A N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E C O N N E C T I C U T B R I D G E A S S O C I A T I O N

Volume 10 • Number 4

THE KIBITZER November 2006

The original story is older thanbridge which is, no doubt, an offshoot of Whist. With West

holding ªQ 8 4 opposite East’s ªJ 3, it seems as if a trump trick must be lost.Yet, Satan put up his treasures againstthe opponent’s soul that he could playthe suit for no losers. In the apocryphalstory, the poor human had no chanceagainst Satan’s superior technique. Withthis hand, however, an unlucky lead followed by a subtle misdefense in mid-hand allowed South to reach thecoveted Devil’s Coup endgame.

North « K 9 4 ª A 10 2 © A K J 7 ¨ 9 8 5

West East« A 8 3 « Q 10 5 ª Q 8 4 ª J 3 © Q 10 6 5 © 9 4 3 2 ¨ A Q 7 ¨ K 10 6 2

South« J 7 6 2 ª K 9 7 6 5 © 8 ¨ J 4 3

Dealer: West

Neither side vulnerable

West North East South1© Dbl 1 NT 2ª

Pass Pass 3© 3ªPass 4ª All Pass

Lead: 5©

The bidding: South’s competitive bidof 2ª was appropriately aggressive, but3ª was really over the top. In the faceof this overbid, North’s raise to 4ª isfully reasonable.

The play: With losers scattered allover the hand, a diamond lead was a giftfrom the gods. After successfully finess-ing the Jack, South quickly discardedtwo clubs on the ©AK, ruffed the fourthdiamond and exited his remaining club,losing to East’s King. As it turns out, aspade switch would doom declarer tofour inescapable losers but instead, Eastcontinued another club, ruffed bydeclarer in hand. Now South, fully incontrol, led a spade towards dummy.West chose to duck, (playing the Acewould have made no difference), ruffeddummy’s last club and exited a spade,leaving the defense helpless. East won

the Queen and led another spade topartner’s Ace arriving at the followingend position.

North«ª A 10 x ©¨

West East« « ª Q x x ª J x© © x ¨ ¨

South« x ª K 9 ©¨

And with eitheropponent on lead,the certain trumploser vanishes in apuff of bridge logic.More proof thatbridge is indeed awonderfully devilishgame.

The Devil’s Coupby Harold Feldheim

Harold Feldheim

Jeff Feldman Memorial TournamentKnights of Columbus Hall

390 South Union St.Guilford

Pairing: Dave Hyatt 203-488-7027Directions at ctbridge.org

SAVE THE DATES

Dec. 1, 2, 3

«2

Professor Lobochevski had devel-oped some unusual concepts inbidding theory.

One of these was the counter-balancingor “trap” raise, allowing that a simpleraise from one to two of a major couldbe made on 2-card support.Admittedly, theprofessor’sadvocacy ofthis treatmentwas a just a little tongue-in-cheek.

Followingthe “Law ofTotal Tricks,”many playersconsider a balancing action almostmandatory when opponents stop at thetwo-level after finding a fit. The counter-balancing raise was invented as an anti-dote to this tendency, calling into ques-tion whether an eight-card fit had in factbeen found. If opponents were luredinto the auction, the raiser was oftenprepared to double.

The requirements for the counter-balancing raise were a doubleton inpartner’s major, and 9-10 high cardpoints; a maximum hand that normalbidders would start with 1NT forcing,intending to return to partner’s majorover opener’s usual 2¨ or 2©. Ofcourse, opener had to adjust his rebids,allowing for the possibility of a 2-cardraise if he intended to bid on.

A typical hand for a counter-balancingraise from 1ª to 2ª is the North handin the deal that follows. Most wouldconsider this hand not quite goodenough to bid 1 NT then 2 NT. Atmatchpoints, you might try a counter-balancing raise, risking a cooperativedouble of whatever the opponents camein with – 2 Spades or 3 of a minor.

This deal came up at the Tuesdaynight game at the Lunatic Fringe club –on the special Halloween game, where itseems that one or two hands alwaysprovided an extreme or bizarre exampleof a principle of play.

Professor Lobochevski (North)« A J 10ª 8 7© K J 8 7¨ 6 4 3 2

Majorca (West) Minna (East)« Q 7 3 « K 8 6 5 2ª 9 5 4 3 ª J 2 © 9 5 © A 6 4 3 ¨ A K Q 5 ¨ 9 7

Warren (South)« 9 4 ª A K Q 10 6© Q 10 2¨ J 10 8

Dealer: North; neither side vulnerable.

The bidding:West North East South

- Pass Pass 1ªPass 2ª 2« Pass Pass Dbl All Pass

After two passes, Warren (the profes-sor’s regular partner) opened one heart,and the professor, shooting for a goodresult, raised to two – the counter-balancing raise. He felt a little funnydoing this against Minna, a former stu-dent who had only recently learned thetactics of aggressive balancing. The raisewas alerted, and explained as possiblyonly 2-card support. But with no onevulnerable, Minna (even in direct seat)came in with a balancing bid of twospades. This ran around to the professor,who doubled for penalties, and Warrenleft the double in, albeit uncomfortably.In their methods, the professor couldhave a 4-card spade suit.

The two spade “balancing” bid issurely not to everyone’s liking, but inthe hand described, it required perfectdefense for the contract to be defeated.After taking 2 rounds of Hearts, Warrenshifted to a trump. Minna won this trickwith the King and led a low diamondfrom hand. If she could ruff just onediamond in dummy, she had a chance tomake this doubled contract.

