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• •,.J .CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ENGLISH BRIDGE UNION
VotU:IIE 2 }UNE · }ULY, 1948 NUMBERS 8 & 9
AVE ATQUE .VALE • CONTENTS • HIS, the first double number Pilge of the Contract Bridge LOOKING BACK· T Journal, has both triumph George Nelso11 2 and tragedy to record . . PRAGUE Ll:ll!T SYSTE~I It is an occasion of supreme Frn11tisek Joles 4 satisfaction to congratulate the SD!PI.E TACTICS Dr. Sid11ev Lee . . 7 British team which, for the first THE DEVIL ~s CouP time, has borne the laurel from Dr. Adolfo Gialll/rt:::zi 9 all Europe ; and it adds one final BRIDGE IN SWEDEN . fillip that its Cap~ain should be Dr. E. Tf'emer 11 that same M . Harrison-Gray whose AtL AT SEA-S. J. Simon 13 enthusiasm created, whose address · HERESY Prof. A. k!acKimzon 15 set the standard for, this magazine. GossiP oF THE MoNTH Foremost to have rejoiced in the Guy Ramsey 17 national success would have been COPENHAGEN DIARY Gray's successor in the Editorial Terence Reese 19 chair, Dr. Paul Stem. But bareh· DR. PAUL STERN-A Tribute 24 had he been appointed and man}· AROUND THE CoMPETITIONS 26 of his dreams seemed to ha,·e MY FIRST SQUEEZE V. H. Walker 30 come true than illness, long and NoRTHERN OuTLOOK indomitably held at bay, dashed Ewart Kempson . . 31 the cup from his lips. , NoRTHERN lRELAl'o/0 This is no place to mourn him : A. J. Fletcher 33 our tribute, from full hearts, 'VOJIIEN'S ANGLE appears on another page.· The · 1\frs. A. L. Fleming 35 credo of journalism is that of READERS' FORUM 37 BooK REVIEW 38 Royalty- The Editor is dead, long CRI:\IE-BUT NO PUNISHMENT live the publication. Edtuard Jl!fayer . . ·. . 39 The Contract Bridge Joumal will PROBLEM CoRNER-"Telltx" 41 survive the death of Paul Stem as THIS DUPLICATE BUliiNESS it survived the resignation of Mrs. 0. B. E. Cole . . 42 Harrison:-Gray : with deep and SLA:IIWARD Ho : bitter regret ; but also, with that A. G. Figgim 43 courage which has marked- and, juNE-}ULY CoMPETITION . . 45 please Heaven, shall ever mark ANSWERS TO iMA y . lP . the · free Press of a free country. CoMPETITION 46 Guy Ramsey
A 1 RECOLLECTIONS of a LOOKING Pioneer Bridge Player GEORGE NELSON BACK (Leeds) My first weekly ouR Editor's article, although I request for blush when re Y an article on reading it, was a the early days of great success. My Contract revived so theme· song was, many pleasant re collections that and· still is, the despite the risk of duplicate part of being classed as one the game. By of ·those who organising dupli delight in ancient cate con tests, history, I venture charging a ,·ery to respond. modest entrv fee The birth of and giving -prizes Contract Bridge in so that the whole Britain was a very of the entry fees laboured event. could go to some When I first tried useful charity, I to introduce the soon got a number new game into of disciples of the our leading Yorkshire Clubs, type who considered playing cards they turned it down with more of a game than a gamble. ridicule. The sporting clubs said The number increased until I was "\Ve don't bet on talking horses," able to form a Yorkshire Contract while the others commented, " It Bridge Association. \Ve were not is too much like hard work." the first association of this kind However, in the winter of 1932 for that other Northern Bridge I approached the Editor of the Journalist, Ewart Kempson, started Yorluhire Evening Post and told a North-Eastern Association just him that this game was becoming before us. \Ve had some of the all the rage in America, and that first inter-county matches with all other European Countries were his team. "\Vor Ewart" (as they playing it. " They can't all be call him in Newcastle) did much wrong," I argued. He agreed to to forward Contract Bridge, and my proposal and asked me to though I never likt:d his bidding write a weekly article on Contract, system, I greatly admire the way suggesting an immediate start. he wears the " cap and bells " I was hardly ready for that, so among writers on the game. His I took a fortnight's grace in pungent wit spares not e\·en his ·which to obtain what little literature best friends which proves there is there was concerning the game, no malice in his humour. ' and with this I literally went to Then came the battle of svstems. bed for a week. Dear old Walter Buller ·whose ' '2 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL Yery name signified " bid British" his short reply was_: " lousy." with ·his ardent disciple Ewa'rt This mightily offended the late Kempson, Richard Lederer with his Manning Foster v,·ho had nominated T~Yo-<:;Iub system, Harry Ingram the Team and arranged the event. ·w1th h1s One-Club, and others too \Vhen Culbertson came to the numerous to mention ; but Contest a second time there was ·Culbertson had them all whacked what a London newspaper described and proved it in no small measure as a " Dramatic · Scene at Bridge -when he played against them. Tournament." Manning Foster My first introduction to big sent him a message telling him l3ridge was when the Yorkshire not to come again, whereupon Post and the Yorkshire Evening Ely Culbertson walked out. .Post sent me to London to report Manning Foster then called a on what was hailed in most meeting of Press representati\·es ·papers as a " history-making card and suggested that we should event." This was in June, 1933 taboo Culbertson in all our papers. -when the International Bridge I edged by saying that such a League held its first European decision ought surely to be left . ·Contest in London in which the to our respective Editors. representative teams of Austria, Consulting mine, I told them that B e lgium, Denmark, Holland, leaving Culbertson out of Contract Norway and England played 30 Bridge was like playing H amlet Matches during the last week in without the Prince. . l\'lay at Grosvenor House. The A great "fillip was given to the bidding and play were very tedious ; game when Culbertson brought as an example, my daughter, an American team over to play Mrs. Nancy Bedford, told me England at Selfridgcs in 1933, a that when she was acting as match described l?y Culbertson ·marker, a player took 6 minutes as the " Bridge battle of the to make his bid, which was typical Century." It turned out to be -of the bidding in general. all that and then some which led The battle ended with Austria me to describe Ely as the " Barnum collecting 24 points, Holland 17, of Bridge." Norway 15, Denmark 15, England The match was a six-day event _1 +, Belgium, 8. At that time the and was attended daily by the Austrian team played natural most distinguished Yisitors. fro m bidding, the Dutch and the society, stage and sport. T he late Norwegian teams play e d Lord Moynihan, who honoured Culbertson. One England pair us by becoming the President of actually played Ingram's One-Club the Yorkshire Contract Bridge whilst the other used Lederer's Association, came se\'eral times. T wo-Clubs. I introduced him to Ely and the two became great friends. It was a sad story for England. Ely Culbertson was nearly right The general public followed the when he came along to see the match through the introduction of tournament and someone asked an electric screen which was him what he thought about the controlled by a switchboard English bidding and play- and (Conti1111ed f!-11 page 6) 3 by The PRAGUE FRANTISEK JOLES (Captain of representati•e LIMIT. SYSTEM Czechoslovakian Team) that will probably be of no interest REAK hands arc the night e.g. weak len.gth in a side suit, is mare of the tournatl}ent very rarely gl\•en. . F player. When I hold such a hand I don't mind whether my As the sequence of bid~ is very partner has a strong o~ weak !~an?, precise, it has of necessity to be but I am extremely mterestcd m somewhat elaborate and I cannot rvhat he I holds. One Queen, a O'ive here the complete classificatil'm, singleton • or even a worthless but I will give my English friends doubleton may be of far gr~~tcr a short survey of our conventions importance than an Ace, h.mg, so as to arouse the interest of Queen in his hand. tournament players, though I must mention that the details given here If I hold: are insufficient for actual practice. 4.3 r;:)- <) AK96+3 efaAKS752 and my partner holds: After a Two-Bid, partner ' announces his values in the +KQJ9 r;;JAKJ75 <) J2 dJoJ6 following sequence : we arc not sure of a game in any suit, but a holding such as : 1. Aces 2. Kings or singletons in side +AS2 r;;J9643 <)75 Jl-9643 suits would yield a Grand Slam in Clubs 3. Trump support at least nine times out of ten. 4. His own long suit. None of the existing bidding 1. One Ace is announced by systems can deal precisely with calling 2 NT. If the 'opener now such hands and none assists its continues by repeating his suit or followers in deciding whether the by calling a second suit, the slam should be bid or not. responder then names his Kings Our Prague Limit System uses or singletons in side suits by Openiug Bids of Two in a Suit only calling them. If such ,~al ues .are for hands of exceptional distribution. missing from his hand, he ra1ses Strong hands with at least 10 cards the first trump suit or the second in two suits are ,Opening Two-Bids if he has trump support. Other in a suit, asking for strictly wise, he passes if game has already conventional responses which have been reached or, if not, calls to be given automatically in a No-Trumps to keep the bidding definite sequence. open, indicating that he has no This sequence has been further values to show. established after the careful By using certain bids the opener investigation of thousands of such can ask his partner to name the hands whereby it was determined suit of the announced Ace. These which values in partner's hand calls are 3 +, 3 NT or 4 N'r, his were likely to be of importance choice depending on the economY to the opening bidder. Information of bidding. I -:r CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL Example: +. Jumping in Opener's Suit to NoRTH SOUTH Four announces trump support + AQ+Z + K6 and two King values. \? AK9765 \? 10 8 4 2 5. Jumping !o tlze Five-Level 0 KQ3 . 0 A 7 5 in opener's suit announces trump + - + 10653 support and King values in all THE lliDDI"G three side suits. NoRTH SouTH 2 <:? 2 NT (One Ace) Example: 3 + (Which Ace?) 3 0 (0 A) NoRTH SouTH .3 \? 3 + (Showing + AS + K942 . + K) \? QS \? 3 4 + (Second suit- 6 \? (Trump 0 AKQ6432 0 10 9 7 5 4-card) support) + A7 + K863 7 \? THE BIDDING : As first and sec~nd round ·Controls have to be automatically NoRTH SouTH announced, the naming of a side 2 0 5 0 (No Ace, trump .suit by the opener after agreeing support and 3 King the trump suit asks for third round· values) £ontrol only (Q x x or x x). 6 0 2. Two Aces are shown by 6. Simple Change of Suit £ailing 3 NT. announces two Kings in side-suits, 3. Raising Opener's Suit witl}out trump support. The indicates no Ace, adequate trump responder must name· his lowest support and one second round King suit except where it happens control. An immediate No-Trump to be the next higher ranking suit bid by the opener asks for this (bidding the next higher ranking King value. suit would be the negative Herbert response). Example: NoRTH SouTH Example: + A54 + KQS NoRTH SouTH <::JAK76 - \? 8 3 + AKQJ542 + 6 0 KQJ964 0 7 53 2 \? AQ7 \? K963 + - + 9 864 0 - 0 8 7 52 'THE BIDDING : + AQ3 + K7+2 NoRTH SouTH 20 3 0 (No Ace, THE BIDDING : trump support NoRTH SouTH and 1 King) 2 + 3 \? (Kings of Hearts .3 \?(Asking for 3 + (Thirdround and Clubs) third round control in 7 control) Hearts and + Spades) 7. Calling the ne.\'t higher rank .3 NT (Which + + (King of ing suit at tlze lowest possible level King?) Spades) (Herbert response) denies any of the values specified in 1 to 6 above. 5 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL To conclude: I would like to S. Abandoning the Convention. give a hand which occurred at the If the responder himself holds an Harrogate Congress in 1946 when interesting hand with a strong I played with my usual partner, suit and shortage in the opener's suit he can indicate at once that Paul Kuhn: he prefers to abandon the conven NoRTH SouTH tion and bid his hand normally. + AKQ97643 + 852 In that case he. makes a jump bid rv 1 s. rv A 8 6 +z in his suit i.e., 2· O, 3 or if !t 0- 0 AQ52 is a suit without a loser even 1f +A32 + 7 his partner ·is void in it he makes NoRTH SouTH a double jump i.e., 2 0, + +· 2+ 3 NT (2Aces) Two-suiters in which we are not ++ 5 + (2nd round interested in King values in side control in suits are called ideal two-suiters Clubs) e.g. 6 (Asking for 6 0 (Holding 3rd + AQJ96 ryA OAK9763 5 3rd round round or the hand given in the introduction control in control in to this article. Such two-suiters Clubs) Clubs and call for a somewhat different 7 Diamonds) bidding sequence by the opener (The author will be pleased to in order to avoid unnecessarily mzS'Wer any questions relatiug to the wasting rounds . of bidding in System forzuarded to me through tlze naming Kings in the side suits. Editor of this Journal).
