"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
- Oprah Winfrey
Oprah may not have been referring to the bridge table, but she captures the sentiments of many as we seek to master the game. May 2019 bring you many chances and much success!
And there will be chances galore, at local bridge clubs, at sectionals, regionals and national games. Check below and mark your calendars for 2019 events!
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Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Contact your District 4 board members.
PRESIDENT
Meyer Kotkin
VICE PRESIDENT
Dave Kresge
SECRETARY
Bill Bauer
TREASURER
DISTRICT DIRECTOR
Joann Glasson
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Mark your calendars with the dates of the 2019 District 4 (D4) Regionals:
- June 24 - June 30: Philadelphia Regional at Valley Forge
- Aug 5 - 11: Rochester Split Regional
- Aug 5 - 11: Wilkes-Barre Split Regional
- Oct 28 - Nov 3: Lancaster Red Rose Regional at Spooky Nook
The entire 2019 D4 Tournament schedule, including the dates for the North American Pairs, Grand National Teams and all currently sanctioned Sectionals, is here.
Kudos to District Director Joann Glasson (U141). Joann, along with D4 Treasurer Pat Civale (U141), Immediate Past President Dan Boye (U112) and current President Meyer Kotkin (U141), has been studying and reviewing Tournament Director Staffing at Regionals for the past two years. The result of the group's efforts includes saving D4 a significant amount of money by reducing the number of ACBL Tournament Directors at each Regional and, maybe more importantly, getting the ACBL to relook their metrics, policies and procedures for assigning Tournament Directors to Regional Tournaments. Many Districts are concerned about the cost of Tournament Staffing and they are closely following D4 efforts on this issue. I am behind in writing up a full report of the D4 Tournament Staffing efforts but when I am finished writing that report, I will post it on the D4 website.
D4 has a new author: James Benson's (U168) Lancaster Precision is out. James describes Lancaster Precision as a step-by-step approach to learning Precision.
Article II, Section 3 of the U.S Constitution describes one of the duties of the President of the U.S.: He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the ACBL gives an annual sort of "State of the ACBL" management review to the Board of Governors meeting that usually coincides with the Annual Membership Meeting. You can find the CEO's 2018 management report here.
The D4 by-laws have no formal requirement for an annual D4 management report but that is arguably something the Board should consider adding to the by-laws. Honestly, I would need much more space than I have here, and more time in my schedule, to discuss fully the state of bridge in D4. Briefly, bridge in D4 is OK. D4 finances are excellent. All four 2018 Regionals showed a profit that the respective Regional Tournament Chairs will reinvest in their tournaments to improve further the overall player experience. Joann and Bob Glasson (U141) did such an excellent job of fund raising for the 2018 Spring North American Bridge Championships (NABC) in Philadelphia that the District did not need to use any of the $100K that D4 set aside for hosting the 2018 NABC. (By the way, it is not an illusion if it seems that Joann is involved in everything good that happens in D4 - there are no words to describe how valuable she is). Our finances are excellent even after purchasing in 2018 a district dealing machine, 100 sets of boards and 4K new decks of cards. These purchases, which I view as capital expenditures, were to ease the burden on our Regional Tournament Chairs and are available to Units who need them.
D4 Regional and total D4 tournament attendance is bucking the national trend. The total table count for our four 2018 Regionals was roughly the same as 2017, even though we hosted a 2018 NABC and NABCs usually result in Regional attendance decline in the host Districts. Nationally, the numbers are distressing and alarming. From the 2018 ACBL CEO Management report:
Average Regional table count per tournament was down 10% (1187.9 v.1072.6). Three more Regionals have been held to date as compared to last year. Total table count is down 7%.
Average Sectional table count is down 11% (147.2 v. 145.5). Thirty fewer Sectionals were held to date as compared to last year. This has resulted in total table count being down 5%.
Average STaC table count is down 11% (1299.8 v. 1159.6). Four more STaCs were held to date as compared to last year. Total table count decreased by 6%.