Warren won this trick with the ten,and persisted with trumps. Now withthe AJ of trumps sitting over the Queen,the professor was able to take all thetrumps off the dummy, preventing anydiamond ruffs. The professor now exitedwith a diamond, won by Minna with theAce. Needing the rest of the tricks, sheled two more rounds of trumps.Although she had not mastered squeezeplay, she hoped that the defenderswould err in discarding, and perhapsallow dummy’s fourth club to score atrick. Then both her diamond loserswould go away on good clubs.

Of course the professor was up to therequired defense, throwing away his dia-mond honors in order to keep theguarded six of clubs, an extreme exam-ple of the defensive principle of main-taining equal length with dummy’s longsuit, at any cost.

However, the +100 score was hardly atriumph for the counterbalancing raise.At several tables, North-South played1NT, making as many as four - twospades, five hearts, and three diamondswhen the defense failed to find theirclub tricks in time.

At other tables, East-West bid andmade two spades. The lone gain of -50matchpoints occured when the 2«contract was defeated by one trick,undoubled.

And at several tables, North-Southplayed in 2ª, making 2 (for +110) orgoing one down.

To defeat two hearts, the defensestarts with 4 rounds of clubs, East ruff-ing with the Jack (an uppercut) on thefourth round. If declarer overruffs,West’s nine is promoted, and the defensecan then come to a spade and a diamondtrick (as long as they set up their spadetrick in time.) But declarer can counterthis defense by refusing to overruff thefourth round of clubs, discarding aspade loser instead.

continued on page 3

Bridge at the Lunatic FringeThe Counter-balancing Raise

by Allan Wolf

Allan Wolf

ª3

Sometimes an opponent goes “intothe tank” for a long time.Assuming that he/she isn’t a

chronic slow player, there are only 3things you can do about it.

1. Get annoyed.

2. Wait politely and impatiently.

3. Think, too.

I prefer Option (3).

Take for example this from a recentRegional Knockout Team game at theChicago Nationals. You are sitting Westand a many-time national champion isSouth. You are playing IMPs and bothsides are vulnerable.

You hold:« 9 8 7 6ª Q J 7 5 2© J 10 3¨ J

South, the dealer, opens 1NT (15-17), North responds 2© (forcingStayman), South rebids 2«, North tries3ª (showing a 5-card suit) and Southcloses the auction with 3NT.

What do you lead?

Neither major seems attractive, soyou lead the J© and dummy comesdown with:

« 10ª A K 10 6 4© 6 5 4¨ K 8 5 2

Partner encourages with the 9 at trickone and your Jack is allowed to win.Before you play to trick 2, you ask your-self what you will do when declarer

leads a hearttoward dummy (ashe surely will). Youdecide that youwill play small if alow heart is led butcover with the Q ifthe 9 is led. Havingplanned ahead asfar as you can, youcontinue with the

10© to the 5,7 and A.

Sure enough, declarer leads the 3ªto trick 3 to the 2, 10 and 9. At trick 4,declarer plays the Aª and partner discards the 2«.

At trick 5, declarer leads a low clubfrom dummy to his ace, dropping yourJack. Partner follows with the 7 to thistrick.

Now declarer goes into a long tankand you use the time to think, too.What can his problem be? He prettymuch knows the position in hearts, dia-monds and clubs – so his problem mustbe in the spade suit. So why not try tothrow him off and discard the 9«(encouraging) at your first opportunity?How can this cost?

Declarer emerges from his tank withthe Q¨ at trick 6 and you follow yourplan and discard the 9«. Now the playspeeds up. Declarer cashes his K© anddummy’s K¨ and Kª at tricks 7, 8 and9. Then he leads dummy’s 4ª to trick10, your J winning. You cash the Qª attrick 11 and (as declarer planned) areforced to lead away from your spadeholding at trick 12.

Declarer’s face falls as your partnerwins the A« at trick 12 and cashes theQ© at trick 13. Down 1.

The original layout was:

North« 10ª A K 10 6 4© 6 5 4¨ K 8 5 2

West East« 9 8 7 6 « A Q J 2ª Q J 7 5 2 ª 9© J 10 3 © Q 9 8 7¨ J ¨ 10 9 7 6

South« K 5 4 3ª 8 7© A K 2¨ A Q 4 3

Note partner’s discard of the 2«(discouraging) to trick 4 despite havinga very good holding in the suit. Partnerreasoned, correctly, that discarding ahigh spade (in this case, an honor)would help declarer more than you.

Also note that declarer’s play wasvery reasonable. He had a 2-way guessfor the A« (i.e. lead the 10« fromdummy if partner has it or endplay you if you have it) and he knew eachopponent had started with 4 spades (soneither would be an “a priori” favoriteto hold the ace). Also, he thought hehad two clues (partner’s 2« discard andyour 9« discard) pointing toward theend-play.

Can’t Cost – Chapter 10 by John Steifel

John Stiefel

Bridge at the Lunatic Fringecontinued from page 2

Bizarre Bridge QuizHere is a quiz – not terribly difficult –

in keeping with the extreme and bizarreHalloween theme:

1. What is the fewest number of highcard points that a partnership can hold,and be ice-cold to make 3 NT againstany distribution of the opponents cards?The solution must describe the salientfeatures of both hands.

2. What is the fewest number of highcard points that a partnership can hold,and be ice-cold to make 3 NT due to abizarrely favorable distribution of theopponents cards? The solution mustdescribe the salient features of all fourhands.

E-mail solutions to alwolf@prodigy.net.Correct solutions published in the nextissue of The Kibitzer.

Top Ten Rules of Bridgeby Gloria Sieron

«4

According to The Official Encyclopedia ofBridge:

The Rule of 14, also known asPearson Point Count, is a useful one toremember.

