TABLE TALK

Wayne Hersey is our featured Unit 175 personality. Wayne is the director of the Apollo Bridge Club in Montpelier. He is a silver life master with 1,900 master points and is currently number 12 on the list of leading life masters (see list elsewhere in this issue)

Here is Wayne’s statement.

I am a native Vermonter born and brought up in Montpelier, where I currently reside. I am a 1956 graduate of Leicester Junior College (Massachusetts) and a 1958 graduate of Boston University with a BS in business.

After graduation, I returned to Montpelier to work for National Life, first as an auditor and later as a security analyst in the investment department. While at National Life, I achieved the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation after passing a series of rigorous exams spread out over a 3 year period.

After 12 years at National Life, I decided to pursue a career in banking and started to work at the former Burlington Savings Bank that later became Bank of Vermont.

I remained at the bank for about 20 years and then took a position in Burlington with Canadian Tire, a Toronto, Canada, based retail company with stores in each of the Canadian provinces. I plan to continue working for the company as long as they want me and my health permits it.

I have always enjoyed team sports. I played basketball in high school and college and baseball in college. I have also played quite a bit of softball. I was on the team that won the New England small college basketball championship. Later, I was on the softball team that won the Vermont state championship. In 1995, I was on the senior Olympics basketball team that went to San Antonio to compete nationally. We won 2 of 3 games we played.

I was introduced to duplicate bridge by a family friend in the early 1960s. I soon gave up my Saturday night penny poker games. I found bridge extremely stimulating and enjoyed the competition.

Family and work obligations forced me to limit my bridge activities. This changed in the mid to late 90s and I have been making up for lost time ever since. My first out of state tournament was a late 90s regional in Saratoga. My frequent partners are June Dorion, Betsey Clewley, Ernest Gibson, Ken Pearson and Dave Shaw.

My daughter, Heather, who resides in Maine, and my grandson, Trystan, occasionally travel with me to these out of town tournaments. My daughter, Heidi, who lives in Barre, acts as my travel agent by booking hotel reservations, which are usually away from the playing site.

Duplicate bridge currently consumes much of my non-work life. Besides playing extensively, I currently serve as the club manager for the Apollo Bridge Club in Montpelier, as well as the Vermont unit coordinator for sectional tournaments throughout District 25 (New England). I also represent the Apollo club on the Vermont Bridge Association’s board of directors. I was recently honored to be selected to the National Good Will Committee. I have also taught 2 bridge classes in Barre.

I plan to continue my bridge activities and would like to thank all those who have put up with me over the past few years. I hope that, at some point, I’ll have enough time to read my first bridge book -- maybe after I retire from work.

My best guess is that 160 of our VBA members have qualified to participate in the District 25 (New England Bridge Association) Finals. Many of our local clubs have sponsored NAP qualifying games during the last three months and with so many qualifiers, we have a good shot at winning the District finals and getting paid to go to represent New England at the Spring Nationals. Most of our qualifying players are eligible for Flights B and C (fewer than 2000 and 500 (Non LM status) master points respectively). The details are listed below.

If you plan to or would like to go, please contact me at 800/639-8000 days so we can arrange transportation and accommodations. As this is a qualifying event, you’ll need to carry a certificate of qualification with you – see your club manager. Those in the Hanover/Norwich area, please contact Jesse. Let’s make a real effort to go down to Sturbridge and give ‘em hell!

WHAT: North American Pairs District Finals

WHERE: Sturbridge Host Hotel - $74 double occupancy

WHEN: October 9^th and 10^thSaturday and Sunday

Games begin Saturday at 1:00PM

We’ll plan to leave from Burlington at 8:30AM Saturday to arrive in the area by noon and in time for some lunch. Or bring lunch.

HOW: Take Sturbridge Exit of the Massachusetts Turnpike to Route 20W and find the Sturbridge Host Hotel on your right. About 3:20 from Burlington.

WHY: To gain fame for yourself and glory for Vermont Bridge and win some red points.

WHO: YOU!

ENTRY FEE: $10 per session

By the way, at the Sturbridge Host Hotel that weekend, the Central Mass Bridge Association is having a sectional tournament. So, if you get knocked out on Saturday, you can play in the Swiss Teams at the sectional on Sunday. Or you might go to Sturbridge Village and watch them make soap! All games are expected to be over by 7:00 on Sunday so we’ll be back home by 10:30PM or 11:00PM.