Total tournament tables decreased by 6% (21,714.8 tables) with twenty-three fewer tournaments being held.
The average age of an ACBL member is approximately 72 and the average age of D4 members is not much different. In 1990, D4 had 8,604 members while the ACBL had 191,905 members. In September 2018, D4 had 6,515 members (-24.3%); ACBL had 163,994 members (-14.5%). One has to be careful in comparing these decreases because a lot of our 1990 members retired and moved to warmer climates and/or tax free states, especially South Carolina (D7), Florida (D9) and North Carolina (D21). Regardless, a declining and aging membership is not good for D4 bridge both in the present and the future.
D4 membership in the twelve months ending September 2018 actually grew by just under one percent - about 66 members. Only 10 of the 25 ACBL district had net membership increases and D4 was sixth in the country. (For those interested, D25, Massachusetts, was number one in the ACBL with a 4.7% membership increase).
I can envision people reading this and shouting at me through their computer/phone/tablet screens with all sorts of suggestions on how to increase membership and tournament attendance while lowering the average age of our members. Some of those suggestions might be very good. I don't have a lot of answers here but I doubt there is ONE SILVER BULLET suggestion or solution that will completely reverse these alarming trends both in D4 and the ACBL. There are probably five or six things we can do or should do, but it is far from clear what those actions will actually accomplish. But, let me give you one last statistic that seems to be off most people's radar.
D4 is sixth in the country in retaining new members after one year. Our three-year average of members who leave after one year of membership is an astounding, at least to me, 36% (ACBL average is 40% and District 5 leads the ACBL with only a 35.4% loss one year after signing up). Over the last three years, D4 averaged about 470 new members a year signing up and 169 per year of those new signups did not renew their memberships for a second year. What is it that attracted these people to bridge, the ACBL and D4 initially that we did not deliver upon during their first and only year of membership?
As always, I welcome all comments and suggestions on any D4 matters and issues. My e-mail is [email protected] and my cell is 856.986.5109
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From the District Director
Honolulu Board Meetings
The Fall NABC (North American Bridge Championship) was held in picturesque Honolulu, Hawaii. The weather was beautiful, the hotel was lovely, but, sadly, only 6,000 tables were in play, a number that was considerably below the 8,600 tables in play the last time the NABC was held in Hawaii in 2006.
The contract with the Hilton Hawaiian Village, signed seven years ago, contained a room block commitment in return for the use of the playing space in the hotel. The ACBL was unable to fill that room block commitment and was responsible for paying huge penalties to the hotel. The reduced table count income and room block penalties resulted in a loss of about $650K on this tournament.
All contracts for future NABCs have been reviewed by members of the Board of Directors and management and any actions that can be taken to mitigate this kind of loss in the
future will be done, but some contracts with similar penalty clauses have been signed for NABCs as far out as 2025.
A Little History
NABC events are designed to generate about $500K per year of income to the ACBL. In the past, that money was used to provide services to the bulk of our membership.
The playing space needed for NABC tournaments was provided at no cost with the trade off being significant room blocks guaranteed at the host hotel. Times have changed and with the advent of Airbnb and other cheaper alternatives to ACBL housing, NABCs are becoming a financial drain on the rest of the ACBL membership. Since we are powerless
to reverse the housing trend and are stuck with existing contracts, the Board and management need to find solutions to make NABCs pay for themselves in the future. Clubs and non-NABC players cannot be expected to subsidize the cost of NABCs.
In order to effectively allocate the cost of NABCs to the players who play in them, entry fees for NABC+ events were raised to $30 per session/per player (from $25) and entry
fees for other NABC events were raised to $22 per session/per player (from $17). In addition, an additional $5 per player/per session fee will be added when screens are introduced into major events.
Entry fees for regional events at NABCs were increased from $16 to $20. This is the first time regional event fees at NABCs were increased in ten years.
With these table fee increases for the players comes the responsibility to control the expenses of NABCs in the future. The new 2019 ACBL President, Russ Jones, has charged the Finance Committee
and management to work together to reduce expenses at future NABCs.
