Photo removed from online version

Over the past few months several newcomers to duplicate bridge have become regulars at the Thursday night Marble Valley Club in Rutland. This has been possible because of our wonderful veteran players whose patience and cooperation have been appreciated. Thank you all. We would like you to get to know some of our newcomers.

Martha Wemple lives on Spring Lake Road in Cuttingsville on a working farm with an extended family consisting of around 20 humans, 8 cows, several sheep and lambs, some piglets, a dog, a cat and a donkey. She helps with the farm and does carpentry and general maintenance. Her 93 year old father still plays a mean game of bridge. “He warned me when I was 17 that I should learn to play bridge, because later on I would regret not having learned sooner. I guess I should have listened to him.”

Pat Forbes is a mathematics teacher at Rutland High School. She resides in Rutland with her husband Bill, her son, Justin (a junior at UNH), and her daughter Amanda, a senior at RHS. Pat started learning three years ago, but came to duplicate a year ago at the assistance of Linda Baker. “Linda Baker talked me into it.” Besides bridge, Pat likes to ski and hike.

Harold Baker has wanted to play duplicate bridge for years. Thanks to the Marble Valley Bridge Club, he is finally doing it. He goes to Florida in the winter, where he will continue to play.

Dottie Knapp is a native Vermonter, wife and mother of two. She lives in Poultney during the winter and on Lake St. Catherine in the summer. “Although I’ve been playing bridge for 40 years, I felt the need to improve my game.” Duplicate has fine tuned my bidding and offered me some rewards.

Gil and Margaret Nadeau live on Lake Bomoseen. They have been married 40 years and have 5 children and 15 great grandchildren. Gil, who is retired from CIGNA corporation in Connecticut,

first learned bridge with his parents. Margaret grew up in the Rutland area and went to school with Nancy Lolli. They learned to play bridge in college. Margaret met Judi at a bridge club in Fair Haven and decided to come to Judi’s duplicate bridge class. Because both the Nadeaus enjoy card games, Margaret thought that the Thursday night duplicate game in Rutland would be a fun evening out with Gil. They have been playing and reading the Audrey Grant series together.

Millie Kimball is also a mathematics teacher at Rutland High School. She has been playing bridge in the area with a couple of groups for a very long time. At the urging of many of her friends, she agreed to play bridge with Pat Forbes. Millie has a son, Bill, who is school administrator in Stowe, VT, and a daughter, Nikki, whom you may have seen in the national news for her accomplishments as a long distance runner.

Martha St. Onge is a retired math teacher. She has 5 sisters and a rescued American Eskimo dog. Martha played a little bridge in college and began coming to Linda’s Tuesday night class. She was encouraged to come to the Thursday night duplicate just to watch. As luck would have it somebody needed a partner that night. Martha has been coming ever since. Martha is a very active retiree. She enjoys volunteering, singing in Mt. Capella and learning to play the violin.

Ray Lopes is probably the most serious newcomer to the duplicate game. Within 3 months of acquiring Bridge Baron, Ray systematically completed 1,300 games. Ray teaches chemistry and his wife Kathy teaches mathematics at Rutland High School. He and Kathy started learning bridge 3 years ago with Linda’s group and during the second year, he and his partner Sue Ransom became regulars at the Rutland game. They come at 5:30 to attend Judi’s clinic and to prepare the cards before the game starts. “Linda Baker and Judie Ward are wonderful and inspiring bridge teachers and friends.”

Linda Sue Ransom played social bridge 30 years ago. After she lost her husband Al, to whom she was deeply devoted, she needed a new focus. She returned to bridge and learned bridge at Linda’s class. She now has a new circle of friends. “I love the game. It has renewed my life. Thanks Linda and Judi.”

Jean Davis, mother of 3, is a native of Poultney who learned to play bridge in her undergraduate years at UVM. She played sporadically as she moved around the US. Since returning to Vermont, she has accepted the challenge to improve her game with lessons from Judi and the Thursday night duplicate game. “It’s a wonderful game and I’m addicted.”

Ginger Book has been playing bridge for 6 years since her retirement. She is a retired coach and health, sex and physical education teacher. She spends the winter months in Palm Harbor, Florida and has been to Audrey Grant’s lessons there. “Audrey is a great lady.”

Dave Sirak (not pictured) has been playing duplicate for 5 years off and on. Recently he has relocated to Rutland and plays with us at the Godnick Center. Dave also enjoys chess.

Catherine Loew (not pictured) learned bridge as a child. She spent her life working in the professional and academic theater as a costume designer and draper. It was lots of fun, but did not allow much time for bridge. Two years ago she retired and moved from Sarasota, Florida to Proctor, Vermont,

Maggie Farriss (not pictured) is a manufacturing engineer (“I improve the process of making tiles so that fewer defective tiles are produced.”) who relocated from Minnesota at the encouragement of her sister Kate Stewart who is a bridge player in the Burlington area. Maggie had only played bridge socially, but Kate introduced her to duplicate in the summer of 2005. Maggie is an very enthusiastic newbie.

LISTEN UP, VERMONTERS

This is your editor speaking. We have a regional tournament coming up in November. It has been about 25 years since we have had one. Vermont is one of 8 units in the NE district, but we have only about 5% of the membership. The largest two units are eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut. Burlington, Vermont is definitely at the outer reaches of civilization for most of our district. Our district has a difficult time running successful regional tournaments in Portland, ME, which is much closer to Boston. For our tournament to be a success, we are going to need a lot of players from Canada, but most important, we have to support the tournament ourselves. Make sure you get to as many sessions as possible. This is not the type of event you go to only if you have nothing more important going on. This is the type of event for which you reorder your priorities and your schedule. Make sure you get there. Please see the schedule of events later in this issue.

