TABLE  TALK

A publication of the Vermont Bridge Association                        September  2005

 

Here is an article about Larry Rawls, secretary of the Vermont Bridge Association.

 

I was a bit of a nomad as a kid attending nine schools in 12 years. First grade was the elementary school associated with Roberts College in Bebek, Turkey, as my father was part of a Marshall Plan team assigned to modernize the Istanbul waterfront. After a year and a half stint, we returned to Westchester County, New York, before relocating to Montreal for three years. Back to New York for a couple of years until I went off to school in Connecticut where I learned to play bridge which consumed more hours of the day than my grade point average could afford. It took eight years to get my undergraduate degree in Boston, which included several voluntary and involuntary sabbaticals. One hiatus lasted for three years with my ending up in 1969 in Saigon, South Vietnam, where one of my duties was checking out the bona fides of potential war brides. Also of note was the fact the city had the finest Chinese and French cuisine that I have ever encountered. After finally getting my degree in 1970, I spent a number of years working in various management capacities for the New England Telephone Company.

 

I left the phone company and moved to Vermont in the summer of 1984. The reason I chose Manchester was because my sister had married a local fellow in 1965 and for years after the family would gather at her house for holidays. Also, my brother had moved to the area several years before. In the mid-90s, my future wife Mary Catherine and I ran a shop in Dorset called Wild Birds -Vermont. Our store sold a variety of items associated with feeding, observing, housing, and learning about wild birds. Ours was such a good idea that all the nurseries and hardware stores in the area got into the bird feeding business which led to the demise of our venture in 2001. Currently, my time is mostly devoted to building a 24' by 40' garage, trying to pick winners at Saratoga, taking care of two unruly dogs, and playing bad golf.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I first learned to play bridge in prep school in the 1960s. Regrettably, too much bridge in college led to one of my forced leaves of absence. Afterwards, I didn't play for almost 20 years until I arrived in Manchester during the Dave Pendleton years. A couple of evenings of playing duplicate in the company of Billy Becker and several other curmudgeons was enough to convince me that this was not something that I wanted to do. About five or six years ago, Bob Smith talked me back into the pool. Needless to say, it was an entirely different game than I'd learned as a kid. So with the help of Audrey Grant and the occasional instructive beating at the hands of Mary Lou Savko and Andy Avery, I have learned the rudiments of the modern game of duplicate bridge. The current hurdle that I am trying to overcome is the deciphering of the distribution and point count of all the hands. I see this as a life's quest.

 

 

Minor(ity?) Report

by Bryant Jones

 

Most of us play 5-card majors, so we frequently open 1C/1D with a 3-card suit.  As we strive to play contracts in major suits or NT (because of the scoring table), your partner will give little credence to your minor suit--unless you rebid it.  So if your holdings in the minors are 3/3, 4/4, 3/4, or 4/3 which do you prefer--1C or 1D?  Most texts suggest/dictate that with four of both you open 1D; with 3 of both you start with 1C; and with 3/4 or 4/3 you open the longer suit--regardless of quality.  I find this to be short-sighted!  For your consideration:  Open the minor you prefer to have partner lead.

 

Entirely too often when I open 1 of a minor, the opponents outbid us in a major.  And partner is sometimes on lead.  Say, 1D--1S--P--2(or 3)S followed by all pass.  With nothing of consequence, more often than not partner will lead "my" suit, even though s/he realizes it could be "suspect."  However, if we have agreed that we choose to open the "more desireable" minor, our chances of getting off to the best defense are greatly improved.  Ignoring major suit holdings, suppose we have a choice of 1C/1D holding KJx in clubs and Axxx in diamonds.  Partner, holding Qxx in both, will lead the suit you have opened.  If you chose 1C (2 honors vs 1), you get a club lead.  This may(should/could) result in 3 (or 4) minor suit tricks on defense--depending on the location of the diamond K and whether clubs are evenly divided.  With a diamond lead we may take the same tricks.  After winning the Ace of diamonds, however, I may (or may not) find the club switch--especially if Axx appears in dummy.  Additionally, if the jack of diamonds is in declarer's hand and the king in dummy, we may have presented declarer with a trick s/he did not deserve.

 

Are there drawbacks?  Certainly.  Holding 4/4 in the majors, there is no choice of which minor to open.  Also, there is "nobody's favorite"--the dreaded 1-4-4-4 pattern with a spade singleton.  If you open "better minor" and partner bids the expected 1S, you a forced to rebid 1NT with a singleton.  Almost as bad is opening 1D and rebidding 2C--partner will certainly expect 9+ cards in the minors.  The only "good" news is that all other partnerships holding your cards are faced with the same dilemma. Thus, your "guess"/choice is probably as good as theirs.

 

Summary/Suggestion:  When holding 3(or4) cards in both minors, open the suit you prefer to have led.

 

Prediction:  Over time, your defense figures to improve when the opponents buy the contract.   