Earlier this year, that work began by the initiation of a new way of working with local committees to fund NABCs that will provide a cleaner accounting and the potential of savings to the ACBL, but more work needs to be done in managing NABC expenses.
Board of Directors
I am strongly in favor of cutting board expenses by having one meeting a year in Horn Lake instead of at an NABC. The greatest amount of savings would occur if the Board met in Horn Lake in the early part of November instead of at the Fall NABC because the Thanksgiving holiday extends the board stay at the Fall meetings.
In Hawaii, a motion to reduce the number of board meetings from the current structure (3-4 day meetings at the NABCs) to one meeting in January at ACBL headquarters (Horn Lake, MS) and one meeting prior to the summer NABC was defeated.
As Chair of Finance, I was unable to support the motion because a fall meeting is important to review and present the budget for the upcoming year to the Board of Directors. The Finance Committee has cut a full day off of the Fall meetings by meeting electronically several times prior to the meeting, but some face-to-face time with the full Board is required.
The Finance Committee proposed, and the Board passed, a motion earlier in the year that eliminated the practice of taking new directors to the Fall board meeting before their terms began. With five new directors elected in 2019, the financial savings of this motion was substantial.
A motion was also passed that will establish a Masterpoint Committee that will be composed of both board and non-board members that will meet electronically. This will move the work of computing masterpoints for events out of board business and into the hands of players, reducing the amount of time needed at board meetings.
Russ Jones, 2019 ACBL President, has initiated additional cost savings by holding the new board member orientation in January electronically, instead of the traditional face-to-face orientation. Also, the Board meetings at the Memphis NABC will be reduced to two and one-half days, beginning on Wednesday and ending at noon on Friday. This will result in more financial savings to the ACBL.
2019 Operating Budget
A preliminary operating budget for 2019 was presented and reviewed by the Board of Directors. The budget projects a surplus of income over expenses of $450K. Management will reserve a portion of this revenue for future NABC host hotel incentives or attrition penalties. More work will be done on the budget before it is presented and a
pproved by the Board of Directors at the March Board Meeting in Memphis.
North American Pairs and Grand National Team Events
The scheduling of NAP and GNT finals has become a little easier since Districts are now permitted to schedule the finals of these events opposite the open, women and senior team trials. Districts are encouraged to try to avoid these dates but the prohibition from scheduling opposite these events has been lifted.
In Districts in which there were at least eight teams competing in a B or C flight in the District final of the Grand National Teams, a second team in that flight will also be eligible to compete in the national final of their respective category. In District 4, that would permit the District to send two additional teams to compete at the National Level in GNT events, one from Flight B and one from Flight C.
In order to encourage participation in the Flight C NAP Events, the masterpoints have increased. The rating of Session Awards for Flight C NAP District Finals will be adjusted from 50% of Regional rating to 62.5% according to the following chart:
NAP District Finals Awards for Flight C
Rating of Session Awards for Flight C NAP District Finals be adjusted from 50% of Regional rating to 62.5%. This will give additional gold points for the winners.
Club Table Fees
The table fees for clubs holding short games (12 to 17 boards) have increased from $0.55 to $0.58. This largely effects only online bridge clubs.
Regional Tournaments
A motion was passed that will give players who have won a Grand Life Master qualifying event the equivalent of 10,000 masterpoints for the purpose of bracketing and stratification at regional and national events. This will prohibit players who have won a Grand Life Master qualifying event from competing in masterpoint limited events at NABCs.
Sectional Tournaments
Sectionals with an upper masterpoint limit of up to 500 masterpoints may be run by directors who are not ACBL employees. Such directors must be certified club directors.
With management approval at the time of sanctioning, a sponsoring organization may run a limited sectional with a maximum of 750 masterpoints using directors who are not ACBL employees.
If ACBL hand records are used at the masterpoint limited events, the normal charge applies. If an ACBL employee submits results to ACBL Live or provides any other support, the tournament will be charged a fee of $50 over and above all other fees and charges.