OUR ROLE AS HOSTS OF

THE BURLINGTON REGIONAL

NOVEMBER 8^TH TO 12^TH

by Dave Shaw

The dates for the New England Bridge Conference (District 25) Burlington, VT Regional are fast approaching. We, the Vermont Bridge Association, are the local hosts and, while we aren’t responsible for running the tournament, each of us can play the “host” role from social and informational points of view. Consider that 600 to 1,000 different people will descend on The Burlington Sheraton to play bridge, but will have no idea where to eat, or what to see and do in the mornings or evenings if not playing bridge. Each of us can welcome our guests and answer questions about the local area.

We do have some formal responsibilities. First, we will operate the “Partnership Desk” before each game. Unlike sectional tournaments, the partnership desk at a regional level tournament can be pretty active as people from around the region come out to play without a partner. Second, we will ask people to register at the Registration Desk and provide them with a gift or two for doing so. The main gift will be a sheet or two of labels with their ACBL number and name and address – the kind of information each of us writes down on the entry blank each time we play. Third, we will help our guests find restaurants by publishing a booklet of information which will include 50 or more restaurants with detail on some and a map of the restaurants’ locations. These will be available at the Hospitality Desk.

These three desks need to be staffed at different periods of time throughout the tournament. To accomplish that, I’ve set up teams made up of our Vermont members and called them Team Wednesday, Team Thursday, etc to correspond to the day of the week each team will serve. While some 20 of you have volunteered to staff the teams, more of you are needed. Please see me at the President’s Cup Game (our annual meeting) if you would like to volunteer to help.

A Regional level tournament in our back yard is a wonderful opportunity for those of you who don’t regularly attend any of the six regionals run by the New England Bridge Conference each year. The larger scale of the tournament means more opportunity to play against other players at your skill level. For those of you with few masterpoints, there are many special games in the Intermediate/Novice sections. Please see the accompanying article in this Table Talk about the Intermediate/Novice Program.

So, all of you are welcome and none of us should be the least bit concerned about playing at the regional level – it’s just like a sectional or club game with more sections of bridge and a much greater variety of games: Open Pairs and Senior Pairs, Open Swiss Teams and Senior Swiss Teams and lots of Knockout Teams which are great fun and difficult to offer at smaller tournaments like sectionals.

So, come on down; you’re the next contestant at the Burlington Regional!

Note: The tournament schedule appears later in this issue

THE INTERMEDIATE/NOVICE PROGRAM

AT THE BURLINGTON REGIONAL

NOVEMBER 8^TH TO 12^TH

by Dave Shaw

The New England Bridge Conference has been offering the I/N or Intermediate/Novice program at its regional tournaments for many years. This very popular program has grown continuously and offers a totally separate series of games at different times throughout the five day tournament. It has a dedicated director in Sue Miguel who has been in charge of the program for several years.

The games are offered at 1 and 7 on Wednesday, 10, 2 and 7 on Thursday and Saturday, 10, 2 and 7:30 on Friday and 11 on Sunday. Most games are open, but stratified, pairs games, with the Sunday game a Swiss Teams. And on Friday and Saturday, there’s a 45 minute lecture at 1:15 each day which is 45 minutes before the afternoon game begins on those two days. The lecturers will be Vermont teachers known to many of you, probably Phil Sharpsteen and Mike Farrell.

If you need a partner or a pair for Swiss Teams, the Partnership Desk will make every effort to find one for you and there will be a player “standing by” for all games, so you are guaranteed a partner.

In earlier Table Talk’s, I’ve tried to assure and reassure you that this is a very fun time to come out and play. Do not be concerned that the tournament is a regional level tournament. You will find that people coming out will be just like you – trying to improve their games and have a good time.

If you want to talk or correspond with Sue Miguel ahead of time, she can be reached at 401/624-4190 or by email at inchair@nebridge.org. Or, please contact Phil Sharpsteen at hickoryvt@yahoo.com.

President’s Message

from Phil Sharpsteen

One of my ‘jobs’ in Bridge organization and promotion is to represent our Unit at the District 25 Executive Committee meetings held Saturday evenings at five of the district regional tournaments each year. It was through these meetings in 2004 and early 2005 that we were able to secure the regional tournament in Vermont this November 8^th through 12^th. A good portion of the recent Nashua regional meeting was taken up with planning for the Boston nationals for November 20 to 30, 2008. There is some time sensitive information on that subject I want to make you all aware of – decisions will be made at meetings during our November regional!

First, the Boston nationals will have ‘State’ days. Vermont will get a day where we are expected to help staff registration, partnership and hospitality desks. We can come up with Vermont names for Bridge events held on that day. Please let me know via email at hickoryvt@yahoo.com if you are interested in being a volunteer or if you have event name ideas.

Second, there is a logo contest for 10 free plays for the nationals. Past winners examples include ‘Bridge is Revered in Boston’ or ‘Have a Whale of a time’. Suggestions for subjects include lobsters, turkeys, Pilgrims, geography, history or sports. Entries should be sent to Frank Lombardo at lomb101@aol.com or 7 Wainwright Road #20, Winchester, MA 01890. Include a sketch of your idea.