After three passes, you have to decidewhether or not to open the bidding infourth seat. The “Pearson Point Count”is a helpful guideline. If your handleaves you in a quandary, add your totalhigh card points to the number ofspades in your hand. If the total is atleast 14, you should open the bidding.South opened the bidding on this dealbecause he had 14 or more PearsonPoints.

Dealer: West

North« Q 9 ª 9 5 2 © A Q 7 3 ¨ Q J 10 3

West East« A J 8 5 « 10 4 ª 10 8 7 ª A K 4 3 © J 6 5 © K T 9 4 ¨ K 9 4 ¨ 6 5 2

South« K 9 7 5 3 ª Q J 2 © 9 7 ¨ A 9 3

After three passes, you should thinkPearson. South’s hand totals to 15Pearson Points, so hold your breath andopen one spade. North responds one notrump (semi-forcing after third or fourthhand openers) and, with no trump dis-tribution, South passes.

Suppose youhave a full openingbid in fourth posi-tion, then youwould open at theone level regardlessof the number ofspades in yourhand.

Do you have aweak two bid

opener in the pass-out seat? You havethe option to pass, thereby not riskingthe negative score often associated withpreemptive bidding. Since there is nobenefit to a pass-out seat preemptivebid, a fourth position major suit openerat the two or three level promises part-ner a good hand with a good suit. Youwant partner to know you have a handof at least intermediate values; a handthat may produce game opposite apassed hand with invitational values of10 or 11 points.

Rule of Twenty quoting from TheOfficial Encyclopedia of Bridge:

“A method of determining whether ahand weak in high cards is strongenough to warrant an opening bid. The

total number of cards in the two longestsuits is added to the number of high-card points. If the total is 20 or more,the hand may qualify as an openingbid.”

« A Q 9 5 4 ª 6 © A 10 9 7 6 ¨ 5 3

Generally speaking, most of the highcards should be in the two long suitsand it is advisable to have two quicktricks to open a rule of 20 hand.

When you have a distributionalhand, do something. Open, pre-empt,jump the bidding, cue-bid, bid theunusual no trump. We like thesereminders:

From Soloway, Sontag, Chazen (andGrant Baze):

Five-five and six-five - “Come Alive”

Six-four or seven-four - “Bid SomeMore”

Six-six - “Take your pick”

Gloria Sieron

The Knowledge

1. Aces are so important that youshould always upgrade them 1 point.

2. Kings are traditionally evaluatedcorrectly.

3. Queens may or may not be worth 2points. They are questionable bythemselves (especially in short suitsthey should be downgraded).

4. Jacks by themselves are almostworthless.

The Common Sense

1. Aces should be counted as 4 1/2points. No exceptions.

2. Kings count as 3 points.

3. Queens count as 2 points, whentouching any other honor, includingthe ten.

4. Jacks count as 0, except whentouching another honor including theten. Then they count as 1.

It is not the handling of difficult hands that makes the winning player. There aren’t enough of them.

It is the ability to avoid messing up the easy ones. - Alan Sontag

ª5

MILESTONES and CONGRATULATIONS

Silver Life Master(1000 master points)

Karen AbateRonald Brown

Jean Shepler Miller

Bronze Life Master(500 master points)

Norann CogginsJose Gaztambide

Patricia GibbsMartha HathawayKenneth HirshonMonica HopperMeryl ReymanJ. Gail Schulze

Mel WeiselAnn Wonham

Life Masters (300 master points)

Solomon FieldKenneth Hirshon

William RoseStuart Reyman

What is a volunteer? The dictionarysays “a volunteer is one who

works willingly without pay.” In orderto keep our bridge events exciting andentry fees low, we must depend on thegoodness of our members who volunteerat our sectional and regional tournaments.

Many players are unaware that suc-cessful tournaments require volunteerswho are busy working behind the scenesdoing essential jobs that make the eventfun for all. Volunteers bring that extrasomething to the game: “enthusiasm.”The jobs they perform may be big orsmall, they may require brains or theymay require muscle, but in any eventthe volunteers who do these jobs are thelife blood of our tournaments.

Some of these volunteer jobs are:pairing (Never did it? We’ll show youhow); setting up or taking down tables;making coffee; preparing or buyingsnacks; and, assisting with general hospitality. You’re too busy? Not a problem, every little bit helps. Everyonecan contribute in some way. The morevolunteers we have, the less work eachperson has to do.

Volunteers are crucial to all non-profitorganizations and bridge is no different.We cannot survive without the dedicatedefforts of our volunteers. Please do yourpart by giving some of your time beforeor during our tournaments. Let’s makeour sectionals better because of our par-ticipation at, and away from, the bridge

table. Only you can make it better. Weurge all of you to learn how you canvolunteer and improve bridge inConnecticut. We need you!!

If you are willing to help, please contact President Kay Howe or anymember of the Board.

IT TAKES VOLUNTEERS TO RUN A BRIDGE TOURNAMENT

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

«6

Bridge Forum (Hamden)Tuesday

Player of the Year: Bob Hawes con-tinues to lead, but a few bad resultshave brought down his score in the con-sistency category. Louise Wood, only .07less consistent, can keep close enoughin the other categories to overtake Bob ifhis consistency continues. MaryConnolly is a well-balanced third, andahead of consistency leaders is the part-nership of Jatin Mehta-Hasmukh Shah.

Pairs: The men are not quite at thelevel of Russian figure skaters, but thefirst time four pairs of men are in thetop seven:

1. Bob Hawes - Jon Ingersoll2. Jatin Mehta - Hasmukh Shah 3. Billie Hecker - Muriel Romero 4. Pat Gibbs - Fredda Kelly 5. Hill Auerbach - Tracy Selmon 6. Rita Brieger - Harold Miller 7. Al Guntermann - Carl Yohans.