Congratulations to District 4 Winners at the Honolulu NABC
in National Events
NAIL LIFE MASTER PAIRS: 20 - Richard Popper
0-10,000 SWISS: 2 - Miriam Harris-Botzum, John Botzum; 10 - Alvaro Ronderos, Estelle Ronderos
MITCHELL OPEN BOARD-A-MATCH: 20 - Connie Goldberg
0-10,000 IMP PAIRS: 3 - Miriam Harris-Botzum
0-10,000 FAST PAIRS: 5 - May Sakr
NABC MIXED SWISS TEAMS: 5 - May Sakr
Congratulations to District 4 Top 10 Winners in Regional Events
EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION KO - Bracket 1: 1 - Benito Garozzo
SATURDAY OPEN PAIRS: 8 - Marty Seligman
WEDNESDAY A/X/Y SWISS TEAMS: 1Y - John Dickenson, Deborah August
WEDNESDAY BAM TEAMS: 5 - Benito Garozzo
THURSDAY SIDE SWISS TEAMS: 1 - Benito Garozzo
FRIDAY-SATURDAY KO - Bracket 1: ¾ - Benito Garozzo
FRIDAY-SATURDAY KO - Bracket 2: ¾ - Jay Apfelbaum, April Apfelbaum, Dara Dinner, David Walker
SATURDAY A/X/Y SWISS TEAMS: 4 - Benito Garozzo
FRIDAY-SATURDAY KO - Bracket 1: 2 - Dara Dinner, David Walker, Estelle Ronderos, Al Ronderos
SUNDAY A/X/Y SWISS TEAMS: 1 - Benito Garozzo
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Note:
Blue text indicates a link to a tournament flyer. Not all tournaments hav
e posted information yet, but 4Spot will provide links as they become available.
Sectionals
January 11-13
January 25-27
February 8-10
Bala Golf Club
March 8-10
Wilmington, DE 299er
March 19
Hagerstown, MD
March 29, 30
Webster, NY
April 13, 14
Rochester, NY 299er
April 19, 20
April 26-28
Camp Hill, Harrisburg
May 11
Allentown, PA 499er
May 18
State College, PA
May 30 June 1
Ithaca, NY
June 1, 2
Regionals
Rochester Regional
August 5-11
Wilkes-Barre Regional
August 5-11
North American Bridge Championships
Flight A & C April 13, 14
Flight B & Open May 4, 5
February 18-24
June 3-9
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Our Monthly Feature
The 4Spot features fantastic contributors, on a regular rotation:
Larry's Learning Center
by Larry Cohen:
January, April, July, October
For Novices Only by Marti Ronemus:
February, May, August, November
The ABC of Bridge by Dave Wachsman:
March, June, September, December
This month we continue with Larry Cohen's series on LC Standard -- a KISS 2 over 1 system proposed by the best in the business. This month we tackle the second of three articles on no trump opening bids, dealing with interference over a no trump bid.
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Master Solvers Club
Moderator: Nick Straguzzi
Welcome to 2019!
And I can predict with near-certainty that, 12 months from now, we'll be crowning a new pair of champs in the prestigious
District 4 Master Solvers' Club
challenge. The 2019 contest begins today. Good luck!
First,
click here
to read the analysis of this month's problem.
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News from Around the Units
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Unit 112: Central New York
CONGRATULATIONS
to our Unit 112 members on their new master point rank achievements:
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Barbara Farrell, Fairport
James Farrell, Fairport
Barbara Hull, Horseheads
Annette Lindell, Oneonta
Joyce Lindley, Rochester
Maryann McCabe, Pittsford
Barbara Powell, Horseheads
Joel White, Fairport
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Club Master
Elizabeth Butler, Naples
Dr Richard B Fears, Horseheads
Linda Feltman, Canandaigua
Victoria Krzywda, Elmira
Susan Rosen, Henderson
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Sectional Master
Nancy Jones, Rochester
Joseph Nicholson, Endwell
Richard Portland, Victor
Sue Portland, Victor
Marilyn Smith, Syracuse
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Regional Master
Toni Conaway, Perry
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NABC Master
Craig Duncan, Rochester
Gloria Fant, Wyckoff
Ken Knight, Pittsford
Kumari Santosh, Vestal
Dr Donald Swart, Ithaca
Edward Szymanski, Endwel
l
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Life Master
Xenia Coulter, Moodus, CT
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Silver Life Master
Michael Mihevc, Little Falls
Ivan Montgomery, Rochester
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Ruby Life Master
Dr David Hornung, Canton
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***********************
Note to players
- when you advance your rank check your email from our secretary (sandjack) for a free play!
