 6 4

♠ J 10 8 7 3 ♠ K 6 5 2

♥ Q 5 ♥ K 8 7 4 2

♦ 7 6 5 ♦ 9 8

♣ A 7 3 ♣ K 2

♠ A Q

♥ A 9 6

♦ K Q 10 4 2

♣ 9 8 5

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

The lead has hit your weak spot and, at first sight, it might seem that playing on clubs is the best line. Unfortunately, you have only two spade stoppers and will have to give up the lead twice to knock out the ace and king of clubs. The defenders will have established too many spade winners by the time you have established the clubs, so you have to look elsewhere for the extra trick that you need.

The hearts will provide that extra trick as long as East has either the king or queen, or both.

Win the spade, cross to dummy with a diamond and lead the jack of hearts. No doubt, it will lose to West, who will knock out your remaining spade stopper. You will then simply return to dummy and repeat the heart finesse.

This line gives you about a 75% chance of success.

NW E

S

3. ♠ 6 2

♥ 9 6 4

♦ 5 4

♣ A Q 7 4 3 2

♠ J 9 8 5 4 ♠ K 10

♥ J 7 2 ♥ Q 10 8 3

♦ J 8 ♦ Q 10 9 3 2

♣ K 9 6 ♣ J 10

♠ A Q 7 3

♥ A K 5

♦ A K 7 6

♣ 8 5

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠5. East plays the ♠K. How do you plan the play?

After the spade lead, you have seven tricks on top; clubs is the only suit from

which you can realistically generate the other two. Since a successful club finesse will get you one extra trick only, you will need some luck to make this contract. Win the spade lead and duck a club completely. The defenders will carry on their attack in spades, no doubt, but you can win and only then take the club finesse.

If the club finesse proves successful and all follow, you will make eleven tricks.

Yes, you will fall dismally short of your target if the finesse fails. Still, if there is no other chance, you have to go for it.

NW E

S

4. ♠ K 10 4

♥ 8 7 5

♦ Q J 5 2

♣ A 5 4

♠ 9 8 6 2 ♠ 7 5

♥ A K Q 9 6 ♥ 10 4 2

♦ 9 3 ♦ 10 8 7

♣ J 8 ♣ Q 10 9 7 2

♠ A Q J 3

♥ J 3

♦ A K 6 4

♣ K 6 3

You are declarer in 4♠ and West leads the ♥A-K-Q. How do you plan the play?

While playing in a suit contract with only seven trumps is always a bit scary, at least all your trumps are solid and there is a definite threat of losing a bundle of hearts if you were in 3NT. Even so, you have to be careful not to ruff that third heart: if you do and play out the rest of your trumps, you will be defeated if the suit breaks 4-2.

As you always have a club loser, just discard a low card in that suit on the third heart. Any further heart leads, you can ruff high in dummy; if instead they switch suits, you can just draw trumps and claim. ■

Andrew Kambites’

Lead QuizYou are West, in the auctions below, playing teams or rubber bridge. It is your lead. (Answers overleaf.)

NW E

S

1 ♠ A 6

♥ K Q 4 3 2

♦ J 7 5

♣ J 3 2


1NT

Pass 3NT End

NW E

S

2 ♠ A 6

♥ K Q 4 3 2

♦ J 7 5

♣ J 3 2


1♠

Pass 4♠ End

NW E

S

3 ♠ A 6

♥ K Q 10 3 2

♦ J 7 5

♣ J 3 2


1NT

Pass 3NT End

NW E

S

4 ♠ A 6

♥ K Q 9 3 2

♦ J 7 5

♣ J 3 2


1NT

Pass 3NT End

MARCH 2012

9-11 The Ardington £245 Hand Evaluation Crombie McNeil

9-11 Blunsdon House Hotel £245 Signals and Discards Alison Nicolson

23-25 The Ardington £245 Sacrificing Ned Paul

30-1/4 The Ardington £245 Landy Defence to 1NT Improvers Ned Paul

APRIL 2012

27-29 Blunsdon House Hotel £245 Game Tries Alison Nicolson

JUne 2012

8-10 The Ardington £245 Endplay and Avoidance Gary Conrad

SePTeMbeR 2012

28-30 The Ardington £245 Leads and Defence Crombie McNeil

OCTObeR 2012

12-14 The Ardington £245 Losing Trick Count Sandy Bell

OCTObeR continued

19-21 The Olde Barn Hotel £215 Signals and Discards TBA

nOveMbeR 2012

2-4 The Olde Barn Hotel £215 Game Tries David Stead

9-11 Blunsdon House Hotel £245 Suit Establishment Ned Paul

16-18 Chatsworth Hotel Worthing £245 Finding Slams Crombie McNeil

23-25 The Olde Barn Hotel £215 Playing Suit Combinations TBA

30-2/12 Chatsworth Hotel Worthing £245 Endplay & Avoidance Crombie McNeil

Tutorial Bridge Breaks

Ardington HotelWorthing BN11 3DZ

See booking form on page 8.

The Olde Barn HotelMarston, Lincs NG32 2HT

Answers to Andrew Kambites’ Lead Quiz on page 27

II am not a great fan of tables of opening leads, although they can be a useful summary. I prefer asking two

questions:i) Objective – what am I trying to

achieve? The answer does not have to be spectacular. ‘Nothing,’ is a respectable answer, meaning that the aim is just to give nothing away and make declarer work for his tricks.

ii) How likely is my lead to achieve this?

NW E

S

1. ♠ K J 3

♥ 9 8 6

♦ 9 4 2

♣ A K Q 7

♠ A 6 ♠ 9 5 4 2

♥ K Q 4 3 2 ♥ J 7

♦ J 7 5 ♦ Q 10 8 6

♣ J 3 2 ♣ 10 6 5

♠ Q 10 8 7

♥ A 10 5

♦ A K 3

♣ 9 8 4


1NT

Pass 3NT End

Lead the ♥3. Your objective is to set up length tricks in hearts. You really need partner to hold a heart honour and you do not want to block the suit.

NW E

S

2. ♠ 10 9 8 7 5

♥ 10 7 6

♦ 3

♣ A K Q 4

♠ A 6 ♠ 3 2

♥ K Q 4 3 2 ♥ 9 5

♦ J 7 5 ♦ A 10 9 8 6 2

♣ J 3 2 ♣ 10 8 6

♠ K Q J 4

♥ A J 8

♦ K Q 4

♣ 9 7 5


1♠

Pass 4♠ End

Length tricks are useless if declarer has a good trump suit. This time, you really do not want to lose the first trick cheaply to the ♥J. Your objective is to set up a quick heart trick. You possess five of the thirteen hearts: somebody is bound to hold a doubleton. Let us hope it is your partner.

Leading the ♥K beats the contract with a heart trick, a heart ruff in partner’s hand, the ♠A and the ♦A.

NW E

S

3. ♠ K Q J

♥ 8 5 4

♦ Q 10 3 2

♣ A Q 4

♠ A 6 ♠ 10 9 7 3 2

♥ K Q 10 3 2 ♥ 9

♦ J 7 5 ♦ 9 6 4

♣ J 3 2 ♣ K 10 9 7

♠ 8 5 4

♥ A J 7 6

♦ A K 8

♣ 8 6 5


1NT

Pass 3NT End

This time, your hearts are better. You might be able to set hearts up with the loss of just the ♥A, say if declarer or dummy has the ♥J doubleton. Lead the ♥K (top of a sequence) because you have legitimate hopes of setting up the heart suit without help from partner.

Look at how your partner interprets your ♥K lead. The ♥K guarantees the ♥Q. It also shows either the ♥J or ♥10. If partner has the ♥A, he should clear up the position by overtaking your ♥K with the ♥A and returning a heart. Alternatively, if partner has the ♥J, he will know that your lead is from a sequence headed by the ♥K-Q-10. Again, he should clear up

the position by dropping the ♥J under your ♥K.

So what happens here? Partner plays the ♥9 and declarer the ♥6. Does this look encouraging to you? It should not. If partner had either the ♥A or ♥J, he should have played it. Therefore, he does not hold either. You need to switch suit at trick 2 to avoid giving away a trick.

Switch passively to the ♠A and another spade to leave declarer to struggle for his ninth trick.

NW E

S

4. ♠ K Q J

♥ 7 4

♦ A 10 9 8 2

♣ K 9 8

♠ A 6 ♠ 10 8 5 4 3

♥ K Q 9 3 2 ♥ A 6 5

♦ J 7 5 ♦ 6 3

♣ J 3 2 ♣ 7 5 4

♠ 9 7 2

♥ J 10 8

♦ K Q 4

♣ A Q 10 6


1NT

Pass 3NT End

Are you in doubt which heart to lead? Looking at all four hands, do you think that it hardly matters?

Think back to hand 3. If you lead the ♥K against a no-trump contract, partner will assume your hearts are headed by ♥K-Q-J or ♥K-Q-10. He will overtake your ♥K with the ♥A and return a heart triumphantly. Doing that on this layout gives declarer a heart stopper and blows your chances.

Really, you cannot have second thoughts here. Occasionally, dummy will have ♥J-10 doubleton and you would have done better to lead high. However, partner needs to rely on you so you must maintain discipline. Lead the ♥3 and the defence falls easily into place. Bridge is not a game of perfection. ■

QMy partner prefers to open a strong 2♦, whilst

I like the weak two. Is it legal for each

to use his preferred system, with proper announcement by partner in each case?John Douce, Coventry.

A The law book makes it a matter for the local authority

whether you may play different methods from your partner. Neither the English nor Welsh Bridge Unions permit this.