LOOKING BACK-(Coutiuuedfrom page 3) containing nearly three hundred these I had to criticise Culbertson switches.· On this screen were more than once. He pulled me flashed the hands held by the up on one occasion, but after players, with the bids made, and discussion admitted I was right, finally by means of a dimming adding characteristically, "Believe device each card was shown as it me, Nelson, there - ar~ no good was played '\•hilst an expert gave players at this game-only some a running commentary: A thousand are better than others." · spectators followed the bidding and play at very session, whilst So~e of the English newspapers. outside in Oxford Street a big dcscnbed Culbertson's methods as crowd watched the score board American ballyhoo, but if to be and cheered every England success. successful is ballyhoo, then we The Match was broadcast daily to could do with a bit more of it in America by Culbertson, whilst on British Contra~t. the spot there were Press representatives from no fewer than twenty-seven countries. I was then reporting for my tw~ Yorkshire papers and gave four deals with the play each day. In Sl MPLE Part Two : by Dr. Sidney Lee TACIICS in Planning No-Trump and Suit Contracts
N THE first part of this article There are several ways in which we dealt with simple tactics this can be done, namely : I applicable to contracts in No 1. 'By discarding losers on Trumps. The conclusions we winning cards already established. arrived at were: 2. By establishing winning cards l. To cowlt your sure winners in a suit to enable you to discard first and if the i-tumber was losers. insufficient for your contract, to 3. By taking advantage of the examine each suit in turn to see trump suit to ruff losers. which one was most likely to provide the additional winners. 4. By finessing, when it is not possible to eliminate losers by 2. To look for the additional discarding or ruffing. winners in the suit where there was least dang~r if you had to \ Vhether any or all of these give up the lead to your opponents. methods can be applied ih a particular case depends, of course, 3. To make your plan as soon on. the nature of the combined as dummy went down and before holding and also on another most ypu played to the first trick. important factor, time, i.e., whether The last of these injunctions is you can get rid of your apparent the most important one and applies losers before they become actual with equal force to the planning losers. of suit contracts. The fact that Let us take a few typical there is· a trump suit, however, examples: completely alters your tactics because a new factor has to be 1. Your hand Dummy taken into account. The procedure + K J 10 8 4 • Q 963 in the case of suit contracts can
10 IN by BRIDGE Dr. EINAR WERNER SWEDEN- (Stockholm )
HE most noteworthy feature Since the war ended, we have of Bridge in Sweden is the . been instrumental in reviving the T remarkable interest shown Scandinavian Championship in tournament play. During the matches. Though we lost to' period of the War, important Norway at Oslo in 1946, we gained developments took place in all an overwhelming victory last year Scandinavian countries, but most in Copenhagen when we won conspicuously in Sweden where eleven of the twelve championship the Bridge League has grown into matches. a flourishing organisation compris ing some 250 clubs with a The European Championship membership of over 12,000. held at the Haglie in 1939 was won by a Swedish team. I am In spite of our relatively small ready to admit that luck was \\;th population, numbering only about us on that occasion and though one-seventh that of the British we do not expect to repeat that Isles, I think we can claim more success, we have gone into strict tournament ·players than any other training for this year's events at country in Europe. That is Copenhagen and hope to carry because we specialise in tournament away some of the prizes. play. Our players take up Bridge in the same way as you do cricket. As regards our style of play, you Match play is our main objective. might consider us old-fashioned, Our clubs are primarily interested but most of us play Culbertson or in the encouragement of team the Vienna System with some events rather than individual play slight modifications. Perhaps our for high stakes. one characteristic is our partiality Our maximum stake when we for Asking Bids. We have carried these rather far- possibly too far, play for money is the " festival you may think. stake " which is the modest amount Many of our of half a krona a hundred. At leading players indulge in what we call, "Low Asking Bids." this rate you might win a pound or two of English currency if your For instance, when the bidding luck is in. goes: SouTH 1 ~. NoRTH 3 +. the latter bid is an Asking Bid. The enthusiasm for match play On the other hand we have no is demonstrated by the fact that use for " Cue Bids." vVe have no fe,'ver than 3,270 players took never been able to appreciate the part in this year's Swedish advantage of such bids. Championship for Open Pairs, contributing more than £1,500 to Here is an interesting hand taken the funds of the Swedish Bridge from a Swedish Tournament for League. Apart from this, Teams of Four, in which the one tournaments are held every week team bid and made a Grand Slam end in one town or another. on both lines.
II E JOURNAL CONTRACT DRIDG North played the Ace a_nd East West \\:as the dealer. and North- showed out. After that It was a South wen: vulnerable. simple matter. South ran all his + QJ 10 trumps and \Vest was squeezed. \.:} Q5 3 0 QJ Bidding at table two : + AJ643 EAST Soum + - + - \VEST NoRTH '\!} A K 8 6 Z '\!} J 10 9 7 + 1+ No bid 10 4+ 0 K9 0 A8765+32 5 + Dble 50 5 + 6 0 No bid + K 109 8 7 5 + - No bid No bid AK98765432 No bid 6 + No bid No bid + Dble No bid No bid \.:}- 70 0 10 No bid + Q2 South chose to open with the Bidding at table one : Queen of Clubs, North having \ VEST XoRTH EAST SouTH doubled 5 Clubs. West played 1 '\!} No bid 4 0 * No bid the King and North the Ace. 5 '\!} No bid 5 NTt 6 East ruffed and played two rounds 7 '\!} No bid No bid 7+ of trumps., He was then able to ' No bid No bid Dble No bid force out North's Jack of Clubs No bid Redble and discarded-t.his losers on the established club suit. * Asking·Bid t GHlnd Slam Force The swing in favour of the team that succeeded in making both \Vest opened rather carelessly Grand Slams was 4,120 points, a with the King of Hearts. South record in Swedish Tournament ruffed and continued with the Bridge. Queen of Clubs. West. covered,
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12 The famous quartette from All at Sea " Why You Lose at Bridge " continue their game during their trip to America._ 1,~. ----- S . •J .' Sinton
THE DEAL string of none too solid diamonds and a generally· bad hand. But Dealer, South. North-South actually Futile Willie was beginning vulnerable. to hatch a cunning scheme in his (Mrs. Guggenheim) mind. 1 He hoped that Mrs. + AJ 95 Guggenheim would still bid Four \? A K Q 10 54 Hearts if only for the hundred 0 2 honours she no . doubt had and + Q 'lO that someone would double on (Mr. Smug) (Unlucky Expef!:) the bidding. If she didn't, she • 6 • Q108742 might give him FiYe Diamonds «?.J \?832 and ·his superior play would no 098765 OA doubt produce the extra trick. + 876543 + AK9 (g) Bewildering? Not at all. (Futile Willie) lVIr. Smug had merely muddled his + K3 Jack of Hearts with the Diamonds \? 9 7 6 and thought he held J 9 8 7 6 5 0 K Q'.J 10 4 3 of Diamonds. · Even at that, of + ]2 course, the double· is pretty revolt ing but quite good enough for , THE BIDDING Mr. Smug to double Futile Willie. SouTH " ' EST NoRTH EAST (h) The double settles Mrs. No bid No bid 1 \? No bid( a) Guggenheim's doubts about bidding 2 O No bid 2 + (b) obid(c) again. 3 0 (d) No bid 3 \?(e) No bid 4 0 (f) Dble(g) 4 <:? (h) Dble ( i ) ( i) Inevitably. Rdble (j) No bid No bid No bid (j) Triumph ! (a) A trap pass by the Unlucky THE -PLAY .Expert to sec what happens.· The Unlucky Expert led the (b) A reverse. King of Clubs. He studied the (c) A Spade bid, of course, dummy and frowned. What on ·gives the Unlucky Expert no earth had his partner doubled Qption but to go on passing. four diamonds on ? Si.." to the 1 inc I (d) The best bid at this stage for South is clearly Four Diamonds. Prospects of getting four tricks However, Futile Willie was still looked very poor. Declarer was too shaken' by a previous disaster marked with six Hearts, four or to bid anything so adventurous. five Spades, presumably no Diamonds, and two or three Clubs. (e) Mrs. Guggenheim no longer l-Ie laid down the Ace of Clubs likes the hand as much as she did. and found his nine of Clubs was (f) Unpardonable, on paper. now high. He now had the South's bidding so far shows a picture of declarer's hand-<>r 13 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL " Blast ! " said Mr. Smug thought he had. 5 Spades, 6 suddenly. Hearts, 2 Clubs. What now ! He could give his He picked a card violently out partner a Spade ruff but that of the centre and jabbed it crossly wouldn't help for he would be elsewhere. ruffing a loser. It was obvious, even to Mrs. · So the Unlucky Expert fell back Guggenheim, that he had found on the last resort of every good a trump. Still she saw no cause defender when he knows that for alarm. He couldn't have found c\·erything else must fail. He two trumps, so that even if he offered the declarer a ruff and over-ruffed dummy . once, he discard in the slender hope that wouldn't have a trump to lead something might develop. He led and she would still make contract. the nine of Clubs. So she played a Spade and His eyes widened as Mrs. ruffed it with the nine. Mr. Smug Guggen.heim gleefully trumped in overruffed it with the Jack. The dummy and discarded the two of position now was: Diamonds. Five Djamonds · to the nine ! +J \/ AKQ1054 '''hat a double. · Meanwhile Mrs. Guggenheim 0 had developed visions of an over + • Q87 trick in a doubled contract. All + she had to do was to ruff two \/- \/ 8 3 2 Spades in Dummy. No thought 0 98765 OA of danger was in her mind as she + 8 7 + led off the King of Spades and reached for the three. She had •\/ 7 only had si..x Spades between the 0 K Q J 10 4 3 two hands and nobody had bid + - Spades. " And now ? " asked lVIrs. On the three of Spades Mr. Smug Guggenheim, still skittish. She achie\·ed the, for him, remarkable held the four of Hearts in her coup of refusing to trump and hand all ready to ruff a Diamond. discarding a Club. The reason But Mr. Smug led a Club. that he achieved it was that he still had his Jack of Hearts muddled Mrs. Guggenheim replaced the among his Diamonds. four of Hearts and trumped with "\Veil, well," said Mrs. the Ace. Guggenheim skittishly. " Haven't " I can afford it," she told the you got any trumps ? " goggling Futile Willie. . She put on the Ace of Spades The Unlucky Expert discarded and purred. All the trumps were the Ace of Diamonds ! in one hand- but she was still going to make her contract because She couldn't. they hadn't made their Ace of THE PosT-MORTEM Diamonds. How she'd tease them " If only I'd noticed my trump about it afterwards. earlier," mourned Mr. Smug. HERESY by Prof. Alan MacKinnpn