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A Special Thank You to Edythe Krauss for serving as our treasurer the past couple of years. Our new officers for 2019 are -
President - Pat Stadelmaier
Vice President - Lois Sanders
Secretary - Sandy Stockton
Treasurer - Mark McDermott
Areas 1 - 8 please be sure to email me ([email protected]
)
your representatives for the new year if you have not already done so.
Watch for STaC's at your club February 18-24 - Silver Points!
Happy New Year!!
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Unit 120: Northeastern Pennsylvania
Hello Unit 120!! There was a great article in The Abington Suburban on November 15, 2018. The article highlighted Jack and Lois Burns games held on Thursdays and Sundays and Chris Stevens game held on Fridays, all played in Clarks Summit. Here is the link.
We have a new Club Master as of November 2018! Please take the time to recognize Costas Lambropoulos, Stroudsburg, on his achievement. Congratulations Costas!
December 2018 was filled with lots of good cheer and new ranks! Well done all!! Please assure that you take the time to congratulate the following on their achievements:
Donald F Hull, Tunkhannock-NABC Master
Janet A Morganthau, E Stroudsburg-Regional Master
Cecily C Myers, Stroudsford- Regional Master
Grace Sutherland, Danielsville-Regional Master
James B Post, Hanover Township-Regional Master
Bernard A King, Dallas-Club Master
James C Haley, Pittston-Junior Master
Sad news to report. We have lost a few members of our bridge family.
Jane Landau, Wesley Village, Pittston, passed away on Friday Nov 2, 2018.
Carolyn Landi, E Stroudsburg, passed away on Saturday Nov 3, 2018.
Give a HOOT HOOT to Stephen Tillman and Alan Fierverker! They placed #1 in the PCBA Holiday Stac Wednesday AM open pairs (>5 tables) with a 73.66% game! HOOT HOOT, Gentlemen!!
Finally, wishing you all a blessed and prosperous 2019!!
See you at the Bridge tables!!
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Unit 121: Berks Montgomery
Brian C Snyder
484-838-0977
The Annual Myrtle Quier Memorial Unit Game and Holiday Party was held on Friday December 14 at Sacred Heart Villa. First overall winners were Carol Hawk and Geri Buczewski. After the game everyone enjoyed a beautiful lunch catered by the staff at The Villa.
Sue Wessner is hosting a bridge cruise May 9-18, 2019.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
Congratulations to the following for advancing in the ACBL ranks:
Louise Remley - New Life Master
Eugene O'Brien - New Silver Life Master
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Check back next month for a Unit 133 report.
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Unit 141 congratulates its New Life Masters and all those who reached new designation levels.
New Life Masters
Suzanne Moses
Louise Remley
Nancy Tyson
Silver Life Master
David Dodgson
Anne Levin
Lisa Mita
Dalia Singer
A very happy holiday season and a healthy 2019 to everyone.
Hope to see you at the next Unit 141 Sectional. We will be back at Bala Golf Club on January 11-13, 2019. Watch for an explanation of all events and stratification/bracketing in the tournament email blasts coming in December.
The 2019 Annual Meeting and Jane Segal/Sonny Jaspan Game will be May 19, 2019 at Bala Golf Club. Watch for flyers after the new year.
Our popular I/N (Intermediate/Newcomer) events will be returning in 2019, as well. Recently, these events have played to sold out crowds.
Find out more
about these popular events run by Bill and Joan Goldstein.
