North Penn Bridge News

Greetings to the

North Penn Bridge Community!

Week of 03/07/2022

From the Club Manager

Dave Dodgson

North Penn’s masking policy has changed from “Masks Required” to “Masks Encouraged.” The club will have masks available for anyone who wants one. Proof of vaccination will continue to be a requirement, and, as always, players who feel unwell should refrain from coming to the club.

Although we are no longer requiring masks, we ask that all be mindful of the health concerns of others and show courtesy and respect for fellow players while at the table.

March Schedule:

March 8 – 0-750 game F2F.
March 7-11 - Club championships.
March 28-April 1 - Super club championships - triple points.
March 12 - The Robot Individual at 4:00.

Calendar

Click here to see a file you can enlarge.

Bobbie Gomer Memorial Team Event

The next 8 is Enough Swiss Team event will be held on Sunday, March 27 at the King of Prussia Bridge Club. Lunch will be served before the game which begins at 12:30 pm. Extra points will be awarded. The stratification is:

-----0-750 = C

-----751-2500 = B

-----2501+ = A

Teams will be reseeded after every round. Please register your team with Andy Rosenberg at [email protected] with copy to Ken Salter at [email protected].

Education

Shuffle and Deal Wednesday, March 9 at 9:30 am.

Bridge Classes for brand-new beginners with Deb Crisfield begin Thursday, April 21 and will run through June 9.

Please bring a friend. There’s nothing to lose because the FIRST THREE LESSONS ARE FREE AND THERE’S NO COMMITMENT REQUIRED UNTIL THE FOURTH CLASS.

Recruitment is the key to growing and sustaining our club.

Recognition

March ACBL Rank Achievements:

-----Ellie Goldman -- Diamond Life Master

-----Belle Miller -- NABC Life Master

We update our Facebook page regularly so be sure to check it out. It’s a great way to stay in touch with all the happenings at North Penn.

Tidbits

“When the bidding has reached the 5-level in a competitive auction it is usually better to defend than to bid on. If you are the weaker side and your sacrificial 4S has pushed them to the 5-level, be satisfied with that. Perhaps you can defeat them when they would have succeeded one level lower. That is your profit for having pushed them one higher. Bid 5S and your good work might be completely undone.”

From 100 Winning Bridge Tips

by Ron Klinger

Deal of the Week

by Rex Saffer

A Deal That Should Have Gone South

Dear Reader, Winter is peeking tentatively around the corner at Spring, and the weather in our region has been quite mild. As your author digitally pens this article, it is raining lightly with a daytime temperature headed for an unseasonable 70 °F. A number of our bridge–playing friends who fled South to warmer climes after the December Holidays are now contemplating their return to the Great White North. When they do, we anticipate (or at least hope) that table counts at face–to–face Club games will strengthen, and that our beloved game will continue to recover from the devastating body blow the pandemic dealt it two years ago.

The Deal

In a recent 8–table F2F game at a local club, this deal proved difficult to handle, both in the bidding and the play.

The initial auction proceeded routinely through East’s 1♠ overcall. South then found herself in a mild pickle, with four possible calls. But first…

The Deal in the Field

At seven other tables, N/S declared six times in a variety of contracts: 2♣, 2NT, 3♦, 3♥, 3NT, and 4♥. All but one of these went down for generally poor scores, save one pair in 3♥ making for +140 when E/W failed to find the crossruff. One E/W pair competed to 2♠, down two for +200 N/S.

The Auction

Returning to South’s dilemma at our table, what now after East’s 1♠ overcall? There are four possible calls, all of which we find distasteful at some level:

Pass – We have a nice hand and would like to show it to partner, but it is flat and there is no compelling reason to stick our neck out yet.
Double – Oh my, our hand is still flat, with only three hearts.
1NT – What, with no spade stopper?
2♣ – A real stretch with only four cards and undistinguished spots.

A snap poll of a few experienced players and teachers returned mixed results, with three favoring Pass, two preferring a Double, and two endorsing 2♣. We have no information on the actual auctions, but taking South responses of Pass, Double, and 2♣ in turn, we might imagine:

Pass – After West’s Pass, North must consider reopening, but how? A Double seems inappropriate given the double spade stopper and unbalanced hand, 1NT would promise a big balanced hand, and 2♥ would be a reverse. Double seems the least odious option, and North can retreat to 2♦ if South responds 2♣. Eight or nine tricks in diamonds would have won 5 of 7 matchpoints for 71%.
Double – West again passing, North has a natural 2♥ call. But having already doubled with only three pieces, South should not advance to 3♥, although one pair did play there.
2♣ – An experienced player at another table in this game did make this response. Smelling a misfit, and rightly so in clubs, North passed. Not pretty, but not an unmitigated disaster either, as down two was not a dead bottom.

At our table the auction was creative and went:

South---West----North----East

Pass-----Pass-----1♦---------1♠

Double--Pass-----2♥-----.---Pass

3♣---.---Pass-----3NT--.-.--All Pass

The Play

3NT will make if declared in the South, but the game should go “South of the Border” from the North, down two on East’s best opening lead of a club. Our East instead led the ♠Q (not a standard lead from that holding against notrump), after which the contract should still go down one. But at the table, as in life, things do not always go as they should.

You can click here to view or play the hand yourself in the BBO Handviewer.

North won the ♠A and crossed to the ♥J, East ducking. A diamond to the ten lost to the stiff queen, then North won the spade return in dummy with the ten, West discarding the ♣4. North continued the ♦J, West winning the ace and continuing the ♦9, setting up a diamond winner as North won the king. Now North led a low heart toward dummy, and East jumped up with the ace. A club return would have scuttled the contract, but East returned… the ♥7.

North cashed the remaining winners in the closed hand, and at trick 11, West was endplayed when North led a diamond to the established ♦8. The forced return into dummy’s ♣AQ gave declarer nine tricks and a cold, cold top.

Closing Thoughts

There were two clues to help East with the defense: 1) When West won the second diamond and immediately continued one, it almost certainly was to establish a second winner. Why help declarer out in the opening suit? 2) E/W were playing upside down carding, and West’s discard of a low club on the second spade was encouraging.

All the best,

Rex

Laughter is the Best Medicine

A married couple are not speaking to each other after a horrible game and are driving home from a distant bridge tournament. They pass by a field where there are many donkeys. The husband breaks the silence by asking the wife: "Relations of yours"? "Yes" she says, "In-laws".