S 3

H KJ104

D QJ6542

C 93

S AQJ86542 S 7

H AQ3 H 8752

D A D ---

C A C KQJ107542

S K109

H 96

D K109873

C 86

This was a very interesting hand that occurred in one of the STAC games held in Burlington.

I held the West hand and the bidding proceeded as follows

North East South West

Pass 3 clubs Pass 4NT

Pass 5 clubs Pass 7 clubs

I was prepared to open a strong artificial 2 club bid, but my partner, Alan Wertheimer, beat me to the punch by preempting 3 clubs. I decided to ask for the K of clubs which Alan showed me with his 5 club response. I pondered whether to bid 6 clubs or 7 clubs. I decided on 7 clubs, the major consideration being the long spade suit that partner could use to discard his losers.

After a diamond opening lead, Alan had an easy time making his contract. He cashed the ace of spades and over-ruffed north on the next spade lead. He crossed to dummy’s ace of clubs and ruffed another spade. This established the suit, so Alan was able to draw trump and enter dummy with the heart ace to run the spades.

As it turned out, we were the only pair to bid the grand slam. A heart lead would have set the contract by killing one of dummy’s entries. On a club lead, Alan would have to ruff the ace of diamonds to gain entry to his hand to draw trump. He would then need the spade finesse. He could then ruff a spade to establish that suit. The ace of heart would provide the needed dummy entry to the now running spades.

In view of the unusual nature of my hand, I was willing to assume the risk of bidding the grand slam. As it turned out, we were rewarded for doing so.

Over the years many bridge players have kindly given me advice. I’ve selected my all-time favorites for this column. These tips are very general in nature, so don’t worry — you won’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand them.

1. When playing from dummy, play the higher of touching cards. That is, with QJ5 in dummy, play the queen, not the jack.

About ten years ago my wife Susan gave me a birthday present of a couple of private bridge lessons with Mike Farrell, Vermont’s “Mr. Bridge.” After Mike gave me this seemingly unimportant piece of advice, he winked and said in a mock serious tone: “and you have to wait at least one entire year before you’re allowed to tell anyone else this tip!”

Most people know that as declarer you should play the higher of touching honors when winning a trick, which makes it less clear to the defenders who has the other high honor. But why should it matter which card you play from a dummy in plain view?

Mike never explained the reason behind it, but here’s what I think: it is easier on the brain to remember the fall of the high cards in a suit by going from the Ace downwards. For example: the first round of a suit goes Q, covered by the K, covered by your A. In your mind, think: A-K-Q. Say you have the 10-9 left in dummy. Play the 10, forcing out the J. It is easy to remember now that the A, K, Q, J, and 10 are gone, because you’ve actually seen them hit the table — so the 9 is the highest one left.

2. Don’t rebid a suit if you have another option.

Try to tell your partner something truly new about your hand with every bid. Don’t bid the same feature of your hand over and over again.

I guess I learned this one from Judith Donald, because certain bids by her partner might bring out her line: “I’m not deaf, you know!”

In general, it is better to support partner, bid a new suit, or show a stopper for notrump than rebid a suit partner has already heard you bid before.

Probably the most common bidding mistake made by non-experts is bidding the same hand over and over again. If your previous bids have already described your hand well, let your partner make the final decision. We’ve all seen people open 2C, bid their own suit, then jump to 4 NT Blackwood, only to find they’re already too high on the 5-level. Basically, the opener kept shouting over and over again, “I’ve got a strong hand, I’ve got a strong hand.” Take it easy: partner’s not deaf, you know!

3. When you don’t know what to bid next, narrow it down to the top two choices, pick one and get on with the game.

Learned this one from Fred Donald. This is a great way to save mental energy. While the play of the hand can be quite complex, bidding isn’t as agonizing as it seems to be for some people. Usually there are only two reasonable choices. Fred’s point is: select one and see how it works. Learn from the experience, and try to remember which one of the two options worked better.

4. All strange bids are forcing.

This tip I got from Ed Brass, who learned it at the big Individual tournament held annually outside of Boston. The idea is that when you don’t know what partner’s bid means, it is far better to bid something to keep the bidding open than to pass. Pass will likely terminate the auction when you are wrong (as to the meaning of partner’s call) as most opponents know that if you’ve just had a bidding disaster, they should let sleeping dogs lie.

