washington bridge league 56th annual city of washington

WashingtonBridge League

B ♣ U ♥ L ♠ L ♦ E ♥ T ♣ I ♠ N

www.WashingtonBridgeLeague.org

Mar./Apr. 2003

Thursday, February 27♣Stratified Open Pairs ....................................................................... 10:30am

Washington Bridge Center, 1620 Elton Road, Silver Spring MD

♦StrataFlighted Open Pairs, Stratified 199er Pairs (Christ the King Churchonly), Stratified 99er Pairs (Beth El only), Newcomer Pairs (0-5 MP)

Beth El Congregation, 3830 Seminary Rd, Alexandria ........................7:00pmChrist the King Church, 2301 Colston Drive, Silver Spring .................7:30pm

Capital Beltway to Connecticut Ave. South. Left on East-West Hwy. Righton Grubb Rd. 1st left on Colston. The church is one block on the left.

* * * * Remainder of Tournament held at White Oak Armory Only * * * *12200 Cherry Hill Road, Silver Spring MD

Capital Beltway East to US 29 North (Exit 30A- toward Columbia) or CapitalBeltway West to MD 193 West (Exit 29 - toward Wheaton); go ½ mile and turnright on US 29 North. Go north 4 miles, then right on Cherry Hill Rd. Right onRobert L. Finn Dr. (immediately after Toyota dealer) and left into parking lot.

Friday, February 28♥Stratified Open Pairs (single sessions) ............................... 10:00am, 2:00pm♠Stratified Senior Pairs (single sessions) ........................... 10:00am & 2:00pm♣Intermediate/Novice Pairs (single sessions) ....... 10:00am, 2:00pm & 7:30pm♥StrataFlighted Open Pairs ................................................................. 7:30pm

Saturday, March 1♠Senior Pairs (single sessions) ............................................. 9:30am &1:30pm♣Intermediate/Novice Pairs (single sessions) ...................... 1:30pm & 7:00pm♦Newcomer Pairs (0-5 masterpoints) (single sessions) ......................... 1:30pm♥StrataFlighted Open Pairs (single sessions) ...................... 1:30pm & 7:00pm

Sunday, March 2♠A/X Swiss Teams, VPs ........................................................ 11:00am & TBA♣B/C Swiss Teams, VPs ......................................................... 11:00am & TBA♦300/100/50 Swiss Teams, VPs (single sessions) ............... 11:00am & 4:00pm

I/N events: 199er, 99er, 49er, & 0-20; Stratification at Director’s discretionOpen and Senior Stratified events are: A = 1500+, B = 500-1500, C = 0-500StrataFlighted events are: A/X = 3000+ / 0-3000, B/C = 500-1500 / 0-500

Famous Washington Hospitality includes food and/or drinks for all playersevery day. Refreshments available throughout the tournament. Scrip awarded for1st/2nd overall and section tops. Information : Lee Jensen, 4206 IndependenceSt., Rockville, MD 20853, (301) 949-7467, [email protected]

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Contents

ARTICLE PAGE

President’s Letter ...................................................... by Barbara Doran 2

Partnerships ......................................................................................... 2

Bits and Pieces...

Editorial, Sad News ....................................................................... 3

2002-2003 WBL-NVBA Player of the Year Lists ............................ 3

May 1-4 Potomac Valley Sectional ................................................. 4

Suggestion Box, BridgeAtSchools FUNdraiser, Run for the Board,

Grand National Teams, April 17th Unit Game Location,

2003 ACBL Board of Directors, Ad Rates .................................. 5

2002 Unit KO Winners, 2002 Round Robin Winners,

2002 Holiday Party, 2002 Trophy Race Award Winners .............. 6

WBL Solvers’ Club ................................................... by Steve Robinson 7

2002 Final Trophy Race Standings ............ by Webmaster, Don Berman 14

New! 0-20 Game & Lesson Thursday Nights ......................... 14Unit Game Schedule and Map .............................................................. 15

Committee Action XLII, Part I ..................................... by Rich Colker 17

Area Bridge Class Offerings ................................................................. 19

2002 New Life Masters ...................................................................... 20

January Presidential Tournament - Results ........................................... 23

NLMasterPointers ......................................by I/N Editor, Leslie Shafer 28

Solvers’ Club’s New Problems ..................................................back cover

∼ ♣♦♥♠ ∼

WBL OmbudsmanIn an effort to provide confidential feedback to the Washington Bridge League Board of

Directors, our Board has established a position called Ombudsman. Any player with help-ful director issues including criticism or praise of the directing staff may contact the Om-budsman and be assured that the source of the information will remain confidential.

Ann Lindley serves as the first Washington Bridge League Ombudsman. Informa-tion should be provided in writing and may be handed to her at any game, or mailed toher at 18518 Grackle Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20879-1767. Ann has served on the Wash-ington Bridge League Board and is an experienced and regular WBL player.

In most cases, comments can be transmitted to Michael Carroad, Club Manager of theWBL Unit Game, or Millard Nachtwey, Tournament Chief Director and ACBL Field Repre-sentative, rather than to Ann. Under Michael’s leadership, our game has grown to be thenumber one unit game in the United States. The Ombudsman adds a conduit to Michaeland our tournament directors for constructive progress.

♣♦♥♠ ∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼ ♣♦♥♠DEADLINE: MARCH 27, 2003

TO SUBMIT NEW ARTICLES TO THE EDITOR FOR THE MAY/JUNE 2003 ISSUE

Washington Bridge League BULLETIN (usps #861-240)VOL. 61, #2 — SUBSCRIPTION $2 PER YEAR FOR MEMBERS OF UNIT #147 (INCLUDED IN ACBL ANNUAL DUES).NON-MEMBER SUBSCRIPTION RATE IS $21 FOR THREE YEARS. PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY BY THE WASHINGTON BRIDGE

LEAGUE AT 14517 PERRYWOOD DRIVE, BURTONSVILLE, MD 20866. SECOND-CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT

BURTONSVILLE, MD. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WASHINGTON BRIDGE LEAGUE BULLETIN,ACBL, 2990 AIRWAYS BLVD., MEMPHIS, TN 38116-3847. ALL EDITORIAL AND GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE

SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE EDITOR AT 901 CLIFTONBROOK LN., SILVER SPRING, MD 20905-3711.

Editor — Donna Rogall (301-421-9615), [email protected]/N Editor — Leslie Shafer (301-593-6828), [email protected]

Columnists — Steve Robinson, Richard Colker, Clyde KruskalThe opinions expressed by our columnists do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ACBL, the WBL,or even the editors of this publication. The WBL is not responsible for the claims of its advertisers.

Barbara Doran, President — (301-608-0347), [email protected] Wegman, Vice President — (301-365-2228), [email protected] Robinson, Treasurer — (703-379-4371), [email protected]

Barbara Shaw, Secretary — (301-598-3339), [email protected]

UNIT DIRECTORSWeizhong Bao — (703-326-9288), [email protected]

Don Berman — (301-776-3581), [email protected] Jensen — (301-949-7467), [email protected] King — (703-536-1914), [email protected]

Ben Laden — (202-244-1765), [email protected] Ruderman — (301-384-8825), [email protected]

SOME KEY VOLUNTEERSFrances Burke — Membership Secretary (301-384-6103)

Michael Carroad — Unit Game Chief Director (301-322-4289)Jim Coleman — Unit Game Manager (301-434-6559)

Madge Gallant — Partnerships (301-587-6424)Kitty Gottfried — Unit Game Hospitality (301-587-3981)

Rosemary Marks — Prizes (301-598-2405)

WBL WEBSITE: DISTRICT 6 SITE:www.WashingtonBridgeLeague.org www.districtsix.org

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Well, the holidays are over, it’s a new yearand here I am again with a few randomthoughts. The Holiday Party, put together byKitty Gottfried and other key volunteers wasits usual success. We celebrated our new LifeMasters at the January Sectional – congratu-lations, again, to you all. The trophy winners(see the article in Bits and Pieces and the fulllisting on page 14) and the Mini-McKenneyand Ace of Clubs winners will receive theirawards at our annual meeting in May.

Speaking of the annual meeting, it isn’t tooearly to be thinking about running for the WBLboard. It’s a lot of work (I won’t pretend it isn’t –that would be silly), but it’s rewarding, too. Ifyou are interested, let a board member know.

And, speaking of the board, I regret to an-nounce that Lee Jensen, who has served theWashington Bridge League as Tournament Co-chair, board member, WBL President, keeperof the policies, and so much more for over ten

years, has resigned his positions. Lee, we cannever thank you enough for all the work youhave done for the League. You will be very hardto replace.

Ben Laden, with co-chair Kathy Kruskal andHospitality Chair Kitty Gottfried will be run-ning WBL tournaments, starting with the Maysectional. They’ll need help. And they and Leecan use your help in March. Come get involved.We always have something for a volunteer to do.Talk to a board member if you want to help.

We have jobs that don’t involve sectionals,too. We could use someone (probably someonewho doesn’t have a full time job), who could putup the Unit Game scores on Friday after the game.Talk to Don Berman if you think you can help.

Finally, Sylvia Levy could use a ride to theUnit Game on Thursdays. She lives in ForestGlen. Any volunteers? Tell Sylvia or a boardmember if you can help.

Until next time…Barb

Editorial

In our last issue, Alfred Steinberg ex-pressed his concerns over the difficultiesthat occur when the dates of a tournamentget changed at the last minute. Our tourna-ment site, the White Oak Armory is sub-ject to last minute disruptions due to un-predictable military requirements and assuch has proved to be an unreliable site,although it was a good site for tournamentsin other ways. The February/March City ofWashington Tournament will be the lastWBL tournament to be held there. Our newtournament co-chairs, Kathy Kruskal andBen Laden are currently looking for a newsite or combination of sites that will be morereliable, and also satisfy a myriad of otherrequirements. This is no small task and theyare open to suggestions.

We have now received over one hundredsurvey responses and are beginning the pro-cess of tabulation. It’s not too late to re-spond. Make your opinion count. Respondby e-mail, snail mail, at the unit game, toany club owner or director, or at our website:www.washingtonbridgeleague.org. Remem-ber, you can answer as many or as few ques-tions as you would like.

Sad NewsStuart Dunlop, a long-time member of

the WBL, and the first winner of theLovenberg Trophy, died Tuesday, Jan. 21suddenly of a heart attack. The obituary wasin the Jan. 26 Sunday Washington Post. Stuwas still playing bridge up to the day be-fore he died. His most frequent partner oflate was Margaret Peirce, who is a memberof the ACBL registered in Maine, but spendsmost of her time in Maryland. In tourna-ments, they concentrated on the seniorevents with a lot of success.

2002-2003 WBL-NVBAPLAYER OF THE YEAR

EligibilityPlayers must attend at least three WBLand three NVBA sectionals during thecontest period (August, 2002, throughJune, 2003). Points won on TournamentThursday evenings are included in the to-tals, but do not count towards eligibility.The WBL's "In-Club Sectional" in Sep-tember, 2002, does not count towards thetotals or for eligibility.

AwardsTwo trophies will be awarded.

StandingsHere are the standings after five of ten tour-naments. The asterisk* indicates that theplayer has met the eligibility requirements.

