Ia UST rs t E.a.u. from : £2.00 per 1,000 £2.10 per 1,000 • £3.10 per 1,000 £4.50 per 1,000 £1.10 per 1,000 £1.30 per 100 £1.10 per 100 £1.00 per 100 £7.50 per 1,000 £5.80 per 1,000 £5.80 per 1,000 £1.80 per 100 £8.00 per 1,000 70p per doz. 10p each (£1.00 per doz.) BRIDGE FURNITURE The E.B U. Is able to offer top qu llty Item at 20 discount on recommended r tail pric s. The e pr ces are exclu Iva ol V.A.T. but Include all dellv ry coats. MAXIUSE BRIDGE TABLES 30· ' 30·. legs with automatic fitting fold flush Individually Inside top frame. Be ch I gs and tram with mahogany inlsh. Loose all·purpo e cover £1 extra. Mod I A-gr n f It top without p dding . £:22.20 Mod I 8-green or blue felt with padd d top £25.90 Mod I C-gre n/blue/belg worsted curl top £27.90 BRIDGE CHAIRS Foldi~g B ch cha rs with mahogany lmlsh, lull length wl el back In gr n/ blu /~•ge I t ... ... ... ... ••• ... .. £2 .10 A D1 count of 71 given on any qu ntity of 5 or mor It ms under this head THE OFFICI L PUBLICATI 0 OF THE ENGLISH B lOGE U ION E4ited by HAROLD FRANILIN •••••• EDITORIAL To work for the areater &ood of the areat t poaible number of ita members is an admirable aim for the Administration of the En&lish Brid&e Union. To achien this aim in an inftationary economy and with an increasin& area of membership calls for a number of compromises. Ideally our Conareaes ShOuld be open to the Jar&est pou.ible number of our members. To make them 10 open precludes the " de luxe" settin& which mi&ht faD within the means of a much more limited number. The compromise is to look for a IOQd settin& in a catchment area which will permit a larae number of commutin& competitors or which will offer modestly priced accom­ modation other than at the Headquarters Hotel. Hotels too have their problems. Our laraer Conareues attract in the re 'on of 600 competitors of whom about twenty-five per cent stay at the Headquarters Hotel. The hotels, not unreasonably, feel that they are entitled to some revenue from the non-residents. As their overhead escalate so do their table cbar&e requirements increase. That charae i a compromise which the commuters must now accept u part of the tournament bridge way of life. • • • • This ue contains a statement by the Laws and Ethic Coo:urutte of i thinkln& on the subject of psychic bids. There will doubtless be many who take the view that any sort of restriction is " anti-proaress ". Many who, in JOOd faith, believe that provided there i no explicit arrangement between partners a player ahould have complete freedom to indulge his every whim. Any bid is fair which has the same elemen of surpri for partner as for opponents, but which of us is not on the "qui vi e" oppo ' te the more ad, enturous of partners 7 • • • • Does the freedom of the individual give licence for one p ir to indul e in lenatby and often acrimoniou discu ·on at the end of a h nd 7 ot rea.lly, ince such behaviour depriv their opponent of much of the pleasure they would expect to find, so do commen all too often offered in the course of play. The E.B.U. Is about to make an all-out effort ub ntially to diminish th particular nuisances in the belief that by doin& so it ill make its tournaments even more enjoyable. The comprom· ked of the competitor Is that be r erve hi commentary until the end of the on. inet n of every twenty of ou will find It an ea . Perhaps you can help to keep the twentieth in line. 2 (1) ~tor JMr 1tn/8 are due on Apnl 1st, 1977. Tile •lortiY of ~~ their IUbterlption e1ther through the Counlr Alloclatlon or their Club 1'here Is to be no chang lftllhod. 