VOL. 58 No. 4 WINTER 2017-2018 Steve Landen, Jeffrey Starr Two former giants of Michi- versity of Maryland-Baltimore gan bridge passed away this County. A former computer fall. programmer, he continued to Steve Landen, 64, was a pursue his career as a bridge Grand Life Master with six na- professional until about a dec- tional championships. Locally, ade ago, when he began suf- he won the Ed- fering the early stages of de- ward F. Stein mentia. He died in late Octo- Memorial ber of hypothermia after fall- ing near his home in Ellicott MD. , 1982 Jeffrey Starr, 68, was a and 1988. He top Detroit-area player before Drawings by the late Stan Hench also won the moving to Las Vegas in the William S. Mous- late 1980s to pursue gambling er Memorial Trophy, for most and business points won by a District 12 interests. He member at the Motor City Re- won the Stein gional, in 1980, 1988, 1989, trophy in 1981 1991, 1992 and 2003. He was and the Mous- a former author of the It’s er in 1969. He Your Bid column in Table apparently only Talk. played occasionally at Steve and his family moved to Maryland in the early 2000s, where his wife Lynne Schaefer, also a national events, most recent- bridge champion, was a facili- ly the 2012 Truscott/USPC ties vice president at the Uni- Senior Swiss. Jeffrey spent some time in Michigan over sions). the past two years and was The 2016 regional racked planning to move back here. up a total of 60 tables in KO He died in December follow- events. There was only suffi- ing a long battle with lung cient attendance to run a sin- cancer. gle Flight B KO for 13 total I had the great pleasure of tables in 2017. playing with both Steve and Jeffrey while they were living Bryant wins seat in Michigan. Both were tre- on MBA board mendous natural card players, exciting personalities and Brenda Bryant is a new good friends. —M.H. member of the MBA board of directors following the Octo- ber board election. Re-elected IN MEMORIAM to two-year terms were Mari- lyn Crane, Marilyn Nathanson, Arlene Howe Stacey Tessler and Zachary Charles May Wasserman. Orion Nazzaro Kurt Dasher did not seek re- Ronald Spaeth election. Thanks to him for his Robert Kromm years of service. Lien is president-elect Attendance drops Owen Lien has been named at Motor City Regional MBA president-elect and sec- Attendance at the 2017 Mo- tional tournament chair for the tor City Regional was just year beginning in November 739.5 tables, down 105 tables 2017. from 2016. The tournament In voting at the November 7 showed a profit of $2,878, board meeting, Bob Ondo compared to a budgeted profit moved up to president, while of $7,600. Bob Webber and Stacey The biggest drops in attend- Tessler were re-elected as ance were on Sunday, and in treasurer and recording secre- the KOs. tary, respectively. New board The combined Swiss events member Brenda Bryant will on Sunday were down 26 ta- chair the 2018 Motor City Re- bles (13 fewer teams x 2 ses- gional. PAGE 2 TABLE TALK Michigan Bridge Association’s Michael Graham Ann Arbor Sectional January 27-28, 2018 Eastern Michigan University Student Center 900 Oakwood St., Ypsilanti MI 48197 734-487-1157 Saturday, January 27 Stratified Open Swiss Teams Playthrough-7 matches ... 11 a.m. Stratified 0-500 Pairs (single session) ............................ 11 a.m. Stratified 0-500 Pairs (single session) .............................. 3 p.m. Sunday, January 28 Stratified Open Swiss Teams Playthrough-7 matches ... 11 a.m. Stratified 0-500 Pairs (single session) ............................ 11 a.m. Stratified 0-500 Pairs (single session) .............................. 3 p.m. Free coffee and snacks. Free parking. There will be a lunch break during which food will be available for purchase at the food court in the building. Stratified Events: A = 3000+, B = 1000-3000, C = 0-1000 0-500 Strats: (0-50) (50-200) (200-500) (as attendance warrants) Average MP will be used to determine your strat. Directions from Detroit suburbs: Take M-14 to U.S. 23 southbound to exit 37A Washtenaw Avenue toward Ypsilanti. Go east on Washtenaw Avenue for 2.9 miles. When you first come to the Eastern Michigan University campus, turn left (north) on Oakwood Street. Go .4 miles to the Student Center. The center and park- ing lot will be on your right. There is no charge for parking on weekends. Tournament Chairman: Marty Hirschman, H: 248-646-3967, C: 248-252-7732; [email protected] Partnerships: Marcy Toon, 734-478-4494, [email protected] District 12 Website: www.district12bridge.org TABLE TALK PAGE 3 TABLE TALK MBA Officers Official publication Bob Ondo ......................... president of the Michigan Bridge Association Owen Lien ........... ….president-elect 