Open LeadersPlayer Points

1 Leo LaSota .................... 74.872 Robert Gookin ............... 69.123 Margot Hennings ........... 63.254 Alan Kleist .................... 61.725 John Adams................... 60.916 Steve Robinson ............. 58.927 Mark Shaw .................... 53.428 Alfred Steinberg ............ 53.169 Stephen Swearingen ...... 49.75

10 Stan Schenker ............... 49.7011 Barbara Shaw ................ 48.7712 Helene Bauman ............. 48.2913 Kefu Xu ........................ 46.9614 John Lawrence .............. 46.6915 Janet Gookin ................. 45.1116 Kenneth Davis ............... 42.0117 Fred King ...................... 41.4718 Hailong Ao .................... 41.2119 James Geist ................... 40.8220 Prahalad Rajkumar ....... 39.72

President’s Letterby WBL President, Barbara Doran

Bits and Pieces

Calvin Cobb & Chip KingBeth Palmer, far right

PartnershipsNeed a Partner for Unit Games or Sectional Events?

The WBL has expanded its efforts to to help players arrange partnerships for the Thurs-day evening unit game and for WBL sectionals. Players who would like assistance canobtain help either on-line or by contacting one of the WBL’s partnership coordinators.

(1) On-line partnership desk . The WBL has established an on-line partnershipdesk on its web site. The WBL is the first unit in the country to do this. Players cansign up, indicate which events they are available for, and find out if other players areavailable for the games they wish to play in. The on-line desk can be easily accessedby logging on to the WBL web site (www.washingtonbridgeleague.org), and simplyclicking on the partnership desk. Please give it a try.

(2) Partnership coordinators . For those who prefer assistance in person, three peoplehave volunteered to help players find partners in advance of the unit game or sectionalevents. Fred King will assist players in Flights A/X ([email protected]; 703-536-1914). Charity Sack and Barbara Rothkin will assist players in Flights B and C([email protected]; 703-963-7027; [email protected]; 301-493-9359). Pleaselet them know as early as you can what game or events you would like to play in. MadgeGallant will continue to be available to help anyone who comes on Thursday eveningneeding a partner.Good luck, and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday evenings and at the WBL sectionals.

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NonLM LeadersPlayer Points

1 John Lowe III ................ 27.762 David Hamilton ............. 23.673 Huailin Chen ................ 21.724 Michelle Cantave .......... 20.705 Todd Zimnoch ............... 19.396 Penny Stoever ............... 19.167 John Christensen ........... 18.728 D Tonnesen ................... 16.819 Mark Rosen ................... 14.78

10 Joseph Ogulin ............... 12.2611 John Laurim .................. 12.1912 Sulaiman Ghaussy ......... 11.9413 Richard Cassell ............. 11.6914 Jay Kelkar ..................... 11.1115 Stephen Goldstein ......... 10.9316 Ali Al-Aref .................... 10.8117 Thomas Din ................... 10.4618 Morris Umansky ............ 10.3319 Joana Da Silva .............. 10.2520 Charles King ................. 10.12

Thursday, May 1♣Stratified Open Pairs ....................................................................... 10:30am

Washington Bridge Center, 1620 Elton Road, Silver Spring MD♦StrataFlighted Pairs (A/X unlim/3000, B/C Separate 1500/500)

Beth El Congregation, 3830 Seminary Rd, Alexandria ........................7:00pmChrist the King Church, 2301 Colston Drive, Silver Spring .................7:30pm

♥200/100/50 Pairs & 0-20 Pairs (Christ the King Church only) ........... 7:30pm

* * * * Friday & Saturday at Christ the King Church Only, Sunday TBA * * * *

Friday, May 2♠Stratified Open Pairs (unlim/1500/500) (single sessions) ... 10:00am, 2:00pm♣Stratified Senior Pairs (unlim/1500/500) (single sessions) .... 10:00am & 2:00pm♦Intermediate/Novice Pairs ................................. 10:00am, 2:00pm & 7:30pm

(300/200/100/50/20, 3 single sessions)♥StrataFlighted Pairs (A/X unlim/3000, B/C Separate 2000/750) ........ 7:30pm

Saturday, May 3♠Senior Pairs (unlim/2000/750) (single sessions) ................. 9:30am &1:30pm♣Intermediate/Novice Pairs 300/200/100/50/20 (single) ..... 1:30pm & 7:00pm♦StrataFlighted A/X Pairs (unlim/3000) (single sessions) ... 1:30pm & 7:00pm♥StrataFlighted B/C Pairs (2000/750) (single sessions) ...... 1:30pm & 7:00pm

Sunday, May 4♠A/X Board-A-Match Teams (unlim/3000) ............................ 11:00am & TBA♣B/C Swiss Teams (2000/750, 2 sessions with a short break) .... 11:00am & TBA♦300/200/100/50 Swiss Teams, VPs (single sessions) ........ 11:00am & 4:00pm

After February’s City of Washington Tournament,the next WBL Sectional is:

57th Annual Potomac Valley SectionalMay 1 - 4, 2003

BridgeAtSchoolsFUNdraiser

The BridgeAtSchools auction to playwith a pro on Thursday night at the Phila-delphia Nationals will begin on E*Bay onFEBRUARY 19. The auction on E*Bay willrun for 10 days. Please bid on a pro andhelp BridgeAtSchools, a non-profit501(3)(c). Go to: www.ebay.com AND clickthrough to the "Charity" page.

Just some of the pros you can bid on are:Paul SolowayZia MahmoodMildred BreedGeoff Hampson

Eric GrecoSteve RobinsonDavid BerkowitzDavid Treadwell

Charlie GrayIvar Stakgold

More information from:www.BridgeAtSchools.org.

Run for the WBL BoardIf you’d like to run for the WBL Board,

please submit a bio form and picture tothe editor by March 27 to run in the nextissue. The offices of President, VicePresident, Treasurer, and Secretary areone year terms. The six Unit Presidentpositions are two year terms, three ofwhich will be open this year. Electionswill be held at the Annual Meeting andCharity Game on May 15 th at the UnitGame at Christ the King Church.

Grand National TeamsClub qualification for all levels contin-

ues through March 31, 2003.District Finals (The first weekend is quali-

fication for the final weekend.)Open Flight: Feb 15-16, then April 5-6Flight X: May 17-18, then May31-June1Flight B (North): February 1-2, then April 5-6Flight C: February 15-16, then April 5-6

April 17th Unit Gameat the WBC

Christ the King Church is closed for aHoly Day on April 17, 2003. The unit gamewill be held at the Washington Bridge Cen-ter which is located at 1620 Elton Rd. inSilver Spring, MD. Take New HampshireAve. north of 495 to the first light. Turnright, then take your first left into the park-ing lot. The club is on the second floor ofthe office building. 301-445-0276.

2003Board of Directors

Nadine Wood is our District 6 represen-tative to the ACBL Board of Directors. DarAfdahl is the 1st alternate. Steve Robinsonis the 2nd alternate.

Advertise?

Advertisements are welcomein the Bulletin. We distribute ap-proximately nineteen hundredcopies each issue. Advertisingrates are:

$60 for a full page ad

$40 for a half page ad

$25 for a quarter page ad

$15 for an eigth page ad

The sixth consecutive appear-ance of an ad runs for free.

Suggestion BoxDo you have a suggestion that

might help to increase membershipor otherwise improve the Washing-ton Bridge League? Give any and allideas to Don Berman, 301-776-3581,[email protected], 13707Engleman Dr., Laurel, MD 20708, orwww.WashingtonBridgeLeague.org.

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Congratulations to Hailong Ao andDavid Rodney who tied for first with a per-fect score of 500. They win a free entry tothe Unit Game and will be invited to be ona future panel. I will play with them at afuture Unit Game. Tied for third were BruceKretchmer and Dave Smith with a score of470. Tied for fifth were Brad Theurer,Seymour Baden, Ellen Cherniavsky andGerald Lerner, with a score of 460. Tied forninth were David Chechelashili, MarvinElster, Ron Zucker, Pete Whipple and MikeRichey with a score of 450. Tied for four-teenth were Bob Klein, JJ Wang andRansone Price with a score of 440. Tied forseventeenth were Yi Zhong, Al Duncker,Bulent Demirer, Razvan Spiridonescu, MelYudkin, Kevin Barnes, Lee Bauer, SaulPenn and Ted Guthrie with a score of 430.Tied for twenty-seventh were were ToddZimnoch, Doug Waffle, Randy Thompson,Andy Gofreed, Barbara Israel, Audrey War-ren, Hy Chansky, Steve MacArthur andDavid Abelow with a score of 420. The av-erage score of the 208 solvers was 365. Theaverage score of the experts was 428.

All readers are encouraged to send an-swers and/or new problems to SteveRobinson, 2891 S. Abingdon St. #A2 Arling-ton, Va, 22206. In addition to the winner re-ceiving a free play at the WBL Unit Game,Steve will play with anyone who gets a per-fect score or who exactly matches all five ofhis answers. If you send a self-addressedstamped envelope to the above address alongwith your answers, Steve will send you a copyof the new problems to ensure that you canmeet his next deadline. You can pick up acopy of the problems at the WBL Unit Gamein Maryland, and can send answers or re-quests for problems to [email protected] Solvers Club uses Washington Stan-dard as published July 1996.

Washington Standard second edition the

book, is out. If you are a serious bridgeplayer, this book is a must. You can pur-chase a copy from Steve for $25.00 at theUnit Game and at tournaments or can sendhim a check for $28.95 which includes$3.95 for priority mail.

1)IMPs Both Vulnerable You,South, hold:♠AJ1065♥Q♦A75♣Q654

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST—— 1♥ Pass 4♥????

Action Score Panelists SolversPass 100 8 1024♠ 70 3 63

Double 50 2 43

Do or don’t you and if you do, what? Pass,4♠ and double are the three choices. Eightexperts pass. They think it’s too dangerousto jump in. If partner holds♠xx♥xx♦xxxxx♣xxxx you go for 1400 ifyou bid 4♠ or –990 if you double. Four ex-perts agree with me and jump in. On baddays partner has nothing. On good dayspartner has some help for you. For the jump-ers who hope this is a good day, there aretwo choices - 4♠ and double. I think that ifyou decide to do something other than pass,you should jump in with 4♠. Give partner♠Q98♥xx♦Kxxxx♣KJx, you will make 4♠if the king of spades is onsides. If youdouble, however, partner will bid 5♦, whichhas three losers. Another reason to do some-thing is that partner could have♠Kxxxx♥x♦xx♣AJxxx. They easily make4♥ and you easily make 4♠. You lose 13IMPs if you go for 1400, you lose 15 IMPswhen both games make.

Two experts agree with me and jump in.They’re following Lublin’s Law. “When theyhearts we have spades.” RHO usually hasfive hearts for his jump to 4♥ which makesit more likely that partner has some spades.

2002Unit Knockout Winners

The winners of the 2002 Unit KO’s were:Fred King, Earl Glickstein, Bob Klein, DaveRuderman, Bob Bell, and Jim Houghton.

2002Round Robin WinnersThe winners of the 2002 Round Robin

were: Donna Rogall, Linda Maloney, JanetGookin, Robert Gookin, John Adams, andBarbara Shaw

2002 Holiday PartyThe Annual Holiday Party was held on

December 21st. Great food and great funwas had by all courtesy of hospitality byKitty Gottfried and her helpers. Here aresome pictures:

2002Washington

Bridge LeagueTrophy Race WinnersEach year, the Washington Bridge

League runs a calendar year long contestto see which WBL members can win themost points in most Unit sponsored eventsin their category.

There are five races:1.Lovenberg : Open2.Izzy Cohen: Players who had less than

1500 Master Points at the start of the year(January 1st)

3.Tubbs: Players who were Non-LifeMasters at the start of the year (January 1st)

4.Woolridge: Players who had less than20 Master Points (or the equivalent totalfrom any other bridge organization) at thestart of the year (January 1st)

5.Jerry Machlin: Senior Events only.2002 Awards: 1st Place: Name on respec-tive Trophy plus four sessions of free plays.2nd Place: Two sessions of free plays 3rd

Place: One session of free play.This year, the trophy presentation will take

place at the Annual Meeting on May 15th.