 

Note:  Partner should not be raising your minor (voluntarily) without 5 (or at the worst 4 "good" ones).

          (If you wind up in a 4-3 instead of a 5-4, I'll take the blame!  BDJ)

 

 

 

Vermont on the Tournament Trail

 

Once again, and, as usual, VBA members have performed well at recent regional and national tournaments. We note the following performances of 20 points + (or within hailing distance)

 

 

Saratoga Regional

 

Mary Savko                             40.13               Courtney Nelson                      21.20

Ellie Hanlon                              40.13               Layton Davis                            20.46

Jonna Robinson                        36.93               Paul Cohen                               19.97

Don Sondergeld                       22.81               Andy Avery                              19.97

Sandra Hammer                       21.20               Penny Lane                              18.80

                                                                        Mary Tierney                            18.80

 

 

Sturbridge Regional

 

Hank Youngerman                    41.52

 

 

Fredericton Regional

 

James Gordon                          67.44               Ellie Hanlon                              23.82

Mary Savko                             23.82

 

 

Montreal Regional

 

James Gordon                          119.80             Don Sondergeld                       26.13

Ellie Hanlon                                39.05             Jean-Guy Beliveau                    18.49

Mary Savko                               39.05

 

Springfield Regional

 

Jonna Robinson                        29.34               Hank Youngerman                    23.14

Phil Sharpsteen                         24.34               Mary Savko                             21.31

Frank Hacker                           24.34               Ellie Hanlon                              21.31

Jean Brown                              24.00               Penny Lane                              20.61

Abe Brown                              24.00               Mary Tierney                            20.61

 

Atlanta Nationals

 

Don Sondergeld                       25.50               Andy Avery                              23.61

 

All of this information comes from the ACBL web site. Humble apologies to those I may have inadvertently omitted.

 

 

Crazy Eights

by Frank Hacker

 

Some sessions of bridge don’t go very well. The opponents are lucky or your partner is even worse than usual. Hard as it may be to believe, you play somewhat less than perfectly. At times like this, one has to derive small pleasure from the joy of bridge artistry. Consider the following hand from the second session of the Marilyn Hacker Memorial Pairs.

 

                                                            S          Q84

                                                            H         874

                                                            D         A853

                                                            C         K83

                        S          10932                                                              S          KJ65

                        H         Q962                                                               H         103

                        D         1074                                                                D         QJ2

                        C         94                                                                    C         Q762

                                                            S          A7

                                                            H         AKJ5

                                                            D         K96

                                                            C         AJ105

 

I ask you to note the most important feature of this deal. The North hand has all four 8s.

I was South and became declarer in 3NT on the partnership auction 2NT – 3NT. The opening lead was a somewhat strange 10 of diamonds.

 

I won the ace in dummy and played a low club to the jack. Now I got the inspiration to try for a trick with my queen of spades. I led a low spade to dummy’s queen and East’s king. East was also inspired. He returned the queen of diamonds. I won the king in hand and continued with the 9 of diamonds to East’s jack. East now returned a spade. I won with the ace and, concluding that West probably had 4 hearts, I cashed the ace and king of hearts and led my low club to dummy’s king. All of this led to the following end position

 

 

                                                            S          8

                                                            H         8

                                                            D         8

                                                            C         8

                        S          109                                                                  S          J6

                        H         Q9                                                                   H        

                        D                                                                                 D        

                        C                                                                                 C         Q7

                                                            S         

                                                            H         J5

                                                            D        

                                                            C         AJ

 

Dummy was a joy to behold. How often does one achieve 4 of a kind? I cashed the 8 of diamonds, throwing a heart and took the club finesse. When I cashed the club ace, West, who was also having a bad day, threw the queen of hearts -- making 5.

 

Also in the curiosity department is the following hand from one of the team games at the recent Springfield regional.

 

                                                            S          Axx

                                                            H         xx

                                                            D         KJxxxx

                                                            C         Ax

                        S          xxx                                                                   S          Jxx

                        H         J10x                                                                 H         AKxxx

                        D         xx                                                                     D         Qx

                        C         KJ9xx                                                              C         xxx

                                                            S          KQxx

                                                            H         Qxx

                                                            D         Axx

                                                            C         Q10x

 

The auction proceeded

 

                                    North               East                  South               West

                                      1D                 1H                    D                     RD

                                      2D                   P                      2S                    P       

                                      3H                   P                      3NT               All pass

 

The redouble was alerted as a reverse Rosenkranz redouble, showing a 2 heart bid with none of the top 3 honors. This made my queen of hearts look good and I felt fairly comfortable bidding 3NT. West led the jack of hearts which East ducked to preserve communications. I now took 6 diamond tricks, 4 spade tricks, 1 club trick, 1 heart trick and a partridge in a pear tree  - making 6 for + 690.