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I/N players enjoy a FREE 0-20 masterpoint relaxed game at the 2018 Valley Forge Regional.
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Unit 168: Central Pennsylvania
UNIT 168 NEWS
:
The Harrisburg Sectional, January 27-29, will be held at the Harrisburg Bridge Club. Games, times, and additional information can be found here:
Harrisburg PA Sectional
Harrisburg Bridge Club special events in January:
- January 5 - Brunch and Bridge
- January 11 - Dinner Game
- January 23 - Swiss Teams
Wacky Hands & Gadgets -
by Dave Bort
Four-Suit Transfer with Pre-Accept Segue to Redwood (or Kickback)
In a recent club game, Board 9 was EW vul, and our opponents held:
West 5 A94 AK7543 K74 East AQT9 K86 QT9 AQ8
while partner's and my hands were:
North (
me
)
J843 QJ5 J8 JT32 South K762 T732 62 965
Playing 2/1, the bidding went as follows (with partner and me silent throughout):
West East
1N(1)
2S(2) 3C(3)
4D(4) 5D(5)
Pass
Notes:
(1) 15-17
(2) Relay to Clubs, correct to Diamonds, if appropriate
(3) Completing the relay
(4) Correcting to Diamonds and inviting game
(5) With excellent Diamond support and a maximum opening bid, East has no reason not to bid game, but also no reason to think they may have more, given West's bidding
Result:
Making 6. Uh, oh, did they miss something? As it turned out, yes (giving partner and me a top!), since the double-dummy analysis shows either 7D or 6N making, whether played by East or West. Also, 4H, 4S, or 5C make, but virtually no one would choose those contracts (as a reminder, with double-dummy analysis, for each player, the computer assumes complete knowledge of all the cards in each hand, hence making the perfect play to each and every trick - for example, omnisciently dropping a stiff King with the Ace, every time one shows up in a hand).
Discussion:
So, what would have been better? What were the problems, and where are opportunities for improvement in the bidding? In general, to more consistently achieve optimum results, a partnership needs to have a combination of effective thought processes and effective tools (aka methods, conventions, agreements, and/or partnership style). As to an effective thought process that applies to this hand, the issue is NOT whether a partner thinks they can actually make a slam - the issue is whether they can have reasonable confidence they'll be safe at the five-level if they try for slam but decide it isn't there (bailing at the five-level). So, on this hand, after East's opening 1N bid, West must decide whether to risk a NT contract, with the low, stiff Spade, or whether to bypass 3N and try for a Diamond game or slam. If the latter is chosen, then the partnership's tools may become an issue. This means when West hears partner open 1N, they clearly want to investigate using their Diamond suit, since partner almost certainly has two Diamonds (unless opening 1N with a stiff Diamond Queen, as allowable under the latest ACBL NT bidding rules, or unless partner is totally psyching a 1N bid with a low stiff Diamond, which cannot be expected by the partnership, even implicitly, or it would have to be alerted to the opponents as a possibility if you had seen partner bid that way in the past). At our table, East-West played 2S as a relay to Clubs, to be corrected to Diamonds, if necessary. Plus, if they were playing slam-asks using 4N, whether playing straight Blackwood, Roman Keycard Blackwood, or 1430, West may have been worried about hearing a two-Ace response from partner (i.e., 5H, whether denying the Queen of trumps, as with 1430, or not, as with straight Blackwood), since that could have put them too high, if a missing Queen of trump became a shortfall, dooming slam). So, West settled for bidding 4D, leaving East to simply bid the game. But, using different (and, I would assert) more effective tools, how about this auction?
West
East
1N(1)
2N(2) 3C(3)
4H(4) 5D(5)
5H(6) 6D(7)
Pass(8)
Notes:
(1) 15-17
(2) Transfer to Diamonds (part of Four-Suit Transfers)
(3) Showing three Diamonds to a top honor (A, K, or Q), this bid is called a "Pre-Accept". Without that holding, East would simply complete the transfer, bidding 3D. Playing Four-Suit Transfers with Pre-Accepts can give a partnership the chance to reach a slim NT game, when the minor holdings of each hand combine advantageously, or to establish a chance for slam, as with this hand.
