Bulletin Editor: Peter Scott 21 Salters Way, Dunstable, Beds LU6 1BT Tel: 01582 668488 or 07956 820530 Email: [email protected]

Contents : Declarer Play Quiz...... 2 Declarer Play Quiz Recent Results...... 3 Choice of Victim...... 4 ♠ AK432 Answer to Declarer Quiz ...... 6 After the auction Common Mistakes...... 7 ♥ 102 below, West leads the Thank You Partner ...... 8 ♦ AQ4 ten of diamonds to Try This One! ...... 10 ♣ K32 your 6 ♥ contract after his partner’s lead- A Little Deception ...... 11 Garden Cities Competition... 13 N directing double of the Your County Needs You! ..... 14 W E 4♦ . How are BK’s Tips for Improvers ...... 15 S you going to give Answer: A Little Deception .. 18 yourself the best odds Kibitzer’s Summer Quiz ...... 19 ♠ 65 of coming to 12 tricks? Photo Gallery ...... 20 ♥ AKQJ43 It looks like the 2017/18 Trophy Winners .... 22 ♦ 76 diamond is Alan Oddie’s Answers ...... 23 ♣ A54 losing so you will need Go Wireless with ArcScorer . 26 to look elsewhere for your 12 th trick. 4-4-4-1 Hands...... 28 Bridge Poem...... 31 Answer on page 6 Letters to the Editor ...... 32 Gem: Agustin Madala ...... 35 The Bidding: Answer to ‘Try This One’ ..... 39 Mr Bridge...... 40 North East South West 1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass Front Cover Photo: The famous 2NT Pass 3♥ Pass White Lion carved out of chalk on the slopes of Bison Hill at 4♦ X 5♣ Pass Whipsnade Zoo. 5♠ Pass 6♥ End YOUR BULLETIN REPS

Bedford ...... Pamela Smith Milton Keynes ...... Janet Marsh Cranfield ...... Erika Sharrock Olney ...... Pamela Smith Leighton B...... Peter Scott Wardown ...... Lesley Beardsall

Bulletin Proof Readers: Alan Cooke and Peter Taylor

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Recent Results

26th March BBA Swiss Pairs 1st: Dan Russell & Stephen Bligh - 78 VPs Leighton Buzzard Rugby Club ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Devon Congress 7th April 2nd: Alan Cooke & Gary Hyett - 149 VPs Swiss Pairs ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ EBU British Spring Sim. Pairs: Monday 9th April 18th: Angela & Richard Chester - 63.8% (Playing at Wardown) Tuesday 10th April 11th: Ron Davis & Jackie Davies 66.9% (Playing at Berkhamsted) Wednesday 11th April 7th: Rosalind & John Bateman - 64.5% (Playing at Milton Keynes) ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ Lambourne Jersey Festival 29th April Swiss Pairs 2nd: Alan Cooke & Gary Hyett - 157 VPs 2nd May Seniors’ Teams 2nd: Alan Cooke & Gary Hyett; Brian & Maureen Stairs - +76 IMPS 3rd May Mixed/Open Pairs 1st: Alan Cooke & Gary Hyett - 63.4% 6th May Swiss Teams 3rd: Alan Cooke & Gary Hyett; Brian & Maureen Stairs - 151 VPS ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ EBED Spring Sim Pairs 30th April 5th: Ron Davis and David Harris - 67.3% (Playing at Wardown) 2nd May 2nd: Richard Chester & John Neville 69.4% (Playing at Leverstock Green) ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ 24th May BBA Champions’ Trophy 1st: Ron Davis & David Harris - 73.6% Wixams ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ 17th June BBA GP Swiss Teams 1st: Paul & Fiona Littlewood; Marl Westley & Wixams Arni Anidjar-Romain 3

Extracts from Geoff Lacey’s book: ‘Knave of Hearts’

It’s love all at teams and this is my hand:

♠J 8 7 © ♥A Q 2 ¨ ♦K Q 5 3 ♣A Q 6

With the opposition silent throughout I open a strong artificial 1 ♣, partner bids a heart and I limit my hand to 18-19 points with 1NT, raised to 3NT by partner: ♠ K432 ♥ 10732 The Bidding ♦ A Me West Partner East ♣ J832 1♣ Pass 1♥ Pass N 1NT Pass 3NT End S ♠ J87 The ♣9 is led: ♥ AQ2 ♦ KQ53 ♣ AQ6

These opponents lead the lower of touching honours, so I put up the jack on West’s lead, expecting to beat the king with the ace, then cash the queen and later lead through West’s ten towards dummy’s remaining ♣83 for a third club trick. Until East dropped the ♦7, that is. Well, 6-0 clubs should mean there is every chance of long hearts including the king on my right. Forgetting that I was already in dummy I put the ♦3 on the table, planning on taking the heart finesse next, whereupon all three other players pointed out my error.

After cashing the ♦A I lead the ♥2 and finesse the queen as planned, West following with the jack. Taking that card at face value, a 1-5 heart division is not unreasonable in view of the club split. I must therefore have chances of end-playing West to get a club lead away from his king into my ♣AQ, or East to get a heart lead away from his king into my split tenace, ten on table and ace in hand. I’ve taken the first three tricks and can see four more in my hand (ace of hearts,

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king-queen of diamonds and ace of clubs) so even with a successful throw-in, that only gives me eight: first I will have to advance the play and carve out at least one spade trick.

♠ K432 In the diagram position after the successful heart finesse I lead ♠7, West puts on the nine, I in dummy and ♥ 1073 ♦ - East follows with the five. A small diamond comes from ♣ 832 West, I discard a club from table and East plays the eight of diamonds, taken by my king. N S When I persevere with the spade eight West plays the six rather carefully and I have to make the key decision of ♠ J87 the hand – whether to go up with the ♠K or not. I can’t ♥ A2 see any strong pointers as to the location of the spade ♦ KQ5 ace, but West seems a little nervous and he has played ♣ AQ high-low, perhaps suggesting an even number. In the end I decide to duck a second time – correctly as it turns out, East’s ace appearing. He exits with the ♦J which I take with the queen, West discarding a club. I play my remaining spade, the jack, West covers with the queen and I take the trick with dummy's king, East showing out as expected. The distribution is known now – West has revealed four spades, two diamonds, six clubs and the ♥J. East was dealt a 2-5-6-0 hand. These cards are left:

Having finally taken a spade trick I ♠ 4 have six tricks to the defence’s two, ♥ 1073 and I’m in the position I envisaged ♦ - earlier, where I need an end-play. In ♣ 8 fact, I can fix either defender. The ♠ 10 ♠ - lead is in dummy so I could exit with N a spade to West, forcing a club ♥ - W E ♥ K98 return for the contract, or come to ♦ - S ♦ 109 hand with the ace of clubs and throw ♣ K1075 ♣ - the lead to East with my small ♠ - diamond to force a heart away from ♥ A2 the king. ♦ 5 ♣ AQ There’s not much to choose - both defenders seem perfectly pleasant human beings - but in the end I select East as victim. I play the ♣8 off table to my ace then exit with my ♦5. East wins that trick with the ♦9 and cashes the ♦10 on which I 5

throw the ♣Q, coming down to ♥A2 in hand opposite ♥107 in dummy. At trick twelve East leads the ♥9 which I run to dummy’s ten, my ♥A capturing East’s king on the last trick. The full hand:

♠ K432 ♥ 10732 ♦ A ♣ J832

♠ Q1096 N ♠ A5 ♥ J W E ♥ K9865 62 J109874 ♦ S ♦ ♣ K109754 ♣ - ♠ J87 ♥ AQ2 ♦ KQ53 ♣ AQ6

Answer to Declarer Play Quiz on page 2

It looks fairly certain that the king of diamonds lies on your right so the finesse is pointless - go up with the ace at trick 1. After a quick count up, you come to 11 tricks - 12 if spades split 3-3 and you can the 3rd spade. However, this is only a 36% chance - 48% that spades split 4-2, 15% 5-1 and 1% 6-0. Playing with these odds, the key play is to cash ♠AK and then play a third spade. When East follows low, pitch your diamond loser (a loser-on-loser play). The defence can now do nothing to 6♥ by ♠ AK432 prevent you getting to dummy South ♥ 102 The with ♥10, ruffing a 4th spade ♦10 lead ♦ AQ4 Full Deal high to set up the suit, drawing ♣ K32 all West’s trumps and getting to the established spade in dummy ♠ J10 N ♠ Q987 via the ♣K. Please note that ♥ 9876 ♥ 5 W E should South make the mistake ♦ 1098 ♦ KJ532 of ruffing the 3rd spade high, ♣ J987 S ♣ Q106 West’s fourth heart will ♠ 65 eventually be promoted which, ♥ AKQJ43 together with the ♦K, defeats ♦ 76 the contract. Ed. ♣ A54 6

Common Mistakes witnessed by Peter Scott

For the Improver

The worst leads you can make (against suit contracts):

Axxx It is well known that leading an unsupported ace or under- leading an ace at trick 1 is usually disastrous. In fishing terms, an ace should catch a big fish such as a king or queen but if you lead one at trick 1, all you are likely to catch is a net full of tiddlers. A singleton king in either of the opponents’ hands will also make if you under- lead. Players holding Ax are often tempted to play their ace followed by their small card hoping for a ruff. However, unless you are lucky and your partner holds the king, what is more likely to happen is that declarer will clear all of your trumps and then run the suit that you have conveniently set up for him by cashing your ace.

Jxxx Leading from this holding (without the 10) is almost always going to cost you tricks.

Qx Unless partner has bid the suit, this is not a good holding to lead from. You will have to lead the queen which is unlikely to make and then if partner holds Jxx you may not make a trick in the suit, whereas if you let declarer break the suit, you will always make one trick. Also, if partner holds xxx in the suit declarer may take a losing finesse into your hand. x Leading a singleton is not a good idea unless your partner has made a penalty double of the opponents’ suit contract. What will happen is that you will destroy your partner’s trump holding and he will possibly lose high cards in the suit which he may have made had you not led the suit. For example, say his holding is Qxx, declarer may well have played for the drop and his queen would make. If he holds Jxxx, his jack is then doomed unless dummy holds AKQ(xx). xx Unless your partner has bid the suit, leading from a low doubleton is only likely to compromise your partner’s holding in the suit. If your partner holds Qxx, he may make the queen if declarer mis-guesses a finesse; or if he holds Jxxx the jack now has no chance of making.

Try and avoid the above leads and you will give fewer tricks away!

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Tricky hands to solve from Alan Oddie

The bidding is over, and the is made. Even before partner has finished tabling his dummy you’re having reservations about the final contract. Has he mis-bid yet another hand?

His 13 th card hits the deck, and sure enough dummy is about an ace and a trump short of what you were expecting and the contract looks hopeless. It’s all too easy to start preparing your crushing arguments for the post mortem before you’ve even played to the first trick, and I’m sure that’s a trap we’ve all fallen into. However, no matter how ridiculous the contract looks at first sight, your first duty is to put all your efforts into making it. Remember too that however much you disapprove of partner’s bidding, you’re not going to win the bidding argument in the post mortem if you’ve just gone off in a contract you should have made.

Here are some contracts that might look hopeless at first sight. How are you planning to get yourself on to the moral high ground for the post mortem?

Problem 1 You (South) dealt at game all. The Bidding

♠ A9 South North ♥ AJ108642 A 1♦ 1♥ ♦ K7 B C ♣ A8 2♦ 3♣ D E N 3♦ 4♦ F G S 4♥ 4NT ♠ QJ5 5♦H 5♥I ♥ 5 5NT J 7♦K ♦ AQJ10942 ♣ J8 End

A. In days of yore, everyone forced with 2 ♥ on this type of hand, but nowadays most players reserve a force for self-supporting suits or a 8

decent suit with primary support for opener. B. Shows at least six because a minimum would have opened 1NT and other minimums would have introduced a black suit or raised the hearts. C. A new suit at the 3-level is game forcing. A disadvantage of not being able to force with this type of hand is that sometimes you have to introduce non-existent suits to keep the auction going. D. A seventh diamond, because with (say) a 3-1-6-3 distribution you’d bid 3NT with a spade stop and 3 ♠ without one. E. Much better to support the diamonds than to hog it by repeating hearts. The diamond fit must be at least as good as the hearts and this hand looks slammish so it’s not going to be played in 4 ♥. F. Cue bid, with diamonds agreed – not an attempt to play in hearts. G. Roman key card. H. One of the five ‘aces’, including the king of trumps. I. Have you got the queen of trumps? J. Yes, and no side king. K. Decidedly optimistic now that he knows the heart cue bid was based only on shortage rather than, say, the singleton king.

You win the king of clubs lead with the ace. It looks as if you’re going to have to set up the hearts and it’s just as well for the aggressive ox sitting opposite you that your trumps are so good because you’ll be able to ruff hearts high in your hand. So you play ace of hearts and ruff a heart high. If all follow, you’re laughing, but West chucks a club on the second heart. What now?

Problem 2

♠ J4 ♥ QJ1063 ♦ K42 You are vulnerable and the opponents are not. You ♣ K93 deal and open 1 ♦. West bids a weak 2 ♠ and partner N doubles for takeout. East passes and you bid 3NT. West leads the six of spades. You try the jack from S dummy but East produces the queen. Where do you ♠ K72 go for honey? ♥ K5 ♦ A1093 ♣ AJ72

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Problem 3

You hold: Your opponents are vulnerable and you are not. Partner ♠ KQ94 deals and opens 1 ♥. If a hand is worth two bids ♥ 93 opposite a minimum opener, in my opinion it’s much ♦ 106 better to bid the longest suit first on hands like this. The ♣ AQ742 only time you’ll miss a spade fit is if he’s minimum with a 4-5-4-0 distribution and that’s not going to happen very often. But if you respond 1 ♠ and opener happens to have a good hand you’ll never convince him that you have longer clubs than spades. Indeed, if you introduce your clubs later in the auction there’s every chance he will think you have five spades.