N THE matter of leads, I have Because (a) to the declarer it is always been a heretic, and my ambiguous, and may be definitely I . heresies grow more acute with misleading, the years. This is particularly and (b) a co-operative partner wiU true where leads against Three not be misled at all. The bidding, No Trump contracts are concerned. the view of dummy, imd the texture Of course, with average and of his own hand will give him all rather - below - average partners' the information he requires. He orthodoxy is probably the safest is, one hopes, capable of higher policy. Experiments should be feats than simple subtraction. reserved for those occasions when 'Remember that the issue of one has an imaginative partner, or many " near the knuckle " Three one so inept that he pays no No Trump contracts depends on particular attention to cards with an early decision on a hold-up or fewer than nine or ten pips. a two-way finesse. The lead of the top of nothing is often a Against game No Trump confession of near bankruptcy, contracts, where one holds most of and advertisement to the declarer the defensive strength, it is· continu that the missing high cards are ally more important to make the massed on his right. If you have declarer miscount the hand than a bad hand, do not squander your to give one's partner an accurate, Nines and Tens. To part with but supe~uous, count of a one at the outset may enable the particular suit. It is frequently declarer to take a deep finesse very easy for the declarer to plan against your partner and bring a the play of a No Trump contract crazy vessel to port. And there on the lead of a deuce or trey if are other ways in which the he is confident that his left hand declarer may profit from informa- _ opponent is a'' fourth best addict." tion supplied by " my friend the However, the '' Eleven Rule," enemy." with its applications and mis Listen to Charles Goren : applications, is not my present " South is playing a contract theme. The popular and pernicious of 3 No Trump. West leads lead which I wish to attack is the the 9 of Hearts. What card lead of the " top of nothing " should declarer play from against' a Three No Trump dummy ? This is an obviqusly contract, when one holds practically short-suit lead and East is 110 defensive strength at all, and marked with the Ace and the when all the defensive strength is Jack. If declarer plays low presumably concentrated in one's from dummy, East will duck partner's hand. and the King will be forced. Not that I wish to decry a short If \Vest gains the lead with the suit lead in such circumstances. Ace of Diamonds, he will be I want to suggest that a lead of the able to continue through the " bottom of nothing " is constantly Queen of Hearts. Declarer has more effcctin!. \Vhy ? a certain way to prevent any IS CONTRACT DRIDGE JOURNAL What declarer . . . other than such attack, and that is by the an inspired Mrs.· Guggenheim ... simple expedient of playing the will now put up the Queen from Queen from dummy. This will force East to win with the Ace dummy? and he will be unable to continue This " innocent" lead looks the suit with the 10 in dummy. like a humdrum fourth best. It This gives declarer plenty ,of might be a cunning fifth best. In time to dr.ive out the Ace of such circumstances, the play of the Diamonds. The complete hold Queen would be plumb crazy. If ing is as follows : East held the Diamond Ace the Heart suit would be " gone with + K7 54 the wind." \? Q102 0 QS No. On the lead of the Three + K643 of Hearts, some declarers will play the Deuce, and others the Ten. • J 8 3 + Q96 They will not play the Queen. \? 9 3 \? AJ85+ Try it on your friends. 0 A964 0 73 Q97 And when East covers the Ten + J 10 8 5 + of Hearts with the Knave, or, like + A102 the good partner he is, plays the \? K 7 6 Eight on the Two, will the declarer 0 K J 10 8 2 duck ? I think not. He has the ·+ A2 comfortable feeling that the Heart strength is on his left. (Better Bridge for Better Players, Interchange the Ace and Se,·en p. 258)." of Diamonds, and suppose that Goren's analysis is not quite the declarer does duck the · first complete. As the cards lie, South Heart lead. A Heart continuation can make his contract even if he breaks the contract. . trips and plays low from dummy In that case he's down anvhow. to the first trick. When East ducks, He has missed the vital · play. he has only to duck also, and He's bamboozled. communication between the 'East and West hands will be interrupted. But South would naturally fear a . Accolade to bridge (indirectly) came m the Birthday Honours when Arthur Heart continuation and the setting Noel Mobbs, Chairman of the Portland up of a five card suit before the und D.D.L., received the K.C.V.O. vital Ace of Diamonds is out of Congrutulutions, Sir Arthur. the way. There is every likelihood that East holds that card. Goren 'Ye can bind your own is perfectly right that, on the lead cop1es of Volume I in blue of the Nine of Hearts, the play of Rexine with gold lettering the Queen is " sticking out." at an inclusive cost of 2 L -. But stop a moment. Let us Please send orders with suppose that West, instead of Journals, to PRI~3TLEY leading the Nine of Hearts, leads STUDIOS LTD., Commercial the Three. Road, Gloucester. 16 GOSSIP OF THE MONTH by Guy Ramsey
O THE Marathons are over Leslie's glittering play needs a and the teams for Copenhagen steady, orthodox, reliable foil rather S -lucky people-have, as you than a similar type of game opposite. read this column, returned from All in all, the Men-in the consuming sm0rrebmd, boiled eggs presumed formation Gray-Simon, at 11 a.m., salmon, snapps (very Reese - Shapiro, Dodds - Rayne - potent and apt to make them see Konstam - are a formidable a green Ace now and again) and combination. bubbling Danish lager to keep up For a man to write about the their strength for the sessions of Ladies requires a disdain of rough-and-tumble Bridge where Diamonds · are Roote, Hearts are chivalry and a courage which are alike foreign to my pacific Jorte and the Knave is a Boo be ! and woman-loving temper. Not too many Knaves, let us hope, either in the tournament- or in the On results, the " Dimmie " British play ! Fleming team- with Mrs. Hardie This year, for the first time, the (still better known as Kathleen British teams are the product of Salmon) replacing " Rixi" really exhaustive selection and Markus, whose naturalisation did gruelling practice ; the partner not come through in time-rightly ships are seasoned ; and there gained the privilege. But no-one is a solidarity among the teams could be satisfied with the Ladies' which is heartening. Trials. Both the Men's and the Ladies' Over the headaches and heart final constitution underwent aches of that unhappy series of permutations. First lain Macleod, matches - happiest of hunting of the " Grays," was to go ; but grounds for a scandal-writer he is a Tory (as well as a Contract) This mere gossip-writer prefers White Hope, and the Party spoiled to draw a Yeil. the Danish party for him. So There were, among both the " Connie " Konstam achieved the Men and the Ladies, doubtless, (frankly confessed) ambition of many heart-burnings at not going his life. to Copenhagen (as a pronounced One word of commiseration for Danophile, my own arc acute !), Graham Mathieson who, alone of but the Male Septet, the Female those who played through the Sextet (what a pity the men did Trials, was not selected. Better not field eight so as to make a 1uck next year, Graham. perfect sonnet !) carried with them The performance of Leslie the good wishes of all as well as Dodds, that bald-headed, grinning the envy of a few. magician of the table, ensured his The team to represent us played inclusion (a charming 'Gray' gesture in the formation : !\Irs. Flemi'ng to make him vice-captain) and it Mrs. Simon-1\Iiss Pearson was, on balance, good judgment to permuting ; Lady Rhodes - l\Irs. send Eddie Rayne as his partner. Litante; und Mrs. Hardie "roving." c CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL Pity a man writing in advance ! Such a squad requires three It is a thankless, heartbreaking and things : constant practice together ; almost hopeless job. a non-playing captain who But let this be said : if our two commands the unswerving loyalty teams come back crowned with of all members ; and a sufficiency laurel, it will be a matter for of regularly organised matches delight, for congratulation- but not against every and any t}=pe of for complacency. If, which the expert opposition- a field where gods forfend, they return in sack- you and I, with little hope of cloth and ashes, it will be a matter being · selected for International for regret, commiseration- but not Honours, can still " do our bit" for despair. for the country (while, at the same . If we have won, the thing to do time, doing our own game a great ~s to ensure our continuing victory ; deal of good and having a pleasant tf we have lost, -well-not only evening into the bargain). better luck, but better preparation Vlith all due deference, but with for next year. no diffidence, I commend the idea A.D. 1948 has-now broken new, to the B.B.L. and valuable, ground in British As for the captain : he should be team selection. It remains to (a) a tournament player of vast exploit to the full the seams of experience ; (b) a personality who . gold which it may have op~ned up. can command the requisite lo)•alty ; To judge by the past, the ideal (c) a player in constant touch with method is to gather a squad of ~he daily form of his squad. " The players who train as a single unit JOb of filling iri the blank I'd rather that was how the Austrian world leave to you." beaters won in 1937. Such a squad, all playing the Does all this preparation sound same type of game, affords many o v e r- m u c h I i k e h a r d ". o r k ? advantages over the rooted idea of Probably. But, so specialised is well-established partnerships. For all sport ( e.ven i?door sport !) example, if (say) Reese and Shapiro today that, wtthout tt, we handicap are fielded as a pair, and one or ourselves very nearly out of the other of them chances to go out race, as it will be run in the of health or form, (as, alas ! Second Post \Var International happens to everyone at some time by which time, let us hope or another), the team is deprived Europe will be less broke and' of the effective service of the partner therefore, can attract the Americans: who still possesses his " touch." The old system-war between pairs-with its result that Pair I A limited number of copies is delighted that Pair II has ?f Volume I complete, bound produced a " filthy session " ~n blue Rexine and lettered because they played Acol or Vienna 111 gold, are now available at (~':'hile the gloating pair played an inclusive price of +2 '-. \ tenna or Acol, or the hands Please send orders to happened to " fix " one system) PRIESTLEY STUDIOS LTD this is legislated out of the game. Commercial Rd., Glouceste;: 18 COPENHAGEN DIARY from T ere nee Reese