While clubs may make their own rules, few do; nearly all follow English or Welsh Bridge Union rules.

So the answer to your question is no, you may not play differently from your partner, unless you are playing in a club that explicitly permits this.

♣♦♥♠

QCan you ask about the meaning of a

bid even if there is no alert as, for example, may happen when the bid is over 3NT?Fred Sleight by email (similar from Peter Radcliffe).

A Certainly: you may ask the meaning of any call whenever it is

your turn to call, lead or play. If the opponents are trying for a slam, it is wise to check the meaning of any calls they made above 3NT before making the opening lead.

Although it seems a nuisance, having played for many years when alerting existed above 3NT, I consider the new rule far better whatever its disadvantages.

♣♦♥♠

QIf I ask a defender what suit their

partner’s discard is requesting and they say McKenney, am I entitled to enquire further and request the name of the suit?

I believe in full disclosure.Neville Layhe, Penycae, Wrexham.

A I believe in full disclosure too; the thing is, you have

no right for opponents to do your thinking for you. If they make a discard, you have to decide what it shows after they have explained their agreements. If they

refer to it by a name you do not know, just ask them again. They have to explain the agreements fully – but not their deductions.

♣♦♥♠

QSouth was in 6♠ with a trump holding of

A-K-J-10-x facing x-x-x. On the way to the slam, North had bid 4NT (Roman Keycard Blackwood) and South had bid 5♥.

Before leading, West asked, ‘What flavour of Blackwood is that?’ to be informed of RKCB. West then asked, ‘Does South’s response say anything about holding the ♠Q?’ North replied, ‘South does not hold the ♠Q.’

Normally South would cash the ♠A in case of a singleton queen before returning to dummy and finessing, if necessary. Influenced by West’s line of questioning, declarer finessed on the first round, losing to West’s singleton queen.

Did South read too much into the questions or was West wrong?Name and address supplied.

A First, if West is asking for his partner’s benefit,

this is wrong as a matter of law. If he does so and his partner takes advantage, the director can give an adjusted score. This is communication between partners, which is not permissible, except via calls and plays.

Now we come to what actually happened. If he asked the questions exactly as you said, his questions were illegal and I would have adjusted the score. He has a perfect right to ask the meaning of calls; there would have been no problem if he had asked, ‘What is 4NT?’ or, ‘What does 5♥ show?’ Specifically to ask about the queen of spades while looking at it was ‘coffee-housing’, an old name for a mild form of cheating; the director should have dealt very severely with him. This assumes your recollection of events is right.

David Stevenson answers your questions on Laws and Ethics

Must My Partner and I Play the Same System?

David Stevenson answers all queries based on the facts supplied by the letter writer.

Neither Mr Bridge nor David Stevenson has any way of knowing whether those facts are correct or complete.

Ask David continued

QI was West in the auction below.

West North East South Pass Pass Pass

1NT 2♦1 2NT2 End1spades and another2taken as natural

Before North led, my partner explained that we play Lebensohl and that she was instructing me to bid 3♣. The opponents called the director, who asked us to play out the hand and call him back if need be.

North led a diamond and I made the contract plus two. The opponents argued that they would have bid on in spades if I had alerted 2NT. I said that, over a conventional bid, I thought the 2NT was natural. I then asked North why he did not lead a spade. He said he was not going to lead into my partner’s spade holding. I said that in view of her explanation she was not promising anything in spades.

The director ruled that had I bid 3♣ they would have bid 3♠ and my partner would have bid 4♣ going one down. Is this correct? Geraldine Harland-Fisherby email.

A There seems to be a failure to understand the laws by yourself,

your opponents and the director. The law says that your opponents have a right to an explanation of any call including alerting. This applies even if you do not know the correct meaning.

Your partner has correctly

explained that his 2NT is Lebensohl, as dummy is expected to do before the play when declarer has failed to alert. The director should have allowed your LHO to take his last pass back and change it if he wished. Although I expect he would not have changed it, the director should have given him the chance.

Assuming LHO does not change it, you play the hand out. At the end, the director decides whether your opponents have suffered from the misinformation. He may not assume that you bid 3♣ – trust me, he may not – you had no reason to bid 3♣ having forgotten Lebensohl. The opponents cannot have suffered any damage in the play because they had the right explanation before the play.

The only way the director can adjust the score is if he believes your RHO might have bid over 2NT if told it was Lebensohl.

Perhaps he would have bid 3♠. If so, the director gives an adjustment, perhaps to 4♣ or 3♠, more likely a ‘weighted’ score with a percentage of 2NT, 3♠ and 4♣.

Finally, it worries me to hear that you argued with the opponent over his defence. For you to do so, I am afraid, is unseemly and illegal. Leave rulings to the director and, please, never argue with an opponent.

♣♦♥♠

QThe bidding proceeded as follows,

with no alerts:


1NT 2♦ 2♠

End

Before West led, East

said that his bid showed spades and another. Knowing this, South would not have bid 2♠. The director ruled that South could change his 2♠ bid, which he did, substituting a pass. Was this right?Phil Hickman by email.

A It is a sad fact that too many directors rule without looking

in the law book (or the yellow book) as a quick look would soon show this ruling to be illegal.

Defenders should only draw attention to a failure to alert or other type of misinformation at the end of the play, not at the end of the bidding. East’s actions would be correct if he had been declarer or dummy.

Once East has said what he did, the final call by the non-offenders, and only that final call, may be changed. In this case, that is North’s pass: South’s 2♠ may not be changed.

Thus the director offers North the chance to change his final pass: if he still passes, you play out the hand; the director adjusts at the end, if necessary, which he may well have to.

♣♦♥♠

QCan partners change position (eg. swap from

South to North) or do they have to sit the same way all the way through an event?Dorothy Greaves, by email.

A You have to sit the same way unless the director allows you

to change. If you wanted to change because one of you does not like the draught, or because one of you

has difficulty getting into a tight corner, the director will allow it. If you want to change so you can sit over Mrs Jones who always overbids, the director will not allow the change.

Note that this does not apply to Swiss events: you may change direction between matches as you wish.

♣♦♥♠

QThe North player who held this hand has

a history of making odd bids. What do you think of this example?

♠ J 8 2

♥ 5 4

♦ 8 5 4

♣ 7 5 4 3 2


Pass Pass 1♥

Dbl 2♥1 2♠ 4♥

End1Sort of hesitation: went to pass,

changed his mind and bid 2♥.

4♥ went two down, with 4♠ on for East-West.Deirdre Fell, Louth, Lincolnshire.

A Bad bridge is legal. For sure, I would not have bid 2♥. Even so,

there is no reason why North should not if he wants to. Like a psyche, it is legal to make calls that do not agree with your system. South certainly seems to have assumed that North had heart support.

There is one more point: if North took the pass card out of the bidding box, he may not change it: once the card is out of the box, the call counts as made; he may change only an unintended bid, not a change of mind.

Ask David continued

QI was East and South was dealer. North

mistakenly passed.The director said I

could accept the pass or insist that South open. I opted for the latter; he also said that North must pass for one round.

South opened 3♦, which my partner doubled. North-South ended in 5♦ doubled. Although they went two down for +300, this was worse for us than the game contracts that other East-West pairs had made.

South had 15 points and only 6 diamonds, whereas their system card said 3-level openings were 6-10 points and a 7+ suit. South explained that she was ‘compensating for her partner having to pass’. The director would not accept that and said he would adjust the score to give us the same result as the other tables.

South continued to protest vociferously when the adjustment put her partnership last. She remonstrated with the director about this, making uncharitable remarks about us in doing so. The director relented and removed the adjustment.John Collins by email.

A South has no right to make personal comments;

the director should have imposed a small disciplinary penalty, 20% of a top being normal.

Apart from that, South was right that the initial ruling was

wrong. It is perfectly normal to adjust your bidding in any way you like when partner has to pass. The director has no right to adjust the score.

♣♦♥♠

QYou have said that revoking ‘results in a

penalty of giving one trick to the opponents, sometimes two tricks.’ You go on to say, ‘You never transfer tricks won before the revoke trick.’ Does this mean that, if the offending side fails to win a trick on or after the revoke trick, there are no penalty tricks?David Waldman by email (similar from Rex Goad).

A Yes, if the side that revokes does not win any tricks following

(and including) the revoke, there is no revoke penalty.

♣♦♥♠

QHolding a 19-point hand with a 4432

shape, I decided to open 1NT in fourth seat. The other players said this was wrong: I had to open a suit. Laurence Holden, Hoghton, Preston.

A There are two sorts of rules at bridge: the first is the laws,

which you must follow, saying things like, ‘you must follow suit’ – the second is the rules, that authorities have worked out, on the best way to play.

The other players told you that you must bid a suit because they believed that is the best way to play bridge. What you did was not against the laws.

Much of this publication

is helping people with good bidding. While it is legal to open 1NT, it is just not a very good idea.

♣♦♥♠

Q1. Is it accept-able (or indeed normal) for the

TD to adjudicate on his or her own error?

2. After completing 11 tricks, the players noticed that dummy had only one card left. What should the direc-tor do about this?Name and address supplied.

A 1. Yes, it is perfectly normal. Clubs often have only one direc-

tor available; there is no sensible alternative in many cases. What is especially important is that a director reads rulings from the law book when they are at his table. Assuming the direc-tor is competent, the only time you need access to a second opinion is when it comes to a judgement rul-ing. If your director has not been on an EBU or WBU training course, attending one would be a good idea.