 

Little did I imagine the carnage that took place at my teammates’ table. I don’t know the auction, but North became declarer in 3NT. East led a low heart and declarer decided not to put up dummy’s queen. The defense now took 5 heart tricks before East shifted to a low club. West covered dummy’s 10 with the jack and declarer won the ace. Declarer, for some reason barely fathomable, led a diamond to the ace and took the diamond finesse on the way back. East won the queen and continued clubs. The defense took in total 5 heart tricks, 4 club tricks, 1 diamond trick and, of course, the partridge in the pear tree. Our teammates were + 600 for a gain of 1,290 on what looked like a fairly innocuous hand.

 

No one I spoke to was able to beat the record of taking 9 tricks more than the other table in the same contract (assuming one ignores minor difference of playing from the opposite side of the table).

 

 

Moving Up

 

Vermont has three new life masters. Congratulations to Theresa Ingram, Nancy Lolli and Ken Pearson. Congratulations also to

 

New Junior Masters

 

Thomas Bentien                        Karen Kristiansen                     Sally Newton

Linda Brenner                           Dorothy LaBrie                         Selina Peyser

Fred Burbank                            Harold Leitenberg                     Gay Squire

Ellie Dyett                                 Heidi Luxner                             Elliott Turley

June Felis                                  John Newton                             Peter Van Vlaanderen

 

New Club Masters

 

            Kathleen Colman                       Barbara Marks                          Robert Weiss

 

New Sectional Masters

 

            John Conova                             Gloria Singer

 

New Regional Masters

 

Luisa Chernyshov                      Frances Wager                         Judith Ward

 

New Silver Life Master

 

                                                            Bryant Jones

 

 

Vermont Bridge Association Top 50

As of September 2005

 

It wasn’t that long ago that 500 master points was enough to make the top 50. Next year the benchmark will probably be 1,000.

 

1.         Ellie Hanlon                     9,189               26.      Rudolph Polli                  1,772

2.         Leonard Karp                 6,966               27.      Robert Smith                   1,735

3.         Anne Hoffman                 6,358               28.      Nicholas Ecker Racz       1,598

4.         Mary Savko                    6,175               29.      Lynn Carew                    1,587

5.         James Gordon                 4,386               30.      Jonna Robinson               1,544

6.         Frank Hacker                  3,944               31.      Barbara Fitzgerald           1,333

7.         Hank Youngerman           2,828               32.      Peter Bouyea                   1,300

8.         Philip Sharpsteen             2,800               33.      Gerow Carlson                1,260

9.         Michael Farrell                2,726               34.      Andy Avery                     1,235

10.       Gerald DiVincenzo          2,643               35.      Patricia Nestork              1,233

11.       Fred Donald                    2,623               36.      Stephen Bean                  1,214

12.       Michael Engel                  2,461               37.      Steve Dunham                 1,197

13.       Kathleen Farrell               2,383               38.      Linda Bouyea                  1,185

14.       Clifford Gordon               2,351               39.      Chris Acker                     1,165

15.       June Dorion                     2,322               40.      Stanley Rosenthal            1,147

16.       Wayne Hersey                 2,133               41.      Paul Reardon                   1,142

17.       Courtney Nelson             2,044               42.      Michael Arnowitt             1,119

18.       David Shaw                     1,982               43.      Jean Brown                     1,086

19.       Donald Sondergeld          1,977               44.      Abraham Brown              1,080

20.       Patricia DiVincenzo         1,961               45.      Bryant Jones                    1,039

21.       Sandra Hammer              1,906               46.      Jean Tout                        1,020

22.       Edsel Hughes                   1,905               47.      William Sibley                     989

23.       Jackie Kimel                    1,876               48.      Ada Meers                         966

24.       Pierce Smith                    1,806               49.      Louise Acker                      940

25.       Judith Donald                  1,774               50.      David Perrin                       935

 

Tiernan Trophy Race

 

Every year the Vermont Bridge Association presents the Tiernan trophy to the Vermont player who wins the most master points in Vermont’s four sectional tournaments. We have one tournament to go. The leaders after three tournaments are

 

1/2       Phil Sharpsteen 32.75               5/6       Chris Acker                  23.00

1/2       Frank Hacker               32.75               7         Michael Arnowitt          21.18

3/4       Mary Savko                 25.46               8         Jackie Kimel                 17.89

3/4       Ellie Hanlon                  25.46               9         Gerald DiVincenzo       17.59

5/6       Louise Acker                23.00               10        Wayne Hersey              16.35

 

My apologies for any mistakes. If I have erroneously left you out or miscalculated your total, please let me know.

Vermont Bridge Association 2nd 50

as of September 2005

 

We continue the list of Vermont’s top players.