Wedn~sday, June x6 INCE play began we have suits and throw East in with the been tortured by two un Ace of Diamonds to concede a S certainties : uncertainty about ruff and discard. the first Test Match (now piercingly resolved) and uncertainty about In our room we rather ineptly the difference between Kings and doubled the Irish in 5 Hearts, but at least we held them to Five, for Knaves in Denmark. Both have . a capital K on the top left hand when the Diamond was led from corner of the card and the designs dummy I went up with the Ace. are to unpractised eyes indistin Our s~cond match, against guishable. Denmark, proved a very close This difficulty with unfamiliar fight. In ' the first half Boris cards has accounted for some Shapiro and I held poor cards erractic play in the early stages. and the Danes did not make the Our first match was against Ireland. best, of theirs. However, Gray 7 and Simon also had one or two " e won easily, by 75 match points, but on both sides it happened bad boards so that we were five more than once that Jacks points down at half time. This is attempted to capture Queens. a hand which was bid t.o the wrong The most interesting hand of a contract in both rooms : match which contained several + AKxx + lOx swings was the following : \? AKJx <:::; xxx + Ax 0 Q 0 K109x \? AQJxx + xxxx + AKxx 0 lOxx The Danish pair went down in + Axx Five Clubs. Gray and Simon bid + Kxxxx + J 10 9 X as follows: <:::;x <:::;x WEST EAST 0 QJx 0 Ax Simon Gray + 10 XX X + KQJ9xx 1 + z+ + Qx 3 \? 3 NT \? KlOxxxx 4+ 4 0 0 Kxxxx 4 NT 6+ + Six Clubs was two down. It Dodds and Rayne found their seems to me that Simon overbid. way to Six Hearts. A Club was It was disappointing to him, of led and early in the play a Diamond course, to find Gray with only a was played from dummy. East four card suit. Nevertheless, when played low and South won with he had forced he had done his the King. After that it was an bit and probably should han: easy matter to eliminate the black passed 3 NT. CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL COPENHAGEN DIARY Sweden and Nonvay have .6 points" (continued) France and Holland 4 pomts. So In the second half the play was far we have not met the strongest good · all round and we were teams. \Vc play them in a row relie\·ed to run out narrow winners . . Sweden at 10 tomorrow morning! By this time it was fairly clear It is impossible to say who is which were the best teams. going to win. It looks as though Sweden, Norway, Holland, France we have a fair chance but there and ourselves were all doing well. are some difficult matches to come. " 'e found on Tuesday evening, however, that Iceland also could Meanwhile the ladies' team has play an excellent game. not made a good start. Both In the first half of the match Denmark and Nonvay have beaten trouble with the cards cost us them and from all accounts the dear. We let them make a 3 NT ~ontinent;II .ladies are Yery good contract because Boris thouaht mdeed. flus was a hand in the that a J a c)\. on the table " 'a; a match agai nst Denmark : Queen and in the other room +O xx +Axx Dodds missed a 3 NT game \7A Kx \7- because he overlooked an Ace in 0A KQx O xx his own hand. \Ve were S points Jxx + AKQ10xxxx down at half time. The Danish ladies reached 7 + by the simple route, 1 NT.L.7 In the second half Gray and +· In the other room Mrs Flemina Konstam came in for Dodds and opened 1 0 and the;e was Rayne. \Ye just managed to pull ~ up to wm, by 2 points which butt-in of 1 \7. Kathleen Hardie counts as a draw. There were made an immediate overcall of two slams in the second half one 2 \7. \Vest bid + \7 and North of which was missed by' the doubled. South took out into- Iceland players. 5 + and North bid 6 +· East, not vulnerable, bid 6 \7 which This was the hand : South passed. North bid 6 NT + x + Qx and . afte~ much thought Mrs. \7 Kxx \7 A;._ HardiC sa1d No· Bid. O AKxx O Qxxx Kathleen had an excellent match + AQJxx + K9xxx b~t I think she was to blame o~ The. Icela~d pair, using an array tl11S hand. 3 Clubs would haYe · of askmg b1ds, stopped in Five been preferable to 2 \7 on the Clubs. Boris and I reached Six fir.s t round and aften\'ards she Clubs as follows:- · · might well ha,·e bid 6 + over + \7 WEST EAST d?ubled and should certainly ha\'e Reese Shapiro bid ? + when her partner raised to S1x. 1 + 3 + T!lis afternoon the ladie-s are !·~T ~ ~ pl.aymg France and the men No ~mland. The team is: Gmy and h.onstam. , . D o d c1 s and Ra)•ne. I After three matches, then, we am d 1 t have scored 5 points out of . .c atlllg this message during 6 my time off. 20 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL •COPENHAGEN DIARY + +· This was one down· for the (continued) loss of four top tricks. Tonight we play Holland ; In the other room South opened the team is likely to be Gray and 1 ~ and the Swedish West bid Simon, Shapiro and myself. 2 +· North passed, East bid Thursday, June 17 2 No-Trumps, South No bid, and West 3 which was passed Wednesday proved a fairly easy +. all round. N-S can make + ~ . . day. We beat Finland by 50 points but had no chance to bid it. in the afternoon. In the evening ·we expected a difficult match The Jack of Hearts was led and against Holland. However, playing ·Dummy played low. With the well in both rooms, we built up a double idea of preparing a Diamond lead of 34 at half-time. · Dodds ruff for his partner, or killing the .and Rayne and myself then stopped suit if Declarer had a doubleton, in preparation for the key match Soutli overtook the Jack of Hearts against Sweden next morning, and with ·the Queen and led back a . Gray came in with_Konstam and low Diamond. North commenced Shapiro played with Simon. They a peter on thi~ trick, so w~en added another 17 points. Mean South won with the Ace of Spades while, Sweden had continued to he gave his partner a ruff and win and were 1 point up on us. defeated 3 Spades by one trick. We played Sweden this morning In the second half the Swedes -at 9.45 a.m. ! The team was Dodds ' played really well, and when the .and Rayne, Shapiro and mys~lf. scores were added at the end it In the first half of the match this appeared that we had won by team played what was generally only 4 points, which counts as a regarded as the best bridge of the draw. Fortunately I had the wit ·week. On the following deal, to observe that one hand appeared -experience of an old par hand to have been mis-boarded, and so .saved the match point : it was. It was a hand on which + Kxx we were shown to have lost 10 ~ } 10 9 X points, so we replayed the deal with 14 points in hand. The 0 XX xxxx Swedes made a desperate bid to + pick up the points, but without + QJ lOxxxx + x doubling an obviously impossible - ~ x ~ Kx contract in our room " ·e gained 0 10xx 0 KQJxx 6 points to win by 20. The Swedish -+ AK + OlOxxx players are first-class. One pair, + Ax Koch and \Verner, have the ~ AQxxxx reputation of being tht best pair O Axx on the Continent, and in tht other + Jx room we wtre all much impressed \Vhere Sweden were N-S, the by a young player of massive build, opening bid was 1 ~ by South, Jan Wohlin. and Raynt overcalled with 1 +· \Ve arc now one point in the North passed and East bid 2 0 .. lead but by no means home, for South bid 2 ~. and West went to the Swedes have played the best
21 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL COPENHAGEN DIARY The last trump was drawn and (continued) then the final round of trumps teams and we still have to meet played. By this time North was two of the most dangerous, France hopelessly squeezed, for he wanted and Nonvay. The line-up planned to keep three Clubs, King of for to-morrow afternoon against Diamonds, and Queen of Hearts. France is Gray and Konstam, and had only four cards left . . Simon and myself. This formation It seemed to us at the time that is regarded with much misgiving by if after King of Hearts I had led other members of the team. a Diamond, and when I \yon with Saturday, June 19 the Jack of Spades a Oub, not The end of the first half against releasing the Ace of Hearts, Declarer would have been unable the French found us 7 points in to get his timing right for a. the lead. Simon and I had had a ., good session, and Gray and squeeze. If you work it out, Konstam had played well but had however, you will see that North's lost points on a slam attempt discards are still impossible \\-;th which failed. After a prolonged this line of defence. He has to conference we faced the second discard two Hearts and Delcarer half with . Gray and Simon, Boris can then crash the Hearts together and myself. In our room we had while he still holds a· trump. one of those patches in which the There is only one defence, very cards ran awkwardly. One of the difficult to find in actual plav. hands on which the French pegged After King of Hearts South must us back was the following : play a Diamond, and when the + x Spades are played out North must 'V Q J 9x discard two of his Hearts. When 0 Kxxx South wins with the Jack of Spades + J xxx he leads the 10 of Diamonds • 8 + AKQ1097 forcing Declarer to ruff. East ~ 'V XXX 'V 10 X X X draw the last trump and play a . 0 AJ8x .o Q round of Hearts to establish his + AK9xx + Qx small cards in the suit, but he has Jxxxx no trumps left and cannot enjoy ••'V AK them ; the King of Diamonds is 0 10 9 X X the setting trick. + 10 X In the end we beat the French The hand was played by Gray by 4 points, which counted as a in 4 Spades and by one of the draw. So we were 2 points behind Frenchmen in 4 Spades redoubled. Swcd~n but had this advantage The play was much the same in that tf we won our remaining both rooms. South made King matches we would be the winners. and Ace of Hearts and then because the tic would be split on switched to a low Diamond. the result of our match against Declarer went up with the Ace Sweden. and played trumps. When he won W.e played Norway in the evening with the Jack of Spades South led star~mg with Gray and Simon, the Club 10, won by East's Queen. Bons and myself. Nonvay are 22 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL COPENHAGEN DIARY second place, the winners being (co11tinued) Denmark. Lady Rhodes and good, but things went our way and Mrs. Litante played in four and a we lost points on only one hand in half of the five matches. The rest the first si.xteen. We led by 25 at of the team was Mrs. Fleming half-time, and Konstam came in (capt.), Mrs. Hardie, Mrs. Simon for Simon. Play was fairly even and Miss Pearson. in the second half. Nonvay have To pull up to second place after a very promising player in Knudsen, losing their first two matches was who is only 25 and has played for a first-class performance and a only + years. tribute to their morale. · Our last match was against Belgium, who had played steadily Monday, June 21 throughout the week. We had to Looking back on the week's play, win, for Sweden was still winning I have these impressions : we every match. We fielded our deserved to win, for we were the " morning " team, Dodds and best all-round team. Every member Rayne, Boris and myself. In the pulled his weight. first half I mis-played a contract The original idea was that Gray of 6 Spades, and we found ourselves should play with Simon, Boris with 8 points up at half-time. The myself, and that Dodds, Rayne and second half in our room was Konstam should form a triangle. fairly level ; we played quite Dodds and Rayne struck such good well, but the Belgians gave nothing form, however, that it seemed a away. When we finished play we pity to split them, and so Gray heard grave accounts of the opening played rather more boards with exchanges in the other room. The Konstam than with Simon. Boris first .5 boards whose result was and I each played half a match known showed us losing 14 points. with Simon ; othenvise we played At that point Gray, who had been together. kibitzing, could bear it no longer, There was one department of so for further news we had to the game in which it seemed to wait until the play was ended. me that we constantly gained There was a dramatic turnabout, points. This was in competitive for Dodds and Rayne played bidding situations. The Continental faultlessly after their poor start to teams were all cautious and time the second half, and the Belgians after time we held the contract in fell away. To our surprise we had both rooms. picked up 37 points on the second This has been a narrative of the half. play, and so far I have not Sweden were second and Norway mentioned the wonderful organisa third. Had the tie with Sweden tion, both for " on " and " off " been decided by match points, we time, and the lavish hospitality of would also have been good winners, the Danes. The Championship for we were 87 points better than is due to be played in Paris next they. Denmark was fourth. year and in London in 1950. To Meanwhile the ladies, after losing compare with Copenhagen, Paris their first two matches, had won and London will have to maintain the next three and finished in an extrenely high standard. 