Wow its summer already???  Just seems time is running by me faster and faster.  I have been spending a lot of time working on the Longest Day website because we have a huge line-up this year thanks to Dolores Aquino's efforts!   I am very excited that one of the Bridge Bulletin's long-time contributors has agreed to be included.   We also have almost all of the Unit 174 Board Members signed up to participate including our own Fred Gregory.  There will be opportunity for everyone to find an expert player, have group lessons or play with someone from the Houston area you have always wanted to ask; and make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association.  This is a great campaign from ACBL that benefits us all because we have all been affected by this terrible disease.  My Mom, Grandma and one of my mom's sisters died from it and now my first cousin Sam has it.   This money goes towards research and there have been some promising treatments happening just in the last few years.  So please look at the website this next weekend when it is put up there.  Other news is that the club is applying to become a 401(c)(3) Corporation.  We already are with the State of Texas, just not with the IRS.  Once this is in place, any donation to the club will be tax deductible!  One strategy is to send part of a Required Minimum Distribution directly to the club instead of paying taxes. We will be having a meeting in June to discuss the changes to the By-laws that were required. All paid members will vote on these changes.  They are minor but it is required.  You can pay your $25 membership fee if you haven't joined for 2025 and be able to vote.  Lots going on so keep tuned! .... Until next month.... Janice Rush

Ever started playing a board and discover you are playing the wrong direction?  Oh NO, what do you do?   First, you call the Director!  Law 5, boy that's early in the law, says that once you have decided which compass direction you are playing (NSEW), you must maintain that position until the session is over in a pairs game.  So technically your table has violated a law.  Good news, the director has the right to tell you to play the board as turned but be careful to score it according to the compass marks on the board, not the positions you are sitting in.  Otherwise the comparison for other players will be confusing, 4HN when it should be 4HS for example.

Any rules or ruling you would like explained but were afraid to ask?   Send an email to our editor and we will do our best in this column.

Spotlight on Kas Rangan!

Kas Rangan, who directs for BCOH and is growing the Saturday to the biggest game of the week, is a welcome new asset to our bridge club. He is a world traveler, was born in India, and came to the US for his higher education at Oklahoma State University. He stayed on for a long career in Chemical Engineering, circling the globe in that profession. We all know what a great bridge player he is and I thought you'd like to know how he came to be one.

Kas started playing at OSU during a summer break when his nerd friend wrote on a piece of paper that Ace is 4 points, picture cards are a bit less, and you need 13 to open 1--which is actually 7 tricks. Having played card games with trumps during summer nights at his family farm under the solitary electric light in the house, he became an instant Bridge Bum. After that summer and a hundred bridge books, he discovered duplicate and began playing regularly in the 80s in Tulsa, where he held his first job. He became a life master in 2 years when masterpoints were very hard to come by. He soon became a director and ran all the games at the local studio for the next 15 years. His passion during that phase was to nurture players and grow the game. He is proud that so many players he mentored then are still playing Bridge.

After the births of his two daughters, Kas took a job transfer to the UK in the 90s and then spent 17 years in California. After his kids graduated college, Kas returned to Tulsa and Bridge following a 20-year "cold turkey" absence. After COVID, Kas moved to Spring for work in Texas and retired last year. Kas is now immersed in his first love. He sadly regrets that his Bridge hiatus also denied his kids the chance to learn the game.

He abhors online bridge and fiercely supports face-to-face bridge. He strongly believes that Bridge will completely die if face-to-face clubs disappear. His passion is to make BCOH financially strong and viable well into the future. Kas believes that every player has the potential to be great and that experienced players should always make newer players feel welcome and share their wisdom with the utmost respect.

And I’d like to add a note: Kas is so successfully building up the Saturday game, it was only natural that some of us might ask him to help us find a partner for the BRAND NEW Sunday afternoon team game! The first one was May 4, and the next one will be a different date because the "Nearly Summer Sectional" is the first weekend in June. But grab a partner and a couple of teammates and come on out!!! Team Bridge is the very best way to get MPs, and this is the best way to improve your team strategy.  Editor's Note:  June 1 is this Sunday and there will be a team game so come on out!  You can sign up at the club or by texting Janice at 832-643-1704!