So you bid 2 ♣ and he bids 2 ♦. You bid an obvious 2NT. ♠ 1062 (2 ♠, the 4 th suit, would be game forcing, and you’re not ♥ AKQJ7 good enough for that.) Partner now surprises you with a ♦ AJ72 leap to 6NT. ♣ K N They lead the king of diamonds, and this is what you S see: The first trick goes to the ace, 8 and your 6. This looks like a complete disaster. Even assuming the hearts ♠ KQ94 are no worse than 4-2 you’ve only got nine top tricks. ♥ 93 Apart from planning the most satisfying way of causing ♦ 106 serious physical damage to your partner, what are your ♣ AQ742 other thoughts? Answers on page 23

4♥ by ♠ AK3 South ♥ 87 76542 ♦ From Bill Stanley Lead is ♣ AK8 ♦A N You are South as declarer in the 4 ♥ contract you have arrived at with no W E opposition bidding. At first glance, it looks

S like there are only 9 tricks to take - so you ♠ 8652 will have to conjure up another somehow. ♥ AKQJ10 Neither opponent’s black suit splits 3-3. ♦ - ♣ 7543 Answer on page 39 10

by John Hurst "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." I always thought, erroneously, that this was a quote from the Bard of Avon. Apparently it was from Sir Walter Scott's poem - Marmion. Here is a true, amusing story for bridge players.

More years ago than I wish to remember, Leicester University held a very well attended annual charity event that attracted a large and varied range of players, some from far afield, with seventy or so tables and prizes in accord. I think the first prize was cash, but certainly the second prize in the first year we played (possibly 1968) was two huge baskets of fairly exotic fruit; most of my basket I was obliged to give away before it decayed.

It was about the third round of the contest when my partner was declarer, against two LOLs (as perceived at the time – now I would probably rate them as dolly birds!). I remember not the contract nor the trick in question. When my partner followed suit innocuously to a lead at the third trick from my LH opponent, the lady on my right pondered and then asked me how my partner played his cards if he held only small ones! I replied in the only honest way I could think of: "He plays whichever card he can afford that is most likely to deceive you or your partner!"

An immediate scream of "DIRECTOR!!!" rang round the huge hall and attracting the attention of all but the profoundly deaf. Directors in those days were rarely as polite and caring as now, but this one was an exception. Usually "Yes, what do you want?" sufficed, but he in the face of a raging lady, quietly asked "What is the problem?" "This GENTLEMAN refuses to tell me how his partner signals with his cards!"

The astounded director, who was also the organiser of the event, looked at the table again to confirm to himself that eleven of my cards were still lying there as dummy. Trying hard to avoid laughing, he first asked what the question had been, and then asked for confirmation that my partner was declarer. He finally asked me to repeat my reply, which I did verbatim, and to which the lady 11

appended, "There you are!" or something similar. He somehow tried to explain that there was no impropriety and that my response was not only legitimate but exceeded the requirements. The second hand was played in icy silence, except for the bidding (bidding boxes or even the old pointing card in the middle of the table were still non- existent, as were alerts, stops and various other modern introductions).

On a more serious note, you should practice a little deception and watch out for that of opponents. I am sure that many of you, as declarer on an opening trick holding AK or KQ in hand would usually play the higher of your two cards to win the trick, not really much of a deception but it prevents the leader from knowing who holds the missing K or Q. It is impossible to set out all the hundreds of situations when deception is possible. Be very careful though in trying to deceive declarer when defending - you must be aware you might deceive partner as well or instead!

Here is one of the more spectacular deceptions that actually occurred at my table once - I won't tell you which seat I was in! Put yourself in the East seat, contract is 6 ♥. After South had opened a vulnerable weak 2 ♠, you bid 4 ♥, partner bid 5 ♥ and you bid 6 ♥. (That was the bidding - for better or worse.)

The lead by South was a ♠ J 10 ♠ A Q N trump, all following suit, K 10 5 4 2 A Q J 9 8 ♥ ♥ won with the ace in hand. ♦ A J 4 W E ♦ K Q 2 S Before following to trick one ♣ 8 5 2 ♣ A K 3 from dummy, you should of course have assessed what your prospects are and how to proceed. You have 11 tricks, a certain club loser and almost certainly a spade loser. There is nowhere to throw your queen of spades or a club, from hand or dummy.

It's the dreaded curse of duplication. There is the vain hope of a spade finesse, but if South bid a vulnerable 2 ♠ with trumps headed by the 9 and just the QJ of clubs…!!! It seems as though you must take the wretched spade finesse and cheerfully go one off.

There is a second possibility: you might be extremely lucky or otherwise get away with it in the club. Draw trumps, eliminate 12

diamonds, cash AK of clubs and hope that South has kept his Q of clubs and has to now give you a ruff and discard or lead round to your AQ of spades. Dream on if you are playing in a County B Team match! South will have divested himself of his likely Q and J of clubs and unless you are extremely lucky and he started with ♣QJ109, you are doomed to failure.

There is a third possibility however! As declarer, you clear the last trump from the North hand at trick 2 with the queen of hearts. Think what you might then play from the East hand at trick 3, remembering this is an article about deception!

Answer on page 18

A Report from Alan Cooke

A squad from Bedford won the County Teams of Eight competition this year thanks to Ron Davis & Lyn Emmett, Alan Cooke & Maris Sheppard, John Hurst & Kathleen Gilbert and Monica Lucy & Peter Coles, thereby qualifying to compete and represent Bedfordshire in the Garden Cities Regional Final at Peterborough. Nine counties contested the Peterborough heat, the other teams involved being Welwyn Garden City, Peterborough, Norwich, Mid-Essex, Ipswich, Lincoln, Kettering and West Midlands.

In the event, team selection proved something of a nightmare. Of the original eight players Monica & Peter were unable to play and were replaced by Brian & Rita Keable. Then unfortunately, at the last minute both Ron & Lyn and Brian & Rita had to withdraw through illness. Volunteers to replace them were hastily sought and found, thanks to Paul Wiltshire & Sue Ford and Tim Sharrock & Karen Rogers.

Everyone acquitted themselves well against tough opposition and although overpowered by some of the stronger counties, we did manage to beat the teams from Norfolk and Suffolk, no mean achievement. Overall it was an enjoyable day out and an experience which if possible the Bedford players would like to repeat next year! 13

Your County Needs You Jane Jensen, County Captain 2018-19

Inter-County Teams of 8 Bedfordshire competes in the Eastern Counties League (ECL) against Cambs & Hunts, Essex, Herts, Norfolk, Northants, Suffolk and Cambridge Uni. The ECL has three divisions: A, B and C. We have a team in each division, as do the other counties, but Cambridge Uni only play in A division. Each season, we play one match of 32 boards against each of the other seven teams, three at home and four away (the Uni match is always away). There is a squad of 40 players from which I select 12 pairs for each match (4 for the Uni match). For the two matches played so far this season, I struggled to cajole 24 players into turning out because of other commitments. Ideally, we need a squad of at least 48 players to select from so need to recruit some new blood. Do you enjoy team games? Would you like to represent Bedfordshire in the ECL? Are you an average club player, say 9+ on the NGS? If you are interested in joining the county squad, either individually or as a pair, please email [email protected] .

Tollemache Cup The Tollemache Cup is the inter-county championship for Teams of Eight. The 2018-19 qualifying event will be on 17/18 th November 2018 at the Staverton Estate Hotel, Daventry. It will comprise around 56 boards on Saturday and 42 boards on Sunday. Eight teams qualify for the final on 16/17 th February 2019. Teams are limited to 12 playing members, although not necessarily the same 12 in the qualifying round and the final.

Bedfordshire has not entered the Tollemache for the past two years. Given that this year’s event is just up the road from Bedfordshire, it would be a shame to miss out, so I will be seeking nominations from pairs who have a good record in the ECL or national competitions.