(4) 1430 for Diamonds (called Redwood, when used only for the minors, or Kickback, when used for all suits - note that partners may also choose to play 0314, aka Roman Keycard Blackwood, for their slam bidding, but usually, for ease of memory, they'll play it the same way for both majors and minors, rather than, say, 1430 for the majors and 0314 for the minors).
(5) Shows 2 keycards in Diamonds, with the Queen of trumps (four steps up from the 4H asking bid, including 4N as the 2nd step).
(6) Now knowing the partnership holds all the keycards (the four Aces and the King of trumps, Diamonds), plus the Queen of trumps, West has an obligation (No, I did NOT say an option!) to explore for a grand, using the King-Ask (always one level above whatever bid a partnership uses for the Ace- or Keycard-Ask).
(7) Either denying any outside Kings, or showing a King above the level of Trumps (since it wouldn't do for East to show their King of Hearts by bidding 6H, if West then decided that wasn't enough to make 7D, but was forced there by East's 6H bid). Note that East's responses with two or more Kings are subject to partnership agreement. Note that a partnership must agree on whether their King-Ask response shows the number of Kings, or specifically, their lowest King (the latter agreement is called "Specific Kings").
(8) OK, I'll settle for the small slam, partner, since you denied having more than one outside King (and may have none). But, if this makes, we'll be beating all the pairs who have trouble bidding minor-suit slams!
Comments:
So, look what happened with that auction. West's segue to Redwood (or Kickback) after their four-suit transfer to Diamonds and East's Pre-Accept, not only enabled them to find their excellent Diamond slam, but it also resulted in the strong hand (East) being declarer in Diamonds (rather than a 2S transfer to Clubs, corrected to playing Diamonds from the wrong side (the weaker hand), in the West. Now all it takes for East to get a cold top on the board is for South's opening lead to be a slavish fourth-down lead from their Spade suit (a pet peeve of mine - could you tell?), allowing East to take the Queen and dump a losing Heart on the Ace of Spades - making seven!
References include:
1) "25 More Bridge Conventions You Should Know", by Barbara Seagram & David Bird, Chapter 5: Four-Suit Transfers, where the reference uses the descriptive phrase "breaking the transfer", in place of the popular (and shorter) term "Pre-Accepts"
2) "25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know", by Barbara Seagram & David Bird, Chapter 20: Roman Key-Card Blackwood
3)
http://www.bridgeguys.com/Conventions/redwood.html
, except note that in addition to playing Redwood 0314, as shown in the reference, some partnerships may prefer to play Redwood 1430, for compatibility with their major-suit 1430 conventional agreement.
5) Roman Keycard Blackwood, The Final Word (5th Edition), by Eddie Kantar, for the King-Ask
===========================================================
Italian Cue, Kickback, and Third-Round Control-Ask
In another recent club game, Board 23 was Both vul, and partner's and my hands were:
West T92 98 8732 T643
East (
me
)
83 62 KQJ954 K87
while our opponents held:
North KJ7 AK53 6 AQ952 South AQ654 QJT74 AT J
Result:
Somehow, through a bidding sequence perhaps best forgotten (with partner and me silent throughout), our opponents ended up in 4S, making 7!
Discussion:
Suspecting that their sequence may have been less than optimum, let's see what partner and I might have bid, given their cards.