Third, there are chairperson positions available for the nationals including registration, partnership, hospitality and charity/educational foundation. Please let me know if you are interested at above email before our regional in November. There is some benefit for this work (free play/room). If you know of any caddies who might want to work let me know that also.

Of course, much of the above effort also has to occur for our own regional in November. Please contact Dave Shaw, our tournament chair, if you are willing to help.

One final point pertinent to our November regional: there is a very active and fun 299er program at all District 25 regionals. This is a great opportunity to get your rubber bridge friends to try duplicate. Invite them to the club game in your area and/or to our October sectional to acquaint them with the special logistics and scoring of duplicate play and encourage them to try the 299er events at the regional. Mike Farrell is the local coordinator for this program.

Fascinating Hand

by Bryant Jones

The hand below occurred in a pairs game at the Regional in Saratoga in June. Contracts were all over the place. Looking only at the N/S hands, you would want to be in a contract of 4 Spades which would make 11 tricks, if spades are no worse than 4/2. A 5 diamond contract figures to take the same 11 tricks, as will 3NT without a heart lead. The 3 NT contract may also take 9 tricks if the defenders manage to block the heart suit. Perhaps overlooked in all of this is the fact that E/W are cold for 4H!!! (Yes on only 15 HCP).

N/S vulnerable / dealer East

North

S KJ3

H 87

D QJ8732

C A9

West East

S 87642 S 10

H KQ109 H A6532

D 654 D 10

C J C KQ8653

South

S AQ95

H J4

D AK9

C 10742

At our table, East decided to act (rather than react) by opening 1 club. With 9 high card points and 11 cards in the 2 suits, this hand satisfies the “rule of 20.” [plus 2 quick tricks for rule of 22 devotees]. With only 14 high card points and a tenuous club stopper, south elected to pass rather than to make an off shape take out double or to stretch to bid 1NT. West chose 1 spade and north, despite the vulnerability and the questionable quality of his diamond suit, elected to climb in with 2 diamonds. East chose an aggressive rebid of 2 hearts. Now south, holding the best hand at the tables had a variety of choices. Since south is looking at the AK9 of diamonds, north must certainly have a long diamond suit. I like a 3 heart bid here, hoping that partner will take a chance at 3NT with a heart stopper. Not wanting to bypass 3NT, south chose a conservative call of 3 diamonds. West competed with 3 hearts. North, having stretched on the first round, chose to pass. Hoping for any ace and a couple of heart honors in partner’s hand, east bid an aggressive 4 hearts. It seems that south should either double or bid 5 diamonds. Not clear is it? Swap the major suit kings and which bid would you like? Rather than take a phantom save vulnerable against 4 hearts, south guessed (semi) wrong and chose to pass. On the actual layout, 5 diamonds wins, but double loses big time. (Editor’s note: A phantom save is a sacrifice against a contract that goes down.)

If east elects not to open, N/S will likely have an uncontested auction ending in 4S, 5D or 3NT. Unfortunately for those pairs reaching the optimum contract of 4 spades, their excellent choice is scuttled by the 5/1 trump split.

I hope you enjoyed this hand as much as I did. It’s not often that you bid and make game holding only 15 high card points in the combined hands.

Help Your Partner

by Ellie Hanlon

As we have all discovered, the most difficult part of winning bridge is defensive play. Obviously, this is because we can’t see the hand of partner, who is nonetheless sitting across the table expecting us to do the right thing. The key to this problem is proper signaling. We all learn about elementary signaling, or, in some cases about more complicated methods, but we forget the elementary suit preference signal.

What I have often noticed when defending is that something that may be obvious to me, but not so to my partner, simply because he is not looking at my cards. My conclusion therefore is that it is my duty to help partner as much as possible by use of spot cards. Here is a perfect example of how I failed. I was south. East was the dealer.

North

S 432

H AK63

D 62

C 9843

West East

S K9876 S AQ105

H 5 H QJ4

D 743 D A985

C AJ105 C 76

South

S J

H 109872

D KQJ10

C KQ2

Bidding: East South West North

1D 1H 1S 3D (4 card constructive heart raise)

3S P 4S All Pass

Partner led the ace of hearts and I automatically played the 2, knowing that partner would shift, since declarer could have no more than 1 heart. Unfortunately, partner couldn’t see my diamonds and had doubt whether clubs or diamonds was the right shift. She decided on clubs. Declarer won my queen with the ace, crossed to the ace of spades and played the queen of hearts, ditching a diamond. Partner won the heart and shifted to a diamond, but declarer discarded his last diamond on the now good jack of hearts. Now declarer led a club toward his hand and, after drawing trumps, claimed his contract, losing just 2 hearts and a club. If I had stopped to think before playing to the opening lead of the ace of hearts, I could have played the 10 of hearts. This could not be construed as wanting a heart continuation, but would rather be an elegant suit preference signal asking for the lead of the higher ranking of the 2 remaining side suits (diamonds and clubs). Partner would now switch to a diamond and we would set the contract.

A similar help situation occurs when partner has led a card that appears to be a singleton. If declarer wins the trick and you have nothing but three or four worthless spot cards (for example, 9842), your play could guide partner to find the entry to your hand to obtain his ruff. If you want the higher of the 2 remaining suits (excluding trumps and the suit led), play the 9, if lower play the 2. If you have no entry, play a middle card.

So often we miss the chance to be a helpful partner by playing too quickly, whereas, if we stop a moment to ponder, we could guide partner to the correct defense.