Bedfordshire Teams of 4 League and Knockout The 2018-19 league season starts on 30 th August 2018. If you have not entered yet, there is still time. Matches will be played at Wixams over five nights on the last Thursday of the month (except December). The exact format will depend on the number of teams

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that enter. After five matches, the leading four teams will play a knockout stage to determine the team to represent Bedfordshire in the Pachabo Cup. This year, I am offering a matching service to boost entries. If you would like to play but do not have a team, email me and I will try to fix you up. I am especially keen to encourage current or budding members of the county squad to enter.

More tips for improvers from Brian Keable

No Trump Rebids by Responder

When we first learn to play bridge This works ok for most of the time and are taught to open 1NT with but there can be problems: 12-14 points (balanced hand) we Suppose we have the following learn how to make no-trump hands: rebids as follows: 1X -> 1Y West East 1NT Shows a balanced 15-16 ♠AKxxx ♠Qxx points ♥Kx ♥Qx ♦AQx ♦Kxx 1X -> 1Y ♣Qxx ♣KJ10xx 2NT Shows a balanced 17-18 points Normal bidding would be: 1♠ -> 2 ♣ 1X -> 1Y 3NT -> Pass 3NT Shows a balanced 19-20 points On a heart lead 3NT may well not

make: if the spade suit does not Note 1Y normally shows at least 6 produce 5 tricks, 3NT is likely to points fail (3 spade tricks, 1 heart trick,

3 diamond tricks means only 7 If partner responds at the two- immediate tricks and the extra level, showing a minimum of a tricks from clubs arriving too good 9 or 10 points, things late). change a little:

Now if we look at the above hand, 1X -> 2Y 4♠ is probably the best contract, 2NT A balanced 15-16 but how do we get to it? How do we find the 5-3 spade fit after the 1X -> 2Y 3NT rebid? The answer is we 3NT A balanced 17-19 (20) 15

cannot. Once opener rebids 3NT it level response shows 10 or more is too dangerous for responder to points or (at least a very good 9 support spades with only three count) cards. Opener may well only have Some examples: four cards when he opens with a , and 4 ♠ on a 4-3 fit ♠AKxx ♥Qxx ♦Kxx ♣Axx might be disastrous.

(Note: people who only open with 1♠ -> 2 ♣ 5-card majors do not have this 3NT 16 points no five card suit or problem.) anything else of possible interest

to partner Is there a solution to this problem? Yes and here it is: ♠AKxx ♥AQxx ♦Kx ♣Xxx New Style No Trump rebids

1X -> 1Y 1♥ -> 2 ♣ 1NT 15-Poor 17 2NT Only 16 points but partner

may be interested in a possible 4- 1X -> 1Y 4 spade fit; he could have a good 2NT Good 17-19 hand with 5+ clubs and 4 spades.

Only bidding 2NT gives partner 1X -> 1Y the opportunity to investigate a 3NT Usually based on a long suit, spade fit, below the level of 3NT. particularly useful if X is a . ♠Ax ♥AJ10xx ♦Kxx ♣Kxx

1♥/ ♠ -> 2Y 1♥ -> 2 ♦ 2NT Game Forcing 2NT Only 15 points, but I have to Showing: give partner the chance to support 15+ points with a 5-card major hearts if he has 3 hearts, without suit or a feature that partner going past 3NT might wish to know about.

Any balanced hand with 17 plus ♠AKQx ♥Kxx ♦Kxx ♣Kxx points

1♠ -> 2 ♦ 1♥/ ♠ -> 2Y 2NT Yes only 4 spades, but I 3NT Play as a 15-16 balanced have 18 points, if my partner has hand without a 5-card major, or a really good hand we may be without any feature that partner able to get to a slam; bidding 2NT might be interested in. rather than 3NT gives us more

room for exploration below the The method works well for most level of 3NT. hands provided responder’s two-

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If the bidding goes as follows, 3♦ Artificial reply, I am maximum, with opener responding with a I will tell you more about my hand forcing 2NT bid: if you continue to explore. I may 1♥ -> 2♦ have 5 hearts or 4 hearts and 4 2NT Game forcing, how does spades, or perhaps a very good responder react? hand with 4 hearts and 4 diamonds. 1♥ -> 2 ♦ 3♥ I am minimum with 5 hearts. 2NT -> 3NT No further interest, 3♠ I am minimum with 4 hearts let us play 3NT and 4 spades. 3NT I am minimum, without 5 1♥ -> 2 ♦ hearts or anything that might be 2NT -> 3 ♥ I have 3-card heart of interest to you. support, perhaps we can play in hearts if you have 5 hearts. Extra information

1♥ -> 2 ♦ In these examples we have 2NT -> 3 ♦ I want to play in game concentrated on sequences where but I have a good diamond suit, opener opens a major, partner maybe we can play in a diamond responds at the two-level, and game or slam, please keep opener may make a forcing 2NT bidding, your 2NT was forcing to response. game. It is also possible to use similar 1♥ -> 2 ♦ technology when opener opens 1 ♦ 2NT -> 3 ♠ I have a good hand and partner responds 2 ♣. with 5 diamonds and 4 spades, if 1♦ -> 2 ♣ you have a 4-card spade suit, 2NT Can be played as game game (or slam) in spades is forcing. possible. Make sure we get to game and remember your 2NT 1♦ -> 2 ♣ rebid was game forcing. 3NT 15-16 with nothing special to show. A more sophisticated arrangement for regular Important Note partners only Not everyone plays this modern style shown. Make sure that if Example you decide to play this new 1♥ -> 2 ♦ way, discuss and agree with 2NT -> 3 ♣ artificial bid asking if any regular partner with opener is maximum (17+ points) whom you play if you are or minimum (15-16 points) going to take this path.

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Answer to ‘A Little Deception ...’ on page 11

Did you think of playing the queen of spades? If you do so at trick 3, look at it from South’s perspective. He has six spades to the king (he opened 2 ♠ remember), you have given nothing away about your distribution in the bidding beyond having five hearts, and North has followed to two rounds of trumps so could give no indication of his distribution. South has no way of knowing your hands are completely duplicated. So what does he think you are up to? He might see three possibilities: a) You have a singleton spade queen - doesn't matter what he plays and why would you play it anyway? b) You have Qxxx and had been relying on partner to have a singleton or . You have two spade losers and nowhere to park one. In desperation you are hoping South has only one of the top two honours (and therefore North has the singleton ace or king) and is trying to get him to play his high honour and clash with partner's singleton, hoping to deceive him as to your holding of four spades by leading the queen. In which case he must duck and let his partner win the trick.

Would he even consider the real situation that: c) You have the ♠AQ bare, and are trying the even greater deception, and trick him into ducking and letting the ♠Q win?

Note that it is important to try this immediately, before clever opponents can exchange information about distribution. And yes, I was on the receiving end of this as South and yes, I thought I was alive to the deception as in (b) and ducked! I like to think that had I been East, I would have come up with the same trickery - but possibly not.

There are a couple of other points to note about the hand. Firstly, I opened 2 ♠, without which declarer would probably have taken the spade finesse and been defeated. It's not a good idea to bid poor suits, remember that firstly you give away information, and secondly if you defend the hand you might cause partner to make a bad lead instead of a good one. In my defence, I did have a shapely hand and in fact I did hold QJ109 in clubs, one heart and two diamonds. Had

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declarer tried an elimination and end-play, he would have been very lucky and caught me in a manifestation of the Morton's Fork - what I originally heard called the D...d if you do and B...d if you don't - .