The 2002 Award Winners are...Lovenberg

1 229.23 Alfred Steinberg2 215.42 Leo LaSota3 178.76 John Adams

Izzy Cohen1 101.05 Ellen Cherniavsky2 97.09 Yi Zhong3 76.00 Hailong Ao

Tubbs1 68.79 Charity Sack2 42.57 David Hamilton3 41.89 Robert Wissman

Woolridge1 42.57 David Hamilton2 29.95 Ellen Rosenthal3 28.61 Steven Sacks

Machlin1 14.10 Rosemary Marks2 13.73 Marie Creisher3 10.75 James Rodgers

See page 14 or the unit website for list-ings that include runners-up.

WBL Solvers’ ClubModerated by Steve Robinson

[email protected]

KittyGottfried

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Even if bidding 4♠ is wrong, the opponentsmight save us by bidding 5♥.

LUBLIN : “4♠—Lublin’s Law - When theyhave hearts, you have spades. Never bid 5♠over 5♥ save so I bid 4♠.”

CAPPELLETTI : “4♠—Certainly better thandouble. Another problem might be if openerdoubles. Do you redouble or stay in pocket.”

By the way, if the opponents are playinga forcing club system, bidding 4♠ is verydangerous. RHO could have an openinghand and only three hearts. He knows hispartner’s hand is limited to 15 HCPs by hisfailure to open 1♣.

Two experts double. Double has the ad-vantage that if this is a bad day you mighthold your losses to –990. Double breakseven when partner has four spades but loseswhen partner has three.

PARKER : “Double—They may have justgot me, but I have to assume that partnerhas at most two hearts and therefore a fitsomewhere, plus 10+ points. I can make aslow double here and not put partner underpressure, but not a slow pass. Bidding 4♠is too unilateral.”

Partner, having at most two hearts is avery good assumption. However, partnermight not have many HCPs.

SHAW: “Double—Takeout for spades. I’dlike to bid 4♠ but could go for a telephonenumber. Partner will bid 4♠ with fourspades. If partner passes the double; mostthey will make is a doubled overtrick pluswe could be cold for 4♠.”

The problem with double is that partnermight have only three spades. There aresome hands that make 4♠ opposite honordoubleton. Wouldn’t you want to be in 4♠opposite ♠Kx♥xx♦J109♣AKxxxx.

Eight experts passed and they have somegood arguments. The best argument forpassing is that bidding is a crap shoot. Itcould be a disaster if partner is short inspades. Another good argument is that part-ner needs very little to beat 4♥. You havetwo defensive tricks and if partner has two,4♥ will be defeated. Bidding is bad if bothgames are going down. The biggest disasteris when partner has a stiff spade. 4♥ willeasily be defeated and 4♠ will go down like

the Titanic.WOOLSEY : “Pass—Partner didn’t overcall

1♠, and he didn’t make a takeout double.These factors are sufficient to indicate thatwe probably don’t have a game. We mightor might not defeat 4♥, and we may be go-ing for a big number if I bid, so passingseems right.”

Right. Partner could have a weak handbut might have enough in queens and jacksto sink 4♥.

HOPKINS : “Pass—Normally partner is notlong in hearts on this auction so he couldhave acted directly if he had reasonablevalues. My values are not such as to expectto make a game or set them doubled oftenenough to make up for the expected andpossibly large minus score.”

MUSSO : “Pass—4♠ over 4♥ is alwaystempting especially with the power of AJ10.However, partner with likely holding of twoor possibly one small heart did not overcallor double 1♥. Doubling here is a distantthird choice, which risks -790 or -990 aswell as -800 or -1100.”

If you double, partner, with a weak bal-anced hand, should pass and hope that youcan take four tricks on defense.

SCHWARTZ: “Pass—Not enough offense for4♠, not enough defense for double whichpartner rates to pass. Queen of hearts bignegative for action.”

If RHO has five hearts, your queen isworth nothing either on defense or offense.

ADAMS : “Pass—Bidding is guessing. Atmatchpoints, where minus 500 could be abig gain, I’d bid 4♠, but partner is unlikelyto have four spades and an opening bid.Might be that neither 4♥ nor 4♠ makes.Only reason to consider bidding is that 4♠might push them to 5♥, but that rationalenever scores well in bidding challenges. Iwould rather double than bid at IMPs. Atleast then, partner can convert and we mightstill get a small plus.”

Partner does not need an opening bidfor 4♠ to make. Suppose partner has♠Qxxx♥xx♦xx♣AKxxx. 4♠ makes whenthe spade finesse works. Give partner♠Qxx♥xx♦xx♣AKxxxx and 6♠ makeswhen the spade finesse works.

ROMAN : “Pass—Only slightly tempted.I’ll try to win the match on some otherboard.”

BAUER : “Pass—4♥ may be our last plusscore. Advantage in the bidding game goesto he who guesses least.”

Advantage goes to he who guesses right.KING : “Pass—It is close but I don’t think

this hand is quite good enough.”I have found that this is a bidders game.

Those who are aggressive get good results.

2) MPs Both Vulnerable. You, South, hold:♠Q8765♥A9765♦A75♣-

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST1♠ 2♥ 3♣ Pass

????

Action Score Panelists Solvers3♦ 100 8 91

Pass 70 3 333NT 60 2 523♠ 20 0 123♥ 20 0 174♣ 20 0 1

You opened this hand intending on show-ing partner 5-5 in the majors but somethinghappened on the way. You can no longer bidyour best suit. You have four horriblechoices. You can bid three notrump but youhave no source of tricks and no help forpartner’s suit. You can rebid your weakspade suit. You can bid 3♦, but bidding athree-card suit can lead to problems. Youcould pass which in effect ends the auc-tion. This keeps the auction low but couldruin your partnership. What would yourpartner say if you passed 3♣ and he held♠AKx♥x♦Kx♣AKxxxxx? The problemwith bidding is that you are very likely toget too high. If you can’t make anything,partner will let you out in game and youwill go down quietly. You might even getdoubled if East has clubs and spades bottledup. If partner has enough strength that gamemakes, you will find yourself heading to-wards slam.

Two experts join me in ending the auc-tion. You can’t do this if partner can bid3♣ with very good spade support. I havethe advantage that my partner supports me

when he has support.SCHWARTZ: “Pass—Wouldn’t take this ac-

tion at the table as I have to worry aboutpartner’s blood pressure, but here I can takewhat I feel is the percentage action. Part-ner shouldn’t have a big spade fit as heshould fear heart preemption. Thus havingenough for game is unlikely with the misfitand likely entry problems, particularly withthe overcall.”

BAUER : “Pass—I hate it when this hap-pens. Partner had ample tools to establishspades as trumps and did not. This is ascheap as we can get out of this misfit andthe only person I really want to hear bidagain is LHO.”

Ten experts keep the auction open. Twoexperts bid three notrump. If three notrumpis going to make, partner has to be strongenough to move towards slam.

W OOLSEY : “Three notrump—Biddingnotrump can be a dirty job, but somebody’shas to do it. On this hand that somebody isme. Partner isn’t going to have a heart stop-per. We are forced to game, and unless part-ner has three spades, in which case he willsurely get us to 4♠, three notrump is ourmost likely game.”

SHAW: “Three notrump—I’d like to passand forget the whole thing but will main-tain discipline.”

Eight experts bid a three-card suit.Great! You have next to nothing and youare misdescribing your hand. How manyaces are you going to show if partner bidsRKC?

LUBLIN : “3♦—Looks like 3♦ to me. Onlybid I can make.”

CAPPELLETTI : “3♦—This is definitely an“uh-oh” hand. Might as well gamble a bit,with disaster when partner has Kxxx of dia-monds, to try to achieve parity. If partnerbids 3♥ or 3♠ or 4♣, you are probably OK.”

HOPKINS : “3♦—I can see the grinchstayed around for this hand! I am leavingpartner room to show spade support (please,please, please!), but the situation does notappear promising. Since this is onlymatchpoints, I would probably pass a 4♣rebid by partner.”

MUSSO : “3♦—Since 3♣ is forcing, pass-

- 11 -- 10 -

ing is instantly out of the question. Choicesare 3♦ and 3♠. Since spades are so poor,bidding 3♦ is the selection. Hopefully, part-ner will support spades next.”

ADAMS : “3♦—This is in the spirit of keep-ing the bidding low. Perhaps partner givena chance to take captaincy has an easierhand to bid.”

ROMAN : “3♦—Not because I like it, butwhat else?”

PARKER : “3♦—This should work out fine.Partner’s most likely bid will be 3♥ to tryfor three notrump and I will unhappily bidit. If for some reason he raises diamonds Iwill pass and watch him turn red. If he bids4♣ I will also pass.”

Are you going to pass four notrump.KING : “3♦—I think this is the best wait-

ing bid. Let’s hear what partner says.”At the table, where I passed, we

achieved a plus score. Partner made sixclubs for +170. I have a feeling that if Ihad kept on bidding we would have gottentoo high and gone minus.

3) MPs None Vulnerable. You, South, hold:♠10932♥1032♦A753♣Q2

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST—— —— —— 1NT(10-12)Pass Pass Dbl Rdbl1

Pass 2♣ Pass2 Pass???

1Redbl=one-suiter; 2Dbl would be takeout

Action Score Panelists SolversDouble 100 9 94

Pass 70 3 572♠ 50 0 312♦ 50 1 252NT 20 0 1

This hand is a good lesson hand on howto play continuations after a penalty doubleof a weak notrump. North’s double of onenotrump shows at least 14 HCPs. WhenWest bids 2♣ which is presumably natural,it’s better to play a double as takeout. Thetrouble with double being penalty is thatthere is a wide range of hand types thatpartner might double with. You can’t tellthe difference between the four-card 18HCP I got you double and the three-card

15 HCP optional double. How can Northdouble 2♣ for penalties when you couldhave ♠xxxx♥xxxx♦xxx♣xx? It’s best if thedouble always shows shortness. If Northdoubles 2♣ showing fewer than three clubswith at least 14 HCPs, South will be in agood position. He can pass the double withfour clubs and some strength. Bid somethingat the two level with a weak hand or jumpor cuebid with a strong hand. With♠xxxx♥xxx♦xx♣xxxx, South bids 2♠ overNorth’s takeout double. When North passes2♣, South knows that North has a balancedhand with at least three clubs. With an un-balanced hand, North would have eitherdoubled for takeout or bid a long suit. Northshould have fewer than 20 HCPs. With 20or more HCPs, North can’t take the chancethat 2♣ will be passed out. North willdouble or bid two notrump. So where do youwant to play the hand if North has a strongnotrump with at least three clubs? Givepartner ♠AKx♥AQxx♦Qxx♣xxx. If youdouble, partner will bid 2♥, which has fiveand ½ losers. 2♣, on the other hand will beeither +90 or –50. There’s also the problemthat this is matchpoints. Partner, thinkingthat you have something for your doublemight not want to settle for +300 when hecould be +600 in three notrump. Double notonly shows short clubs, it shows values.

Two experts join me and pass 2♣. Iwould have doubled if my queen of clubswere somewhere else.

SHAW: “Pass—This auction shows a goodtreatment. The one-notrump bidder rescueshimself with a redouble instead of biddinga suit. His partner may have a good hand.Since he pulled presumably we have at leasthalf the deck. Partner may have a penaltypass of 2♣ or may just have a balancedhand. Partner usually has a minimum of agood 14 but may be lighter in balancing

position. We already have got them outof one notrump and if partner has a penaltypass we should do ok anyway. I also don’tlike the vulnerability. I would double atIMPs without a thought but here; I’ll breakdiscipline and pass since my hand is alsopretty weak.”