Say you open 1H and your partner bids 3D. Let’s say that you do not know whether your partner’s bid is a weak jump shift, a strong jump shift, or a Bergen artificial raise of hearts. If you pass and are wrong, you may miss a heart game or slam at the possible cost of 500-1500 points. If you bid and are wrong, partner will have to bid 4D and probably go down: you may lose a couple of hundred points maximum because of your decision. By passing you are risking missing a large 3 or 4-figure sum: by bidding you are risking an amount at most in the small 3-figures. So: if you’re confused in an auction, it is far safer NOT to pass.

5. Always lead the higher of “losing” spot cards.

This tip was given to me by Frank Hacker. Say you have the 102 of a suit remaining in your hand and the only card the defenders have left is the jack. I think most of us, being stingy, like to use our lowly 2 to force out the jack, making our 10 good. Don’t do this! Always play the 10.

The reason for this is quite simple: you may have misremembered the fall of the cards in the suit and your 10 may actually be higher than the opponent’s last card. When it can’t matter, always play your highest card, and you’ll never ever have again that sick feeling you get when your 2 forces out not the J, but the 9.

6. If on defense you have four cards in a suit that you can see dummy has four cards in, do not discard any of your four cards in that suit.

Kathy Farrell went through this in the last issue of Table Talk, but it bears repetition. This tip is insured by Lloyd’s of London: if you fail to keep equal length with a 4-card suit in dummy, it will cost you a trick — guaranteed. I see this happen at the table about once a session on average. Although you should try to keep equal length with any long suit possessed by the opponents, four-card suits are particularly burdensome, for that is when you are usually the only defender who can guard that suit.

7. Double on the combined partnership assets, not just your own cards.

How many times have you heard an opponent say, as you go down three undoubled, “I couldn’t double! I only had …” Very few contracts are set entirely by one defender. If partner has opened the bidding or otherwise bid strongly, and the opponents bid game, you don’t need 4 iron-clad tricks to double them. Strangely enough, it is frequently the weaker hand of the two partners that should double: they’re usually the one that knows more about the combined partnership prospects.

8. Don’t get creative on opening lead.

This is a tip from the bridge writing couple Pam and Matt Granovetter. Remember that the opening lead is where you know the absolute least about the deal. Don’t try to be a genius here. Personally, I have adopted what I call my “70% rule”: before I make an offbeat opening lead, I ask myself, “am I 70% sure this is right?” If not, stick to all those excellent opening lead rules we learned as beginners. Many of these rules are based on hundreds of years of card-playing wisdom.

9. “Only Jesus saves.” – Barry Crane

Sacrifices are losing bridge – too many things have to be right for them to work. It’s OK to let them make a game once in a while. My advice is don’t sacrifice unless you are non-vulnerable and know your side’s combined hands have at least 9 trumps.

10. If you are playing with a better player than yourself, follow their lead.

If your more advanced partner is defending according to a certain strategy, or bidding toward a particular final contract, follow their approach when in doubt.

Most experts assign conventional meanings to bids based on “frequency” or how often the opportunity to use the bid comes up.

Let’s say your partner opens a strong notrump (15-17) and you hold:

#1: 64 - Q8 - KQJ6 - QJ975

#2: 6 – KJ106 – A8643 – K75

#3: 6 – 76 – QJ1095 – J10864

#4: 64 – 76 – AK9753 – J105

#5: AK97532 – 76 – 76 – 76

#6: AK97532 – A6 – Q104 - 7

Three level responses to a strong 1NT opening is an area where there is no general agreement as to the best conventional meanings. And, for some players, other conventional agreements will dictate the meanings of these three level responses. For example, if 1N-2C; 2M-3C/D; means responder has a long weak minor suit and wants to play there, then 1N-3C/D cannot be a weak bid.

Let’s explore a few of the popular alternatives used by players today.

A: All 3 level bids are strong and forcing: Here the partnership is forced to game and subsequent bids by opener and responder are exploring for slam. If the bid is three of a major and the partnership also plays Jacoby Transfers and Texas Transfers, there are implications that responder’s hand is not appropriate for either of those conventions.

B: 5/5 System: Here 3C shows 5/5 in the minors and is not forcing (“Partner, I have a weak hand with both minors – please pass or bid 3D and I’ll pass.”) Responder’s 3D shows 5/5 in the minors and is invitational. 3H shows 5/5 in the majors and is invitational and 3S shows 5/5 in the majors and is forcing.

