NEWSLETTER AUSTRALIAN BRIDGE FEDERATION INC. EDITORS: David & Sue Lusk NO. 102 JULY 2003 Approved for Print Post S65001/00163 ABN 70 053 651 666 Opinion • The appeals advisor is not an advocate. He or she will comment only on whether there is a reasonable Appeals have received a great deal of press in recent case. The players have the responsibility of times, not all of it good. producing their own arguments at appeal. At the recent Victor Champion Cup in Melbourne, What I liked about the system was not only the two appeals advisors were co-opted for the purpose removal of pressure on the appeals system, but also of advising teams on the merits of appealing the the potential value in educating players on matters director’s ruling. The purpose of this was to pertaining to rulings which may or may not warrant eliminate obviously frivolous appeals, thereby an appeal. reducing the load on the Appeals Committee and David Lusk reduce the potential for teams to lose victory points in the process. The Zone 7 Championships A number of players took the opportunity to run intended appeals by the advisors. If the advisor TAHITI WAS NICE suggested that there was any case for the intended The South Pacific Championships is held every two appellants, then the team was protected from any years to select teams from Zone Seven of the World penalty on frivolous grounds. The net result was that Bridge Federation to attend the World Championship pressure was taken off the appeals panel because events, the Bermuda Bowl for open teams and the players were also advised on the likelihood of Venice Cup for women’s teams. Zone Seven is made success and the possible gain. One team was advised up of Australia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, that they stood to gain 3 IMPs at best (1VP) and, as New Zealand and The Kingdom of Tonga. For the a result of the advice, decided that it was hardly first time French Polynesia hosted both the South worth the sweat. So the net result was that many Pacific Championships and the first Festival potential appeals didn’t reach the review stage. International de Bridge de Tahiti Nui. No offence Considering the point that members of the appeals to previous organisers, but the beauty of tropical panel are at the event primarily to play bridge, this Tahiti, balmy weather, warm water, the luxurious can’t be a bad thing. surrounds of the five star Hotel Le Méridien in Papeete in Tahiti sure beats the Prahan Town Hall On the opposite side of the equation, one team did and Christchurch Bridge Club where some of the lodge an appeal which was subsequently deemed previous Zone Seven events have been held. frivolous. Had they taken their case to the appeals advisor, they would have saved themselves a small In the finals of both the Open Teams and Women’s VP fine and also some time if the advisor had agreed Teams events, Australia prevailed over New with the point that the appeal was frivolous. Zealand. While both Australia and New Zealand dominate Zone Seven, (so much so that New It might be reasonable to suggest that this idea will Caledonia and Tonga declined to send teams to become commonplace at major events and in many Tahiti, a very expensive destination), the Tahitian clubs, so I would like to forestall some potential teams have become more competitive (the abuses of the system. Australian Open Team was beaten during the round robin by the leading Tahitian Team). • The appeals advisor is not a ‘third umpire’ and should not be called upon to judge the quality or The Australian Open Team played well throughout merit of the director’s ruling. and were never in any danger of missing a berth in 1 the final. A professional and confident display in 3. Poor weak two with spades the final saw the Open Team build an early lead that 4. Cuebid was consolidated at each session. The final score 5. Stronger than 4«, also inferring no diamond or saw Australia, 301 defeat New Zealand, 229. heart control, so a club card and good trumps for a poor weak two This was the best bid hand of the tournament: 6. Faith in partner’s pass of 4©X Dealer: W North Vul: All « QJ10842 Robert Fruewirth’s and Ishmael Del’Monte’s slam bidding is one of the strongest parts of their game, ª Q104 especially finding close minor suit slams where most © 63 West ¨ K9 East pairs lapse in the notrump game. They took full advantage of a lead directing double on this hand. « 75 « 963 ª AJ873 ª K9652 After a lead directing double from an opponent a © KQ2 © 107 return to the