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This week we have six opportunities for you to win silver points! The latest STaC (Sectional Tournament at Clubs) games are here, with the promise of lots of points to be won in the club, and the potential for more if your score is tops in the unit! Come prospect for some silver, and practice for our upcoming tournament.
Remember to sign up as a volunteer for our tournament, or perhaps donate a bit to help buy snacks for the hungry hoards that will be here to play bridge Labor Day weekend!
Bridgewhiz is once again signing up grade 5-12 students for a fall session of learning bridge. If you have a clever grandchild, you might want to sign them up! Here is a link to the announcement: BridgeWhiz.org
— Pamela
At the club this week
Learning opportunities
This week's games
All afternoon games this week will be STaCs. That means Sectional Tournaments at Clubs. Silver points will be awarded and lots of 'em
Jack Brawner's observations on an interesting hand
Barbara's Seagram's website includes reprinted articles from her great newsletters. To see the available articles, click here. To sign up for her newsletter click here.
Here is an article authored by our manager to be, Jack Brawner.
This is one of my favorite teaching hands. I "created" it years ago:
With your side passing throughout, the bidding goes
1C - 1H
1N - 2NT
P Pass by the opponents.
Can you paint a mental picture of declarer's hand? Specifically: assuming normal systems and bidding, how many clubs does declarer have?
Most students get this wrong and answer "three". This is why you constantly need to reevaluate your picture of the hand with the addition of new information.
Does declarer have four spades? NO, they would have bid one spade not 1NT.
Does declarer have four hearts? NO, they would have raised partner's hearts.
Does declarer have a four card suit? YES, somewhere.
Is it diamonds? NO, they would have opened a diamond with 4D and 3C.
So declarer has four clubs? AT LEAST.
Probably five, though. If declarer ONLY has four clubs, they would have to be 3 - 3- 3 - 4. But they could also be 3-2-3- 5 or 2-3-3-5 or 3-3-2-5 and still have a 1NT rebid. (This even leaves out the notrump hogs that rebid NT with a singleton heart and/or six clubs!)
Declarer likely has five clubs. Over 90%.
You also know that declarer's first bid said 12-21 HCP, their second bid narrowed it to 12-14, and when they passed the invitation from partner they likely had only 12 , as they might have bid 3NT with 13 and a five card suit and certainly would go with 14.
You know more than you think you know. The trick is learning to ask yourself the right questions :-)
Happy deducing! Jack
[original] Ed. note: Jack is the manager of the very excellent Naples Bridge Center.
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A message from Merry Schainblatt
I am very excited to begin my six Summer Short Courses beginning this Monday. All classes are at ten Florida time and last one hour. Despite my best efforts there are always a few glitches with the mailing lists. If you have not received a link to a class you have signed up for at least one hour before class, please let me know via email at mschainblatt@gmail.com. Classes are recorded, so if we miss connections you can request recordings after class. See you soon!
—Merry
Opening 1NT with a singleton
The current ACBL rules now allow you to open 1NT with a singleton if and only if the singleton is the ace, king, or queen. Just because it is allowed, does not mean you should.
If you have four spades, there is little reason to open 1NT, You will usually have an easy rebid of 1S available. It is when you have a singleton spade that you might consider opening 1NT. You are dealt K-AQxx-KJxx-Kxxx. You open one of as minor and partner, bless 'em, bids 1S. What do you rebid? 1NT is a gross underbid as it shows a maximum of 14 hcp. 2NT is a gross overbid as it shows 18 or 19 hcp. Opening 1D and rebidding 2C makes it difficult to find your heart fit. The hand is not strong enough for a reverse and partner will expect you to have at least five cards in the suit you opened.
If it were 1952, you would have simply opened 1H and have an easy rebid. Guido would do this today, but partnerships allowing for opening one of a major with only four cards in the opening suit are about as rare as WWII veterans.
Every bidding system has weak points. This distribution is one of them in both Standard American and Two over One
Control of boards and cards (Law 7)
Both North and South have equal responsibility for the table. In the old days, North was given this responsibility, but now it is both members of the stationary pair.
These responsibilities include placement of the correct board, properly aligned (the North cards facing the North player) in the center of the table. The board must remain there until play of the board is completed.
Each player removes their own cards from the board and is required to count the number of the cards face down before looking at the faces of the cards. If the number of cards in not 13, the director needs to be called.
Each player is responsible for their own cards (played and unplayed). You are not allowed to touch another player's cards during or after play unless the director or an opponent give permission. The only exception is that declarer can play dummy's cards.
Once the deal has been played, each player is required to shuffle their hand and return their cards to the board. Once returned, the hand cannot be removed by any of the players unless the director or an opponent is present.
Bridge trivia answers
Question 1: What is Kokish Relay (aka Birthright)?
Kokish Relay is a 2H bid after opening 2C and receiving a semi-automatic 2D response. This 2H bid shows either a normal very strong hand with long hearts or a very strong balanced hand. Responder is expected to rebid an artificial 2S after which opener rebids 2NT with a balanced hand and naturally rebid hearts or another suit with an unbalanced hand. Assuming your 2NT opening shows 20-21 hcp, typical rebid ranges after 2C with a balanced hand playing Kokish are:
2C-2D; 2N: 22-23
2C-2D; 2H-2S; 2N: 24-25
A major advantage of Kokish is that when you have a balanced hands of up to 25 hcp your partner has Stayman and Jacoby, Transfers available at the three level.
Question 2: What deceased bridge player was nicknamed The Original Heinous Hog (aka The Hog)?
Ron Andersen was a professional player who became a favorite VuGraph commentator. His nickname was a well earned nickname for how he treated opponents.
Question 3: Who was Edmond Hoyle?
Hoyle published an influential book of whist in 1742 which was consider the gold standard for learning and improving one's whist play until the rules of the game were changed in 1846. He also wrote well received books on other games including backgammon and chess. "According to Hoyle" originally meant exactly that.
Questions for this week
1. What are Top and Bottom Cue Bids?
2. What is the Treadwell Convention?
3. What are Miles Either/Or doubles?
Word of the week
lexophile
Definition: 1) a lover of words
2) A specific type of pun
Examples of 2):
England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A
When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.
This word was suggested by Lou Anne Lagent who added: She took up bridge, it really suits her.
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