C: 3C/3D invitational without an entry: These bids show a six card or longer suit missing one of the top three honors and invites 3N when opener has that honor.

D: 3H/3S a singleton in bid suit, four cards in the other major and, similarly, a singleton in bid suit, three cards in the other major: Here the opening 1NT bidder is warned about responder’s weakest suit, is guaranteed support for the other major and can draw an inference that the minors (8 or 9 minor cards) are 5 – 3 or 5 – 4.

E: Bridge World (magazine) Standard System: Here 3C is for the minors and is not forcing; 3D is 2=2=(5-4) game forcing; 3H is singleton or void in hearts plus both minors - game forcing; and 3S is singleton or void in spades plus both minors –game forcing.

When partner opens 1NT, you think about a balanced hand with 15 to 18 HCP. If partner’s hand is balanced, it’s more likely that your hand and the opponent’s hands are also somewhat balanced. So, it’s more likely you’ll have a somewhat balanced 5=4=2=2 hand than a 5=5=2=1 or 6=5=1=1 hand. Therefore, the “frequency” of your use of three level bids in response to 1NT is likely to be higher for semi-balanced hands than unbalanced hands.

Most all of us have conventional bids in place to deal with hearts and spades after a 1NT opening. We use Stayman and Jacoby Transfer bids all the time. And some of us use Smolen to describe the occasional 5/4 in the majors. So, maybe our three level bids should be used to describe our minor suit holdings.

It seems that 3 level responses to 1NT should be used to describe semi-balanced hands with both minors. Of the five systems presented above, the Bridge World’s system seems to be the best of the lot.

But, pick your poison! I think I was using the correct conventional treatment once in the last two or three years when one of these particular hand types came up. Frequency! Spit!

Here are some possible bids using the Bridge World 3 level system for the six hands listed at the beginning.

#1: 3D – perfect!

#2: 2C and then, after 2S, bid 3D to show an unbalanced Heart/Diamond hand

#3: 3C – perfect!

#4: 3N – Yikes! If partner has a small doubleton diamond, he can duck one round and hope the suit splits 3/2 to take 5 diamond tricks

#5: 4H – transfer to spades

#6: 2H – transfer to spades and then, over 2S, bid 4C – a splinter bid showing a singleton or void. You have slam and even grand slam interest. Picture partner’s hand as Q64 – Q84 – AKJ7 – A86 and the grand comes home.

In the final match of a recent regional stratified Swiss Teams, Frank Hacker and I drew an extremely tough opponent – not what we expected since after 7 matches we were DEAD average! Our opponents were also having bad Swiss luck that day.

The pivotal board of the seven-board match revolved around the possibility of using one of the 5NT conventions. Our opponents did fine on the board without employing either, Frank and I did not. We each had a chance to use the 5NT bid. My hand in 4^th seat with no one vulnerable was:

K10

Void

AQJxxx

AJ9xx

Visions of a high level unusual notrump occurred to me if the auction was competitive – I was definitely focused on the minors and even slam possibilities!

The auction to me was 1H 1S 3H(weak). We play overcalls as 7 – 16 HCP. For better or worse, I decided to make a competitive double. The opponents remained silent for the rest of the auction. Frank responded 3S and I tried 4D. Frank now persisted with 4S. I now had an opportunity to use the 5NT grand slam force in spades but I was still fixated on the minors and bidding out my hand. Had I considered a spade contract at this point, I have a fine hand opposite a partner who has repeated the suit 3 times with the opponents bidding and raising hearts. Of course 5NT is still quite rich opposite a partner who has just overcalled and responded minimally to my forcing bids. So even though 5NT is somewhat outrageous it would have given us a fine win in the match to improve our status among the ‘notables out of the money’. At the table, I bid 5C, which Frank was able to pass. This led to a loss of 11 imps on the board and a 22-21 loss in the match! Here Frank had an opportunity (and justification) to use the other 5NT convention! 5NT by Frank would have asked me ‘How much of the earlier bidding did you get right?’ (Courtesy of Ron Klinger – Bridge is Fun). Responses are: 6C – hopeless, I was lost from the outset; 6D – First 2 bids were ok – shaky after that; 6H – hey, I found another Ace!; 6S – it doesn’t matter – you are going to put me in a hopeless grand slam no matter what I bid; 6NT – you bid NT first – you play this one.

