October brings the NAPs. Flight C plays at clubs on October 13, Flight B at two sights on October 27, and Flight A at Valley Forge Bridge Club on October 13 and 14. For all the details, click the link in the Upcoming Events below.
|
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Contact your District 4 board members.
PRESIDENT
Meyer Kotkin
VICE PRESIDENT
Dave Kresge
SECRETARY
Bill Bauer
TREASURER
DISTRICT DIRECTOR
Joann Glasson
|
When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours at Spooky Nook on Halloween
.
Good luck as well on the other six days of the Lancaster Fall Regional at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Manheim, PA. If you haven't already done so, make your plans to play in the final District 4 (D4) Regional of the year, Oct 29 - Nov 4, 2018. Tournament Chairs Jeanne Gehret (U168) and Tom Coxey (U168) have revamped the schedule (including adding the popular Dupli-Swiss on Sunday and running Gold Rush events every day) and ramped up hospitality. Jeanne, Tom and their Tournament Committee (Deb and John Klinger [U168 - Partnerships], Sharon Sherban [U168 - Welcome and Information Desk], Andie Sheaffer [U168 - Intermediate & Newcomer], Dian Wise [U168 - Caddies] and Joann Glasson [U141 - Bulletins and Webmaster]) are working hard every day to provide a great player experience and a fun, welcoming week of bridge for all levels of players. The playing space at Spooky Nook is fantastic and the hotel rooms are modern and nice so make your reservations early as rooms are going fast. It might shock you to know I am partial to food (who would have thought?) and Lancaster is home to many great restaurants, bars and late-night entertainment. Check out the restaurant guide
here
on the Lancaster Fall Regional website or ask Tournament Committee members and fellow players for recommendations. I recommend Sala Thai on Queen Street in Lancaster for those who love Thai food, especially if, like me, you like spicy food.
The Lancaster Fall Regional will be part of the ACBL's PurplePass credit card experiment. Players may use credit cards to purchase pair and team entries (you must buy the complete pair or team entry). The charges will appear on your statements as PurplePass so if you do use your credit cards, please remember the name PurplePass.
There will also be a full D4 Board meeting on Friday, Nov 2, during the Lancaster Fall Regional. Contact your Unit's District Board representatives if there are any issues you would like your Unit's representatives to raise at the D4 Board meeting.
Remember, there is magic in the night when pumpkins glow at moonlight.
A loyal and faithful reader of my 4Spot column (didn't know I had followers - maybe it is time for me to twit, tweet, ChatSnap, Instagram or whatever you young people do) pointed out an oversight in my September column. I missed that David Venetianer (U190) finished second in the Red Ribbon Pairs at the recent Atlanta North American Bridge Championships (NABC). Congratulations and well-done David, and I apologize for missing your name in the list of top D4 finishers at the Atlanta NABC. What is worse, David is a fellow Cornellian so I think I now have to do penance by going far above Cayuga's waters and buying David and old Ezra Cornell himself a drink at Theodore Zinck's. I will try to time that trip with an Ithaca (U112) Sectional even if Hal's Deli closed (at least Collegetown Bagels [CTB] is still there - I kept CTB and Hal's in business in the early 70s).
As D4 president, I not only get e-mails and phone calls in response to my 4Spot articles, I also am often approached at D4 Regional and Sectional Tournaments as well as club games I attend, about both district wide and local bridge and tournament issues of concern to our D4 members. I try to be patient and polite and I am committed to listening to any D4 member who wants to discuss a bridge or tournament issue they consider important. However, it sometimes seems to me that people think I am rude when they raise an issue and after my comments, I add something like "Why don't you volunteer to be part of the solution?"
