BRIDGE TIP FOR JANUARY LIBRARY CORNER

The right bid with one partner Somehow We Landed in Six Notrump may be the wrong one with anoth- David Bird er. Reread this one! The book is divided into two sections: “Part I—6NT— Fact” and “Part II—6NT—Fiction.” What all 63 examples Eddie Kantar have in common is that the contract is 6NT. Readers can play the hands out themselves and then learn what hap- pened to the declarer in each case. Part II actually con- DON’T FORGET tains humorous stories about Mr. Bird’s favorite charac- ters—the nuns of St. Hilda’s Convent, the monks of St. Please remember to wear your Chattanooga River Titus Monastery, and the missionaries at Chomeley School, “whose main task City Regional buttons at all upcoming tournaments — in life is to convert the Bozwambi tribe We need to promote our July to the . ” So, you 2012 River City Regional at the can learn how to play (or not play) Chattanoogan ! 6NT contracts while enjoying several good stories at the same time. UNIT 206 CHIT CHAT Volume 3 Issue 1 Monthly Publication of ACBL Unit 206 January 2012 Editor: Sandy Cervantes Assistant Editor: Cheryl Whitfield Staff: Teresa Moore Features Editor: Marcia Lanphear Myra Reneau

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT FROM THE

I hope you are pleased with a new format for EDITOR’S DESK...

ChitChat for the New Year. It is great that we We’re starting off the new year with a try different things and have the talented new format for our newsletter. For the last eighteen people to help us do so. months, our Spotlight article, written by Marcia

Lanphear, has appeared on Page 2 of Chit Chat . Mar- We had a nice holiday party and annual cia has presented in-depth interviews with players meeting. Five incoming members were elected and the by-law change to move to from Chattanooga and Cleveland, giving us a personal glimpse of friends we often see at the bridge table. twelve (12) board members with the process starting in 2012 passed. As we start the New Marcia will continue to feature a new bridge player Year, I just want to reiterate from my meet- every other month, but now will share Page 2 billing. ing comments that there are so many people Unit 206, although small in member size, is large in who do so much to help us be a good bridge talent. Some of the best players in the ACBL have club. Support takes many different forms. ties to Chattanooga, and we have asked some to share Each of us can find something to help with their expertise with our membership. Every other that we are good at and enjoy doing. It may be chairing our tournaments or it may be or- month, a feature article written by one of our talented fellow players will appear on Page 2. dering supplies for the club or it may be mak- ing boards for games. Whatever you do is There’s no better way to kick off this change than by helpful, and we are a better club having the first article be written by our own resident for your service. Happy New experts, Linda and Ron Smith. We hope that you will Year! enjoy this change and that the topics we feature will Bill give you some food for thought. Leading Opponents’ Suits Against No Ron and Linda Smith

A common situation: The opponents arrive in 3NT and you hold both the suit bid by your left-hand opponent (LHO) and the suit bid by your right-hand opponent (RHO).

Example: LHO Partner RHO You You hold: ♠QJ86 1D P 1H P ♥QJ86 1S P 1N P ♦32 P P ♣1098

Question 1: You are sitting west. What do you lead?

♠ T754 ♥ 32 Answer: In general, you should lead from one of your long

♦ AKQ102 suits. Leading short suits against no trump is usually not a winning strategy. ♣ K7

♠ ♠ QJ86 AK Hopefully, the full deal is something like the hand on the N ♥ QJ86 ♥ AK4 left. If you lead a , you will take 8 tricks for down W E ♦ 95 ♦ 8643 2, if your partner shines. If you lead a short suit, they will S ♣ JT6 ♣ 8532 take 9 tricks. ♠ 932 ♥ T975

♦ J7

♣ AQ94

Question 2: OK, which suit do I lead?

Answer: Lead the suit bid on your right! You may give up a trick, but you won’t give up the whole suit. (Exceptions – if the suit on your right is known to be a five-card suit or better, do not lead that suit; if your suit quality is bad, i.e. J542, Q532, try to find another lead) Of course, using our bridge sense, if we hold suits like KQJ9, QJ109, we would certainly be leading these suits, regardless of the bidding.

♠ AKT5 Again, you are West. North is Dummy and South is Declarer. ♥ 932 You are on lead and the contract is 1NT. The bidding is the same as above.

♠ QJ86 As you can see, if you lead spades, you will never take a N ♥ QJ86 spade trick. Declarer will you out of both your spade W E honors. However, if you lead a heart, you only give up one S trick (assuming you don’t lead them again, which you ♠ 973 won’t ). ♥ AKT5

Bottom line: Don’t be afraid to lead into a 4- card suit bid on your right.

HIGH GAMES FOR DECEMBER ANOTHER RESOLUTION

Chattanooga Open Michael Sherman/Jody Plummer 72.92 The new year was here, so Ron & Linda Smith 72.92 It was time to decide NLM Fran Keifer/David Brown 69.20 How to improve my bridge game - Cleveland Ron & Linda Smith 68.18 What would be my new guide?

Fairyland David McKenzie/Cotty Kale 72.92 After thoughtful review And careful deliberation, Supporting my partner In Sympathy Seemed a great consideration.