Editor horning in: A perfect hand to illustrate Ellie’s second point occurred in the Sunday Swiss team event of the recent regional tournament in Nashua, NH. Phil Sharpsteen sat west and I was east

North

S 43

H QJ63

D A8543

C J4

West East

S J109765 S AQ82

H A5 H 92

D 7 D 962

C 10832 C KQ76

South

S K

H K10874

D KQJ10

C A95

The opponents wound up in 4 hearts after a non-competitive auction. Phil led the 7 of diamonds. As you can see, we can set the hand if Phil gets his diamond ruff. Declarer will lose the diamond ruff and one trick in each of the other suits. After winning the first trump lead with the ace, Phil has to get to my hand. Which ace do I have? If Phil guesses to lead clubs, declarer will win, draw trump, and pitch his king of spades on the long diamond. Trick one provides a perfect opportunity to signal. The nine of diamonds would call for a spade, the two of diamonds would call for a club and the 6 of diamonds would say, “too bad partner, I don’t have an entry.” This is a bad news/good news/bad news hand.

Bad news #1: I was zoned out. It never occurred to me to signal, so I woodenly played the two of diamonds to tell partner I didn’t like diamonds (as though he cared and didn’t already know that!!)

Good news: Phil wasn’t expecting a signal. He is used to my torturing him. After considerable thought, he shifted to a spade anyway. We collected our 50 for setting 4 hearts one trick. Now that we have discussed this type of situation, I won’t get away with this type of carelessness again.

Bad news #2: East/west was much more active with our cards and actually wound up in a contract of 4 spades doubled. This made when declarer dropped the off side singleton king of spades. Oh well, sometimes virtue has to be its own reward.

Play The Card You’re Known to Have

by Frank Hacker

There is a principle of defense that seems so self evident to me that I have frequent cause to wonder why so many players do not comprehend it. When choosing a card to play from cards of equal rank, play the one you’re known to have.

The first illustration of this principle relates to a common position in a single suit with the KJ2 showing in dummy.

KJ2

Q103 764

A985

On his first play of the suit, declarer leads the 5 and finesses the jack. He follows this with the king from dummy. For heaven’s sake people, cough up the queen. Declarer knows you have the queen, but he doesn’t know you have the 10. You have a chance to make a trick with the 10. Declarer may finesse partner for the 10. With the jack gone, the queen and the 10 have become equals. Play the card you’re known to have.

Here is another hand with the same theme from a tournament of a few years ago. I was west.

S 10

H KJ

D 1043

C AK108763

S J74 S AKQ3

H A1073 H Q984

D AK7 D QJ6

C 952 C QJ

S 98652

H 652

D 9852

C 4

The auction proceeded N E S W

1C D P 2H

3C 4H all pass

North started with his top 3 clubs and I had to decide how high to ruff in dummy. Since I felt confident of the location of the trump king, but not of the jack, I decided to ruff with the queen. I planned to take two trump finesses, hoping to pick up the jack in the south hand. I expected north to win my first trump finesse with his king. I would then reenter dummy to finesse south for the jack.

When I led the 9 from dummy, south played low, as did I. North fell from grace by winning the Jack. Having no choice any more, I played the ace and dropped his king, making 4 for a good score. The king and jack were equals. He was known to have the king. He should have played the card he was known to have.

VERMONT ON THE TOURNAMENT TRAIL

As usual, Vermonters have done well at out of state tournaments. Congratulations to the following Vermonters for outstanding performances (over 20 points).

Chicago Nationals: Don Sondergeld 42.85 Sandra Hammer 39.20 Courtney Nelson 39.20

Kingston (ON) Regional: Lucy Morini : 20.49

Saratoga Regional: Mary Savko 58.16 Ellie Hanlon 58.16

Phil Sharpsteen 44.91 Frank Hacker 44.91

Harry Kaufman 27.11 Judy Frank 21.45

Halifax Regional: Ellie Hanlon 46.58 Mary Savko 46.58

Jim Gordon 39.46

Montreal Regional: Mary Savko 54.74 Ellie Hanlon 54.74 Don Sondergeld 21.47

Nashua Regional: Phil Sharpsteen 38.32 Frank Hacker 38.32

Ellie Hanlon 36.62 Mary Savko 36.62

September 14 Instant Match Point Game

On September 14, both the Marble Valley Duplicate Bridge Club (Rutland) and the Burlington Bridge Academy participated in the ACBL instant match point game. The game can be a lot of fun, but it can be very frustrating. At the end, participants receive a booklet analyzing the hands and telling what the experts think they should have done. The most important aspect of this contest that flight A section top winners receive, as part of their master point award, 1 full gold point. This can be very important. Mary Granger got the small fraction of a gold point she needed to become a life master (see On The Way Up later in this issue). Here are the results. Gold point winners are in bold.