In this instance when we reach the end game, I am fixed. If I keep three clubs I will be obliged to win the 3rd round of the suit and subjected to giving away a ruff and discard or leading into AQ of spades as described earlier. If I manage to throw away two of my clubs so that I am not thrown in, dummy wins with the 8. It's a lose- lose situation.

The answers to all these clues are bridge-related terms. To be answered in next issue or contact the editor if that’s too long to wait!

1. ____ Dunk! (4) 13. Out for none (4) 2. 13x4=(4,2,5) 14. This centre sends out the 3. Outright winner? (3) goods! (12) 4. Centre of Flower (6) 15. Complete gap? (4) 5. Girl’s Best Friend? (7) 16. Pretty neck piece (4) 6. Got the lot! (5,4) 17. US jazz city? (7) 7. Model for clothes? (5) 18. Easily broken? (6) 8. First in (6) 19. Grey metal? (4) 9. Cork for the bottle? (7) 20. As if by magic! (5) 10. US Leader? (5) 21. Repeat! (9) 11. Not Married? (9) 22. Hard elastic?! (6) 12. 20cwt after two the same? (9) 23. Snooker auction method? (3,3)

Quotes: "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... For support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." Groucho Marx

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Stephen Bligh and Dan Russell Margaret Codd and Pippa Green won the Swiss Pairs for the won the One Star Pairs for the Centenary Cup. Presented by Marsh Trophy Janet Marsh

Monica Lucy, Brian & Rita Keable and Peter Coles (not in photo) Richard and Angela Chester won won the Seniors’ Teams for the the Championship Pairs for the Jeannie Marks Cup. Presented by Derek Marsh on the left. Bob Lucas Cup. Presented by Rita Keable.

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Bedford B won the Inter Club Peter Scott and Chris Watson won Teams of 8 for the Sam the County Plate as runners-up in Shepherd Cup. Represented the County Pairs. above by Alan Cooke and Monica Lucy.

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BBABBA TrophiesTrophies 2017/20182017/2018

Type of Trophy Competition Won by

Bob Lucas Cup Championship Pairs Angela & Richard Chester

Monica Lucy, Peter Coles, Rita Jeannie Marks Cup Seniors’ Teams & Brian Keable

Marsh Trophy (Shield) One Star Pairs Margaret Codd & Pippa Green

Centenary Cup Swiss Pairs Dan Russell, Stephen Bligh

Geoffrey Clarke Memorial County Pairs David Woulds, Janis Maurins

Plate County Plate Chris Watson, Peter Scott

Bedford B; Kathleen Gilbert, John Hurst, Inter Club Sam Shepherd Cup Lynne Emmett, Ron Davis, Teams of 8 Alan Cooke, Maris Sheppard, Monica Lucy, Peter Coles

Iris Jarman Memorial Salver Mixed Pairs Julie & Steve Abley

Doug Newell Shield Seniors’ Pairs Kathleen Gilbert, John Hurst

Trophy Veterans Pairs Rita & Brian Keable

Leighton Buzzard; Cup (Division 1 winners) League Champions Judi & Peter Malpass, Bob Brown, Andrew Mason

Tudor Rose Shield Alan Oddie, Ron Davis, Iain League Runners-Up (Inter Club Teams of 4) Roberts, David Harris, Brian Keable, Lynne Emmett

George Goddard KO Cup KO Cup Tudor Rose

Crystal Trophy NE Victor Ludorum Martin Williams

Jon Williams Claret Jug Victor Ludorum Ron Davis 22

Answers to Alan Oddie’s Quiz on page 8

Problem 1

This doesn’t look so good. You have two entries to dummy in the king of diamonds and the ace of spades, and that will enable you to establish the hearts by ruffing twice more in hand, but you will then have no to cash them. How about generating an extra entry by ruffing a spade? If you run the queen of spades successfully you can cross to the ace, ruff a heart high, ruff your third spade and ruff yet another heart high. Now the hearts are established with the king of trumps still in dummy as an entry. But that’s no good – you can’t draw all the trumps and end up in dummy.

It looks like there’s no chance of a thirteenth trick unless they or West falls asleep and fails to put the queen of clubs on your jack. Maybe one of those options constitutes your best chance?

Actually, it’s very easy to miss, but this contract has two legitimate chances. You can play a diamond to the king and if the 8 drops the 7 provides you with the extra entry you need to establish and enjoy the hearts. But a much better chance than that is to finesse the 7 of diamonds(!) which is more than a 50% shot. (It’s slightly better than even money because West has a singleton heart and East four, so there are more ‘spaces’ in the West hand to fit the 8 of trumps.)

The full hand:

♠ A9 Even with the trumps 4-0, ♥ AJ108642 after the 7 holds you can ♦ K7 safely ruff two more hearts ♣ A8 high in hand, draw trumps and cross to the ace of ♠ 8762 ♠ K1043 ♥ 3 N ♥ KQ97 spades to cash the hearts. ♦ 8653 W E ♦ - That will give you enough

♣ KQ106 S ♣ 75432 discards without needing the spade finesse. ♠ QJ5 ♥ 5 ♦ AQJ10942 ♣ J9 23

Problem 2

This is dire. If you knock out the ace of hearts they’ll just run their spades, so it looks as if you need eight quick tricks in the minors. That’s just about possible if one opponent has QJ doubleton in diamonds and East has either Q10 or Qxx in clubs. I make that about a one in 200 chance. Is there anything better?

Your best bet is in fact to duck the first spade! Assuming West is an honest man both in the bidding and with his ♠ - opening lead, four of his six spades must be the ace, six, ♥ - five and three. Now that East has produced the queen, his ♦ K42 doubleton will be specifically ♠Q10 about a third of the ♣ K93 time and the suit will be blocked if you duck the queen. N He will continue with the ten, but you duck that as well. S East will then have to switch, probably to a heart. You knock out the ace of hearts, which East is likely to have, ♠ - and you’re up to 8 tricks. You pitch your king of spades ♥ - when you run the ♦ A109 ♠ J4 hearts and you’re ♣ AJ7 The Full ♥ QJ1063 down to: Hand ♦ K42 ♣ K93 Now you cash the king of diamonds. If West produces an ♠ A98653 ♠ Q10 ♥ 85 N ♥ A972 honour your best bet is to ♦ Q7 W E ♦ J865 finesse on the second round. ♣ 1064 S ♣ Q85 If nothing exciting happens on the king of diamonds, cash the ♠ K72 king of clubs and take the club ♥ K5 finesse. ♦ A1093 ♣ AJ72

Problem 3

What was that bovine partner of yours thinking about in the bidding? Yes he’s got a decent hand, but it looks like a bit of a misfit. Even if you had the jack of clubs as well, you’d only have 11 tricks with not much chance of turning it into a twelfth. How are you going to magic 12 out of this miserable collection?

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Clearly you need some spade tricks, so the only hope is that the diamonds are 6-1 with East holding the ace of spades. At trick two you should therefore lead the ten of spades from dummy to avoid blocking the suit, and if East plays low put the king on it. Then cross back to the king of clubs and play another spade. If East hammers up with the ace (and the jack doesn’t appear), you’ll go back to dummy with a heart and play a spade to your nine. (Since diamonds are 6-1 the spades are far more likely to be 2-4 than 3-3.) That will give you 6 tricks in the black suits, 5 in hearts and the ace of diamonds.