MUSSO : “Pass—Nice shape to double for

takeout, but the ace of diamonds is the onlyworking honor. Queen of clubs is better fordefense. -90 or even -110 may be usefulscores as bidding again will likely result in-200 or worse.”

Nine experts double for takeout. I thinkyou need at least eight bad or six very goodHCPs to double.

W OOLSEY : “Double—Presumably ifpartner’s double would be takeout then minewould be also, else we can never penalizethem when he is long in their suit. Giventhat, this hand would seem quite suitablefor a takeout double.”

LUBLIN : “Double—If double by partneris takeout then must double to protect ourside and solves all problems.”

HOPKINS : “Double—If partner’s double of2♣ would have been takeout, then mineshould be here. Partner can convert or makea call at the two-level which I will pass.Partner has 3♣ available for forcing ac-tions.”

SCHWARTZ: “Double—Partner can’t doublefor penalties so this is the only way to getthem. If partner bids, the two-level shouldbe a good sacrifice or a possible make.”

ADAMS : “Double—Your description of mymethods implies partner has a penalty passof 2♣ and is expecting me to bid. I have afew values, so I can cooperate if partnerconverts to penalty as I expect he will. Ionly have minor nervousness over playing2♥ vulnerable. I doubt that letting themplay 2♣ undoubled will be a good score, soinaction is wrong.”

ROMAN : “Double—Would I pass a pen-alty double of 2♣? You bet’cha.”

BAUER : “Double—Majority of the fieldwill go P-P-P-1NT for +90 or +120. Catch-ing a white 2♣ one trick undoubled won’tcut it.”

PARKER : “Double—This must be for take-out and I can’t let them steal this hand for2♣. If we have to play a 4-3 fit let partnerplay it. I have a 75% chance partner willpick one of my four-card suits so why notdouble rather than guess what suit to bid?”

KING : “Double—Need to protect partner.The short hand must be aggressive.”

One expert bids a suit. I would expect

2♦ to show five.CAPPELLETTI : “2♦—Make lower balance

and leave room for partner’s 2♥.”Don’t bid with bad hands.

4) MPs Both Vulnerable. You, South, hold:♠Q1073♥KQJ10♦972♣63

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST- 3♥ Dbl 4♥

????

Action Score Panelists SolversPass 100 8 53

Double 60 4 1314♠ 40 1 225♠ 20 0 14NT 20 0 1

You hold ♠Axx♥xxx♦KQxx♣Kxx andthe auction goes 3♥ - double - 4♥. Wouldn’tit be nice to make a strength-showingdouble? You want to defend 4♥ doubledunless partner has a distributional hand. Ifpartner holds ♠KQxx♥-♦J10x♣AQJxxx, hebids 5♣. If partner holds♠KQxx♥x♦J10xx♣AQxx he defends 4♥doubled. Which hand comes up more of-ten, the hand with the trump stack or thebalanced good hand? The balanced goodhand probably comes up five times as oftenas the trump stack hand. I can’t rememberthe last time I had a trump stack in thisposition. Double in this position should bea responsive/cooperative double. Acoosponsive double!

Eight experts agree with me and pass.CAPPELLETTI : “Pass—Can’t double (re-

sponsive), so I’ll take sure plus since 4♠will often go down. And partner might re-open with double!!!”

SHAW: “Pass—I play double here showscards and convertible values. With a non-expert partner I might double since wewould only play penalty doubles. I can’tdouble because expert partner might pull.Make that will pull with his probable void.Hopefully partner will double again and wewill cart them out.”

HOPKINS : “Pass—If partner doublesagain, I will pass and hope to beat it.”

SCHWARTZ: “Pass—Double should showconvertible values. When partner is fairly

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Solvers’ Scores

John Adams Pass 3♦ Dbl Pass Pass 490Nancy Bauer Pass Pass Dbl Dbl 3♥ 430Mike Cappelletti 4♠ 3♦ 2♦ Pass 2♠ 390Robbie Hopkins Pass 3♦ Dbl Pass 3♥ 500Fred King Pass 3♦ Dbl 4♠ 3♥ 440Glenn Lublin 4♠ 3♦ Dbl Dbl 3♣ 380Tom Musso Pass 3♦ Pass Dbl 2♠ 430Steve Parker Dbl 3♦ Dbl Pass 3♣ 400Steve Robinson 4♠ Pass Pass Pass Pass 400Jeff Roman Pass 3♦ Dbl Pass 3♦ 450Alan Schwartz Pass Pass Dbl Pass Pass 460Mark Shaw Dbl 3NT Pass Pass 3♥ 380Kit Woolsey Pass 3NT Dbl Dbl 3♥ 420

likely to be able to double again with his likelyvoid. If not, since I don’t expect to make any-thing, I’ll just take my small plus score.”

ADAMS: “Pass—Where is the issue? If wehave anything, partner will double again andI can pass. If we do not have anything, thiswill be a good score. Why should I tempt fateby doubling with this? Although double is notresponsive, it is not 100% penalty either.”

ROMAN : “Pass—C’mon partner...one moredouble...just one...”

PARKER : “Pass—Since I assume thatdouble is for takeout here, I must pass andhope partner reopens with a double. Withno one vulnerable I can afford to beat them200 undoubled if for some reason partnerpasses out this hand, and not lose a bunchof IMPs.”

Four experts double.WOOLSEY : “Double—Partner has made

his takeout double implying heart shortnessand probably four spades. If I want to playin spades I bid them. If I want him to pick aminor, I bid four notrump. If I want to de-fend 4♥ undoubled, I pass. Guess what Ido when I want to defend 4♥ doubled?”

So with ♠Kxx♥xxx♦AKx♣xxxx, youbid 5♣.

BAUER : “Double—No point in hangingpartner for bidding his shape. Take yoursure plus and maybe even your best plus. If4♠ makes we’re probably beating 4♥ threetricks.”

The Law assumes that partner is4=1=4=4. There are 16 total tricks (8♠+8♥).If we can make ten tricks in spades, theyshould only make six tricks in hearts.

LUBLIN : “Double—And take the plusscore. Hand is useless for spades.”

MUSSO : “Double—Penalty oriented asresponsive doubles do not extend to thislevel. If they do extend thru 4♥, I wouldpass.”

KING : “4♠—Give partner a hand like♠AKxx♥-♦Axxx♣KJxxx and 4♠ shouldmake. Double is responsive, not penalty andpass is not forcing.”

High-level doubles should becoosponsive. Shows that we have the ma-jority of the highs. Partner will usually passbut can bid with unusual distribution.

5) MPs You Vulnerable. You, South, hold:♠KJ9763♥K♦1063♣A75

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST- Pass 1♥ Pass

1♠ 2♦ 2♥3 Pass????(3Double would show three spades)

Action Score Panelists Solvers3♥ 100 5 27

Pass 90 3 352♠ 70 2 563♣ 50 2 103♦ 50 1 284♥ 40 0 33♠ 40 0 472NT 20 0 2

You know that partner has at least sixhearts but does he have a good 2♥-bid♠Ax♥AQJ10xx♦xx♣Qxx where 4♥ islikely to make or does he have a minimum2♥-bid ♠Ax♥A109654♦xx♣KJx wherebad breaks will sink 3♥. Unless partner hasa singleton diamond, your three-card dia-mond holding becomes an anchor, draggingyou down to the depths. Even with this baddiamond holding, if you knew what wouldbe the best trump suit you might invite inthat suit but you don’t know how goodpartner’s heart spots are and how manyspades he has. Vulnerable at IMPs, it couldbe right to force this hand to game bycuebidding. Cuebidding makes sure thatyou get to the correct strain. At matchpointsits probably right to go plus.

Five experts invite. Some of them evenmention the anchor diamond holding.

WOOLSEY : “3♥—Seems about right onvalue, and hearts is likely to be as good orbetter a trump suit than spades even if part-ner has a doubleton spade.”

SHAW: “3♥—Can’t bid three sparts. Ihave the values for a 3+♥ bid although Imay be a heart light. Partner should have adecent suit since he could have passed.With Kx I’d bid 4♥ at IMPs.”

HOPKINS : “3♥—Invitational. My diamondholding isn’t good and I would like anothertrump, so I rate this hand as an invite.”

BAUER : “3♥—This hand should play bet-ter in the major suit in which partner holdsan Ace and that suit rates to be hearts. Thethree level on my values is about right.”

KING : “3♥—My diamond holding is bad,but my hand is too good to pass.”

Two experts signoff in spades. If partnerhas a normal 2♥ hand,♠x♥AQJxxx♦xxx♣KQJ, you will still losethree spade tricks after they take three dia-mond tricks.

CAPPELLETTI : “2♠—At IMPs I would makebook 3♠ bid, but at matchpoints I like plusscores. Partner will have two and rarelythree spades less than half of the time. Mathis not difficult - if you want it.”

Partner would have doubled 2♦ withthree spades so at least half the time he’llhave only one.

MUSSO : “2♠—Diamond holding suggestsconservatism. Passing could be best oppo-site six-card suit. Raising 2♥ to 3♥ alsoreasonable. I prefer rebidding six-cardspade suit hoping for eight or nine-card fit.Rebidding 2♠ in this auction should implysome values since I would pass 2♥ withweak misfit. Very tough problem.”

Two experts agree with me and pass. 2♥should go plus. Even partner takes tentricks, you will still beat the pairs who endup in spades.

SCHWARTZ: “Pass—Since if I invite, I’llhave to get both strain and level right. It’slikely some of the field is in the wrong straineven when there are values for game. If Ibid 3♦, I can’t count on partner jumping tothe right game.”

ADAMS : “Pass—Do we or don’t we have agame? I can invite to find out, winning whenwe do, losing when I get us too high or tothe wrong strain. Or, I can take a deep po-

sition and pass. Would have to bid at IMPs,but at matchpoints, there is a large rewardfor going plus. Even if we have game val-ues, communication problems and bad splitscould make us go down.”

Three experts drive the hand to game.One expert cuebids. If you’re interested ingetting to game in the right majorcuebidding is the way to go. Over 3♦, part-ner should show you two spades or rebid agood heart suit. However, what do you do ifpartner bids three notrump?

ROMAN : “3♦—Very tough problem, butmy heart king and prime values convinceme to go big. I will raise three-of-either-major and pass three notrump. May be toohigh, but this is best chance to be in theright strain, while everything else is justguessing.”

Two experts bid 3♣. Since 3♦ is avail-able as a forcing bid I would think that 3♣would better be used as a natural non-forc-ing bid. 5=6 in the blacks for instance.

PARKER : “3♣—This should allow partnerto bid out his hand and show any pattern.He can bid three notrump with a diamondstopper, bid 3♦ to see if I have one, and Ican then raise hearts, bid 3♠ with adoubleton or rebid hearts with a suit ori-ented hand and I can raise to 4♥.”

LUBLIN : “3♣—And correct to 4♣ to 4♥or raise 3♥ to 4♥.”

At matchpoints, when you aren’t surewhat’s the best strain take a plus score.

Make every card count!