Bob and Jon have a huge lead foryear-end honors.

Van Dyke Cup early rounds: Thiscompetition tends to produce the mostconsistent results, and rarely has a sur-prise finalist. Louise Wood, trying towin for the fifth year running, is virtual-ly assured of a place in the final, but willprobably have to spot Bob Hawes a biglead.

The last two finalist positions areclosely contested between Jon Ingersoll-Mary Connolly-MurielRomero, withFredda Kelly not far from contention.

Friday

Player of the Year: Louise Wood hasa respectable lead over Sylvia Alpert andJean Shepler-Miller, but the consistencyrankings keep it within reach. LarryStern in fourth place and FlorenceSchannon in fifth outscore Sylvia andJean in the other two categories, buthave probably been too inconsistent towin.

Pairs: The third quarter saw last year'stop pairs rise again, with Hill Auerbach-Larry Stern closely ahead of defendersMarcel Bratu-Joe Pagerino. Sylvia

Alpert-Lois Flesche are within reach ofthe top, with Muriel Romero-FlorenceSchannon, Billie Hecker-Jean Shepler-Miller and Doris Kerwin-Muriel Lipmanwell back.

Reynolds Cup early rounds: NeitherFriday-only cup has ever been won bythe defending champion, and that willcontinue to hold true. Although at presstime no one was secure of a place in thefinal four, history may repeat, asFlorence Schannon, who won in 1998and 2002, has taken the lead fromEmma Q. Antonio (who is trying for hersecond cup win after winning the VanDyke Cup ten years ago). Louise Woodand Fredda Kelly are in third and fourthplaces, a bit ahead of Jean Shepler-Millerand Larry Stern, looking for his first cupwin after just missing winning theClaiborn Cup this year. Defendingchampion Carl Yohans finished 15th,perennial finalist Muriel Lipman fin-ished 11th, and 2004 winner ArleneLeshine was not eliminated at press timebut needed a very strong result in thequarterfinal week.

Darien CommunityAssociation Duplicate Bridge Club

Congratulations to the overall win-ners of the Multiple Sclerosis CharityClub Championship Game held onMonday, October 9, 2006:

1. Jean Thoma and Susan Mayo 2. Susan Schroeder and Kris Freres 3. Bonnie Holt and Peter Hussey 4. Betty Hodgman and Carol Davidson 5. Meg Hovell and Marcia Clark

Jewish Community Center,Bridgeport

Congratulations to the overall win-ners of the MS Charity ClubChampionship Game held onWednesday, October 11, 2006:

1. Claire Breiner and Murray Rubinstein 2. Jatin Mehta and Nora Tkacz

Wee BurnNo Wee Burn news, but here’s what

happened at one of my games a whileback... I think the anecdote belongs inthe “bridge is humorous” category.

It was a game with a three boardmovement and on round 7, boards 19,20, and 21 were being played at tableone.

They played board 19.

They played board 20.

They played the third board and Iheard North cry, “director, someonescored on my line!”

Have you figured it out? Yes, theyplayed board 20 TWICE!

Woodway DuplicateBridge Club

Winners of the Summer Series are asfollows:1. Adele Hollingsworth - Shirley Rogers2. Barbara Munson - Betty Carl3. Ruth Schwiebert - Lorraine Belliveau4. Ann Fuller - Martha Murphy

Hartford Bridge ClubA good time was had by all!

Donna Fier dsiplays a certificate not-ing the 75 years of Bridge in Hartford.

The Gala to celebrate our 75thanniversary took place at theHopmeadow Country Club on Sunday,September 10, and it was truly an affairto remember. The kudos go to the energetic volunteers who made it allpossible. True, we must thank the godsfor the exceptionally beautiful day, butthe bouquets go to co-chairmen AusraGeaski and Bob Gruskay, to the site

From the

ª7

scommittee members, to the programcommittee members, to the set-up committee members, and to every member of the crew.

Thank you also CBA President KayHowe and District 25 President AllanClamage for attending the event and toHBC Club Manager Donna Feir for allher inspiration.

Our program was highlighted by Elly Papineau's singing bridge-relatedparodies written by Lea Selig, the over-the-top poem by Tom Webster, and RuthTupper's memorable chorus “This Clubis Your Club” sung by the entire group.

On to the 100th!

The 75 Year Celebration Committee

Kay Howe, CBA President congratulates the HBC on their

accomplishment

Chicago NABC

The Chicago NABC was held at theHyatt Regency Chicago in a lovely partof the city, very near Lake Michigan andthe Magnificent Mile, with all of its wellknown stores and architecture.Attendance was 13,373 tables, slightlylower than the pre-tournament projec-tion of 13,500 tables. The playing spacewas first rate for the NABC events andadequate for the Regional events. All ofthe playing space was on two adjacentfloors of the Hyatt, which is ideal.

The biggest news at this NABC is thateight District 25 players won NationalChampionships, six for the first time.The Flight B GNT was won by AllanWolf, Russell Friedman, FrancesSchneider and Bernard Schneider fromConnecticut. Geof Brod, Steve Earl, JayStiefel and Rich DeMartino won theSenior Swiss Teams (first NABC win forGeof and Steve). New England playersdominated this event, with 13 playersfinishing in the top seven overall, amagnificent performance.

Finally, Dick Budd and Doug Doubwon enough masterpoints to becomeNew England’s eighth and ninth GrandLife Masters. Congratulations to all ofthe above players. Well done.