OPENING 1N WITH A GREAT 5 CARD MAJOR  

By Jeff Kroll

S 1NT (15 hcp, 3 hearts so I'm OK being transferred to hearts.  If I open 1S, I'm don't have a good bid on my second bid.  If I bid 2 spades on my second bid, it shows a weaker hand and suggests 6 spades.  1NT on my second bid would also show a weaker hand.)

N 2C (Stayman)

S 2S

N 3S (9 points and 3+ spades)

S 4S (It'll be tight, but there's a nice bonus for bidding game)

West leads the King of diamonds and then switches to a spade.  Because I opened I notrump, West plays me for the Queen of diamonds and doesn't want to set the Queen up by cashing the ace.  It's good to mislead the opponents.  Not so good to mislead partner.

I win the Ace of spades.  Pull the last 2 trumps.  Cash the 3 high hearts, The hearts split so the 13th heart is good.  I pitch my losing diamond on it.

I ruff the Jack of diamonds, stripping the hand,

I lead the 4 of clubs and put in the 9.  East wins the 10.

Now it's over.  East gets the ace of clubs and that's it.  If East plays the Ace of diamonds, I get a ruff and a sluff!

Making 4 for a good board.  It goes down if West grabs its 2 high diamonds and then passively waits for the defenses 2 club tricks.  Defense is hard.

Defensive Tip: Suit Preference       

by Thomas Rush

PlayBridgeWithThomas@gmail.com

Here's a tip that will make your defense both easier and more accurate.  It doesn't come up on every hand, but since you defend about half the time, any improvement on defense can be a huge win!

The tip is this: When leading a suit for partner to ruff, the card you lead to him should be suit preference, that is, suggesting which suit you want partner to lead back to you.  The suit you're leading and the trump suit are not in consideration, so that leaves two other suits.  Your high spot card calls for the higher suit, your low spot card calls for the lower suit (a middle card says "don't care" or "doesn't matter").  Note: Next month I expect I'll describe a couple of other times you might not have considered, but when suit preference signals can also be used.

Here's the auction from a recent BCoH hand (rotated so that dummy is North and you are East):

S          W         N         E

P          P          1S        P

1N       P          2H       P

3C       (all pass)

Partner leads the heart 7, and you see:

First, we think (as we should on every hand), "What's going on?"  The facts we see include:

1. North has opened light in 3rd seat; South is a passed hand responder, so each pair has about half the deck, and our partner is not broke, probably has 10 or 11 HCP.
2. South didn't take a preference to spades or pass 2H as we would expect most of the time when he has a doubleton spade (2S) or three hearts (pass)
3. Partner's heart 7 doesn't make a lot of sense; we would have expected a diamond on this auction.  South 'shouldn't' have three hearts, but we can see all but the A82 of hearts... huh?  P wouldn't lead the 7 from 87 or 872, and we don't expect an underlead of the Ace especially given this auction.  He could have the 72, and the unexpected would be for him to have a singleton.
4. Partner must have length in spades; I have a singleton and South surely would have raised spades with three, so P rates to have at least five, and maybe six spades
5. On this auction, we expect South to have a weak hand (of course, if partner has 11, dummy 10, and we have 9, South has 10 or maybe 11) and at least six clubs. 
6. But the hand's not making a lot of sense, to be honest.  So we'll wait and see how things shake out.

In any case, declarer calls for a low heart with little hesitation marking him with the Ace;  you play the Ten and South does play the Ace.

Trick 2 is a low diamond from South to the Jack and your Ace. 

Trick 3: Not sure of what's going on yet, you lead back a diamond, which your partner wins with the Queen.

Trick 4: Partner returns a spade, King, your Ace, and declarer's 3.

A break for thinking: Partner must have the spade Queen, or declarer would have been working on spades not diamonds (or, better for his side, would have taken a preference to 2S over North's 2H rebid!).  Partner's count signal on the diamond showed an even number, so diamonds look like 4432 or 6322.  But I'm still confused by the auction and what I've seen so far.  In any case, I'm on lead to trick 5.  What do I lead from

            --

            J653

            --

            T9653

A club is a possibility, but it's just possible partner has a trump and the opps haven't had the best auction.  So let's lead a heart.  Which one?

