We are sad to report that Bob Bencker passed away on December 16, 2021.

His daughter Robin wrote, “Dad passed away in the middle of the night. His tired body had finally had enough.”

Bob loved this game and devoted time to playing, teaching and mentoring. His longtime partner, Michael Freedman wrote:

“I first met Bob one afternoon when I went to Dotty’s bridge club in Warminster. As luck would have it, Bob also did not have a partner that day and we were paired together. I quickly realized that he was a much more experienced and expert player than I but we seemed to have a certain synergy and we both enjoyed the afternoon and agreed to play together again. Thus began a long and fruitful partnership of bridge, Bob taking on the role of mentor to my somewhat inexperienced game. He introduced me to his favorite club, North Penn, and we met there weekly for bridge. When going to the bridge club became too difficult, we continued to play together online until a few weeks ago.

I shall miss him, his unique style at the bridge table and his detailed post mortem discussions of many bridge hands. May he rest in peace.”

All of us are mourning the loss of this great guy…a true friend of the NPDBC and an amazing player.

Bob's obituary can be viewed here.

Shuffle and Deal. Shuffle and Deal returns in January on a NEW Day, Wednesday. (See Education below.)

January Events. January is Junior Fund month. Games throughout the month will be awarding extra points.

Calendar (click here to see a file you can enlarge):

Shuffle & Deal for Newer Players. The next session will be Wednesday, January 5 at 9:30 am.

Everyone is welcome - no partner needed. A mentor will be available to answer whatever questions might arise as you play. $5 per person per session. No scoring, no pressure!

2022 Lessons for Advancing Players.

Contact John at: [email protected] for more information.

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.

Mel’s Rule of 9 (for passing partner’s take-out double).

From How You Can Play Bridge Like an Expert

Upon inspection, E/W can be seen to be cold for a small slam in either minor, while N/S can compete safely only to 1♠ against best defense (♥AK, heart ruff, low club to the king, heart ruff, and the ♦A). The issues here are not so much the final contract or play of the hand, but the optimal auction from either side’s perspective. As we shall see, while not endless, the number of possible auctions will continually multiply with each successive call.

As dealer, the first decision falls upon West, who with 4–4 in the minors must determine which to open (2). Already we encounter a pronounced difference of opinion among experienced players. In an informal poll, the majority always would open 1♦, preparing for a 2♣ rebid should partner respond 1♠. This declamation is usually accompanied by “of course”. The remainder either always opens 1♣, or chooses that call with this particular hand because the clubs are so much better than the diamonds. All those polled were firm in their opinions, resolutely so. Karen Walker’s excellent article Those Inconvenient Minors offers more nuanced analysis and recommendations.

As for your author, he prefers to open 1♣ if there is no problem with the rebid, say, if the distribution were 2=3=4=4 or 3=2=4=4. A 1NT rebid would simultaneously limit the point count and faithfully reflect the distribution. But in most of his partnerships, he has an agreement not to rebid 1NT with a stiff in partner’s major and would have opened the West hand 1♦. One player polled remarked that since the stiff is an honor, a 1NT rebid is not as objectionable. As with most matters of judgment, these things reduce to style and partnership agreement. Let us assume here that West has opened 1♦.

If responder makes an Inverted Minor raise of either kind, opener usually begins to show major suit stoppers up the line, and in an unobstructed auction East is certain to hear West rebid 2♥. Is this useful? With a void in partner’s suit, East is highly unlikely to want to play in notrump, indeed, visions of minor suit sugar plum slam should be dancing in his head. How best to get there? Your author prefers a 2/1 response of 2♣ at this point. It immediately forces to game and keeps all options open.

If you have been keeping track, Dear Reader, the number of possible auctions so far is 2 X 3 X 3 = 18, and it can only get worse, as we have not yet concluded the first round of bidding! We will stop counting now. To this point it has gone 1♦ – (Pass) – 2♣ – 3♦.

Will North Pass? Red on red that seems entirely prudent. How might West interpret a 4♦ rebid by East, as showing the double fit, or as a first– or second–round control in diamonds, Italian style? A 4♥ cuebid would show the control and strong slam interest, but will West’s enthusiasm be dampened knowing his heart honors are wasted opposite shortness? Either way, South might well not remain silent, rebidding 4♠ to show the strong 6–5. This will take away a possible 4♠ cue bid by West to show a control.

One other remote option is for West to jump to 5♥, if the partnership is playing Exclusion Keycard Blackwood (EKCB). This would ask for keycards outside the heart suit, with step responses. Usually the player holding the void is the one to initiate EKCB, but here the auction has gotten too high, too fast, and West is the only one to know that there are not two fast spade losers. On the other hand, West has no idea at this point that East is so strong and distributional, and holding a minimum, only the most optimistically aggressive would commit the partnership to slam. It might be different if playing in a major suit, where the partnership might be able to sign off in five if necessary.

Alfred Sheinwold