Marble Valley

N/S Section Rank Overall Rank PCT

MP A B C A B C Names Score

2.33 1 1 Robert Smith – Jean Seward 60.25

1.75 2 2 Nancy Lolli – Barbara Philpet 53.75

1.73 3 1 1 3 1 1 Linda Baker – Judith Ward 50.96

1.30 2 2 Edward Buttolph – Harold Smith 41.93

E/W Section Rank Overall Rank PCT

MP A B C A B C Names Score

2.33 1 1 David Miller - JimThomas 64.96

1.75 2 2 June Dorion – Wayne Hersey 61.11

1.73 3 1 3 1 Reggie Dubin – Sarah Bastick 55.71

1.30 2 2 Elizabeth vonRiesenfelder –

C. Kirk Osterland 52.86

.76 1 1 Betty Phelps – Norma Bellemare 47.75

The game at the Burlington Bridge Academy had 19 tables and therefore consisted of two sections. This produced 2 section top winners in both directions. Names in each direction are listed in order of overall finish

BurlingtonBridge Academy

N/S Section Rank Overall Rank PCT

MP A B C A B C Names Score

3.33 1 1 Caroly Tassey – Michael Farrell 64.79

2.50 2 1 1 2 1 1 Sally Newton – John Newton 60.42

1.87 3 2 3 2 Robin Ward – Edsel Hughes 58.58

1.58 1 4 Mary Granger – Frank Hacker 57.17

1.05 4 5 Vivienne Adair – Ellie Hanlon 56.33

1.50 3 2 6 3 2 Barbara Romanoff – Kotze Toshev 55.54

1.11 2 1 4 Elayne Bernstein – Lynn Carew 54.75

.76 5 Tom Holmes – Stanley Rosenthal 52.33

.79 3 Willy White, Jr – Fred Donald, Jr 52.04

.55 4 Mark Adair – Mary Savko 51.08

1.13 2 1 3 Charles van Royen –

Jean-Guy Beliveau 50.58

.84 2 4 Joyce Stone – Rebecca Stone 50.33

E/W Section Rank Overall Rank PCT

MP A B C A B C Names Score

3.33 1 1 Rhoda Chickering – Kathy Farrell 61.63

2.50 2 1 1 2 1 1 Richard Clark – Jon Stokes 59.29

1.87 3 2 2 3 2 2 Doug Wacek – Ruth Stokes 56.71

1.67 1 1 1 4 3 3 Norren Snyder – Alan Wertheimer 56.33

1.05 4 3 5 4 Bonnie Clouser – Bryant Jones 55.63

1.17 2 2 6 5 Sandy Desilets – Jackie Kimel 53.42

.84 4 Margie Berger – Jay Friedenson 52.54

.84 3 Ron Silverman – Jerry DiVincenzo 51.46

.64 4 3 Sheila Barton – Patricia Nestork 50.17

.44 4 Robert Ward – Nicholas Ecker Racz 48.67

.65 2 Pat Hoffmann – Penny Lane 48.58

ON THE WAY UP

Congratulations to the following Vermonters who have reached higher ranks in the ACBL masterpoint hierarchy

Junior Master: Ida Avakian Richard Clark

Sandi Gurowski Katherine Hoopes

William Murray David Sirak

Phyllis Tremaine Floy Wooten

Club Master: Linda Bly Penelope Daly

Carolyn Kelley Harold Leitenberg

Carolyn Little Sandra Montgomery

Elliott Turley

Sectional Master: Constance Fitzcharles John Newton

Sally Newton

Regional Master: Gordon Johnson George Stannard III

NABC Master: Sandy Desilets Carlos Galvan

Life Master: Mary Granger Lucy Morini

Bronze Life Master: Alan Wertheimer

Silver Life Master: William Sibley

Aggressive Action Pays Big Dividends

by Phil Sharpsteen

At a recent Flight A Knockout event at a District 25 regional, I held the following hand in 3^rd seat vulnerable:

S 10 9 2

H Q 10 8 6 5 4

D K 2

C K 6

The auction proceeded as follows: (Partner was dealer and opened 1 D)

1 D 2 C 2 H* 3 C**

3 H** pass 4 H! all pass

2 H was a negative free bid (5+ hearts, 5 to 11 HCP and non forcing)

3 C and 3 H are just competitive calls (Q bids were available for invitational hands)

The 4 H call was definitely aggressive. There are only 8 HCP but the 6^th heart and the excellent minor suit holdings for the auction tipped in favor of the game bid.

The 3 of clubs was lead to the 4, Ace and 6 and this was the dummy both East and declarer studied for some time:

S A 8 3

H A 3 2

D A 10 8 4 3

C 9 4

You can see that this is not a great contract with enough potential losers to easily fail! You need a non-spade continuation at trick two to have any hope at all. Fortunately East, an excellent player, had a complete guess on how to defend. This was the East/West layout:

S Q 7 6 4 S K J 5

H J 7 H K 9

D Q 9 5 D J 7 6

C 8 7 5 3 C A Q J 10 2

East has to guess from the auction who might have the queen of spades and the king of diamonds. Declarer could have both if partner has the king of clubs. If declarer has the queen of spades and the queen of diamonds, or even king third of diamonds, a passive defense could well be best and lead to one defensive trick in each suit and a defeat of the contract. East finally opted for a club return at trick two and I made 5 five made losing only the Ace of clubs and the trump king. Winners in order were as follows: club king, diamond king, diamond ace, 2 of hearts losing to the king, spade ace (too late!), ruff a diamond, heart queen, heart ace, diamond ten pitching a spade, diamond eight pitching a spade and two trumps in hand.

We, the underdogs, managed to win this close semi-final match. It was somewhat gratifying when walking by the other winners’ table to hear them assume they were going to play our opponents in the finals. (We unfortunately lived up to our underdog status in the finals!)