 

51.       Mary Tierney                     924                79.      Cathy Mleko                     646

52.       Marcia Wilkins                  908                80.      Jesse Stalker                     636

53.       Ruth Stokes                       902                80.      David Miller                      636

54.       Mary Azarian                    899                82.      Irene Vignoe                      618

55.       William Schiring                 884                83.      Edward Brass                    593

56.       Gene Kazlow                    811                83.      Carol Hess                        593

56.       Jay Friedenson                  811                85.      Jean-Guy Beliveau             561

58.       Richard Hess                     807                86       Patricia Earle                     557

59.       Penny Lane                       789                87.      Theresa Ingram                  528

60.       Rigmor Shawcross             766                88.      Raymond Johnson             512

61.       Douglas Clark                   745                89.      Joyce Stone                       482

62.       Barbara Philpet                  732                89.      Henry Peltz                        482

63.       Sylvia Smith                       725                91.      Sarah Bastick                    461

64.       Paul Cohen                        721                92.      Robert Chiabrandy            459

65.       Eileen Fleiter                      720                92.      Alan Wertheimer               459

66.       James Thomas                   714                94.      Pearl McGrath                   452

67.       C Edward Midgley            705                95.      Joan Casey                        443

68.       Laura Midgley                   703                96.      Lois Mailloux                     433

69.       Jon Stokes                        696                97.      John Vogeler                     427

70.       Robert Silverman               692                98.      D. Peters                           425

71.       Stuart Osborn                    691                99.      Kotze Toshev                    407

72.       Mary Granger                    689                100.    Hazel Stannard                  393

73.       Gary Feingold                    685                100.    Thomas Smith                    393

74.       Jim Daigle                          679                102.    Nancy Lolli                        388

74.       Elizabeth Clewley              679                102.    George Malek                   388

76.       Edward Schirmer               678                102.    Marsha Anstey                  388

76.       Robert Edwards                678                105.    Jack Casey                        386

78.       Mitchell Kontoff                658                105.    Richard Gazley                  386

 

 

Thanks

 

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Elinor Horne and David Jenkins for providing the entertaining acrostic on the next page. Elinor and David are regulars at the Norwich Bridge Club.

 

Most of the clues in their acrostic are bridge related. If you have never done an acrostic before, you need to know that the crossword part is a quote and the first letters of clues A through Y give the author and source. If you have difficulty, you can find the quote elsewhere in this issue. From the quote you can work backward to determine all the clues.

 

Vermont Summer Sectional Results

July 7 -10, 2005

 

 

Friday Afternoon Open Pairs

 

MPs       A     B     C     

5.50        1                    Lloyd Arvedon - Kelsey Nickerson                 70.60%

4.13        2     1             Irene Vignoe - Patricia Williams                       62.50%

3.09        3                    Sandra Nelson - William Nelson                      62.24%

2.51        4     2             Jonna Robinson - Peter Bouyea                       62.04%

1.74        5                    Frank Hacker - Philip Sharpsteen                    61.34%

1.31        6                    Wayne Hersey - June Dorion                           60.19%

1.88               3             John Riopelle - John O'Brien                            59.49%

2.06               4      1     Ronald Silverman - June Silverman                   55.79%

1.55               5      2     Bertrand Nadeau - Carlos Galvan                    55.47%

1.16               6      3     Jennifer Stern - Robert Stern                            53.38%

0.87                       4     Patricia Pember - Betty Faulkner                     49.07%

0.65                       5     Eleanor Eisenman - Mildred Hill                       48.38%

 

 

Fri Eve Open Pairs

 

MPs       A     B     C

5.50        1                    Lynn Carew - Patricia Nestork                                    69.84%

4.13        2                    Jackie Kimel - David Shaw                                          62.96%

3.09        3                    Shome Mukherjee - William Hunter                             59.68%

2.32        4                    Joan Alepin - Benjamin Dray                                       59.49%

1.74        5                    Peter Bouyea - Jonna Robinson                                   59.28%

1.31        6                    Michael Farrell - Gerald Di Vincenzo                           59.26%

2.81               1      1     Bonnie Clouser - Paul Clouser                                     57.18%

2.11               2      2     Elizabeth VonRiesenfelder - Priscilla Butler                   55.32%

1.58               3             Louise Acker - Chris Acker,                                        52.78%

1.19               4             Paul Reardon - Jacqueline Reardon                              50.93%

0.89               5             Jean Brown - Abraham Brown                                    49.07%

1.13               6      3     Bertrand Nadeau - Carlos Galvan                                48.61%

0.94                       4     Mae Beck - Claus Buchthal                                         45.96%

0.82                       5     Nancy Lolli - Barbara Philpet                                       45.79%

 

 

Fri Eve 0-299er Pairs

 

MPs        Rank

1.31           1                 Roger Cooley - Anne Cooley                                      67.00%

0.98           2                 Eleanor Eisenman - Mildred Hill                                   56.00%

 

Sat Aft Open Pairs

 

MPs       A     B     C

6.50       1                     Mary Savko – Ellie Hanlon                                          64.74%

4.88       2                     Joan Alepin - Benjamin Dray                                       64.42%

3.75       3      1             Myron Siegel - Judith Siegel                                         63.30%

2.74       4                     Shome Mukherjee - William Hunter                             62.50%