And if East plays low again on the second spade? You go up with the queen. Now you will have to cash the ace and queen of clubs since you have no more entries to hand. That establishes a long club for the opponents (as well as the small matter of the ace of spades and queen of diamonds), but now you can play the ten of diamonds to set up your second diamond trick and twelfth in all. If West started with a doubleton spade and two or three clubs, the defence won’t be able to cash their other winners and you’re home and dry.

Note that it’s a mistake to run the ten of spades at trick 2, or to finesse the nine on the second round if East plays low again. You need East to hold the ace of spades to give you any chance, but there’s no need to risk West holding a singleton jack or ♠Jx.

After bringing in this contract you will not be entitled to ♠ 1062 complain about bad luck for at The Full ♥ AKQJ7 least the next six months. Hand ♦ AJ72 ♣ K (The eagle-eyed amongst you ♠ J7 N ♠ A853 may spot that when the jack of ♥ 104 ♥ 8652 spades drops on the second W E ♦ KQ9543 S ♦ 8 round, you can also succeed by ♣ 1065 ♣ J983 running the hearts and then playing the last spade from ♠ KQ94 dummy. East will only have ♥ 93 black cards left and after taking ♦ 106 his ace of spades will have to ♣ AQ742 give you an entry to hand to cash all your winners.)

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By Developer Mathew Gray

Are you ever unsure which table you are moving to next? Have you ever forgotten the names of the people coming to play against you even though you played against them last week and really should remember? Have you ever wondered how you did on the last compared to others? Are you the person left typing in endless lists of scores at the end of a bridge evening? ArcScorer could solve all these problems and more for your bridge club.

A tablet left on the table throughout the evening will use your selected movement to tell people the right boards to play and who to play them against. The tablets allow you to record the contract, the lead card if you wish and will automatically work out the score once the result has been entered on a simple, easy to correct . Easy to read travellers follow every round enabling you to see how you are doing (this can also be switched off if it slows play too much). Throughout the evening the information is sent seamlessly to your laptop where it is collated and the final results are available within a couple of minutes of the last table finishing.

Wireless scoring is perhaps a little confusing as a name and we should make it clear that our scoring system does not need the room or venue to be connected to WiFi. ArcScorer operates using its own closed network and all the equipment comes as part of the system. You will only need to connect to the web at some point if you wish to upload your results to a website or the EBU but this can easily be done by somebody at home if your club room is not connected. 26

Bridge clubs rely on a dedicated few to carry out all the tasks associated Laptop with running a club. One of the most onerous of these is the scoring after a playing session and the associated Router work of posting the results on websites and sending them to the EBU where applicable. Much of this Tablets work can be alleviated and speeded up using a wireless scoring system.

The initial set-up is straightforward once you know, and corrections can readily be made if mistakes are made. Like any software, it needs people running the evening to get used to how to use it, but this is easily done. The costs are not prohibitive for any serious club, and of course the more users you have the cheaper it becomes in relative terms. Many clubs are pooling resources to enable this, particularly where clubs play at the same place but at different times.

Do have a look at the short video on the website: www.arcscorer.com or get in touch by email: [email protected] or by telephone: 01525 303919. We can then put you in contact with clubs near you that are already using ArcScorer and enable you to see it in action. If you are not already using wireless scoring, give it a thought. You will wonder how you ever managed without it.

Display screens to show ‘Enter Lead Card’ on the left and the traveller on the right.

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A peep at Bernard Magee’s tutorial DVD Number 38 of the same name in the published series. Running time 100 minutes. This DVD deals with everybody’s The modern rule is: least favourite type of hand – the With a red suit singleton open the 4-4-4-1 shape – most systems suit below the singleton. struggle to deal with this shape With a black suit singleton, open efficiently. It starts by dealing the middle of the three touching with weak opening hands, but suits. then goes through gradually stronger hands so you get an Note that you try to open a minor overview of opening hands from suit (only with a singleton club do 11-25 points with the 4-4-4-1 you open in a major). The reason shape. for avoiding a major opening is because of the implications of The first major point is that it is your rebid. rarely right to open light with this kind of shape. This is because In Acol when you rebid in a does not handle these hands very second suit, you are generally well and you can sometimes assumed to have five cards in describe them better if you pass your first bid suit. This means that first. A 4-4-4-1 hand can be whatever you choose to open with perfectly described in one call if a 4-4-4-1 hand you are going to your opponents open in your short end up lying in some way. As suit: a take-out double. Therefore, always with lies in bridge – it is you are more likely to pass with better to lie about a minor than a 12 points than open light with 11 major, hence the emphasis on points. The standard opening bids opening a minor. with 12-14 points on a hand you have chosen to open are: A 4-4-4-1 hand with a singleton club should be your least favourite 1-4-4-4: spade singleton and therefore if you are open 1 ♦ vulnerable, with no tens or nines, 4-1-4-4: heart singleton you might consider passing a 12- open 1 ♦ count. As your point count goes 4-4-1-4: diamond singleton up your options widen: with 15-17 open 1 ♣ points you can choose to lie by 4-4-4-1: club singleton rebidding no-trumps if your open 1 ♥ 28

partner bids your singleton. With only guarantee four cards in 17+ you can choose to make a hearts. rebid – note that with just ♠ K Q 9 6 four-card suits you should have at ♥ K Q 10 4 least 17+ high card points to make ♦ A K J 2 a reverse. ♣ 5

Generally, unless planning to rebid With extra strength you can afford in no-trumps, with stronger 4-4-4- to make a reverse with your rebid, 1 hands you should open in a so start with 1 ♦ and plan to rebid minor suit. 2♥ over a 2 ♣ response.

Finally, when you are 20+ you still ♠ A K 9 6 have a problem because with three ♥ 4 suits to show you do not really ♦ A K J 2 want to start at the two-level with ♣ A K 4 3 an artificial bid. Therefore, you will often have to open 1 ♣ or 1 ♦ with You have 22 HCP, but you should some very strong opening 4-4-4-1 start low to increase your chance shapes: you just have to hope of finding a fit. Considering you someone else makes a bid so that actually want someone to respond, you get the chance to bid again. you do best to start with the There is of course the option with lowest call possible: 1 ♣. You will a singleton ace to open 2NT or be relieved if partner responds or even with a singleton king if you if someone , so you can are feeling adventurous. really start describing your hand.