Say What??

by Frank Hacker

In the second round of a Saratoga regional bracket 1 KO teams, our team played a team consisting of a client and 3 young phenoms. For those of you not that familiar with the tournament bridge scene, a “client” is someone who pays professional players to play with him or on his team. Usually the client is someone of lesser skill, although not necessarily a weak player. I use the term “young phenom” to describe one of the relatively new, very successful tournament players under the age of 30. In the hand below, our opponents were the client and one of the young phenoms, a player in his mid 20s who has already accumulated over 5,000 master points (makes me aware how little I have actually accomplished).

We were vulnerable against nonvulnerable opponents. I was west in 4^th chair with

S AKQJ95

H J4

D KQ43

C 2

The bidding

North (client) East South (phenom) West

3C P 4S D

P P 5C 5S

P 6S all pass

South’s 4 spade bid was a bit of a shock. It seemed obvious to me that south didn’t really have spades and that his 4S bid was a psyche. I was somewhat surprised that it wasn’t obvious to everyone to whom I subsequently showed the hand. I guess that’s why people make these bids. After my double, south was forced to go back to clubs. I believe my 5 spade was more or less automatic. Just because the opponents have psyched doesn’t mean that you’re entitled to make a contract at the 5 level. Still you really have no choice. You can’t let them steal. The complete hand was

North

S 7

H 1075

D 1065

C KJ10876

West East

S AKQJ95 S 86432

H J4 H AQ2

D KQ43 D A7

C 2 C A43

South

S 10

H K9863

D J982

C Q95

The opening lead was a club. As you can see, 6 spades is an easy contract. At both tables, declarer ended the hand quickly by taking the losing heart finesse (+ 1,430 at both tables). I believe it will occur to some of you that it is possible to make the overtrick on a different line of play.

Let’s try the following sequence of plays: Win the A of clubs and ruff a club in hand with a high spade. Draw one round of trump and lead a diamond to the ace. Now ruff another club in hand. Now lead your remaining trumps. Just before you lead your last trump, the remaining cards are

North

H 1075

D 106

C K

West East

S 5 S 86

H J4 H AQ2

D KQ4 D 7

C C

South

H K9

D J982

As you can see, the final spade lead ends the hand. South cannot part with a diamond, since that will give you an additional diamond trick. He also can’t part with a heart. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t necessarily favor the squeeze line of play over the simple heart finesse. I believe, however, that North’s opening preempt makes the squeeze the better line of play.