Top 10 Finishers in NABC Events –District 25

GNT – FLIGHT B

Allan Wolf, Ridgefield CTRussell Friedman, Wilton CT Frances Schneider, Riverside CTBernard Schneider, Riverside CT 1

SENIOR SWISS TEAMS

Geof Brod, Avon CTSteve Earl, Avon CTJohn Stiefel, Wethersfield CTRich DeMartino, Riverside CT 1

Steve Becker, Old Greenwich CTLarry Bausher, Hamden CT 3

Frances Schneider, Riverside CTBernard Schneider, Riverside CT 7

NABC+ FAST PAIRS

Doug Doub, W. Hartford CT 2

Highlights of ACBL Board Meeting

Financial Status

As reported previously, the budget for

the 2006 calendar year is a net profit of$63,000. For the first four months,income exceeded expenses by $110,000,a favorable result. To address the problemswhich surfaced late last year,Management has assured the FinanceCommittee and the BOD that they haveimplemented several actions to improvetheir performance in budgeting andforecasting.

Directors and Officers InsuranceCoverage (D&O)

On July 10, the BOD voted to purchaseD&O Insurance from the PhiladelphiaIndemnity Insurance Company that covers all ACBL Units and Districts aswell as the ACBL. Previously, Districtsand Units had the opportunity to pur-chase D&O coverage on an individualbasis but few had done so (to the best ofmy knowledge neither the District norany Unit in District 25 had purchasedthis insurance). The insurance coversUnit/District officials as well as commit-tee members for actions taken in thatcapacity.

To qualify for coverage, the DistrictPresident and Unit Presidents must signa waiver form. My opinion is that eachUnit should sign this form and send itin as quickly as possible. Our lawyershave raised a couple of concerns that aredocumented in the materials sent toyou. If you need further clarification ofthe issues, please call the insuranceagent or me. Whatever each Unit does isup to the Unit but I urge all the UnitPresidents to take care of this matter asquickly as possible. In order to receivecoverage retroactive to July 11, the targetdate for submitting the form is July 26.

Senior KO Teams

As reported in my last report, a rec-ommendation was made that beginningin 2007 the Senior Knockout Teams atthe Fall NABC would start on Fridayinstead of Sunday. This recommendationwas accepted by the Conditions ofContest Committee and approved by theBOD. In my view, starting two days ear-lier will have two benefits: (1) the finalswill be completed no later than the daybefore Thanksgiving; and, (2) there willbe no conflict with the 6 sessionReisinger BAM or Open Swiss Team

events which start on the last Friday. Iknow that all the District 25 playerswho frequently play in this event favorthe earlier start date.

Senior Events - Age

As I reported at the last New EnglandDelegates’ Meeting, a motion was againmade that the minimum age for playingin ACBL Senior Events shall be 60 yearsof age. If accepted, this motion wouldhave been phased in over 5 years.Although there is clearly some merit inchanging the age, there are many reasonsit is best to leave well enough alone,especially in our District. Fortunately,the motion failed 17 – 8.

NABC Appeals

The following motion was made:ACBL Tournament Directors shall hearand rule upon all appeals filed at NorthAmerican Bridge Championships. AllNABC+ appeals shall be heard byTournament Director Panels in a mannersimilar to regional appeal hearings. Allconduct and ethics matters shall bereferred to and heard by the NABCTournament Committee or to theirassignees.

Prior to the Board meeting, severaltop players familiar with the appealsprocess commented, with about 2/3 infavor of keeping the current system.There are certainly valid arguments onboth sides. My belief is that unlike base-ball, where good eyesight and a know-ledge of the rules is all that is necessaryfor an umpire to do a good job, in somebridge decisions, expert knowledge ofthe game is required, which many of ourdirectors simply do not have. Themotion failed 13 - 12.

As usual, full minutes of the meetingincluding how each Board Membervoted are posted on the ACBL website.

The Fall NABC will be held fromNovember 16 through November 26 atthe Hilton Hawaiian Village BeachResort and Spa in Honolulu, Hawaii.This is the first NABC in Hawaii in over20 years. Rooms rates at the main siterange from $150 to $250 but I under-stand that the $150 and $250 rooms arealready sold out. For those willing totake the 12 hour plane ride, this promisesto be a great site for an NABC.

©8 District Director’s Report - July 2006Rich DeMartino, District Director

East Hartford SectionalTournamentAugust 10 - 12

FRI AFT OPEN PAIRSA B C1 1 J Kuklinski - R Serenyi2 L Bausher - P Bausher3 2 1 C Olschefski - P Olschefski4 N France - J Hess5 3 J Libucha - L Patton6 4 2 R Benedict - V Labbadia

5/6 R Kuzma - E Wilson5/6 3 E Finlay - B Meisel

4 R Olson - J Mehta

FRI. SENIOR PAIRSA B C1 B Corbani - M Feinson2 J Smith - J Gischner3 R Cheah - R Cheah

4/5 J Stiefel - S DeMartino4/5 J Lee - Y Shiue

1 1 B Cohn - J Brault2 2 W Thornhill - C Thornhill3 S Kaplan - N Kaplan

4/5 J Tames - W Graebe4/5 H Kobernusz - A Hummel

FRI. EVE OPEN PAIRSA B C1 1 D Rock - S Smith2 S Budds - A Clamage3 J Gischner - J Smith4 H Klein - J Klein5 2 H Kobernusz - A Hummel6 J Stiefel - S DeMartino

3 H Strauss - R Kuzma4 1 G Dzubay - J Lee5 E Nagle - A Longo

2 M Murphy - P Shimkus3 J Tames - W Graebe

SAT. A/X PAIRSA X .5 1 T Shannon - T Hyde.5 L Bausher - R DeMartino3 H Klein - J Klein4 2 R Taylor - R Webb5 P Hartman - H Zusman