Here are four examples that were ♠ A K 9 6 covered in the first half – what ♥ K Q J 4 would be your plans with these ♦ K Q J 2 opening hands? ♣ K ♠ K Q 9 6 Another strong hand with 22 HCP ♥ K Q 10 4 – this time you might risk a two- ♦ K Q 3 2 level opening – with your singleton ♣ 5 ♣K, 2NT is not a bad bid. I would Open 1 ♥, but plan to rebid in no- not count the ♣K at full value, but trumps if your partner responds even halving it leaves you with 2♣ – you are telling a lie, but at 20½ points. It is a gamble opening least you show your strength and 2NT, but two thirds of the time you

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are likely to be safe, plus any time The DVD finishes with the your partner has length in clubs. reopening double, when you open The reason it is two thirds is in a suit and then find the because if your left hand opponent opponents entering the bidding. If has the ♣A when on lead, then he they bid your short suit then you will most likely lead a low card. can ask your partner to bid, by making a take-out double: In the second part of the DVD, I ♠ AKQ4 ♠ 76 deal with 4-4-4-1 hands beyond ♥ 4 N ♥ 9876 the opening bid. Sometimes your W E ♦ A982 ♦ 54 partner bids one of your suits, S ♣ K982 ♣ A7653 which makes life much easier and much more exciting – your West North East South singleton becomes an important asset: 1♦ 1♥ Pass 2♥ X Pass 3♣ ♠ AKJ4 ♠ Q9876 End

♥ KQJ4 N ♥ A87 W E West opens in the suit below his ♦ QJ52 S ♦ 3 red suit singleton: 1 ♦, North ♣ 2 ♣ A654 overcalls 1 ♥ and East has nothing to say. South raises to 2 ♥ and West East West could go quietly and Pass. However, with the perfect shape 1♥ 1♠ for a take-out double – support for 4♣ 4NT all the unbid suits – it is highly 5♥ 6♠ likely that you have a fit somewhere. If you have a fit, then West opens 1 ♥ and after the 1 ♠ it is always right to bid – to response West gets excited: compete for the partscore – either evaluating for his singleton he goes to make your contract or to go one for game, but rather than simply off and get a better score than raising to 4 ♠, he jumps to 4 ♣: a letting the opponents make their showing the values to contract. raise to 4 ♠, but also showing a shortage in clubs. Here, when you double, East shows his clubs and you find a East’s hand fits perfectly with a great fit: you should make at least shortage in clubs opposite, so he ten tricks in clubs. Learning to uses Key Card Blackwood and bids compete for partscores is such an the slam. important aspect of duplicate

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bridge and hands with the right finally solve all the problems you distribution make it easy. have with this shape of hand and also to get excited about the The DVD deals with all aspects of shape. bidding hands with the 4-4-4-1 shape. It gives you the chance to © Bernard Magee. 2018

Bridge by Jocelyn Shaffer

What is it about bridge What would we do without it That gets folks so elated? The highs and lows it brings They discuss it for hours It’s one of life’s great pleasures And become quite animated Amongst some other things!

Discussions start off quietly So all you wives and girlfriends But then become quite heated Don’t put him to the test We should have won the match ‘Cos when it comes to choosing ‘It's obvious we were cheated!’ He’ll say that bridge is best!

It has to take priority ‘Cos if we left our partners It's always been that way They’d cope, no doubt about it Even if football's on But when it comes to bridge And it's a bridge day They couldn’t live without it.

Just got it! Could have Jettison? I made it dear know what using a I’d like to Jettison jettison. Squeeze.

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Letters to the Editor

A Response to Colin O’Hara’s feature in the April Bulletin

I read the article on 'Reviving Bedfordshire Bridge' with interest. Its subject is close to my heart because the conclusion of the first paragraph 'that there is not enough new blood coming through to invigorate the events in Bedfordshire' is of course not unique to Bedfordshire and a trend I'm sure we would all like to reverse.

The second paragraph has a few inaccuracies and misconceptions regarding the Drayton Parslow (Abbey Smith) club and as a member of that club and the BBA, I thought I ought to set the record straight because it seems to be regarding something as a problem which is really an opportunity.

The article refers to an affiliated club (I assume MK) dropping to around five tables on a Friday night and the article attributes that to a 'teaching opportunity on the same evening'. I believe it is referring to a duplicate session run by Abbey Smith which takes place on a Friday afternoon, finishing by 6pm from which some keen players go on to play at MK as well. Despite Abbey regularly attracting eleven or twelve tables on a Friday, as far as I know only one person is playing there instead of MK. By contrast, many players have started at Abbey's and then expanded their horizons in Bedfordshire and elsewhere.

Abbey is now holding duplicate sessions three nights a week, targeted at different types of player. She is regularly getting a total of thirty tables by catering for those different needs. Wednesday is a gentler session for those coming out of lessons who are new to club bridge; Friday afternoon is very popular with established players who might not want to travel at night while Thursday is the more serious club night.

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These sessions are not teaching sessions - they are proper duplicate sessions, EBU registered and compliant. Teaching is a separate activity taking place on several mornings and afternoons - again pitched at different abilities. I cannot tell how many people attend those but lots do!

Abbey is obviously an excellent player and teacher but I think the success of the club, which is something we would all like to see replicated in other parts of the country, is down to the way she organises, directs and controls the sessions so that all players feel welcome, whatever their ability.

From my perspective, I would say that rather than regard Abbey and her sessions as competition, it would be more sensible to regard her as a useful resource on the doorstep of much of the BBA region and a model for invigoration. She is stimulating an interest in bridge in an ever-expanding geographical region and I am aware of several people who have already moved on from her lessons and sessions to both the MK and LB clubs, often continuing to play at Abbey's because of the friendly environment.

The success of Abbey's club has been down to word of mouth. Despite the proximity of her club, many BBA members are not aware of what she is doing, nor the possibilities of synergies. I find that a shame because I am sure co-operation would be an excellent way of reviving bridge in the BBA area and elsewhere. Best regards.

Peter Kiff

Director Calls

I find that at many bridge clubs there is an unspoken feeling that it is rather unsporting to call for the director. Even at the County Charity Pairs this attitude was encouraged (albeit in a light-hearted way) by the ‘threat’ of a fine for any director calls. Yes, it was a ‘friendly’ bridge afternoon, but it was a competition with eventual winners. I think ‘friendly’ is a much misunderstood term in bridge. Too often it implies ‘casual’, which is altogether different.

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Casual bridge is fine for its devotees, who are probably playing socially at home and not worrying too much about the score.

Truly friendly bridge should be universally played and applied everywhere from the down to the casual players in a kitchen. It is not a contradiction of ‘serious’.

In every competitive session everyone would agree that fair play and the right result are desirable. This often needs director calls to avoid the bad feeling that can arise from a problem left to fester. The trouble is that inexperienced players often feel that a director call is an affront and I’m sure we have all heard stories of people whose evening has been thus ‘ruined’ and who never appear again. Additionally the stronger players are more likely to notice that something needs adjudication.

Somehow an ethos has to be developed that a gently polite summons for the director is a normal part of the game and should be as common and accepted in lowly clubs as it is in congresses. How I hate to hear even my own infringements met by ‘Oh, don’t worry, we are a friendly club’!

Yours sincerely Paul Habershon

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Bridge Gems from the Greats gleaned by Bob Denby

Born 1986 in Almagro, Buenos Aires. When 7, his father, a bridge professional, taught Agustin the game. At 13, he finished second in the South American Open Pairs Championship partnering Pablo Ravenna. At 14, Agustin was a late replacement in the South American Team Championship and became the youngest Zonal Champion in the history of World Bridge. Then at 15 when playing for Argentina in the 2001 Bermuda Bowl he became the youngest player in a World Teams Championship.