Vermont Summer Sectional Results

Killington, VT

July 14-16, 2006

Friday Afternoon Open Pairs

MP A B C Names PCT

5.17 1 Jean Seward – June Dorion 68.29

3.88 2 Phil Sharpsteen – Frank Hacker 59.95

2.91 3 Mary Savko – Ellie Hanlon 58.44

2.18 4 Donna Marshall – Irene Vignoe 58.11

1.64 5 Patricia DiVincenzo – Kathleen Farrell 57.00

3.08 6 1 Mark Yesley – Marlene Yesley 56.94

2.31 2 Bryant Jones – Tom Osmer 56.25

1.73 3 Jeffrey Weill – Linda Otness 56.01

1.30 4 Stephen Bean – Alan Wertheimer 53.01

1.23 5 Carmela Eyal – Paul Weinbaum 52.75

1.73 6 1 Sally Newton – John Newton 52.55

1.30 2 Stephen King – Susan King 52.06

.97 3 Bertrand Nadeau – Carlos Galvan 50.23

.73 4 Sherry Jackson – Stuart Siegel 50.00

Friday Evening Open Pairs

MP A B C Names PCT

4.83 1 Bob Donald – Diane Burger 60.97

3.62 2 Ellie Hanlon – Mary Savko 59.78

2.72 3 June Dorion – Jean Seward 59.72

2.95 4 1 1 John Newton – Sally Newton 58.80

1.53 5 Patricia Nestork – Lynn Carew 58.31

2.21 6 2 Alan Wertheimer – Stephen Bean 57.64

1.66 3 Abraham Brown – Jean Brown 56.71

1.24 4 Paulin Nault – Liliane Theberge 56.25

1.30 5 2 Pamela Hoffer – Edward Hoffer 55.73

.97 6 3 Bertrand Nadeau – Carlos Galvan 54.86

.73 4 Paula Abend – Rhoda Klayman 54.81

Saturday Afternoon 299ers

MP A B C Names PCT

1.31 1 Harry Landry – Louise Landry 61.00

.98 2 Gordon Johnson – Ruth Connally 52.00

Saturday Afternoon Open Pairs

MP A B C Names PCT

6.17 1 Harriet Goldberg – Phyllis Bassen 65.74

4.63 2 Patricia DiVincenzo – Kathleen Farrell 61.81

3.47 3 Gerald DiVincenzo – Michael Farrell 61.57

2.28 4/5 Donna Marshall – Holden Caulfield 59.03

2.28 4/5 J Peter Tripp – Bernard Garbose 59.03

1.83 6 David Shaw – Jackie Kimel 58.33

3.35 1 Bryant Jones – Tom Osmer 58.10

2.51 2 1 Elliott Turley – Layton Davis 57.87

1.88 3 2 Sally Newton – John Newton 57.64

1.41 4 3 Stephen King – Gregory Udell 56.48

1.06 5 4 Sherry Jackson – Stuart Siegel 52.78

.80 6 Abraham Brown - Jean Brown 51.16

.65 5 Bonnie Clouser – Paul Clouser 50.69

Saturday Evening Flight B/C/D Pairs

MP B C D Names PCT

3.48 1 Paulin Nault – Liliane Theberge 62.18

2.61 2 1 Polly Schoning – Layton Davis 61.17

1.96 3 2 Gregory Udell – Stephen King 61.10

1.47 4 Lois Mailloux – Barbara Fitzgerald 59.56

1.10 5 Mark Yesley – Marlene Yesley 59.51

1.22 6 John Riopelle – John O’Brien 56.41

1.33 3 1 Gordon Johnson – Ruth Connally 55.98

.92 4 Pamela Hoffer – Edward Hoffer 55.82

.69 5 Paula Abend – Rhoda Klayman 54.74

1.00 6 2 Mark Adair – Vivienne Adair 51.07

.75 3 Sally Newton – John Newton 47.58

Saturday Evening Flight A Pairs

MP Names PCT

4.67 1/2 Pierce Smith – Wayne Hersey 57.41

4.67 1/2 Paul Wolf II – Robert Casey 57.41

3.00 3 Michael Farrell – Gerald DiVincenzo 56.67

2.25 4 Robert Donald – Diane Burger 52.22

Sunday Stratified Swiss Teams

MP A B C Names SCORE

7.50 1 Michael Farrell – Kathleen Farrell

Patricia DiVincenzo - Gerald DiVincenzo 121

5.63 2 Robert Smith – Donald Campbell

June Dorion – Jean Seward 103

4.22 3 Paul Cohen – Harry Kaufman

Mary Savko – Ellie Hanlon 97

3.16 4 Paul Wolf II – Robert Casey

J Peter Tripp – Bernard Garbose 96

2.37 5 Rudolph Polli – Frank Hacker

Fred Donald Jr. – Philip Sharpsteen 92

1.78 6 Pierce Smith – Bryant Jones

Robert Donald – Diane Burger 90

4.42 1 Linda Ottness – Jeffrey Weill

Penny Weill – Margery Martin 82

3.32 2 Raymond Johnson – George Stannard III

Barbara Philpet – Irene Vignoe 81

2.49 3 Barbara Fitzgerald – Lois Mailloux

Jean-Guy Beliveau – Connie Beliveau 77

2.60 4 1 Sally Newton – John Newton

Sheila Long – Jeannie Clermont 75

1.95 2 Nancy Anderson – Claire Gardner

Ann Bottelli – Richard Bottelli 63

Tiernan Trophy Race

Every year the Vermont Bridge Association awards the Tiernan trophy to the VBA player who wins the most master points in the 4 Vermont Sectional tournaments. Here are the top 10 after 3 tournaments. My apologies to anyone I may have inadvertently omitted.

Please inform the editor about errors or omissions.

1. Jerry DiVincenzo 36.93. 6 June Dorion 29.18

2. Kathy Farrell 34.19 7. Patricia DiVincenzo 25.78

3. Mike Farrell 31.10 8/9. Phil Sharpsteen 24.77

4/5. John Newton 30.99 8/9. Frank Hacker 24.77

4/5. Sally Newton 30.99 10. Wayne Hersey 20.88

Scott Aborn Trophy Race

Every year the Vermont Bridge Association awards the Scott Aborn trophy to the VBA player who begins the year as a non-life master and wins the most master points in the 4 Vermont Sectional tournaments. Here are the top 10 after 3 tournaments. My apologies to anyone I may have inadvertently omitted. Please inform the editor about errors or omissions.

1/2. Sally Newton 30.99 6/7. Rhoda Chickering 7.75

1/2. John Newton 30.99 6/7. Sandy Desilets 7.75

3. Tom Osmer 12.12 8. John Conova 6.08

4. Sheila Long 8.83 9. Elizabeth von Riesenfelder

5. C. Kirk Osterland 7.85 6.04

10. Karen Kristiansen 5.73

Thank You Table Talk Patrons

Vermont Bridge Association members receive Table Talk at no charge as a perquisite of membership. The cost of producing and distributing Table Talk is significant and a number of members generously contribute $10 per year to help the unit with Table Talk costs. We list below patrons of Table Talk, those who have made a contribution since October 2005. We also indicate the required month for the next contribution to maintain patron status

October 2006

Sheila Barton Barbara Fitzgerald Lorraine Pecor

Jean-Guy and Connie Beliveau Sue Hoxie Gladys Rocheleau

Ed Brass Theresa Ingram Jonna Robinson

Abe and Jean Brown Bea Kimel Renee Sahyoun

Ed Buttolph Karen Kristiansen Joyce Stone

Lynn Carew Penny Lane Jim Thomas

Jeannie Clermont Sheila Long Elizabeth von

Layton Davis Barbara Marks Riesenfelder

Catherine Earle Ken Pearson Fran Wager

January 2007 Wayne Hersey

February 2007 Babbette and Michael Rogers

April 2007 Ellie Hanlon Mary Savko

May 2007 Andy Avery Frank Hacker Jessie Stalker

Linda Baker Jonna Robinson Judith Ward

February 2008 Phil Sharpsteen

May 2008 Larry Rawls

October 2008 Adelaide Lapham

August 2009 Dave Jarmy

If you would like to be a Table Talk patron, please send a check for $10 made out to Unit 175 to Ronald Plante, 36 South St., Burlington, VT 05401-4152. You will also have a chance to contribute at the VBA annual meeting scheduled for October 8 at the Burlington Bridge Academy

NEW ENGLAND MASTERS REGIONAL

November 8 -12, 2006 Sanction # R0611013

SHERATON, BURLINGTON, VT

. .