2. When the players discover that someone is a card short, Law 14 tells the director to search for the missing card. If it is among the played cards, Law 67 (Defective Trick) applies and the card is restored

to dummy. There may be complications if dummy has revoked as a result. If it turns up elsewhere, (at the previous table under a scorecard for example), the director should fine or censure dummy for failing to count his cards; the card is deemed to have belonged to him throughout. Again, a revoke will complicate life.

♣♦♥♠

QWith this hand, I opened 1♣ and rebid 1NT

when partner re-sponded in a red suit.

♠ 10 7 4 2

♥ A J 6

♦ K Q 4

♣ A Q 3

My partner had no idea that I held only three clubs. Was my opening OK?Brian Brooks, Cantley, Doncaster.

A Certainly, it is legal: there is no rule that you have to follow

your agreements. Further-more, if you think you are likely to do it again in similar circumstances, you can have an agreement with partner that 1♣ is occasionally three cards: this is also legal and does not need an alert.

DUPLICATE BRIDGE RULES SIMPLIFIED

(otherwise known as the Yellow Book)

by John Rumbelow and revised by David Stevenson

Available from Mr Bridge ( 01483 489961

only

£595

Ask David continued

QMy RHO opens 3♥. How long do I have available

to think what to do?Margaret Johnson, Solihull.

AWhen opener bid 3♥, a stop bid, he was required to

put his stop card out and leave it out for about ten seconds. If you do not take any longer than that to call, there is no problem whatever. In fact, you can have your ten seconds even if he does not leave the card out as he should.

If you take noticeably longer than that, say fifteen seconds or more, your partner will know you have a problem and must try hard to take no advantage. Note that while your pause is legal, it may constrain partner’s choice of action.

♣♦♥♠

QEvery week, one or two pairs are consistently slow.

Can the director go up to them in the middle of playing a board and stop the play, giving them an average? If not, what do you suggest?Derek Allum, Tring.

AOnce the players start a board (ie. the dealer has called),

you cannot stop it; so that is not a solution. You have to find some other way to encourage people to play at a reasonable tempo. There are a number of possibilities.

You can stop a table from starting a board if it is too late in a round. If you judge that one pair is at fault, the score is average minus for the slow pair, average plus for their opponents. You can also give a pair a penalty, perhaps 10% of a top, for continuous slow play. You can nag at them.

Yes, you have to do something. There is always a worry that if you penalise such players, or nag them too much, they will leave. Remember, fast players hate slow play: if you do nothing about slow play, others will leave.

Having a timer, such as the ones sold by Streamline Technology, can help. These show the round number and the number of minutes left. They are fully programmable and beep when there is a certain time left in the round. These make life easier for the director; they provide evidence nobody will dispute. Some players will speed up because of them – not all, I am afraid.

♣♦♥♠

QDeclarer placed a card face up on the

table. Before LHO had followed, declarer looked down and said that she had inadvertently pulled the wrong card from her hand and wished to change it. Could she change it?Jill Clarkson, by email.

A Declarer, having placed a card on the table, may not

change it, mechanical error or not. ■

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

Bernard Magee’s Tips for Better Bridge

65 invaluable tips in 160 pagesBidding 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 defen-

sive 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 concen-

trate 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 try-

ing 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

JJACOBY TWO NO-TRUMP RESPONSEA conventional response to opening bids of 1♥ or 1♠, showing game values or better and primary trump support, now popular with tournament players. A common system of opener’s rebids is as follows:

3♣/3♦/3 of unbid major singleton in suit bid

3 of agreed major waiting, unsuitable for other actions

3NTonly four cards in the major

4 of new suitpronounced two-suiter (good five-card suit on the side)

4 agreed suitminimum, no slam interest

The two big advantages of the method are:

You can find out a singleton in opener’s hand (like a splinter).

By agreeing the trump suit and creating a game-forcing situation, the partners can exchange cue bids without having to go beyond game.

N

W ES

♠ 9 ♠ 7 4 2

♥ K J 7 4 3 ♥ A Q 10 2

♦ A 7 3 2 ♦ K 6

♣ A 7 3 ♣ K Q 10 4

West East

1♥ 2NT

3♠ 4NT

…

Without the information that West is short in spades, meaning that the hands fit very well, it will be hard for East to envisage a slam.

JACOBY TRANSFER BIDSInvented by Oswald Jacoby, a response of 2♦ (2♥) over an opening 1NT shows at least five cards in hearts (spades). Opener then bids the suit that responder has shown. You can make the transfer bid either with a weak hand (planning to pass when opener completes the transfer) or with a variety of stronger hands.

Hand 1 Hand 2

♠ 7 5 ♠ Q 10 7 5 3

♥ Q 10 7 5 3 ♥ K 9 3

♦ 9 5 ♦ A Q 2

♣ A 9 5 2 ♣ 7 4

With the first hand, you respond 2♦ and then pass 2♥.

On the second hand, you respond 2♥ and then rebid in no-trumps (2NT if 1NT was weak, 3NT if 1NT was strong).

JETTISONTo discard a high honour (usually ace or king), often to create an entry for partner or to unblock a suit.

NW E

S

♦ J 10 9 4 2

♦ Q 6 ♦ K 7

♦ A 8 5 3

If East is keen for West to gain the lead (perhaps West has some established winners in another suit), he could discard the ♦K or dump it under the ♦A.

JOURNALIST LEADSA little used system of opening leads as follows:

Against no trumps:Ace from a strong holding(e.g. A K J x or A K 10 x).King from a weaker holding.Queen from Q J x or a weak K Q x holding.Jack from J 10, but no higher honour.10 from an interior sequence (e.g. A J 10 x or K 10 9 x).9 from 10 9 x.Lowest from a suit headed by an honour (but not one of the above honour combinations).Second highest from suits without an honour.

Against a suit contract:Lower of two touching honours.Third and fifth from an honouror non-touching honours.Top of nothing.

JUMP BIDAny bid at a level higher than necessary to show the denomination e.g. 1♥-3♦ or 1♣-pass-2♠.

JUMP OVERCALLA single jump bid made as an overcall e.g. 1♠ (South) – 3♦ (West) or 1♣ (South) – 2♥ (West).

Traditionally, a jump overcall showed a strong hand (similar to opening one of a suit and rebidding three of it) but it is becoming increasingly popular to play weak jump overcalls (similar in strength to a weak two opening).

A to Z of Bridgecompiled by Julian Pottage

A to Z of Bridge continued

JUMP PREFERENCETo return partner to his original suit at the same time making a jump bid. Jump preference is encouraging and shows at least three-card support for the suit bid (exactly three-card support if it is a major). For example:

♠ A Q 7 5

♥ J 9 5

♦ K J 8 4

♣ 8 2

If partner opens 1♥ and rebids 2♣ over your 1♠ response, you give jump preference to 3♥.

If partner opens 1♦ and rebids 2♣ over your 1♠ response, again you give jump preference, this time to 3♦.

JUMP RAISEA bid in the suit partner has just bid at more than a minimum level e.g. 1♠-pass-3♠ or 1♦-pass-1♥-pass-3♥.

Normally, a jump raise shows primary support and more playing strength than a single raise.

Example hands for the above sequences are:

Hand 1 Hand 2

♠ 10 9 4 2 ♠ 9 4

♥ A K J 2 ♥ A K J 2

♦ Q 10 2 ♦ A Q 8 5 2

♣ 7 4 ♣ J 2

JUMP SHIFTA single jump in a new suit usually by responder e.g. 1♦-pass-2♠.

Normally, the bid is forcing to at least game unless made by a passed hand.

Usually, in the modern style, responder has either a very good suit or support for opener’s suit; some also allow a semi-balanced hand with stoppers in the unbid suits. By a passed hand, a jump shift promises near opening values, a fair suit and primary support for opener.

Example hands for the sequence given are:

Hand 1 Hand 2

♠ K Q J 10 9 3 ♠ A K 8 5 4

♥ A 5 ♥ 5 4

♦ 8 4 ♦ A Q 8 5

♣ A J 4 ♣ K 4

JUMP SHIFT REBIDA single jump in a new suit by opener e.g. 1♥-pass-1♠-pass-3♦. Normally, the bid is forcing to at least game.

You should have at least five cards in your first suit, at least four cards in your second and close to the maximum values for a one-level opening.

Possible hands for this sequence are:

Hand 1 Hand 2

♠ 5 ♠ K J 4

♥ A K 10 4 2 ♥ A Q 9 6 4

♦ A K J 7 4 ♦ A K Q 2

♣ K 2 ♣ 5

JUNIORIn international competition, a player under the age of 25.

JUNKA worthless hand or suit.

KKEYCARD BLACKWOODAn improved version of Blackwood, also known as Five Ace Blackwood, in which the king of trumps counts the same as an ace.

The king of trumps and the four aces are all ‘key cards’. Replies to 4NT are almost the same as with ordinary Blackwood:

5♣ Zero or Four key cards 5♦ One or Five key cards 5♥ Two key cards 5♠ Three key cards

If there is a subsequent 5NT enquiry, the king of trumps does not count as a king but the queen of trumps does.

KIBITZERAn onlooker at bridge, or other games.

KILLTo remove the entries to a hand and thus render it worthless.

KISSAcronym for ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’.

KISS OF DEATHA penalty of 200 points on a partscore deal at duplicate, usually a disastrous result almost certainly being worse than any contract that the opposition could make.

KITCHEN BRIDGESocial bridge played using very basic, natural bidding methods.

KNAVEAn old name for the fourth-highest ranking card in a suit. Since the king has a ‘K’ on it, it would cause confusion for this card to do so too, so the jack is the name now.