2002 FinalTrophy Race Standings

www.WashingtonBridgeLeague.orgUpdated by our Webmaster, Don Berman

- 15 -- 14 -

WBL Unit Game ScheduleAll Games held at Christ the King Church

February 27 .......................... WBL SectionalMarch 6 ................................ Stratified Charity GameMarch 13 .............................. Strataflighted Unit ChampionshipMarch 20 .............................. NVBA SectionalMarch 27 .............................. Stratified District 6 Charity GameApril 3 .................................. District 6 Sectional Tournament at ClubsApril 10 ................................ Strataflighted Unit Championship

• • • April 17...CHURCH CLOSED - CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE WASHINGTON BRIDGE CENTER

April 24 ................................ NVBA SectionalMay 1 ................................... WBL SectionalMay 8 ................................... Strataflighted Unit ChampionshipMay 15 ................................. Annual Membership Meeting & Charity GameMay 22 ................................. Strataflighted Unit Championship

Newcomer, Novice, and Intermediate7:15pm ................................. Free Duplicate Mini-Lesson7:30pm ................................. Bridge

“Partner, Partner?”To find a partner before the game, contact: Fred King for Flights A/X ([email protected];

703-536-1914), Charity Sack ([email protected]; 703-963-7027) and BarbaraRothkin ([email protected]; 301-493-9359) for Flights B/C.

...Or log on to the WBL’s new Partnership Desk Online at: www.WashingtonBridgeLeague.org.

Call Frances Burke at 301-384-6103 for info on Newcomer Classes and GamesGAME IS TO START PROMPTLY AT 7:30PM FOR INFORMATION CALL 301-649-1812

Map to Christ the King Church and Parking

Christ the King Church2301 Colston Drive

COLSTON D RIVERT. 410

EAST- W EST HIGHW AY

CAPIT AL BELTWAY RT. 495EXIT 33 EXIT 31

RT. 410

BRIDGE

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JONES MILL R

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WASHING TON

The Lovenberg Race is open to all WBL members; the Izzy CohenRace is open to all WBL members who started the calendar year withfewer than 1500 masterpoints; the Tubbs Race is open to all WBL mem-bers who started the calendar year as a Non-Life Master; the WoolridgeRace is open to all WBL members who started the calendar year withfewer than 20 masterpoints; the Machlin Race includes only those pointswon in senior events at the five WBL Sectional Tournaments.

Winners in each category willreceive four sessions of free plays.Second place gets two and thirdplace gets one.

This list is final for 2002. Allpoints are subject to audit by theWBL Director.

Lovenberg1 229.23 Alfred Steinberg2 215.42 Leo LaSota3 178.76 John Adams4 173.73 Steve Robinson5 135.35 Alan Kleist6 135.03 Earl Glickstein7 134.61 Ellen Klosson8 122.69 Barbara Shaw9 118.19 Mark Shaw

10 115.63 Robert Klein11 115.17 David Ruderman12 107.66 Fred King13 104.04 Robert Bell14 101.15 Donna Rogall15 101.05 Ellen Cherniavsky16 100.92 Weizhong Bao17 99.79 William Cole18 97.09 Yi Zhong19 95.14 Peter Boyd20 83.82 Jim Allen Jr21 82.64 Kefu Xu22 78.85 Eugene Kales23 77.60 Jim Houghton24 76.45 Clyde Kruskal25 76.00 Hailong Ao

Izzy Cohen1 101.05 Ellen Cherniavsky2 97.09 Yi Zhong3 76.00 Hailong Ao4 68.79 Charity Sack5 67.64 Andrew Kaufman6 66.62 Jackie Thompson7 57.96 James Geist8 48.12 Vincent Wilmot Jr9 47.50 Janet Dence

10 46.95 Kitty Gottfried11 46.28 William Colligan12 45.32 Hy Chansky13 42.57 David Hamilton14 42.23 Robert Ellis15 42.16 Joel Miller

0-20Game

ThursdayNightsat the

Unit Game

7:30pm -10:30pm

Join Anytime

The cost is $5. Thisincludes a 30 minutelesson by Dr. StevenForsythe followed byfun, enjoyable bridgefor players with 0-20masterpoints.

Lessons will coverslam bidding, weaktwos, 3 level+ pre-empts, overcalls, take-out doubles, negativedoubles, openingleads, and signaling.Each lesson will be tai-lored to the needs andinterests of the players.

This is a great pro-gram for beginners aswell as experiencedsocial bridge players!Partners will be pro-vided if needed. Formore information callor email Steve orSandy Forsythe at 301592-9177 (email:[email protected])

∼ ♣♦♥♠ ∼

Tubbs1 68.79 Charity Sack2 42.57 David Hamilton3 41.89 Robert Wissman4 37.58 Carole Banks5 37.26 Michelle Cantave6 34.65 Richard Ferrin7 32.35 Joana Da Silva8 32.30 Mark Rosen9 29.95 Ellen Rosenthal

10 28.61 Steven Sacks

Woolridge1 42.57 David Hamilton2 29.95 Ellen Rosenthal3 28.61 Steven Sacks4 18.39 Timothy Stewart5 15.17 Joan Fitzpatrick6 12.53 Gail Morgenweck7 12.02 David Epstein8 9.50 Joan Donoghue9 9.50 Julie Oethinger

10 9.48 Azmat Ali

Machlin1 14.10 Rosemary Marks2 13.73 Marie Creisher3 10.75 James Rodgers4 10.75 Charles Pan5 10.60 Charles Stenger6 9.59 Audrey Marbach7 8.30 Jeanne Stenger

(died 8/4/02)8 8.04 Janet Coffin

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- 17 -- 16 -

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Committee Action XLIIPart I

by Rich Colker, [email protected]

Disputed claims seem to present prob-lems for Directors and Committees alike,and this one from a Bracketed KnockoutTeams (Bracket 7) at last year’s SummerNABC here in Washington was no excep-tion. This was the situation.

Bd: 24Dlr: WestVul: None

North♠ K♥ 63♦ KJ87432♣ 954

West East♠ 10963 ♠ QJ52♥ KJ ♥ Q109542♦ 10 ♦ AQ♣ KJ8732 ♣ 6

South♠ A874♥ A87♦ 965♣ AQ10

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 3♦ Pass 3NT

All Pass

The opening lead was the ♣7 and theplay proceeded:

Trick 1: ♣7, ♣4, ♣6, ♣102: ♦5, ♦10, ♦J, ♦Q3: ♥5, ♥7, ♥J, ♥34: ♣3, ♣5, ♥2, ♣Q5: ♦6, ♣2, ♦K, ♦A6: ♥2, ♥A, ♥K, ♥6

at which point declarer claimed. East ini-tially agreed to the claim, but a dispute laterensued and the Director was called. Southsaid that her ♦9 was on the table when sheclaimed. Dummy agreed. E/W said that af-ter South claimed and East agreed, Westasked to see declarer’s hand and then re-quested a review of the play. E/W said South’s

review did not include any reference to un-blocking the ♦9. Declarer insisted that sheinitially either said that she would unblockthe ♦9 or that she lifted the card partly outof her hand and showed it as she claimed.However, she did admit that she might nothave mentioned the unblock when she re-peated her claim statement. The Directorruled that the player was clear on her intentbut had simply misspoken in reviewing it.Therefore, according to Law 70A the claimwas valid; he assigned both pairs the scorefor 3NT made three, +400 for N/S.

E/W, of course, appealed the Director’s rul-ing (or we wouldn’t be discussing this case).The appeal was heard by a Director Panel, agroup of Directors at NABCs who function likea regular Appeal Committee except that theyconsult with (usually expert) players on bridgematters critical to the case. The appellantswere initially interviewed together with thetable Director present, then South and laterNorth were interviewed separately.

E/W said that East agreed to the claimat first but West then asked for a restate-ment when she heard nothing about un-blocking the ♦9. Both E/W players thoughtthe original and repeated statements hadbeen something like “♣A, spade to the king,the diamonds are good.” West was morecertain than East that both statements hadbeen the same. Neither East nor West couldremember the play prior to the claim.

South gave the Panel a line of play (shownabove) consistent with her remaining cards.She said her original statement includedmentioning playing the diamond first, but itwas quite possible that she didn’t mention itin her restatement because she became flus-tered by West’s challenge. North agreed thatthe first statement mentioned the ♦9 but thatthe second statement did not.

Well, there you have it. Decide how youwould adjudicate this appeal (and why) andI’ll share my own views on it the next time.

- 19 -- 18 -

Leslie Shafer’s ClassesWashington Bridge Center (WBC),301-445-0276

Every Saturday 10 a.m. - 12 noon: Howto Play Suit Contracts Better. $10 Includeshandouts. Every Tuesday 10 a.m. - 12 noon:The Fun Way to Better Bridge Play. $10. Learnthe “bread and butter” plays that you mustknow to improve your declarer play. These are“drop-in” clases - No reservations reauired.Bridge Clinics!

Thursdays 10 a.m. - 12 noon for Inter-mediate to Advanced Students. Fridays 10a.m. - 12 noon for Beginning Students.

Get practical and hands-on Bridge in-struction in these very small classes. Eachlesson limited to a maximum of six students!Shuffle and play up to eight hands with Leslieguiding you through the bidding and play.By reservation only. Call her at 301-593-6828 to reserve your spot. $20 per lesson.One-Day Seminars

Note locations. Each class is a one-time 3-hour session on a “drop in” basis. $20 per per-son per class. Sunday Afternoons from 2-5 p.m.Lesson Handouts and Hand Analyses provided.

Feb. 23 How to Avoid A Dangerous Op-ponent! There are play-of-the-hand tech-niques which allow declarer to choose whichopponent gets the lead. Learn how to “de-fang” the dangerous opponents. Level: Int-Advcd. @ WBC

March 30 Balancing. How to compete whenthe opponents’ auction has died out at the one-or two-level. Learn when to get aggressive andwhen to be passive. Level: Interm. @ WBC

April 6 Conventions #3. Topics: Cappelletti:Do you roll over and play dead whenever oneof your opponents open 1NT? Learn when it issafe to compete and why! b) Leslie’s Rule ofMargaritas!! Do you ever open “light” in 3rdseat? When is it dangerous? Location: PotomacCom. Center; Level: Interm.

April 20 When Should You Lead Trump?There are specific situations when a trump leadis called for, even demanded. Don’t just do it“when in doubt.” Level: Int-Advcd.@ WBC

April 27 How to Make Your OpponentsLose Control of the Hand. Creating may-hem and confusion for your opponents willbe your accomplishment after taking thisclass. Level: Int-Advcd. @ WBC

May 11 Game-Forcing Bids. A re-sponder can usually keep bidding new suitsto force, but it is not that simple for anopener. Level: Int-Advcd.@ WBC

May 4 Top 10 Mistakes You Make Atthe Bridge Table. Location: Potomac Com.Center. Level: Advcd Begin-Advcd.

May 25 Lead Directional Doubles.Sometimes doubling an opponent’s artificialbid (e.g., Stayman, Transfers, Blackwoodresponses) can tell partner what you wantled. What quality suit must you have? Whatlength? Level: Interm. @ WBC

Mary Jane Von [email protected], 301-990-8897April 3 - May 8 Play of the Hand and De-

fense using Kantar’s Books. 6 weeks at 10 a.m.on Thursdays at the Potomac Com. Center.

Area Bridge Class OfferingsPaid Advertisement Paid Advertisement

Stepping Up to New HeightsAs of January 8, 2003

Junior Masters (5 Masterpoints)Neal Rosenthal Ron StarrRuth Woods

Club Masters (20 Masterpoints)Kevin Acker Cecelia CalhounThomas Din Marlene EhrlichJames Price David RaleyCharles TartanianMary Tartanian Jeanne Taylor

Sectional Masters (50 Masterpoints)Steven Sacks

Regional Masters (100 Masterpoints)Sherrie Schrama

NABC Masters (200 Masterpoints)Piotr GajewskiDavid Hamilton

NLMasterPointers continued from page 29...