Remember the tip: I can tell partner which suit I want him to return (spades or diamonds) by which heart I lead for him to (I hope!) ruff.  The two suits in consideration for my signal are spades and diamonds.  The lowest heart is clearly asking for a diamond, and the high heart asking for a club.

On this hand, there's not a lot to choose from, but since I want to make sure we get our diamond tricks and/or make declarer ruff, I asked for a diamond return with the heart 3 -- I also don't want to have declarer overruff me in spades if we both started with singletons.

Trick 5: heart 3, 2, ruff.  Sure enough, partner trumps my heart return with the club 2, and

Trick 6: correctly cashes his diamond King (I pitch a heart), and then

Trick 7: with a count on the suit P leads another diamond (his last) for me to ruff. I know now that declarer is ?-3-4-?, where spades are one or two, and clubs are five or four (?!?).

Trick 8: I lead another heart and I'm amazed as partner produces the club Jack to ruff this third round of hearts.

Trick 9: Partner leads the spade 10, which I ruff... and declarer follows.  So what's going on?  Declarer's shape must have been 2-3-4-4, something like xx, Axx, T9xx, A??x... and partner looks to have one more trump.

Trick 10, I lead my last heart, declarer ruffs with the club Queen, and partner, bless his heart, overruffs with the King!

Trick 11, Partner returns a spade, I ruff low perforce, and declarer overruffs.

Trick 12, Declarer cashes the club Ace, I play my low club, but still have

Trick 13: my club Ten beats declarer's club 4 for our tenth trick, down 6.

Now, this is a hand where declarer was never going to do well in 3C (South's proper call is probably to pass 2H, playing in the known 4-3 and possibly 5-3 fit. Others might take a preference to 2S).  Given a jack or so more, South might have rebid 2NT over North's 2H rebid to suggest a NT contract and invite to 3NT.  The 3C call, though, should show at least six good clubs, and was not forward going.

The complete hand:            

This business of giving suit preference signals when giving partner a ruff is pretty standard.  Next month we'll look at a some other suit preference situations that are a bit more advanced, but are still things you should discuss and implement with your regular partners.  There's no cost (you're not giving anything up), but the payoff in accurate defense is potentially huge!

For Newer Players

Lessons, Lessons, Lesson & Practice, Practice, Practice

Beginning Bridge will start again on Saturday, June 28th. (online and in person) Click here for F2F Flyer

0-50 Bridge Game, every Sunday at 1:30 PM for $5
For more info:  BridgewithCarol@gmail.com, 936-650-8180

FREE Lessons with Susan Banks-Johnson every Tuesday at 9:30 AM

In Person at the club:

• Mentor Games:  2nd & 4th Tuesdays @ 10:30 AM
• 299er Games:   Every Saturday at Noon
• I/N Game less than 1000:   Fifth Tuesday of any month​​​

Check the BCOH website calendar for up-to-date information! 
Contact Kas Rangan at 539-210-1333 for info or a partner. 

Online at Choose Houston! (BBO)                                                                                         

• Mentor Games              1st & 3rd Mondays @ 7:00 PM
• Open Game                  Every Thursday @ 7:00 PM         
• 0-20 Game                   2nd Saturday @ 9:00 AM (usually)

BBO Virtual club games

When you play on BBO, we ask that you play in SE Carolina or Choose Houston games whenever possible.

Choose Houston has an open game every Thursday at 7 p.m. and a mentor/mentee game on the first and third Mondays at 7 p.m. To be a mentee, a player must have fewer than 300 masterpoints and must pay for their own entry as well as the entry of their mentor.  If you need a mentor or wish to mentor someone, please contact Mike Linkins via Email:  mlinkins@swbell.net.

The BCoH home page has a link to SE Carolina's website and a schedule for Choose Houston games.

And always check the BCOH Website for more!

 Regular Club Game Schedule                                                         

Special Events at BCOH in June                                                                                                              

June 2	$5 Member Game
June 9-11, 13-14	District STaC
June 3-4,16, 20, 23-24, 27	NAOP Qualifier
June 17	Team Game
June 19-21	BCOH 499er Sectional
June 21

                                                           Newsletter Deadline for July articles is June 15!