KNOCK1. At rubber bridge, this is a slang

term for ‘Pass’.2. At duplicate, when partner makes

a conventional bid, you might tap on the table: ‘knock’ to alert the opponents.

KNOCK OUTTo force an opponent to play a master card (e.g. ‘To knock out the ace’). In a no-trump contract, it is common for each side to knock out its opponents’ high cards early in the play.

NW E

S

♠ K

♥ K Q J 10 2

♦ A 6 5 4

♣ 7 6 5

♠ Q 10 8 6 5 ♠ J 7 4 2

♥ A 5 4 ♥ 9 8 6 3

♦ 9 8 ♦ K 10 2

♣ K 9 3 ♣ J 10

♠ A 9 3

♥ 7

♦ Q J 7 3

♣ A Q 8 4 2

South plays in 3NT. West leads the

A to Z of Bridge continued

♠6, which ‘knocks out’ the ♠K. Declarer plays on hearts, leading high cards from dummy to ‘knock out’ West’s ace. The defenders then play a second and, if South ducks, a third round of spades to knock out South’s ♠A.

KNOCK-OUT TOURNAMENTHead-to-head competition for teams of four with the losers of each match eliminated.

KOCH-WERNER REDOUBLEAn SOS redouble named after its Swedish inventors, which asks partner to choose another suit when the opponents have doubled for penalties.

The idea is that, at a low level, you should be content to play in any making doubled contract and so would not want to redouble in a natural sense and allow the opponents to escape into some other contract.


1♦

2♣ Pass Pass Dbl

Pass Pass Rdbl

On this auction, East’s Koch-Werner redouble asks West to bid again. East is going to have a singleton or void in clubs and at least five cards in each major. ■

BERNARD MAGEE’S INTERACTIVE TUTORIALS

ACOL BIDDING

l Opening Bids and Responses

l Slams and Strong Openings

l Support for Partner

l Pre-empting

l Overcalls

l No-trump Openings and Responses

l Opener’s and Responder’s Rebids

l Minors and Misfits

l Doubles

l Competitive Auctions

MORE (ADVANCED)

ACOL BIDDING

l Basics

l Advanced Basics

l Weak Twos

l Strong Hands

l Defence to Weak Twos

l Defence to 1NT

l Doubles

l Two-suited Overcalls

l Defences to Other Systems

l Misfits and Distributional Hands

DECLARER PLAY

l Suit Establishment in No-trumps

l Suit Establishment in Suits

l Hold-ups

l Ruffing for Extra Tricks

l Entries in No-trumps

l Delaying Drawing Trumps

l Using the Lead

l Trump Control

l Endplays & Avoidance

l Using the Bidding

ADVANCED DECLARER PLAY

l Making Overtricks in No-trumps

l Making Overtricks in Suit Contracts

l Endplays

l Avoidance

l Wrong Contract

l Simple Squeezes

l Counting the Hand

l Trump Reductions & Coups

l Playing Doubled Contracts

l Safety Plays

DEFENCE

l Lead vs No-trump Contracts

l Lead vs Suit Contracts

l Partner of Leader vs No-trump Contracts

l Partner of Leader vs Suit Contracts

l Count Signals

l Attitude Signals

l Discarding

l Defensive Plan

l Stopping Declarer

l Counting the Hand

£81

£66

£96

£76

£76

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

( 01483 489961 www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista or 7, 8mb RAM, CD-ROM

FIVE-CARD MAJORS &

Strong No-Trump

l Opening Bids & Responses

l No-Trump Openings


l Slams & Strong Openings

l Rebids

l Minors & Misfits

l Pre-empting

l Doubles

l Overcalls


£89

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✄✄ 328STI12

Bernard Magee

at Haslemere Hall 2011

DVDsSix DVDs record the seminars from Haslemere. Each seminar is divided into two halves: designed to look at subjects from two different perspectives.

1. RUffiNG fOR EXTRA TRiCKS

This seminar deals with declar-er’s use of ruffing to generate ex-tra tricks and then looks at how the defenders might counteract this. 74 mins.

2. COMPETiTiVE AUCTiONS

This seminar focuses on competitive auctions from the perspective of the overcalling side to start with 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 precious high cards. 83 minutes.

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, because as soon as you announce the topic everybody is looking for slams. The second half covers some of the techniques used to bid slams. 96 minutes.

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 minutes.

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 minutes.

All 6 for £100See Mail Order form on page 7.

£25

£25

£25

£25

£25

£25

Better HandEvaluationBernard Magee

Introduction

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 be-gins 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, eval-uating your hand to be worth an extra point is going to help anyone you partner – as long as you get it right.

£14 including postage


Mr Bridge Premium Quality Cards

Standard Faces with or without bar codes. Unboxed.

6 red / 6 blue £19.95 30 red / 30 blue only £60

The London Bridge Centre ( 020 7486 8222 www.bridgeshop.com

l Opening Bids & Responses

l No-Trump Openings


l Slams & Strong Openings

l Minors & Misfits

Five-Card Majorswith a Strong No-Trump

The Interactive Way of Improving Your Five-Card Majors Bidding

with Bernard Magee

Contents (20 hands each)

System Requirements

Windows XP, Vista or 7, 8mb RAM, CD-ROM

£89 including post and packing


l Opener’s & Responder’s Rebids

l Pre-empting

l Doubles

l Overcalls


Is your bridge club a nice place to play? Are the people you play with good company? Does your bridge

club welcome new players? And will your bridge club still be there in five, ten, twenty, fifty years time?

In this article, I am going to suggest that the places in which we play bridge – our bridge clubs’ premises – are just as important as the players who play there. I am going to raise a number of questions which you might consider in relation to your own club. You might like to send the resulting profile of your club to Mr Bridge, for a possible future series, ‘Clubs & Clubhouses’.

Before we start, what do we mean by ‘bridge club’? I would say any group of bridge players meeting anywhere on a regular basis is a bridge club, whether actually formally constituted or not. This definition covers everything from dedicated bridge clubs with their own premises down to a couple of tables meeting once a week in the pub. If new players can join in with your group, then it’s a club.

Bridge clubs come in many models. Is your club proprietorial or mutual? By ‘proprietorial’, I mean a club that is owned and operated by a professional manager or managers. A ‘mutual’ club, on the other hand, is one owned and operated in common by the members on a not-for-profit basis, although it can be big enough to have an employed manager. A manager ensures that the premises are open and paid for; all equipment is supplied; and, to encourage extra attendance, usually ensures there is a host (spare partner). If there is no manager, one of the members, usually the secretary, has to fulfil these functions.

In mutual clubs, the question of spare partners can be solved by a ‘duty

rota’ amongst the members, or else players are expected to arrange their own partners.

Some large bridge clubs have their own dedicated premises. This kind of bridge club tends to have many different sessions in the week and probably has a teaching programme as well. The premises can be freehold or leasehold. The majority of clubs, however, rent a hall or room for their bridge. A typical venue could be a church hall, village hall, community centre, a school, a pub room or other room hired by the session. This might be for a single weekly session or more than one.

What I want you to ask yourself is how secure is your club’s tenure of these premises? What would happen if the hall had to be closed, the council withdrew its subsidy, the pub closed, the school got a surfeit of ‘elf-and-safety’, or the golf club got a new secretary? Have you ever considered this?

Let me put my own cards on the table. I run a number of proprietorial clubs for which I rent the premises. But, before we go on to discuss clubhouses further, let me show this amusing bridge hand, which I took along to one of my clubs’ Christmas party.

The story goes that a player was called away from the Christmas duplicate on an emergency with the last board still to play. As it was Christmas, there were a number of ‘non-combatant spouses’ helping out with the party and one player volunteered her husband to replace the missing player. Despite his protest that he knew nothing about the game, he was made to sit down and told, ‘Just bid what you’ve got and follow suit.’ He sat South and the following bidding sequence ensued:

Dealer South. Game All.

South West North East

1♣ Pass 2♥ Pass

2♠ Pass 3♣ Pass

3♥ Pass 4NT Pass

7♦ All Pass

This was the deal:

NW E

S

♠ A 9

♥ A K Q 6 5

♦ A K

♣ Q 10 5 4

♠ K Q 10 8 ♠ 7 6 5 4 2

♥ J 10 9 7 ♥ 8

♦ Q 10 ♦ J 9

♣ K J 8 ♣ 9 7 6 3 2

♠ J 3

♥ 4 3 2

♦ 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

♣ A

South took the lead of the ♠K with the ace, cashed the ace and king of trumps. He then came to hand with the ♣A and played all his diamonds. On the last one, West was hopelessly squeezed in three suits and ultimately discarded a heart, whereupon South made the last four tricks in hearts. When the opposition saw South’s hand, they called the director, who asked for an explanation of the bidding and got the following reply, ‘I was told to bid what I’ve got and I have one club, two spades, three hearts and seven diamonds.’

Now to return to the subject of clubhouses. I am going to state that, whatever the ownership or arrangements for the premises are, bridge does not, except in very rare cases, meet the real costs of occupying the property. Before you object, let

Clubs and Clubhouses

by Ned Paul

me lay out some facts. If you are a mutual club using shared premises, it is highly likely you are getting a very favourable deal. The primary user of the hall will not be looking to extract a commercial hire fee from you, but simply to earn some marginal extra income. If it is a village hall or similar, then it will be a not-for-profit facility and for the use of the community. You will simply be paying a small contribution towards the running costs.