2.81       5      2             Morris Cramer - Ross Lounsbury                                62.34%

1.54       6                     Judy Dubay - William Dubay                                       61.86%

2.27               3      1     Bonnie Clouser - Pat Hoffmann                                    56.57%

1.58               4             Louise Acker - Chris Acker                                         54.49%

1.27             5/6           C Edward Midgley - Laura Midgley                              54.01%

1.04             5/6           Peter Lombardo - Grace Lombardo                             54.01%

1.70                       2    June Silverman - Ronald Silverman                                53.85%

1.28                       3    Patricia Pember - Betty Faulkner                                  50.48%

0.96                       4    Rose Gove - Edward Gove                                          50.32%

0.72                       5    Penny Weill - Jeffrey Weill                                            49.52%

0.61                       6    Bertrand Nadeau - Carlos Galvan                                 47.60%

 

 

Sat Aft 0-299 Pairs

 

MPs        Rank

1.31           1                 Patricia Pember – Betty Faulkner                                 50.48%

0.98           2                 Penny Weill - Jeffrey Weill, White Plains                      49.52%

 

 

Sat Eve Flight A Pairs

 

MPs        Rank

6.00           1                 Mary Savko - Ellie Hanlon                                           60.19%

3.94          2/3               Stewart Mackeigan - Pierce Smith                               57.31%

3.94          2/3               Robert Donald - Diane Burger                                     57.31%

2.53           4                 William Hunter - Shome Mukherjee                             56.92%

1.90           5                 Sandra Nelson - William Nelson                                  54.62%

1.42           6                 Betty Bloom - Steve Bloom                                         54.23%

 

 

Sat Flight B/C/D Pairs

 

MPs       B     C     D

3.35       1                     Paul Reardon - Linda Bouyea,                                     63.94%

2.51       2                     Chris Acker - Louise Acker                                         60.42%

1.95       3      1      1     Sheila Barton - Renee Sahyoun                                    59.62%

1.46       4      2      2     Kathleen Berger - Richard Berger                                57.85%

1.10       5      3      3     Vivienne Adair - Mark Adair                                       55.61%

0.80       6                     Peter Lombardo - Grace Lombardo                            55.13%

0.82               4             Donald Wallace - Polly Schoning                                 53.85%

0.62               5      4     Bertrand Nadeau - Carlos Galvan                                52.72%

 

 

Sunday Swiss Teams

 

MPs       A     B     C

7.25        1                    Babette Rogers - Michael Rogers

                                     Betty Bloom - Steve Bloom

                                     Lloyd Arvedon - Kelsey Nickerson                             119.00

5.44        2                   Andy Avery - Paul Cohen

                                    Ellie Hanlon - Mary Savko                                            105.00

4.08        3                   John Cook - Joan Cook

                                    Maurice Emond - Anna Carlson                                      99.00

3.06        4                   William Dubay - Judy Dubay

                                    Andrew Dubay - Harry Kaufmann                                  97.00

2.29        5                   David Shaw - Jackie Kimel

                                    Laura Midgley - C Edward Midgley                                96.00

1.72        6                   Jonna Robinson - Peter Bouyea

                                    Linda Bouyea - Paul Reardon                                         92.00

3.41               1     1     Karen Kristiansen - Sheila Long

                                    Rosemarie Belisle - Jeannie Clermont                             76.00

2.56               2            Bonnie Clouser - Paul Clouser

                                    Martha Gazley - Richard Gazley                                     74.00

1.92              3             Nancy Lolli - Barbara Philpet

                                    Raymond Johnson - George Stannard III                        73.00

 

 

Scott Aborn Trophy Race

 

Starting with 2005, the Vermont Bridge Association will present the Scott Aborn trophy to the Vermont player who is not a life master at the beginning of the year and who wins the most master points in Vermont’s four sectional tournaments. We have one tournament to go. The leaders after three tournaments are

 

1          Bonnie Clouser             14.96               6/7       June Silverman    6.10

2          Layton Davis                10.40               6/7       Ron Silverman    6.10

3          Alan Wertheimer            8.60               8/9       Carlos Galvan                 5.72

4          Rhoda Chickering           8.21               8/9       Bertrand Nadeau            5.72

5          Paul Clouser                   6.15               10        Sandy Desilets                5.71

 

My apologies for any mistakes. If I have erroneously left you out or miscalculated your total, please let me know.

 

 

Reiter Teams

 

The annual Reiter Memorial Teams took place on September 10 at the Burlington Bridge Academy. Congratulations to the winning team: Mike and Kathy Farrell; Gerry and Patti DiVincenzo.

 

 

Norwich Unit Game

 

The first annual Norwich bridge club unit game took place on August 21 at the Black Angus in Quechee, Vermont. There were two single session games separated by dinner.

