Cape Town BULLETIN #7 Mon 16 March 2020 Compiled By: Neil Hayward a World
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South African Bridge Federation 2020 Congress – Cape Town BULLETIN #7 Mon 16 March 2020 Compiled by: Neil Hayward A World Bridge Champion Arrives in South Africa Sally Brock has arrived in Cape Town to play in the pairs competition in the 2020 South African Congress. We have a big name here: five women’s European Championships, and six world teams championships: two Venice Cups, two World Team Olympiads, and two McConnell Cups. That adds up to an imposing CV in the bridge world. She is bridge correspondent at the Sunday Times and has around 14 books to her credit as an author. She will be partnering Barry Myers (pictured above) during our congress. Barry has represented England in the Camrose Cup (contested by the countries making up the United Kingdom). Board: 9 Vul: NS Dealer: E AQ965 West North East South Q9 Pass 1 A7 Pass 1 Pass 2 . KQ72 Pass 2NT (a) Pass 3NT K73 JT42 Pass 4. (b) Pass 4 73 T86 Pass 4NT (c) Pass 5. (d) Q964 KT32 Pass 6 Pass Pass . T864 . J9 Pass 8 AKJ542 (a) Forcing J85 (b) Control . A53 (c) Keycard Blackwood (d) Zero or three keycards A club was led, won in hand, 8 to A, ruff, A, Q, ruff. That amounted to 13 tricks. Barry rejected the idea of trying to engineer a ruff in the dummy, which makes 12 tricks your limit. While you might settle for 12 tricks in teams, chasing extra tricks in a pairs context is a winning policy. 1 On a Point of Law If you say to dummy, “Throw anything” when a discard is required, don’t be put out if a defender steps in and says something like: “Please make it the diamond.” Your instruction to throw anything allows the defenders to nominate a card of their choice. So, be sure that literally any discard from table is fine as far as you are concerned. If you think about it, there is a perfectly logical basis for the defenders being allowed such a choice. It might be that you are not sure which card is good, so you are hoping dummy does. .................................................................................................................................................... Prominent Figures in Bridge Bill Gates and Warren Buffet The game of bridge is fortunate to have these two renowned figures in the world of business, from Microsoft and Hathaway, respectively, as enthusiasts of the game. Both are participants in high-level tournaments in the USA, with Bill Gates mentored by Fred Gitelman (who gave us BBO) and Warren Buffet by Sharon Osgood (a former Wells Fargo Vice-President and winner of two Venice Cups, in 1991 and 1993). Bill Gates has read many books on bridge with great interest. Warren Buffet, not so much. Which is why Bill Gates is given the task of supplying the post-match analysis to Warren Buffet after their weekly on-line game of bridge. Their names being linked with the game of bridge is good publicity and, giving back to the game they love, they contributed $1 million to the promotion of bridge at junior levels in their home country. The performance of the USA juniors over the years suggests this is money well spent. Warren Buffet, who launched the Buffet Cup, pitting American and European teams against each other, has come up with some great quotes about the game: • "If I'm playing bridge and a naked woman walks by, I don't even see her." • "Bridge is such a sensational game that I wouldn't mind being in jail if I had three cellmates who were decent players." • "Bridge has got to be the best intellectual exercise out there. You're seeing through new situations every ten minutes....In the stock market you don't base your decisions on what the market is doing, but on what you think is rational....Bridge is about weighing gain/loss ratios. You're doing calculations all the time." • "The approach and strategies are very similar in that you gather all the information you can and then keep adding to that base of information as things develop. You do whatever the probabilities indicate based on the knowledge that you have at that time, but you are always willing to modify your behaviour or your approach as you get new information. In bridge, you behave in a way that gets the best from your partner. And in business, you behave in the way that gets the best from your managers and your employees." 2 Putting Him in His Place An English international, who had counted the hand meticulously, led a card and saw his unethical opponent go into the “think tank”. Staring him down, he asked: “Which half of your singleton are you thinking of playing?” .................................................................................................................................................... Bridge Terminology The Crocodile Coup This is a rare move available to the defenders. It entails one defender playing the ace, holding A-Q, even though the queen would ostensibly win the trick. The seemingly unnecessary extravagance of playing the ace is based on the fact that the defender who “swallows” his Partner’s believes it is singleton at this moment. To fail to devour Partner’s king means you end-play Partner, who is forced to win with the singleton. .................................................................................................................................................... Bridge Humour A contestant in a tournament suddenly slumped down in his chair, victim of what seemed like a seizure or fit of some kind. A doctor was hastily summoned. He took the stricken man's pulse and noted that it was steady and firm. Obviously it was no heart attack. From the victim's white face and clammy hands the doctor surmised that this was a case of shock. A bridge player himself, he picked up the victim's cards and studied them. He then turned to the others at the table. "I think I need a review of the bidding." .................................................................................................................................................... The Art of the Insult One player, holding a very ordinary hand, Axx xxxx xxxx .xx watched the opponents bidding up to 7♠, passed all around. Predictably, this goes one down, at which point the other defender asked: “Why did you not double?” "I was worried you might revoke!" .................................................................................................................................................... Before the era of zero tolerance, a rather emotional player was playing against an opponent whose declarer play was not the best. This declarer, a pathologist, took a very poor line that happened to work. The excitable player said: "I have to say, it’s a good thing you operate only on dead people!” 3 .................................................................................................................................................... Playing in a game of rubber bridge, Manny makes three serious mistakes in three hands. Solly says to him: "Every day you play worse, and this afternoon you are playing as if it's already tomorrow!" .................................................................................................................................................... The term 'plotch' is bridge slang for a dreadful mistake, a blunder. After two serious errors, declarer contrived to make yet another mistake. Canberra's Bill Gray, who can spin bridge yarns all day long, was defending and announced: “Aha. The plotch thickens.” .................................................................................................................................................... 'I have this terrible inferiority complex about my bridge.' 'Don't concern yourself.' 'No?' 'No. Your bridge really is inferior.' .................................................................................................................................................... Split Personality One can play for two different countries at international level if you fulfil stringent qualifying rules, including a required waiting period. But playing for two different countries in the same event must be unique. David Burn (pictured) relates the story. He made his international debut for both England and Uruguay in the year 2000 at the Olympiad in Maastricht. On the final day of the round robin, and with two matches to play, England were certain to qualify at the top of their group. David acknowledges that he had celebrated rather too enthusiastically the previous evening. In the morning match against Germany, he was feeling severely dehydrated. His left hand opponent, Klaus Reps, whom Burn describes as “a young player with a fearsome reputation and movie-star looks”, opened 3, followed by 4. from Burns’ partner. Burn bid 5. with a poor hand, calculating that 5. would take longer to play than 4.. This would give him time to drink more water than would have been the case had he passed 4.. The contract of 5. was doubled, at which point Burn staggered towards the water supply. Feeling refreshed, he returned to his table and flopped into his seat. The tray came through with a Precision 1♣ bid from his partner. He alerted, and bid 1, weak, which he self- alerted, as happens with screens. He then cast a glance at his left hand opponent to ensure that the alerts had been seen. 4 At first glance, it appeared that the previous contract of 5. doubled had aged Klaus Reps by about sixty years, and caused him to shrink by a foot. Then it dawned on Burn that he had returned to the wrong table, taking over the seat of a Uruguayan lady who had taken longer to go to the bathroom than he had taken at the water station.