If a bridge club has its own premises, then the capital cost will in some way have been subsidised. Money may well have been raised historically to buy the building, or in some cases the premises gifted to the club and the club’s constitution does not allow the members to sell up and take the money. If the clubhouse is on a leasehold or owned by a proprietor, then you have to hope that the property owner doesn’t fall out of love with bridge. Some apparently secure major clubs have closed when the property owner retired or moved on. The reason is that, in most cases, the premises could probably earn more money with some other usage. Just look at the number of pubs closing if you doubt this: the pub may turn a profit and employ people but the property owners close the pub anyway in the hope of selling it off as residential property.

Maybe I am being unduly pessimistic, but I would like to see organised bridge at least keeping an eye on property issues. To give

me some assurance, let us know how it is with your club. Tell us where you play and try to answer some of the questions posed above about the security of your tenure. Who owns the building and on what basis?

Is your club a dedicated bridge club or do you use shared premises? How many sessions do you play a week? Do you have to set out the room each time you play or can you leave tables out? Is there adequate storage for tables and other equipment? If you use shared premises, does a caretaker have to come and open up and close after you have gone? Are you charged by the hour (and so for setting up and taking down) or by the session?

Include a bit of the club’s history – how it started, etc. – and some details about how many active members you have and what is the typical attendance? (Many bridge clubs have an active membership base of at least twice the weekly attendance. People have holidays, real life, dogs to take to the vet, the family round for tea, the car needing servicing, or funerals to go to).

What sort of welcome do you give new people? Are partners provided? What sort of refreshments are available – a bar, a cafeteria or simply a kettle in the corner? And do you provide any teaching or, just as important, supervised play for newer players?

Finally, include a photo and an interesting bridge hand if you can and tell us about any recent or forthcoming special events of note. The best of your responses should make interesting reading, as well as contributing to an ‘asset survey’ of bridge throughout the UK. ■

Clubs & Clubhousescontinued

APRIL 2012

15 WESTON PARK CANCER CHARITY – TEENAGE WARD Swiss teams. Calver Village Hall. 10.30 for 11am start – 5pm £80 per team (to include lunch at 1pm). Judy Barker ( 01629 813100

27 CHARITY BRIDGE DRIVE Eynsham Village Hall OX29 4QW. 10am-4pm. Ticket price includes coffee at 10am, lunch with glass of wine and prizes. Liz Ince ( 01865 300658 [email protected]

MAY 2012

9 LADYWELL AFRICAN MISSIONS Bridge tea at Ladywell Convent, Ashstead Lane, Godalming. 1.30pm for 2pm to 5pm. £32 per table. Sister June ( 01483 419393 [email protected]

11 CHILDREN’S CHARITIES (March Committee). Doddington Village Hall, March. Tickets £14.00. Val Topliss ( 01354 653696.

17 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE ROTARY CLUB 12 for 12.30. Outlane Golf Club. £44 per table including lunch, afternoon tea and biscuits. Brian Nobel 01484 427356

JUNE 2012

6 DOWNHAM MARKET TOWN HALL Festival Bridge with afternoon tea 1.00pm start. Tickets £6.00. Pat Roberts ( 01366 382947

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

E-mail your charity events: [email protected]

CHARITY BRIDGE EVENTS

JULY 2012

27 GREAT BARFORD CHURCH Village Hall, Great Barford. Derek Fordham ( 01234 870324 Malcolm Howarth ( 01480 212910

AUGUST 2012

24 ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH Village Hall Sawtry. 1pm for 1.30pm. Champagne ‘Ritz Tea’. £10. Pat Walters ( 01487 830674 Malcolm Howarth ( 01480 212910

SEPTEMBER 2012

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

20 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE ROTARY CLUB 12 for 12.30. Outlane Golf Club. £44 per table inc lunch, tea and biscuits. Brian Nobel ( 01484 427356

OCTOBER 2012

5 ST ANDREW’S CHURCH The Mandeville Village Hall, Kimbolton. 10.00 for 10.30am. £14. Mavis Campion ( 01480 860477

6 NSPCC Bridge & Supper, Royal British Legion, Sutton. £10. Wendy Powell ( 01353 664752 Silvia Farmer ( 01353 777373 Margaret Law ( 01353 860334

NOVEMBER 2012

22 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE ROTARY CLUB 12 for 12.30. Outlane Golf Club. £44 per table inc lunch, tea and biscuits. Brian Nobel ( 01484 427356

READERS’LETTERSMEMORIESI am not sure how long it is since we asked to be put on your database but, to be on the safe side, I have registered us once again.

It is many years since we discovered Mr Bridge, 1992 I think, when we went to our son Richard’s graduation ceremony at Bristol University. Knowing, from experience, how long and drawn-out these occasions can be, we took a Mr Bridge book with us to read. By extraordinary coincidence, you were sitting next to us, very probably highly amused that one of your customers was reading a publications of yours.

Best wishes for your continued success. Sue Holden, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.I remember it well. The book was the first Bridge Plus Annual.

BETTER SAFE THAN...The club I am chairman of is similar to that described in BRIDGE 112, page 41, in that we do not have a formal committee, nor a constitution. However, we have rubbed along quite happily for 15 years with a ‘secretary’, a ‘treasurer’ and myself as ‘Chair’.

Are there any risks in operating in such an informal way? Should we formalize arrangements?

I hasten to add that, as soon as I saw the very helpful article in BRIDGE about

insurance, we immediately took action on that front. My concern is that there may be reasons, unknown to me and others similarly placed, that make it advisable to adopt a constitution.

On the assumption that there are reasons for taking action, do you have a draft constitution that we could adopt and adapt to our particular circumstances?Mike Archer,Wilmslow, Cheshire.A draft of a previously published constitution will be reprinted in the next issue of BRIDGE.

RARE FLOWERThanks for including a mention of five-card majors in BRIDGE 112. Rare indeed. Your magazine seems to be totally Acol-oriented.

Although I get much pleas-ure from most of the articles, all those pertaining to bid-ding are of little or no help.

I live in Switzerland and I play the five-card major system. When I travel, I find I can play in most countries. Are there any other parts of the world, apart from Great Britain, where Acol is the standard system?Judith Munzinger,Switzerland, by email.Pockets can be found in parts of Holland, Denmark, Western Australia and most of New Zealand.

ANYONE KNOWOne year, we had a series of ‘funny’ hands at our

Christmas party after a good lunch, bidding and/or play along the following lines;

1. Deal and pass four cards of one suit to LHO, bid and play as normal.

2. Dealer has one bid and the hand is played.

Sadly, I cannot find any of the details. Have you come across anything like this? If you have, please can you send them to me and if not, ask your readers for help.Kay White by email.

AS IFIt was playing with friends only last week that I realised I must have been dropped off your mailing list.

Thought perhaps you had folded. Please reinstate me.Graham Midmer,Uckfield, East Sussex.

SALLY… WELL DONEIn BRIDGE 113, you dismissed a reader’s criticism of Sally Brock’s column. In the same edition, Ms Brock wrote about her grandson’s potty training. You should tell Ms Brock to stick to the point and write about bridge and not about domestic trivia.Mr A Dunworth,Lymington, Hants.I commissioned Mrs Brock to tell readers about her life as a top international bridge player, warts and all…I think she does this very well.

SALLY SUPPORTA completely free, attractive and informative magazine delivered through the door – do the whingers like Alan Hess, Readers’ Letters, BRIDGE 113, really believe they have a right to complain about anything? Think again, Mr Hess.

On my part, I am extremely relieved to know that international bridge players make the same silly mistakes I make from

time to time. Thank you Sally Brock for telling us about your interesting, if somewhat hectic, life.A Grieveson by email.

TWO WAYSIn BRIDGE 112, Marion Silverblatt suggests that the possibility of confusion about who deals, after shuffling, would be reduced by the saying, ‘If the cards are on your left, they are left to you.’ However, we used to say, ‘If you are not demented quite, place the cards upon your right.’ Quite the opposite but meaning the same thing.Mrs J Bradley, Grantham.

UNWANTED What should we do with our worn-out playing cards – just stick them in the bin for recycling? Or are there specialist collectors out there somewhere?Anon.All worn out modern cards are only fit for the bin.

INVITATIONI would like to invite your readers to visit or join the Highgate Bridge Club. We are an old, established club with a reasonable standard of game.

Duplicate is played on Mondays at 7.25 pm, Thursdays at 1.15 pm, and Saturdays at 6.55pm.

Teams are played on the first Saturday of each month.

The club meets in the Scout Headquarters in Sheldon Avenue, Highgate, N6, the Aylmer Road end.

There is no problem with parking and we do our very best to find partners.

The charge is £4 for members and £6 for visitors.

Details can be found on our website at www.highgate.nightowl.me.ukMrs Devora Cohen, London, N2.

READERS’ LETTERScontinued

LITTLE VOICEJust a short note to send all your team a great big thank you for the massive, tea chest size effort that has just come in through the door.

Lots of names for the contributors list (see below) and a sizeable cheque.

I quite often get asked for more details of how ‘Little Voice’ spends the money. My knowledge is a little sketchy so it might be worth considering giving some details plus a photograph or two as time and space permit.Mr C Bamberger,Trimley St Mary.