23 In Remembrance of DR. PAUL STERN ------sweetness so unexpected that cyen those he castigated seldom bore malice for long. He was an authoritarian-one needed (and needs) to be so to control any body of card-players : surely the most intractable section of any community ; but, once the flash of fury was over, he was at once on the old friendly terms. Like a gruff old bear, his ferocity was only skiri-deep : he was ne\·er GREAT gap has been torn a bear with a sore head. in the ranks of bridge by This was probably because. his A the death of Dr. Paul head was so good : for Paul Stern Stern, captain and trainer of some possessed a Yersatility and a of the most remarkable teams the brilliance that few men achie\'e; game has ever seen, outstanding His cherished Doctorate was not personality of Continental-and, of medicine (although he knew a for the past ten years, of British good deal of medicine : an im·alid bridge, and, quite recently, Editor for many years, he needed to) but of this Journal. of philosophy. And, although he It is a tragedy that the moment has been known for decades as a of his passing should have coincided card-player, his reputation was with the almost-achievement of made in the lawcourts of Yienna his dearest ambition : to do for where he practiced with consider the game in the England of his able success. adoption what he had so triumph He was the acknowledged antly accomplished for it in the European expert on all cases Austria of his birth. involving games of chance-a Paul Stern-whose " Dr." was considerable requirement in a a so inseparable part of his name Continent where gambling is legal. that he signed the most casual He was, in fact, almost a one-man post-card with the prefix- was, Court ~f Appeal when questions both in his early life and in his ?f etlucs (or cheating) were exile, an unforgettable figure. He mvolved. was tall, burly, irascible, with a It \~as virtually in his capacity voice so rough, a temperament so as umversal card expert that he volatile that half the people who w~s . asked to train the group of saw him called him a dictator ; bnlltant players in Vienna and but with a charm so great, a weld a handful of individual stars CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL into a corporate constellation. teachers in London ; he, the With a brain of fantastic ingenuity, Austrian, was the chosen represent he devised the Vienna System ative of the American Bridge (with its new convention every World in Britain. week-and sometimes twice a But a few weeks before his week I) which revolutionised death, he was elected to the Continental bridge just before the London Association. As newlY war . and whose impress still is appointed Editor of this Journal; perceptible on the contract bidding he planned-British by naturalisa of Europe. tion at last as, for ten years, he No sooner had he achieved the had been by self-election-to go distinction of captaining a world to Copenhagen as a representative beating team (in which he acted (though still not at the card.!table) as non-playing captain), than his of British Bridge. country was invaded. Stern sent Supreme unification with the to Hitler his World War I country of his choice was his decorations with a letter setting second marriage-to :Miss Louisa forth-with all the Stern vigour ! Chamberlain, whose unfailing help his views on Nazism ·in general and sympathy all admired but only and the Anschluss (and its method he could fully recognise. of achievement) in particular ; and sought asylum in what was soon But the ill-health against which he had battled for so long at last to be the last free country in 1 Europe. . , overwhelmed him. Against the He came here, speaking barely stark figure of Death, even Paul a word of English ; with little Stern's dynamic was at last money ; with no advantages ; with unavailing. · a handful of insulin tablets, on And so there passes from the which he lived ; but also with a scene - though not from the · force of character which, by the memory- the bulky, lumbering time Britain was fighting for her figure with its rolling gait, its very existence, enabled him to grizzled beard hiding the careless keep flying the flag of the game collar and ill-tied tie, the exquisite he loved so well and for which he caligraphy writing out hands did so much. upside-down from the thousands Bridge, for many, was to the of card-table incidents he carried fighting men of World War II in his mind, tl\e heavily-accented, what bowls was to Drake: the guttural voice barking ·his orders, relaxation they craved. When the the sudden smile flashing out bombs were falling, it was in large from the mass of tangled hair. measure due to Paul Stern that He- the Herr Doktor whose there was still a game of duplicate sobriquet, conct:in:d and conferred in London, where one could forget in 1938 in affectionate mockerv, for an hour the problems of life retained in I 9~8 onlv the affection.:_ and death in the problem of a he is gone ; but his work and his double squeeze. personality live on whene\·er and \Vhen Terence Reese started wherever four arc gathered together the T.B.A., Paul Stern was one of across the bright green baize. the first to whom he turned. Stern became one of the most m•erworkcd G.R. ! . AROUND THE COMPETITIONS
GOLD CUP STOP PRESS : Semi-Final Results Final Placings P. Juan beat L. Baron by 1,300. B. Franks beat Trevor Williams Baron (20~-44) ; Lee (22-43) ; by 1,680. Reese (16-35!) ; Ellison (19!-35) ~ Furse (17-34) ; Pavlides (12-311); Arrangements are now being Colvin (15-30) ; Franklin (16-25)_ made for the Final to be played in l\Ianchester, dates to be announced in due course. AFFILIATED CLUBS CUP The Final was played at Bristol HUBERT PlflLLIPS BOWL on June 13th when the University Semi-Final Results of Bristol beat the Gloucester Club L. Jacobs (holder) beat Lt. Col. (Miss Harris, London) by 110- G. H. F. Broad by 60. points. K. Konstam beat Dr. S. Lee by +,600. WIDTELAW CUP In earlier rounds L. Jacobs' team Semi-Final Result (Birmingham) had beaten strong Mrs. S. C. Kastell beat Mrs_ London teams-S. J. Simon, Mrs. 0. B. J. Cole (Leicester) by Simon, Mrs. Litante and 'Guy 960. Ramsev in the second round and Harri s~n-Gray, Terence Reese, G. The final was played at the Mathieson and Mrs. Fleming m Hamilton Club on june 27th. the third round. Results will be published in next issue. LADY MILNE CUP Semi-Final Results PACHABO CUP Mrs. Porteous (Edinburgh) wjo Teams qualzfied for Final are : :Mrs. Klein scratched. A: W. Cla~ke (Herts.), W. C_ Mrs. McDonnell (London) beat Uwms (Mdsx.), Lt. Col. C. B. Mrs. Cole (Worthing) by Stopforth (Kent), R. Evans. 3,560. . . (Bournemouth), lVI. A. Porter The Final will be played m (Birmingham), j. H. C. Godfrey London on 1st and 2nd July. (Nottingham), Mrs. Gimson (Leicester), Dr. ] . C. MacFarlane CROCKFORD'S CUP {Derby), T . Gee (Bolton), Mrs. The following Teams were T~mson (Somerset), Mrs. Tracey engaged in the Final which took (Lmcoln), Dr. S. Lee (London). place at · Crockford's Club, on A. L. De Ia Porte (London) 24th and 25th June:- R. H. Newman (London), F~ Booker (London) and H. Franklin· Lo:->DON: E. N. ~urse, L. Baron, (Leeds). T. Reese, J. Colvm, Dr. S. Lee L. Ellison, ] . Pavlides. ' The, Final will be played at the Queen s Hotel, Birmingham on the LEEDS : H. Franklin, 10th and lith July. 26 CO~TRACT BRIDGE JOUR~AL CROCKFORD'S v. HAMll.TON be made as the declarer gets too Inter-Club Match short in trumps. He must ruff two Clubs in dummy and can The 1948 Inter-Club Match return to his own hand only once between Crockford's and the with a high · trump. He must Hamilton Club was held simul therefore shorten himself with a taneously at both clubs on May Diamond ruff and North gains the 24th and 25th. There were 12 length with the Q 6, defeating the pairs a side and 24 boards were contract. played at each session. After the first twelve boards Hamilton Club TOURNAMENT BRIDGE was leading by 2,130 points, but ASSOCIATION Crockford's led at the end of the first evening by 3,640. Crockford's The Autumn Tournament of maintained their lead during the ' the T.B.A. will be held at the second session and finally won by Burlington Hotel, Boumemough 4,8+0 points. from October 29th to November 1st. The Principal events are the One of the many interesting "Two Stars," Inter-City hands was the following : Championship and the Burlington + Q65 Cup. For further information V' K 10 write to the Secretary, Mrs. V. M. 0 AQ432 Trollope, \~anborough" Manor,. + KQ7 near Guildford, Surrey. + AK842 + J93 SOUTH OF mELAND V'J2 \/9653 0- 0 K10863 CONGRESS + A J 10 7 6 3 + 4 The Congress was held at · + 107 Killarney from June 12th to 20th. V' AQ874 The events included Pairs. 0 J 9 7 Championship for the Dawn Cup, 85 2 Team-of-Four Championship for + the Loch Lein Trophy and Open Neither vulnerable. Dealer East. Pairs Contests. A report on the !\Iost East--West pairs reached Congress and the results will be and made 4 +. In many cases published next month. To rth's opening lead was the V' K, South encouragingly playing the NORTH OF ENGLAND V' 8. The V' 10 was overtaken PAIRS COMPETITION by · South and the
-~ HAD read more Bridge books So, remembering London Bridge, than I could remember- but I drew trumps, which split' 3-2. I was still rather in the position I then embarked on the Hearts. of pushing the cards round than " High cards from the short hand," really playing. And because, s~y the pundits, so I led the King ; perhaps, you, dearly beloved reader, duck round 2- really, I was playing arc in something of the same boat it like the far-famed book : if only (in which Partner is always sea East won the trick, I should be .sick), I venture to tell the story out of all my troubles . . of My First Squeeze- a red letter day in my life and the first step But not only did East not win to playing real stuff instead of the brute showed out ! The ·tripe. Hearts wouldn't clear and there weren't enough Diamonds to work Somewhat alarmed, I cut one of even if the Queen was right. \Yest those experts who, in the Palooka refused to co-operate by putting me .circles I affected, reduced his in with a Club ruff, but led a always exiguous opening bids still Diamond : I was down to the further- to a King and a Prayer. view after all. At game to They, he opened One Heart and I beheld : Even a Palooka East must have .• AQ985
.entries. (Cnntimm l o11 page ·H ) The
NOt:tTHERN by OUTLOOK Ewart Kempson
HIS laundry business can be divided between 9,000 readers who very tricky at times. We tied for first place, each with no T were having a lovely session correct solution." with the button-crushing machine Our old friend Colonel Walshe when up rolled a shirt marked A.M. came to stay with us recently and Natur~lly we at once thought of in due course we settled down to Professor Alan MacKinnon but a rubber or two. Our \\;fe the complete lack of cigarette ash (L. Kempson), being lucky in set us thinking again. Perhaps it love, duly cut Colonel 'Valshe, was Mr. Adam Meredith or Mr. and away we went. Alphonse Moyse, or Dr. Archibald MacArthur or Mr. Albert . Our wife started badly by bidding Morehead. We fitted in the largest a No Trump and we saw the look of our granite crushers, took careful of pain and sorrow_on her partner's aim and then noticed that it was face. This, we thought, is the a chemise. Just in time, · Alice, beginning of a very profitable just in time ! rubber, but we had reckoned without the wiles of L. Kempson Mention of Albert Morehead, who, using the honeyed accents one-time member of the Culbertson which she practised on us twelve team gives us an opportunity to years ago, said " I\·e just been bow 'a low bow to this magnificent reading your new book (Count to player-writer. His war-time books, Win, Ernest Benn Ltd., eight 1\tlodem Hoyle and Bridge the shillings and sixpence), '\"alshie. Expert Way, have been followed It's wonderful. And your principles recently by Hoyle Up-to~Date and have in no way altered since your Games for Two, both in collabora 1933 book." tion with G. Mott-Smith and all published by the John C. Winston 'Ve don't know about the Company of Philadelphia. principles, but we do know that the look of .pain and sorrow We were sitting quietly in a vanished from the Colonel's face <:orner of our laundry sharpening and that the rubber proceeded ·up the old sheet-slasher when. our in the greatest harmony. Of the eye lighted on a bundle of !men seven hands played our wife was .wrapped up in a newspaper. The dummy on only six occasions, our paper contained an article entitled partner playi ng the se\'enth hand . .. Bridge Competition Solutions " so we took a look. We examined In a subsequent rubber up came each question and each solution this interesting hand : with growing astonishment and WEST EAST were forced to the conclusion that + 953 + J8 the prize list announcement could
