Reminder that Wednesday mornings in January will use RealBridge, not BBO 

The link for the January 20th session is below
https://play.realbridge.online/cf.html?p=210120126883&q=GoAwayRain
Clicking the link will take you to the login screen.
if clicking does not work, copy the link and paste it into your browser
To see the result on RealBridge you can click on the same link, and then Scores

Some tips to help you use RealBridge

1. Check in advance that your equipment is suitable and check audio and video with the RealBridge test.
2. Undos are not allowed.  We suggest using the two taps method when making a bid or play to minimise the chance of making a mistake (see the settings information).
3. Please announce a brief description of your system, including your 1NT range, at the start of every round,
4. We will be using Self-alerting, as on BBO. You must alert all bids which are not natural, or which your opponents might not understand, even if you mentioned them in your brief introduction.
                Bids which do not need to be alerted include
                the strength of your NT bids (if natural)
                Stayman responses or transfer bids after 1NT
                Bids higher than 3NT except on the first round
5. If there is a noisy connection with one of your opponents you can adjust their volume with the speaker symbol to the left of their name; this only affects what you hear.
6. You can have a private conversation with an opponent by selecting the speech box to the left of their name
7. You can turn off your audio with the microphone symbol to the left of your name (eg to take a phone call)
8. Every hour approximately it is a good idea to refresh your screen.  To the right of your name is a symbol with two arrows in a ring. Press this and your screen will be refreshed.  This can help to avoid connection problems

Tips for BBO Problems

No Sit-outs. At the start of the First Round you might get a message saying Sit-out.
Ignore it  -you will not be stting out. You were a half table, but will shortly be joined
either by the Stand-by Pair or by a pair of Robots.
So please do not go away or discuss your hands while waiting for opponents to join you.

Cancellation of Registration for Event
There have been occasions recently when players who have logged in for an event
and are waiting for the start have had a message with about 1 minute to go
saying Registration Cancelled, and the event has started without them.
It is not possible for the Director to cancel an entry
and it is suggested that one of the players must have inadvertently cancelled it.
If this happens, please try to log in again and inform the Director, as quickly as possible.

The January Competitions, with a free game prize for the four competitons are now half-way through
There are links for current scores in the LH Index

A player in the Gentle session on Tuesday 5th January reported the hand, with the bidding at his table.  He was sitting South and said:
"My Partner opened 1♠ . I responded 4♥   as I wanted to make sure we were in a game contract at minimum.. Would 3♥  have been  the correct bid?  That might have passed if partner was weak, which would be a tragedy.".

The leap to 4♥  had actually led to the best conract on the hand;  altthough 6♥ seems to be a good contract it should (in my opinion) always be beaten and, at the table most players in Hearts made less than 12 tricks,so he scoreda good result.  6♥  can always be beaten because East can be given a ruff;  West will probably not lead a spade, but he will get in with ♥ A and , having seem Dummy can see no hope of beating the contract unless East has a void in Spades

Before .considering the  auction as a whole there is an important point to make about South's bidding.  There should be no fear of partner passing over any change of suit.  If  he bids any new suit partner must bid again.  It is a basic principle of any natural bidding system that a change of suit by responder is forcing for one round unless responder had passed earlier, when it may be passed if the opener is very weak.  In addition, a jump bid in a new suit by responder shows a good suit and is forcing to game - so neither player nay pass until game is reached. In my opinion 3♥ would have been the correct bid  by South on the first round..

However, there is a warning about my last paragraph.  Some players are now using a jump bid by responder to show a long suit with a weak hand, rather than a strong bid.  Personally I thingk that this a is a poor idea, but you might need to check if partner is using this method.  (I hope that this is not what is being taught now!)

However, now to consider the  recommended bidding on the hand a s a whole.  An expert colleague suggests the following:

North should open with 1♣ , the longer of their 2 black suits. I don’t recommend opening a strong 2 with such a distributional hand, it can subsequently be very difficult to convey your hand shape as the 2-level takes up a lot of space. The bidding is very unlikely to die in 1♣  on these types of hands. I also don’t recommend “bending” your strong hand by opening 1♠  ahead of 1♣ ; once again, you’ll never convince partner of your true hand shape.
South bids 1♥ after East passes; the hand is too strong to bid 4♥ direct, you may miss a slam. If, as here, partner has (incorrectly) opened 1♠ , 4♥  would be a splinter agreeing spades and showing a heart shortage for many experienced players!
Assuming West does not get involved (I know a few players who might) North rebids 2♠  with his strong hand,, a “forcing reverse”.
With a solid heart suit, I’d probably just go 4NT now with the South hand and, when partner shows just 1 Ace, depending on your methods, I’d bid 6♥ .

David Beever

Click on the title above to see the schedule of
bridge classes for 2021 
Please contact Chrys Poole 01628 440600 or poolefamily@ntlworld.com 
for further details

Members or anyone making enquiries about any aspect of the Club's online bridge
are welome to contact any of the four SBBC Company Directors.
The details below show their special interests.

We have no idea when we might be abe to return to the barn
and will continue to provide online Bridge
We thank all those members who volunteer as standbys, avoiding the need for robots.
We are now seeking standby pairs for  the next few months
Please contact Evelyn Crossley (details above) if you can help.