Mrs C le Gassick, Inverurie. Mrs V Eborn, Staines. Mrs M Tricker, Alton. Mrs S Millar, Paisley. Mrs A Reid, Banchory. Mrs L Tipping, Fleet. Mrs S Klaus, Altrincham. Mr Jupp, March. Mrs D Scott, London SW16. Ms M Fewster, Pontypool. Mrs A Robertson, Glenrothes. Mrs M Dean-Spencer, Exmouth. Mr J Pearce, Bromley. Mr J Sweeney, Wigan. Mr K Wheeler, Whitstable. Mr P Cobham, Weybridge. Mr R Mitchell, Edenbridge. Mrs Robson, Farthinghoe. Mr R Brown, Mobberley. Mrs J Butler, Willenhall. Mrs C Screaton, Bushby. Mr & Mrs Loten, Maresfield. Mr C Pengelley, Ardingly. Mrs L Morrison, Toronto, Canada. Mrs M Main, Chirnside. Barrow Bridge Club, Ulverston. Mrs J Staples, Storrington. Mrs P Westrip, Richmond. Ms N Lobetta, Bushey Heath. Mrs P Brown, Beckenham. Mr A Carter, Bournemouth. Mrs K Adamson, Oxon. Mrs D Hicks, Congleton. Mr & Mrs H Sharples, Chorley. Ms B Clyne, Bushey Heath. Miss P Long, Bournemouth. Mrs Y Hutchins, Taunton. Mrs Spiller, Sutton. CKT Aero & Automotive Engineering, Tiverton. Mrs A Pinson, Horley. Mr & Mrs D Paine, Barnstaple. Mrs N Weatherly, Oswestry. Mr S Orlik, Dorking. Mrs C Screaton, Leicester. Sylvia Lillywhite. Mrs P Deacon, Ilkeston. Mr O Jones, Southport. Mrs A Melville, Aylsham. Mrs D Thomas, Leicester. Mrs Carter, Felixstowe. Mrs D Allgood, Petersfield. Mrs M O’Sullivan, Wimbledon. Mrs S Lake, London NW1. Mr O Jones, Southport. Mrs Harris Martin, London SE22. Mrs E Matthews, Carlisle. Mrs W Bennett, Goran Haven. Mrs P Morgan, Culcheth. Mr M Finebaum, Enfield. Mrs A Walsham, Crowborough. Mrs H Cornelius, Verwood. Mrs Hutty, Burgess Hill. Mrs M Turner, Bridlington. Mrs J Anderson, Horsham. Oakfield Bridge Club, Oldham. Mr & Mrs D Stanton, Edinburgh. Mrs R Dawe, Bognor Regis. Mrs P Lock, Woking. Mr & Mrs J Kramer, Hereford. Mrs S Lake, London. Mrs R Hawes, Marlborough. Mrs C Storer, Southport. Ms D Scott, London SW16. Mr & Mrs B Turner, Beaconsfield. Mr & Mrs D Milton, Beckenham. Mrs B Welsby, Wigan. Mr G Datson, Bulbeck. Mrs C Pengelley, Ardingly. Mrs L Parker, Letchworth. Mrs C Crowdy, Bristol. Mrs M Partridge, Chislehurst. Mrs P Wood, Nelson. Mrs Mobberley, South Milton. Mrs C Archer, Willingale. Lady M Harrison, Stearsby. Mrs S Orlik, Dorking. Mrs Cottrell, Leatherhead. Mr M Finebaum, Enfield. Mr D Peters, Bury. Mrs P Crowe, Cheltenham. Mrs M Gentilli, London SW1. Mr F Lockyer, Bournemouth. Mrs S Stevens, Teddington. Mrs J Kemsley, Reading. Mrs G Van der Steen, London SW19. Mrs M Gordon, Tarland. Mr & Mrs T Power, Downpatrick. Mr C Crittenden, Badshot Lea. Mrs P Wormleighton, Ealing. Mrs V Moore, Hyde. Mrs V Starkey, Highcliffe-on-Sea. Mrs C Gate, Bexhill-on-Sea. Mr H List, Littlehampton.

Please keep saving your used stamps in support of Little Voice in Addis Ababa.

ONE MAN’S MEATWhilst everyone has a right to an opinion, the ‘want for nothings’ who moan about advertising and the other people who are so rude about contributors to BRIDGE should be ignored if they can offer only non-constructive, negative views.

People like me truly value the contents and appreciate the hard work and dedica-tion that goes into mak-ing the finished product.Tricia Kern by email.Readers should ignore those parts that they do not value. Just turn over the page.

PAT ON THE BACKJust a note to thank you for sending the QPlus 8 software CD to match up with my antiquated 2007 version of Microsoft Office. My wife and I played our first hands against the computer yesterday evening and enjoyed it enormously – the great advantage being you can discuss everything without two other humans in the way. I still seemed to be dummy most of the time so nothing changes.

Thank you also for sorting out my friend Mike Coleman with a ‘buy one, get one free’. Your appreciation of the value of generating goodwill in a business is obviously instinctive and your promptness is top-class. The young lady who answers the phone does so promptly and in a very friendly manner.

I congratulate you on the way you run your business – I hope you continue to thrive in these difficult times.Mr S Rouke,Baltimore, Co. Cork.

MODERN ACOLIt was a pleasure to unexpectedly receive and read issue number 113 of BRIDGE. As usual, the articles

and quizzes give excellent advice for the majority of players, though one item caught my eye which caused me to have a think. It is in Bernard’s bidding quiz, in which he suggests 1NT is the ‘right’ opening bid with a certain 5422 hand with five diamonds and four hearts.

To me, this is an expert’s judgment and there is a significant downside to encouraging such a choice for the not-quite-so-expert partnerships. Namely, unhappy partners who find that there isn’t a balanced hand across the table when they think there should be, with a challenge met with, ‘Bernard Magee says...’ Not good for that most valuable commodity in bridge – partnership trust and understanding.

Unfortunately, Bernard has offered us another contrived hand for the partner. Yes, this will play very well in 1NT with some pretty club winners to be set up in dummy and a certain entry to get to them. What a bit of luck. Well, let’s be honest, with that rubbish 5-card diamond suit you need luck to come to seven tricks.

However, my real concern was with the actual merit of this choice of opening 1NT. The idea is that we avoid declaring 2♦, which could be a rotten contract. So, I thought I would dust off my probability theory and calculate how often this will actually happen opposite a 6-9pt responding hand. That would be if responder has a void or singleton diamond and you can’t play in a major suit – which means that responder has five spades (not enough of them to be repeated), or has four spades but fewer than four hearts, or has neither major and responds 1NT and

opener prefers a 2♦ rebid to a pass (and responder doesn’t run away to 3♣).

I calculate that the probability that you will end up in a horrible 2♦ contract is actually less than 7.5%. I think, on balance, I would rather have a happy partner than worry about that. Sorry, Bernard, 1NT is not the ‘right’ bid in my book.

Personally, I think that there is actually a very good alternative call when you have a rotten 12 point hand that is just not going to pull its weight in almost any contract – and that is to Pass.Mr Mike Fisher,Woodbridge, Suffolk. Bridge teacher.

L.T.CI am interested in how the basic steps of The Losing Trick count work, but have missed the Bernard Magee description. I would be happy to purchase a book where it is described.Peter Branton, Burton upon Trent. This is covered in his book, Better Hand Evaluation, £14. See order form on page 7.

IMPROVED SHUFFLEA simple and very effective method of shuffling for those of us who are less dextrous than we were.

Make a short ordinary shuffle, then deal five hands. Pick up the piles alternately. Make another brief shuffle then deal four hands. It works like a dream.D Mumford, York.

KEEPS ME GOINGI am old and ill but I still enjoy reading your fine magazine. I trust you will continue to send it to me as it keeps me in touch with the bridge world.Mrs M Desmond,Hayes, Middx.

Elegy to a Bridge Playerby Richard Wheen

Quite a ruff ♦ he might have been.He called a ♠ a ♠,But close to the ♥ of Peter GreenWas the ♣ at which he played.

NTet was too loud for him,A man of ♦ A Q

♦ K 7

♦ 3 2 (led)

His knowledge of the laws was slim –Of systems rather less.

1♠-4NT; (1♦)-2♦; 1NT-2♣; Pass-1♥-2♣;He never could tell them apart.It drove his partners wild with fury,But they took him to their ♥.

He’d played for 50 years or moreUp and down the land.He couldn’t bid, he couldn’t score,He couldn’t play the .

He’d lead his from ,And trump his partner’s winner.You’d never realise that heWasn’t a total beginner.

His ♥’s now stopped, he’s paid his sub,He’s made his last revoke.We think he’ll enjoy the celestial ♣:Poor player, but splendid bloke.

For non-bridge players

The ♠, ♥, ♦, and ♣ symbols are of course the suits in a pack of cards, as well as having other meanings inparticular contexts. In line 1, a ruff = trumping your opponent’s trick.The first two lines of verse 2 read: “No trumpet was too loud for him, A man of no finesse”. The first line of verse 3 reads: “Blackwood, Michaels, Stayman, Drury,” all being fairly well known bridge conventions, exemplified by the four bidding sequences shown.The last word of verse 4 is of course “hand”.The first line of verse 5 is: “He’d lead his King from King, 4, 3” ie a holding of the King, the 4 and the 3 in a particular suit – here, hearts.

HEADING‘Disgruntled of Kew’ and John Turner, see BRIDGE 112, Alan Hess, BRIDGE 113, will be amazed, as I am, that ‘Sally’s 7 days’ is now extended to 16 days and 4 pages. Could we have more of the diaries of Wendy Wensum and her lovely side-kick, Millie?Mr Richard Potts, Belmont, Lancashire.

ANOTHER PLUGThe Perryman Bridge Club meets at the Day Centre, Harpenden on Saturday evenings 7.30 start. We are a very small club and need more members to ensure our survival. We charge £2 per session, but do not have refreshment facilities. We are not in the EBU, so it’s basically a get together for friendly bridge at all levels. Partners can be found if required.

We have plenty of parking and directions can be provided by the secretary.Bill Kenny, ( 01727 854871.