6/7 D Doub - S Larson6/7 J Greer - A Clamage

3/4 H Pawlowski - S Seckinger3/4 D Rock - S Smith

SAT. B/C/D PAIRSB C D1 J Osofsky - L Sartori2 1 1 R Tupper - L Pearl3 2 2 H Getz - L Arnaboldi Jr4 E Misner - J Misner5 3 P O’Deane - M Ray6 4 A Siuta - L Jackubosky

5 3 M Carey - J Carey6 4 J O'Shea - G Reiners

SAT. 299ER PAIRSA B C 1 R Sternberg - J Morrin2 1 B Moore - P Brasher3 2 J Larson - S DeGregorio4 O Chhabra - J Mehta5 3 X Coulter - E Below6 4 1 L Eppler - C McLaughlin

5 2 J Schmerl - S Schmerl6 3 C Andreotta - D Andreotta

4 M Fortune - I Larson

SAT. AFT A/X PAIRSA X1 K Chawla - D Kowarsky2 L Bausher - R DeMartino3 B Corbani - M Feinson4 E Perell - C Roberts5 B Adler - H Lawrence6 1 C Hurley - Y Shiue

2 G Seckinger - W Titley3 R Taylor - R Webb4 T Hey - E Ranard5 D Rock - S Smith

SAT. AFT B/C/D PAIRSB C D1 1 S Rodricks - A Hummel2 2 1 R Bussiere - C Snape3 S Sharp - N Sharp4 P Salve - J Salve5 3 2 J O'Shea - G Reiners6 4 3 A Siegel - I Fuller

5 V Leshin - R La Valley6 4 A Small - S Title

SAT. AFT 299ER PAIRSA B C1 1 M Clark - S Clark2 2 1 L Eppler - C McLaughlin3 3 2 R Klopp - B Harvey4 4 3 C Andreotta - D Andreotta5 5 B Moore - P Brasher6 6 4 J Goettel - M Goettel

5 M Zeldis - B Zeldis

SAT. EVE PAIRS A B C1 J Tripp - L Meyers2 B Reich - B Lewis3 1 T Gerchman - L Starr4 T Hyde - C Vasel5 2 1 R Kuzma - R Kuzma

3 D Rock - S Smith4/5 2 C Olschefski - P Olschefski4/5 S Sharp - N Sharp

SUN. A/X SWISSA X1 V King - G Brod -

R DeMartino - L Bausher2 1 D Hulme - E Swatzburg -

V Hauptfeld - C Graham3 M Goldberg - J Brod -

Y Shiue - C Hurley4 2 J Tripp - H Pawlowski -

P Bacon - B Buffington5/6 B Saunders - R Kemp -

J Klein - H Klein5/6 P Bausher - S DeMartino -

M Stasiewski - A Housholder

SUN. B/C/D SWISSB C D1 D Rock - S Smith -

D Deacon - P Tungatt2/31/2 J Gaztambide - S Title -

P Makhijani - A Small2/31/2 L Flesche - S Fruchter -

S Reiners - G Reiners4 3 P Olschefski - C Olschefski -

N Kaplan - S Kaplan4 1 M Eisenberg - R Lizza -

R Benedict - V Labbadia

Masterpoint RaceEast Hartford1 28.27 Larry Bausher2 23.69 Richard DeMartino3 12.42 David Rock4 12.42 Sonja Smith5 10.07 Yeong-Long Shiue6 9.50 Victor King7 9.50 Geoffrey Brod8 9.13 Claudia Hurley9 9.10 James Klein

10 9.10 Herschel Klein11 9.00 Kamla Chawla12 9.00 David Kowarsky13 8.71 Thomas Hyde14 8.21 Tom Shannon15 7.93 Betty Jane Corbani16 7.59 Morris Feinson17 7.21 Phyllis Bausher18 7.13 Constance Graham19 7.13 Dorothy Hulme20 7.13 Vesna Hauptfeld21 7.13 Edith Swatzburg

ª9

22 7.01 J Peter Tripp23 6.11 Gernot Reiners24 6.06 Phillip Olschefski25 6.06 Carolyn Olschefski26 6.02 Alice Hummel27 5.99 Allan Clamage28 5.88 Helen Pawlowski29 5.72 Roger Webb30 5.72 Rolland Taylor31 5.34 Joan Brod32 5.34 Marilyn Goldberg33 5.34 Janet Gischner34 5.17 Robert Serenyi35 5.17 J Kuklinski36 4.98 Jane Smith37 4.67 Ruth Kuzma38 4.57 Sandra DeMartino39 4.22 Paul Tungatt40 4.22 Douglas Deacon41 4.01 Barton Buffington42 4.01 Paul Bacon43 3.89 Sally Title44 3.89 Arline Small45 3.86 Gary Seckinger46 3.85 Sarah Budds47 3.80 Ellen Perell48 3.80 Chris Roberts49 3.80 Howard Lawrence50 3.68 Lesley Meyers51 3.61 Leo Sartori52 3.61 Susan Rodricks53 3.61 James Osofsky54 3.57 Virginia Labbadia55 3.57 Richard Benedict56 3.43 Helen Kobernusz57 3.43 Pat Hartman58 3.41 Shirley Fruchter59 3.41 Lois Flesche60 3.36 Brett Adler61 3.33 Roland Bussiere62 3.33 Cornelia Snape63 3.27 Bill Reich64 3.11 Jose Gaztambide65 3.11 Partab Makhijani66 3.11 Sandra Reiners67 3.09 Howard Zusman68 3.04 Lawrence Eppler69 3.04 Cherry McLaughlin70 3.00 John O'Shea71 2.92 Nicholas France72 2.92 Judith Hess73 2.91 Stanley Kaplan74 2.91 Natalie Kaplan75 2.89 Susan Seckinger76 2.86 Libby Pearl77 2.86 Ruth Tupper78 2.84 William Titley79 2.78 S Michael Sharp80 2.78 Nancy Sharp81 2.63 Aimee Housholder82 2.63 Beverly Saunders83 2.63 Mark Stasiewski