For example, at a recent U141 Sectional, I was helping the Tournament Committee by selling entries and seeding the events. A player recognized me from my adorable, chick-magnet inspired picture in the 4Spot and asked me why the Sectional did not accept credit card payments. I explained that because of PurplePass processing and equipment rental costs the ACBL is only running the credit card experiments at Regionals (and even then only at two Regionals in each District - for D4, I chose the Philadelphia and Lancaster Regionals to host the PurplePass experiment because they are D4's two largest Regional tournaments). The player then quite naturally and reasonably asked me why U141 just didn't develop their own credit card payment acceptance system. I tried to explain that I believe setting up such a system is non-trivial (in my mind, an on-site payment system requires obtaining equipment, establishing payment policies and procedures especially regarding security and declined payments after the event as well as deciding whether to pass the credit card company fees on to the players). The player insisted I was wrong and claimed to have vast computer experience that indicated that it really was simple to set up a credit card payment system, so I suggested the player volunteer to set up a U141 credit card system. The player told me it was so simple it would take someone five minutes to do and the player didn't have to be the one to do it. I countered that if it only took five minutes and she had the requisite skills, why wouldn't the player spend the five minutes helping the Unit. The player left in a huff or a minute and a huff (yes, I am a Marx Brothers fan - can you tell me what movie that line is from?) but here is my point. I am not trying to be rude to these people. All D4 volunteers are already working very hard to provide the best player experience possible. Please start from that fundamental principle. If something is not to your liking or seems inferior at a tournament, it is likely the Tournament Chairs and Committees would like that situation improved as well. I guarantee that all D4 Tournament Chairs and Committees will accept all the help they can get and will listen to all reasonable ideas.
So, if you think something is easy to fix or improve, please volunteer your ideas and time. If you complain to me that a Tournament should serve vegan, Kosher, Halal, gluten free, no sugar added, paleo-diet etc alternatives then be prepared for me to ask why won't you help the Tournament Committee offer all those alternatives in an affordable and convenient way? If you don't like a tournament venue, be prepared for me to ask if you will help locate affordable, alternative venues. Even if you want to make things better that others view as good enough already, volunteer to help with the improvements you envision. Adapting a Kate Watson quote: If we all spent less time complaining about problems and more time brainstorming and implementing solutions, imagine what a positive impact we could have on bridge.
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.
|
From the District Director
The game of bridge has been a wonderful part of my life. I met my husband at the bridge table, my older son found his career through the bridge world, and I have made lifelong friends that I cherish playing bridge.
Some years ago, I started teaching the game to others and have made a whole new world of friends through teaching. It's been a great joy to share my enthusiasm for this enchanting game with others and I have been rewarded tenfold for the effort.
Bridge players are all bright, interesting individuals with fascinating stories of how they found our wonderful game. You can read many of them on the District 4 website in "Our Player's Stories".
player's milestones.htm
Our game is in a bit of a crisis right now with membership slipping. We can all help. If we each brought one friend into the game the problem would be solved.
We all know someone who is recently retired and has time for a new hobby or a family member that has never played the game. What a wonderful gift the game of bridge can be!
So, let's make October "Bring a Friend to Bridge Month." Let's each of us introduce one other person to the game that has brought so much joy (and sometimes frustration) to our lives.
|
October 13
October 13-14
October 27
October 29-November 4
STaC
December 10-16
|
The Lancaster Regional arrives this month, starting October 29 and running through November 4. Make your plans, teams, and reservations to enjoy this tournament. There's free morning coffee/pastries and lunch every day and NEW! Dupli-Swiss on Sunday. For all the information, click here for the website.
|
|
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. Last time, we looked at the general approach. This month we tackle the first of three articles on no trump opening bids.
|
|
Master Solvers Club
Moderator: Nick Straguzzi
After last month's skewed vote, this month's problem elicited more of a split decision and a variety of responses. Where do you land on this one?
First,
click here to read the analysis of this month's problem.
|
News from Around the Units
|
Unit 112: Central New York
Unit 112 Sectional
October 20-21: Binghamton
Unit 112 Sectional
November 10-11: Waterloo
Unit 112 Congratulates their Advancing Players!
|
Junior Master
Bobbie R. Iorio, Ithaca
David T. Miller, Rochester Patricia Rowland, Potsdam
|
Club Master
Jane Hicks, Canandaigua
Joseph H. King, Manlius
Barbara G. Shapiro, Fairport
|
Sectional Master
Thomas Moses, Corning
Roxanne R. Pratt, Redwood
Janelle R. Tauer, Ithaca
|
|
Regional Master
Warren L. Tessier, Rochester
|
Advanced NABC Master
John W. Nelson, Rochester
|
Bronze Life Master
Stephen O. Mast, Corning
|
|
Silver Life Master
Mary K. Quiggle. Painted Post Judy Vespa, Watertown
|
Diamond Life Master
Celia Austenfeld. Vestal
|
|
Looking for
Silver
Points?
