North Penn Bridge News

Greetings to the

North Penn Bridge Community!

Week of 07/11/2022

Further Feedback

Once again, thanks to all who responded about their plans to return to F2F play at the Club. A common thread we noted was frustration about partnerships that have been impacted by the Covid disruption. We are excited to share that one of our club members has volunteered to set up a partnership desk for our F2F games. Details will be announced within the next week or so; meanwhile, if you need a partner (in general or for a specific game,) send an email to the club at northpennbridge@gmail.com.

From the Club Manager

Dave Dodgson

July 11-15 - NAP Qualifying Games

Good luck to everyone playing in the Summer NABC in Providence from 7/14 to 7/24.

July 27-August 1 - Club Championship Games

August 7 - Bobbie Gomer Team Challenge.

Lunch at 11:45 a.m. with play at 12:30. Entry fee for each team is $48. Pairs or individual players who want to participate and need help finding partners/teammates should email the club at northpennbridge@gmail.com so we can assist. The attached flyer provides all the details.

Shuffle and Deal. We had a great turnout last Wednesday! Hope to see everyone again this week. There will be a short lesson at 9:30 a.m. followed by supervised play with mentors on hand. All player levels are welcome. If anyone is interested in helping as a mentor, please contact Deb Crisfield or Pat Andrews.

Points and Achievements at the June Regional

Special congratulations to Bill Bauer who made Diamond Life Master!

(See Recognition below for other rank achievements.)

About 70 North Penn players won points at the June Regional. Below is a list of everyone who won at least 10 points:

Andy Kaufman---------71.52

Carl Berenbaum-------58.09

Tom Salter-----------.49.93

Ken Salter------------.49.93

Dave Dresher---------44.63

Dave Dodgson---------44.63

Rex Saffer-----------.42.58

Lee Stanley-----------41.22

Lisa Mita--------------35.79

Betsy Cutler----------23.77

Susan Morse----------19.70

Bill Bauer III---------18.08

Bruce Schwaidelson--17.15

Evelyn Melchiorre----16.18

Brendan O’Malley----.15.64

Linda O’Malley--------15.64

Gary Hillenbrand-----14.58

Ed Leach--------------14.38

Joel Myers-----------.14.16

Cheryl Rouge---------.12.89

Toysie Walker--------12.20

Lauren Dougherty----12.01

Partnership

Stay tuned for details about the new partnership desk.

Calendar

Click here to see a file you can enlarge.

Recognition

The most recent ACBL Rank achievements are posted on our website. You can check them out here.

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

“A trump lead is often best when the opponents are playing in their third-bid trump suit or their fourth-bid suit.

When the opponents bid two suits and end in the third-bid suit, it often indicates a cross-ruff is likely.”

From 100 Winning Bridge Tips (new edition)

by Ron Klinger

Deal of the Week

by Mitch Snyder

Preemptive Woes

Now don’t get me wrong, preempting works. I do it all the time. Besides, it’s another chance to be declarer. Another chance to show off your sparkling declarer play. Isn’t that something to strive for?

Preempting works because it takes bidding space away from the opponents, making it tougher to find the right contract. On the other hand, a risky preempt or even a good one could lead to disaster. The preempted side should always be on the lookout for an opportunity to punish an ill-advised preempt or to just take advantage of the lay of the cards.

Most doubles of below game preempts are for takeout. There aren’t many situations where the double of a preempt is clearly for penalty but an astute partner should always be ready to convert a double to penalty. The most obvious reason to do so is that you have a trump ‘stack’ behind the preempt.

In today’s column we’ll look at two hands where a preempt led to poor results.

First hand:

The auction:

P----1H----3C----P

P----D------P-----P

South opened a normal 1H in second seat and west bid 3C. This is a fine preempt, the suit is robust and there’s no interest in the other major. Partner passed as dealer so you are not affecting his ability to bid a big hand as a first or second seat preempt would. Additionally, the heart void suggests that NS might have a big fit.

North has a good hand and could raise hearts or even suggest a notrump contract but the preempt has taken up a lot of space. A 3NT bid is rather presumptuous, 3H is an underbid and 4H an overbid.

But north has another choice; PASS. In this case north intends to pass again when partner reopens with a double. This is often referred to a ‘trap’ pass. 3C doubled should generate a good score especially since making 3NT or 4H is not a certainty. If south bids something else, 3NT or 4H could still be reached.

Note that opener should always strive to balance with a double when short in the opponents suit and holding support for all the other suits. South has the perfect hand for a reopening double which north happily converted to penalty.

The play:

The play did not go well for declarer. Down 3, was not a bottom as others found themselves in the same boat. For those who played in hearts, 9 tricks was the limit.

Second hand:

The auction:

As this was a face-to-face game the auction was not recorded. I know east opened 2D and west bid 4D. The entire auction was likely one of the two below.

P----P----2D---D

4D--D----P-----P

P----P----2D---P

4D--D----P----D

P----P--.--P

On this hand east elected to open 2D. A weak two bid in third seat with a 5 card suit is not unreasonable. The risk is obviously higher than if you held a 6 card suit but it can work. It’s best if the suit is spades as it takes away all of two level except for NT, of course. A better hand for a 3^rd seat weak 2 with a 5 card suit might be

-----KQT65 8 JT73 Q5.

In this case, I think the risk is too high for the bid. The hand is flat, you are vulnerable and don’t know if the opponents even have a game.

South made a takeout double and west jammed up the auction with 4D. Bridge philosophy says that you can ‘safely’ raise a 2 level preempt to four with 4 card support. Vulnerability must be considered too. Assuming that NS have game, if not slam, at equal vulnerability 4D makes sense.

North might have bid 4H at this point setting trump and giving partner room to explore for slam if so inclined. Why? North can deduce that south has a likely diamond void and with no wastage in the suit north would be more than happy to cooperate in any slam try. But instead of bidding 4H, he either passed or doubled.

If north doubles, south may read that as ‘pick a major’ or a DSI (do something intelligent) double which would imply values with no particular direction. South then has to decide between 4H and pass (for penalty).

Without a specific agreement, I would treat it as DSI and not bid 4H. Playing in a 4-3 fit where the 4 card trump suit will be forced to ruff the opponents long suit is not a formula for success. Some might consider 5C, but why? Pass, you have some defense and partner has some values. Take the plus and maybe even get a top.

If north passes, south, with such a nice hand can reopen with a double and then north has another chance to bid hearts or convert the double to penalty. This is tough decision because of north’s failure to take an action earlier.

The play:

The play was anti-climactic. The defenders took the first 7 tricks for down four and -1100.

Summary:

Keep on preempting, but be careful. And if the opponents preempt, watch for a way to punish them.