| Special Bridge Rates: SHERATON BURLINGTON 802-865-6600 |

| $72 Single or double—Cut off date: October 13,2006—Check in time 3 PM |

| The hotel is located at the intersection of I-89 (exit 14 West) and Highway 2 |

KNOCKOUT TEAM EVENTS SUPERCHART IN “A” TOP BRACKET ONLY

BRACKETED RANDOM DRAW KNOCKOUTS I

Wed. 7 PM; Thurs. 9 AM, 1PM, & 7 PM

BRACKETED RANDOM DRAW KNOCKOUTS II

Fri. 9 AM & 1 PM; Sat. 9 AM; Sun. 7:45 AM

SEEDED FLIGHT A CHAMPIONSHIP KNOCKOUT TEAMS

Fri. 7:30 PM; Sat. 1 PM & 7 PM; Sun. 11 AM

FLIGHT B KNOCKOUT TEAMS (0-2000)

Starting Times same as flight A

THREE SETS of Side Games (formerly known as the continuous pairs)

Series 1: Wed. 1 & 7 PM; Thurs. 1 & 7 PM

Series 2: Thurs., Fri., Sat. 9 AM; Sun. 11 AM

Series 3: Fri. 1 & 7:30 PM; Sat. 1 & 7 PM

. .

| Intermediate Newcomer Pairs: 0 – 300 Wednesday only 1 PM & 7PM| |

| Thursday and Saturday 10 AM, 2 PM &7 PM; Friday 10 AM, 2 AM & 7:30 PM |

| Sunday Swiss Teams 11 AM |

| For information and partners contact Sue Miguel 401-624-4190 |

| e-mail: inchair@nebridge.org |

Wednesday, Nov. 8 1 & 7 PM

Stratified Open Pairs

Stratified Senior Pairs

Thursday, Nov. 9 1 & 7 PM

Stratified Open Swiss Teams

Stratified Senior Pairs

Friday, Nov. 10 1 & 7:30 PM (note time, today only)

Stratified Open Pairs

Stratified Senior Pairs

Saturday, Nov. 11 1 & 7 PM

New England Stratified Open Swiss Teams

Flight A (0 – 5,000/ 5,000+ separate), Strats B & C

Stratified Senior Pairs

Sunday, Nov. 12 11 AM & TBA

Stratiflighted Swiss Teams

Flight A (0 – 5,000/ 5,000+ separate), Strats B & C

Stratified Senior Swiss Teams

STRATA BREAKS A: Infinity ENTRY FEES

B: 2,000 $11 American

C: 750 per person per session

Canadian accepted at current exchange rate

TOURNAMENT CHAIR TOURNAMENT MANAGER

David Shaw 802-872-8305 Bill Lenville 413-782-0572

800-639-8000

VERMONT FALL SECTIONAL
October 27, 28, 29, 2006
Cortina Inn and Resort Killington, Vermont
Sanction # S0410082

Friday October 27^th2:00PM Open Pairs, Stratified

Newcomer Pairs, Stratified

8:00PM Open Pairs, Stratified

Newcomer Pairs, Stratified

KO Teams 1^st Session

Refreshments after the game

Saturday October 28^th1:00PM Open Pairs, Stratified

Newcomer Pairs, Stratified
KO Teams 2^nd Session

7:00PM Open Pairs, Stratiflighted

A (separate event) = 0 to 70000

B = 500 to 1500 C = 200 to 500 D = 0 to 200

KO Teams Finals
Refreshments after the game

Sunday October 29^st10:30AM 1st session Open Swiss Teams, Stratified

0 to 300 Swiss Teams (1 session only)

Coffee/tea/rolls available at 10AM

TBA 2nd session Open Swiss Teams, Stratified

Open Stratifications: A 1500+, B 500 to 1500, C 0 to 500

Newcomer Stratifications: A 100 to 300, B 20 to 100, C 0 to 20 (Stratifications may be adjusted based on attendance)

Price per session: $8 ($12 Canadian), $1 additional for Non-ACBL members

Vermont State Law - No smoking in public buildings or playing area

Director (& MC): Dave Marshall

Partnerships and information: Phil Sharpsteen 802 8992080 (hickoryvt@yahoo.com)

Cortina accommodations (includes 2 breakfasts plus $10 voucher) for the tournament:

                                      1 person              2 persons
Superior room                 $149                    $189
Queen deluxe                  $159                    $199
King deluxe                     $169                   $209

Package includes 2 nights stay with 2 breakfast buffets per person and a $10 per person food voucher towards dinner in Zola's Grille or the Sunday Bridge
buffet. Vermont rooms and meals tax (9%) is not included in above rates. Check-in time 3PM, checkout time 11AM. Reservations: 1-800 451-6108 or 802-773-3331. Email: innsales@sover.net. Fax: 802- 775-6948.

***NEW*** There will be a drawing after the reservation cutoff date (about October 15th) from all room reservations that the Cortina Inn and Resort has received by that date. Winner will receive a free upgrade to the best available accommodations at the time of the drawing.   Please make your reservations on
or before October 15th to participate!

Table Talk

A publication of the Vermont Bridge Association

Frank A. Hacker, Editor

310 Tremont St.

Barre, VT 05641

The Vermont Bridge Association, Unit 175 of the American Contract Bridge League

publishes Table Talk quarterly. If you are a Unit 175 (Vermont) ACBL member,

and have not received a copy of Table Talk, please notify the editor. Contributors’ articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the VBA.