GOOD EBUTA Whilst Lyn Fry ‘has been teaching bridge to a small group of younger members’ at her local golf club, she has recently attended a course run by the EBU to train bridge teachers. It appears that she was very impressed with the course. It will help her in her very commendable efforts at the local golf club.

With her background as a teacher, one can appreciate that she is able to recognise the quality and enthusiasm of the EBUTA staff. Sydney E Veroniqueby email.

ENOUGHMay I suggest an idea for 2012... ‘No more Sally Brock’. This month’s account of her life was more trivial than usual. Who finds her column interesting?B Smith, Enfield, Middx.As I said last month, she is just like Marmite.

BALANCINGDavid Stevenson’s answers on ethical points are the pages I always turn to first. This time, BRIDGE 113, even the directors seem to have made a couple of errors. Seriously, though, the tips on procedure etc are always very valuable.

And I’m also a member of the Sally Brock fan club. I spend some time, probably too much, following the top tournaments on Bridgebase Online and it’s good to get some human interest to the hands. Questions and quizzes are fun too, so keep us on your mailing list.

If you have a copy left, I would be pleased to receive the ‘Ruffing for Extra Tricks’ DVD and enclose the six second-class stamps as requested for postage and handling.David Potter.Burton on Trent, Staffs.Yes, I still have some of these left. Just send in your six second-class stamps.

MORE HELP PLEASEI have asked you before about Fun Bridge Games for our annual party but this time I would like to know if you can help me with a particular game we played years ago and no-one can remember how it works.

The Declarer says whether he/she can make ALL tricks or NONE of the tricks. Then, I need to know how to score it.

Can your readers help?W Marchant by email.


REDUCE THE COST OF YOUR POSTAGEPostage 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 1st class: 100x37p+100x9p)

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

BEST PRESENTThis letter is to thank you for the DVD you so very kindly sent me for Christmas. It was the best present I had and it couldn’t have gone to a more deserving home as I am the worst player in England, possibly the world, and love every minute of the ghastly game.

I am old now (89) and grew up with draughts, rummy and snap until one day my mother was short of a fourth and roped me in – thereafter, I ‘scrabbled’ my way through the years, praying I would have bad hands so I wouldn’t have to bid and worked at being ‘amusing’ at tea and biscuit time in order to be asked again. The crunch came when someone suggested I join the bridge club for lessons – and I came face to face with conventions.

None of the hands I got fitted in with conventions. I read the Daily Telegraph bridge column every day but it’s like another language.

My beloved husband, to whom I was married for sixty-four years (until two years ago), used to say, when I got into bridge, ‘get yourself a drink, I’ll switch off the TV and you can tell me how much you’ve lost.’ I had always lost. I always do – and lost him – he died two years ago. But it’s the only thing I do which keeps me sane and stops me worrying about what I ought to be doing. Just holding the cards is therapeutic and God Bless Mr Culbertson or whoever it was who invented the game.

I met a retired GP the other day who used to play bridge at Crockfords – it was like history – my husband used

to say to me, ‘They’d kick you out of Crockfords,’ but I would never have been there in the first place.

Long live your magazine BRIDGE and by the way, regarding Sally Brock, she may be a wonderful bridge player but she certainly knows her food. A woman after my own heart – I could go on holiday with her… and with you, on a ship but no one would play with me.Mrs M Norman, Kettering, Northants.Don’t you believe it.

GET A CONVERTERYour bridge tutorials on CD are the best I have bought, but I cannot use them on my Apple Mac or iPad.

I am sure you would have a huge market if you made versions for Apple Mac and iPads.Sue Gil, Bushey, Herts.All those with Apple Mac technology should buy one of the three programs that allow Windows programs to function.

ONE DVD REVIEW…The film production and editing are of excellent quality.

Bernard’s delivery of the seminar is to his usual outstandingly high standard.

The content material of the seminars are excellent.

However, the price of £25 is not reasonable for the total amount of one seminar. Adding two seminars for that price would be closer, especially if that led to a similar reduction in price for the box set.

In actual fact, the best way to make an individual seminar DVD come closer to the true value of its cost would be to do as Bernard mentioned at the seminar at Haslemere.

He expressed an idea of putting some topic-specific hands on the DVD, which could be played interactively in a similar fashion to those on his tutorial CDs.

In addition, it seemed that an opportunity was lost by not adding the A4 seminar sheet which was given out on the day. This could easily have been added since there was space for articles from past magazines which are actually easier accessed from the wonderful online library you already provide.

In summary: Present seminar, plus four tutorial hands, (two as declarer and two as defender) which link to the actual seminar topic, plus background notes again specific to the actual seminar topic and you would have a DVD worth the present asking price.Sue Roworth, Stockport.

AND ANOTHER…For Christmas, we bought one another the set of Bernard’s DVDs. We are delighted with them. Very instructive as well as entertaining, they are well worth the money; we can see that we shall go back to them time and again. Thank you for the magazines and for all your other services to Bridge.John and Eileen Jordan by email.

NEWS FROM OZAlthough having moved to Australia 5 years ago, I continue to receive your

bridge magazine which is sent to my son at his Knebworth, Herts home and which he forwards to me.

Whilst visiting my son over Christmas, I received BRIDGE 113 and was pleased to read the letter from Nicholas about his experiences at the Port Stephens Bridge Club in New South Wales. I am a member of this club and played against Nicholas on all four occasions he visited the club. My wife and I are the only pair in the club who play Acol, whilst Nicholas adapted very well to Standard American to fit in with his partner.

Nicholas, your comments are appreciated and, now that I am back in Australia, I shall pass these on to the members.

Should any other BRIDGE readers visit the Port Stephens area, please do come along and join us at one of our three regular weekly meetings.

Incidentally, my wife and I did visit Stevenage Bridge Club whilst in the UK and were received warmly.Brian Hodges by email.

FROM THE HEARTThe Costa Concordia disaster has made me too frightened of going on a cruise for the time being, but thanks again for the information.Mrs R Felstead,South Ruislip.Be assured, we use only real ships for our bridge parties, not floating boxes.


CORRECTIONWe have received a number of calls over the last few days regarding the insurance in your December issue of BRIDGE.

The calls relate to the article in which you state, ‘The premium of just over £60 for the year covers a club of up to 100 members very nicely and there are now over 500 clubs in the scheme.’

The total premium this year is £61.30 and this covers clubs with up to 250 members. Perhaps in the next issue you could add a correction, just to save any further confusion.John Pilsbury,Moore Stephens Insurance Brokers Ltd. ( 0207 515 5270

WANTEDI am very anxious to buy a Saitek Pro Bridge 310 hand computer which is now out of production.

If anyone has one they no longer use, I would love to hear from them. I would also consider buying a new one if any shop still has one in stock.Mrs A Bearman, London, N3.( 0208 343 1703

NEW MEMBERS WANTEDHart Bridge Club are looking for new members. We meet every Tuesday at 7pm at Clarence Road, Fleet. Contact either [email protected] or [email protected] Baker,Charvil, Reading.

WINNING TIPWhat will your partner understand by your bid?

No-one has told me to ask myself that. I believe my bridge scores have improved dramatically since this is my

final check before bidding.Bette Wilson,Ropley, Alresford, Hampshire.

PUZZLEWhat a fabulous caption for your comment in the Feb 2012 issue of your magazine.

I can’t believe some of your readers would cancel your excellent magazine just because they didn’t like one aspect of it.

We Scots and our friends in Northern Ireland, were subjected to pages and pages of bumf all about EBU changes. We just skipped these pages and went on to the next article.

Should other readers ask to be deleted from your mailing list, I would suggest that they rearrange these three words to make a well known phrase, ‘life get a’.Hazael Brown,Corraith, Ayrshire.

EYE OPENERI am surprised that anybody hates Sally Brock’s column.

Now that I am obliged to belong to EBU, I like to read how my 36p P2P is spent in good restaurants.Michael Hill,Shaftesbury, Dorset.

BENEFITS GALOREMr Mumford raises many interesting points in his criticism of transfers. He is correct that the (only) disadvantage is that you cannot play in 2♦. The same applies to 2♣ when using Stayman. That does not put off players using this most common of conventions.

On the other hand, some of the positive advantages are: 1 The stronger hand is

usually declarer, vital for a weak takeout.

2 It allows partner to raise to four of a major or play

in 3NT with only 2 cards, eg: 1NT – 2♥ – 2♠ – 3NT.

3 Invitational hands work well, 1NT – 2♦ – 2♥ – 2NT.

4 Game going, your hands with 5/4 or 5/5 in two suits are easy to describe. 1NT – 2♥ – 2♠ – 3♥ – 3NT – 4♥. 4♥ asks partner to play in their three-card major.

5 With a ‘forcing’ bid at the two-level, it saves a level of bidding, compared with a forcing jump to three, when not employing transfers.

In summary, transfer bids give much more flexibility to your bidding and are easy to use. They are employed by nearly all serious players and, far from being a modern fad, they have been in use since the Texas transfer convention 59 years ago. They can be applied to all bidding systems but, as always, it is for partners to agree. David Stead, Banbury, Oxon.

ANOTHER PLUGI wish to point out that PM Bridge, Bedford is not the only Saturday night bridge played in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire.

Kettering Bridge Club has been running a duplicate session every Saturday since 1992. Details of our club and directions of how to find us are available on our website. www.ketteringbridge.org.uk

Our premises are really comfortable, the atmosphere friendly and partners are always available. John Swan, ( 01536 770647 Kettering Bridge Club.