Join us in October for our Sectionals!
Rochester Fall Sectional
Knights of Columbus - 70 Barrett Drive - Webster, New York
Saturday - October 6th - Open Pairs Two Sessions 10:30 & 2:45
299er Stratified Open Pairs 10:30 and 2:45
Sunday - October 7th - Stratified Open Swiss Teams 10:30 Play Through
Stratified by Average - A 2000, B 750-2000, C 0-750
Stratified 299er Swiss Teams One Session 10:30
Lunch available on Sunday $6 per person
****************************************************************************************************
Binghamton Sectional
Broome West senior Center - 2801 Wayne Street - Endwell, New York
Saturday - October 20th - 0-200 Stratified Pairs (3 table minimum) 10:45 and 3:15
Stratified Open Pairs Two Single Sessions 11:00 & 3:30
Unlimited/1000/300
Good Free Food All Day Long
Sunday - October 21th - Open Swiss Teams 11:00 AM Play Through
One 2 sessions event Stratified Team Average Unlimited/1000/500
Pizza available on Sunday 2 Pieces & drink & dessert $5
Congratulations to our Cicero Fall Sectional Winners
Open Pairs
12 tables / Based on 16 tables
Flight A - 1st Saul Teukolsky - Roselyn Teukolsky, Ithaca 62.03%
2nd Harry Nuckols - Mary Poplawski - Vestal 60.98%
Flight B - 1st Leo Birmingham, Whitney Point; Eric v.d..Luft, North Syracuse 52.46%
2nd Frank Kunsman, Baldwinsville - Lawrence Waful, Liverpool 51.80%
Flight C - 1st Debra Carpenter - Xiang Long, Ithaca 47.73%
2nd Debra Statton - Ornit Grossman, Ithaca 45.55%
299er Pairs Sat Morning
- 3.5 tables
Flight A&B 1st Shawna Sanders, East Rochester - James Patton, Pittsford 70.00%
Flight A 2nd Jane Hicks - Judy Ferris, Canandaigua 62.50%
Flight B 2nd Jon Davidson, Cazenovia - Dee DeRosa, Syracuse 52.50%
299er Pairs Sat Afternoon
- 4 tables
Flight A&B Anne Schofield - Marilyn Smith, Syracuse 54.17%
Jane Hicks - Judy Ferris, Canandaigua 54.17%
Shawna Sanders, East Rochester - James Patton, Pittsford 54.17%
Sunday Open Swiss Teams
- 11 Tables - Based on 15Tables
Flight A - Dan Boye, East Syracuse - Doug Ross, Pennfield
Saul Teukolsky - Roselyn Teukolsky, Ithaca
Flight B - Joan Phillips - Don Phillips, Brewerton
Bobbie McDougal, Syracuse - Carolyn Leonard, Pinellas Park, FL
Flight C - Ellen Hammer - Wayne Wilson, Manilus
Claire Downey, Manlius - Mary Silky, Syracuse
Reminder: Be sure to preregister for the District 4 North American Pairs Finals
Club qualification in June, July, or August required
Flight A - see the district website
Flight B - Kendal at Ithaca
October 27th 11AM & TBA
Flight C
- 2 locations - October 13th - preregistration required
The Bridge Studio
- 732-736 Vestal Parkway E - Vestal 11AM & TBA
Potter Place
- 53 W Church St (Route 31F) - Fairport 11AM &TBA
|
Unit 120: Northeastern Pennsylvania
Unit 120 Sectional
October 5-7
The NEPA Bridge Association Sectional Tournament will be held October 5-7 at the Quality Inn & Suites, 880 Kidder Street, Wilkes Barre, Pa 18702.