O ONE will agree upon the with the women. There are many best method of selecting other centres such as Cardiff, N the women's team to Leeds, Grimsby, Durham and represent Great Britain in the Leicester, which could contribute European Bridge Championship. players. Can anyone seriously Few, however, will dispute that suggest that aspirants for inter the present generally adopted national honours should undertake practice of forming partnerships these long and costly journeys at and teams for the home competi fortnightly or even monthly tions ts extremely haphazard, intervals ? Very few of us could depending as it usually does on afford either the time or the mon'ey. the obYious convenience of living in the same neighbourhood or Lastly, even if there exists some belonging to the same club. I do superman, who would command .not suppose I am the orily London the confidence of all these varied player who has never played even players, could he be persuaded to one board of duplicate with the take on such a Herculean task, _feminine provincial stars. requiring as it does infinite tact and patience, much hard work Is there any way in which this and of necessity little recompense. state of affairs can be remedied for international events ? Theoret Having given my reasons for ically, yes. A pool of twenty or so believing that a centralised training of the best players in the British scheme for large numbers from all Isles could meet fortnightly to test over the country is impracticable, out partnerships, subject them let me now try to be constructive selves to training etc., as suggested and put forward an alternative in the May issue of the Contract suggestion, which, though by no· Bridge Joumal. means perfect, might be taken as a basis for discussion. In practice, I can see little hope of this admirable sounding scheme Let the selectors announce m providing the solution: Many August that the last week m London players would be willing, November will be devoted to even eager, to go into training ; international trial matches, limited but for the scheme to cover the to twelve (or fewer) teams of four. talent of the British Isles, it is If more than twelve teams enter, necessary to go far further afield. 'the leading six teams would be In this year's Trials, players from seeded and the remaining six Edinburgh, Nottingham, places would be competed for. Birmingham and Bournemouth Matches against all the other demonstrated very forcibly that teams would be played with scoring .whaten:r monopoly the London by international match points and men may claim in British teams, the result would also be decided this i:> far from being the case by whate\'er method the European 35 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL Bridge League would be adopting they wish it, in their own districts. at the championship. TraveJiing expenses would be , decimated and a week in London It is true that this would mean would be preferable, I should an extremely strenuous week, but imagine, to staying one night each it would have the great advantage fortnight. The British team would of reproducing as nearly as possible be announced in December and the conditions under which the after relaxing for Christmas would British team would !;>e competing have approximately six months for in the actual championship and would be a valuable test of stamina. preparation ·and training. · International Bridge calls for so No longer would a superhuman many more qualities than mere trainer be required. Instead of skill at the card table. Much the the clash of two dozen tempera most vital of these is the spirit of ments, there would be a team, team co-operation. and loyalty, who has proved its ability, stamina without which a side may win and spirit by emerging victorious occasional matches, but will never from as thorough a test as it would emerge victorious from the needle subsequently be facing abroad. atmosphere, the disappointments At present there are two cups and the thrills of a week of competed for by women's teams championship play. of four on almost similar lines The condition that teams, even knock out with aggregate scoring in the preliminary stages, had to The Lady Milne Cup for the consist of six players, gave rise to championship of Great Britain some complications this year. I and the Whitelmv Cup for England would suggest, therefore, that only. Could not the former be teams should comprise four players, awarded to the winners of these ·with a reserve in case of illness trials, . who would be worthy and that the captain of the winning champwns of Great Britain ? team, in co-operation with the Our team this year was fortunate selectors, should complete ·her six in having for se\'eral months the by inviting the outstanding pair services of Terence Reese in the from the rest. capacity of trainer. Other teams In no circumstances would . I will swear by such eminent coaches advocate that the six be chosen as Harrison-Gray and the late Dr. as the result of pairs trials. Pairs Stern. As one who has benefited competitions, whilst admirable and both in 1939 and this year I cannot enjoyable in themselves, call for a ~ufficiently emphasise the different technique, and taking the 1mportanc~ ?f team training under three top pairs would almost the supcn'IS!on of an expen coach. inevitably result in temperamental disasters. By the above method, players DO YOU know a good all over the country would have J!ridge story ? If you do, sene/ more than three months to decide tl along to us for publication. on their best team of four Other readers mav like to hear it. - combinations, and be trained, if The Editor Readers' Forum Ret• lies
Question : We had a lively penalty described in Law 27/4. argument at our table when my It makes no difference whether husband (West) had not followed the previous trick has been turned to the second ' round of trumps or not. played by the declarer (South). The declarer Jed a master trump Questiotz : Playing th'e Standard from his hand on the third round Two Clubs System I was dealt and then mv husband discovered this hand: that he stili had a trump. He + B\?KQJ653 OKQJ103 ++ said so and expressed regret. The What should have been my declarer claimed the penalty for correct first response after my an established revoke when we partner opened One Spade, both subsequently made t\yo tricks and opponents having passed ? l defeated the contract. I con.tended actually bid Three Hearts and that the revoke was not established. eventually played the hand in Who was right ? Five Hearts. I went one down (1l1rs. R.C., Birmiugham) because my partner held one Ace only. (W.G.T., London). _.J.nswer : In the circumstances you describe, the revoke was not Answer : Your forcing take-out established. The rules expressly of Three Hearts was wrong ; your state that a revoke becomes correct response should ha\'e been established if one player of the Two Hearts. Normally a forcing offending side has led or played to take-out should only be made when the next trick (Law 27 /2). The you hold two Aces provided, of reason for this wording of the law course, you have the other strength is to protect the offender against required for such a bid. · A jump an immediate lead to the next trick response, forcing to· game, on a by the non-offending side. Let hand holding no Ace is unthinkable us assume a defender docs not and cannot possibly do any good. follow suit and tlie declarer leads Question : vVe were both \·ulner so quickly to the next trick that · ab le when the bidding went : the offender has no chance to South, One No-Trump ; North, correct his mistake. In that case Three No-T rumps, neither my the revoke does not become partner nor myself making a bid. established if the offender draws I was West and held : attention to his mistake before playi ng to the next trick . . The + K Q 3 \/ } 842 076 + A753 declarer has the right to treat the What should I have led ? On wrong card as 'u penalty card or my lead of the Two of Hearts the to request the offender to play declarer made his contract because his highest or lowest card (Law we did not make a Heart trick 27/1a). Only when either player although my partner held the of the offending side has led or Queen of Hearts. l\ ly partner played to the next trick docs the reproached me for ha\'ing made revoke become established and what he considered the worst lead the declarer can then claim the I could ha\'t: made. (B.L., Leeds 6) 37 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL An.rzcer : · ·Your partner's remark .,;yas· only partially correct-there is Book Review .an equally bad lead and that is a :small Club. Both these leads COUNT TO WIN AT BRIDGE :normally give away at least one By Col. G. G. J. \-Valshe ·.trick unless your partner holds (Ernest Benn Ltd., London. ·two top honours which is most Price 8/6) ·.unlikely.· The normal lead from your hand The sub-title, "A simple should be the Seven of Diamonds summary of valuation and bidding but even this may prove fatal if with illustrative hands from actual -either of your opponents holds a play," is a very mod.est description long concealed Diamond suit. If of a comprehensive study of bidding you are enterprising you should and play. For those who use the lead the King of Spades-your Courte!lay Count the book is partner may easily hold five Spades invaluable as it clarifies and extends ·to the Jack and an entry. the information given in preYious Remember your opponents did not publications on the subject. bid Spades which they probably The chapters on " Responses to ·would have done if either of them Minimum Opening Bids " and . held a good biddable Spade suit. " Opening Bids of More than One " are especially clear and Question : Being vulnerable my ·partner opened Two Hearts and should help to remove the doubts I held: and difficulties which often make bidding awkward and uncertain. ·+ 9 8 5 3 \? J 8 6 5 3 2 0 6 + Q 4 The inclusion of an extensive We were playing Two-Clubs as chapter,' " Questions and _-\ns\Yers described by Butler and Stern. on Bidding " is a very attractive 'There was no intervening bid. feature. The repetition of some ·What should I have responded ? of the questions and answers (R.S., Torquay) (vid~: . Nos. 26-30 and 4-6-50) is obviously an oversight. Answer: Four Hearts. This bid -denies strength, shows at least five · The examples given in the trumps and some distributional chapter " Actual Bidding and Play values. Three Hearts would Discussed " are well-chosen and indicate a strong hand. A bid of ill~strate a number of interesting Two No-Trumps with the intention pomts that the reader will find -of bidding Four Hearts later would most illuminating and instructive. be senseless. After partner's Followers of the Standard Two -opening bid of Two. in a Suit Clubs System may find some of there is no negative Two No the bidding sequences used in ·Trump bid in the "Two-Clubs" this section rather puzzling, but System-except in Acol. the book as a whole is of inestimable value, being based on the wide practical experience of the author SETTLE THAT AnGUMENT whose reputation as a tournament TVrite to the Readers' Forum for and rubber Bridgt: player n:quirt:s .e.\pert advice. no commt:nt. CRIME-BUT by Edward NO PUNISHMENT Mayer