CONTINUATIONI started playing bridge again (after a 40 year break) following a heart bypass operation. It was just what

I needed to keep my mind active whilst my athletic pursuits were not possible. A friend at the golf club where I also play bridge, sent my name to you to add me to your mailing list.

The magazine is terrific, and has proved to be very helpful to me.John C Foster,Urmston, Manchester.

TOO MUCH SOAPYuk! More bridge in the bridge magazine please. Four pages of rubbish – what a waste.Mr V Cleaver,Llowes, Hereford.

PAT ON THE BACKCongratulations for your 25th anniversary in May.

Truly, I admire your bridge magazine as a marketing tool. I enjoy reading it and wish you further success.Gordon Turner by email.

OVER THE PONDI was delighted to receive your ‘late Christmas present’. It was very generous of you, so – many thanks. Unfortunately, my copy of BRIDGE issue 113 has only just arrived so I was too late to enquire if your other offer (the DVD Ruffing for Extra Tricks) would be available to me – half a world away.

I have already watched, made notes and passed my copy of ‘Finding and Bidding Slams’ to one of my equally-keen-to-improve bridge friends and intend to canvas the remaining six of a group of eight of us to see if we could club together to buy the whole set.

I do agree – Bernard Magee is an outstanding teacher – clear, amusing, sympathetic and, one might even say, charismatic.Mrs Marion Dellow,Vancouver, Canada.


chances of a grand slam are about one in every five thousand deals and the probability of two happening in a row is about one in 25 million. That is less likely than a single lottery ticket scooping the jackpot, but might have happened by chance. But if John was playing casual bridge with just a single pack of cards, it’s very likely that the pack wasn’t properly shuffled after the first slam.

Alistair must be depressed about his cards to have kept count of his points over 200 hands. He should take heart. The probability for this to happen in any sequence of 200 deals is under one in a billion.

Alistair is almost certainly suffering from selective memory, of the type that convinces us that our childhood summers were all warm and sunny and the winters cold and snowy. In any case, the ‘law of large numbers’ will rescue him eventually. Past performance is not a guide to the future and he can still expect to average about 10 HCPs over future hands.

Alistair doesn’t say whether he plays rubber bridge or duplicate. If the former, dare I suggest that he switches to duplicate, when it does not really matter how many points you get? Your score is much more to do with how well you bid and play the meagre points that the fates have dealt you ... but I think that’s an argument that has well and truly run

its course in BRIDGE.George Lafferty,Poynton, Cheshire.PS. I am a professor of physics at Manchester University, so my numbers should be considered reliable; I didn’t make them up.

THREE-HANDEDMany years ago, my father retired to a small bungalow on a new estate in Devon which had its own social club where he played bridge and I used to join his group during my visits there. The group dwindled until there were only three – too many for cribbage but one short for bridge. My response was to develop a new variation of the game for only three players.

Since my father died, I hadn’t played it again until something quite unexpected cropped up. A group of us play on a Saturday morning and normally there are 4-6 players who take it in turns to sit out. Then, one week, there were only three of us and, rather than call it a day and return home, I introduced Janet and Jenny to three-handed bridge. Their response was very positive and, afterwards, I reflected on how often there must be three players bemoaning the lack of a fourth to play a few hands. Therefore, I have decided to set out the rules I developed to enable other people to try it out.Bill Watson, Codsall, Wolverhamton. ■

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.

IDEAS PLEASEPerhaps the following hand would be of interest for the magazine.

It was dealt randomly last night whilst playing with friends. One of your experts might be inter-ested in giving a view.

How do East/West bid to either 7♣, 7♥ or 7♠ after an opening bid of 4♦ from North?

NW E

S

♠ 6 3 2

♥ 8

♦ A K Q J 8 7 5 3

♣ 2

♠ J 9 ♠ A K Q 8 7

♥ K Q J 10 4 ♥ A 9 3

♦ Void ♦ 9 6

♣ A Q J 9 6 5 ♣ K 8 7

♠ 10 5 4

♥ 7 6 5 2

♦ 10 4 2

♣ 10 4 3

Sandy Bell by email.

SUGGESTIONSA friend gave me your email address to help solve a bridge problem. I am chairman of Swanland bridge club and sadly a member’s wife died suddenly. The member wants to dedicate a trophy in her memory. As we have monthly scratch and handicap competitions, I do not want to have any more monthly events. I was wondering if we could have an event on a certain day of the year but felt a snag when I thought about how I could get a single winner or pair. It would be for about 9 to 12 tables. Can you help?

Thank you in anticipation.David Crossland by email.To avoid having a singles’

competition and to steer clear of using the hated arrow switch movement, request a pair of cups for the memorial and award them annually to the North/South and East/West winners.

NOT MADE UPJanet Miller, BRIDGE 112, tells us that Pearl had 37 points and four spades, with the other three jacks in Phil’s hand. John Helliwell, BRIDGE 113, bid and made two consecutive grand slams. Alistair Lang , BRIDGE 113, has averaged fewer than 8 HCPs over 200 recent hands. What are the chances?

Janet’s question is easy to answer. In a random deal, the probability of this happening would be about one in ten million million. That’s a one followed by thirteen noughts. In fact, Pearl would be about a million times more likely to win the jackpot in the national lottery with a single ticket. The most likely explanation is that there was a practical joker among the players, who fixed the hand when nobody was looking.

Alternatively, the deal was not random because the pack had not been shuffled properly and the lie of the cards reflected the pattern of play to the previous hand, a not uncommon occurrence.

Regarding John’s question, there is no precise answer. The probability of a given pair bidding and making a grand slam depends on their skill at bidding and playing, as well as on the skills of their opponents.

However, we can get an approximate answer if we restrict to grand slams based on a holding of 37 or more high card points in the two hands combined, assuming competent bidding and play. In that case, the

THE RULES OF THE GAME

1 The cards are cut to establish a dealer for the first hand. On subsequent hands, the dealer rotates between the three players.

2 Four hands are dealt as normal but remain facedown on the table. The hand opposite the dealer is the dummy hand.

3 The dealer picks up twelve cards from the dummy, leaving one card on the table face down. Without looking at them, each player is given four cards.

4 Each player looks at his four cards, counts the number of points and tells the other two players what their total count is (Standard A4, K3, Q2 and J1).

5 Each player places their four cards back on the table, facedown where the unseen card is.

6 Now a dummy hand has been established with a minimum point count. (The maximum could be 4 points higher if the unseen card in the dummy is an ace, but on average, it will be one point higher.) Each player knows exactly what four of the cards are. Therefore, each player has a similar level of knowledge of the dummy as they would have of a partner’s hand with a normal bidding system with four players.

7 Each player picks up their own hand and it becomes a competitive auction between three individuals.

8 The dealer opens the bidding after assessing how many tricks he can make in either no-trumps or a suit.

9 Bidding proceeds in the normal clockwise direction until one of the players is established as declarer.

10 Unless the dealer becomes the declarer, this will involve two of the players changing seats so that the dummy is opposite the declarer.

11 Play proceeds exactly as it would in a normal four handed game with two players defending and trying to defeat the contract. The player

to the left of declarer must make a lead before the dummy cards are turned over.

12 Scoring is exactly the same as for rubber bridge except that three columns are required. If declarer makes the contract, the defenders score no points. Depending on the contract, declarer scores above and below a line which will result in a vulnerable or non-vulnerable game bonus or a part score below the line. If declarer fails to make the contract, he scores no points and the two defenders each have the appropriate score above their lines. (This depends on the declarer’s vulnerability.)

13 A session can end at any agreed time. For long sessions, it is recommended that, after one player has achieved a rubber (made a vulnerable game), the points scored by each player should be totalled before the next rubber starts. This avoids too much checking and arguing at the end of a very social session when the wine or beer has been going down well. It also allows everyone to keep a check on how much they are winning or losing if stakes are involved. (Sensibly, any stakes should be fixed at no more than the least well off individual player is prepared to lose during the most disastrous of sessions. This might mean a £1 a point for bankers but £1 per thousand points for those of us of more modest means.)

TACTICS

This format of the game requires modified tactics from normal rubber bridge because one’s first bid may be the only bid if it is passed out. If a player knows that the combined point count of the dummy and their own hand is say 28 points, they know that they have enough for game. With nothing below the line, they should bid a game contract; with a part score below the line, it might be good tactics to play

safe and just bid sufficient to reach the 100 below the line for a game bonus. When I played recently, one player had a combined point count of 34 and opened with a small slam bid which was made with an overtrick. (It would have required quite a sophisticated bidding system to reach the grand slam in a normal game.)

The most competitive hands are, of course, those with a very high point count in dummy when all three players may have a positive bid. Knowledge of the bidding then becomes a vital consideration for both the declarer and the defenders just as it is in normal bridge.

Any double must always be a penalty double and, in my experience, seems to be used more frequently than in the normal game.

VARIATIONS TO

THE ABOVE RULES

I have tried lots of variations to these rules for estimating the value of the dummy hand with varying degrees of success and approval. The rules can be changed after each rubber to give some variety; with only three players, it is not too difficult to get a majority vote. Some variations I suggest are:

All dummy’s cards can be face up so that shape and point count are known. This is an ideal starting variation for three beginners – very similar to the ‘Mini Bridge’ now often used to introduce the game to newcomers.

Show dummy’s shape rather than point count. Each player puts their cards back on the table, face down but in four columns, (or fewer if there are any voids), without announcing how many points they have seen.

Combine some shape and point count. Each player announces the points in their cards from dummy and then puts them back on the table face down with only 2 or 3 of them in suit columns and the other/s on top of the unseen card.

I hope that you enjoy playing three-handed bridge with my rules. ■

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