Well I probably would have responded 6D given these choices and Frank would have to bid 6S. This would have pushed the board giving us a 10 imp win! Our opponents got to 6S very quickly and 7S is cold! Frank’s hand was:

AQxxxx

Xxx

KQ10

So either 5NT convention would have won for us! Over my 5NT Frank would bid 7S which is cold. In defense of Frank, neither of us knew about the 2^nd 5NT at the time since it came out in the bulletin the next day. Frank pointed out that had we only known we could have won the last match!

I hate to make opening leads. Marilyn was very good at opening leads. I was usually terrible – to that extent that Marilyn used to say that the opponents would actually pay to have me on opening lead. Clearly I have excellent credentials for an article on opening leads. Here is a hand that occurred recently at the Burlington Bridge Academy. I sat north and held

S AJ7 H 109832 D J43 C 102.

Here is the bidding

East South West North(me)

1C 2S 2NT 3S

P P 3NT all pass

It’s your lead. What is the best opening lead? HINT: One card and one card only gives you a chance to set the contract.

Here is the entire hand

S AJ7

H 109832

D J32

C 102

S Q65 S 3

H A4 H K65

D AK97 D Q62

C 8765 C AKQJ93

S K109842

H QJ7

C 1085

C 4

As luck would have it, I led the jack of spades, the only card that gives the defense a chance. Partner hopped up with the K and returned the 10. Declarer placed partner with the AK of spades and played the queen (obviously ducking would have blocked the suit) and we were able to run 6 spade tricks.

By the way, some players would stay off spades on opening lead. Instead, they would hope to find partner’s winner, If they were successful, partner would be able to lead through declarer’s holding. This might work, but I think it is generally inadvisable to expect a preempting partner to have outside entries.

Vermont Summer Sectional

Killington, VT
July 23-25, 2004

Friday Afternoon Open Pairs

40 Pairs

             A     B     C

  5.00    1                         Yi Keng Liu - Teng Sun Liu                            143.50

  3.75    2                          Harriet Goldberg - Phyllis Bassen                   139.50

  2.46   3/4                        Philip Sharpsteen - Frank Hacker                   131.50

  3.21   3/4    1                  Bryant Jones - Barbara Fitzgerald                   131.50

  1.67    5                          Martha Easter - Gail Rust                               129.00

  2.41    6      2                  Paul Cohen - Andy Avery                               125.50

  1.81            3                  Louise Acker - Chris Acker                            125.00

  1.84            4     1           Lawrence Rawls – Elizabeth VonRiesenfelder  124.00

  1.02            5                  Joyce Jodat - Norma Bellemare                      122.00

  0.76            6                  Alan Wertheimer - Stephen Bean                    121.50

  1.38                    2          Beverly McGinn - Mary Ellen McMahon         111.00

  1.04                    3          Elizabeth Holbrook - Raymond Johnson          108.00

  0.78                    4          Barbara Unger - Mae Beck                             106.50

  0.75                    5          Harry Preble - Jim Patton                                104.50

Friday Evening Open Pairs

35 Pairs

              A     B     C

  4.67      1     1                  Naresh Mehta - Paul Wolf II                         199.59

  3.50      2                         Gerald Di Vincenzo - Michael Farrell           196.99

  2.63      3                         Polly Schoning - David Shaw                        186.53

  2.33      4                         Mary Savko - Ellie Hanlon                            185.51

  2.11      5     2                  Bonnie Clouser - Patricia Nestork                 184.62

  1.58      6     3                  Louise Acker - Chris Acker                           183.78

  1.19             4                  Stephen Bean - Alan Wertheimer                  167.53

  0.89             5                  Jay Friedenson - Jonna Robinson                  165.62

  1.62             6     1           Nancy Brown - Richard Hubbard                  164.09

  1.22                    2           Charles Harrington - Jane Harrington            152.33

  0.91                    3           Judith Ward - Linda Baker                             149.60

  0.68                    4           Mae Beck - George Malek                             144.09

Saturday Afternoon Open Pairs

46 Pairs

              A     B     C

  5.50      1                         Donald Foote - Judy Taylor                           137.50

  3.61     2/3                       Frank Hacker - Philip Sharpsteen                  137.00

  3.61     2/3                       Ellie Hanlon - Mary Savko                            137.00