Bidding - in our imaginary sequence, if we'd been N/S
North
(me
)
South
1S
2C(1) 2H
3H(2) 4C(3)
4S(4) 5H(5)
5S(6) 5N(7)
6N(8) 7H!(9)
Pass(10)
Notes:
(1) 2/1 Game Force
(2) Setting trump, and implicitly inviting partner to cue-bid, if appropriate
(3) Italian Cue-bid, showing first- or second-round control, i.e., an Ace, King, singleton, or void in Clubs
(4) Kickback 1430 for Hearts (noting that Kickback 0314 can just be played just as well - see the reference)
(5) Showing two keycards in Hearts (from among the five keycards, including the four Aces and the King of Hearts), plus the Heart Queen (four steps up from partner's 4S Ace-Asking bid)
(6) King-Ask (a level higher than the Ace-ask bid, for whatever trump suit)
(7) Denying an outside King, but showing at least one third-control, somewhere (a Queen, a doubleton, or even a singleton)
(8) Is your third-control in Spades? Note that since bidding 6C/D would ask if partner's third-round control was in Clubs or Diamonds, and bidding 6H would say I didn't care where it was (thinking it wouldn't help us make 7, given my hand), then my 6N must be asking whether partner's advertised third-round control is in Spades (while simultaneously opining that 6N is expected to be safe enough)
(9) Yes, I do have a third-round Spade control, partner, so here we go for the grand! I'll keep it in our established suit, though, for safety, since I'm not sure 7N will play as well
10) I accept your judgment, partner, 7H it is
References include:
1) "25 More Bridge Conventions You Should Know", by Barbara Seagram & David Bird, Chapter 20: Ace-and-King (Italian) Cuebidding
3) Roman Keycard Blackwood, The Final Word (5th Edition), by Eddie Kantar, for the Third-Round Control Ask
Stay tuned for more wacky hands & gadgets next month.
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February 8 - 10
Come to the DSBA's traditional February sectional, with free deelish lunches, great games, and even greater hospitality.
GREETINGS FROM THE CHRISTMAS CELEBRANTS
The Modern Maturity Center in Dover
If you want a great Bridge experience, you should consider the games held in Dover, DE. Led and directed by the extremely capable Clare O'Brien, the games are held twice weekly at the terrific setting of the Modern Maturity Center. The "Monday Morning Dover Bridge Club" plays every Monday at 10 a.m. while the "Friday Nooners," ironically, meet every Friday at 11 a.m.
On December 17
, these two groups combined for their annual holiday game and festivities, with terrific door prizes and a wonderful sit-down lunch with wine. All the profits from the year go towards this extravaganza and the players enjoy the entire day for the customary $6.00 game fee. This tradition in Dover has been going on for over forty years.
The games are dealt and scored by hand -- just good old-fashioned bridge played by nice, courteous players. This group emphasizes friendship and fellowship above all else. What a real pleasure it is to experience bridge as it is truly meant to be. Congratulations to Clare O'Brien and all of the Dover Bridge Club members!
PLAYER ADVANCEMENTS
JUNIOR MASTER
:
James S. Angus
CLUB MASTER
:
Kusum B. Patel and Maureen M. Stadnicki
SAPPHIRE LIFE MASTER
:
Jeff Ruben
You know what really bugs me? Insect puns.
For news and results from around Unit 190, check out the Unit 190 website and click on the links below:
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Congratulations on the following rank advances!!
Susan Fletcher to Regional Master, Craig Netzley to Life Master, and Irene Harpster and Joanne Johnston to Bronze Life Master.
We held our Fall sectional September 21 - 23 at the Williamsport Bridge Club. Barbara Mateer and David Hoover won the Friday morning pair game with Craig Netley - Patricia Todd first in B and Elaine Fuller - Irene Harpster first in C. Craig Netzley and Patricia Todd won the Friday afternoon pair game with Roger Christman and Bob Jones first in C.
On Saturday Arlene Andrews and Gene Waltz won the morning pair game with Craig Netzley and Donald Dascher first in B and C. Judy Stein and John Schwartz won the Saturday afternoon pair game with Marilyn Goldfarb and Sue Fletcher first in B and C. Craig Netzley, Fred Gilbert, Patricia Todd and Donald Dascher won the Sunday Swiss with Diana Beaver, Leida Milazzo, Summer Rifkah, and Bruce Baldwin first in B. Craig Netzley won the overall master point race.
Please join us for our next sectional May 31 - June 2 at the B
oalsburg Fire Company, 113 E. Pine Street, Boalsburg, PA 16827.
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