Here are the overall winners

Morning Session

 

MPs       A     B     C

2.69       1                     Judy Siegel – Myron Siegel                              65.77%

2.02       2                     June Dorion – Wayne Hersey                          60.20%

1.51       3                     Jean Seward – Jesse Stalker                            60.12%

1.60       4      1             Mary Louise Thorndike – Ri Shawcross           56.46%

  .85       5                     Dave Shaw – Penny Lane                                55.36%

1.20               2             Agnes Kurtz – Tom Kurtz                                53.74%

  .90               3             Polly Schoning – Sally Holt                              50.34%

  .68               4             Nancy Lolli – Barbara Philpet                          48.98%

1.05                       1     Connie Fitzcharles – Peggy Connolly                48.51%

  .79                       2     Carol Miller – Paul Miller                                 47.92%

 

Afternoon Session

 

MPs       A     B     C

2.69       1                     Dave Shaw – Penny Lane                                69.31%

2.02       2      1       1    Ann Bottelli – Dick Bottelli                               61.31%

1.51       3                     June Dorion – Wayne Hersey                          59.26%

1.13       4                     Jean Seward – Jesse Stalker                            57.14%

1.05      5/6   2/3   2/3   Connie Fitzcharles – Peggy Connolly                54.47%

1.05      5/6   2/3   2/3   Carol Miller – Paul Miller                                 54.47%

  .70               4             Maria Glassberg – Claire Gardner                    54.23%

 

 

Marilyn Hacker Memorial Pairs

 

The sixth annual Marilyn Hacker Memorial Pairs took place on August 6 at the Burlington Bridge Academy. The event consisted of two sessions of bridge with a lasagna dinner in between. The winners were Mary Savko and Ellie Hanlon. They are the first repeat winners, as they also won in 2003. The complete standings were

 

MPs       A     B     C

3.83       1                     Mary Savko – Ellie Hanlon                                          229.00

2.87       2                     Gerald DiVincenzo – Philip Sharpsteen                        206.00

2.69       3       1            Abe Brown – Jean Brown                                           202.50

1.62       4                     Patricia DiVincenzo – Kathy Farrell                             193.50

1.21       5                     Judith Donald – Fred Donald                                       185.50

2.02               2             Mary Azarian - Gerow Carlson                                    180.00

1.51               3             Stephen Bean – Jay Friedenson                                   178.00

1.13               4             Barbara Nadler – Frances Wager                                170.00

 

 

Extra Chance

 

Here is an old chestnut. You arrive at a contract of 7NT on the following layout. The opening lead is the jack of spades. How do you play the hand?

 

                                                S   AQ

                                                H   KQJ

                                                D   2

                                                C   J987642

 

                                                S   K

                                                H   A

                                                D   AKQ76543

                                                C   AKQ

 

Clearly you have a zillion tricks, if diamonds split 3-1 or better, but what if they don’t? The spade lead gives you entry problems. You should not neglect the small additional chance of a singleton 10 of clubs. You should win the ace of spades and follow with the queen of spades on which you discard the ace of hearts. You can then take the KQJ of hearts, discarding your AKQ of clubs. What fun it is to discard all of these honors! Finally play the jack of clubs. If the club 10 drops, you can make the contract on the strength of your club tricks, even if diamonds break 4-0. There is no excuse for being careless.

 

 

Acrostic Answer

 

Everybody criticizes his partner. It’s natural, but it’s not so smart. Take any other sport. Can you imagine a tennis player turning to his partner who misses a shot and bawling him out? It’s absurd of course. Then why is it acceptable practice in duplicate bridge.

 

 

 

 

Mike Farrell of the Burlington Bridge Academy has taught seminars on the rule of 20. Here is an article adapted from some of his seminar material

 

 

The Rule of 20

 Valuation for Opening the Bidding

by Mike Farrell

 

Since the 1940’s, when Charles Goren published and popularized the 4-3-2-1 Point Count Method, bridge players in North America have come to utilize 4-3-2-1 as their method of hand evaluation.  This method of evaluation is simple; just add the points in the hand.  There are no fractions, no losing trick count, nothing to do but basic addition.  Basic is simple and simple is good.  This manner of evaluation was so simple that millions of people learned the game of bridge in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.  Most of us here either learned the game in that time frame or from someone who had learned to play in those decades.  Simple is good, but beyond good are degrees of better, and eventually a best.  As of today, I consider the work proposed by Marty Bergen, “The Rule of 20” a far better method available for advancing players to evaluate their hands.

 

The Rule of 20 is a simple method for evaluating a hand for opening values.  Simply stated the rule says: In 1st or 2nd Seat (the rule is not applicable in 3rd and 4th seats), one counts the High Card Points (HCP) and then adds in the length of the two longest suits in the hand.  If the total of HCP plus cards in the 2 longest suits equals 20 or more, open the hand.

 

EX:  S:  AJxxx   H:  KQxxx  D:  xx   C:  x

 

HCP: A = 4 + K = 3 + Q = 2 + J = 1          =  10

2 Longest Suits:  Spades 5 + Hearts 5        =  10

We should open the hand 1 Spade                  20

 

Change the Heart & Club holdings to H:  KQxx and C:  xx and we would pass (the 2 long suits now have but 9 cards.)

