Thursday, May 25 Larry Oakey Memorial Trophy Pairs Issue2017:4 Minnesota Gopher Regional May 22-28, 2017 Welcome to the Sheraton Minneapolis West, 12201 Ridgedale Dr. Minnetonka, MN 55305 Patti Stuhlman & Sue Jackson, Co-Chairs ♠♠ Peter Wilke, DIC ♠♠ Mike Cassel, Editor Today: Thursday, May 25 Wed Thurs Side Game Series 3rd of 4 Sessions.. 10:00 am Teal Morning Swiss Teams 1st of 2 sessions 10:00 am Larry Oakey Memorial Stratified Pairs (0-1,500,1,500-3,000, 3,000+). 1st of 2 sessions 10:00 am Thurs. Gold Rush Pairs (0-100, 100-300, 0-750) 1st of 2 sessions 10:00 am I/N Single Session Pairs (0-300) 10:00 am Lunch & Learn in the Lakeview Room 1:45-2:30 pm Wed Thurs Side Game Series 4th of 4 sessions 2:30 pm Purple Rain KO Teams. Semifinals 2:30 pm Larry Oakey Memorial Stratified Pairs second session 2:30 pm Thurs. Gold Rush Pairs 2nd of 2 sessions 2:30 pm Bronze Swiss Teams 1st of 2 sessions .2:30 pm I/N Single Session Pairs (0-300) 2:30 pm Mike Flader lesson on Lebensohl in the ballroom 6:30 pm Purple Rain KO Teams (Finals) 7:15 pm Bronze Swiss Teams 2nd session 7:15 pm Brown Stratified Pairs NEW EVENT 1st of 2 (single session entries welcome)7:15 pm Evening Swiss Teams Single Session 7:15 pm I/N Single Session Pairs (0-300) 7:15 pm Larry Oakey Sheraton Lunch Deals Today, we honor a man who All-Inclusive: no extra for Tip & Taxes has been the heart and soul PREPURCHASE At the Information Desk of Minnesota bridge for over Lunch: $10 (buy before 10am) half a century: Larry Oakey. Lunch served in pool area Expert competitor, partner, Today’s Lunch: Soup & Salad Buffet: mentor, teacher, director, Chicken Caesar Salad, Cup of Soup volunteer, film aficionado, Roll and Butter, Ice Tea or Lemonade coach, dear friend and more – we celebrate the life of our unique and EXTRA- Looking? ordinary TGLO. Need a partner or teammates this week? Contact Carol Rynders We are filled with sadness that we will not see Larry (651)503-6473 or peering at dummy, making [email protected] rulings nor zooming away on his omnipresent Go to the partnership desk at least 44 min. before bicycle. Still, we are game time. Please fill out the request form at the grateful for the many years Partnership Desk and we will help you find a partner. that this most special If you want a pair for a team game, submit your person helped to make our request as soon as possible to give the volunteers time to find teammates. Partnerships can be arranged bridge world the best it if you sign up ahead of time or 45 minutes before could be – and for his game time. Partnership volunteers will match many contributions to the players up prior to 15 minutes before game greater Minneapolis time. We try to match people with similar experience. community. Here’s to a huge round of applause for Larry! Intermediate-Newcomer Partnerships are made at the same partnerships desk as regular games. So big and loud – it shall reverberate all the way to Heaven. TGLO – you are forever in our hearts Special Addition in the ONLINE bulletin re. GNT winners, GNTs pg.9 Gopher Highlights Cool Bridge Links #5: Terry & Kathy Beckman averaged just over 60% in Bulletins the Horizontal Orange Evening Stratified Pairs. 15th World Bridge Games Wroclaw 2016 The Tues-Wed A.M. Swiss was a 1VP victory for Kerry USBF 2017 Team Trials Holloway, Bill Kent, and Vern & Monte Evans. EuropeanTmTrials WBF bulletins, in particular, have many, many hand K Welander - Gary Knippenberg are repeat winners presentations by a number of journalists. in the Wednesday Pairs. This year’s event held in Mark Horton has a series of problems generated by honor of John Westrom. Geza Ottlik each day in the European Team trial bulletins. Jack Bleet and Pat Finley tore up the Gold Rush field Frank Stewart column 4/11/17 with an average of just under 65% to win 8.73 Gold The 16 team Evening Swiss was bunched at the top. Only 1VP separated 1st from 3rd. Leon & Kathy Blackwell, Grant Broadwine, & Nancy Hill prevailed. GNT Finals 2017 Congratulations to this year’s Champions who prevailed at the recent co-located sectional in Mason City. Championship teams have earned $2,000 to attend this summer’s NABC in Toronto. Open Flight: Bob & Cindy Balderson, Paul Meerschaert, Bill Kent, Peg Kaplan Flight A Mark Patton, Joe Pieper, Vern Swing, Bruce Boje “Against 3NT, West found the winning lead of a Flight B: Eric McKee - Scott Spitze, Eli Jolley, low club. John[East] put up