Our heartfelt sympathy and prayers go out to our friend, Barbara Wright, on But, first time out, the loss of her beloved husband, Ed- Partner opens the bidding. ward, this past December 15, 2011. We know that these are difficult times I’ve 7 spades in my hand, for Barbara and hope she can gain strength from her They’re beauties, no kidding! family and her many friends who stand ready to help her as she endures this loss. One heart he says, Then 2, later 3. MARK YOUR Only one in my hand But I have to agree. CALENDAR So, I go to 4, There are 2 special games this month at the Chattanooga Bridge Center. On Sun- I remember my pact. day, January 22, there will be a GNT Qualifying I lay down my hand, Game. The game starts at 1:30 PM, and the cost Partner gets ready to act. is $20 per team. Also, on the following Saturday, January 28, there will be an open pairs Interna- So happy is he as his tional Fund Game starting at 1:00 PM. Find a Contract is made. partner, make your team, and mark your calendar And, he can only make it so you won’t miss these two “extras!” With my seventh spade!

CHANGE OF RANK

NOVEMBER 2011

Lee Atchley Junior Master Judy Monen Junior Master

DECEMBER 2011

Elizabeth Jones Sectional Master

♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠ CLEVELAND NEWS

In Memoriam HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It was with great sad- TO YOU! ness that we learned of the passing of Ruth Var- th nell on December 9 .

Ruth had an infectious laugh and feisty personality, and it was always a delight to share the bridge table with her. She Janusz Kot January 6, 2011 was a true competitor who relished her Warren Mitchell January 6, 2011 Lois Wyche January 6, 2011 wins and took her defeats in stride, and Rosalind Savard January 6, 2011 genuinely enjoyed the social aspect of Dan Hoffman January 7, 2011 Sonja Luckie January 11, 2011 bridge. More often than not, Ruth had Sue Riddle January 12, 2011 just finished an interesting book that she Jim Moon January 18, 2011 Charlotte Thorogood January 27, 2011 wanted to talk about and suggest you Dorothy Draper January 29, 2011 read. If she didn’t have a book recom- mendation, she would tell a joke, share an interesting story or just offer a kind Zona Parham word. The Cleveland bridge community Ruth was a vital part of the Cleveland experienced another loss this past December when Zona Parham bridge club and we will truly miss her. passed away. Zona headed up the social bridge We send our most sincere wishes of sym- group at the Senior Center for many years and pathy to her close friends and family and her many friends mourn her death. Heartfelt especially to her husband, E. Winston, on prayers and messages of sympathy go out to her their profound loss. family as they deal with this loss.

CLEVELAND GAME SCHEDULE: Tuesday and Friday — Game at 1:00 P.M. Second Thursday — Game at 6:00 P.M. Please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to game time. Reservations are requested. IN MEMORIAM SENIOR APPRECIATION DAY

November 9th was the day Unit 206 celebrated the This past December contribution of senior players and recognized the 14th, our good friend generous bequest Jessal Bell passed away made to the Chatta- nooga Bridge Center after enduring a long by our late friend, Mae illness. As much as Massey. A plaque in Jessal loved bridge, and honor of Mae was delighted in her fre- dedicated during the activity. It was a won- quent wins, most be- derful afternoon filled lieve her first and foremost interest was with reminiscing and travel. Her face would light up when she renewing old friend- recounted one of her travel escapades — ships. Everyone had a great time and we hope to repeat this activity on a regular basis. Pictured below some of which could be featured in the from left to right are Nat and Bucky Hughes with Perils of Pauline. Jessal was always such a Bob Kemp. positive person with a beautiful smile and a kind word for all. Her quick wit and easy going nature will certainly be missed and her absence at the Chattanooga Bridge Center will be felt by many for a long time. We send our prayers and deepest sympathy to her family, especially her beloved son, James “Lowery” Bell.

STUDENT TEA A tea at the CBC this past November provided an opportunity for our bridge students to play with experi- enced players. Cheryl Whitfield did a beautiful job transforming the club into a tropical paradise complete with palm trees and leis, and Chef D’Vine made a delicious pineapple upside-down cake. Many others con- tributed to the success of the event, and all enjoyed the camaraderie and good fellowship. Pictured below from left to right are Anne Johnson and Susan Rothberger; Gerry Jones, Buddy Landis, Kitty Kay and Lau- rie Buchanan; and Joyce Feher and Martha Freels. ANNUAL MEETING AND CHRISTMAS PARTY

Five new board members were elected at the Unit 206 Annual Meeting: David Brown, Betty Sue Farmer, Susan Kimm, Buddy Landis, and JoAn Talley. The by-law revision to reduce the board size passed and the membership enjoyed a beautiful Christmas dinner complete with roast beef and turkey. Winners that evening were North/ South—Angie Cowart and Jody Plummer and East/West—Linda and Ron Smith.

Everyone got in the hol- iday spirit at the Unit 206 Christmas party. Pictured clockwise from top right are Muriel Morton and her daugh- ter, Betty Jackson; Ian and Corinne Madden with Reba Jernigan; and, the center of attraction, the dinner table laden with wonderful treats.

REBA’S CHRISTMAS PARTY

Wednesday, December 14th, our lovely hostess, Reba Jernigan, held her annual Christmas Party. The table was re- plete with ham, turkey and roast beef, and players complemented the repast with delectable side dishes and des- serts. After tummies were filled and the tables cleared, a spirited game ensued with Michael Sherman/Janusz Kot and John Friedl/Sandy Cervantes coming out on top .

Everyone was smiling as they enjoyed the delicious lunch and good fun at Reba’s Christmas Party. Pictured below from left are Janusz Kot with Kyle Weems; Gene Kleiman and Sylvia Saloshin; and Jane McCurdy and Jane Armor.