Friday's game will be 10 am and 3 pm. Play both sessions or only one if you wish.
Stratifications will be 0-500, 500-2000 and 2000 plus. There will also be a Non-life master game and stratifications there will be 0-50, 50-150 and 150-300.
Saturday's games will be at the same time. Sunday there will be a Stratified Swiss Team and stratification there will be 0-500, 500-1500 and 1500+.
Starting time on Sunday is 11 am.
Rooms are available at the Quality Inn ($75) 570-824-8901, Host ($89) 570-408-8490 and the Fairfield ($114) 570-208-4455.
The following Monday, October 8th, the Honesdale-Hawley Duplicate Bridge Club will hold their farewell party (we say so long to all our players heading south and west for the winter) at the Central House Resort in Beach Lake, PA. If you want to stay over they do have rooms available. Call for info - 570-729-7411. This is the same location that the Unit Party was held on September 9th. There will be one session starting at 10:30 am, D'oeuvres at noon with dinner to follow the game.
Salad, Roast Beef, Bara Mundi (fish). mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables
and dessert. Cash Bar. $32.00 and reservations are a must. Call me at 610-442-0742 or email at email above.
Beth Rosenthal threw a great Life Master Party party in September recognizing those who made a life master milestone this year. Those honored were:
Sapphire - Judy Argento and Jeanne Fainberg
Gold - Sara Eisner
Ruby - JoAnn Mauger
Silver - Kate Shumaker, Fay Pacchioli, Steve Mansour, Helen McCool. Irv Lebowitz, David Forth, Karen Wessell, and Martha O'Connor
Bronze - Lynn Gonchar, Bill Burns, Mary Zabresky and Ellen Preece
She also honored the Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs winners in the District:
Rob Schanker, Roseann Tedesko, Louisa Stephens, Chris Stephens, Linda Churla, Beverly Bright, Jo Distini, Bill Burns, David Forth, Steve Tillman, Carole McCallum, Judy Argento, Carol Drewniak and Dave Meyer.
PLAYER ADVANCEMENTS
JUNIOR MASTER
Jay Steinberger, Tobyhanna, Warren Todd, Dallas, Kenneth Lloyd, Scranton
CLUB MASTER
Mrs. Gere Gerlach, Cresco
SECTIONAL MASTER
Barbara Agius, E. Stroudsburg, Harold Koehler, Dallas, Rob Schanker, Lake Ariel
REGIONAL MASTER
Mokhtar Elbassuni, Stroudsburg, Mary Ellen Petcavage, Bear CreekTwp, Beth Travis, Orwigsburg
LIFE MASTER
Ruth Orth, Sugarloaf
We have a new member - Colin Jeschke from S. AbingtonTwp.
Be sure to say hello and make him feel welcome.
Sorry to pass on the news that we lost Gayle Post of Equinunk. I have not seen Gayle in quite a few years but she is the mother of Michael Post and was one of our very good players
DATES TO REMEMBER
October 13 - North American Pairs - Flight C
October 27 - North American Pairs - Flight B
October 31 - ACBL Instant Matchpoint Game - Gold points
December 10 - Honesdale Holiday Party
|
Unit 121: Berks Montgomery
Brian C Snyder
484-838-0977
December 21
The Fall Fest Unit Game was held on Thursday September 13 at Sacred Heart Villa. Lissy Stauffer and Vicky Sokoloff were first overall.
Our next 0-500 Sectional Tournament will be held Friday December 21 at Sacred Heart Villa. More information can be found
HERE
.
Sue Wessner is hosting an Atlantic City trip October 17 - 19. The Trip includes two sanctioned bridge games.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
Sue Wessner is hosting a bridge cruise May 9-18, 2019.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
Congratulations to Jack Berry for reaching Gold Life Master!
Link to the unit website
|
Unit 133 Sectional
October 19-21
Check back next month for a Unit 133 report.
|
499er Swiss Team
Unit 141 congratulates its New Life Masters and all those who reached new designation levels.