his king, and South Elizabeth Gotlund, SEE STORY ONLINE TODAY won immediately resignedly led a diamond”. Flight C: Kristin Welter, Betty Torgerson, Brad & Katie Albers John, took his ace and fired back his deuce of clubs. This Stewart column was based on rubber More on the GNTs on pg. 6 and pg 9 and online. bridge (imp play) In a matchpoint game you’d like to defeat this contract two tricks. Bridge Acronym #3 East can signal for a heart switch as the clubs are SPS= Suit Preference Signals cashed by playing low-middle -high on the run of the clubs. The situation is more complex if East’s The Cool Bridge Link yesterday featured a series second highest club is the 8 or T and not the 7. of comments by bridge experts on memorization and Recognize that the club suit is running assuming a counting. A recent Frank Stewart bridge column, 4th best lead. East must unblock to avoid winning with a perspective shift to duplicate play, is a the fourth club. If you want to consider yourself on testimony to spot card watching because the road to higher level play then recognize that the opportunities for SUIT PREFERENCE SIGNALS abound club suit is running and your spot cards can provide the necessary suit preference. Woodenly returning Some defenders consider SPS more important th than attitude signals. your original 4 best may give your partner a switch problem in the absence of your suit preference. When the count of a suit is known, or assumed, the order in which you play your spot cards can be suit preference. Tomorrow, Friday, May 27 Friday –Saturday Side Game Series 1st of 5 sessions, Best 2 of 5 10:00 am Teal Morning Swiss Teams 2nd of 2 Sessions 10:00 am Friday Stratified Pairs (0-1,500, 1,500-3,000, 3000+) 1st of 2 sessions 10:00 am Friday Gold Rush Pairs (0-100, 100-300, 0-750) 1st of 2 sessions 10:00 am I/N Single Session Pairs (0-300) 10:00 am Lunch & Learn in the Lakeview Room handouts from Mn. Bridge Education 1:45-2:15 pm Friday Saturday Side Game Series 2nd of 4 sessions, Best 2 of 4 2:30 pm Crimson KO Teams 1st of 4 sessions 2:30 pm Friday Stratified Pairs 2nd session 2:30 pm Friday Gold Rush Pairs 2nd session .2:30 pm I/N Single Session Pairs (0-300) 2:30 pm Crimson KO Teams 2nd of 4 sessions 7:15 pm Brown Stratified Pairs NEW EVENT 1st of 2 (single session entries welcome) 7:15 pm Evening Swiss Teams 7:15 pm I/N Single Session Pairs (0-300) 7:15 pm Be Pleasant Please It’s easy to get absorbed in your own drama at the bridge table. Remember to be courteous to the caddies, your directors, and your table opponents…. even your partner too. It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice. PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF YOUR EFFECT ON OTHERS Be aware of how a little may go a long way when it comes to your perfume "It takes very little to make new people feel welcome, and even less to drive them away." Seen on Bridgewinners.com after a minor altercation following an unsolicited comment: Offense is not something which is given; it is something which is taken. A Worthwhile Repetition Two years ago the ACBL BOD authorized a couple of additions to the General Conditions of Contest (GCC): allowing transfer responses to a generic 1C opening and approving the use of a 2D overcall of 1N to show a one-suiter in a major. D14, in the vast Midwest, is often slower to embrace cutting edge ideas but forearmed is best after being forewarned right? Steve Weinstein shared the method he uses with Bobby Item 151-31 Convention Chart Modification: Levin: transfer responses to a nonforcing 1C opening are X-transfer to Hearts now allowed in any event. 2♥-transfer to Spades a 2D overcall of 1N to show a 1-suiter in the majors. 2♠-range ask or Clubs 2NT-Diamonds Both of these bidding treatments will require you and your 3♣-Stayman partners to have some discussion. A simple solution to the transfer response is to double with values in the bid 3♦-minors your RHO made. A ‘cuebid of the transfer is not a cuebid 3M-Short in major(we like it to be 4x1) but an overcall. A bid in the suit your RHO is transferring Pass than double is takeout. into becomes “takeout”. To cover us on some strange meanings of 2♦ we The expert community has no consensus on dealing with the 2D overcall of 1N promising a single suited major. play this even if 2♦ has multiple meanings as long Check out these bridgewinner threads for ongoing as one of them is an unknown major.