84 2.63 Robert Kemp85 2.57 Barbara Moore86 2.57 Pat Brasher87 2.47 Helma Strauss88 2.46 J Sun-Ming Lee89 2.45 James Greer90 2.27 Mary Eisenberg91 2.27 Rose Lizza92 2.25 Brian Lewis93 2.22 Roz Sternberg94 2.22 John Morrin95 2.15 H. Leland Getz96 2.15 Leo Arnaboldi Jr97 2.12 Sandy Clark98 2.12 Marcia Clark99 2.10 Ruby Cheah100 2.10 Robert Cheah

NewingtonSeptember 15 - 17The Governor’s Cup was won byLawrence Lau

FRI. OPEN PAIRSA B C1 1 B Fine - M Butler2/32 1 M Noll - L Pearl2/3 J Stiefel - R DeMartino4 3 2 N Healy - J Stroup5 4 L Robbins - R Harvey6 L Cavallero - C Michael

5 H Kobernusz - A Hummel6/7 3 L Stern - R Vander Wiede6/7 B Levine - L Wilcox

4 S Reiners - G Reiners5 J Moskowitz - J Mazo

FRI. AFT SENIOR PAIRSA B C1 A Clamage - D Stiegler2 1 E Nagle - K Frangione3 J Orr - H Feldheim4 H Lawrence - M Bolgar5 L Russman - H Andrews6 S DeMartino - J Stiefel

2 1 B Payton - B Clark3 T Webster - F Stein4 2 E Sivakoff - P Apter5 3 G Cameron - R Kistner

FRI. EVE OPEN PAIRSA B C1 J Cleary - L Wallowitz2 P Bausher - L Bausher3 R DeMartino - J Stiefel4 1 L Robbins - R Harvey5 A Wolf - L Lau6 2 H Kobernusz - A Hummel

3 L Condon - A Roberts4 L Flesche - S Fruchter5 A Longo - E Nagle6 1 L Stern - R Vander Wiede

2 A Hansen - D Moses3 T Selmon - H Auerbach

SAT. MORN A/X PAIRSA X1 H Lawrence - F Blachowski2 G Brod - J Stiefel3 L Lau - J Segal4 1 J Bramley - M Feinson5 2 L Lin - M He6 3 J Tripp - H Pawlowski

4/5 D Rock - S Smith4/5 P Bausher - M Stasiewski

SAT. MORN B/C/D PAIRSB C D1 1 J Cramp - C Sorgen2 2 1 O Bashir - Z Khan3 3 2 J Morrin - E Snyder4 4 M Witt - W Watson5 5 3 J Bittner - J Winick6 H Strauss - E Nagle

6 4 D Wright - T Karnkowski5 R Klopp - B Harvey6 V Williams - R Williams

SAT. AFT A/X PAIRSA X1 L Lau - J Segal2 1 J Tripp - H Pawlowski3 H Silverman - D Schulman4 K Howe - M Lucey5 S Corning - D Ross6 J Greer - A Clamage

2 L Meyers - J Lowe3 V Hauptfeld - E Swatzburg4 P Leighton - E Ranard

SAT. AFT B/C/D PAIRSB C D1 1 1 J Bittner - J Winick2 2 2 J O'Shea - G Reiners3 L Wood - F Kelly4 3 3 M Noll - B Simons5 4 4 O Bashir - Z Khan6 A Hummel - H Kobernusz

5 5 A Lovejoy - M Huttner6 M Lennon - D Roy

©10Masterpoint Race East Hartford continued from page 9

¨11SAT. EVE OPEN PAIRSA B C1 1 1 H Jancis - M Jancis2 E Snyder - S Patricelli3 2 P Tungatt - D Deacon4 3 G Warden - A Skolnick5 4 E Misner - J Misner

5 R Kuzma - E Wilson2 S Smedes - G Smedes3 I Mahler - K Wiland

SUN. FLIGHT A SWISS1 H Lawrence - A Cady -

H Feldheim - A Clamage2 R Friedman - L Lau - J Segal -

A Wolf3 G Brod - J Stiefel - V King -

R DeMartino4 D Stiegler - P Bausher -

P Burnham - L Bausher5 B Gischner - R La Tourette -

J Smith - B Shaw

SUN. B/C/D SWISSB C D1 1 P Pearson - L Robbins -

R Harvey - T Lorch2 2 E Papineau - J Gaztambide -

M Kay - W Watson3 J Misner - E Misner -

J Rotenberg - T Proulx4 3 R Kuzma - E Olson - E Wilson

- J Orr5 D Rock - S Smith - L Condon

- J Williams6 L Wood - F Kelly -

C Yohans Jr - A Leshine4 R Bertoni - J Spurk - W Nason

- W Nason5 1 R Kistner - L Eppler -

G Cameron - C McLaughlin2 M Huttner - J Winick -

J Bittner - E Kubo

Masterpoint Race-Newington Tournament

1 20.00 Lawrence Lau2 19.52 John Segal3 19.18 Howard Lawrence4 18.21 John Stiefel5 16.93 Allan Clamage6 12.98 Harold Feldheim7 12.96 Richard DeMartino8 11.44 Geoffrey Brod9 11.40 Ann Cady

10 10.58 Laurie Robbins11 10.58 Reginald Harvey12 9.82 Phyllis Bausher13 9.24 J Peter Tripp14 28.83 Don Stiegler15 8.73 Allan Wolf16 8.26 Larry Bausher