  3.48     4/5   1                  Jay Friedenson - Jonna Robinson                  134.00

  2.03     4/5                       Harriet Goldberg - Phyllis Bassen                  134.00

  1.15     6/7                       Sandra Hammer - Courtney Nelson               133.00

  2.61     6/7   2                  Bonnie Clouser - Patricia Nestork                 133.00

  2.06             3     1           Elizabeth VonRiesenfelder - Priscilla Butler    125.50

  1.47             4                  Charles Benisch - James Thomas                  124.50

  1.55             5     2           Raymond Brault - William Cloutier                120.00

  0.83             6                  Paul Wolf II - Naresh Mehta                         119.50

  1.02                  3/4          Rose Gove - Edward Gove                           113.50

  1.02                  ¾            Nancy Brown - Richard Hubbard                  113.50

  0.85                  5             Barbara Unger - Richard Unger                     112.50

Saturday Evening Flight A Pairs

10 Pairs

  4.67           1                    Frank Hacker - Philip Sharpsteen                    61.01

  3.50           2                    Donald Foote - Judy Taylor                             59.01

  2.63           3                    Gerald Di Vincenzo - Michael Farrell               57.01

  1.73         4/5                   Jean Seward - Gail Nye                                   55.76

  1.73         4/5                   Mary Savko - Ellie Hanlon                               55.76

Saturday Evening Flight B/C/D Pairs

25 Pairs

              B     C

  3.08     1                          Paul Weinbaum - Randall Fadem                    138.00

  2.31     2                          C Edward Midgley - Laura Midgley               133.00

  1.73     3                          Joan Clark - Annabelle Hills                           131.00

  1.30     4                          Louise Acker - Chris Acker                            126.56

  0.97     5                          Stephen Bean - Alan Wertheimer                    125.44

  0.73     6                          Paul Wolf II - Naresh Mehta                           120.94

  1.73            1                   Mariana Morse - Beatrice Kimel                     109.50

  1.30            2                   Nancy Brown - Richard Hubbard                    109.13

  0.97            3                   June Silverman - Ronald Silverman                108.00

  0.73            4                   Charles Harrington - Jane Harrington             104.00

Swiss Teams

18 Teams

              A     B

  7.00     1                          Larry Mann - Paula Mann - Yi Keng Liu - Teng Sun Liu                                                   113.00

  5.25     2                          Andy Avery - Paul Cohen - Ellie Hanlon - Mary Savko                                                     100.00

  3.94    3                           Michael Farrell - Gerald Di Vincenzo - Patricia Di Vincenzo - Kathleen Farrell                    98.00

  2.58   4/5                         Jean Seward - Martha Easter - Gail Rust - Gail Nye                                                           95.00

  2.58   4/5                         David Shaw - Fred Donald Jr - Judith Donald - George Malek                                           95.00

  3.82          1                     Stephen Bean - Alan Wertheimer - Barbara Fitzgerald - Bryant Jones                                 87.00

  2.87          2                     Nancy Lolli - Barbara Philpet - Elizabeth Holbrook - George Stannard III                          80.00

  1.88         3/4                   Chris Acker - Jay Friedenson – Jonna Robinson - Louise Acker                                        73.00

  1.88         3/4                   Bruce Downing - Elaine Day - Joan Soloff - Mark Conner                                                 73.00

I attended the New York City summer national tournament in July. What fun! I had never before gone to a nationals for the whole 11 day tournament. New York is a very exciting place. Yes, we played a lot of bridge, but we also ate in some very nice restaurants. For me the highlight was our visit to the Peking Duck House in Chinatown. This restaurant was featured earlier this year on the cooking show Yan Can Cook. The restaurant was not strong on atmosphere, but the food was terrific. The featured item was, of course, Peking duck. We saw their carvers serve up several ducks, including our own, in a brief two hour period.

Here is a declarer play hand from the last round of the second session of one of the pair games. To this point, I had vegetated through 50 hands.