Agustin is especially strong in mathematics and languages. “He always gets an A,” says his father. “Once my wife asked Agustin's maths teacher why he never has any homework. The reply, ‘Because by the time I finish writing it up on the blackboard, he has finished it.’ "

An example of this prodigy’s play when aged fourteen

♠ AQJ The Bidding: ♥ 1094 North East South West ♦ AJ532 ♣ AQ 1♦ Pass 1♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3♥ Pass ♠ - N ♠ K8732 ♥ KQJ8 ♥ 63 3♠ Pass 4 End W E ♠ ♦ Q986 ♦ K107 S ♣ 98653 ♣ K104 Agustin ducked the opening ♠ 109654 king of hearts lead, but won ♥ A752 the next heart with the ace. He ♦ 4 led a club to dummy’s queen ♣ J72 and East’s king. If East had played a club back, declarer’s timing may have been ruined, but he chose a spade. On winning with dummy’s jack, Agustin cashed the ace of diamonds, and ruffed a diamond. A club to the ace was followed by another diamond ruff. Then the jack of clubs, discarding dummy’s last heart. A heart was ruffed with dummy’s ace, East having to under-ruff. A diamond next 35

from dummy and East was hamstrung, choosing to ruff with the seven, over-ruffed with the nine. Agustin then ruffed his last heart with dummy’s queen. East over-ruffed with the king, but the ten was now Agustin’s tenth trick, thus succeeding in this wafer-thin contract despite a 5-0 trump break!

Having Italian origins, Agustin was invited to join Team Lavazza and moved to Italy in 2006 to further his bridge career . In 2013 Agustin won the Bermuda Bowl in Bali playing in the Italian National Team.

A common beginning to many a sentence Agustin was the only declarer to make 6 ♥ on this deal from the Bowl’s round robin stage, ♠ - Bocchi Madala ♥ AQ106 ♦ A1085 West North East South ♣ AQJ86 1♣ 1♦ 1♥ ♠ KJ862 N ♠ 10743 3♦ 6♥ End ♥ J54 ♥ K

♦ Q764 W E ♦ KJ932 Not a wild gamble it might at ♣ 3 S ♣ K104 first appear as Bocchi had reckoned, given the opposition ♠ AQ95 bidding, that Agustin must ♥ 98732 have a diamond void or ♦ - singleton and therefore he only ♣ 9752 had two losers: the kings in the rounded suits. Thus the odds that partner held at least one of those must be good, but if he lacked either said kings and all his values are in the unbid spades, then he knows how to take a finesse...or not…

This is likely how Agustin will have reasoned when West led the club three: “The bidding has marked East with five diamonds and West with four. The nine missing spades are probably split at most five with West (otherwise he’d have bid spades) and four with East (as he would have bid the suit or bid Michaels, especially if it contained the king ). West’s lead is probably a singleton (why else lead dummy’s suit?), therefore he has three hearts. West surely is hoping partner will win an early lead, perhaps with either the club or heart ace to get

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a club ruff. If his hearts were ♥KJx or ♥Kxx, a likely trick, would he be playing to put partner in to score a ruff? Most likely he’d lead a diamond to try to set up a winner. As such, his three hearts are more likely ♥Jxx rather than headed by the king. So East’s singleton heart is probably the king”.

Agustin rose with the ace of clubs, refusing the finesse, then made the key play of the ace of hearts, dropping East’s king; now Agustin ruffed a diamond, finessed the ten of hearts, cashed the queen felling West’s jack and knocked out the king of clubs to make 12 tricks and slam. Magic.

An example of his wonder play In the Open Final of the 2012 Italian Club Championships Agustin performed a spectacular triple escape act on the very first board.

The Bidding: ♠ 62 Bocchi Madala ♥ J8 ♦ QJ42 North East South West ♣ J8653 Pass 1♥ 1♠ X ♠ AK105 N ♠ 4 Pass 2♣ 2♦ 4♥ ♥ 1094 ♥ A7532 W E End ♦ 108 ♦ K53 ♣ K742 S ♣ AQ109

Agustin was South and playing ♠ QJ9873 Rusinow leads (second highest) ♥ KQ6 led the spade jack. Declarer ♦ A976 won with the ace and continued ♣ - with a low club to the ace. Agustin realised that if he ruffed he would be end played in the pointed suits. So, for his first escape, he threw a spade.

Declarer soon realised his problem and cashed the heart ace. Agustin then for his second escape unblocked the heart king, saving the six as an escape card. Declarer continued trumps on which Agustin played the six for the third escape hoping for a miracle… in that Bocchi would win the trick with the heart jack, which he did, and duly returned the diamond queen to defeat the contract by two tricks. Of course this play could only have occurred by the play of a club at the second trick.

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This defence won the 2013 International Bridge Press Association (IBPA) Defence Award.

Bridge is equal to other sports when it is about the players’ attitude towards the game. At the table, they are as friendly to each other as they are merciless in the bidding and play problems they face.

For example, check out this hand from the match between Lavazza and Era in the 2014 Red Bull Open Transnational Teams for the .

Bocchi Madala ♠ 654 West North East South ♥ A8762 ♦ AJ82 1♦ ♣ 9 2♣ X 2♠ Pass ♠ 3 N ♠ KJ9872 3 ♥ QJ4 ♥ K10953 3♣ 3♦ ♥ 4♣ W E ♦ K103 ♦ - Pass 5♦ Pass 6♦ ♣ KQ10765 S ♣ 42 X End ♠ AQ10 Whilst at many other tables, ♥ - East-West were allowed to ♦ Q97654 play in hearts, at this table, ♣ AJ83 everyone made maximum use of their resources.

Thus, well informed about the layout, Agustin demonstrated accurate declarer play by ruffing the queen of hearts opening lead. He then thought before running the diamond queen exposing the trump break (East pitching a club). Next came the club jack. West won and played the diamond ten to the jack. A heart ruff was followed by a diamond to the ace, the heart ace (a club from declarer) and one more heart ruff.

The end position is shown on top of the facing page: On the club ace, both dummy and East played a spade, but on ruffing the club eight, East had to admit he was caught. One may wonder why declarer should lose a trick in a side suit when possessing the ace opposite a singleton and plenty of trumps. Nevertheless, only this line of play allows declarer to succeed and it takes no account of the

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quality of declarer’s spades. ♠ 654 ♥ 8 Next door, the hand was played in ♦ 8 5♦ doubled, also making 12 tricks ♣ - after a low spade was led. However, ♠ 3 ♠ KJ98 whilst Lavazza’s score was ramped up ♥ - N ♥ K by 11 IMPs, the atmosphere at both W E ♦ - S ♦ - tables remained friendly. ♣ K1076 ♣ -

Again one may wonder why Agustin ♠ AQ10 had not simply taken two spade ♥ - , but suppose West had ♦ - started with the singleton jack! ♣ A8

… to be continued in next Bulletin issue

Answer to ‘Try This One!’ on page 10

You will have to open your mind to solve this one! Conventional methods (such as drawing trumps) will not work in this case as you cannot avoid losing 4 tricks in spades and clubs. The way forward is to ruff the ♦A lead in hand, cross to dummy four more times with the ♣AK and ♠AK and ruff the remaining four diamonds in hand with your ♥AKQJ. You will eventually lose to the ♥9 and a trick each in clubs and spades but your total tricks count adds up to 10.

This play of ruffing in the long-trump hand is known as a dummy reversal. In order for this line to work, you will require the opponents’ spades and clubs to be split no worse than 4-2 (in which case they could ruff in and play a trump to thwart you), the odds of which are 84% in each case or roughly 70% for both.

This hand was declared over 50 years ago by the Swedish wizard Jan Wohlin. Ed.

Quote: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” - George Bernard Shaw 39

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