 

But make the hand pattern:     S:  AJxxxx  H:  KQxx  D:  xx  C:  x

And we are back to 20 and may open.

 

WHY USE THE RULE OF 20?

 

Point count bidding alone does not accurately evaluate a hand with distributional values.  We can always add a point for each extra card above 4 in a suit.  Often that method alone allows us to open some marginal hands that we might not under a strict adherence to Point Count Method, and it is good strategy to open distributional hands.  It is important to open the bidding whenever the hand strength or distribution dictates, because in today’s duplicate climate the bidding style is becoming more and more aggressive….not necessarily in the level of the bid but in the lightning quick and early strikes your opponents make. 

 

It is much safer to OPEN the bidding with a lighter, distributional hand, than to pass and overcall later.  First, it is far more difficult to double an opening bid for penalties than to double an overcall.  Second, if you wait to overcall, especially with a two-suited hand, you may not get the chance to show both suits.  Being able to bid both suits is important if partner has a fit only for your second suit.  The Rule of 20 helps you decide which marginal hands are suitable for opening.

 

EX:  S:  6  H:  AJ983  D:  K73  C:  QJT6

 

If you don’t open this hand One Heart in 1st or 2nd seat, you can expect the auction to go something like 1 Spade – 2 Spades, back to you.  If you open One Heart and left hand opponent overcalls One Spade, your partner with some values may be able to raise hearts, or make a negative double or pass.  In any event you are far better placed when right hand opponent raises spades to the two-level. Even if you pass, you have managed to put in a lead-directing bid.

 

The next hand exchanges the Spade and Heart suits from the hand above:

 

EX:  S:  AJ983  H:  6  D:  K73  C:  QJT6

 

Can you see the advantages of opening this hand One Spade?     

 

1: You have preempted the entire one-level.  Any suit bid by LHO (Left Hand Opponent) must be at the two-level.  This alone may keep some opponents from even entering the auction.

 

2: Even when LHO bids 2 Hearts, if partner can raise your spades, it may preclude LHO’s partner from raising hearts (at the 3 level??) 

 

By taking “Light Initial Action” (opening marginal but worthy hands) you will get to play more hands, and everybody wants to play more hands!

 

Marty Bergen’s writings in the ACBL Bulletin and elsewhere have popularized The Rule of 20 (the British use the Rule of 19, but then they are so much more aggressive than we Americans.)  Marty saw that without getting into fractions, a person using the Rule of 20 can better evaluate a distributional hand in terms of opening the bidding. You are now in possession of a very good method of hand evaluation.  No fuss, no muss, just snap the cap and quaff the magic elixir!

 

LET’S USE, NOT LOSE, OUR HEADS!!!

 

There is obviously more to evaluating a hand than simply adding up a couple of numbers.  Arguably most, if not all, Rule of 20 hands are marginal openers. Advanced players like to combine parts of other “principles” as check backs on marginal hands.

 

These “principles” are:

 

(A)    In and Out Valuation:  Honor cards in your long suits are more valuable than honor cards in short suits.  Since we are discussing when to open the bidding, we will at this time consider only our long suit(s). (After partner bids, we can reevaluate our honor values based on which suit partner bids.)

 

(B) Honor Texture: honors supporting other honors in a suit are    

           more powerful than if they are scattered.

 

      (C) Intermediate Texture: 10’s, 9’s 8’s and 7’s are much more   

          powerful than lesser spot cards. 

 

Adjustments (+ and -).   The 4-3-2-1 honor count has a real flaw.  It clearly undervalues Aces and forgets Tens (which it awards no value), while overvaluing Queens and Jacks (Queens and Jacks are called ‘soft cards’).  Kings are just about perfectly valued.  Think about it, would you rather have an Ace or 2 Queens or 4 Jacks, which are all worth 4 points?  See what I mean?  In fact, an Ace is worth about 4.25 points, while a Queen is about 1.75, a Jack about .75 and the overlooked Ten should be awarded .5.  Well this certainly makes for a more accurate evaluation but there is the old bugaboo, fractions.  Marty proposes is to make adjustments (pluses and minuses) to correct for the high cards.

 

  For each Ace that does not have an offsetting Queen (a Queen anywhere in the hand)   +

  For every Ten in a long suit  +

  For good intermediates in a long suit  +

  For every Queen that does not have an offsetting Ace (An Ace anywhere in the hand.)  -

  For every soft card (Queen or Jack) in a short suit   -

 

After counting the HCP and adding in the 2 long suits, count and add the pluses and minuses.  For every 2 extra pluses  add one point to the Rule of 20 count. For every 2 extra minuses,  subtract a point from the Rule of 20 Count. 

 

Consider the following two hands, each with 10 points in high cards.