New Life Masters
Dennis Mondelli
Emerald Life Master
Stephen Nellissen
Gold Life Master
Jack Berry
Ruby Life Master
Barbara Kichline
Corneliu Galer
Marjorie Smink
Silver Life Master
Hussein Ali Maarouf
Bronze Life Master
Dennis Mondelli
Marie Zweier
What a nice turnout at the Unit 141 Sectional Sept 21-23 at the historical Germantown Cricket Club. The venue turned out to be a beautiful new possible site for future sectionals.
Congratulations to winners:
Friday am Open winners: Andy Kaufman & Corneliu Glaler
NLM winners: Fran Niemiec & Patty Shaughnessy
pm Open winners: Meyer Kotkin & Alex Allen
NLM winners: Pradip Khan & Shyamalendu Bose
Saturday am Open winners: Steve White & Larry Plotkin
NLM winners: Daniel & Barbara Droz
pm Open winners: Meyer Kotkin & Larry Sunser
NLM winners: Daniel & Barbara Droz
Sunday Swiss A/X winners: Howard Kahlenberg, Everett Young, Donna Morgan, Richard Morgan
Sunday Swiss Bracket I winners: Susan Morse, Deborah Crisfield, Alison Shoemaker, Lisa Mita
Sunday Swiss Bracket II winners: Carol Elfant, Pradip Khan, Albert Fitzgerald III, Carole Bishop
|
Unit 168: Central Pennsylvania
Unit 168 Sectional
0-750 Sectional
UNIT 168 NEWS
:
October is Club Appreciation Month, and many HBC games will award enhanced masterpoints. Additionally, 4 Swiss Team events, awarding partial gold points, are scheduled as follows:
- October 4 (Senior Mentor Game; pre-registration required)
- October 12 (0-1500 Swiss Teams; sign up sheet available)
- October 14 (Women's Swiss; sign up sheet available)
- Monthly Swiss -October 24 (e-mail sign-up)
Two special ACBL-wide games will be held in October:
- Senior Pairs (open to players born prior to January 1, 1959) - Friday, October 5 at 11:30 am
- ACBL Instant Matchpoint Game - Wednesday, October 31 at 11:30 am.
- 10/1 - Unit Game - extra points!
- 10/8 - Club Appreciation Team Game - triple points! Pre-registration required. 5% GOLD points!
- 10/9 - 10/12 - All Club Appreciation Pairs Games! Triple points!
- 10/15 - Club Appreciation Pairs Game
- 10/24 - NLM SECTIONAL !!!!! At Maple Grove! All SILVER points. Pre-registration required. Contact Andie Sheaffer at 717-581-1003.
The Bridge Boardroom would like to thank Pam Murray and Ronnie Orr for all they have done for bridge in Unit 168 over the years. Pam and Ronnie are stepping down from roles they have had over the years. They will be missed. Make sure to thank them for all they have done.
October Special Events at the Bridge Boardroom:
- Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd Unit Games $1 Extra
- Week of 10/8-10/12 all games Club Appreciation games
- Wednesday 10th 9:30 Mentor Game
- Friday 12th 9:30-11:30 Workshop on Responder Rebids
- Monday 15th Evening game is Unit Game $1 Extra
- Tuesday 16th 9:30-11:30 Workshop on Opening and responding to
minors
- Friday 19th 9:30-11:30 Workshop on Negative Doubles
- Saturday 20th 6pm Saturday Night Special
- Wednesday 24th 9:30am Mentor Game
- Tuesday 30th 9:30-11:30 Workshop on Transfers
- NO EVENING GAME ON HALLOWEEN
CONGRATULATIONS
to these Unit 168 members on their new master point rank achievements:
|
Club Master:
|
Leonard Crumb, Kim Engman, Roger French, Minerva Shindler, Theresa Stoeckl
|
|
Sectional Master:
|
Jinan Bahia, Pat Gage, Georgia Goodman, Parul Iyer, Casey King, Karen Marrero, Linda Shook, Mary Wills
|
|
Regional Master:
|
Suzanne Campbell, Frances Cohen, Susan Conley, Sandra Goldberg, Fran McCaffrey, Jeryl Miller, James Riccio, Jenny Riccio, Jim Ross, Carol Smith
|
|
Advanced NABC Master:
|
Jack Thorp
|
|
Life Master:
|
Joseph Patterson, Alexis Peffer, Margaret Sobelewski, Tim Sumner
|
|
Bronze Life Master:
|
Shirley Rasmussen
|
Wacky Hands & Gadgets -
by Dave Bort
Two-Club King-Showing and Third-Round Control Ask
In a recent club game, Board 17 was white-on-white and our opponents bid (with us silent throughout):
North
South
1S 1N
4S All Pass
Pretty normal auction, right? Except, making 7! What?! Wait a minute, here... let's look at our hands:
West
: None JT9752 JT832 Q8 East: 974 86 Q97 T9752
while our opponents held:
North
: AQT863 AQ AK4 AJ South: KJ52 K43 65 K643
Wow! How about this auction, instead?