- 21 -- 20 -

six grandchildren. Carol earnedher B.A. from Washington Uni-versity in St. Louis which iswhere she first learned to playbridge. She and her regularpartner, Linda Logan met on theinternet on OKBridge five yearsago. Carol and Linda (who isfrom Canada) meet all over the

U.S. and Canada to play in tournaments. She saysthat 98% of her masterpoints have been won playingwith Linda in pair events. Carol would like to thankboth Linda and Peggy Reich (who has mentored bothof them) for her success in becoming a Life Master.MARIE U. N YLEN is retired from NIH where she wasemployed for 35 years in various capacities as a Den-tist, Scientist, and Science Administrator, finishingup as Scientific and Extramoral Director of the Na-tional Institute of Dental Research. She earned herD.D.S. from the Royal College of Dentistry at theUniversity of Copenhagen. Marie also has two honor-ary degrees and several scientific and civil serviceawards. In addition to bridge, she enjoys golf, gar-dening and her family which include three children,Ingrid, Erik and Thomas and four grandchildren.Marie’s biggest bridge thrill to date is winning a Dis-trict 6 wide Charity Game with Jane Friend with a74.11% game. At the D.C. Nationals this year, theyalso had a first overall finish out of 82 pairs. Mariewould like to keep improving, and loves to win, too.

RICHARD E. R EDFIELD is a retiredAnalyst from the Department ofDefense. He earned his B.A.from Lehigh University inBethlehem, PA. Richard’s wifeis named Sonia. He is a sup-porter of bone marrow trans-plant and was himself a donorin 1995. His other interests in-

clude horse racing, handbell ringing, and acting and

student in Austin, Texas, got a grand welcome to theBible Belt. They would each drive through Friday nightto meet half way in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, play all threesessions on Saturday, crash Saturday night, play Swissteams all day Sunday, then drive all Sunday night toget back for class Monday morning. He recalls themellifluous but chiding words of his right-hand oppo-nent, a very properly dressed elderly lady with a poodleon her lap once rousing him with, “Your bid, Yankee.”The host unit provided not only free hot meals be-tween sessions, but also a free open bar throughout -including Bloody Mary’s on Sunday morning.

LEWIS GOLD is a retired Econo-mist from the Antitrust Divisionof the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Hetestified in an antitrust case ofthe U.S. vs. the Los AngelesTimes Mirror. During a cabinetmeeting, the Attorney Generalnotified the President of theUnited States of Lewis’ contri-

bution in winning the case. He has been awarded theBronze Star and 3 Battle Stars. Although he had playedparty bridge for some time, Lewis truly fell in love withthe game after taking lessons from Peggy Reich. Hisbiggest thrill came in a tournament when his partnergot mixed up and put him in 6NT missing two aces.Lewis actually made the hand and they won the eventby a tenth of a point. His favorite bridge books are“Winning Contract Bridge,” by Edgar Kaplan and“Play of the Hand,” by Louis Watson. Lewis thinks itwould be fun if we occasionally ran a game where youdraw for your partner. His other interests include golf(he has won several tournaments), tennis, bowling, andhis family which includes his wife, Mary Jane, sonWilliam, and daughter Barbara Bandy..CAROL NETCHROLODOFF is a Real Estate Broker withArnold Bradley Sargent Davy & Chew. Her husband,Alex, is Senior Vice President of Cox Enterprises.They have two children, Nicholas and Caroline and

directing in the theatre. Richard says he has alwaysplayed card games and started playing bridge in 1968.His biggest moment in bridge came when his teamfinished 3rd/4th in the Flight C of the GNTs at theAlbuquerque Nationals in 1997. Richard likes play-ing Standard American and can be seen playing atthe Laurel Bridge Club.

CHARITY SACK is Director of theOutreach and CommunicationsCenter for Adult Learning forthe American Council on Edu-cation. She earned her B.S. fromW. Va. University and herM.B.A. from N.Y. University.Charity is Co-Founder and PastPresident of the American

Chamber of Commerce in Tallinn, Estonia. Charitycomes from a bridge family. Her mother, EdithMcMullin is one of her favorite bridge authors, alongwith Lawrence, Kantar, and Robinson for his, “Wash-ington Standard.” As young as 8, Charity would becalled on to serve as “the fourth,” but she left thegame altogether for over 20 years until her stepbrotherconvinced her to go to an EasyBridge! class in thespring of 2000. Since then, she has become an avidplayer, which has translated to success at the table.This is the 3rd year in a row that she has won theMini-McKenney in her category. Her special wishfor bridge is to see the success of BridgeAtSchools toattract a new mass of young players to the game. Herpersonal bridge wish is to earn at least one nationaltitle by the time the Nationals come back to D.C.DENNIS W. WICK is a retired Physical Education In-structor for P.G. County Schools in Maryland. Heearned a B.S. in Education from Central MichiganUniversity and a Masters in Guidance & Counselingfrom Bowie State University. He has three children,Mark, Michael and Marlene Chinnara. Dennis hasalways loved cards. He plays over 17 different games.In 1967, while in the military, he taught himself bridgeby dealing out hands and reading about bidding froma small 3 x 4 inch Dell book, but didn’t start playingregularly until 1989 and in tournaments until 2000.His preferred system is Standard American - “highpercentage modern bridge” and he enjoys readingthe bridge articles in the Washington Post. Dennishad a great time playing with his partner, Gary Wold,in Hunt Valley, Md. this year. Gary started the tour-nament with .02 gold points and ended it with over34 gold which helped him to also make Life Masterthis year. Dennis says that he enjoys helping othersbecause he has had so much help from others in thepast two years. He enjoys meeting and playing againsttop players during his tournament travels and sayshe has no special wish for bridge other than to, “Justhave fun!”

The 2002 Washington Bridge League New Life Mas-ters who are listed on the cakes from the party at the Januarysectional are: Mildred N Anderson, Mary E Baxter, GregoryCampbell, Morris F Edmundson, Manny Eisenfeld, Rich-ard Ferrin, Steven L Forsythe, Carol Fouts, Steven H Fox,

Lewis Gold, Ted Guthrie, Reese M House, Nancy K Hoye,Carol Netchvolodoff, Marie U Nylen, Richard E Redfield,James L Rodgers, Charity A Sack, Joseph F Stockel, FranklynW Taylor Jr, Cecilia A Valdivieso, Leila Whiting, Dennis Wick,and Robert B Wissman. Meet some of them below...

MARY BAXTER , who is an Aero-space Software Manager withIntelsat, earned her degree inMath/Computer Science fromMcGill University in Montreal.She lives with her son, Russell(19) and her daughter, Eileen(16). Mary started playingbridge at age 8 with her grand-

mother (a tournament player), her parents and hersiblings at their weekly Sunday night home games.Her biggest bridge thrill occurred at her first dupli-cate game when she entered a novice game at theAlexandria Regional and won. At this year’s D.C.summer nationals, Mary enjoyed the experience ofplaying behind screens when her team advanced farenough in the 0-1500 Mini-Spingold to do so. Maryalso enjoys sewing quilts and being part of Mensa.

STEVEN FORSYTHE is a Military Of-ficer/Operations ResearchAnalyst for the United StatesAir Force. He earned a B.S. inPhysics from Kent State and anM.S. and a Ph.D. in OperationsResearch from the Air ForceInstitute of Technology. Afterhaving just moved to

Alberquerque, NM twelve years ago, Steven took upbridge in order to meet new people. He and his wifeSandy run the Suit Yourself Forest Glen Bridge Clubfor 0-299ers. They are also running the new 0-20game and lesson at the unit game on Thursday nights.They have two children, Aaron (6) and Mila (9).Steven’s favorite bridge books are “Points,Schmoints!” and “The Law of Total Tricks.” His big-gest thrill came last year when his team placed sec-ond in the GNTs. His current bridge goal is to finishhis book on bridge strategy.

STEVEN FOX is a physician/epide-miologist currently employed bythe U.S. Public Health Serviceand is an Adjunct Associate Pro-fessor at GWU and U. of Md.Steven became a life masterwithout ever having played in aknockout team event. He

learned to play bridge on the back of a bus in Mon-tana, Wyoming, and South Dakota during a summerhigh school geology course on wheels. The bus’s P.A.system broke; so, no longer able to give them lectures,one of the teachers came to the back of the bus anddevoted the hours spent driving from one geologicalformation to the next to teaching them bridge! Stevenhas played duplicate in Taipei, Beijing, Singapore, andGeneva, but his favorite bridge memories are from whenhe, a medical student in Chicago, and a friend, a law

2002 New Life Masters 2002 New Life Masters 2002 New Life Masters 2002 New Life Mas

- 23 -- 22 -


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Top Ten CumulativePoint Winners

All Players1Helene Bauman .........................................29.10

2 Alan Kleist ..........................................26.503 Leo LaSota ...........................................26.204 Steve Robinson ...................................25.145 Jim Wakefield ......................................17.716 John Adams ........................................15.197 Alfred Steinberg ..................................15.188 Fred King ............................................13.22

9/10 Prahalad Rajkumar .............................12.559/10 Margot Hennings ................................12.55

0-1500 Players1 Prahalad Rajkumar .............................12.552 Kitty Gottfried .....................................12.203 Robert Hartmann ................................11.68

4/5 Mark Chen ..........................................10.214/5 Hal Hindman ......................................10.21

6 Ronald Spieker ..................................... 9.417 John Lowe III ........................................ 9.008 Eileen Houghton ................................... 8.07

9/10 Edwin Fuller Jr ..................................... 7.879/10 Janet Dence .......................................... 7.87

0-500 Players1 John Lowe III ........................................ 9.00

2/3 Jon Ranhand ......................................... 6.942/3 Donald Goldman ................................... 6.94

4 John Laurim .......................................... 6.855 Thomas Din ........................................... 6.126 Cecilia Valdivieso ................................. 5.687 Gloria Halstead ..................................... 5.618 Michelle Cantave .................................. 5.509 Arthur Mackwell ................................... 5.21

10 Huailin Chen ........................................ 5.19

Thursday MorningOPEN PAIRS ......................... Stratum A

31 Pairs1 Daniel Shankle Jr - Juline Glaz ..........66.992 Andrew Gofreed - Alfred Steinberg ...62.743 Arthur Mackwell - Dolores Rioux ......61.294 Jim Houghton - Raphael Kahn ...........59.355 Rossi Lindstrom - Barbara Rothkin ...57.716 Sylvia Levy - Eileen Theimer .............57.38

Stratum B19 Pairs

1 Arthur Mackwell - Dolores Rioux ......61.292 James Prentiss - Alan Haga ................56.623 John Laurim - Emil Rassofsky ............54.714 Audrey Stern - Micheline Heiche ......53.155 William Hudson - Franklyn Taylor Jr .51.616 Morris Tepper - Wallace Oliver ..........51.05

Stratum C7 Pairs

1 John Laurim - Emil Rassofsky ............54.712 Charles King - Cynthia Helms ............46.823 Mary Ann Moskowitz - Deitrich Ford .46.40

Thursday EveningFLIGHT A/X PAIRS .............. Stratum A

70 Pairs

1 Margot Hennings - Prahalad Rajkumar . 65.542 Robert Hartmann - Ronald Spieker ...62.823 Fred King - Richard Wegman .............61.454 Leo LaSota - Alan Kleist .....................60.305 Andrew Gofreed - Alan Tenenbaum ..59.756 Jim Houghton - John Adams ..............59.127 Terry Feetham - Donald Berman ........59.118 Richard Ferrin - Eugene Kales ..........58.71