17 8.25 Russell Friedman18 7.87 Helen Pawlowski19 7.62 Jonathan Bittner20 7.62 Jordan Winick21 7.53 William Watson22 7.00 Frank Blachowski23 6.29 Libby Pearl24 6.19 Victor King25 6.17 Barbara Fine26 6.17 Myrna Butler27 6.01 Marylin Noll28 5.87 Hilda Silverman29 5.87 Jim Cleary30 5.82 Thomas Lorch31 5.82 Paul Pearson32 5.65 Paul Burnham33 5.48 Gernot Reiners34 5.27 Elizabeth Snyder35 5.27 Sarah Corning36 5.17 Elizabeth Nagle37 5.16 Dinah Schulman38 5.12 Helen Kobernusz39 5.12 Alice Hummel40 4.83 Larry Wallowitz41 4.50 Jean Orr42 4.49 Zain Khan43 4.49 Oosman Bashir44 4.41 James Misner45 4.41 Elaine Misner46 4.37 Marilyn Kay47 4.37 Jose Gaztambide48 4.37 Eleanor Papineau49 4.22 Jean Bramley50 4.22 Morris Feinson51 4.13 Maeve Lucey52 4.02 Carl Sorgen53 4.02 Jerome Cramp54 3.83 Ruth Kuzma55 3.80 Jane Lowe56 3.79 Fredda Kelly57 3.79 James Greer58 3.79 Louise Wood59 3.73 Joan Stroup60 3.73 Norma Healy61 3.72 John O'Shea62 3.48 Barb Shaw63 3.48 Burton Gischner64 3.48 Robert La Tourette65 3.48 Jane Smith66 3.40 Sonja Smith67 3.40 David Rock68 3.37 Lesley Meyers69 3.32 E. Joan Wilson70 3.31 Kathleen Frangione71 3.27 Thomas Proulx72 3.27 Jason Rotenberg73 3.26 Helma Strauss74 3.17 Lunhui Lin75 3.17 Harry Jancis76 3.17 Maruta Jancis77 3.17 Ming He78 3.16 Mary Witt79 3.12 Gerry Cameron80 3.12 Robert Kistner

81 3.09 Kay Howe82 3.03 Lynn Condon83 3.00 Esther Olson84 2.95 Lois Flesche85 2.95 Shirley Fruchter86 2.93 Matt Huttner87 2.83 Lawrence Stern88 2.83 Robert Vander Wiede89 2.80 Marjorie Lennon90 2.79 Vesna Hauptfeld91 2.79 Edith Swatzburg92 2.54 Dorothy Roy93 2.50 Matthew Raider94 2.49 Peter Leighton95 2.49 Elliot Ranard96 2.44 Lawrence Eppler97 2.44 Cherry McLaughlin98 2.38 Susan Patricelli99 2.35 Jackie Kane

100 2.32 David Ross

The ACBL Fall Nationals are returning to Bostonin 2008. Mark November 20-30 on your 2008

calendar. This is a terrific opportunity to have agreat time playing great bridge at a NationalTournament that is within easy driving distance.

You can collect all the red and gold masterpointsyou need… or simply enjoy playing at any levelfrom I/N (less than 300 MPs) to the highest nationalchampionships – with players from all over theworld.

We want to make this tournament even moresuccessful than the last Boston national. But that willtake lots of workers serving on various committeesresponsible for such jobs as registration, section topprizes or hospitality. We need you to volunteer.

In addition, the Boston Nationals Committee Co-chairs are sponsoring a contest for a tournamentlogo design and slogan (the winner gets free entriesto all events over the ten days – a prize worth about$1500!). Or perhaps you could suggest marketingideas, or other opportunities that would entice people to come to Boston for the tournament.

All this planning is necessary to make the eventsuccessful and fun for everyone.

If you would like to participate in any way, get intouch with Kay Howe (president of the ConnecticutBridge Association: president@ctbridge.org) orKathy Benjamin (co-chair of the Nationals: krben-jamin@msn.com). There might be various benefitsto helping out and they can give you all the details.

ªTHE KIBITZER

The Kibitzer is published quarterly by theConnecticut Bridge Association, Unit 126 ofthe American Contract Bridge League.

All comments, news, items (including cartoons)related to the bridge world and of interest toour readers are welcome. Please send all itemsfor the next Kibitzer by February 15. All adsmust be received by February 1.

Editor: Esther Watstein

108 Jamestown Road

Stratford, CT 06614

Phone & Fax: 203-375-5489

Email: elbw2@optonline.net

Design & Layout: Blaine Kruger

You can see The Kibitzer in blazing color at the CT bridge

site: ctbridge.org. If youwould like to receive The Kibitzer

via e-mail, let us know.

Your CBAPresident Kay Howe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-299-1630Vice President Ausra Geaski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-528-3807Secretary Debbie Noack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-380-0107Treasurer Susan Seckinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-513-1127Past President Charlie Halpin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-347-5223Tournament Coordinator Mary Witt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-658-9395Tournament Director Susan Patricelli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-243-5058Unit Coordinator Don Stiegler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-929-6595Recorder Lenny Russman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-245-6850CBA web site www.ctbridge.org

Your Link to the BoardIf you have something to say, suggest, or complain about …tell your representative, who is a Board member and your link to being heard.

Central Kay Frangione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-621-7233Fairfield Esther Watstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-375-5489Hartford Betty Nagle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-529-7667Northwestern Mary Witt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-658-9395Panhandle Sandy De Martino . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-637-2781Southern Phyllis Bausher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-248-3653Eastern Burt Gischner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-691-1484Southwestern Paul Burnham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203-899-3327Members-at-Large Joyce Stiefel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-563-0722

John Stiefel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-563-0722Geoff Brod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-677-1018

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For Your 2008 Calendar