T WAS with come diffidence that I accepted an invitation I from Dr. Stern to write a few words on the first Gray-Kempson Challenge Match. For many months I had not failed to observe that articles in the Contract Bridge Journal were frequently lacking in objective criticism. If they were not written to enhance the prestige of their author, they lent them selves to promote his favourite system of bidding. On the other hand, articles in the Press on current Bridge matches invariably of brilliance, and I gi,·e them presented hands which were because they are typical of the responsible for big swings, without play. Everyone in turn made a giving the public (who ever hunger mistake, and the score, saYe for after the sensational) a picture of 30 points, remained unchanged. the real situation confronting the It is strange to recall that I heard players-the state of the score, a spectator saying at the end of the success or failure of an under the match, " The play has been bid the previous hand, or even much better and more li,·eh· m 'the effect on a player of his second this last Session." whisky and soda. Hand 86 The atmosphere throughout the Game to East-West. match was strained and was Players (Room 1) Players (Room 2) responsible for a low standard of bidding and play. Some evidence Simon North Dodds of this was available in that the Konstam East Reese players in both teams who had Gray Smllh Rame been considered the weak links, Mayer West Sh;piro were not noticeably inferior in • 10 9 3 2 attack and defence and were \/ 10 8 5 certainly more vocal when a 0 42 disaster occurred. + A963 I think that the fairest way to • J 5 + AK6 assess the strength of a partnership \/ ]972 \/ AQ-+ is in times of strain, and as I was 0 10 6 53 0 AKQJ9 allowed to take a small part in a + 107 4 + 52 tense stage of this match, it is • Q874 perhaps only fair for me to select \/ K 6 3 three of the hands when I was at 0 87 the table. They are not examples + KQJ 8 39 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL Biddi11g-Room 1 fear that my partner might not NoRTH EAST SouTH WEST have a Spade guard, our deficit of 2 0 2 NT 2,000 points, were all working on· 3 NT me. . I was so pleased when. I made the Contract-until I found that Shapiro had made it also. + 10 led and 4 No-Trumps made. Hand 92 Bidding-Room 2 Game to North-South NoRTH EAST SouTH WEsT + K75+ 3 NT- \/ 6 2 0 KQ 10 5 + K led and 3' No-Trumps + Q86 \ made. + 09 + J82 There are only 8 tricks on top ; \/ AQJ1083 \/ K97 yet a game is made in each room. OJ97 OA82 How is it done ? Not by the + A 10 + K 9 7 5 declarer's brilliance, I can assure + A 10 6 3 you. Winning the + 10 on the \/ 54 table and running off 4 Diamonds 0 6+3 I despondently led a. Heart and J 43 2 the \/ Q lost to Gray's King which + he had bared. The + K was Both Simon and Dodds opened followed by the + 8 on which I with the 0 K which held and played the + 10. Simon won followed with a trump. There is with the Ace, decided that Gray one slender. hope for the declarer. could not possibly have led from He must switch to a Spade and K Q J S and responded to his finesse the + 9 if South fails to partner's early peter in Sp?des. play high. Rayne fell for this, Reese appeared to have an even and Reese successfully discarded more difficult problem with the his losing 0 on the + J ; but + K Jed, but Dodds and Rayne Gray was smarter, went up with cashed only 3 rounds of Clubs and the + A, and returned O 6. The squeezed themselves instead of the position seemed hopeless · but in declarer. discarding on my Hear~, Gray obligingly petered in Spades. This is not perhaps a fair picture Simon took this peter to mean of our first line of defence at that Gray .held the + Q, and Copenhagen ; so we will proceed theref?re dtscarded his winning to Board 92. The bidding was K tn order to retain the guarded the same in both rooms : + + Q. EAsT SouTH WEsT NoRTH 1\/ 2 NT 4 \/ An annual subscription (3 Of-) forwarded to the Pub I make no excuse for my bid of lishers will ensure regular 4 Hearts ; it was deplorable. The monthly delivery of the childish grasp at the honours, the Contract Bridge Journal. Crime:._But No Punishment Problem Corner (Continued from page ~o) Finally, some slam bidding by by "TEN EX" the experts. The strain was, of. course, by now intense. No. 20 Hand 93 " EACH \VAY" Game All. Hearts are Trumps: \ Vest leads + KS5432 + · K, South to make 11 tricks. IV 9 s • 9 6 3 0 72 IV AJ97 + 642 0 10 9 7 • Q97 + 6 + AQ+ ~ AQ IV KJ107543 + KQ + JI08 42 (f 9854 0 KQ6 IV Q 10 IV 8 5 3 + AKQ3 + J9 0 8 642 0 KJ 5 + AJ 10 + K10532 + 97 IV 6 2 + A75 0 A J 10 3 IV K64 Z + 10 8 7 5 0 AQ3 Bidding-Room 1 + J 8 6 SouTH WEsT NoRTH EAST Lead: + K 1 NT 3 IV This problem is based on a hand + IV 5 + played in America some years ago 5 1V 6 1V (v. Endplays) and used as a problem in the American and Bidding- Room 2 English press. The only alterations I have made are in the card Yalues, SouTH \VEsT NoRTJ-I EAsT with the object of producing a 1 + 1 IV 2 NT 5 IV strict line of solution. This ts 6 1V given on page 47.
South cashed his two Aces. MAY PRIZE-WINNER "What a pity they didn't play The monthly prize of Two Guincns fur tho hcst set. of goJnUons to the ) lay Competition Blackwood," I can hear someone is awa rded to Dr. ~. K. ~nws ( 1\ristol) who saying. scon•
O. ONE who, The Co;o;-TRA
4-3 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL SLAMWARD HOI savour it to the full. There is (Continued from page 43) not the slightest need for any themselves unable to agree on a hurry to get things m·er, and they contract and may drop the bidding can, generally speaking, forget that before reaching slam level. there is such a thing as a jump bid. )l'evertheless, if North makes They have now two aims only, any bid other than Two No Trumps (1) to agree the denomination after South's force, neither partner in which the hand should be played, sh6uld subsequently drop the and bidding short of slam level unless (2) to discover by exploring all and until there has been complete the possibilities of the combined failure to agree a denomination in hands whether the final contract ·which to play the hand. should be a small or a grand slam. Let us suppose that North has Provided, of course; that they -accepted South's invitation with· a keep a wary eye open for any snags bid of Two Hearts. Both are now which may arise in the course of fairly .embarked on a career of the bidding . .adventure, and it is for them to (To be continued)
My Fl RST Squeeze (Continued from page 30) .r EDWARD ARNOLD &Co. '1 be one of those Squeezes I had read about, and even dreamed I J .about bringing off? I couldn't 1 Reese l be more than one down anyway and I was that already. I looked I, on Play I at my superior partner, who was 1 1 looking at me- down his long, ~ An Introduction to Good 1 superior nose. That settled it. Bridge. By TERENCE 1 1 I led the Club and ruffed it. ~ REESE. 7/6 net. 11 I havered for ~ moment and laid "Mr. Reese is one of the most brilliant down my last trump. of our card analysts, a leadinc broad· . CUter on the came, and one o( the most successful of our international West wriggled, squirmed, players . . . . . Confined strictly hesitated- and succumbed. to the play of the cards, the book ' shows the a~erace player how he may become a cood player, and the "An unexpected pleasure," said cood player how he may become a my partner. better play or • . . Most of us have a 1reat deal still to learn about brid1e. and there are few players In this "A pleasure at least," I replied. country better qualified to help us than Mr. Reese."-The Timu. The 120 points I scored for that hand marked the turning point • W rite for deari pd ve leaflet to between Palookadom and Bridge 41 Maddox St., London, W I for me. For it is not so difficult to count a hand as you think. ++ , .. . -~-~·s' t'omnetitiiJn ThtS lftiJif""' r .
Last of preseut Si:~-1'.Ioutlzly Series. T!'~mrer of the Si:o:- jlifouthly Compe- 1111011 amtormcea iu August lswe. The CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURKAL offers a prize of TWO GUINEAS for the best set of solutions PHOIJLE~I No. 4 (12 points) to the following problems. In the e\'cnt of one or more setS' of solutions Neither vulnerable. Dealer, ?\orth. being of equal merit, the monthly South holds : prize wiJI be divided. + J 10 7 ~ Q 10 4 2 0 K 10 3 + 9 8 7 Answers to CONTRACT BRIDGE The bidding goes : JOURNAL (Editorial Department) 8, \Vaterloo Place, London, S.\¥.1, not NoRTH EAST SouTH \\'EST later than July 20th, 1948. Solutions, 2 + No bid 2 0 Ko bid names of prizewinners, and leading 3 + No bid ? scores in the special six-monthly What should South now bid ? competition, appear in the August issue. PnonLEM No. 5 (12 points) PnouLD! No. 1 (12 points) Score Gam~ All. Dealer, South. Score North-South 40. Dealer \Vest. North holds : South holds : • - ~ Q 9 8 7 6 4 0 10 8 7 54 2 + s + 54 \7AKQJ864-2 09 + 107 The bidding goes : The bidding has gone : SouTH WEST NORTH EAST 1 • Dble 2 ~ Dble \VEST NonTH EAsT SouTH Dble ? No bid 1 + No bid 3 + \\' hat should North now bid ? \Vhat should South bid ? PnonLEi\1 No. 6 (12 points} PnoBLE~l No. 2 (12 points} North-South vulnerable. South deals At the score Love All, South deals and holds: and holds: + KJ32 ~KJ OK98 + A64 3 + A J 7 \7 K 2 0 K 4- 3 + ·A K 7 6 4 The bidding goes : The bidding goe.s : SouTH \VEST NoRTH EAST SOUTH \VEST NonTH EAST 1 + No bid 1 ~ 2 0 1 + 1~ 1 • 2 <:7 ? ? What should South now bid ? What should South now bid ? PHOIILE!\1 No. 7 ( 12 points) PnoBLEIII No. 3 (12 points) Score Love All. Dealer, South. East-West vulnerable. Dealer, South. North holds : Eust holds: + 10 9 7 ~ Q J 0 A 8 5 + K Q 9 4 J . + AKQ76 ~1032 OAK4 + OS The bidding goes : The bidding goes : SouTH \VEST NoRTH EAST SouTH \VEST NoRTH EAST 1 ~ No bid 2 + ~ 0 bid 4 ~ No bid No bid 2 ~ No bid ? \Vhnt should East bid ? What should Korth now bid ? 45 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL PROOLE~I No. 8 (16 points) l'JIOIILt;)l Xu. 2 (12 poin t:<) Three Dlnmonds-1:.! points. Four South has dealt and the bidding has Diamonds--! J>Olnts. Two H earts- :! puint ~. gone: This hnnd, wl ch relncsents )Jartner's holdilll! In l'roblcm No. 1, s an example of naturnl SouTH WEST NoRTH EAST c:o-opcrntlon which Is the hall-mark of ~ood 1 • No bid J•nrtncrshlp. You ha\·e 11 good (hut not 1 + 1<\7 ovcrwhelmlmdr good) raise of 11 •ulr that 1 1\T No bid 2 0 No bid l>nrtner hns bid voiuntnrlly and contruetl,·cly. 2 NT No bid 3 NT No bid Why not ~:lve It ? Partner would cc rtnlnl~ hnve bid Henrts, If he hnd them, rather limn ~0 bid No bid Dlnmonds, and mny still hid them If he has llliY, K x x x. There Is no need to stretch Dummy's hand is : vour hand to Four DhtmomlM : partner may imw possibly hlcl Thrl'c Xo-Trum]~; which -+ AJ853 <\773 OKJ84 + 97 can cnsllr prove the hcs t s pot from rour West holds: point of view. + Q 2 <\?A 10 9 8 5 0 6 3 2 + K 8 4 l'ltOllLEll Xo. :J (12 points) und lends <\? 10. East plays <\? Q and No llld- 12 points. Two No·Trtunp;- declarer wins wjth <\? K. Declarer 1 point. Three Spades-1 point. lia,·lnl( mnde " lmrdly justltlnhlc o ycrcnll on this plays + 4, + A from dumf!ly. East . nine )Joint hnnd (even non- vulnerable :umiust playing + 6. At tnck 4, + 3 IS played vuluerable opponents) your aim should be to from dummy, East plays 7, declarer stop bidding 11s rnpldly liS possible. Pa r tner·~ + •rwo Clubs may be " genuine Clnh .uit (in + 9 and West wins with + Q. these dnys when some •.\ col players hid One Club on n doubleton OJII•on ~ nts must he alert \Vhat should vVest now lead and to expose phoney bids) and the Spall." hid i; ·why? surely genulne. If the Clnh cue-bid 1.; based on Heart support It Is t ime Xorth a nnounced it. If North held " vast. two-sulter in the 1Jl11ck sults he could alfonl to blcl T wo ,;lllHl c; ' over Ono Heart, forcing to 11a me. Jf he had the certainty of ~;mn e in his own hand, he could now bid Three Spades. There !; >o nu· Answers to thln~ to he said, but uot much, for keepin<: Xorth's strong blddinl,! alive with Two No Trumps promisinl! _a vague sto 11 in Diamouds ·May and this is slightly prcfc• rahle to a ··free " Spnde raise on a worthll's; tripleton. The hand taken from the K cmpson- llarr! -nn-Gra y -match Is admittedly diflleult as Xorth held : ·Competition }'our Spades to the ..\ t•c·-Tcn, no Hearts, Hv e Diamonds to the •.\ cc-Khu! ami four l 'luhs to the Ace.