30660 Woodgate Dr., Jonathan Fleischmann .... chairman Southfield MI 48076 Stacey Tessler .... recording secretary 248-646-3967 Bob Webber ..................... treasurer e-mail: [email protected] Board of Directors MARTIN HIRSCHMAN, Editor Shelley Boschan, Brenda Bryant, Production editor: Marcia Abramson MBA Corresponding & Mem- bership Secretary: Paul Pomeroy, Owen Lien, Marilyn Nathanson, Bob 34069 Hathaway St., Livonia MI Ondo, Grant Petersen, Patti Stoner, 48150, [email protected], 734- Richard Temkin, Stacey Tessler, Al- 421-0193 lan Tushman, Zachary Wasserman. MBA CLUB DIRECTORY 3575. Friday 12 p.m. ■Neighborhood Club, St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Thursday 12 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. ■Plymouth Community DBC, Cultural Center, 525 Farmer, Plymouth. Jim & Cheryl Perna, 248-887-9283. Tuesday 11:30 a.m., Wednesday 11:30 a.m. ■Trenton DBC, 2700 Westfield, Trenton. Bob Ondo, 313-320- 5173. Thursday 7 p.m. ■War Memorial, 32 Lakeshore, Grosse Pointe. Judith Thomas, 313-372-4218. Monday 12 p.m. ■Young Center BC, R.A. Young Recreation Center, 5400 McKin- ■Friendly Friday BC, St. Paul ley, Dearborn Heights. Joyce Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kozma, 313-274-5587. Wednes- 375 Lothrop, Grosse Pointe day 11 a.m. Farms. Tony Faint, 586-649- PAGE 4 TABLE TALK IT’S YOUR BID By Marty Hirschman Never have I had such a warm reception as when I returned to the bridge table recently after a six-day hospitalization with a freak case of congestive heart failure. They even let me sit North-South a few times until it became apparent that my heart and other body parts are just fine, thank you, and I wasn’t going to die anytime soon. So, being “only” 68 years old (as of late December), I’m back to East-West. At least it all gave me a pretty good excuse for being a little late getting out this issue of Table Talk. Congratulations to Jonathan Fleischmann for his perfect score on this issue’s problems. Also, congratulations to Valen- tine Enache for best score among readers. No matter your age or health you will always be South in It’s Your Bid. So send in your answers to next issue’s problems, found at the end of this article. 1. MTPTs. N-S vul. As should be on spades, since SOUTH, you hold: that is what the opponents are ♠1032 ♥107 ♦AQ1073 ♣AQ3 going to lead most of the time. WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH 3NT should show a spade -- 1♥ Pass 2♦* stopper, 3♠ deny a spade Pass 3♦ Pass ? stopper. *Game forcing Only one panelist seems to agree: Action Score Votes 3NT 100 13 Howard Perlman (3♠): First 4♣ 70 5 obligation is to find the right 3♠ 60 3 game. 3♠ is sort of “last train” 3♥ 50 1 to 3NT. Would have bid 1NT 5♦ 40 0 over 1♥, though that doesn’t Pass 20 0 necessarily solve all prob- If there is room to bid both lems. unbid suits below 3NT, you No one else seems very can just bid the one you have sure. the stopper in. That’s not the case here. It is a big head- Suzy Burger (3♠): I hope ache. In my view, the focus partner takes it as asking. TABLE TALK PAGE 5 SCORES Experts: George Pope ................... 430 Jonathan Fleischmann .... 500 Irv Hershman................... 410 Don Rumelhart ................ 480 Neil Manley ..................... 410 Gene Benedict ................ 470 J. Morris Swiger .............. 400 Linda Perlman ................. 470 Patty Becker .................... 370 John Koschik ................... 460 Sy Goodman ................... 360 Howard Perlman ............. 460 Doris Jefferies ................. 360 Joe Chiesa ...................... 450 Mark Hugger ................... 340 Dennis Kasle ................... 450 Jerry Jefferies.................. 340 Bob Katz ......................... 450 Michael Betzold ............... 320 Readers: Seymour Mandell ............ 320 Valentine Enache ............ 440 Klaus Brondum................ 270 HOW THE PANEL VOTED 1 2 3 4 5 Gene Benedict 3NT 2NT 4♠ 5♥ 3NT Bob Brent 3NT 3NT 4♠ 5NT 3NT Brenda Bryant 3NT 2♦ 5♠ 6NT 3NT Chuck Burger 4♣ 3♦ 4♣ 5♥ Dbl Suzy Burger 3♠ 3♦ 4♣ 4NT Dbl Joe Chiesa 3NT 3♦ 4♣ 5♥ Dbl Kurt Dasher 3NT 2♦ 4♣ 4♣ Dbl Jonathan Fleischmann 3NT 3NT 4♣ 5♥ 3NT Dennis Kasle 4♣ 3NT 4♣ 4NT Dbl Bob Katz 3NT 2NT 4♠ 4♠ 3NT Sheldon Kirsch 4♣ 3NT 4♣ 4NT 4♥ Morrie Kleinplatz 3NT 3NT 4♠ Pass 4♥ John Koschik 3NT 2NT 4♣ 6NT Dbl Marilyn Maddox 4♣ 3NT 6♠ Pass 3NT Myles Maddox 4♣ 3♦ 4♣ 4♥ 4♥ Howard Perlman 3♠ 3NT 4♣ 4NT 3NT Linda Perlman 3NT 2NT 4♠ 4NT 3NT Irv Rosenstein 3♠ 2NT 4♣ 6NT 3NT Don Rumelhart 3NT 2NT 4♣ 4♠ 3NT Richard Temkin 3NT 2NT 6♠ 5♥ 4♥ Bob Webber 3NT 3NT 4♦ 4♣ 3NT Willie Winokur 3♥ 2NT 4♣ 4♠ 4♥ PAGE 6 TABLE TALK Irv Rosenstein (3♠): See if won’t lead a spade or they will partner can bid 3NT.