'There 11 a request howeVer that the due date be noted. ~:.::-:-:tor whom the due date is likewise April 1st, 1977, n to -.d their .W.Crlptlon of £2.00 to : The Registrar. Eng118h Bridge Union, 158 High Street, Thame, OXon. (2) who are still In arrears with their subscriptions for 1mn and who have failed to pay such arrears after receiving a Nmlndlr have regretfully been removed from the mailing list. LlpMd mernbeB who wish to re-Join may send the combined E.B.U. aubeortptlon/County levy to the Reglstr r. (If the exact amount Is not known, cheques should be martted " not In exces of £3.00 ".) at Con r nd ot r B. • nt The slovenly appearance of a small minority of competitors continu to g1 e otreac:e to the majority. While it i not the intention of the E.B.U. to define the mode of clreaa it is felt proper to insist on both tidiness and cleanliness. It has been directed that future departures from normally acceptable standards of clreaa should be reported by the Tournament Director to the Congre office aDd tbat pe iatent offenders, having been warned, hould be required to with­ dra from further participation. T The next n&lisb Bridge Union Teacher • ciation examination for the ordinary and ad anced level diplomas will be held on the afternoon of Saturday, 21 t May, 1977. The entrance fee for the examination i £6.00. Clo ing date for entri · Saturday, Sth March, 1977. Trainin courses on the particular kill required for teachin Contract Brid&e will be held over the two week-end of Saturd y and Sunday, April 23-24th and May 7th-8th, the two week-end compri ing at lea t 20 hou of tuition. The composite fee for both training cou e and examination I £21.00. The course and diploma examin tion are open only to p ld-up members of the E.B.U. Candidat who are ucc ful in tb written examin tion on May lbt will be expected to take an oral examination, alternati e dat for which will be pread out, startin& about a month after the rltten exam. Canctidat are pt;rmitted to it for th ad need level without first nm the orctiDUJ le el diplo , but ar wam d th t thi l d i ble only for ery experienced brid&e playe nd te cher . a high n rd of billty i requir d. Venu will be announ d when the demand fn any rticul r area is kno n. Pull detalla, to ether with 11 b , ntry forms, etc.. n be ob !ned from the Secretu'J', • Rhoda Lederer, S A nue, Ch lfont t. Peter. Buck SL9 9UA. 3 L W D ETHI For orne two year players have be n required to report to the Tournament Director psychic bid made by an opponent. Since it would appear that this requirement is disregarded more often than it is observed, the time may be opportune to re tate the thinkin& of the Laws and Ethics Committee. There is no de ire to outlaw the use of the psychic bid. Properly used the p ychic bid i a fair and oc ionally valuable weapon. The pre-condition of a " fair " psychic bid is that the element of surprise hould exist for partner no le than for opponent . Whenever that condition i not fully m t, then the psychic bidder may be enjoying an unfair advantage. There are many players who deem it a sound strategy to bid Wlthout the proper values at favourable vulnerability and especially against uppo edly weaker opponents. lt is inconceivable that a regular partner- unlikely that an occasional one- hould be unaware of thi predilection. Given that awar ne , it is extremely difficuk for partner not to be influenced by it, if only subcon. ciou ly. Consider thi situation :- s w E lH 1 N.T. 4H 7 East hold :- \) Kxx 0 Qxxx By definition the overcall of One o Trump i the equivalent of a strong No Trump opening. If West is given to making psychic bids East is likely to pass without further thought. In entire good faith he will subsequently justify his action by saying that as ther are only 40 points in the pack it was clear that omebody did not have his bid. Perfectly true, but why should not the " somebody" be South rather than West 7 The reporting of psychic bids helps one to establish a pattern where a pattern exi ts. It may also serve as a protection for the psychic bidder. When a player open in front of partner with a very poor hand, he runs the risk of finding partner with a good hand on which he will not stop short of game. When a player bids pade with a holding of two cards in the uit, he run the risk of finding partner with a holding on which be will bid to a high level in spades. If b bids spades when partn r has no pades and oppon n have a game in the suit ; if he opens with two or three points wh n partner also has two or three points and opponent ha.ve a lam, he mu t not be urprised if the possibility of an unrl sant e planation hould be con id red.