EMAIL FOR ALL CLUB QUESTIONS:

7ntbridge@gmail.com

THERE WILL BE NO GAME OCT 9

We will run at least 4 more special games during 2023, each awarding extra masterpoints. There will be a Club Championship on November 13. We will also hold two Club Appreciation Games on October 2 and October 16, and will finish the year’s schedule of special games with a Club Membership Game on December 4 (ACBL MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED IN ORDER TO EARN MASTERPOINTS IN GAME OF 12/4).

Each of these will be Monday in-person games at the Holden Senior Center.

Yuck! I have already been asked about arrangements for games during inclement weather . . . and I wished that I hadn’t been. I really don’t want to think about that yet. But to answer the question, I will cancel games by EMail the evening before widely-predicted winter weather and will make a final decision by 9 AM on game day for those forecasts which are less than certain. Once again, with notification by EMail and posting on the website.

What’s different from last year is that there will be NO online games on days when our in-person games have been cancelled. Why? After directing both Wachusett games as well as other BBO games online, I have noticed simply too many – let’s call them “anomalies” – between in-person and online games. Winning percentages, the number of boards for which players equaled double-dummy results, and other statistics, simply tell me that we are not dealing with the same level of fairness when online play is involved. Let’s leave it at that.

And while online play was a godsend during the height of the pandemic when the world was shut down, we club managers also foresaw a future in which the pact between BBO and ACBL could never be broken and that it would ultimately be destructive to in-person bridge clubs. That has certainly come to pass, as many bridge clubs across the country – even large clubs – now cease to exist, and table counts are down at clubs and tournaments alike (we're doing OK compared to many).

For that reasoning, Wachusett will no longer participate in running or advertising any online games in the future.

For those Wests who think that a seven-card minor is more important than a five-card major . . . think again!  If you open this hand 1 Diamond, you FOREVER deny having a five-card major. There’s the problem. It’s a bell that you can’t un-ring.

Open 1 Heart - which North will no doubt overcall with 1 Spade. East has the point count to raise to at least 3 Hearts and, given North’s interference, I like a direct raise to 4 Hearts. Keep things simple when you know you have the points for a raise to game  and opponents are interfering.

But if West opens 1 Diamond and North overcalls 1 Spade as would still be expected, NOW what does East do? You’re never going to find the 4 Heart game, and even if you end up in 3 Notrump – which does make – it doesn’t score as well as Hearts making 4 or 5.

The lesson here is that if you profess to play 5-card majors, then PLAY THEM!

CMBA GAMES

MONDAY 12:00 PM
WACHUSETT BRIDGE CLUB
(Non-LM)

Holden Senior Center
1130 Main Street
Holden
Al Berg: 7ntbridge@gmail.com

TUESDAY 9:00 AM
GRAFTON BRIDGE CLUB
Grafton Senior Center
30 Providence Road Route 122
Grafton
Denise Bahosh: dbahosh@yahoo.com

WEDNESDAY 12:30 PM
GARDNER BRIDGE CLUB
(@ WESTMINSTER)
Westminster Senior Center
69 West Main Street
Westminster
Shirley Wagner: swagner1942@gmail.com

THURSDAY 9:00 AM
GRAFTON BRIDGE CLUB
Grafton Senior Center
30 Providence Road Route 122
Grafton
Denise Bahosh: dbahosh@yahoo.com

FRIDAY 1:00 PM
WORCESTER BRIDGE CLUB
(@ AUBURN)
Auburn Senior Center
4 Goddard Drive
Auburn
Denise Bahosh: dbahosh@yahoo.com