l'Jl011LE)[ No. ~ (12 points} l'JIOBLE)l Xo. 1 (12 points) Two Dinmonds-12 J>oints. Xu JJic l Four Clubs- 12 points. J.' lve Dlumomls ll points. Two H earts-:! points. Two Xo ~ llUhlts. Three No-'l'rumps-2 points. 'l'hn•e 'l'riiiiiJ>S-1 point. This hantl redU t'<·• it.;clf llcarts-2 ]>olnts. Three S]lades- 1 ]llllnt. to a choice between T wo Diamoml:o:, T wo H earts nnd Xo Jllcl. The vole! in l'lnb; On Xorlh's openlnl! and Dhunoml rnlse, Hll~~ es tinj.! a grt•at many in partn e r· ~ hand slnm should be suspected and lnvesllgntetl nt Is a mixed blei!Si ng ; dummy may wd l turn the loirest possl!Jlc level. This can best he up with sny J II x which could cut partner's . achlevccl hr cue-bidding opponents' suit. holcllnl! to ]>lcces. The Jlenrt rchld b a waste Three Xo-'J'rumps Is 11 poor nltcrnntl,·e. of time; partuc•r knows you haw Jlt•a rts llcnrts mny well be led and the sln!(le stopper without your tellin!! him ~o a ~; a ln . Two knocked out; In that case the contract muy Diamonds will stimulate partner if h·· hultls be clllllcult If North cannot I!IIIITd the llearts. anr thln!! to mnke a ~ o-T rump t·ontract A cue-bid In lleurts at this J>olnt wlll ruin dt•slrablc; so you need not youro
l'JlOHLEM Xo. i (10 11olnts) (b) Thn•c Henrts-5 point,. Three Three Spadcs-10 points. Three Hea rts Xu-Trumps- !! tiOints. In hitltlin:! Three -! 110ln ts. After Xorth's rebid of Three llcarts rc:;pondcr f,!ivcs the opt.·lwr au OPJ•nr· Diamomls, South must sec that the two t.unlt y of chooshlll between a llual contract hands represent ono of the frequent mlstlts of :Four llenrts or Three Xo-Trmup,. ln when• dropping the bidding as soon ns possible either cm;c he should pas~ on tlw tll'xt round is Indica ted. Rc-biddlnl! llcnrts nfter responder as a slam try on his hand with it .. n~ ... trit'tt•d knows that partner holds nt lenst nino or ten holdlnl! Is out of the ENGLISH llfl!DG E UNION (nlso DRITIBli DRIDOE NOTTINGII.D! CONTRACT DRIDGE ASSOCIATION J,EAOUE)-ll. D . King, Esq., 21 llalc Grove -llis. Dull, 28 Addison Street, Nottingham. Gardens, N.W.i. NORTJI EAST.I:RN CONTRACT DRIDGB ASSOCI!· E SSEX CONTRACT ll!tiDGE ASSOCIATION TIO:'i- G. I. lthoclcs, E "'l·o 4S llaylcnzcs, ]<'. M. Fletcher, Esq., 22 ]<'onta~· ne Avenue, ~onlh D enton, X cwcnstlc-un-Ty nc, 5. Chl!l'\"C il, E!\SeX. NORTII WESTERN CONTRACT llRIDGE .-I.SSOCIA· DER!Il"SIIIRE CONTRACT lllt!DOE AsSOCL\TION TION-W. H. Preece, Esq., H Drown Street, W. llurustone, Esq., c/o Town Clerk's Olllce, :JI[anchestcr • . Market l'lnce, Derllr. OXFORDBUIRE CONTRACT l3RJDGE ASSOCUTION DEVON CONTRACT DltlDOE ABBOCIATIUN-:!I[rs. -capt. 1'. W. Taylor, 43!! DnnbUIY Road, Harclmnn, Llvenneatls Cliff Jiotcl, Torquny. Oxford. GLOUCESTEllSJIII\E CONTIUCT DRIDOE ASSOCI.\· SOl!ERSET CONTRACT . BRIDGE ASSOCJ.I.TION- TION-S. E. Franklin, Esq., Delmo!lt A venue, 1\[rs. Tomson, The Tithe Darn, Crowcombe, Jiucclecote, Glo3. Somerset. · HERTFORDSlllllE CO!iTR!CT DDIDOE ASSOCI!· SOUTl!EltN COUNTIES CONTRACT DRIDGE TION-W. 11. ""cfghtmnn, Four Wlnt!s, ASSOCIATION - ~lrs. Flemmlch, White St. Anclrews Avenue, llu!l'cnden, Herts. • Cottage, Sandbanks, Dournemoutb. KENT CONTRACT DRIDGE ASSOCIATION-lfrs. 8TAFPORDSIIIRE COii"Tlt.l.CT BRIDGE ASSOCI.!· Hnrvey, 24 :!llolyneux Park, Tunbridge Wells. TION-W. R. Cato, Esq., 204 Thornhill Rd., LEIOESTERSIIIRE CONTRACT DltlDGE ASSOCI.!.· . Stree_tly, Sutton Cohltleld. TION-l' de It. l'enrse, Esq., 152, Upper SURREY CONTR.~CT DDIDGE ASSOCIATION New W ull>, Leicester. Major Geori!C Gray, ~ 3, Clydesdale Gardens, LL'iCOLNsnmE CoNTRACT DnmoE Assc:im.l.TION Richmond, Surrey. · -Mis. •rurner a111l Mrs. llrumpton, 51 W ARWICKS!IillE CONTRACT DRIDGE ASSOCI!· Slgnhllls Avenue, Cleethorpes. · · TION-Mrs. Ill. Knott, 9 Ca.lthorpe Road, LONDON CONTRACT DltiDOE ASBOCI!TION Edgbnston, Birmingham, 15. P. It. G. Cllnrters, Esq., 16 Carlton House YORKSUIRE. CONTRACT DRIDGE ASSOCI.l.TIOS Terrace, S. W .1. It. C. Hartley, Esq., 14 ·Dransfield Rond MIDDLESEX CONT!t.l.OT DIUDGE ASSOOIATION Sheffield, 10. · :\[rs. 1[. :Freeman, The Nook, Lyntlhurst '.r crraec, I.omlon, X. \\·.a. CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL Regional Editors- Eire . . NOEL BYRNE North Eastern EWART KE:.tPSON Northern Ireland A. J. FLETCHER North Western A. C. DouGLASS o Scotland H . KERSHAW Yorkshire Mns. L. L . BEDFORD ....-· Wales w. H. RICARDO London "ALIBI .. I • Competition Editor-PEDRO }UAN The CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL is the official organ of the English Bridge Union. • Publishers- PRIESTLEY STUDIOS, LTD., Phone- • I I COMMERCIAL ROAD, GLOUCESTER. Gloucester sr. j2 I 22 I I All Bridf!e Correspondence to- Eo!Ton, CoNTIIACT BniDGE Jo u n:-~AL, 8, " 'ATERLoo PLACE, Lo:-~oo:-;, S.\V.t ,,.J.:_ .. ~ ·i \ •l .. l ·l _. I, .\, \ BRIDGE INDEX \ \ CLASSIFIED LIST OF HOTELS AND CLUBS \ BRIGHTON & HOVE LON DOli KINOSWAY RESIDENTIAl. liRIIlOE CLOIJ- Dons •:T CLUIJ-:.1·5 Glentworth Sire<•!, 5, Sall•lJUry Road, llm·e. llrid~:e Sessions Jlnkcr Street, N.W.I. Tel. Wcibcck 10:10; twire dnlly. Luxurious rooms, excellent llcgnlnr Jlllrlncrship uud duplicate. Stakes service. H. nnd C. In nil hedrooms. Members 1/-, 2/0 and 10/-. ' liar. Enquiries to resident Secretary, T. C. \ CAHPDELJ,, Phohe Hove 1730. LEDEBI!E'S-115 Mount Street, W.I. Tel. No. Mnyfulr 7850. Continuous play from \ 2-:JO to 12 p.m. Duplicate, Tuesdny evenings. HARROW HARIIOW BRIDGE Cwn.:...,l6, Northwlck . NOTTINGHAM Pnrk Road, ilARROW, Mldd.'l:. Tel. Harrow CRANTOOK liRIDOE CLUD..J480 lllnnstleld l 3008. Good. standnrd llrid~e ·in enjoynble Road, Nottingham. . Tel. Nn. Nottlnl!ham 11tmosphere. Se2sions twice dnlly. Partnerships · 85021. P roprietrei!S : MRS. 0. M. HOPEWELL. nnd Duplicate. . Bon. Secretary : N .. R. 0. FRITU. VIsitors welcomed. Excellent venue for matches In ~Udlands. ------·------LONDON OROCKFOJ\D'S-10 Carlton House Terrnce, WORTHING · London, . S.W.l. Tel. No. Whitelmll/ 1131. WORTHlliO llESIDI!STUL BRIDGE CLUD 5/- Partnership,- Tuesdny Evenings. 2 - l'nrt- · ~'ull Club Licence. llrldge daUy, 2.15 to 7 p.m. nership, Wedn~sday and Friday eve nin ~:s. 8 to 12 p.m. Duplicate, 4th Monday, 2.30 p.m. Oupllcute Pairs; under the direction of lll r. Further pnrtlculan nrvly Secretary, 12 Dyrou M. Harrison-Gray, every Thursday evening nt Uond. Telephone Worthlllll 234. 8 p.m. Dinner nvnllnble nt 7-30 p.m . Prlvnte lloolll!! for Duplicate Competitions. )llllAIIEJ,J,E BUIDGE CJ,Uil-llccuc 'l'crmce, Sea Vront, W o rthin~: . Dally Sessions, 2-30 p.m. ll. PROVOST, ~[nnnging Director. ami ::1 p.m. llcstaurant adjoiniug. Liceuscd. A .•T. ITORSln:J.J,, Secretary, Visitors Welcomed. Tel. 6431-2. l'AIIK L.IXE lll\IIJG E CLUIJ-!!8 Uurzon ~tree!, W.l. Tel. Oru•venor HOI!. Uel(ular Duplicate Evenings. T.V. M. Cotter, Secretary. CUT Playing Cards Duplicate Boards Competition Movement Cards