Stratum X44 Pairs

1 Robert Hartmann - Ronald Spieker ...62.822 Terry Feetham - Donald Berman ........59.113 Madan Nanda - Gabriele Nanda ........58.174 Weizhong Bao - Kefu Xu .....................57.755 Michael Polunin - Sulaiman Ghaussy 56.896 Bob Kerchner - Kenneth Katzner .......56.45

FLIGHT B/C PAIRS .............. Stratum B58 Pairs

1 Jon Ranhand - Donald Goldman ........64.882 Kitty Gottfried - Eileen Houghton ......63.993 Thavendran Arulnandhy-Cecilia Valdivieso 62.504 Alice Wegman - John Glynn ...............62.205 Mary Mudd - Barry Sparks .................59.646 Bryan Macpherson - Christon Johnson .. 58.99

Stratum C38 Pairs

1 Jon Ranhand - Donald Goldman ........64.882 Thavendran Arulnandhy-Cecilia Valdivieso62.503 Bryan Macpherson - Christon Johnson .. 58.994 David Hamilton - Michelle Cantave ...58.335 Joana Da Silva - David Harris ............56.856 Robert Wissman - John Christensen ..55.65

39th Annual Presidential TournamentJanuary 2-5, 2003

Results

- 25 -- 24 -

Stratum B21 Pairs

1 Kitty Gottfried - Hy Chansky ..............61.552 William Gill - Michael Gill .................57.773 Todd Zimnoch - Joseph Ogulin ..........57.014 Glenn Young - Michael Polunin .........56.825 Khon Lien - Michelle Cantave ...........55.686 Dorothy Weinstein - Marvin Weinstein54.55

Stratum C9 Pairs

1 William Gill - Michael Gill .................57.772 Todd Zimnoch - Joseph Ogulin ..........57.013 Khon Lien - Michelle Cantave ...........55.684 Bob Armstrong - Don Henry ...............50.38

300/200/100 PAIRS .............. Stratum A12 Pairs

1 Gloria Halstead - Thomas Din ...........56.362 David Raley - Jon Chasson .................55.00

3/4 Robert Munger - David Bort ...............52.733/4 Wanda Avila - Samuel Bowlin ............52.73

Stratum B9 Pairs


3/4 Robert Munger - David Bort ...............52.733/4 Wanda Avila - Samuel Bowlin ............52.73

Stratum C6 Pairs


Saturday MorningSENIOR PAIRS ..................... Stratum A

24 Pairs

1 Donald Van Arman - Bruce Houston ..63.892 Jerome Resnick - Eugene Davidson ..63.433 Jim O’Neil - Mary O’Neil ....................60.424 Mark Rosen - Ben Laden ....................58.335 Leila Whiting - Audrey Stern .............57.646 Michael Gottesman - Silas Wasserstrom . 56.48

Stratum B12 Pairs

1 Leila Whiting - Audrey Stern .............57.642 Michael Gottesman - Silas Wasserstrom . 56.483 Charles Pan - James Rodgers .............53.014 John Lowe III - John Laurim ..............52.31

Stratum C5 Pairs

1 Michael Gottesman - Silas Wasserstrom . 56.482 John Lowe III - John Laurim ..............52.31

Saturday AfternoonA/X PAIRS ............................ Stratum A

40 Pairs

1/2 Helene Bauman - Jim Wakefield ........61.03

1/2 Mark Chen - Hal Hindman .................61.033 David Gottfried - Earl Glickstein .......58.104 Kenneth Davis - John Ashe ................57.595 John Adams - Steve Robinson ............56.886 Randy Zeibert - Jim Hahn ..................56.387 Andrew Lipps - Eric Branfman ..........56.17

Stratum X20 Pairs

1 Hal Hindman - Mark Chen .................61.032 Randy Zeibert - Jim Hahn ..................56.383 Andrew Lipps - Eric Branfman ..........56.174 Kenton Schoen - Charles Yaple ..........53.745 Gerald Goodale - Vickie Goodale ......53.646 Suellen Poland - Joseph Trapani ........51.92

B/C PAIRS ............................ Stratum B36 Pairs

1 John Lowe III (pictured) - John Laurim . 59.202 Alice Wegman - Seema Bhagwat ........58.073 Betty Siefring - Cecilia Valdivieso ......57.784 Alice Johnson - Allen Lord .................57.705 Reese House - Suzanne Abrams ........56.666 Jon Farber - Steven Fox ......................56.25

Stratum C20 Pairs

1 John Laurim - John Lowe III ..............59.202 Betty Siefring - Cecilia Valdivieso ......57.783 Reese House - Suzanne Abrams ........56.664 Jon Farber - Steven Fox ......................56.255 Robert Wissman - John Christensen ..55.046 Jay Kelkar - Mahadeo Patwardhan ....54.72

200/100/50 PAIRS ................ Stratum A16 Pairs

1 Gail Morgenweck - Joan Fitzpatrick .. 62.882 Julie Oethinger - Joan Donoghue ....... 59.233 Arnold Kritz - Nathaniel Preston ........ 58.384 Albert Leon - Millie Reizenstein ........ 56.975 James Scott - Ruth Freedman ............ 52.50

Stratum B10 Pairs

1 Gail Morgenweck - Joan Fitzpatrick .. 62.882 Julie Oethinger - Joan Donoghue ....... 59.233 Eric Nash - Wilma Middleton ............. 49.024 Michael Gill - Jeremy Tilstvs .............. 48.98

Stratum C7 Pairs

1 Gail Morgenweck - Joan Fitzpatrick .. 62.882 Julie Oethinger - Joan Donoghue ....... 59.233 Michael Gill - Jeremy Tilstvs .............. 48.98

Friday MorningOPEN PAIRS ......................... Stratum A

48 Pairs

1 Ellen Klosson - Alfred Steinberg ....... 68.272 Leo LaSota - Alan Kleist ..................... 66.263 Fred King - Robert Gookin ................. 64.994 Janet Dence - Edwin Fuller Jr ............ 64.265 Arthur Mackwell - Zoe Martindale ..... 64.126 Mark Rosen - Eugene Fisher ............. 62.50

Stratum B30 Pairs

1 Janet Dence - Edwin Fuller Jr ............ 64.262 Arthur Mackwell - Zoe Martindale ..... 64.123 Mark Rosen - Eugene Fisher ............. 62.504 Constance Bynum - K Soderberg ....... 60.045 Todd Zimnoch - Joseph Ogulin .......... 58.636 Robert Hartmann - Alan Breed .......... 56.34

Stratum C17 Pairs

1 Arthur Mackwell - Zoe Martindale ..... 64.122 Mark Rosen - Eugene Fisher ............. 62.503 Todd Zimnoch - Joseph Ogulin .......... 58.634 Marshall Kramer - Nelu Schwartz ...... 55.245 Mary Ann Moskowitz - Deitrich Ford . 50.26

Friday AfternoonOPEN PAIRS ......................... Stratum A

48 Pairs

1 Leon Letwin - Terry Feetham ..............66.442 Glenn Lublin - Jim Allen Jr ................65.743 Steve Robinson - Alfred Steinberg .....63.434 Warren Kaufman - Shou-Ling Wang ...61.815 John Adams - Jim Houghton ..............61.576 Janet Dence - Edwin Fuller Jr ............61.40

Stratum B27 Pairs

1 Janet Dence - Edwin Fuller Jr ............61.402 Ronald Kral - Ralph Sturgis ...............55.903 Ted Guthrie - Suzanne Abrams ..........54.634 Robert Hartmann - Alan Breed ..........52.785 Kevin Avery - Steven Ivins .................51.626 Edward Rodrigues - Dayle Masumura 51.23

Stratum C12 Pairs

1 Ted Guthrie - Suzanne Abrams ..........54.632 Michelle Cantave - Todd Zimnoch .....50.123 William Gill - Michael Gill .................49.254 Jean Morgan - John Laurim ................48.41

300/200/100 PAIRS .............. Stratum A12 Pairs

1 Richard Bryan - Sherrie Schrama ......67.502 Samuel Bowlin - Wanda Avila ............62.083 Robert Lawrence - Frances Lawrence 56.674 Juan Pardo - John Lowe III .................54.58

Stratum B11 Pairs

1 Sherrie Schrama - Richard Bryan ......67.502 Samuel Bowlin - Wanda Avila ............62.083 Robert Lawrence - Frances Lawrence 56.674 Walter Mitnick - David Bort ...............52.92

Friday EveningOPEN PAIRS ......................... Stratum A

34 Pairs

1 Robert Gookin - Donna Rogall ...........63.262 Kitty Gottfried - Hy Chansky ..............61.553 Arnie Frankel - Helene Bauman ........58.524 William Gill - Michael Gill .................57.77

5/6 Fred King - Steve Robinson ...............57.015/6 Todd Zimnoch - Joseph Ogulin ..........57.01

- 27 -- 26 -

Stratum C13 Pairs

1 Thomas Din - Gloria Halstead ............57.442 Jean Donnell - Jack Lawrence ............54.173 Lorraine Davis - Freida Joyce ............51.794 David Mead - Kathleen O’Toole .........50.895 Julie Oethinger - Joan Donoghue .......49.70

SundayA/X SWISS TEAMS ............... Stratum A

21 Teams

1 Mark Shaw - Barbara Shaw - Leo LaSota -Steve Robinson - Alan Kleist ...........107.00

2 Jennifer Koonce - Zeke Letellier - DianeLazarus - Ed Lazarus ........................104.00

3 Louis Stuckey - Tom Cogan - JosephTrapani - Helene Bauman ..................91.00

4 Kenneth Davis - Stan Schenker - CharlesYaple - Kenton Schoen .......................81.00

5 Andrew Gofreed - Alan Tenenbaum - Ed–ward Gofreed - Stephen Swearingen ..80.00

6 Arnie Frankel - Robert Klein - EllenKlosson - David Ruderman ................79.00

7/8 Weizhong Bao - Hailong Ao - Huailin Chen- Jian-Jian Wang - Kefu Xu ................75.00

7/8 Michael Richey - Lloyd Rawley - JohnLawrence - Charity Sack ....................75.00

Stratum X8 Teams

1/2 Weizhong Bao - Hailong Ao - Huailin Chen- Jian-Jian Wang - Kefu Xu ................75.00

1/2 Michael Richey - Lloyd Rawley - JohnLawrence - Charity Sack ....................75.00

3 Robert Graves - Donna Graves - MitaBanerjee - James Geist .......................68.00

B/C SWISS TEAMS ............... Stratum B21 Teams

1 Walter Kerns - Daniel Feldman - KittyGottfried - Eileen Houghton .............107.00

2 Steven Rothman - Bruce Bucklinger - JohnLowe III - D Tonnesen ......................103.00

3 Melville Yudkin - Frank Cardillo - Leo Car–dillo - Christon Johnson - Paul Krueger . 92.00

4 David Hamilton - Michelle Cantave - JoanaDa Silva - Robert Gunnell Jr ..............90.00

5 Janet Dence - Edwin Fuller Jr - AliceWegman - John Glynn .........................84.00

6 Alfred Graham - David Grabiner - JosephOgulin - Penny Stoever .......................77.00

Stratum C9 Teams

1 Melville Yudkin - Frank Cardillo - Leo Car–dillo - Christon Johnson - Paul Krueger 92.00

2 David Hamilton - Michelle Cantave - JoanaDa Silva - Robert Gunnell Jr ..............90.00

3 Jon Ranhand - Donald Goldman - StevenSacks - Marc Werner ...........................75.00

4/5 Richard Cassell - Gordon Hatheway Jr -Alan Dockterman - John McCann ......74.00

4/5 Ted Guthrie - Andres Doernberg - SuzanneAbrams - Reese House .......................74.00