 

1.         S:  AQT98  H:  AT98  D:  void  C:  T987    

2.         S:  Q  H:  QJ  D:  Q5432  C:  QJ432

 

Hand 1 counts up to 22 – 10HCP + 9 for the length of the 2 longest suits  +  3 for 6 pluses

 

             2 Aces versus 1 Queen  = 1+  

             2 Tens in your two long suits  = 2+

             3 suits with good intermediates = 3+

 

Hand 2 counts up to 17 – 10HCP + 10 for the length of the 2 longest suits  -3 for 7 minuses         

 

              4 Queens without offsetting Aces = 4-

              3 soft honors (Q of S and the QJ of H) in short suits  = 3-

 

Following the rule, one would open the first hand, but not even think about opening the second.

 

It is apparent that there are 20-point hands, 20-Point Hands and 20-POINT HANDS.  Now that you have the tools to help quantify that which before you might have only felt viscerally, you are in possession of a Better Method of hand evaluation.

 

 

COMING EVENTS

 

October 26-28 --- Vermont Fall Sectional (see flyer)

 

November 9-13 --- District 25 regional --- Sheraton Hotel, South Portland, ME

 

November 17-27 --- ACBL fall national tournament --- Adams Mark Hotel, Denver, CO

 

December 3 --- Unit Game – Perrin Pairs - Burlington Bridge Academy

 

 

Thank You

 

Table Talk would like to thank its many patrons. If you would like to be a patron, please send a check for $10 made out to Unit 175 to       Ronald Plante

                                                                                    36 South Street

                                                                                    Burlington, VT 05401-4152

 

List of Patrons

 

Chris and Louise Acker                                    Anne Hoffman

Andy Avery                                                      Pat Hoffmann

Linda Baker                                                     Sally Holt

Liz Bean                                                           Norma Jackominich

Steve Bean                                                       Dave Jarmy

Bill Becker                                                       Bryant Jones

Abe and Jean Brown                                        Jackie Kimel

Jean-Guy and Connie Beliveau                          Carol Maeder

Don Campbell                                                  Courtney Nelson

Rhoda Chickering                                             Ron Plante

Vladimir Chernyshov                                        Larry Rawls

Bonnie Clouser                                                 Jonna Robinson

Paul Clouser                                                     Babette and Michael Rogers

Paul Cohen                                                       Mary Savko

Katherine Coppock                                          Jean Seward

Layton Davis                                                    Phil Sharpsteen

Rich DeMartino                                                Dave Shaw

Sandy Desilets                                                  Ernie Shawcross

June Dorion                                                      June and Ron Silverman

Kathy Farrell                                                    Gloria Singer

Michael Farrell                                                 Allan Snow

Barbara Fitz-Gerald                                          Lucy and Gary Spongberg

Michael and Nancy Furlong                              Jessie Stalker

Jay Friedenson                                                 Kate Stewart

Ernest Gibson                                                   Jim Thomas

Roy Green                                                        Mary Tierney

Eunice Grover                                                  Barbara Unger

Frank Hacker                                                   Richard Unger

Ellie Hanlon                                                      Judi Ward

Wayne Hersey                                                  Alan Wertheimer

 

 

Vermont Fall Sectional

Sanction S0510049

October 28, 29, 30, 2005

Cortina Inn and Resort, Killington, VT

 

Schedule of Events

 

Friday Oct. 28

 

2 PM                Open Pairs, Stratified                             Newcomers Pairs, Stratified

 

8 PM                Open Pairs, Stratified                             Newcomers Pairs, Stratified

                                                KO Teams – 1st session

 

Saturday Oct. 29

 

1 PM                Open Pairs, Stratified                             Newcomers Pairs, Stratified

                                                KO Teams – 2nd session

 

7 PM                Open Pairs, Stratiflighted------Flight A is separate event

                                                                 ------Flight B,C,D is separate stratified event

KO Teams – final session

 

Sunday Oct. 30

 

10:30 AM         1st session of stratified open Swiss Teams

                        0 to 300 Swiss Teams

 

3:30 PM            2nd session of stratified open Swiss Teams

 

Open Stratifications:                  A: 1,500+             B: 500-1,500      C: < 500

Newcomer Stratifications:          A: <100               B: <50              C: <20

Saturday Evening:                      B: 500-1,500        C: 200-500       D: 0-200

            Strats may be adjusted by director based on attendance

 

Price per session:  $8 ($11 Canadian), $1 additional for Non-ACBL members

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

Director: Dave Marshall

 

Partnerships and Information: Jackie Kimel (802) 864-4321

 

Accommodations at Cortina Inn:                                                 1 person            2 persons

                                                            Superior Room                 $149                $189

                                                            Queen Deluxe                  $159                $199

                                                            King Deluxe                     $169                $209

 

Package includes 2 night stay with 2 breakfast buffets and a $10 food voucher per person towards dinner in Zola’s Grille. Vermont room and meals tax (9%) not included in above rates. For reservations call (800)451-6108 or (802)773-3331 Email: innsales@sover.net