North
South
2C(1) 2N(2)
3H(3) 4S(4)
4N(5) 5C(6)
6D(7) 7S(8)
7N!(9)
Notes
:
(1) I think I know which suit we'll be playing, partner (Spades, don't make me say "Duh!"), so without two suits to show, I'm willing to open 2C, implying a 4-loser hand.
(2) Showing three (3) Kings, and a desire to play the hand (to receive opponent's lead into the Kings), after which systems are ON.
(3) Transfer to Spades, implying a suit of 5+ cards.
(4) Super-Accept, implying 4 trumps, a good hand in the context of the auction, and (probably) some shapeliness to the hand, e.g., at least a doubleton. Yes, only accepting the transfer and bidding 3S would have kept the bidding low, to facilitate exchanging further information about the hands, but in this case, it seems important to set trumps, and see how partner wants to proceed.
(5) Wow, partner has 3 Kings, and I know which ones they are! OK, although I already know partner has the trump King, let's try 1430, to see if partner shows a void, but more importantly, to set the stage for further inquiry.
(6) Showing 1 or 4 keycards (and no voids, since not jumping to the void suit, with an odd number of keycards).
(7) Bypassing both a 5D Queen-Ask and a 5N King-Ask, this bid is then a rare Third-Round Control-Ask, in Diamonds, requesting partner to bid a grand slam if they have third-round control in Diamonds, whether the Queen of Diamonds, or a doubleton (or singleton).
(8) Yes, I have third-round control of Diamonds (with my little doubleton), so let's do this!
(9) By golly, thanks, partner, with you showing third-round Diamond control and already having shown enough trumps to ruff a Diamond, I can now count 13 tricks, so let's do this!
References
:
1) Roman Keycard Blackwood, The Final Word (5th Edition), by Eddie Kantar (a required reference for all the complexities of upper-level slam bidding - all serious partnerships need this book for their library!)
2) The 2N treatment associated with the espoused 2C approach is non-standard, so showing it to you here will have to suffice, for a reference.
Exclusion Blackwood
(Danger, Will Robinson!)
In a recent club game, Board 22 was white-on-red, our opponents held:
West: T6 532 AK98532 J East: J82 KQ9 JT76 862
while partner's and my hands were:
North
: A75 T6 None AKQ98532 South: KQ943 AJ874 Q4 9
Playing 2/1, the bidding proceeded (opponents silent throughout):
North
(me) South
1S
2C 2H
6C All Pass
Result: Making 7, but unfortunately, sort of a guessing "blast" into slam, thinking we might make it, but blasting because I had given up on trying for a better contract, thinking partner and I did not have appropriate tools in our repertoire. But, if we had... how about this auction?