trump suit would show no possible ¨ 1085 South ¨ 642 « « AK unrevealed strength. If North had bid 4 after East’s double, South would not have made a further bid. ª — © © AJ9854 However North’s pass of the double of 4 showed some unrevealed strength. As North had already ¨ AQJ73 shown a poor weak two with spades, North must West North East South have an honour in clubs and reasonable spades. (If Fruewirth Del’Monte North had an honour in hearts, he would have made Pass 2©1 Pass 2NT2 a cuebid of 4ª). North’s pass gave South the Pass 3«3 Pass 4© 4 inferences to bid the slam. It certainly is a confident X Pass5 Pass 6«6 partnership where slams can be bid on these fine All Pass inferences. 1. Multi, usually a weak six-card major The best lead of the tournament: 2. Inquiry (3© is invitational) Dealer: S North Index Vul: Nil « K83 Articles Of Interest & Information ª AK4 ABF Calendar 16 © K95 Australian Bridge Teachers Assoc. News 9 West ¨ KJ85 East Contact Details 3 « AQJ9 « 102 Copy Deadline 18 ª 97 ª J5 Country Congress Calendar 12 © AQJ43 © 108762 Green Point Achievements - 30 June 2003 20 ¨ 43 South ¨ A1076 Improving the SW Pacific Teams 6 « 7654 Letters to the Editors 8 ª Q108632 McCutcheon Trophy - 30 June 2003 22 © — Playoff Qualifying Points -30 June 2003 23 ¨ Q92 Youth News 5 West North East South Major Tournament Reports & Results Thomson Richman The Zone 7 Championships 1 2©1 The 2003 ANOT 3 Pass2 2NT3 Pass 3ª4 Tournament Results 15 Pass 4ª All Pass Regular Features Bidding into the 21st Century 10 1. Multi, usually a weak six-card major Book Reviews 18 2. Awaiting developments Coaching Cathy at Contract 14 3. Inquiry with a strong hand Opinion 1 4. Weak two with hearts The Director’s Chair 16 2 Even when you look at all four hands it is hard to The 2003 ANOT see the lead Matthew Thomson found from the West cards to defeat 4ª. The winning lead was the «Q. THE S TORY OF A G RAND South did not expect West to lead away from an ace This year’s ANOT was contested by 52 teams at the and placed the «A with East. South called for new venue, the Corus Grosvenor. The venue was good, dummy’s «2 hoping that the «A would be singleton a short walk from the centre of Adelaide and across or doubleton with East. After winning the «Q, the road from the Casino. The field was full of locals Matthew produced the «J and then to the declarer’s plus the usual interstate suspects. After 8 of the 9 rounds surprise played the «A to take the first three tricks. of Swiss, the Noble team had a healthy lead and beat East’s ¨A later took the setting trick. the Gumby team (Pauline Gumby - Warren Lazer, George Gaspar - Bob Richman) 19-11 in the last round As you can see from these hands the players in the to claim their spot in the final. The Chua team featuring Australian Open Team are experts playing at an the new combinations of Cathy Chua - Henry Christie, expert level. The experience of playing an Simon Hinge-David Appleton had a good Swiss to be international event with a tough final was invaluable in second spot after 8 rounds but were vulnerable after for the Open Team and should stand it in good stead scoring a 16-14 win over Travis (Joe Haffer - Peter for the Bermuda Bowl. This Open Team settled in Reynolds, Elizabeth Havas - Barbara Travis) in the last early to its task of winning the tournament in Tahiti round. The last spot in the 2 team final was up for and has showed the ability to conduct the necessary grabs and, luckily, my team, Horton (Phil Markey - campaign to make the finals in Monte Carlo. Theo Dave Horton, Paul Marston - Sartaj Hans) had a great Antov and Al Simpson had an outstanding and last match, beating Leibowitz (Tony Leibowitz - David confident debut for Australia with winning sessions Beauchamp, Paul Brayshaw - Tony Nunn) 25 to 2 to in the final against world-class opponents. They leap from 5th to second, 3 VPs in front of Chua. combined well with the professional approach of our four experienced internationals Ishmael The Noble team has been around for many years now Del’Monte, Robert Fruewirth, Bobby Richman and and they tend to swap partnerships a bit. For this event Matthew Thomson. the 3 partnerships were Barry Noble - George Bilski, John Roberts Terry Brown - Phil Gue and Michael Prescott - Peter Gill. Strangely, Dave and I, despite playing the Noble team in the round robin (they beat us 20-10) and in 4 ABF Newsletter Editors 16 board sets in the final, only got to see one of the 3 Send contributions and partnerships that being Prescott - Gill.