Sunday Morning300/200/100 SWISS TEAMS . Stratum A

7 Teams

1/2 Georgia Lyhus - Arlan Lyhus - RoseHadidian - Sarah Pinocci ...................46.00

1/2 Jon Chasson - David Raley - GloriaHalstead - Thomas Din .......................46.00

3 Jean Agenbroad - Frieda Joyce - LorraineDavis - Shirley Forrester .....................44.00

Stratum B5 Teams

1 David Raley - Jon Chasson - Thomas Din -Gloria Halstead ...................................46.00

2 Jean Agenbroad - Frieda Joyce - LorraineDavis - Shirley Forrester .....................44.00

Stratum C3 Teams

1 David Raley - Jon Chasson - Thomas Din -Gloria Halstead ...................................46.00

Sunday Afternoon299ER SWISS TEAMS

4 Teams

1 Georgia Lyhus - Arlan Lyhus - RoseHadidian – Sarah Pinocci ..................36.00

SENIOR PAIRS ..................... Stratum A22 Pairs

1 Dorothy Weinstein - Marvin Weinstein ... 61.572 Jerome Resnick - Eugene Davidson ..59.953 Gregory Mullins - David Wakefield ....58.334 Carolyn Gibson - Jean Levin ..............56.715 Bernard Oetjen - J. David Grier .........55.096 Jim O’Neil - Mary O’Neil ....................54.63

Stratum B13 Pairs

1 Dorothy Weinstein - Marvin Weinstein ...61.572 Gregory Mullins - David Wakefield ....58.333 Charles Pan - James Rodgers .............51.624 Cynthia Helms - Barbara Porterfield ..50.235 Joan Benesch - William Benesch .......49.31

Stratum C5 Pairs

1 Cynthia Helms - Barbara Porterfield ..50.232 Marshall Kramer - Nelu Schwartz ......49.07


1 Robert Schwab - Anne Derbes ...........67.262 Robert Munger - David Bort ...............56.673 Raymond Hays - Ruth Freedman .......54.464 Jeff Youngen - Mary O’Shea ...............54.175 Millie Reizenstein - Albert Leon ........53.656 Helen Solomon - Rae Newman ...........53.15

Stratum B13 Pairs

1 Robert Schwab - Anne Derbes ...........67.262 Robert Munger - David Bort ...............56.673 Jeff Youngen - Mary O’Shea ...............54.174 Dale Collinson - Steve Rosenthal .......52.855 Marie Siefring - Richard Bryan ..........51.49

Stratum C9 Pairs

1 Jeff Youngen - Mary O’Shea ...............54.172 Dale Collinson - Steve Rosenthal .......52.853 Michael Gill - Jeremy Tilstvs ..............50.304 Tim Kuhn - Edward Dyer ....................48.39

Saturday EveningA/X PAIRS ............................ Stratum A

30 Pairs

1 Helene Bauman - Jim Wakefield ........64.742 John Adams - Steve Robinson ............62.343 Brad Theurer - R Eissenstat ...............61.864 Danijel Zenko - Glenn Young .............61.705 Charleen Brand - John Lawrence .......59.946 Donald Berman - Leon Letwin ............58.65

Stratum X16 Pairs

1 Brad Theurer - R Eissenstat ...............61.862 Danijel Zenko - Glenn Young .............61.703 Charleen Brand - John Lawrence .......59.944 Donald Berman - Leon Letwin ............58.655 Ellen Cherniavsky - Donna Rogall .....54.97

B/C PAIRS ............................ Stratum B18 Pairs

1 Sandra Forsythe - Steven Forsythe .....60.912 Robert Padgett - Linda Padgett ..........59.463 Mary Baxter - Brian Childers .............56.284 Jay Kelkar - Mahadeo Patwardhan ....55.305 Jan Garber - Allen Lord ......................55.06

Stratum C12 Pairs

1 Sandra Forsythe - Steven Forsythe .....60.912 Mary Baxter - Brian Childers .............56.283 Jay Kelkar - Mahadeo Patwardhan ....55.304 Robert Wissman - John Christensen ..53.04


1 Michael Goldman - William Mendez Jr 59.522 Walter Lafferty - Mary Lafferty ...........58.93

3/4 Reni Malloy - Juanita Beeson .............57.443/4 Thomas Din - Gloria Halstead ............57.44

5 Leonid Fastovsky - Juan Pardo ..........54.466 Jean Donnell - Jack Lawrence ............54.17

Stratum B19 Pairs

1/2 Reni Malloy - Juanita Beeson .............57.441/2 Thomas Din - Gloria Halstead ............57.44

3 Jean Donnell - Jack Lawrence ............54.174 Lorraine Davis - Freida Joyce ............51.795 Miriam Freed - Ruth Freedman .........51.496 David Mead - Kathleen O’Toole .........50.89

- 28 -

Our South (a student) didn’t feel confi-dent coming in over 2 ♦ with no five-cardsuit to overcall. He didn’t want to doublebecause he had “only” eight points. So hepassed. The opponents were very happy tobe playing in a low-level contract.

Since South’s final pass ended the auc-tion, we say that he was in the “balancingseat.” When you are considering balanc-ing, the bridge gods allow you to “borrow”a King from your partner’s hand. If our Southhad done that, he would’ve had the equiva-lent of an 11-point hand with a singletondiamond. His bid should have been“double” (for takeout). It would say, “I’mshort in diamonds and can tolerate any ofthe other suits, partner. Please bid the oneyou like the best.” South’s double will neverbe taken for an opening hand since hepassed the first time around.

The auction should have gone somethinglike this:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 1♦ Pass

2♦ Pass Pass Dbl!Pass 2♠ Pass Pass

Pass/3♦?True, East or West might go to 3♦ (and

make it), but that’s better than letting themplay a 2♦ contract! However, North/Southcan actually make 3♣ or 3♠!

Important Message to thePartner of the Balancer

You will need to remember that whenyour partner balances, that he has “bor-rowed a King” from your hand. Therefore,before you get all excited about your points,remember to demote your hand’s value by aKing (3 points).

A Good Mantra to Learn“Nobody plays in a fit at the two level at

MY table except ME!” Note: See vulner-ability issue below.

VulnerabilitySome players, if vulnerable, tend not to

balance over an opponents 2♠ contract. Ifvulnerable and doubled you could go for-200. Might as well let them have their 90or 110. You really need some good distri-bution or a reasonable belief you can makeyour contract to be bidding at the three-level

vulnerable when you and partner are bothpassed hands!

If our side is not vulnerable, my oppo-nents will never be allowed to play at thetwo level if they have found a fit.

How Have They“Found a Fit”?

When a suit has been bid and raised,then a fit has been exposed. If they havenot found a fit, then balancing is not a bigpriority anymore. Consider these auctions:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 1♦ Pass 1♥Pass 1NT Pass Pass??

West will probably not balance, as theyopponents do not have a fit. We tend not tobalance if they have no fit anywhere.

If they have a fit, then so do we.If they do NOT have a fit, then maybe

we don’t either.

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 1♦ Pass 1♥Pass 2♥ Pass Pass??

West will bend over backwards to keepthis auction open. His opponents have founda fit and are trying to buy it at the two-level.NOT AT MY TABLE!! West should eitheruse a takeout double or overcall a four-card(or longer) unbid suit.

So quit rolling over and playing dead at thebridge table. Start trying some of these balanc-ing acts, and your game will be much improved.

[Leslie Shafer is the editor of “Bridge Students‘R Us.” A national bridge newsletter specifi-cally for Intermediate and Novice players, it isreceiving rave reviews! Started in January2001, hundreds of subscribers in its first yearattests to its easy-to-read format and Leslie’sfamous humor! Call (301-593-6828) or writefor a free copy of Issue #1. You may subscribeby sending your name, address, phone numberand payment of $25 for a one-year subscrip-tion (six issues a year) to Leslie Shafer, 690Concerto Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20901. Herwebsite is www.bridgeteacher.com and heremail address is [email protected]]

...Stepping Up to New Heights on page 19

Balancing ActVisiting a Richmond Regional one year,

I was looking in on the I/N playing area,checking on students and visiting a friendthat was directing. I spotted two of my regu-lar students looking over their scores withglum faces. “What’s the problem, ladies?”

“I think we need a fairy godmother,”sighed one. “We just can’t seem to get 50%or better on our session scores. You wouldn’thave a magic wand or something you couldwave over our heads, would you?”

We had a few minutes before the nextsession started so I sat down with them andasked to see their private score sheet. Inoticed quite a few -90’s and -110’s. Manyof them were from the opponents playingeither two of a minor or two of a major! “Ithink I might have some fairy dust here foryou. Repeat after me: ‘I will not let my op-ponents play in a fit at the two level.’”

Why is this good advice? Well ...1. Don’t you think the opponents

are happy and comfortable play-ing at such a low level? If wehave happy opponents, we areNOT doing our job properly.

2. If the opponents have a fit,then we probably do also.

3. If we do come in and bid, itmight push the opponents upanother level. Maybe they can’tmake three! We’ll get a plusscore for them going down.

4. Even if we go to the three-leveland go down one, it is better thanletting them make two of any-thing. In this situation, “downone is good bridge.” (Ever hearthat phrase before? I’d ratherhear “making three, partner?”But maybe that’s just me.)

5. We could make our contractfor a plus score.

Let’s do some math. (Just what you wereafraid of - higher math!) If the opponents havedied out at the two level, how many pointsdo you think they have? Opener should havearound 13, responder should have about 7,which means they have ONLY half the pointsin the deck! And who has the other half ofthe deck? Why our side does!

When the points are evenly distributedbetween both sides, then it is just aboutanybody’s ball game at the two-level. Here’sa hand that came up in the last Mentor gameat the Washington Bridge Center. (If youwould like to join as a student or as a men-tor, call Lorraine Morgan at 410-730-4187.Students will be assigned to a life masterfor a free play date once a month at theirconvenience. Call for details. This is a verypopular program!)

Dealer: NorthE/W Vulnerable

North♠ A 10 8 6♥ 10 7♦ 4 3♣ K Q J 9 3

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

South♠ K 9 7 5♥ J 8 4 3♦ 9♣ A 10 6 2

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 1 ♦ Pass

2 ♦ Pass Pass Pass!

NLMasterPointerswritten and compiled by I/N Editor, Leslie Shafer

- 29 -

THE WASHINGTON BRIDGE LEAGUE Periodicals

14517 PERRYWOOD DRIVE Postage Paid

BURTONSVILLE, MARYLAND 20866 at Burtonsville, MD

1) IMPs, You Vul, You, South hold:♠K1086♥K2♦J10943♣54

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST2♥ Dbl 5♥

?????

2) MPs, Both Vul, You, South hold:♠J963♥763♦K1043♣A10

SOUTH WEST NORTH EASTPass

Pass 4♣ 4♥ PassPass 4♠ 5♦ Pass????

3) IMPs, Both Vul, You, South hold:♠AKQ987♥765♦3♣Q65

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST1♠ Pass 2♦(FG) Pass2♠ Pass 3♦ Pass3♠ Pass 4♣ Pass

????

4) IMPs, None Vul, You, South hold:♠AK8765♥3♦1083♣J72

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST1♦ 1♥

1♠ 3♥ 4♣1 4♥????

1dbl would show 3spades

5) IMPs, Both Vul, You, South hold:♠Q2♥Q7654♦J943♣A10

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST1♥ 2♠

?????2

22nt=Limit raise;3♠=forcing raise

Return answers by March 24 to:Steve Robinson

2891 S. Abingdon St #A2,Arlington Va, [email protected]

WBL Solvers’ Club’s New ProblemsMay/June 2003

washington bridge league 56th annual city of washington

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