Playing 2/1, the bidding might have gone (opponents silent throughout):
North
(me) South
1S
2C(1) 2H
2S(2) 3H(3)
5D(4) 6D(5)
7S!(6) All Pass
Notes
:
(1) Two-over-one game force
(2) Setting trump
(3) Showing 5-5 in the majors (and not wanting to show a splinter in partner's bid suit)
(4) Exclusion Blackwood, a jump to the five-level of an unbid suit (by partner), asking partner to describe their keycard holding in your agreed suit, but without including anything they have in your bid suit (in this case, Diamonds). Note that Exclusion generally needs to be a jump bid, so you need to look ahead, rather than bid it when it may be misconstrued as being part of a competitive or constructive sequence. Also, another way of recognizing it is that when a bid is two levels above an otherwise forcing bid, it's Exclusion. Example: If your suit is Hearts and the opponents have bid Spades, then your (or partner's) 2S bid would be forcing, 3S would be a splinter, and 4S would be Exclusion (asking partner to show their keycards in Hearts, without including any in Spades).
(5) Shows 2 keycards in Spades, with the Queen of Spades, from among the step responses: 1st step = 0 keycards; 2nd step = 1 KC, without the Queen; 3rd step = 1 KC with the Q; 4th step = 2 KCs without the Q, and 5 steps = 2 KCs with the Q
(6) Wow, partner has the King and Queen of Spades, and the Ace of Hearts, so all I need is for the Spades to behave reasonably, and I'm probably making a grand! So, since this is matchpoints (I wouldn't bid a grand in a team game without being able to explicitly count 13 tricks), I'm going for it! After all, the odds of Spades being 3-2 are about 63%, even if partner doesn't have the Jack, and there may be finessing possibilities. I certainly don't need partner to have more than one Club to think that suit will run, and cover a lot of losers in partner's hand. So, here we go!
NOTE OF SOBER CAUTION FOR ALL THE NERVOUS NELLIES OUT THERE
Now, let me hasten to caution you that Exclusion Blackwood can be Very Dangerous! If you and partner are not on exactly the same page, you will very likely end up in a DEP (Disaster of Epic Proportions), like bidding to an impossible slam, or much, much worse, like being passed in your five-level void suit, while everyone else quietly and safely bids game, making 5 (or 6). Further, note that with any misunderstanding of each other's bids, you'll even lose to Timid Bidders (a technical term) who can't manage to bid game! So, while it's the perfect tool every once in a (great) while, it (very) rarely comes up, so you'll need to decide carefully if you want to include it in your toolbox. Recommended for experienced, regular partnerships only. But, so satisfying when it's right!
Reference
:
Roman Keycard Blackwood, The Final Word (5th Edition), by Eddie Kantar (as above). Buy it! Study it!
Stay tuned next month, for more wacky hands & gadgets.
|
Unit 190 Dave Treadwell Sectional
December 27-31
The Bridge Studio is MOVING
To Building 1407, first floor, Room 102, on Saturday, 9/29.
Located just across the parking lot from where you now park, easiest entry is from the Foulkstone complex central parking spaces. Come and check it out!
The only birthday gift I got this year was a deck of sticky playing cards.
I find that very hard to deal with.
DIAMOND STATE SECTIONAL
Top Unit 190 masterpoint winners
1. 21.74 Jeff Ruben
2. 15.09 Rick Rowland
3. 9.88 Mark Henderson
4. 9.87 Kurt Engleman
5. 9.87 Bernard Rehberg
6. 8.64 John Strange
7. 8.35 Ala Hamilton-Day
8. 7.61 Caroline Hughes
9. 7.41 Melody Henderson
10. 6.50 Judith Gwaltney
11. 6.50 J. Bruce Gwaltney
12. 6.19 Soley Kristjansdottir
13. 6.19 Harold Jordan
14. 6.02 Steven Blomstedt
PLAYER ADVANCEMENTS
JUNIOR MASTER
:
Eugene I. Tolpin
CLUB MASTER
:
Patricia B. Dobrydrio
SECTIONAL MASTER
:
Jacqueline R. Keen
REGIONAL MASTER
:
Joyce Cosby, Arthur L. Rose and Denise Ucciferro
LIFE MASTER
:
Carol A. Niebler
For news and results from around Unit 190, check out the Unit 190 website and click on the links below:
|
Check back next month for a Unit 217 report.
|
|
Join Our Mailing List!
It's fast and easy to join our mailing list. And we use SafeUnsubscribe, so it's just one click if you change your mind later.
|
|