S 5432

H J4

D A74

C K865

S Q86 S 1097

H 1063 H K98

D Q6 D J10832

C Q10972 C J4

S AKJ

H AQ752

D K95

C A3

The Bidding:

S W N E

2NT P 3C P

3H P 3NT all pass

The opening lead was the 7 of clubs. East played the jack to trick one and, on general principles, I allowed him to hold it. He continued with a low club and I cleverly took my ace. I decided to get the hearts going, so I led a low heart toward the jack. East took his king and returned a diamond. I took my king and ran my hearts pitching 2 spades and a diamond from dummy. Both opponents followed suit to 2 of the hearts. On the fourth and fifth hearts, lefty dumped a club and a diamond, righty two diamonds. I followed the run of hearts with the cashing of the ace of spades. This brought us to

S 5

H --

D A

C K8

S Q8 S 109

H -- H --

D -- D 108

C Q10 C --

S KJ

H --

D 95

C --

I continued with a diamond to the ace. West was compelled to ditch the 8 of spades to save 2 clubs. On the following lead of the club king, east was compelled to throw the 9 of spades to save a diamond. Otherwise, I would throw my spade jack and keep my now good diamond. This got us to a two card ending with each opponent retaining but one spade and his now useless minor suit winner. This enabled me to take the last 2 tricks with the KJ of spades. Interesting hand. I didn’t know who had the spade queen, but was able to force it to show up at trick 12 by imputing it to both opponents and executing the double squeeze.

1.   Mary Savko                            5,553

2.   James Gordon                        3,849

3.   Frank Hacker                         3,511

4.   Hank Youngerman                 2,631

5.   Mike Farrell                           2,616

6.   Gerry DiVincenzo                 2,538

7.   Fred Donald                           2,504

8.   Phil Sharpsteen                      2,461

9.   Cliff Gordon                          2,327

10.  Kathy Farrell                        2,229

11.  June Dorion                          2,173

12.  Wayne Hersey                      1,900

13.  Courtney Nelson                  1,846

14.  Patty DiVincenzo                 1,836

15.  Edsel Hughes                       1,824

16.  Jackie Kimel                        1,788

17.  Dave Shaw                           1,739

18.  Sandra Hammer                   1,697

19.  Rudy Polli                            1,696

20.  Pierce Smith                         1,691

21.  Judie Donald                        1,673

22.  Don Sondergeld                   1,644

23.  Bob Smith                            1,622

24.  Nick Ecker Racz                  1,558

25.  Lynn Carew                         1,480

26.  Barbara Fitzgerald                   1,277

27.  Peter Bouyea                            1,250

28.  Jonna Robinson                        1,249

29.  Gerry Carlson                           1,206

30.  Steve Dunham                          1,197

31.  Linda Bouyea                           1,142

32.  Pat Nestork                               1,139

33.  Steve Bean                               1,136

34.  Chris Acker                              1,117

35.  Paul Reardon                            1,094

36.  Stan Rosenthal                         1,082

37.  Michael Arnowitt                     1,039

38.  Andy Avery                             1,022

39.  Jean Brown                              1,015

40.  Abe Brown                               1,008

41.  William Sibley                            972

42.  Ada Meers                                   963

43.  Jean Tout                                     943

44.  Dave Perrin                                 924

45.  Bryant Jones                                909

46.  Bill Schiring                                884

47.  Louise Acker                               884

48.  Mary Tierney                              876

49.  Ruth Stokes                                 848

50.  Mary Azarian                              847

VERMONT FALL SECTIONAL

October 29, 30, 31, 2004
Cortina Inn and Resort
Killington, Vermont
Sanction # S0410082

    Friday October 29^th
         2:00PM       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 30^th
         1:00PM        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 31^st
         10:30AM     1st session Open Swiss Teams, Stratified
                              0 to 300 Swiss Teams (1 session only)
                              Coffee/tea/rolls available at 10AM
     Elegant buffet by Cortina between sessions ($18 including tax
     and gratuity - if a hotel guest, you may use the $10 voucher)

                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)

The Cortina Inn and Resort is a four-season resort hotel offering the atmosphere of an elegant country inn with the amenities of a large hotel.
There are many Spa and fitness facilities including tennis, indoor pool, and whirlpool and hiking trails. Two restaurants are available under the direction
of new executive chef Greg Lang. An afternoon high tea service is available (complimentary) from 4:30 to 5:30PM daily. Additional opportunities can be
obtained from the website www.cortinainn.com.

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!

The Vermont Bridge Association, Unit 175 of the American Contract Bridge League publishes Table Talk quarterly. If you are an ACBL and Unit 175 (Vermont) member and have not received a copy of Table Talk, please notify Peter Bouyea, Jim Thomas or Dave Shaw. Contributors’ articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the VBA.